DAY 73 OF THE GAZA WAR: Seven Soldiers Are Killed, US Def Sec Austin Announces Red Sea Operation
Tel Aviv Diary, December 18, 2023
It was another difficult day in Israel; one more in a long line of taxing days. Today, the names of seven soldiers who died in Gaza in the last 24 hours were released.
One of the fallen soldiers who stood out was Sgt. First Class Urija Bayer, a Christian Israeli whose grandparents had come to Israel from Germany to establish an old age and vacation home for Holocaust survivors. Bayer’s grandparents dedicated their lives to making amends for Germany’s past transgressions, a mission his parents continued. Now, more than half a century later, their grandson was killed protecting Israel.
INSIDE GAZA
The IDF reports slow but steady progress in both Shuja'iyya and Jabaliya. The city of Jabaliya seems almost completely under Israeli control, while there is still fierce fighting in Shuja'iyya. Khan Younis was the center of today's fighting characterized by intense house-to-house combat. The IDF states that they are determined to locate and eliminate the Hamas leadership, who are believed to be stationed somewhere underneath Khan Younis. However, after viewing the massive tunnel uncovered in Northern Gaza by the IDF yesterday, it seems implausible that Hamas leaders would remain in an area heavily occupied by thousands of Israeli troops. Given the circumstances, it would be more reasonable to assume that the Hamas targets might have moved to Rafiah or other areas not presently within the Israeli military's operational zone
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One of the shortcomings of our strategy in Gaza, particularly at this stage, 72 days into the war, has been our failure to capitalize on our superior maneuverability to cover broader areas. Instead, we are engaging in house-to-house combat. Fighting house-to-house is difficult in the best of circumstances, and it's much more difficult when the army is up against an extensive tunnel system that allows our enemy the freedom to maneuver and the ability to surprise at any time.
In Israel, there's a growing fear that, given the current pace, we might win every battle, but lose the war. There's uncertainty about whether we have enough time to win each battle. Even if we win in battle there's a palpable absence of a clear plan for what comes next. This lack of a well-defined exit strategy makes it challenging to envision what victory would actually look like.
IN THE NORTH
The North was a battlefield once again today, with repeated Hezbollah attacks on both Kiryat Shmonah and Shlomi, both on the border. In the case of Kiryat Shmonah, there were several direct hits that caused property damage. however, thankfully, no one was injured in either of these two almost completely empty towns.
This evening, an Iranian militia group fired rockets at Israel from Syria, all of which fell in open fields. Israel responded by attacking a Syrian Army position. Hezbollah has admitted to losing over 100 of its soldiers in the weeks of conflict along the border.
ROCKET FIRE ON ISRAEL DECREASES
On a positive note, the number of rockets being fired at Israel has dropped precipitously. It has been more than a week since the Tel Aviv area has experienced a rocket attack, and even the rocket attacks on the areas immediately surrounding Gaza have decreased; with fewer rockets being launched at wider intervals. Evidently, the ground operation has succeeded in reducing the intensity of rocket assaults from Gaza. We have been capturing a large number of rockets and destroying the workshops in which the rockets are produced.
DEFENSE SECRETARY AUSTIN AND JOINT CHIEFS CHAIR BROWN VISIT ISRAEL
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Brown have been in Israel today and met with the country's leadership, as well as, with the entire war cabinet. In his press conference, Austin stated: “This is Israel's operation; I am not here to dictate timelines or terms." It seems what Austin said in public is not much different from what he shared in private – the US is not insisting on a specific timetable to end the war, but continues to push for a plan that addresses the day after. The US is also staunchly advocating for the sending of more humanitarian aid into Gaza
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Tonight, Austin officially announced the formation of “Operation Prosperity Guardian” to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. In the announcement Austin stated:
The recent escalation in reckless Houthi attacks originating from Yemen threatens the free flow of commerce, endangers innocent mariners, and violates international law. The Red Sea is a critical waterway that has been essential to freedom of navigation and a major commercial corridor that facilitates international trade. Countries that seek to uphold the foundational principle of freedom of navigation must come together to tackle the challenge posed by this non-state actor launching ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at merchant vessels from many nations lawfully transiting international waters.”
The announcement goes on to say:
Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity.
ATROCITIES OF OCTOBER 7 ON FILM
The Israeli government showed a film of the atrocities of October 7th to a group of Muslim and Christian clerics. The Muslim clerics emerged notably disturbed, asserting that everything they had witnessed in the film was in violation of Islamic teachings.
CYBER ATTACK ON ISRAEL/IRAN
This morning, the Israeli National Cyber Command announced that the cyber attack a few weeks ago against Ziv Hospital in Safed was carried out by Iran. Coincidentally, a group of Israeli-supporting hackers announced they had hacked the gas stations in Iran, and indeed, 60-70% of the gas stations in Iran stopped working this morning. Is there a connection?
RENEWED HOSTAGE DEAL?
The Head of the Mossad met with the Head of the CIA and the Foreign Minister of Qatar in Warsaw today. The purpose of the meeting was to explore the possibility of engaging with Hamas in some sort of renewed hostage deal. While Hamas keeps stating they are not open to negotiation without a ceasefire, a video was released tonight showing three of the elderly male hostages. There is cautiously guarded optimism that reaching a deal for the release of elderly hostages might be possible.
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