DAY 201 OF THE WAR: Hersh Goldberg- Polin, Rockets & Drones Over Passover, Columbia Protests Continue, Ben Gurion's Wisdom

Tel Aviv Diary April 24, 2024

HOSTAGES
This afternoon’s news broadcasts were dominated by a video released by Hamas, showing 24 year old hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin. Before today, there had been no evidence Hersh was still alive since his kidnapping from the Nova Festival on October 7th. The video documenting his abduction clearly showed that he was wounded, raising strong concerns about whether he survived.

Today’s video revealed that although Hersh is missing an arm, he appears to be in reasonable health—providing a glimmer of relief for his American-Israeli family. However, despite this fleeting flash of good news, the chance of securing a hostage release agreement seems increasingly bleak. The Qatari Foreign Minister announced that with neither Hamas nor Israel willing to make concessions necessary to reach a resolution, there is currently no point in continuing negotiations.

US PASSES $17 BILLION AID PACKAGE FOR ISRAEL

On Tuesday, the Senate passed the foreign aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, following its approval in the House of Representatives. President Biden signed the aid package into law this morning. The Senate had previously passed a similar law, which was stalled in the House, primarily due to opposition from MAGA members. Trump has consistently opposed foreign aid, especially to Ukraine. However, Speaker Johnson, whom many feared would not dare defy Trump and parts of the base, agreed to bring the bill to the floor after taking part in a confidential intelligence briefing.

Johnson stated,

I believe that Xi, Putin, and Iran are truly the axis of evil. I think they are coordinating their actions. I'm willing to take personal risks for this because we have to do the right thing. And history will judge us.

Consequently, the vital foreign aid package was passed. A few years ago, I thought that Israel should wean itself off American aid, given our robust economy and the capability to finance our own defense. However, today, our economy is not as strong as it was a year ago. More critically, our defense expenditures have escalated to unprecedented levels due to the ongoing war, with no resolution in sight. Therefore, this aid has become essential.

PASSOVER UNDER ATTACK

This Passover was not a quiet holiday in Israel. On Monday, before the holiday, there was an attempted terror attack in Jerusalem. The terrorist duo managed to run over three Jerusalemites, wounding them lightly. The terrorists planned to exit their vehicle and use their submachine guns to fire on pedestrians in the area. Thankfully, their homemade submachine guns jammed before they could fire. Both terrorists were later apprehended.

On Monday night, as Israelis were sitting down for Passover Seders, there was a large rocket barrage on the northern city of Safed. Yesterday (Tuesday) morning, rockets were launched along the Gaza border area at Sderot.

Later on Tuesday, Israel killed two top Hezbollah fighters. Hezbollah responded by sending two suicide drones further south into Israel than they had until now. One drone was destroyed off the beaches of Nahariya, and the second was downed off the harbor in Akko. Tuesday evening, Hezbollah fired a barrage of 25 rockets at communities near the northern border.

Also on Tuesday night, Hamas launched five rockets from Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. In response, the IDF issued a warning to any residents who had returned to the area, advising them to evacuate as the IDF planned to conduct bombings in retaliation for the rocket attacks. It should once again be noted that the Beit Lahia region was among the first that the IDF had previously cleared.

This morning, Hezbollah fired directly at Moshav Avivim. The missiles caused extensive damage and killed hundreds of chickens.

In response, Israel initiated large-scale bombing of Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. This afternoon, there was once again a rocket attack on Sderot.

On Tuesday, Sergeant First Class Salim Alkreshat (43), a Bedouin tracker in the reserves, was shot and killed by a Hamas sniper

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MORE MISLEADING/FAKE NEWS FROM GAZA

One of the stories prominently covered by well-known journalists, such as Christiane Amanpour, reports the discovery of 300 bodies behind Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, with some showing signs of execution. The clear implication is that these 300 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces. Of course, the only factual part of the story is that 300 bodies were indeed found there. It was reported—in real time—that Israel had found a makeshift cemetery behind the hospital and was exhuming bodies in the hopes of finding additional hostages. The question should be directed at Hamas to identify the individuals whose bodies were found bound and apparently executed while in custody. Instead, the media infers it must be Israel, once again readily buying into Hamas propaganda hook, line, and sinker.

Here is a video Hamas released before Israel captured the area (where the bodies were exhumed), showing young men burying bodies in the area.

OUR “INDEPENDENT” MEDIATORS?

Essa Al-Nassr, a member of the Qatari legislative Shura council, spoke on Monday at an Arab League session, where he said the following:

There will be no peace nor negotiations with the Zionist entity for one reason: because their mentality does not recognize negotiations, but rather only…. breaking promises and lying…. They only recognize one thing, which is killings; since they are killers of prophets.