(Day 514) Swords of Iron – “Unprecedented 400,000 IDF reservists called to End Hamas”

Chaim starts out by talking about the youngest and oldest Israeli hostages who died in captivity and have recently been buried. He also mentions the terrorist attack in Haifa, where a Druze Israeli man who had just returned from a months-long trip in Europe and had apparently been radicalized there, attacked people at a bus stop with a knife, killing a 71-year-old Arab man and wounding four Jewish people. Chaim says radicalization can happen to anyone and it can happen anywhere.

He also mentions Eyal Zamir, the incoming IDF Chief of Staff, who has said that Hamas must release 30 hostages immediately, and another 30 hostages in a few weeks, otherwise the cease-fire will end and the IDF will move back into Gaza with massive, overwhelming force, to crush and eradicate Hamas once and for all.

Next Chaim mentions the situation in Syria, where the IDF is building up the Druze communities south of Damascus to serve as a buffer between the jihadist groups which have taken power there and the Israeli border. HTS is an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, dispute their efforts to appear to be moderates, and Israel will not allow them to threaten our northern border regions. So we’re giving the Druze in that region the means to defend themselves against HTS and at the same time, they’ll be defending Israel’s northern border as well.

There are also operations being run in Lebanon to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild the terror infrastructure it had there that was meant to threaten the Israeli communities in the Galilee.

Getting back to Gaza, Chaim points out that this territory has received more medical aid in the past month then the entire rest of the planet, so it makes him wonder if this is a precursor to taking the next step in the Abraham Accords.

But first, Hamas must be decisively defeated in the Gaza Strip, and in this context, Chaim quotes Joshua 1:9; Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”