Category: News

Update: the number is now reported at around 2800 injuries and 9 deaths, but in the first moments afterward it was reported as around 1100.  

1100 Hezbollah pagers suddenly explode in attack, resulting in injuries, no deaths.

The pagers had been delivered to Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria by Iran, in an attempt to use low-tech to prevent Israel from cell phone tracking.  Israel will not take responsibility, at least not at first.

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Pray for safety:  Israel defense has stated that right now, Israel is closer to all-out war with Hezbollah than at any time since Oct 7. Clearly, this seems like an attempt to discourage Hezbollah from escalating.

It must be so demoralizing:  2800 Hezbollah fighters are suddenly forced to rethink their decision to accept a job offer from Iran.  I pray that they will realize that it’s better to take the path of peace.

2024-09-18 Further updates:

As reported, the beeper explosions started around 3:30 in the afternoon and continued for about one hour:

“Experts were mystified by the explosions but several who spoke to Reuters said they doubted the battery alone would have been enough to cause the blasts.” – ToI

“The Israeli concerns that led to the decision to conduct the attack were first reported by Al-Monitor, which said two Hezbollah operatives raised suspicions about the pagers in recent days.” -Axios

“The unidentified [Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] member says the pager belonging to the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon had beeped for a few seconds before he raised it. According to the outlet, the envoy has lost one eye and the blast severely injured his second.” -NYT, ToI

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Photo Source:  

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/some-1000-said-wounded-in-coordinated-hezbollah-pager-detonation-no-deaths-reported/

Articles: 
https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-riddle-wrapped-in-a-mystery-inside-a-pager-what-we-know-about-the-hezbollah-beeper-blasts/
https://www.axios.com/2024/09/18/hezbollah-pager-explosions-israel-suspicions
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/irgc-member-to-nyt-hezbollah-pagers-beeped-for-a-few-seconds-so-users-would-hold-them-up-to-read/

Look at all these nice neat rows of tents, made of white cloth to reflect the hot sun:

The IDF protects this area from the Arab armies in order to shield these Arab civilians.  The IDF has moved these Arab civilians here because other areas were converted into military assets by the Arab army – rendering them unsafe for civilians.

When Arab militants violate international laws of war to set up missile launchers in civilian locations such as mosques, hospitals, and schools, and then they launch from there, expecting the civilian presence to shield them from counterattack (a second violation of law), the IDF evacuates the civilians before the counterattack.  By law, the IDF is not required to do this:  When the opponent violates the law by converting a civilian location into a military location, by law that location may legally be attacked as a legitimate military location.  The militants by their action have converted the location.  When that occurs, wise civilians will flee that area unless prevented from doing so.  Foolish civilians will naively stay, either trusting in the good-heartedness of their opponents to not attack, or for the purpose of willingly laying down their lives in support of their own army.

Beyond all that, this again begs the question: What genocide?  When the IDF establishes and protects civilian tent cities for its enemy – how does that accomplish any genocidal goals?  Israel is not genocidal against anyone, not even against its most committed enemies.

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Source:  https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-orders-evacuations-in-northern-gazas-beit-lahiya-after-rocket-attack-on-israel/

Saul the former king tried to kill David, the rightful and upcoming king, five times, including:

And Saul spake to Jonathan his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. (1Sa 19:1 KJV)

Saul improperly maintained his power position even after David was anointed, and clearly had mixed feelings for David.

Yet David was similar to King Saul, to wield his own power to plan an assassination.  As king, David assassinated Uriah in order to cover up David’s sin of adultery: 

And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. (2Sa 11:15 KJV)

Arguably, the United States Secret Service was pulled back and became unable to effectively protect candidate former President Trump on Sept 15 as well as on July 13.  There are some unusual hints to this effect.  One example: shortly after Trump’s rally was announced in July, a rushed First Lady Jill Biden rally was planned in the same region, and this decision pulled human protective resources on that day.  Second: the FBI washed the crime scene, removing all evidence.  Third: planned visual blockages between the rooftop and the stage were not installed as planned; Fourth: unarmed civilians noticed the shooter on July 13, taking photos and video, and on Sept 15 another civilian provided the key photo to catch the shooter.  Clearly, Secret Service failed in to keep both areas safe in the first place. 

Pulling the Secret Service back to allow Trump to be hit – twice – is like David pulling his men back so that Uriah could be killed (2 Samuel 11). The pullback from Uriah is clearly recorded in history, yet the modern pullback from Trump remains to be definitively known.

This is how David prayed in the midst of assassination attempts against him: 

Deliver me from mine enemies, O my God: defend me from them that rise up against me. (Psa 59:1 KJV)  [[To the chief Musician, Altaschith, Michtam of David; when Saul sent, and they watched the house to kill him.]] 

And this is how David repented for his own adultery and murder of her husband:  

Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. (Psa 51:1 KJV) [[To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.]]

