On the Ground in Israel

By Bert Schlossberg

Editor's Note:  This appeared as is one of the commentaries in Robin's weekly newsletter.  If you wish to get the full edition, E-mail her at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com to get on her list, it's free. RK  

Israel:  I want to give Patriot Neighbors readers an update and an awareness of what is going on in Israel in war, now apparently, on all fronts and not just on Gaza. I hope that I make it understandable to readers and feel sure, if so, you can participate in some way, through understanding, empathy, and prayer.

I want to start from the physical viewpoint from our condo on a high hill in Israel, about a 15-minute drive from Jerusalem. Stepping out on the patio, one can faintly hear the explosions in Gaza as dull thuds and heavier booms of Israel war planes dropping their munitions on terrorist infrastructures, weapon caches, Hamas control centers, and rocket launching positions. 

From our community, the "Red Alert" warning sirens give the community just three minutes time to enter the shelters in our buildings before the rockets hit. But before our sirens sound off, we can hear the sirens in more distant communities alerting these communities of incoming rockets. So, a line of sound leading from Gaza to our location blasts off giving the sense of direction and approaching danger. 

 Civilians with weapons are on the ready as a "first warning squad" to hold off Arab infiltrators until the Israeli Army can arrive. These squads are the 'Readiness Squads", (Kitot Konnenut), which prior to now were under the Police jurisdiction, but now as the tension increases, they are under the Army's jurisdiction. A further sign of escalation!

The eastern border with Israel, which has seen an uptick in drive-by terrorist shootings and IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) which have taken a number of Israeli lives, has now been reinforced by a new Division of the Israel Defense Force (IDF), high up in the number of units having battalions all along the border with Jordan - from Beit She'an down to near Jericho to prevent the further buildup of weapons of all types originating in Iran, through Syria, and smuggled across Jordan and then distributed throughout Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and further distributed to the Arab towns and villages facing the Jewish settlements and cities in their proximity. 

Israel is now operating counter-terrorism missions against concentrations of Arab terrorists in key centers of the West Bank, such as Jenin in the north, Tulkarem in the west and others such as Tubas in the central ridge country down to the banks of the Jordan River. In this escalation of Israel defense, not only have the IDF foot soldiers been deployed, but also deployed are drones, and war planes. The eastern military activity is getting more and more to look like Gaza in the early stages.

There is now talk about building a wall between Israel and Jordan to prevent the smuggling of weapons for use against Israel.

Recently, there was a remarkable operation of the IDF against a facility in Syria, For the first time in this conflict, Israel Commandos put "boots down" on Syrian soil and battled not only Syrians but also Iranians! 

The target was a triple purpose facility - one purpose being the research and development of precision weapons for Hezbollah in Lebanon to be used against Israel. 

The second purpose was as a transit facility for the weapons originating in Iran to be sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon. 

The third purpose was to reach the underground tunneled nuclear development center and retrieve the intelligence and devices that were produced. 

This mission, lasting only one hour, was successful, Sixteen Syrians and Iranians were killed in the battle, and two to four Iranian Islamic Guard Corp personnel were brought to Israel by helicopter for interrogation. The column of Syrian army reinforcements of the troops on the site were successfully destroyed or held back by a fleet of Israeli drones.

This was an attack on an Iranian facility on Syrian soil and warning to Iran, that even their deep mountain nuclear weapon facilities are no longer immune from the long reach of Israel. The eastern border of Israel with Syria is now on alert. This attack on the Iranian Shiite Muslim weapons facility in Syria puts Shiite Iran on notice.  What happens here can happen to you. Beware! 

Sunni Muslim nations that have partnered with Israel against Iranian expansionism have also taken notice of what Israel can do and are taking encouragement of the rightness and strength to be found in their new accord with Israel, known as the Abraham Accords!  President prays at the Western Wall on May 22, 2017. Note—George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all have visited the Jewish holy site, but either before or after their time as president.

Recently, the confrontation of Israel with Hezbollah has now escalated up a step with the Israeli Government now adding this Northern Front to the already stated war aims of: 

1) The return from Gaza of the hostages kidnapped by the Hamas of Gaza. 

2) The dismantling of the Hamas militarily and governmentally.

 3) The making of Gaza secure from ever again being capable of enacting "another October 7" when Hamas massacred 1,200 - 1,400 Israelis and kidnapped as hostages another 250.

As Israel nears the most it can do against the Hamas in Gaza, it is gathering its soldiers, both regular and reserves for transfer to the northern front for the confrontation with the Hezbollah, and the bringing back the thousands of Israeli citizens to their northern towns and cities from which Israel had evacuated them to protect them from the rain of rockets from Lebanon.

The situation is volatile!