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Father God, thank you for the love of the truth you have given me. Please bless me with the wisdom, knowledge and discernment needed to always present the truth in an attitude of grace and love. Use this blog and Northwoods Ministries for your glory. Help us all to read and to study Your Word without preconceived notions, but rather, let scripture interpret scripture in the presence of the Holy Spirit. All praise to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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Showing posts with label pier. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pier. Show all posts

Thursday, May 23, 2024

The Hamas War > Only one-third of Hamas terrorists neutralized; IDF empties Rafah of nearly a million Gazans; Hamas steals all food from US pier

 

Only 30-35% of Hamas terrorists

have been eliminated since October 7

Israel has been targeting its strikes and persistently warning Palestinians in Gaza not to return to targeted areas. Its operations are made more difficult by the fact that Hamas uses its people as human shields, hiding in the most populated areas. The revelation that only 30-35% of Hamas jihadists have been eliminated is disturbing, but it shows how much restraint Israel has actually used.

The news also demonstrates how critical it is for Israel to continue its war against Hamas and eliminate it entirely. Global pressure should be on Hamas to surrender, not on Israel for protecting its own citizens and country.

Only 30-35% of Hamas terrorists have been eliminated

Jerusalem Post, May 22, 2024:

Israel has eliminated only 30-35% of the Hamas terrorists who were part of the terror organization prior to the October 7 attack, according to a Politico report on Wednesday, citing US intelligence….

US intelligence: Israel has killed only 30-35 percent of

Hamas militants since October

Nova News, May 22, 2024:

US intelligence indicates that only 30-35 percent of the militants of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas have been killed since October 7, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched the military operation in the Gaza Strip, after Hamas’s attack on the Jewish state. This was reported by the US portal “Politico”.

According to US intelligence, about 65 percent of the terrorist group’s tunnels are still intact. “Politico” claims that according to US officials, Hamas has recruited thousands of new militiamen in recent months.... 

On May 8, the UN agency Ocha published a review of data relating to deaths and injuries in Gaza, saying that only 24,686 deaths could be specifically identified (or confirmed)….

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Defying All Predictions, IDF Empties Rafah

of 950,000 Inhabitants in Two Weeks

The Americans told the Israelis that it would take many months to convince people in Rafah, with its 1.2 million inhabitants (the numbers swollen by those fleeing fighting in the north), to evacuate the city so that the IDF could enter in force. As has happened before, the IDF went ahead anyway, and it has managed to exceed all the predictions of the Bidenites. In just two weeks, 950,000 habitants of the city have now left for safe places further north in Al-Muwasi and central Gaza. More on this feat can be found here: 


IDF succeeds in evacuating almost 1 million from Rafah in 2 weeks

by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2024:

The IDF has succeeded in evacuating around 950,000 Palestinian civilians in only two weeks since May 6, the military revealed on Monday.

In addition, around 30-40% of Rafah is now under IDF control, not merely a small portion of the eastern sector, and about 60-70% of Rafah has been completely evacuated.

The remaining Rafah civilians, estimated at around 300,000-400,000, are almost all near the Gaza coast Tel al-Sultan area.

This is despite US predictions that the civilian population could not be evacuated without a huge death count or without needing around four months to do so.

Both predictions by the Bidenites were wrong. There has been no “huge death count”; the number of civilians killed in Rafah in the last two weeks is less than one hundred. And it took not four months, as the Americans warned, but two weeks, to persuade 950,000 of them to leave.

Of those evacuated, the overwhelming majority moved northwest to al-Muwasi, less than six miles away, while a smaller number moved to central Gaza.

A much less significant number returned to Khan Yunis, though that had been discussed as a real possibility for potentially hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Regarding the battle, though there certainly is significant resistance from the four Hamas battalions in Rafah, the IDF said it had mostly taken them by surprise….

Hamas had been counting on most of the civilian population of Rafah leaving over a period of months, which would have forced the IDF to delay its assault. Instead, the flow of Gazans from Rafah to refuges further north was much faster than Hamas had anticipated, and so, as a consequence, was the IDF’s attack.

The Hamas battalions in Rafah have been demoralized after seeing the IDF’s relentless dismantlement of Hamas forces in north and central Gaza during the last seven months; they have been worn down, too, by seeing the unstoppable stream of Gazans fleeing from the city, and by the need to be constantly on the alert, over so many months, for attacks by the IDF that never came, but that Hamas forces in Rafah had no way of knowing would not be inflicted until the last stage of the IDF invasion.