Trump made a last-minute decision to play golf Sept 15; and yet, shooter Ryan Routh knew about it somehow and was on stakeout at the golf course to line up his shot.  A passerby witnessed Routh running to his car during his escape and snapped a photo of the car and license plate, which he delivered to the police.  Routh’s car was stopped on on a road shortly after,  he was taken into custody for questioning, and he was then identified by the witness with the camera.  

Ryan Routh, an antisemite, Trump hater, and former Republican voter, evidently became disappointed with Trump, a Republican.  Apparently, Routh wrote a book describing his issues.  Basically, Trump did not fulfill some of Routh’s leftist ideals.  Thus, Routh voted solidly for the Democrat Party ever since 2019.  That timing may relate to the 2018 timing when the Trump Administration heeded the 1995 Congressional law to relocate the US Embassy back to Jerusalem, recognized Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, and built peace agreements between Israel and Arab nations such as Bahrain and the UAE.  Routh thinks Israel ought to be replaced by Palestine, and as such, may have taken offense at actions such as those.  Routh also worked to recruit Afghan warriors to fight in Ukraine.  It would be fair to assume that Routh was emboldened by the weakened Secret Service performance at the first assassination attempt on July 13, and clearly, on September 15 the security detail was clearly not strong enough to match the current threat level against the challenger for the  incumbent.   

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Protect our village guards in Samaria.

Hamas films hostage videos with multiple takes, director instructions as to what they want the hostages to say.

Wall Street Journal reported the testimony from former hostage Aviva Siegel, that Hamas told her what to say on the video:

“‘You didn’t say that you’re 62.’ ‘You didn’t say that you’re from Kfar Aza.’ ‘You didn’t say that Bibi needs to bring you back,’” she said, using the nickname of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

With insight, we warned against viewing Hamas movies way back in October 2023, because we foresaw the plans for manipulation:

Hamas’ purpose with the Aviva and Hersh type of film is to psychologically torment Israelis so that they will pressure the government to quit attacking Hamas.

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Source:  https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/inside-hamas-israeli-hostage-video-production-a8570c06

It wasn’t just my imagination. Over 100 missiles fired at the North the other day, around 7:57 pm and lasting about 3 minutes. That’s a lot in such a short time. And yep, it’s added up to be the highest amount of missiles from Hezbollah in any 1-month period since the start of this war: 

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“Unfortunately, every day we have to tell more families that they will not have a home to return to, there are houses that need to be demolished and rebuilt,” said the mayor of Kiryat Shmona to the Ynet news site.

Source:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/1307-rockets-fired-from-lebanon-in-august-more-than-any-month-since-war-started/

Sept 5, 1972: Palestinians massacred Israeli athletes at the Olympic games in Munich, Germany.
On the eve of Sept 5, 2024, a huge barrage of over 100 missiles from Lebanon were fired at Israel starting at 7:58 pm. The next morning in Munich, a gunman opened fire at police near the Israeli consulate in Munich, apparently, in commemoration of the massacre 52 years ago.
If the special missile barrage was also meant to be a grim reminder as well – that is anyone’s guess.

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The IDF shot down this drone from Iraq outside of Israeli airspace last night.

All these military groups are backed by Iran and involved in attacking Israel:

Islamic Resistance in Iraq

Hamas in Lebanon, Syria, Judea and Samaria, Gaza.

Hezbollah in Lebanon & Syria

Houthis in Yemen

Iran itself

Other terrorists in Samaria and Judea.

Pray and Support  our work in Samaria.

Sources: 

@idfonline on Twitter/X

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/idf-shoots-down-drone-apparently-launched-from-iraq/

• A ton of smoke and fire last night at many thousands of Israelis took to the streets in efforts to pressure the government to make a deal with Hamas at any price;
• The airport was closed for just a few hours; the Labor Union called for a general strike, but not all cities agreed to participate;
• By noon today, the labor court determined that because of the political nature of the strike, it was not legal to keep it going until 6 pm, but it must be stopped by 2:30 pm this afternoon.

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Netanyahu said: “He who murders hostages does not want a deal.”
https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/biden-hamas-leaders-will-pay-for-these-crimes-upm9t9r7

The real reason Hamas cannot release all the hostages:  https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/the-real-reason-hamas-cant-free-the-remaining-hostages-iikx7t8f

“Sinwar’s main demands are the end of the war and the withdrawal of the IDF from the entire Gaza Strip. He is also seeking American guarantees that Israel will not continue the war after the hostage deal is completed.”

^^^ Above: And this, in short, is why Israel cannot simply “sign and agree, get the hostages back, and then destroy Hamas afterwards,” as so many armchair quarterbacks have naively suggested. 

Sources: 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2024/sep/02/israel-gaza-war-live-israel-faces-nationwide-general-strike-amid-public-anger-over-hostage-deaths-and-failed-ceasefire-talks?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with:block-66d598db8f08e261247963cb#block-66d598db8f08e261247963cb

https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/biden-hamas-leaders-will-pay-for-these-crimes-upm9t9r7

https://www.thejc.com/news/israel/the-real-reason-hamas-cant-free-the-remaining-hostages-iikx7t8f

Gazans shot these hostages in the head and ran away, because they sensed the IDF was coming to the tunnel.

