A famous story: When British General Charles James Napier conquered the Indian province of Sindh, he wittily sent a one-word message back to his superiors in London: Peccavi. (“I have sinned” in Latin, which every educated Englishman would have understood).
No, sorry. That’s just the story that many thought was true, but it isn’t. This pun appeared under the title “Foreign Affairs” in Punch magazine on May 18, 1844. The true author of the pun was not Napier, but an English girl, Catherine Winkworth, who was sixteen when she submitted it to Punch. And then the editors of Punch — either mischievously or credulously — printed it as a factual report about Napier’s pun. And so the story entered the annals of paronomasia, with General Napier given the credit. But the pun — let’s admit it — is even more impressive coming from a sixteen-year-old.
Major General Itzik Cohen, head of the IDF’s Division 162 that has been doing the fighting in Rafah, is not yet at the “I have Rafah” stage, but he’s close. The IDF is on the verge of, but not quite there, having all of Rafah in its grasp. More on what the IDF has accomplished, and what remains to be done — which the Israelis think can be accomplished In several weeks — can be found here:
Half of Hamas in Rafah beaten, IDF will gain full control in two weeks
by Yonah Jeremy Bob, Jerusalem Post, June 17, 2024:
The IDF on Monday said that its Division 162 has defeated half of Hamas’s battalions in Rafah, including killing at least 550 terrorists, as well as destroyed around 200 tunnel shafts, and eliminated the terror group’s last major rocket inventory.
Further, the IDF said that within a couple of weeks it would likely be in control of all of Rafah and that the final battles with the remaining two Hamas battalions in parts of Tel al-Sultan and the eastern part of Shabura are already underway.
In addition, the IDF said that the tunnel network in Rafah, especially near the Philadelphi Corridor with Egypt has been found to be even more complex than those found in Khan Yunis, Jabaliya, and the military quarter of Gaza City.
Currently, the IDF says Division 162, commanded by Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen, has already achieved operation control of over 60-70% of all of Rafah with all of the 1.4 million or so civilians having long fled to al-Muwasi on the coast, central Gaza and Khan Yunis.
IDF sources also said they believed they had killed much more than 550 terrorists, but that this number represented actual bodies seen, versus Hamas forces who entered a structure which was then bombed, but without finding a body.
One of the hardest battles was fought over the “NPK” area which is slightly north of the middle of the Philadelphi Corridor, and was the headquarters of Hamas’s Rafah brigade commander.
However, the IDF now has full control there….
The IDF’s invasion of Rafah started on May 6 and by May 20, it had control of around 30-40% of Rafah, including the Philadelphi Corridor.
As of May 20, the IDF had said it had killed around 130 Hamas terrorists.
But given that at some point Hamas had 4,000 to 8,000 terrorists in Rafah, it is pretty clear that the vast majority fled with the mass of civilians who left the area….
Two of the four Hamas battalions in Rafah have now been dismantled. The IDF estimates it has killed at least 550 Hamas operatives, and probably many more. That number does not count those who were inside buildings that were then bombed, and who died inside those buildings that collapse on top of them. The soldiers of Division 162 have destroyed 200 tunnel shafts. They have destroyed, in Rafah, Hamas’ last major store of rockets. The IDF believes it will take only several more weeks to finish off the last of the Hamas fighters who remain in Rafah.
Too bad it took this long, and cost the lives of 180 IDF soldiers, but the Bidenites have been holding things up and slowing things down for the IDF in Rafah. Peccato.
AUTHOR
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Author: Jihad Watch
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