Next, the IDF has taken control of the majority, though not all, of the Philadelphi Corridor with Egypt….

The Philadelphi Corridor runs 8.7 miles between Egypt and Gaza. With control of this corridor, the IDF can more easily prevent weapons from being smuggled into Gaza. Until now, the tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor have been the most important route for Hamas’ weapons smuggling.

Despite Egypt’s anger at Israel for the Rafah operation and its closing the Rafah Crossing regarding humanitarian aid, the IDF said that military relations on the ground with Cairo have remained strong, and there have been no violent incidents between the sides.

Other than a tiny number, there have also been no Palestinians penetrating into Egypt, which had been Cairo’s biggest fear….

There is no love lost between El-Sisi’s regime in Egypt and the Palestinians in Gaza, whom the Egyptians regard, accurately, as overwhelmingly in favor of Hamas, which Egypt sees as a local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. And as we remember from the coup by Sisi and other army officers that overthrew Mohamed Morsi, an MB member, in 2013, the current leaders of Egypt are determined to minimize the power of the MB and of its Palestinian succursale, Hamas. Egypt intends to keep the Gazans out of Egypt, for they are seen as a disruptive and dangerous force.

In Rafah, the IDF had first to create, and then to keep open and secure, corridors, so that nearly a million refugees could leave the city and safely transfer to places the IDF had readied for them further north such as al-Muwasi. It also had to fight off attacks by Hamas, directed both at the IDF and at Gazans trying to flee. And the presence just a mile away of Egyptian troops on the other side of the Philadelphi Corridor was also worrying; there was always the chance of an Israeli shell or rocket misfiring, that might hit Egyptian troops, and causing a major incident.

Besides Rafah, the IDF said it caught Hamas by surprise when it reinvaded Jabalia. There, it said that the civilians were moved in a much shorter time than from Rafah, with warnings issued in the morning, and the invasion starting in the afternoon on the same day….

The IDF discovered that Hamas had returned to Jabalia, and this time, the IDF went much more quickly into the camp — allowing only a few hours for civilians to move out — and deeper, too, in order to root out Hamas operatives who had never left Jabalia.

The IDF is trying to root out both the four intact battalions in Rafah and roughly two battalions that have regrouped in the north, in Jabalia and in Gaza City. It believes it has now taken apart 18 of the 24 battalions which Hamas had in Gaza on October 7. Despite Biden’s attempt to pressure Israel not to invade Rafah by withholding weapons, the Israelis are ready, if necessary, to do without those American bombs and shells. They are convinced that they need to destroy the four Hamas battalions in Rafah; otherwise, Hamas will regroup and try to emulate the October 7 atrocities “again and again.”

There are so many variables for the IDF to consider during this last phase of the war in Gaza. Iran is now said to be able “within a week” to produce a nuclear weapon. How much more time would it need to produce a thermonuclear warhead and the missile to deliver it? Will Hezbollah, which has 150,000 rockets and missiles supplied to it by Iran, continue to hold back, or will Iran give it the signal to let loose on Israel with that vast armory, in an attempt to overwhelm the IDF’s multi-tiered anti-missile defense system, including David’s Sling, Arrows 2,3, and 4, Iron Dome, and Iron Beam? Should the IDF attack Hezbollah’s weapons sites with massive air raids before those weapons can be used? Will the Bidenites continue to hold back weapons from the Jewish state in an attempt to prevent Israel from finishing off Hamas in Rafah, or perhaps even to prevent it from launching a preemptive strike, on Hezbollah’s weapons hiding-places, or on Iran’s nuclear sites, or on both at the same time?

Questions, questions. Life-and-death questions.

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All the Aid From Biden’s Gaza Pier

was Seized by Hamas

That was $300 million in taxpayer money well spent.

If you’re keeping track, Biden announced that America was going to spend two months building a floating pier to deliver aid to Gaza at a cost of $300 million that would be operated by the U.S. military.

Then the pier came under attack by terrorists, was withdrawn to the Israeli port of Ashdod for repairs while the Biden administration conducted backchannel talks with Hamas urging it not to attack the pier, then redeployed for aid deliveries and it’s been a smashing success.

For Hamas.

The good news was that the Pentagon press secretary announced that 569 metric tons of humanitarian assistance has been delivered across the temporary pier in Gaza.

The bad news was that according to the same press secretary, none of the aid has gotten through to any recognized aid distribution points.

