GNITN - Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 342

Close To A Prophecy Fulfilled?

Tunnels Almost Destroyed

The IDF declared that most of the tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor have been closed as we read in a report from The Times Of Israel. And the Rafah fighting unit is demolished:

The Hamas terror group’s Rafah Brigade has been decimated, at least 2,308 of its operatives have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces, and over 13 kilometers (8 miles) worth of tunnels have been destroyed, military officials told reporters in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city on Thursday.

Mostly what’s left of the tunnels are also destroyed, but it’s still too early to declare all tunnels into Gaza from the Corridor are under full control:

Now, as the IDF maintains control of the entire city and the border area with Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, combat engineers are completing their investigations of a few dozen Hamas tunnels that have not yet been demolished, an operation that will not take longer than a few weeks.

If the Philadelphi Corridor’s tunnels are destroyed in a few weeks, then a hostage deal could be brokered:

With seemingly no hostage deal with the terror group on the horizon — under which the IDF would likely have to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Corridor — it currently remains unclear what the IDF will do in Rafah once the last tunnel is destroyed.

Still, the IDF will do what their government wants them to do:

Senior military officials said they would carry out whatever missions the political echelon eventually orders them to complete.

One IDF leader told us just what they accomplished:

“The Rafah Brigade has been defeated,” Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, the general in charge of the offensive in the city, told reporters from the Philadelphi Corridor. “Their four battalions have been destroyed, and we have completed operational control over the entire urban area.”

Cohen, who commands the IDF’s 162nd Division, said that his combat engineering forces located 203 separate, but interconnected, tunnels in the Philadelphi Corridor, stretching from the Egypt border to about 300 meters away on the outskirts of the city of Rafah.

Cohen confirmed that they are still looking for more although it looks like many were already blocked:

“Most of them we have destroyed,” the general said. “We are operating at the other sites to investigate them, and when we will finish investigating, they will be destroyed.”

Out of the 203 tunnels, Cohen confirmed that the IDF had so far located a total of nine that had crossed into Egypt, but every single one had been blocked up previously, either by Egyptian authorities or Hamas themselves.

“There are a total of nine underground sites [tunnels] that cross into Egyptian territory, but they have collapsed, they are not usable, they are not active,” he said.

All of this seems to be confusing for those of us who support Prime Minister Netanyahu’s hard stance on keeping troops in the area. It could be simply because of they leave the international community won’t let them go back in if Hamas takes over in the area. Saying that the Rafah Brigade is defeated seems to imply they can’t use the area anymore. I for one would like a lot more clarity on these terms if I’m going to back the PM on his stance.

Not Just In One Place

We are told in an article from The Jerusalem Post that the IDF destroyed a facility in Syria that was an underground missile factory:

The IDF's General Staff Reconnaissance Unit destroyed on Sunday a Syrian underground factory for precision missiles built by Iran, according to a Thursday Axios report.

If true, the IDF is trying to limit weapons that would be used against them from Damascus, a city that Bible prophecy predicts will be destroyed:

According to the report, this was the boldest operation the IDF has carried out in recent years against Iranian targets in Syria. The destruction of the factory was reportedly a significant blow to Iran and Hezbollah's covert effort to produce medium-range precision missiles in Syria.

If we want Israel to outright confirm this strike we may need to wait a while:

The Israeli government has thus far maintained silence on the matter and is not taking responsibility to avoid provoking Syria, Iran, or Hezbollah into retaliation. The IDF spokesperson, the Defense Ministry, and the Prime Minister's Office have all declined to comment.

The Syrian media is giving us details, though:

The operation took place on Sunday night, with official Syrian media and the Syrian opposition reporting heavy Israel Air Force airstrikes in several areas of western Syria, including near the city of Masyaf, close to the Lebanese border.

It could have been more than air strikes, though:

On Wednesday, a Syrian opposition TV channel and Greek Middle East expert Eva J. Kalluriotis reported that the airstrikes were merely a cover for an Israeli ground operation in Masyaf. Three sources familiar with the operation confirmed to Axios that the IDF General Staff Reconnaissance Unit conducted a ground raid and destroyed a precision missiles manufacturing facility.

Israel alerted the US about the mission:

Two sources stated that Israel had informed the Biden administration in advance about the sensitive operation, and the US did not object. The Israeli special forces unit surprised the Syrian guards at the facility and killed several of them during the raid.

The Israeli forces used explosives they brought with them to blow up the underground facility from within, including advanced machinery, according to two sources who spoke to Axios. The airstrikes carried out on Sunday night were intended to prevent the Syrian army from sending enforcement troops back to the area.

The idea of having a facility hidden underground is not new and not the first time that the IDF has done something like this:

According to the Axios report, the Iranians began constructing the underground facility in coordination with Hezbollah and Syria in 2018 after a series of Israeli airstrikes destroyed most of Iran's missile production infrastructure in Syria.

Apparently they figured an airstrike wouldn’t take the newest one out, but the IDF knew that, too:

The Iranians decided to build a deep underground factory within a mountain in Masyaf to be impervious to Israeli airstrikes.

The IDF knew about the facility for years before they struck:

The Iranian plan was to produce precision missiles in a protected facility near the Lebanese border, allowing for quicker delivery to Hezbollah in Lebanon. According to the report, Israeli intelligence discovered and monitored the construction process for over five years, code-naming the Iranian facility "Deep Layer."

According to Axios' report, an airstrike alone would not be sufficient to destroy the facility, so the IDF opted to coordinate such an alleged attack with a ground operation. The IDF considered carrying out the operation at least twice in recent years, but it was not approved due to the high risks involved.

As I alluded to earlier, these facilities are near the Damascus area and could easily lead to the total destruction of that city if Israel needs to keep such weapons for getting to Hezbollah or really any Irania proxy. Could this be a prelude to a Bible prophecy being fulfilled? It just could be.