DAY 103 OF THE GAZA WAR: West Bank Terrorists Attacked from Air, Chief of Staff Warns of the Chance of War in Lebanon, Iran Fires Missiles At Three Countries
Tel Aviv Diary, January 18, 2024
Today was a day of warfare on three fronts —the Lebanese Border, Gaza, and the West Bank.
WEST BANK
Five terrorists in Tulkarem were neutralized in an air strike. In Nablus, another three terrorists were eliminated through a similar operation.
Some commentators are drawing parallels between the West Bank and Gaza, suggesting that the West Bank is becoming like Gaza. However, that seems like a bit of an exaggeration. Unlike in Gaza, our army has the ability to move in and out of West Bank cities freely, and thus far, has been highly effective in thwarting terror attacks originating from the West Bank.
GAZA
Following the rocket attack on Netivot yesterday, IDF soldiers pursued the perpetrators in Gaza and successfully apprehended the terrorists responsible for the launch. Today, the IDF located and destroyed the underground launch sites capable of firing rockets simultaneously
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The Army has successfully secured control over two-thirds of the town of Khan Younis, and is now advancing into the Western section. It is expected to take up to two weeks to gain control of the Western part of the town. One of the most important locations in the area is Nasser Hospital, which is considered a hub of Hamas activities. However, Nasser Hospital is a very sensitive location. To put this in perspective, I am on the mailing list of Doctors Without Borders, and this is an excerpt from an e-mail I received today:
During a visit to the hospital yesterday, Leo Cans, MSF head of mission for Palestine, said that Nasser—now Gaza’s largest functioning health facility—was operating at 300 percent capacity.
Cans continued:The situation is catastrophic. There are way too many patients for the staff to handle. The fighting is very close to us. We hear a lot of bombing around, a lot of shooting around. Yesterday (January 15), there was an airstrike 150 meters from the entrance of the hospital that killed eight people and injured more than 80 people.
The issue of hospitals is especially sensitive. Despite the extensive evidence the IDF has provided on how Hamas misuses and exploits hospitals as an integral resource in their terror network, for many people, even those who support Israel, targeting hospitals is out of bounds.
The IDF released the names of two soldiers who were killed yesterday in Gaza
Defense Minister Galant spoke to the soldiers of Israel’s Navy Seal unit, and told them that we intend to fight until we are victorious against Hamas. However, this will take time, and none of them should make any summer plans.
MEDICINE TO HOSTAGES
Two plane loads of medicine entered Gaza today. According to an agreement negotiated between Hamas by Qatar and France, Gaza would receive medication in return for a portion going to the hostages.
A minor governmental crisis occurred after a Hamas spokesman stated that the medicine would arrive in Gaza without being checked by Israel. Prime Minister Netanyahu, who had taken credit for brokering the deal to provide medicine for the hostages, subsequently claimed that organizing a mechanism to verify the medicine delivery was not his responsibility. Netanyahu said it was the Army’s responsibility to ensure the medicine was checked — when in fact the IDF had no part in the negotiations for these arrangements and only found out about the deal from the media. A firestorm broke out that included Benny Gantz attacking Netanyahu, stating it was us (i.e., the government, and not the Army) that was responsible for making the agreement. Only then did Netanyahu backtrack and order Amy to inspect the medicine before it entered Gaza. By the evening, trucks carrying the medicine had entered Gaza following inspections by Israeli authorities. Do we know that Hamas will keep its part of the bargain and provide life-saving medicine to the hostages? No. But we deeply hope so.
THE LEBANESE BORDER
There were multiple missile and rocket attacks in the towns of Shlomi, Rosh Haniqra, and Kiryat Shmona. Army Chief of Staff, Hertzi Halevi visited the North today. The major headline that Israeli media took from Halevi’s remarks was: “I can tell you that the chances of it (war with Lebanon) happening in the coming months is much higher than what it was in the past.” Below are Halevi’s complete remarks, as recorded.
Exercises were always something very important; they are more important now. We are doing a chapter on preparing for war in Lebanon; there are a lot of lessons to learn from the fighting in Gaza. Many of them are very relevant for fighting in Lebanon, but others must be modified for Lebanon. We want to achieve a very clear goal in Lebanon, which is to bring back the residents of the north and all the communities in the north. We understand that this must go through a significant change. I don’t now when the war in the north will take place, I can tell you that the chances of it happening in the coming months, is much higher than what it was in the past. I can tell you that I think we are starting it with much more advantage, victory, self-confidence on our part, confidence a lot of experience, surprises, and advancements that have been made. What remains is to train with seriousness, a strong spirit of people and when it’s necessary to moving forward with all their might.
IRAN
I wish I had something very insightful to say about the Iranian attacks yesterday on both locations in Iraq, Syria, and Pakistan. In Iraq, they attacked a very pro-American part of the country Kurdistan. The Iranians asserted that their target was a Mossad base situated there, but they ended up killing a family of Kurdish Iraqis.
In Pakistan, Iranian missiles are said to have damaged a mosque and killed two children. Pakistan recalled its Ambassador to Iran and vowed to retaliate. Iran’s decision to attack locations in Pakistan seems bizarre to me. Even if the Iranians considered the mosque a legitimate target, it makes no strategic sense to turn Pakistan into an active enemy.
I think the Iranians are a little drunk on the power that they believe their missiles give them. This is what Iran's Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani stated today: “We are a missile power in the world; wherever they want to threaten the Islamic Republic of Iran, we will react, and this reaction will definitely be proportionate, tough, and decisive.”
BUSINESS
Xyte company raised $30 million in Series A funding, including a $20 million investment led by Intel Capital with the participation of Samsung Next, existing investors S Capital and Mindset Ventures, and a $10 million debt financing from BlackRock. Roy Bar-Kat, manager of Intel Capital in Israel, will join Xyte's board of directors as part of the round. To date, the company has raised a total of $37 million, including the debt financing.
Xyte is developing a platform that allows hardware manufacturers and IoT Devices to manage all their products in a cloud environment. This enables them to offer business models based on a subscription service (as-a-service), similar to the models offered by technology giants like Tesla and Apple. The platform allows manufacturers in various industries to move their connected devices and components to the cloud, provide remote customer support, and develop commercial models based on service, with all activities managed in one place.