War Day 370: Hezbollah Begging for Ceasefire, Iran Paranoid with Fear

War Summary, Day 370: Hezbollah is collapsing without leadership, IDF hitting around 200 Hezbollah targets daily, three senior Hezbollah commanders eliminated, Hezbollah begging for a ceasefire, U.S. trying to install a President in Lebanon, and Iranian regime paranoia is on an all-time high.

By Mrs. Bruria Efune

101 held captive in Gaza.
36 hostages confirmed murdered held in Gaza.
117 living hostages rescued.
37 hostage bodies rescued.
1,680 Israelis killed.
354 fallen soldiers and police in the battle in Gaza.
42 fallen soldiers in Northern Israel.
14 fallen soldiers and police in Judea & Samaria.
26,400 estimated projectiles fired at Israel.
88,000 Israelis displaced from their homes.
1 Jewish nation united in prayer, charity, and good deeds.

Gaza:

– The IDF announced the names of three heroes who fell in battle in Northern Gaza:

Major Netanel Hershkovitz, 37

Master Sergeant Ori Moshe Borenstein, 32

Master Sergeant Matityahu Marantz Tzvi, 32

– The 162nd Division is operating in Jabaliya in Northern Gaza, the 252nd in the Netzarim Corridor and Al-Bureij in Central Gaza, and the Gaza Division is controlling Rafah and the buffer zone.

– On Wednesday the IDF hit over 45 Hamas targets across Gaza.

Lebanon:

– Hezbollah is averaging about 200 missiles a day at Israeli civillians. Fire on Wednesday was particularly heavy:

– A barrage on Kiryat Shemona killed a couple who were on a brief visit to check on their home.

– A barrage of 40 rockets on Haifa caused heavy damage and injured two people, including a child. Another person was injured in a car crash as a result of the sirens.

– In a barrage of 90 rockets on Safed and the area, one house took a direct hit, and miraculously, no one was injured.

– Hezbollah is collapsing, with most of its leadership gone, and the inability to coordinate activity.

– Four IDF divisions are operating in Southern Lebanon, and have already taken all the positions planned for the first stage. These positions were villages from where Hezbollah planned to infiltrate into Israel in a massive attack with up to 6,000 Radwan terrorists.

– Troops are operating thoroughly: searching for tunnels and all Hezbollah munitions before moving ahead. The goal is to clean up and disarm Hezbollah.

– Like Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah hides huge amounts of munitions in civilian homes.

– The IDF is hitting around 180-200 Hezbollah targets daily in Lebanon. Targets are in three main areas: Southern Lebanon, from where Hezbollah’s militia attacks Israel; the Dahiya district of Beirut, which is a Hezbollah command stronghold; and the Baalbek district, where weapons parts smuggled in via Syria are assembled and stored.

– Thursday airstrikes eliminated three senior Hezbollah commanders.

– A Thursday evening strike in Beirut appears to have targeted Wafiq Safa, Hezbollah’s notorious Minister of Defense and Interior, and brother-in-law of Nasrallah. It’s unknown if he survived.

– Troops on ground are working closely with the Air Force, and have directed over 1,300 airstrikes since the start of the maneuver. Targets include tunnels, terrorist positions, and observation points. One airstrike target was just 50 meters from troops, and the fastest call-to-airstrike so far was 7 minutes.

– IDF troops destroyed the “Iran Garden” and plowed down the statue of former IRGC commander, Qassam Solemeini, which had been pointing at Israel.

– A UNIFIL unit which refused to evacuate its position after repeated IDF requests, now says that they were hit by IDF fire. It’s unclear why UNIFIL is refusing to leave—their sole job was to keep Hezbollah out of the area, which they seem to have done the opposite of.

– Israel flipped the script: Until a few weeks ago, Hezbollah was conditioning a ceasefire on IDF withdrawal from Gaza. Now Hezbollah is begging for a ceasefire, saying they will not connect it to Gaza. But Israel is conditioning it on the release of all hostages from Gaza, in addition to the complete disarming of Hezbollah.

– The U.S. is taking advantage of Hezbollah’s weakness, and trying to get Lebanon to install a President, something which Hezbollah was blocking since 2022.

Iran:

– Iranian regime paranoia is on an all-time high. After no news about IRGC commander, General Esmail Qaani, there are now reports that he suffered a severe heart attack during interrogations under suspicion that he was a spy for Israel. (All these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt.)

– Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “Our attack will be deadly, precise, and above all surprising. They will not understand what happened and how.”

– There is an unusual near-unanimous agreement across Israel’s political spectrum that Israel must take advantage of the moment to severely weaken Iran’s threat to Israel, in particular, the nuclear threat.

– On Thursday night the Israeli cabinet met to give the vote that will allow the Prime Minister and Defense Minister to choose and execute the attack on Iran.

– Iran says they will respond with fire to Israel within 15 minutes of seeing Israeli warplanes. (The attack might not even be with warplanes.)

– Nobody knows when it will be, but I suspect that Israel will wait until after Yom Kippur, to reduce risk to the full synagogues.

– On Wednesday, Netanyahu spoke with Biden about the plans. Biden tried to talk Israel out of attacking Iran’s nuclear plants. It appears that Netanyahu did not say exactly what Israel plans. The U.S. reportedly wants Israel to tone down the attack, and avoid a wider war ahead of US elections.

– Note to voters in the U.S., especially in swing states: Your outspoken support for Israel, and how it affects your vote, is making a positive impact on Israel’s ability to act freely with reduced concern of repercussion from the Biden administration.

Other Iranian Proxies:

– The IDF continues to “allegedly” attack Iranian positions and weapons sites in Syria, particularly along the Lebanon-border, but without taking credit.

– The IDF intercepted a couple of drones from Iraqi militia, in both the north, and near the coast of Eilat.

– The Houthis in Yemen attacked a commercial ship in the Res Sea, for the first time this month.

Terror attack:

– On Wednesday, a terrorist went on a stabbing spree in Hadera, injuring six people, two of them seriously, before he was caught and eliminated.

– CCTV footage later revealed that the terrorist had first attempted to enter a kindergarten, but thank God, it was locked.

– The terrorist was from an Arab village in northern Israel.

– In a separate incident, the Shin Bet foiled a plot to bomb the Azrieli mall in Tel Aviv. The planned terrorists were 5 Israeli Arabs who had pledged allegiance to ISIS

Judea & Samaria:

– In an unusual incident, IDF special forces opened fire on a moving vehicle in Shechem (Nablus) in broad daylight, eliminating four terrorists who were an imminent threat.

Home Front Command:

– The Home Front issues specific directives to Israelis forces Yom Kippur. There will be a silent radio over Yom Kippur, which will only announce security alerts.

– Stay calm, but always be aware of the nearest bomb shelter.

– (Again, I personally don’t expect the IDF to risk Iranian retaliation when everyone is in synagogue on Yom Kippur. Warnings are primarily for those under fire from Hezbollah, Iraq, and Yemen. However, it is still important for everyone to remain aware.)

Gmar chasima tova—may you be inscribed for a good and blessed new year.