War In Israel

Many of my international friends and colleagues have reached out to offer their support and to gain a better understanding of the current situation in Israel.

The following is my translation of a post by Shahar Remets. I believe it provides an accurate portrayal of the events that have transpired and offers a reasonable perspective on potential future developments.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The original post (October 8th, 2023):

I feel like my mind is working at 400%. I couldn't work today. Sorry. I channeled my rage by hammering on my mom's bomb shelter door in Mevaseret Zion, because a missile landed right next to her house and the door wouldn't close. While obsessively trying to figure out why the damn door was stuck, I'm talking to lots of officers, friends, family and just acquaintances who call trying to figure out what the hell happened. Some update me on everything they're hearing from their friends and family on the front lines. And I'm sorry, the news is not good. Even if we leave aside what already happened, I'll also speak about what will happen. Anyone who wants to hear good news, white lies, "it'll be okay," "the Jewish people are strong" and have their morale boosted, I suggest you stop reading here. Really. Stop reading NOW!

We are at a count of 700 dead (obviously not final, and I expect it to reach more than 1,000 in the coming days) and over 2,000 injured. If we compare the number of deaths to September 11th in relation to the population, then if about 3,000 people were murdered in the Twin Towers disaster, we are currently (as of now) at a ratio of about 23,000 to the population. What would the United States do if 23,000 people were killed on its soil in a single event? They would erase an entire continent if necessary.

I receive the crazy stories in bits and pieces from friends, officers in various units, senior ranks, and those who are either on the front lines as fighters or as civilians. By the way, I'm sure that all the reporters and commentators have long had all the facts, some of which are published a few hours after I hear them, but I am cautious. Maybe they are just rumors? The last 24 hours proved that not only are the stories true, but sometimes the situation is much worse. Most of what I will write here has already been officially published in various places. I will summarize it and try to generalize as much as possible what I hear and understand.

Hamas, which isn't the strongest or most sophisticated organization we deal with, pulled an Entebbe on us. Except we were the naive Idi Amin. Strategically, the intelligence services, Mossad, the ISA and all the operational units failed in situational assessment and understanding Hamas' strategic and tactical intentions. Just a few days ago it was decided to continue strengthening Hamas by transferring Qatari money to it, at the expense of the Authority in the West Bank, which the government decided to weaken.

Hamas launches a combined attack, using explosive drones, charges that were likely planted during the protests at the fence, and a massive barrage of thousands of rockets and mortars on the positions and communities surrounding the border and all over Israel. They distract with ultralight aircraft, and at the peak of the confusion, they infiltrate eight positions simultaneously, destroying the observation and response capabilities of the brigade. The infiltration occurs from the air (mainly diversion), the sea (most of which is thwarted by the navy), and directly from the land through dozens of breached points in the fence and old tunnels that have not been discovered by the IDF so far. Hamas uses motorcycles, scooters, Toyota-style vehicles like ISIS with machine guns, and on foot.

The soldiers at the outposts, those who remained to guard and weren't called up to the West Bank (65% of the army is in the West Bank), are eliminated in battle. It seems some of them put up valiant fights and in some cases the Hamas militants display excessive brutality (better not to watch the videos, heartbreaking and the mind doesn't comprehend). Those not killed are captured. The entire chain of command, from the most senior, the fighters who remained to guard, tank crews and over twenty lookouts. All communication capability, the ability to call up reinforcements and activate the division's air force are critically damaged. All personnel of the unit holding the Erez crossing are eliminated and entry into Israel becomes unimpeded.

Hundreds of terrorists and some regular civilians, some not even armed, come and go handfuls at a time with combat equipment from the division base, Nahal Oz battalion base, armored corps bases, recruit training bases and other headquarters. They burn communication arrays and loot classified materials and communication and computer equipment that should never, ever, ever fall into enemy hands. They also have enough live prisoners to open these computers.

