Re “What Happens When You Sleep Through a Code Red?”
[Editor’s Note: As Hamas terrorists continue firing rockets into Israel, sending frightened residents underground, our correspondent resumes her daily update.]
Dateline Jerusalem – I had just come back yesterday from a jaunt to my stairwell after the Red Code Alert sirens had wailed. A little problem unlocking my front door, but still made it into the shelter of the stairwell in record time. I am getting great exercise running to the stairwell every day. What a social life I have, meeting many neighbors while the sirens scream and the booms of rockets exploding assault our ears.
Another four-hour humanitarian cease fire yesterday. During that time Hamas launched almost 30 missiles and rockets into Israel. Good news is the Iron Dome has proven to be almost 90 percent effective in shooting down rockets. Bad news is that it was just learned that last year Chinese criminals hacked into the three top Israeli defense systems computer networks via pfishing, gaining access to sensitive data such as information on the Iron Dome. Ramifications are dire. China could possibly sabotage the functionality of the Iron Dome and/or copy our defense systems and make their own Iron Domes.
As I had predicted, the terror tunnels are booby-trapped. Israel had no choice but to proceed with a ground war to save as many civilian lives in Gaza as possible. An air war that would flatten Gaza would have been better for Israel. Yet every time Israel tries to be humane and considerate of its enemy, it backfires. Three Israeli soldiers lost their lives yesterday, may they rest in peace and their memory be a blessing, when a tunnel opening into a U.N. health facility was booby-trapped. Still, the U.N. condemned Israel while all along the U.N. allows Hamas to use health facilities and schools to store rockets and other weapons.
Human Shields Abound
What is Israel supposed to do when Hamas hides behind women and children, and fires at Israelis from schools and hospitals? Unfortunately, there have been many casualties. If Israel did not take measures I consider idiotic — like telling Hamas when and where they are going to attack, giving those in the area hours to evacuate, enabling Hamas to have time to booby-trap and ambush Israeli soldiers — perhaps Israeli lives would have been saved. No matter what Israel does to save Palestinian lives, Israel is condemned for deaths that Hamas caused.
With respect to the tools of war at Hamas's disposal, terrorist prisoners arrested by Israel revealed that Hamas has anti-aircraft missiles, anti-tank missiles, shoulder rocket launchers, drones. Hamas has established an air force. Their paragliders were trained in Malaysia to use a motored parachute to fly over and infiltrate Israel. This is all in addition to their much improved rockets and missiles that travel further and are capable of more destruction than before. Addirionally, there are the terror and smuggling tunnels, booby-trapped homes, weapons and ammunition stores, and underground bunkers.
But there have been so many miracles since the war began. A miracle occurred when a bullet hit a grenade in an Israeli soldier's pocket. The first miracle was that the grenade caught the bullet meant for the soldier. The second miracle was, the grenade did not explode. A double miracle for the soldier.
Another miracle from G-d was when the harvesting of wheat for Passover matzos three weeks ago saved a kibbutz and Israel from being infiltrated by Hamas terrorists. A group from central Israel went to the south to harvest wheat for Passover matzos. Harvesting is done during the summer because the heat dries the wheat that is stored until production starts for baking matzos. At this kibbutz near the Gaza border, rain fell late in the season. So the wheat was sown later. Because the harvesters were working near Gaza, they sped up their harvesting so they could quickly leave the area. Two days later, 13 Hamas terrorists exited from a Gaza terror tunnel into an open field near the Israeli kibbutz. The terrorists were surprised when they found that the tall staffs of wheat they had counted on for camouflage had disappeared. They were unable to successfully hide in the wheat fields since the wheat had been cut down. This enabled the Israeli army to spot them and open fire.
L'hitraot. Shachar