Did the aid get to the people of Gaza? “I do not believe so,” he answered.

So they’re now looking for “alternate routes”.

 

Meanwhile, politicians and the media keep lying about Israel causing a “humanitarian crisis” when indeed the only aid to Gaza is coming through Israel because Egypt blocked its crossing into Rafah once all the tunnels going from Egypt to Rafah were exposed once the Israelis went in (which they weren’t supposed to because that would expose all the tunnels.)

Egypt isn’t getting blamed for ‘starving’ Gazans, Israel is. In reality, there’s plenty of food in Gaza because we keep sending food. Hamas and other armed groups then steal the food and resell it. It’s no surprise to any of the so-called aid groups because this is exactly what Islamic terrorists have been doing to them in Yemen, Afghanistan and all around the world. They know it works this way and they’re lying about it every day.

So is the Biden administration. After building its very own shiny delivery system into Gaza, it can’t actually deliver the aid because it’s being stolen. And somehow that too will be Israel’s fault.

Meanwhile, Hamas has pocketed millions more in profits from the aid that it’s being sent to resell to Gazans. At this rate, the longer the war runs, the more money it makes.

And, after all, isn't that what war is all about? Making money?

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Monday, April 29, 2024

The Hamas War > Mass grave at Nasser Hospital dug before IDF got there; Hamas fires on American-built pier in Gaza

 

Satellite images reveal that the mass grave at Nasser Hospital was dug two weeks before the IDF entered the hospital. Hamas are prolific liars. Nothing they say should be taken at face value.


That Mass Grave At Nasser Hospital

The latest “war crime” of which the IDF stands accused by Hamas is having massacred hundreds of civilians at the Nasser Hospital in Gaza and buried them in a mass grave just outside the hospital. More on the charge, and its refutation, can be found here:


Analysts debunk Hamas claims that Israel

dug mass graves at Nasser hospital

Jerusalem Post, April 24, 2024:

Analyses by Sky News and independent analysts of satellite imagery and footage published online found that claims spread by Hamas and Arabic media that the IDF had dug mass graves at the Nasser hospital in Gaza were false as the graves were made before the IDF entered the complex.

Hamas, Al-Jazeera, and several news agencies claimed in recent days that the IDF had dug mass graves in order to “hide” the bodies of Palestinians after entering the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said on Tuesday that he was “horrified” by the reports and called for “independent, effective and transparent investigations.” Türk added that “The intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are hors de combat [not participating in hostilities] is a war crime.”

Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for UN human rights commissioner Volker Turk, claimed that some of the bodies had their hands tied and were “stripped of their clothes.”

Due to the analyses finding that the bodies were buried before Israeli forces entered the hospital, it is unclear who bound and stripped the buried individuals or why they did so, as only Palestinians and medical professionals were present at the scene at that point.

On Monday, the GeoConfirmed geolocation account published a thread listing extensive examples of footage and satellite imagery showing that the graves were dug, filled, and covered before the IDF ever stepped foot in the hospital.

The account geolocated and dated several videos posted online to figure out when the graves were actually dug.

According to the account, the footage showed Palestinians digging the graves in question between January 25-February 3. The IDF entered the hospital on February 15….

The satellite images, unlike spokesmen for Hamas, do not lie. These satellite images, time-stamped, show that the mass graves on the grounds of Nasser Hospital were dug, filled with bodies, and then covered up, between January 25 and February 3. The IDF entered the hospital only on February 15, nearly two weeks after the .mass grave site had been covered over. Therefore it could not possibly have been responsible. The IDF dug up the graves, because it was searching for the bodies of hostages who had died, or been murdered, in captivity. Some of the bodies found had their hands tied, which suggests that they were indeed Israeli captives or possibly, civilians who had been protesting against Hamas dragging Gaza into a disastrous war and were therefore executed by vindictive Hamas operatives.

Will this proof provided from satellite imagery of when the mass graves were dug, filled with bodies, and covered over convince the likes of UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Türk. who said on Tuesday, April 23 that he was “horrified” by the reports of the mass grave next to Nasser Hospital, and called for “independent, effective and transparent investigations”? He added that “the intentional killing of civilians, detainees and others who are hors de combat [not participating in hostilities] is a war crime.” Clearly he had already made up his mind that the IDF must have been responsible for the mass killings and the mass graves. Now that he has been provided by the satellite imagery clearly proving that the graves were dug, filled, and covered over between January 25 and February 3, that is, 12 days before there was a single IDF soldier in the Nasser Hospital, will he stop suggesting that the IDF was responsible? Given the UN’s long anti-Israel record, and the hostility toward Israel that so many of its highest officials, including Volker Türk, Francesca Albanese, and Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, demonstrate, that seems unlikely.




