'Palestinian' group posts video of missile attack on IDF jeep (with video)
The 'Popular Resistance Committees,' the same Hamas front group that took 'credit' for kidnapping Gilad Shalit six years ago, has posted a video online of what purports to be the anti-tank missile attack on an IDF jeep patrolling the Gaza security fence on Sunday.
The video was posted a number of times on YouTube but repeatedly removed by the site's administrators.
The
video appears to be shot from the Gaza-side of the border, and captures
two IDF patrol jeeps making their way along the border. A guided
missile, possibly a Kornet, can be seen striking the forward jeep
head-on, causing an explosion.
Let's go to the videotape. More after the video.
The text introducing the purported shots of the guided missile strike
says that a" group of Mujahadeen from the al-Nasser Salah al-Din
Brigades targeted a Jeep east of Gaza with a guided missile at 16:10 on
Saturday 10.11.2012, the Jeep was destroyed and a Zionist soldier killed
and three others injured with serious injuries."
Four soldiers were injured in the attack, and one soldier remains in serious condition with a head injury.
The
opening of the clip shows the logo of al-Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades,
the military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees.
The video
then shows text from the Quran, Surat al-Hashr (The Exile) which talks
about how the Jewish people were exiled from their homes by the will of
Allah, because of their transgressions.
Let's hope the IDF gets the chance for revenge soon.
It starts: 'Palestinian' terrorists escalate in Gaza
Apparently believing that Israel's freedom of action will be limited under a second Obama administration, 'Palestinian' terrorists have gone into full attack mode in Gaza on Saturday night.
The incident started with what I have been told (from inside sources) were two Kornet anti-tank missiles being fired at an IDF jeep patrolling along the Gaza security fence. Four IDF soldiers were injured, two of them seriously. There are rumors going around that one of them is dead, God forbid, but the IDF will never admit that one of its soldiers is dead until the family has been informed.
The attack on the jeep was followed by IDF retaliation, which killed four 'Palestinians,' and on Saturday night, we have had a barrage of rockets coming from Gaza, reaching as far north as Ashdod.
Eighteen rockets fell, according to the IDF, though Channel 10 reported a
total of 25 rockets, including eight long-range rockets, landing at
Ashkelon, Ashdod, Sderot, the Eshkol Regional Council area and the Be'er
Tuviya area. No injuries or damage were reported.
At least one of the long-range Grad rockets was intercepted near Ashdod by the Iron Dome, according to the IDF.
Earlier
on Saturday, Palestinian terrorists in Gaza fired an anti-tank missile
at an IDF jeep carrying out an ordinary patrol on the Israeli side of
the border, striking the vehicle directly and injuring four soldiers.
One
soldier was in serious condition with a head injury, one is moderately
wounded, and two are lightly injured. They were airlifted to the Soroka
University Medical Center in Beersheba.
Immediately afterwards,
tanks opened fire on the area from which the missile was fired. Tanks
also fired on pre-selected targets in the Sa'ajiya area of Gaza near
Nahal Oz. Palestinian sources said four people were killed in the return
fire, and 25 others were injured.
Following the incident, the IDF
asked Gaza envelope residents in the Eshkol region and in Sha'ar
Hanegev to be within 15 seconds away from shelters, Army Radio reported.
Islamic
Jihad is believed to be behind the latest attack. The IDF views the
incident as a severe escalation, and as part of a wider, stepped-up
terrorist initiative to target its forces along the border.
IDF
Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz is due to hold an evaluation in the
coming hours. "This is the second serious incident in a few days along
the border," a senior army source said.
The IDF needs to reestablish deterrence, and there is already talk here of another Cast Lead-type operation like in December 2008 - January 2009. Like that last time, it would have wall to wall support. Our government needs to show that it will not allow the Obama administration to prevent it from defending us against 'Palestinian' terrorism.
Iran training 'Palestinians' in use of anti-tank missiles
Iran has trained a number of 'Palestinian' terrorists in the operation of sophisticated Russian-made anti-tank missiles. Presumably, the terrorists would use these missiles if, as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz said on Tuesday may happen, the IDF has to go back into Gaza again.
