Update (Day 885) Swords of Iron-Roaring Lion “Payday For The Octopus Head”

Friends, when you wear the uniform, you accept the possibility of paying the ultimate price to defend your country from terror. We always hope it won’t happen. We pray for protection.

Yesterday I shared about IDF soldier Mahir Hatar, not even Jewish, he was a Druze who served bravely and was killed in battle in southern Lebanon when an RPG struck his unit’s armored transport. Today another name was released: Staff Sergeant Or Deari, just 20 years old, who also paid the ultimate price while fighting to protect the citizens of Israel from Hezbollah’s attacks.

Hezbollah still holds to its plan of invading and conquering the Galilee, but we will not allow that to happen. The IDF’s 300th Brigade, part of the 146th Division, is operating in southern Lebanon to locate terrorists and dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure. Air support and ground strikes are targeting tunnels, rocket launchers, and command sites all the way to the Litani River while defensive positions are established.

Hezbollah, like other Iranian proxies, hides behind civilian infrastructure—operating near UN facilities, within Christian villages, and beneath homes through tunnel networks. This cannot continue. Israel is working to remove missile launchers, UAV facilities, suicide drones, and the broader terror infrastructure that threatens Israeli civilians.

Inside Israel, rockets continue to strike cities across the country—from the north to the south, the center, and even Jerusalem. While the full extent of the damage is not being publicly shown in order to avoid giving enemies targeting information, the impact has been significant. Families have lost homes and have been forced to evacuate.

Through our ARC charity efforts, we are helping displaced families with supermarket vouchers—$100 each—so they can purchase essential supplies even if they cannot reach our distribution centers.

At the same time, reports indicate expanding strikes against Iranian military and economic infrastructure, including refineries and IRGC facilities in cities such as Isfahan, Shiraz, and Tehran. There are also growing concerns about Iranian stockpiles of chemical weapons and the possibility they could be deployed through drones or missile warheads.

The conflict is widening. U.S. bases across the region have been attacked, and tragically a seventh U.S. service member has died from injuries sustained in one such strike.

Israel’s goal remains clear: dismantle terrorist networks such as Hezbollah and Hamas and ensure they can no longer threaten innocent lives.

Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

As King David wrote, we trust in the Good Shepherd, and we must also act as good shepherds—protecting the people of Israel and defending free people everywhere.