Hamas likes to keep Gazans suffering in hunger and fear in order to fan the sympathy for them and the anger at Jews around the world. This has always been Hamas' tactic.

Hamas Fires On American-Built Pier For Humanitarian Aid

The Americans have begun to build their “humanitarian aid” floating pier in Gaza, designed to bring more aid much faster to Gazans in need. Israel, of course, welcomes the move, for it wants that aid to come in as fast as possible, and without having to run the gauntlet of Hamas operatives stealing aid for themselves, their extended families, and their clans. But Hamas is not pleased, for precisely that reason. It wants all humanitarian aid to have to go through channels it controls. The pier will allow aid to be directly offloaded from ships to trucks, and distributed directly to aid groups for distribution, bypassing Hamas. Hamas has been firing at those starting to build the pier. More on this can be found here:


IDF rescues UN officials from terrorist mortar fire at Gaza aid pier

JNS, April 26, 2024:

Israel Defense Forces troops secured U.N. officials who came under mortar fire on Wednesday when touring a pier being constructed by U.S. military personnel off the coast of the Gaza Strip to increase the amount of aid flowing into the Palestinian enclave.

The IDF soldiers rushed the officials to shelter after Palestinian terrorists launched projectiles at the installation.

Here is the IDF, securing the lives of officials from the UN, an organization that is implacably hostile to Israel. One hopes some of those officials will take note of the IDF’s helping to save their lives, and also of the fact that it was a Palestinian terror group, Hamas, that had been launching projectiles at them.

The terrorist organizations continue to systematically harm humanitarian efforts while risking the lives of U.N. workers, even as Israel allows the supply of aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” according to the IDF.

Hamas interferes with the distribution of food and other humanitarian aid, halting aid trucks and seizing what it wants for its own operatives, their families, and their clans, and only after that lion’sshare has been taken are ordinary Gazans given what remains.

The Israeli military previously confirmed that troops would provide “security and logistical support” for the project, “further demonstrating the IDF’s commitment to working with the international community to ensure the continuous entry of humanitarian aid to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip.”…

The United States hopes to begin delivering aid using the new pier by early May. A senior American official, who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity on Thursday, said the sea route will initially total 90 trucks daily which could quickly rise to about 150.

The official suggested the mortar attack was not connected to the humanitarian mission, adding that security for the pier will be “far more robust” when the aid begins flowing.

I disagree. I think the mortar attack on the unfinished floating pier was launched by Hamas, and designed to discourage the Americans from completing the project. And when the pier is completed, Hamas will likely continue to shell it, so as to make it more difficult both to offload the aid and to transmit it to waiting trucks. The mortar attack was thus “connected to the humanitarian mission” by making operation of the floating pier more dangerous. Hamas has no interest in increasing aid for the Gazans; it benefits from the tales of mass food insecurity, even famine, in the Strip. As long as its own operatives get abundantly fed, it doesn’t worry about any of the others living in Gaza. In fact, the more food insecurity there is in Gaza — what Hamas inaccurately calls “famine”— the greater the gain by Hamas in the propaganda war with the IDF.

In his March 7 State of the Union address, U.S. President Joe Biden announced the establishment of a floating pier to deliver supplies.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant welcomed the initiative, saying that it would help collapse Hamas.

“We will ensure that the aid reaches those to whom it should get to and that it does not reach those to whom it should not get to,” he added….

The IDF clearly wants this floating pier idea to succeed, so that another 150 trucks can come into the Strip each day, full of food and other humanitarian aid, that will be directly distributed to civilians, without Hamas being in control. And Hamas, of course, wants the project to fail, because it wants sole control over the distribution of humanitarian aid going to Gaza, which allows its operatives to help themselves to much of it. Hence these mortar barrages at the floating pier that is still under construction. But the IDF has already begun to serve as the guardian of the floating pier, defending it against incoming artillery fire and drones.

I haven’t seen a single story, outside of the Jewish News Service, about this attack by Hamas on the floating pier being built in Gaza, and on the UN officials visiting it, nor a word about how Hamas is attacking, and the IDF has been protecting, the site. I wonder why this story has attracted so little attention. Could it be because it puts the IDF in a good light, and Hamas in a bad one?

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