I know the IDF can’t do this all the time, but they found a way to stop two “ticking bombs” without harming a fly.

Soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces entered the Gaza Strip Saturday morning and arrested two armed Hamas members after besieging a house in the southern Strip, Palestinian eyewitnesses reported.

[...] Palestinian sources reported that a special IDF force was operating south of the Sufa crossing, east of Rafah. The Palestinians reported that the force advanced hundreds of meters into the Palestinian Authority territory.

That’s the AP version. Now to hear Ynet’s version:

Military sources noted that during the operation, which was named “Desert Storm,” not one gunshot was fired. The sources claimed that the Palestinians exaggerated in their report that the detainees’ father was in need of medical treatment after IDF soldiers beat him during the operation.

“Naturally, when operating in a bid to arrest wanted terror suspects inside a house, there is need to neutralize any threat, but this definitely does not mean hurting anyone beyond the arrest,” an IDF source said.

Many of the operation’s details were not cleared for publication, but the operation was comprised of two prominent elements: Intelligence activities and a high-quality ground operation.

I know it’s impossible to hope for all operations to go this smoothly. But the IDF can get the bad guys without killing civlians or getting their troops hurt or ambushed. It falls under the heading of “Better than you.”

So what are the palestinians doing? Sending more rockets into Sderot, of course. But a major attack was prevented, thanks to Israel’s intelligence services, special forces, and the IDF.

A bar-mitzvah this morning of a great-grandchild of Jews who fled Nazi France just as the Nazis were entering Paris to the north. The best thing about this story: For twelve years, he had no real Jewish upbringing, and then, after doing some research, told his grandparents he wanted to be Jewish. He meant religiously, of course, as his mother is a Jew. An astonishing, wonderful story, and yet another one where I get to say: In your face, Adolf.

The boy learned Hebrew well enough in one year to read his Torah and Haftorah. Kol hakavod, Cody.

Off to a birthday party this afternoon. Maybe I’ll get tomorrow off. Not sure. But there will not be much posting until later.