‘

And yes, the IDF could tell that the hostages had been murdered just a short time earlier.

As we can see, this includes American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a dual Israeli-American citizen.

My thoughts:  Now, we cannot know whether the same would have happened even if a deal had been reached. It might have ended up the same for these hostages.  Second, we must resist any temptation to dehumanize Hamas or Gazans because “they act like animals.”  Despite their behavior, they are fully human and will stand before YHWH one day on Judgement Day; and they have full agency and responsibility for their choices; as do all people worldwide.  What they have done is strategic, as a way to psychologically hurt Israelis with emotional pain.

Third, naive statements like “just sign a deal with Hamas already and get it over with” utterly fail to take into account the fact that Hamas has no interest in signing a deal – and it shows in their behavior.  Israel has accepted every proposal from the USA and Hamas has rejected it.

Finally, Israel has a red line.  Israel absolutely must, in any deal, maintain control over the Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza/Egypt border.  That’s the way that Hamas will rearm themselves if Egypt still has it.

As I’ve said before, Hamas negotiates as if they think they are winning.

And yet, the voters in Gaza elected Hamas to their government, and at that time, the US President basically said that the world must honor their election because it was a democratic choice.  There have been no signs of the US or any other nation making attempts for regime change in Gaza.

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Meanwhile another big story today:  An investigation has revealed that the invasion from Gaza into Israel on Oct 7 was not 3,000 Gazans but 6,000.  Originally, the estimate was 1,200 Hamas militants and 1,800 Gazan civilians.  Today the investigation reports it was more like 3,800 militants (!!) and 2,200 “peaceful Gazan civilians” who crossed over to join in the murder, rape, hostage-taking, or looting.  We have already learned that one of the hostages who returned alive several months ago had been taken by Gazan civilians and then sold to Hamas.

Meanwhile – further attacks on Jews today in Judea and Samaria.

Israeli society in mourning:

• First day of school today, and high-school teachers are on strike, because of lowe wages;
• The Labor Union has called for a total shutdown, because of the six hostage bodies found;
• The Government cancelled its weekly noon meeting (each sunday at noon) because of the hostage bodies that were found;
• This morning there were numerous road junction closures as mourners seek to close the country down (yet normal daily work goes on today as far as I can see in my areas);  2024-09-01 Society Update

sources: 

https://www.timesofisrael.com/bodies-of-6-hostages-murdered-by-hamas-just-days-earlier-found-in-rafah-idf/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hersh-carmel-alex-eden-or-almog-the-6-hostages-murdered-by-hamas-just-days-ago/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-finds-bodies-in-gaza-that-may-be-of-hostages-identification-process-underway/



IDF Chief of Staff assesses scene of Tarqumiyah Junction terror attack

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-817282



A classic ploy: Iran feigns interest in deal as it edges towards nuclear capability

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-816994

The Harris Biden Administration in the US seems to be just going thru the motions, to keep up appearances of supporting Israel, while at the same time wishing to reward terrorists with a new state; all in order to make an election win feasible on Nov 5, 2024.

Since January 2024, the Biden Harris administration in the US has stated:
1. Any day now a peace deal between Hamas and Israel is just about to occur, Yet, the deal never came and it’s 9 months running: “Peace, peace and there is no peace,” Ezek 13:10;
2. A Saudi – Israel agreement is possible before the election, even though Biden & Harris abandoned that agreement in their first year, for fear of giving the credit to the Trump Administration which had done all the legwork;
3. Harris/Biden ignored warnings that the rushed setup of a pier in the sea to deliver aid to Gaza would be problematic, yet Harris/Biden went and did it anyway. In line with the warnings, the pier failed due to weather fluctuations.

Sworn enemies cannot be forced to “just get along,” and bad weather cannot be ignored.  Hamas has it written in their founding constitution: their goal to wipe out all the Jews.  Ever since January 2024, Hamas has rejected every deal on the table.  Israel tries to live and let live; even in wartime the IDF seeks to attack only combatants.  Right now the US administration desperately wants a Hamas-Israel peace deal, and a Saudi-Israel peace deal, simply to get reelection on Nov 5, 2024, and gain another 4 years of power. That’s it. If the US administration really cared about peace, they wouldn’t have opened the floodgates for $100 Billion USD to suddenly flow into the Iranian regime government.

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sources:

Hamas rejects deal terms, Israeli negotiators return from Cairo:  
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-816243

https://www.timesofisrael.com/no-breakthroughs-in-cairo-talks-as-us-says-mediators-pushing-feverishly-for-deal/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/former-rahat-mayor-says-rescued-hostage-told-him-another-captive-died-by-his-side/

IDF discovers missiles, ammo, knives next to a baby's crib in Gaza:  
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-816444

Joe Biden ordered Gaza pier to be built despite fears of aid experts:  
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/28/joe-biden-us-gaza-aid-pier-usaid-concerns-israel-war-palestine