OPERATION BREAKING DAWN

I was woken this morning by the distinctive sound of rockets exploding nearby. One of my friends who lives nearby shot this photo of the Iron Dome shooting down two of the rockets overhead. There was no reported damage or casualties.  The sirens did not go off here in Mevaseret but sirens sounded in about 10 of the local villages and moshavs immediately to our west. When the terror organizations claim to be targetting Jerusalem, they seem to deliberately aim a little to the left (that is to say, towards us) because, after all, they cannot risk harming their beloved Al Aksa mosque. The rockets and missiles currently being fired at us are not very sophisticated and cannot be aimed accurately.

Today (07 Aug 2022) is the third day of the current round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror organization in the Gaza Strip. This exchange of fire has been named Operation Breaking Dawn. 

About two weeks ago, Israel captured the leader of the PIJ in the West Bank city of Jenin, and this resulted in threats from the PIJ to fire missiles into Israel.  For four days the residents in the Israeli towns and kibbutzim near to the Gaza Strip were in lockdown bringing all industry, businesses and normal activities to a standstill. All the people were told to remain beside their bomb shelters (they only get a few seconds warning). All the roads and public transport into or out of the area were closed due to the fear of an attack.  Clearly this situation could not continue indefinitely. 

 Israel therefore started a pre-emptive attack on Islamic Jihad positions and infrastructure on Friday (5th). This is a new tactic, striking pre-emptively rather than waiting for the rockets to come flying and then retaliating. No doubt people who are not living with hundreds, if not thousands, of rockets aimed at them, will criticize Israel for doing so. Israel has made it clear that it is only interested in attacking the PIJ and has been careful not to get Hamas involved. So far, Hamas has also restrained itself from involvement. Just as I wrote that news just came in that the third most powerful terrorist faction in Gaza, the Committees of Popular Resistance (PRC), has joined the fighting.  

So far at least 600 missiles have been fired into Israel, most being short range rockets intended for the settlements around the Gaza Strip and Ashkelon, but there have been a few longer-range missiles fired reaching as far north as the southern suburbs of Tel Aviv and Modiin (NW of Jerusalem). Two homes scored a direct hit and the Strauss Ice Cream factory in Sderot was also hit. Fortunately there were no casualties in either of these strikes. Miraculously only about 25 Israelis have been brought to hospitals, most with minor injuries due to falls while running for shelter, and with panic attacks. 

As I write there has been a direct hit on what appears to be an apartment building in Ashkelon.  No news yet of casualties. 

Many, perhaps upwards of 50% of the rockets fired at Israel fall short and land in the Gaza Strip itself, endangering the civilian population far more than the pin-point attacks of the IDF. Israel even phones people in houses near the PIJ targets to warn them to evacuate before they attack. The IDF will even hold fire if they see civilians in the area.  So far, about 25 people have been killed in the Strip, mainly PIJ operatives, including a senior PIJ leader, Khaled Mansour the Islamic Jihad's Southern Gaza Division Commander. Reports coming out of the Gaza Strip claim that 4 children were killed by Israeli fire on Friday.  The IDF claims it was not attacking Gaza at that time and that these children were killed by a rogue rocket that fell in the Jebalia refugee camp where they lived. As you can see  in the radar tracking map below nearly all the rockets in this volley fell short (the blue dots), inside the Strip! The green circle indicates the rocket that killed the children.  The a orange circle is the site of the last IDF attack before that time-  some 2 hours earlier - nowhere near where the children died.  