A specific Hamas force gets an assignment (of secondary importance) to kill as many people as possible at a rave party near Re'im village. They knew about it and it seems it was fully accounted for in the plan. They surround them with jeeps and shoot them like in a turkey shoot. The hundreds of murdered discovered each hour reveals to us a scale of killing that the Jewish people hasn't known since the forests of Poland and the Einsatzgruppen. According to witnesses who escaped from there, the significant massacre happened around 10:30 pm and not at the start of the attack. For four hours until the mass murder was carried out, no significant IDF force arrived to assist the youths. To be honest, only some civilians and the petite reporter Adva Dadon were engaged in rescuing the youths until the afternoon. It's still unclear which IDF force was tasked with rescuing them and managing the event, including compiling the names of survivors, dead and captured. Still unclear.

The terrorists kidnap anyone they come across, on foot, motorcycles and jeeps taken from the base, women, children, teenage girls and boys, elderly, some of them foreign caregivers and Thai farmworkers. They're all collected unimpeded as if they're cotton being harvested in the fields. Hamas members who were sure they'd be back as martyr posters, return with Israeli girls and are no less surprised than we are, watching what's happening on Channel 12 or 13 or Kan, asking if no one in the army is watching what's going on before our eyes. Horrors.

At the same time, Hamas commando units raid the communities near Gaza, eliminate local emergency response teams, go from house to house, murdering residents and burning homes. They take hostages and go with them from door to door to persuade people to come out of the bomb shelters for a moment and then butcher them or kidnap them. In the past few hours reports start coming in of terrible rape cases in communities with no IDF soldiers anywhere nearby. Children, families and elderly beg for them to come rescue them until contact is lost, when the battery runs out or when the terrorists kill or capture them. Channel 12 becomes the besieged people's situation room, but there is no official body handling the reports. A pair of six and eight year old kids stand in a closet for thirteen hours after their parents were murdered before their eyes as the terrorists roam their home. Hamas cells massacre any passersby or vehicles with machine guns and anti-tank missiles. No units are fighting them.

For long hours, by my estimate six hours based on reports, the looting, rape, kidnapping and murder continued unimpeded, as if the State of Israel has no army or like we're some third world country with negligible military capability. There are no significant friendly forces engaging the enemy, the fence breaches aren't blocked or covered by fire, the bases and communities aren't recaptured. After long hours the air force bestirs itself and sends air assets, with no ground guidance since there is no response from any land units, they scramble their commando unit, Shaldag, and try to get as close to the incident as possible while taking fire on the helicopters and sustaining many casualties. To their surprise, they encounter a very skilled enemy force, with superior weapons and overwhelming numerical superiority. The fighting is extremely difficult, some inside buildings while the terrorists hold hostages. The fighting is occurring right now, skilled fighters are killed one after the other trying to reach the besieged civilians – including from the Nahal brigade, Golani, Yamam, Egoz, Duvdevan, Shaldag and Sayeret Matkal (not secret, check the list of the fallen). Some are from units that simply don't lose fighters almost at all, despite the high risk the units operate at – due to their high skill, equipment and preparation for operations. Here there was no preparation and training, it was an absolute surprise. At the same time a Hamas commando force enters the police station in Sderot. Dozens of policemen eliminated, no other word is more precise. Until nightfall the Yamam special forces fail to conquer the station and eventually bring it down with bulldozers. One of the terrorists manages to escape into Sderot. God knows where he is now.

We are still at war, but the poignant question is where was the Israel Defense Forces in the hours following the surprise attack. That is a question I do not have an answer to. From the nearby Palmachim Airbase, air force units and special aircraft can be activated within minutes to create a situational picture, eliminate terrorists, block the openings in the fence with fire, and deploy commando fighters. Minutes, not hours. Certainly not six hours. The heads of the Southern, Central, and Northern Command, the Chief of Staff, and his deputy are watching television and then what? Switching to the Hop Family channel?

