Day 619: Close to Home

In the barrage around 4 AM in the morning of June 16, the interceptor explosions in the sky above my bomb shelter sounded much closer than the Tel Aviv ones had in previous days. Turns out that’s because the target was Petach Tikvah – a large city in Central Israel. A residential building was struck.

It’s the kind of hit where being in a bomb shelter may not have helped at all.

Excerpt from the Jerusalem Post report:


Zaki Heller, MDA spokesman, told Udi Segal and Anat Davidov on 103FM radio that it is possible that being in a safe room would not have prevented the victim’s deaths, although would being in a protected space significantly improves the chance of survival.

“When a missile hits a structure directly, it is possible that even the protected room here will not withstand such a missile,” he shared. “We are going apartment by apartment and making sure that there are no casualties, the main event – two buildings with 20 floors, the scans in each of the apartments. We treated 43 casualties.”


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Sources: 
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-857861

Day 618: Large ballistic missiles strike Israeli civilian areas

After the second consecutive night of missile barrages from Iran:

10 confirmed dead including baby;

Hundreds injured;

7 missing;

There are zero Israeli military fatalities in Bat Yam, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, or the Arab city Tamra.

These are 100% civilian cities.

Israeli security and rescue forces at the scene of an apartment building destroyed by an Iranian ballistic missile impact, in Bat Yam, June 15, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

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Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot said in a statement that “61 buildings were damaged in one way or another — six of them will need to be completely demolished.”

In Rehovot, at least 42 people were wounded, including two seriously and 13 moderately, MDA reported. One man was alive for hours under the rubble at the site of the strike, until rescuers managed to extract him.


Sources:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/israelis-describe-fear-and-chaos-as-iranian-missiles-slam-into-central-israel-homes/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/6-dead-including-2-children-in-iranian-missile-strike-on-bat-yam-apartment-building/


Operation Am Calevia: מבצע עם כלביא

Translation: Operation “A People Rises Like a Lioness.”

Do not trust the online translations saying “Operation With a Dog” – those translators do not know the difference between modern and Biblical Hebrew.

Numbers 23:22-24:

God brings them out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox. 23 “For [there is] no sorcery against Jacob, Nor any divination against Israel. It now must be said of Jacob And of Israel, ‘Oh, what God has done!’ 24 Look, a people rises like a lioness, And lifts itself up like a lion; It shall not lie down until it devours the prey, And drinks the blood of the slain.” [Num 23:22-24 NKJV]

 

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Day 616: 3AM Missile threats in Samaria, apparently soon after IDF strikes in Natanz, Iran

At 3 am, I thought it was Houthi missiles, but it was a wave of Iranian drones.

Apparently the battle is on, and so here in Samaria we can expect a lot more from Yemen, Iran, and who knows who else very soon.  About 40 minutes after my two cats and I emerged from our bomb shelter, these alerts came through, signaling a general state of lockdown and alert for now – which could be days or weeks, depending.

 

 

 

 

Requesting Your Prayer and Practical Support.

US Envoy Steve Witkoff has warned Congress that Israel’s defenses could be overwhelmed by Iran unless a multinational defense coalition is formed.

Israeli President Herzog has said that Israel’s Iran strikes intend to ‘neutralize an immediate, existential threat to our people’

 

Missiles, drones, whatever, this is gearing up to be a dangerous battle between Iran and Israel – with many potential casualties. The USA does not want to get involved offensively – so – will assist with Israel’s defense. Domestically the Israeli police are gearing up to defend against the enemy within.

 

 

Requesting Your Prayer and Practical Support.

 

The whole nation is on lockdown, and Level 4 (the highest) alert.

 

Here’s what Israel’s attack on nuclear facilities looked like:

Sources:



https://www.timesofisrael.com/witkoff-said-to-warn-iranian-response-to-israeli-strike-could-lead-to-mass-casualties/





https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/herzog-israels-iran-strikes-to-neutralize-an-immediate-existential-threat-to-our-people/  

             

  


https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-857598  
  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbdDMW3vihs

 

The Guardian’s Melanie Phillips: “The Left is fundamentally racist”

The full conversation, including: “At the start of my work as a writer for The Guardian, I thought I was ‘one of them,’ but later I realized that I wasn’t:”

 

Here is a 1 minute clip:

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Sources:

youtube.com/watch?v=Aq4suTStoxE

 

youtube.com/watch?v=svDCo75mN7M​

 

 

Just Great: More escalations between Israel and Iran

  • No hint of USA involvement.
  • Israel government probably does not want to take chances that Iran will fake out the USA with insincere diplomacy.
  • Iran plans the counterattack against Israel.
  • Israel may have to consider how much time Iran has left to rebuild their air defenses which Israel destroyed previously after the big Iranian missile attack.

 

Excerpt:

Screenshot from Times of Israel taken on 12 Jun 2025.

 

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Source:


https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/iran-has-plans-for-immediate-counterattack-if-israel-strikes-nuclear-facilities-nyt-reports/


  

  

“Selfie yacht” with less than half a truck of food aboard

Israel has sent in over 1,200 truckloads of aid into Gaza during the past two weeks.

This “selfie yacht” full of virtue-signaling attention-seekers carried about half a truckload of aid. Not very efficient.  Still, Israel took their aid and delivered it to Gazan civilians.

Captured on 2025-06-10 from the X/Twitter account of the Israel Foreign Ministry.

Just look at Greta Thunberg there: Reluctantly forced to smile and accept the kindness offered to her from the Israelis, given in the form of water bottles, sandwiches, and hospitable treatment, even though she and her sailors despise the Jews and sought to slander Israel.

 

Israel towed the “selfie ship” to port and showed the sailors 43-minutes of raw terrorist footage of the Gazans’ atrocities against women, children, men, and elderly, who were massacred in cold blood while sleeping in their beds on Shabbat morning, Simhat Torah on October 7, 2023.  That footage – from the Gazans’ own body cameras – is not for public consumption as it would cause trauma in the viewers. It is however offered to members of the media and leaders of nations, so that they know what really happened.

 

They refused to watch the video:

 

Text of the Israel Foreign Ministry tweet:

“Good morning to all our followers:   In case you missed it:  The ‘selfie yacht’ is safely making its way to the shores of Israel. The passengers are safe and were provided with sandwiches and water, and are expected to return to their home countries.  The tiny amount of aid that wasn’t consumed by the “celebrities” will be transferred to Gaza through real humanitarian channels.  More than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two weeks, and close to 11 million meals were transferred by the GHF directly to civilians in Gaza. There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip — they do not involve provocations and selfies.”

Here’s How to Help Us Continue Our Work.

 

Sources:

https://x.com/Israel/status/1931983917545869409

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-857132

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/katz-detained-flotilla-activists-refused-to-watch-film-of-hamas-atrocities-on-oct-7/