Israel had a great day while Hamas had a bad one. As we went to bed the IAF was hitting Hamas banks and their Ministry of Finance. We wake this morning to see that the IAF has hit Hamas intel buildings. As of this writing the Israelis have taken out four ATGM cells in the last few hours. Hamas admits to the command level assassinations Israel claims. The IAF has conducted 650+ airstrikes overall.
As it had during the previous two days of fighting, Hamas tried to swamp Iron Dome. Here and there a rocket got through. But overall Iron Dome held. Once more the footage is spectacular. By the end of day two Hamas had fired about 1050 rockets. By the end of day three that total was about 1450. The IDF says 350 or so fell in Gaza and Iron Dome has intercepted hundreds. Do the math. Hamas rocket fire is greatly reduced. This blog doesn't mean to dismiss the rockets. The average Israeli in Beersheba must be terrified. But in the big picture, those rockets are a noise and light show.
Last night Hamas told Russia it was looking for a ceasefire. Israel rejected the idea. Breaking this very moment, Netanyahu says, 'The defense operations of the Iron Dome batteries give us room to attack. The IDF has already attacked hundreds of targets, we will soon exceed 1,000, and we continue to strike at Hamas while protecting our civilians.' Reports are that the IDF is going to launch a ground op.
In Israel the riots continued and spread. Reports the Times of Israel: 'After a night of violence that saw Jewish and Arab rioters wreak havoc in several towns, overwhelming local police, Defense Minister Benny Gantz on Thursday ordered a major call-up of Border Police reservists to bolster officers working to contain the unrest.' On the one hand this is horrifying. On the other, not rioting is a failed conservative policy. Jew Riot! The Jew Riots! Jew Riot, a riot of Jew's own. One Israeli source we follow said it's just a few thousand rioters. Okay, but how many rioters did it take to turn Portland into a dystopian mess?
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