From breitbart.com

The Israeli government denied Monday that the withdrawal of ground forces from southern Gaza on Sunday meant that it was giving up on its plan to attack Hamas in the city of Rafah and destroy the last four terrorist battalions.

Israel pulled out its troops suddenly, leaving only the Nahal Brigade to control a corridor of access from Israel into Gaza, and to prevent movement from southern to northern Gaza, keeping Hamas terrorists bottled up in the south.

The sudden movement was an apparent response to pressure from President Joe Biden, who told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he wanted an “immediate ceasefire” after seven aid workers were inadvertently killed.

The withdrawal also came hours before Israeli negotiators left for Cairo, Egypt, perhaps striking a conciliatory posture in the hope that Hamas would release some of the remaining 130 Israeli hostages from captivity in Gaza.

Israeli officials described the withdrawal as a tactical decision that would allow Israel to prepare to attack Rafah — an attack that the U.S. has opposed without an effort to evacuate civilians.

In response to a question from Breitbart News, Israeli government spokesman Avi Hyman said: “I wouldn’t read too much into the fact that we have moved soldiers in and out of anywhere.” He added that “we can move soldiers in and out very easily, and very quickly.”

Hyman added that more humanitarian aid trucks had entered Gaza on Monday than on any day since the start of the war, with over 300 trucks making their way into the territory.

Israeli society finds itself divided after six months of war, thanks to pressure from the United States, slow progress in hostage negotiations, and a resurgent opposition, picking up where it left off in protests over judicial reform in 2023.

On the left, demonstrators blame Netanyahu for slow progress in hostage talks. On the right, ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Betzalel Smotrich say that if Netanyahu does not continue the war, they will collapse the governing coalition.

Asked whether Israelis are united enough to continue the war, Hyman replied that for Israelis, April 8th is really more like October 185th. ” We still feel the pain … we still remember the sights and smells of October 7th.” Israelis were united, he said, in the conviction that the only way to make sure October 7th never happens again is to destroy Hamas. So we will plow ahead to destroy Hamas.” source

THIS is what I wanted to hear after yesterday’s rubbish which made it seem as if Israel was retreating and Hamas had ‘won.’

Israel must wipe out the last traces of Hamas. If she doesn’t complete the job, then how can they expect to not have more massacres like we saw on October 7th?

I SAY FINISH THE JOB !!

COME LORD JESUS!

From Accuweather.com

Brood 13, which emerges every 17 years, and Brood 19, which emerges every 13, will join together for the first time since 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.

The cicadas will be seen in at least a dozen states in a rare double-brood event.

 A rare double-emergence of cicada broods is about to swarm the eastern United States in the coming weeks, scientists say.

Brood 13, which emerges every 17 years, and Brood 19, which emerges every 13, will join together for the first time since 1803, when Thomas Jefferson was president.

Illinois will be ground zero for this historic emergence, which is expected to sweep through about a dozen other states.

Cicadas, known for their loud chirping and tendency to leave behind mounds of exoskeletons, tend to surface around April or May to reproduce before disappearing again.

There are 15 “periodical” cicada broods in the United States, three of which emerge every 13 years and the rest every 17.

Cicada Broods 13 and 19 are expected to emerge together for the first time in over 200 years. Thomas Jefferson was president the last time these broods co-emerged. (File Photo by Shawn Thew/EPA-EFE)

The cicadas from Broods 13 and 19 are of a similar size, growing to about 1.4 inches, but other broods can double that and have up to an eight-inch wingspan.

Entomologist Meredith Shrader at Auburn University said central and northern Alabama can expect “millions and millions” of cicadas for about six to eight weeks.

“Everybody’s getting really, really excited,” Shrader told Al.com. “Some people are dreading it, but it’ll be fun.”

Dr. Katie Dana, an entomologist and cicada expert from Illinois, said she’s been looking forward to this year’s co-emergence for many years.

“I’ve been trying to spread the word — people haven’t listened until this year,” she told The Independent.

The area with the greatest likelihood of overlap between the two broods is in Springfield, Ill. Shrader said the “bug geeks” are looking forward to seeing whether the two broods will hybridize during mating season.

While the two broods are not expected to overlap to any significant extent, research from the University of Connecticut suggests if the two did produce hybrid offspring, they would emerge alongside the next generation of one or both of their parent broods and be indistinguishable from them.

While some people might dread the oncoming swarm and the damage to their ornamental plants, people in academia are embracing it as a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

One professor in Ohio created a free app, called Cicada Safari, for users to upload pictures and track where cicadas are emerging with the highest density.

While its hard to imagine cicadas being a threatened species, scientists warned of the possible effects of climate change on their population.

Dana said cicadas ensure their survival by producing so many offspring that their vast numbers overwhelm natural predators like birds, snakes and mammals, but even a small dip in a brood’s emergent population due to high temperatures or deforestation could cause predators to wipe them out entirely.