July 23.

The last siren echoed last night at 10:00 pm Israel time for the third time, today it is stil quiet around here but not around Gaza, Ashkelon and Ashdod. We had a quiet night, waking up to another day of fighting in Gaza. During the night we lost two more officers, may they rest in peace.

This brings me to yet another difference between us, the Israelis who try to protect our citizen by spending a fortune on passive defense (Iron Dome, shelters and secure rooms) and the Hamas’s terrorists who hide behind civilians to protect them. Our officers are always in the front of the fighting unit while they hide underground and send their orders to the lower ranked terrorists to face our soldiers above.

The hundreds of millions of dollars that were supposed to better the life of the Gaza civilians were used to build terror tunnels and manufacture missiles of destruction. I hope and pray that when the leadership of the “military” arm of the Hamas and the “political” arm will come out from their hiding place under the largest hospital in Gaza, Shiffa hospital, they will see the destruction they brought onto their people and that “their people” will no longer be “their people” but will oust them and elect a normal and moral leadership.

30,000 people participated in a funeral of another “lone soldier”, First Sergeant Max Steinberg who was killed in the battle of the first day of the invasion to Sagaiya. May his memory be blessed. This yet again shows that in time of crisis we stand united, alive or dead, nobody is alone!!!

I wanted to send photos of some of the wounded soldiers hospitalized at Assaf Harofeh but did not get permission to do it at this stage. They are all in high spirits and eager to get back to their units, they say that they want to get the job done.

Last but not least. We cannot and should not ignore the suffering of the uninvolved Gaza citizens. 600 dead and thousands wounded. Israel brought a full Emergency Field Hospital to the border with Gaza for the Gazans. It is standing empty as the Hamas does not allow the Palestinian wounded to get medical treatment there. Over 100,000 people are now refugees within their own country, among them children, women and old people. We all know that it is the Hamas that brought it upon them, but it does not diminish in any way their suffering. Hoping to report just good news in my next post, stay tuned!

July 23.

So disappointed with the FAA. So disappointed with the US. Secretary of State is here him and the FAA are giving the Hamas thugs and terrorists presents. Giving in to Mafia tactics of terrorizing people for gains and profits.

I am afraid that this will boomerang back to the US and Europe.

We lost three more soldiers today. We must put an end to the Hamas threat once and for all.

July 24.

The UN Council for Human Rights is calling on an inquiry into supposed “war crimes” Israel does in Gaza. No mention of the missiles launched targeting civilians in Israel which is a war crime, no mention of tunnels dug to kill and kidnap children women and others indiscriminately which is a war crime.

This is the same council made of representatives from Libya, Syria and other countries who really care about human rights like. Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Is the world going crazy?

The battle is raging and today, another tunnel (the 35th!!!) was discovered in Shegaiya. What makes it unique for me is the fact that this one was targeting Kibbutz Nachal Oz, a kibbutz I was once a member of. I can not even begin to imagine what could happen if any of these tunnels, ready to be used by the Hamas, would have not been discovered.

The world is silent except when in comes to play the “blame Israel” game. Let’s make one thing clear, we have the right to defend ourselves.

People ask why didn’t we act against the tunnels? (we did know about it) and the answer is: ‘cos we didn’t have causus beli to do so. Hamas gave us the opportunity to enter Gaza and destroy them when trying to use these tunnels near Kisufim and Ein Hashlosha for the purpose of mass killing and kidnaping that we managed to intercept just in time (while losing precious lives of some of our soldiers).

Life goes on and we all pray that this will be over soon for the sake of the innocent on both sides and for the sake of our soldiers.