Awoken Once Again
At 6:30 AM on Saturday, October 7th we were awakened by air raid sirens as missiles began to reign upon the Holy Land. At 5:45 AM on Friday, December 1st we were awakened by our rocket app. And so it began. Once again.
A rocket app is installed on all of our cell phones to alert us when a missile is headed in our direction. After a one week cease fire, Hamas returned to firing missiles on Friday morning. Despite claiming they had no fuel or electricity left, Hamas managed to fire an endless supply of missiles on Friday morning. Apparently, they have enough fuel to continue to attack civilians.
For years I have wondered why every time a Jew is killed in Israel, hundreds of thousands of people take to the streets in celebration (in Gaza). They have parties, give out sweets and light firecrackers. We would like to believe most people in Gaza do not support Hamas, but I am afraid this is not true. On Thursday morning we had breakfast with a 21-year-old Israeli soldier that had returned from Gaza at the start of the cease fire. I asked him to tell us what he saw. “We are operating in northern Gaza,” he told me “clearing out buildings to ensure there are no weapons stored there by Hamas. Every home we go into we lift the mattress and look into the closets. Under every mattress we find an AK-47, an RPG or a grenade launcher. Every home has pictures on the wall of Yahya Sinwar, Isamil Haniyeh and Khaled Mashal (the leaders of Hamas). Many have pictures of Ahmed Yassin and Mohammed Deif along with Hamas flags and Arabic phrases that translated mean ‘Death to the Jews’ or ‘Death to the USA.’ I looked at him in astonishment. “No way,” I said. “All of them?” He returned my stare and replied in a grave tone, “All of them. Every last one. Major weapons under baby cribs, toddler beds and behind the kitchen pantries.”
We also learned from some of the soldiers the training they went through to rescue children. As they approached tunnels where they thought children were kept they yelled through megaphones in Hebrew, “If any of you speak Hebrew, run to us now and we will protect you.” I imagined this scene in my mind of four- and six-year-old children hearing the Hebrew language spoken for the first time in seven weeks and how a situation like that might unfold. It is emotionally overwhelming and finding Israeli hostages amongst 1,800,000+ Palestinians is a bit like finding the proverbial “needle in a haystack.”
As some of the hostages have returned stories have begun to emerge as to the conditions of their captivity. Many of the Israeli children were drugged as they were imprisoned by Hamas. Hostages being operated on by veterinarians, others reportedly killed including baby Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage whom I have written about twice: https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-investigating-cruel-hamas-claim-that-bibas-children-mother-killed-in-gaza/. Most are taking time to talk about their experiences and the children that have been returned are whispering, indicative of the fact they have been conditioned to whisper by Hamas – in order to not make any noise. The Jewish hostages were beaten with electric cables and kept in cages: https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/cages-beatings-and-death-threats-freed-hostages-tell-their-story-v811u2cu and children were branded like cows: https://nationalpost.com/news/world/israel-middle-east/children-taken-hostage-by-hamas-branded-with-a-burn-mark-lest-they-escape-family-says. Then again, we did not expect Israeli hostages to be treated well or kept in humane conditions.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian media show goes on unchecked: https://www.foxnews.com/world/outrage-un-geneva-palestinian-exhibition-murdered-israeli-childs-image-photo-palestinian-civilian-casualty. Ido Avigal is an Israeli child that was killed in May of 2021 when Hamas fired rockets at the city of Sderot. As if that was not enough, he was recently featured by the Palestinian Delegation in a UN exhibit about Palestinian children killed by Israel. He was pictured in front of a mosque. The only problem? He is Jewish, not Palestinian, and he was killed by Hamas – not by Israel: https://twitter.com/IsraelinGeneva/status/1729799467346391426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1729799467346391426%7Ctwgr%5E184192c049b5e1460802c13be95c9d9bb6b258e7%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.jpost.com%2Fisrael-news%2Farticle-775725.
On Thursday morning, December 1st four people were killed in a terrorist attack near the famous string bridge in Jerusalem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoJLa-mdzwQ. While reports showed three were killed, a civilian that shot at the terrorists (brothers from East Jerusalem) was also killed when security personnel mistook him for one of the gunmen. I was two blocks away as the massacre unfolded and heard the ambulances and police cars as they raced to the scene. I share this because these attacks are not an attempt on the part of Hamas to respond to the war in Gaza. No, they are a tradition that they have imposed upon the citizens of Israel time and time again. On December 1st, 2001 this happened: https://edition.cnn.com/2001/WORLD/meast/12/01/mideast/ and yet history continues to repeat itself because the problem is never solved.
On Friday, December 2nd, People for Israel made deliveries to the Golan Heights and to the communities on the Gaza border. With your help, we continue our efforts multiple times each week. As they are in opposite directions, I took the car south packed with items such as food and shampoo, flashlights and deodorant, beef jerky and socks. As I was passing near Netivot on Friday afternoon, the air raid siren went off. In many places there are no bomb shelters. However, at the end of the street I spotted one. Pushing the pedal down, I raced to the end of the street crossing over the median and leaving my car – engine running – facing the wrong direction on the opposite side of the street. Throwing my door open, I ran along with approximately a dozen people including police officers and civilians cramming into a tiny bomb shelter by the side of the road. We stood there for a few minutes until receiving the “all clear.” Mostly men this time but one child who clung to his father’s leg while using his other arm to cover his head.
Yes, I realized. Sadly, there is still plenty of fuel in Gaza. The missiles keep coming, the attacks continue. Most of the hostages are still being held. I don’t feel this war is close to ending nor can it be until Hamas is eradicated. We will not be intimidated. We will not be scared. Despite the warning on WAZE that tells me not to go where we are headed, we go anyway. The irony is for the last seven minutes of the drive, WAZE is not even available. It has been shut off in this area. My thought is I will let G-d lead me. He will show us the way. We have a tradition in Judaism when we travel. It works like this. If I am flying from say Orlando to London, someone will provide $5.00 or so for charity. It’s called “mitzvah shliach” money. A “shliach” is a messenger. The concept is that if you are going to do a “mitzvah,” no harm should befall you on your journey. So every time I go on a business trip I take some of these charitable dollars with me, and I give them out at my destination in order to ensure the journey is a safe one. So here’s my theory. With your help, we – the People for Israel – will continue to do good. We will continue to do mitzvoth. By serving as your “shliach,” we will reach our destination and continue to help those in need. May G-d protect us, one and all.
Today’s Pictures/Videos:
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A note: As you can see above, I cite many different sources. This is intentional. Many readers have expressed a desire to see a wide array, so as to not be reliant upon just one source. I have tried to work that request into my journal.
At People for Israel, we are helping people across the Holy Land. By providing transportation to those in need, helping to enhance security in our most vulnerable communities, providing food and supplies to those in need – we are trying to do our part. When a donation is received, we utilize these funds generally within 24 – 48 hours and respond to requests we have received from across the country. Please consider giving a donation here: https://secure.cardknox.com/peopleforisrael, or asking us to speak to your church, synagogue or civic group allows us to share what is really going on here. Signing up for our journal at www.peopleforisrael.com or liking our new Facebook page is greatly appreciated: https://www.facebook.com/peopleforisraelorganization/show_switched_toast=0&show_invite_to_follow=0&show_switched_tooltip=0&show_podcast_settings=0&show_community_review_changes=0&show_community_rollback=0&show_follower_visibility_disclosure=0
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David
David at People for Israel
USA: +1.201.801.6440
Israel: +972.52.705.6300
david@peopleforisrael.com
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Since October 7, 2023
