Israel’s regional war with Islamist jihad continues – on multiple fronts
While our screens only display images of suffering in Gaza, it is important to realize there is a much bigger picture. Israel continues to fight a war on many fronts against Islamist regimes that are bent on killing Jews and destroying “the Zionist entity”.
Situation in Gaza
The IDF reported this week that it had expanded combat in Gaza City as part of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II. Israel’s goal of this operation is the return of the hostages and the dismantling of Hamas’ rule.
The IDF led by the Southern Command, continue to advance toward the center of Gaza City. IDF units continue to strike terrorist infrastructure and Hamas operatives above and below ground.
Since the start of the second phase of Operation Gideon’s Chariots II, the IDF has struck more than 1,200 terrorist targets.
Alongside the fighting, and despite Hamas’ attempts to violently obstruct civilian evacuations, the IDF continues to enable humanitarian assistance and population evacuation for their protection from Gaza City.
The movement southward is being carried out via two main routes, the coastal route and an additional evacuation corridor is opened near the Salah al-Din route.
To date, the IDF estimates that more than 450,000 of the city’s residents have moved southward.
Tragically, during an operational activity yesterday in the Rafah area carried out by the Dekel Battalion of the 261st Brigade combat team / Officers’ Training School, an officer and three of the battalion’s soldiers fell: Maj. Omri Chai Ben-Moshe; Lt. Ron Arieli; Lt. Eitan Avner Ben-Itzhak; and Lt. Eran Shelem, of blessed memory. The unit was hit as a result of an explosive device detonation during an offensive activity in the Al-Junaynah area in Rafah.
Yemen and Lebanon
Israel remains in a multi-front defense operation and continue to strike and defend at all times in multiple arenas, near and far.
This week, Israel struck the Port of Hodeidah in Yemen, which constitutes a strategic asset for the Houthi terrorist regime.
In addition, Air Force aircraft struck terrorist targets in southern Lebanon. The Israeli Air Force confirms it conducted airstrikes targeting several weapons storage facilities used by Hezbollah’s “Radwan Force” in southern Lebanon. “The presence of these warehouses amid Hezbollah’s continued attempts to rebuild its offensive capabilities are in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon.”
View of the General Assembly Hall of the United Nations, in NYC, USA | Photo: Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90
Recognising Palestine
Next week is the high level week of the 80th session of the UN General Assembly. Heads of state and other leaders of most UN member states will meet in New York. On Monday 22nd September, France and Saudi Arabia will host a special meeting to promote Palestinian statehood.
It is expected that several states will recognize a Palestinian state in the coming days. This is nothing less than a reward to Hamas for October 7th, reflected in the fact that Hamas has called on its sympathizers to engage in violence this weekend.
Terror attack at Allenby Bridge kills two
On Thursday morning a terrorist struck at the Allenby crossing between Jordan and Israel. Driving a truck marked as humanitarian aid for Gaza, he stepped out, and murdered two Israeli soldiers before security forces killed him.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that the attacker was a citizen of Jordan, and blamed the assault on Jordanian incitement.
UN Human Rights body asserts that Israel is committing genocide
The UN “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel” has published a report this week concluding that Israel is guilty of committing various acts of “genocide” in Gaza. That is in itself strange, given that the UN’s own court – the International Court of Justice – is still reviewing all the evidence and has yet to pass judgment on the matter.
In reaching its conclusion, the Commission relied heavily on direct and indirect input from Hamas, the terrorist organization that started this war. The figures of numbers of deaths, for example, provided by the Gaza Health Ministry cannot be relied on at face value, and must be subjected to independent analysis. But most troubling is the framing of the war in Gaza. By framing it as genocide, the Commission completely ignores the existential threats facing Israel, and the fact that it is fighting a war of self-defence against the revolutionary regime in Iran and its allies and proxies including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis.
According to Prof. Steven E. Zipperstein, Senior Fellow at thinc. “the report represents yet another example of the UN’s complete lack of impartiality and objectivity regarding Israel, and its weaponization of international law against the Jewish State. Why have we not seen any similar UN report regarding Russian atrocities in Ukraine, or the mass murders and deliberate starvation campaign happening right now in the Sudan?”
Press briefing by the IDF Spokesperson, BG Effie Defrin
This evening the 48 hostages are at the forefront of our thoughts, the living and fallen, who are being held in Hamas’ tunnels. IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip and the IDF as a whole, continue to do everything to bring them home. Their return is a moral and ethical duty. We will not stop, we will not relent, and we will spare no effort until all our hostages are returned.
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Something is rotten in the states of Europe
Fiamma Nirenstein: Make no mistake: this is incitement. The call to strike Jews is clear. We stand on the brink of new pogroms.
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Open season against the Jews
Melanie Phillips: The West’s attack on Israel can only be explained by its assault on its own core values and identity.
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Fact or Framing? Dissecting the UN’s Genocide Allegation
According to Prof. Geert Jan (Alexander) Knoops (Universities of Amsterdam and Shandong), the UN Commission of Inquiry’s report claiming that Israel is committing genocide “is factually very weak. It is largely based on open source and second-hand information that cannot be verified. It gives a summary of what certain witnesses have said, but does not state who the persons are who provided the information. It is impossible to verify that information. That is insufficient basis for a court to reach a conclusion.”
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Next week the General Assembly of the United Nations will begin. Andrew Tucker provides an overview of the topics that will be under discussion at this meeting.
Omer Wenkert was held captive for 505 days in the tunnels in Gaza. Counting the days became a way for him to preserve and protect his soul during this bizarre ordeal. He endured physical and mental abuse, with nothing more to eat than one or two pitas a day and half a bottle of water to drink. Omer shares how he maintained hope and kept his eyes fixed on returning home. His perspective on life has changed, and he feels deeply grateful for every day he is alive.
SCRIPTURE FOR THE WEEK:
Zechariah 12:1-5
1 This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD , who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem a cup that sends all the surrounding peoples reeling. Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves. 4 On that day I will strike every horse with panic and its rider with madness,” declares the LORD . “I will keep a watchful eye over the house of Judah, but I will blind all the horses of the nations. 5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong, because the LORD Almighty is their God.’