The IDF believes that Hamas and Islamic Jihad have obtained several hundred advanced Russian-made antitank missiles – such as the Kornet and the Fagot – which have a range of more than 4 kilometers and are capable of penetrating armored personnel carriers and some IDF tanks.
Terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip had a small number of these missiles ahead of Operation Cast Lead – Israel’s offensive against Hamas in 2009 – but only used them in a handful of known instances.
“They were not trained well then, and as a result, the missiles were not effective,” a senior IDF officer explained this week. “Since then, the groups have significantly increased the stockpile and have also sent specific terrorists to Iran for extensive training where they became anti-tank missile experts.”
The missile was fired from a distance of close to 3 kilometers and the operator had to fire in between the Gaza security fence and electrical cables. “He also had to hit the bus, which was not easily seen on the road,” the officer said, explaining the complexities of the attack as a demonstration of the level of expertise in Gaza.
This semi-automatic laser beam riding missile is effective at ranges of 100 – 5,500 m' in daytime and up to 3,500 m' at night. The missile utilizes a tandem shaped charge anti-tank warhead or a thermobaric (fuel-air explosive) charge, for anti-personnel and anti-material blast and incendiary effect. The manufacturer claims penetration of 1,200mm of steel armor or 4.5 meters of concrete. The NATO designation of the Kornet is AT-14.
A firing unit consisting of launcher, thermal sight and a single missile container weigh 65 kg and can be installed and ready for action in 3 minutes, operated by 3 men. Most often, the missile will be deployed on vehicular platforms, a modular design for such launcher can utilize a lightweight launcher or an integrated turret designed for a hummer sized vehicle, integrated with the thermal sight and four ready to fire missiles and five more in stowage. Other configurations include an automatic, remotely operated win-missile turret installed on the BMP-3 (16 missiles, of which 12 are stored in an autoloader) and BRTR-80 chasis (12 missiles, 8 in autoloader). The missile's launched is fitted with thermal imaging system, to facilitate effective operations under low visibility, day and night.
“The Gaza Strip is completely different today than what it was almost three years ago,” a senior defense official said. “The amounts of weaponry are significantly higher as well as the type of weaponry and its sophistication.”
Aren't you glad now that the Olmert-Barak-Livni government turned down the opportunity to wipe Hamas out three years ago so as not to disturb Barack Hussein Obama's inauguration? A lot of goodwill that bought us....
Some of you may that Israel has the Trophy system installed on its tanks and that Trophy can stop many anti-tank missiles. That's true, but as the article implies, Trophy is not yet installed on all of the IDF's tanks. (I posted a video of Trophy in action here).
In face of the threat, the IDF is moving forward with plans to install the Trophy active protection system on Merkava Mk 4 tanks that are in production ahead of their delivery to the 401st Armored Brigade. Two of the brigade’s battalions have already received the system and the remaining battalion will finish receiving it by the beginning of 2012.
The IDF has known for a long time that the 'Palestinians' had these missiles. So why wasn't the system delivered to all battalions already? And why hasn't it been installed on older tanks (I doubt we're taking them out of commission). Will Hamas and Islamic Jihad cooperate by only shooting Kornets at tanks that have the Trophy system involved? (I suspect that the answer to my questions is that the IDF did not have the budget). What could go wrong?
More on Daniel Viflic HY"D (may God avenge his blood)
On Sunday night, I reported on the death of Daniel Viflic, the 16-year old who was hit by an anti-tank missile while riding a school bus in the Gaza envelope ten days ago. Here's some more about Daniel's final hours.
Chief of Pediatric ICU at Soroka Medical Center, Professor Shaul Sofer, said: "Unfortunately Daniel passed away this afternoon. We were not surprised by his passing – he arrived in critical condition, and within a short time his brain stopped functioning.
"Because of the sensitive nature of the case, we continued to give him the best medical care, although objectively we knew that his brain would not recuperate," he added.