Today is Tisha B'Av, the 9th Day of the Hebrew month of Av. For the observant it is a day of deep mourning. (I just heard a boom - another strike in Ashkelon it seems). Tisha B'Av was the date on which both the First and Second Temples were destroyed, 656 years apart but on the same date! It is also the date of many other terrible events in Jewish history. Here is a list of just some of the things that happened on this date: 

• According to the Rabbis, the ten spies came back with an evil report of the land on Tisha B'av, resulting in them wandering in the wilderness for 38 years.
• The Romans crushed Bar Kokhba's revolt and destroyed the city of Betar, killing over 100,000 Jews, in 132 AD
•  Following the Roman siege of Jerusalem, Roman commander Turnus Rufus plowed the site of the Temple and the surrounding area, in 133 AD
• The First Crusade was declared by Pope Urban II in 1095, killing 10,000 Jews in its first month and destroying Jewish communities in France and the Rhineland. 
• The edict was given to expel the Jews from England in 1290
•  The edict was given to expel the Jews from Spain in 1492
•  World War I broke out on Tisha B'Av 1914 (August 1, 1914)
•  The mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to the death camp of Treblinka began on the eve of Tisha B'Av 1942.
•  The Jewish community center in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 86 and wounding 300 others, on Tisha B'av 1994
• In 2005 all Jews were expelled from the Gaza Strip  - 1,700 families. This opened the way for the influx of terrorist organizations which to this day continually attack Israel. 

This year on Tisha B'Av we are holding our collective breath. What will happen today? Traditionally the observant gather in synagogues and read the books of Job and Lamentations. Others express deep mourning at the Western Wall. 

Mourners at the Western Wall on Tisha B'Av

In recent years a small but increasing number of Jewish zealots have gone up onto the Temple Mount to pray on Tisha B'Av, and they plan to do so again today. This is forbidden by most rabbis and the government as it is not only a violation of the 'status quo' agreement of 196, there is also a risk of desecrating the site of the Temple. It also represents a provocation for the Muslims, who always interpret such actions as a threat to their mosque, Al Aqsa, which situated on the southern end of the Temple Mount, even though there is no such threat. Such an act today will undoubtedly result in riots, and condemnation from Muslim countries, even those 'friendly' ones, and may well escalate the situation with Operation Breaking Dawn. 

Today the government is also beginning an evacuation of those residents of the Otef Gaza (the settlements around Gaza Strip) who want to go north for respite from the shelling. This is risky as transport may represent a tempting target for the PIJ. Please pray that those who want to leave, mainly women with children, the elderly, and those suffering from PTSD, can do so safely. Many in central and northern towns are opening their homes for these people, and others will be accommodated in hotels at the government's expense. 

Pray also for the citizens of the Gaza Strip. They are still recovering from last year's round of fighting and I am sure they are suffering in the extreme. Since the beginning of the Israeli operation the only  power plant  in Gaza is working at very low capacity because fuel cannot be brought in since the borders with Israel closed. From 12 hours of electricity a day the situation has already deteriorated to only 4 hours of electricity a day. Any day now electricity supply could stop completely. Reports are coming in that Israel agreed to an Egyptian and UN proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire to allow fuel to be brought in for the power station, but the PIJ has refused. 

 The already tottering Gazan economy must also be suffering. Of late, 15,000 Palestinian day-workers have been allowed to enter Israel, but now they cannot enter. This means these 15,000 households now will have no income. Their situation is dire, and no one wants this, but there will be no improvement until the terror organizations are cleared out of the Strip and some form of legitimate government is put in place, one that actually cares about its people, and doesn't use all its funds on trying to destroy Israel. 

I will stop writing at this point although every minute the situation is changing. I will update again soon. Please pray for us all here, for safety and protection, but most of all for repentance. Pray for God's compassion for all men, Jew, Arab and other Gentiles.

For the Lord will not cast off forever.

32 

Though He causes grief,

Yet He will show compassion

According to the multitude of His mercies.

33 

For He does not afflict willingly,

Nor grieve the children of men.

Lamentations 3: 31-33

P.S. the latest message from my newsfeed - what a crazy world!!!  

"The Gaza ceasefire will be announced at 17:00 and go into effect at 22:00. During this time the terrorist factions are expected to fire heavily on Israeli cities".