IT'S 3 A.M. ET:  The Hamas attacks against Israel still overwhelmingly dominate the reporting of the news networks.  There is a recognition that something fundamental has changed in the Middle East.  Hamas, basically a ragtag gang of terrorists backed by Iran, has been transformed in an effective fighting force, conducting a precise, coordinated attack against Israel.

Exact numbers are impossible, but late figures have about 300 Israelis killed and more than 1,800 injured.  The 300 killed is the equivalent of almost 10,000 Americans killed in a single day.  It is catastrophic.  The Health Ministry in Gaza is reporting about 250 Palestinian deaths, but that number is very hard to verify.

What happens next?

No one knows.  There was a brief rocket assault from Lebanon aimed at Israeli defensive positions on the Israel/Lebanon border, but it ended quickly with no reported casualties.  Israel is deeply concerned about the possibly of Hezbollah forces in Lebanon joining the Hamas attack on Israel. 

I call it the "48-hour rule."  It says that, during a major news event, it takes between 24 and 48 hours for the political left to reorganize its efforts and try to take advantage of new opportunities.  We're observing that already.  While most of the news coverage I've seen has been reasonably sympathetic to Israel, based largely on the sheer brutality of the Hamas onslaught, we're starting to see and hear the usual leftist suspects going on TV to tip us that the Hamas operatives are really the victims of Israel and America.  Yeah, right.   But this will continue.  As Israel prepares a ground offensive, it understands that it will be condemned by the usual leftist crowd of Western journalists and university students.  They're wiggling out of the woodwork as I write.

And it is highly unlikely that the Biden administration will actually support an Israeli operation designed to wipe out Hamas.   The Biden White House is filled with youngsters who have bought into the Arab line. 

There are very tense days ahead, for Israel and for us.  And please remember that Israel has nuclear weapons.  Don't think they won't be used if the country is in serious danger of being wiped out. 

October 7, 2023