According to Sofer, "Daniel arrived at the hospital without blood pressure, after being resuscitated. He suffered from shrapnel that penetrated his brain, and had subsequently stopped breathing, which prevented oxygen from reaching his brain."
Sofer added that after receiving the initial brain scans it was clear that he suffered a critical injury that was irreversible.
Hundreds of people attended Daniel's funeral on Sunday night in the outskirts of Beit Shemesh.
"It's hard to believe he's not here. I thank all those who came and all the support from the religious and seculars alike, even from Arabs and Bedouins. It’s not thanks to us, it's because Daniel was an exceptional child," his father Yitzhak said.
Benny Chen, who knew the family from the time they lived in Hong Kong said: "The father met the mother in Hong Kong where she converted to Judaism and made aliyah out of love for the Land of Israel. They came here to set up a family and raise their children in Israel. Daniel and his sister were their only children.
"They managed to fit in well with the local community [Ramat Beit Shemesh. CiJ], they were quiet and loved by all. The boy Daniel was not meant to be on the bus. He came to visit his grandmother, slept over and the driver who knew him asked to take him for a ride. A ride from which he never returned.”
Zion Yemini, the driver of the school bus which was hit was devastated to hear the news of Daniel's death. "This is very bad news, I so hoped he would stay alive," Yemini said Sunday.
May Daniel's memory be blessed and may he be a straight advocate for his family and friends.
William Daroff tweets that 16-year old Daniel Viflic, who was seriously wounded when the school bus on which he was traveling last week was attacked with an anti-tank missile by 'Palestinian' terrorists, has died.
May Daniels' parents, relatives and friends be comforted among all mourners for Zion and Jerusalem, and may they know of no more sorrow. May God avenge Daniel's blood.
Two intercepting missiles were fired at the rocket, but the first succeeded in hitting it, an army official said.
Eyewitnesses told Ynet they saw the rocket explode in midair and realized that the system had intercepted its first rocket.
Moshe Ben Hemo, a resident of Ashkelon, said, "I was in the street and I heard a strange sound, like someone pushing the gas pedal of a car. Then I saw the rocket fly through the air and explode. Immediately I realized that it was Iron Dome, that's what has been said here."
He added that the rocket alert had not been set off. "The rocket was apparently supposed to explode in Ashkelon. In any case I'm glad the system works," he said.
I'm glad it worked... but....
Ashkelon is not as close to Gaza as Sderot. You have approximately a minute for a rocket to fly the 12.5 kilometers from Gaza to Ashkelon - as compared with 15 seconds to Sderot. I don't believe that Iron Dome will protect the closer-in places like Sderot.
Second, spent $100,000 to shoot down a $100 rocket. That's right - each Iron Dome missile costs $50,000 and a Hamas rocket from Gaza costs $100. How long can we keep fighting on that ratio?
Third. as the 'Palestinians' showed on Thursday, they can use laser guided anti-tank missiles that will never appear on Iron Dome's radar to hit targets within Israel (yes, that anti-tank missile was laser guided).
Earlier this week, I reported on an IDF exercise in which a live anti-tank missile was shot at an IDF tank using the Trophy system, with troops inside, to prove that the tank could withstand the hit.
The IDF brass is apparently upset with outgoing Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi's disclosing the exercise, because it implies (correctly) that the 'Palestinians' have the type of anti-tank missiles - Cornets - that necessitate the special protection.
IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi said Tuesday that Hamas had used a laser guided Cornet anti-tank missile against an IDF tank in Gaza at the beginning of December.
Israel Television Channel Two News reported this evening that "the Southern Command did not like Ashkenazi's revelation and thought that it exposed Israel's soft underbelly in Gaza."
The report did not indicate who this "soft underbelly" was being exposed to given that the Gazans who shot the Cornet don't have to rely on the COS to know that the Palestinians have the weapon.
Does this mean that the Southern Command is not happy that the Israeli pubic now knows what Israel's enemies already know?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
