This Dog Still Bites

We learned from a report in The Jerusalem Post that Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel:

A man in his 30s sustained light wounds from rocket shrapnel following Hamas's rocket barrage in Israel's South, Israel's emergency response service, Magen David Adom (MDA), reported on Sunday.

The Hamas attack hit at night with half of them being stopped by the Israeli defense systems:

Starting at 9:01 p.m. local time, rocket sirens sounded in the areas of Ashdod and Ashkelon.

The military said some 10 rockets were fired at Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip, half of which were intercepted. Several impacts had been reported in various area, the IDF added.

The man who was wounded was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment with others also receiving help for related issues:

MDA said its paramedics transferred to the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon the man who was in light condition. Paramedics also treated a number of individuals who were suffering from anxiety and who had been injured while running to shelter.

The other 5 rockets either damaged property or just impacted the ground:

The police said it was operating in an area of Ashkelon where an impact had been reported, while the Ashkelon Municipality noted a rocket that had crashed in the city had caused damage to property.

Hamas didn’t take long to say the rockets came from them:

Hamas's military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, subsequently claimed responsibility for the rocket barrage.

The Israeli Finance Minister weighed on the attack:

"If anyone needed a reminder of why we must not stop just before the destruction of Hamas, they received it this evening in the form of rocket launches from Gaza to the cities of the South," Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich shared on X/Twitter shortly after.

"We promised the citizens of Israel that Hamas will be destroyed and the residents of the South will be able to live in peace and security for many years," Smotrich added, noting, "we will stand by that."

Another politician, while correctly noting that Hamas is still a deadly foe, took time to criticize Prime Minister Netanyahu:

National Unity head Benny Gantz wrote on Twitter/X following the barrage, "Hamas is the enemy, which, after a year and a half of war, is still firing missiles at Israeli citizens."

"Israeli citizens didn't really need a reminder, but apparently, the Prime Minister and coalition members did," Gantz asserted, adding the enemy was "not the head of the Shin Bet, not the attorney-general, not the High Court of Justice.

"The State of Israel deserves leadership that focuses on defeating our enemies," Gantz added, rather than one that concentrated on "internal strife and division."

Apparently Gantz couldn’t resist using the rocket attack as a way to score political points with those who oppose the Prime Minister. Boys will be boys I guess.

Direct Connection To Hamas

We seem to hear from Iran that their proxies are working independent of them, but communication between them and Hamas from 2021 belies that assertion as we’re told in an article from The Times Of Israel:

Defense Minister Israel Katz revealed an intelligence document on Sunday showing that Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif had sent a letter to Iran’s IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani in June 2021, seeking support for the terror group’s plans to invade Israel, which were ultimately carried out on October 7, 2023.

Katz explained how they got their hands on the letter:

“I am presenting here for the first time a document that was found in the tunnels of senior Hamas officials in Gaza, which proves a direct relationship between Iran and Yahya Sinwar and Muhammad Deif, as part of Iran’s support for the Hamas plan to destroy Israel,” Katz said in a video statement.

“In the document, they (the Hamas leaders) ask of the commander of the [Islamic] Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force to transfer $500 million for destroying the State of Israel,” he said.

The letter details what they wanted and why:

The document shows that Hamas demanded $20 million per month from Iran over two years, “to achieve these great goals, through which we will change the face of the world.”

“We are confident that by the end of these two years, or during them, God willing, we will uproot this monstrous entity, and we will end this dark period in the history of our nation,” the letter reads.

Rather than say Hamas was on their own, Iran said they would send the money since they were fighting the same enemies of the US and Israel:

Saeed Izadi, the head of the Palestinian Division in the IRGC, “accepted the request and replied to them that Iran, despite its difficult economic situation and the plight of the Iranian population, will continue to funnel money to Hamas, because the struggle against Israel and the US is the top priority of the Iranian regime,” Katz said.

Katz stated what we already knew and that Iran is pulling all the strings in the area:

The defense minister added that “the conclusion is clear: Iran is the head of the serpent, and despite all its denials, it is also funding and advancing terror in all areas, from Gaza, through Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] and now with the Houthis in Yemen, under the desire to destroy Israel.”

He then said what we also knew about Israel’s goals:

“Israel will do everything possible to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and will continue to hit its proxies in the region until the Iranian evil axis is crushed and defeated,” Katz said.

At the same time Iran and its proxies will do everything possible to destroy Israel, take their land and attack all who support the Jews. It’s not rocket science to understand these terrorists. You just have to listen to what they say with an open mind.