🇮🇱- firefighter reports that 5 tons of fuel are burning on the lower deck (-2 level) and that it's impossible to reach. The main focus is now on preventing the ship from sinking

📖 🇵🇸 🇮🇱 If shipping companies decide Israeli ports are too risky, the country could soon find itself running out of food | Times of Israel - October 26th, 2023

🔶️ Due to its location, Israel trades almost exclusively via sea routes. Yet, even before the conflict, calling Israeli ports was complicated, even beyond getting insurance for it. In some cases, USDA noted, “vessels had to wait for weeks before entering the port, with operational queues of up to 60 vessels at a time.”

🔶️ Israel is highly dependent on imports. As the US Department of Agriculture noted in a 2022 report, Israel relies almost exclusively on imports for its consumption of sugar, vegetable oils and oilseeds, feed, grain, and other raw materials for the food industry, while its meat industry relies on imports of live animals. Israel imports almost three times as much food and agricultural products as it exports. Those goods travel through the ports of Ashdod and Haifa.

🔶️ Haifa was having to absorb significant traffic from Ashdod. At the moment, the war risk premium paid by shipping lines for a vessel calling Ashdod has a typical headline rate of 0.65 percent of the vessel’s total value. Libya’s Tripoli Port — itself a risky destination — has a headline rate of 0.4 percent, the same rate Haifa now incurs. Even Mogadishu Port in Somalia is cheaper than Ashdod, at 0.5 percent. In fact, only Russia’s and Ukraine’s Black Sea ports incur significantly higher war risk premiums than Ashdod does, at 1 percent of the total vessel value.

🔶️ “What insurers and ship owners look at the moment is Israel’s ability to fend off attacks,” said Simon Lockwood, a maritime executive with WTW, the global insurance broker. The high Israeli rates reflect the risk of merchant ships being harmed in Israeli waters. “Nobody wants to go into a port and not be able to get out, as happened in Ukraine,” said Neil Roberts, a secretary of the Joint War Committee, a maritime body that classifies international waters according to risk. The suddenly very real risk of missiles and other calamities hitting ships in Ashdod adds to those already significant hurdles.

⚡️ How shipping lines and their insurers assess Israel’s conflict with Hamas — and the prospect of a wider war in the region — has enormous importance for Israel. And that’s not the end of it, because the increasingly likely conflict with the Lebanese militia Hezbollah would add enormous risks to nearby Haifa. “Should Hezbollah from southern Lebanon get involved, the threat level for the port of Haifa would instantly escalate. But although Hezbollah may not be frightened by Netanyahu’s words about unimaginable military strikes, shipping lines and their insurers certainly are. Though they’re fiercely nonpolitical, their services are indispensable to shipping-dependent Israel. And if they conclude it’s too risky to call Israeli ports, the country could soon find itself running out of food.

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-war-with-hamas-could-threaten-israels-imports/

📰 OFFICIAL: Israel asked the Biden administration to help it deal with Hezbullah and provide any support.

🇺🇲🇷🇺🇨🇺⚡- Russian Navy vessels off the coast of Florida. The fleet is heading to Havana, Cuba.

🇺🇲🇵🇸🇮🇱⚡- US considers dealing directly with Hamas, without Israel, to free 5 American hostages – NBC News.

🌐 🇮🇱 - Intel Global is stopping the construction of a $25-billion factory in Kiryat Gat, Israel.

A number of senior executives at Intel Israel moved their workplace to the factory that Intel is establishing in Ohio instead.

🇮🇱 The Knesset approves a law extending the exemption of a large sector of the Haredim from military service, with a majority of 63 members and Gallant’s opposition.

The secular Jews continue to be the most loyal soldiers of the religious Jewish state of Israel.

While the most religious Jews, continue to fight against being drafted into the army of the Jewish religious state.

And the current religious Israeli government, continues to fight its wars with secular Jews, while the Haredim stay home and their leadership kills the sons of others.

🇺🇸🇸🇴🏴⚡️- The US Chamber of Commerce reports an increase in piracy incidents originating from Somalia against ships rerouted towards the Cape of Good Hope.

🇾🇪🇸🇦🇮🇱⚡- "The Saudi regime, which uses its media to serve the Israeli regime and provides financial support to it, has adopted hostile measures against the Yemeni nation." – Abdul-Malik Badruldeen al-Houthi, Leader of the Ansar-Allah (Houthi) movement.

📝 Some very fast thoughts

It's quite remarkable the growth of Islamic resistance from a few men who stood against all odds alone in the 1980's, to an army that possess materialistic power and men who are willing to move mountains for the sake of righteousness

Hezbullah became an example of true islamic movement and true resistance.

Today we are witnessing actions that a few decades ago, were only a long-yearned dream. We shot down the most advanced UAVs, soon we the Lebanese will shoot down jets.

The resistance are in a phase of power, paved through the blood of those dear ones that fell. With each hero, the resistance learned a new skill, or acquired a new weapon, or learned how to avoid a mistake.

The power and pride we are in, is thanks to these men and their sacrifices.

May God raise the status of those killed, and protect those who are alive. May God guide the leadership to the best decisions, and their soldiers to flawless action and effort.

Shooting the Israeli UAVs is remarkable, as a non-state actor that is working in silent and isn't operating out of a government or state.

This is why with each drone shot down, we should feel the joy as if it's the first. Because the effort to safely move AD to south Lebanon, to train people to use it, to operate the Radar (or tracker), safely activate the AD, shoot down the 'star', then make sure you and the AD are safe...is nothing short of miraculous.

The hardest action in AD, according to a crews worldwide, is ambushing jets or UAVs.

On the other hand, the cowardly Israeli army tries to set a very high price on such Lebanese islamic success, and destroys compounds build far away from the frontline. They want to exert a very high price to such success. They want to deter through that.

So that's that. Hezbullah's unique success Vs Israel's well known airforce ability to hit a land target with munitions.

Hezbullah might be worried about losing all installations build through the decades, as it doesn't accept it as a price enough to shoot drones. This is why drones aren't engaged on daily basis despite ability.

The goal now is to end the war, win, and preserve the safety of what was built. Only in an all out-war will that loss be acceptable, because those installations would have served their purpose up to that day.

That's my opinion, I have no basis for it. Just a thought I thought of.