IDF soldiers who are called up under emergency order eight encounter nothing organized. Parents and friends drive them to the base; there are no arranged transportation, and the former Minister of Transportation is aware of this. She wakes up on Saturday evening, lies about the transportation that wasn't there and the call-up that wasn't done. The IDF spokesperson does not provide any relevant information; the people get information from Hamas's Telegram channel, where it reveals its relatives kidnapped in Gaza or its sons and daughters killed in bases and communities. Sixty-year-old generals manage to enter communities, eliminate terrorists, and rescue their families, just like John McClane in "Die Hard." It's a very specific luck for their families. What about all the other families? No state authority is conducting public relations, coordinating the effort for the information about the casualties or the kidnapped. Up until now. Thanks to "Airport City" for doing something about the issue.

Soldiers who are enlisted report that the situation in the emergency storage units and the chaos is worse than the Second Lebanon War. Soldiers beg for helmets and ceramic vests because the army doesn't have them (I personally received several requests for help, and there are amazing people who managed to arrange for them). Even ZAKA, operating in the combat zone, doesn't have enough vests and helmets (by the way, we do not know about many of the casualties in the kibbutz communities because the IDF does not allow ZAKA to enter).

They claim that it was a surprise attack and that's the reason. It's curious that every single time we get to an emergency enlistment situation, we are told that the chaos and disorganization is because of the surprise. So let me tell you, Israel has enemies, and a budget of tens of billions of dollars so that in the emergency storage units, there would be manpower and equipment suitable for wartime. I hope this helps with the surprise element for next time.

The government is directing anger to the army as the scapegoat. We will still settle accounts with the government, and the army. Now is not the time to investigate, but fight. All the retired generals, the interpreters, and the howling outraged critics are shouting that Gaza needs to be flattened. I feel that sentiment, believe me. As much as I know that's exactly what I feel like doing, They can be evaporated for all I care, Just please, think for a moment about the following – at some point, when Hamas has processed the amount of kidnapped it captured unimpeded, it will threaten mass killing of them if we continue attacking. Most of us are excellent strategists and will suggest ignoring that fact, the public good takes precedence over the few. Now imagine it's your sixteen year old sister or three year old son whose throat is about to be slit. Have you calmed down? Good.

But that's nothing, the next play and chess move of the surrounding radical Islam (and I haven't even gotten to Iran, because really, no need for them) is Hezbollah entering the fray. Why haven't they joined so far? Because why would they? Hamas has already achieved the wet dream that not even Hezbollah managed to achieve, in fact no Arab army ever achieved. When Israel responds disproportionately in Gaza, Hezbollah will act and open the northern front with tremendous force, while conquering communities in the north. They'll be seen not as an aggressor but defender of the Palestinians and Al Aqsa. They'll attack without any fear. Why would they have fear? If you're still asking, you probably didn't read anything I wrote above.

My complaints aren't against the fighters, but against the senior command echelons, those currently holding the same ranks that brought us and led us from the frying pan into the fire of the Second Lebanon War, when the field units, battalion commanders, brigade commanders, platoon leaders, team commanders and fighters (all IDF branches) led the actual fighting and bore an unbearable price. Pull yourselves together and quickly, this is only the beginning. I have no expectations from the current political echelon, they didn't even try to influence the course of events and lack the minimal professional capability to run an elementary school decorating committee.

For proof, and after understanding that in case of a Hezbollah attack they'll probably remain alone, and out of understandable desire to not be murdered, raped or kidnapped – local council leaders in the north began evacuating communities, ignoring IDF and Ministry of Defense recommendations lacking control capability. Only in the afternoon did Gantz decide to join the recommendation, slightly late awakening like his counterpart the Transport Minister.

To IDF fighters and commanders I wish you have enough time for rapid learning of the situation, conducting drills and entry at a high state of readiness, with prepared equipment and maintaining field security. We pray for your wellbeing. Go and return in peace. We love and worry.

And what can you citizens do? Hope for the best but prepare for the worst, prepare bomb shelters and protected spaces, request a firearms permit, join a community guard force and understand what options you have in an emergency. I'm sorry to tell you this, but when the bad guys come, you'll probably be alone.