October 11, 2023

ITC Update: Operation Iron Sword

“Our hearts may be broken but our resolve is clear ” US President Joe Biden stood strongly beside Israel and its people on Tuesday in an emotional speech during which he promised to ensure that the Jewish state would have what it needs to respond to the shocking onslaught. The people of Israel were listening and heard the words of a friend.

The death toll from the attack on Israel continues to climb, the official number surpassing 1,200 as of Wednesday morning. The gruesome details are still coming out. What happened can only be described as a massacre. In the words of a 40 yr IDF veteran “I’ve never seen anything like this in my entire career, never in 40 years of service, this is something I never imagined,” The fate of an estimated 150 people abducted and taken to the Gaza Strip is still unclear.

In the South, the IDF launched massive airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, hitting over 200 targets in the past day. Rockets fired by Hamas from Gaza into Israel hit the city of Sderot. Two rockets hit a school, while the other three rockets hit homes and a 40-year-old man moderately wounded by shrapnel.

In the North, the IDF launched retaliatory strikes at Lebanon on Wednesday after missiles were fired from Lebanese territory at an Israeli military position on the border. On instructions from Home Front Command, the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya in northern Israel moved its inpatient wards and critical care units to its fortified underground facility for the first time since the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Rockets target Tel Aviv area with thankfully no reported injuries. Sirens once again sounding in Tel Aviv and areas south of the city, including Holon, Bat Yam and Rishon Lezion.

At the outbreak of the war, young army reservists around the country and overseas were already moving faster than the military infrastructure, making whatever preparations they could to serve their country. In most places, you wait for the call, in Israel you start to get ready before it comes.

Meanwhile, civilians have independently addressed numerous needs of Israelis, providing psychological and logistical support, especially to residents of southern Israel. Civilian-led initiatives have emerged to compile information regarding Israelis missing since Saturday, gathering any available details about their fate. They are assisting families evacuated from the Gaza border area, now accommodated in hotels, while others have opened their homes.

Israelis pack up donations of food and other necessities for Israeli soldiers and civilians in the south, in Tel Aviv, on October 9, 2023. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Using social media, people are organizing drives to collect much-needed equipment including clothing, diapers, baby formula, toys blankets, toiletries and whatever else might be needed including food, donating blood. There are thousands of What’s App groups offering free babysitting services for parents who have gone to serve, offering to drive the elderly to medical appointments or just to talk to anyone who needs emotional support.

At 21:00 last night thousands of Israelis stood on their balconies and sang Hatikva. We hold on to Hope.