During this night there were no rocket attacks in the south of the country. Notably, this situation is new and not typical of similar encounters with terrorists in the past. Similarly, their response to the elimination of the three Islamic Jihad leaders was significantly delayed (which seems to indicate the shock experienced by the group as a result of the unexpected, precise and extremely painful Israeli attack). However, by the grace of the Almighty, the night passed relatively quietly in the south and in the Tel Aviv area.
Moreover, despite the launching by the terrorists of almost 500 rockets, there were no casualties on our side (except for the people who were hurt or injured rushing to the shelters, and the people who suffered from nervous shock). By the way, the situation was similar during the war in the Persian Gulf, where the rockets themselves also caused almost no casualties.
The terrorist attacks resumed this morning, around 08:30. According to various reports leaking to the media, cease-fire talks have been going on all this time. The terrorists have been begging Israel to promise to stop the precise elimination of the terrorist chiefs, but the Israeli side has categorically refused to accept this deal.
Therefore, there is currently no ceasefire agreement. Israeli population centers continue to be under rocket attack, and the IDF continues to systematically destroy infrastructures and key figures in the terrorist group "Palestinian Islamic Jihad", as well as suppressing enemy sources of fire. Overnight, the IDF eliminated another terrorist boss who was responsible for the "Islamic Jihad" missile network, along with two other minor field commanders.
The available accurate intelligence information and the ability to launch a precise and timely strike resulted, G-d willing, in their accurate elimination inside an apartment located in a large housing unit.
Normally during IDF counter-terrorist operations these terrorist bosses hide deep in bunkers and tunnels, but this time they came out of their hiding places and were hiding in the apartment of an ordinary house, which enabled our army to eliminate them. We are convinced that this is a clear example of a miracle " hidden" in the natural order of things.
According to the official IDF report, out of the 507 rockets launched by the terrorists, a quarter were "unsuccessful" - the rockets did not cross the borders of the Gaza Strip and landed there - directly on the heads of local Arab residents. At least 4 Arab civilians in the Gaza Strip, including children, were killed by "Palestinian Islamic Jihad" terrorists. There were no direct casualties from the rockets on our side, by the grace and wonderful miracles of the Almighty!
According to various media reports, Hamas granted permission to the "Palestinian Islamic Jihad" to use its rocket launchers. It is clear that such a decision is supposed to place the Hamas chiefs, after the Islamic Jihad chiefs, as targets for elimination. At the same time, it is known that the political leadership of the country would prefer to distinguish between the groups, just as it did during last year's Operation Breaking Dawn. In fact, Hamas does not want to put itself in danger either, so they are not rushing into battle and are not shooting themselves.
Hamas's willingness to "assist" proves more clearly than any other evidence just how distressful the present situation of the Islamic Jihad is, whose stock of missiles, launchers and the chain of command itself, which is responsible for the rocket attacks, has been massively damaged.
At the same time, it should be noted that so far, the Israeli political leadership has not given the order to begin targeted killings of Hamas leaders.
A very unusual fact was made public today: yesterday seven terrorists suddenly surrendered to IDF fighters themselves. This happened after our fighters eliminated two Islamic Jihad fighters in Kabatia (Samaria). Immediately after that the remaining terrorists, apparently Islamic Jihad fighters, who apparently did not want to die, surrendered to the Israeli soldiers.
From our point of view, the whole chain of events now taking place is clear evidence of a very powerful providence of the Almighty, as you can see for yourself:
1. The terrorists have delayed long enough in their "response," giving both the IDF and the civilian population plenty of time to prepare.
2. Contrary to all the threats and horrible scenarios that have been published over the past month, Hizbullah has not intervened at all, Hamas is afraid to interfere and bomb Israel, the pro-Iranian groups in Syria also remain quiet and do nothing, as do their "(terrorist) colleagues" in Iraq and Yemen. There are no particular terrorist incidents in Judea and Samaria. The Arab PA terrorist groups in Lebanon also keep quiet, not daring to launch a single rocket. All are silent, and only the Islamic Jihad is totally by itself suffering one heavy blow after another.
3. The simultaneous elimination of three Islamic Jihad leaders in the Gaza Strip, which launched the counter-terrorist operation, is also rather unusual, as is the elimination tonight of three more field commanders, including the one in charge of the rocket launches! Equally unusual is the voluntary surrender of seven terrorists in Kabatia.
4. The terrorists didn't fire all night, allowing many of us in the south and center to rest and relax a bit.
5. There is no significant international pressure on Israel either.
6. The Iron Dome missile defense system has an exceptional record! We are talking about a 96% success rate. Despite massive rocket attacks, and regardless of all the threats, these numbers are improving. All this by itself is also a real miracle, disguised as the natural order of things. After all, as you will recall, initially very few people believed in this system. Moreover, there was little enthusiasm to develop and finance it. The IDF in general and the Air Force in particular did not show any particular interest in it. Nevertheless, by the grace and miracles of the Almighty, "clothed" in the natural course of things, the project was an incredible success.
7. By the visible and amazing miracles of the Almighty there are no rocket victims in Israel, thank G-d. All the rockets have caused only injuries and deaths among the Arab residents of Gaza.
To summarize the above:
We live in a time of amazing miracles, as we read about again and again in the speeches of the Lubavitcher Rebbe SHLITA, King Moshiach, who emphasizes how important it is to explain widely and publicly that we live on the eve of true and complete Redemption, and therefore there are so many amazing miracles all around us.
Note, the operation itself began on Lag ba-Omer, the great, special and blessed day of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. And we see in this an amazing sequence of miracles and the Almighty`s Providence specific to the time of the coming Redemption. May we be honored with true and complete Redemption in the earliest possible time, today!