Israel Headlines (click on a headline that interests you to be taken to that article)
Israelis Appear Resigned For The Long Haul 12/22/2023
Sixth Group Of Hostages Released On Final Day Of Truce 11/29/2023
10 Hostages Released On First Day of Extended Truce Exchange 11/28/2023
11 Hostages Released On Fourth Day Of Truce 11/27/2023
Third Group Of Hostages Released By Hamas 11/26/2023
13 More Israeli Hostages and 4 Thai Hostages Released In Second Group 11/25/2023
13 Hostages Released On First Day of Ceasefire 11/24/2023
Release of 50 Hostages Appears Imminent 11/22/2023
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Inside Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital 11/15/2023
Mossad Thwarts Hezbollah Attack In Brazil 11/09/2023
How Long Will The World Give Israel? 11/08/2023
Gaza Invasion Commences In Secrecy and Blackout Conditions 10/31/2023
Trickle Of Hostages Released In Waiting Game 10/24/2023
God Is Grieved. This Is A Truth. 10/18/2023
Day Six Of The Israeli Hamas War 10/11/2023
48 Hours Into The Israel Hamas War 10/09/2023
Why Now? What’s In It For Hamas? Is Iran Involved? 10/09/2023
Hamas Invasion Eerily Reminiscent of 1973 Yom Kippur War 10/07/2023
First Part of Israeli Government Judicial Reform Voted Into Law 07/26/2023
Israeli Artifacts Taken To Mar-a-Lago Returned 07/25/2023
Jenin: Martyr’s Capital or Hornet’s Nest 07/08/2023
What Happened In Jenin and Why? 07/07/2023
Beachside Boardwalk Site of Tel Aviv Attack 04/07/2023
More Violence On The Temple Mount 04/05/2023
The Status Quo and Ramadan 03/21/2023
Protests Over A Judicial Overhaul and Terrorist Shooting in Tel Aviv 03/11/2023
Spasm Of Violence Following August 2022 Ceasefire 10/23/2022
Ceasefire Goes Into Effect Between IDF and PIJ 08/11/22
Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad Face Off In Gaza 08/05/2022
Israeli Firefighters Battle Large fire In Central Israel 07/30/2022
Alls Quiet On The Israel Front 07/23/2022
Friday, December 22, 2023
Israelis Appear Resigned For The Long Haul
As the war in Gaza enters its 11th week, 75 full days, Israelis appear resigned to a long road before the military achieves its stated aim of destroying Hamas and bringing all the hostages back home.
In the face of growing international pressure to halt the fighting and increase aid to the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu, whose own popularity has been badly damaged by apparent security failures that allowed the devastating attack to happen, has reiterated his determination to continue the war until it is won.
According to Tamar Hermann, a senior research fellow with the IDI (Israel Democracy Institute) an erosion of support from the Israeli population is not being seen, with a large majority of Israelis backing the military campaign. But as Israeli troops battle Hamas fighters through a network of tunnels and ambushes in rubble-strewn Gaza streets, with at least 140 soldiers killed already, the scale of the task ahead becomes more apparent to the population. The question is how to attain the stated goals of dismantling Hamas and rooting out the entrenched terrorist leadership that is still hiding in Gaza.
With most global nations adhering to the principle of not capitulating to terrorist organization’s demands, one wonders why Israel is not being supported in their aim to do just that. For days there has been a growing international pressure to halt the fighting and increase the flow of aid into the Gaza Strip. It’s that aid that Hamas needs in order to continue its military capabilities, very little will actually go to the populations dire needs. Throughout the last twelve years, since 2007, Hamas has diverted the majority of international aid meant for the Gazan civilian. Hamas uses construction materials meant for civilian infrastructure to build its tunnels and monetary aid to buy weapons and ordinance.
On Friday, for the first time during the current conflict, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for steps to immediately increase Gaza aid. In addition the text adopted calls for conditions to be created for a ‘sustainable cessation of hostilities,’ stopping short of demands for an immediate and permanent ceasefire due to US and Israel opposition.
At a news conference in Washington as the UN Security Council was considering the above resolution, and in a sign of continuing US support, US Secretary of State Anthony Blink said: “What is striking to me is that while we hear many countries urging the end to this conflict, which we would all like to see, I hear virtually no one … demanding of Hamas that it stop hiding behind civilians, that it lay down its arms, that it surrender. This is over tomorrow if Hamas does that. How can it be that there are no demands made of the aggressor and only demands made of the victim?”
Blinken added that “if the war ends now with Hamas continuing to rule the Gaza Strip and remaining a threat to Israel, that’s not in the interest of Israel. It’s not in the interest of the region. It’s not in the interest of the world.” Go To the Top
Wednesday, November 29, 2023
Sixth Group Of Hostages Released on Final Day Of Truce
Just before midnight on Tuesday and amid intense negotiations to extend the truce, a sixth group of hostages was released into Israeli hands. The group included the mother of a daughter freed several days ago, a situation which caused Israeli officials to accuse Hamas of being in direct violation of the truce agreement. In addition, the released hostages included three teenage boys abducted on October 7th, a 13 year old girl whose brother was murdered by the terrorists on that Black Shabbat, an 18 year old brother of a teenage girl released earlier who were both taken hostage from the music festival happening the day of the attack where hundreds of teenagers and young adults were horrifically slain. Several more teenagers taken hostage from the festival were included in this sixth group along with adult women, one a jewelry designer who had intended to sell her merchandise at the festival.
As of today, close to 100 hostages have been released in the six days of truce and exchange, included in the count are one rescued by the IDF and the bodies of two hostages recovered by the military during the ground offensive in Gaza. Now all eyes are on the remainder of those held captive, mostly men, some of them elderly and a number of IDF soldiers. US, Israeli and Qatar officials are intensely working on extending the exchange and truce. An extra two days of the truce could see a possible 20 more hostages released from Hamas captivity and a further pause in the fighting.
Hanging in the balance is the fate of a 10 month old baby boy, his sibling and his mother. The IDF said Wednesday it had notified the family of this mother and her two young children that it was investigating a “cruel and inhumane” Hamas claim that the three had been killed.
The statement by Hamas’s military wing asserted Shiri Bibas, 32, and her children, four-year-old Ariel and 10-month-old Kfir, were killed in an Israeli strike as they were held captive in the Strip. It did not say when this had allegedly occurred. The Gazan terrorist groups have made such claims regarding hostages in the past, and these claims are seen as part of a psychological warfare campaign. “The Hamas terrorist organization continues to act in a cruel and inhumane manner,” the IDF said. Regardless of the circumstances, the military stressed that Hamas bears responsibility for the safety of all the hostages held in the Gaza Strip, even those held by other terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials are vowing to continue the ground offensive in the Gaza during the coming days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “In recent days I’ve heard a question: Will Israel return to fighting after this stage of returning our hostages is over? My response is an unequivocal yes,” the premier says. “There is no way we won’t return to fighting until the end.” In addition, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that “IDF forces in the air, ground and sea are ready to renew the battle immediately.” Go To the Top
Tuesday, November 28, 2023
10 Hostages Released on First Day Of Extended Truce Exchange
After 53 days in captivity, eight Israeli women, six of them elderly, and one mother and her 17-year-old daughter comprised the 10 Israeli hostages freed the evening of Tuesday November 28th. In addition, two Thai nationals were released as part of a separate agreement.
In the first four days of the truce, Hamas released a total of 30 Israeli children and 20 Israeli women. Today’s hostages were the first to be released in a new deal brokered to extend the truce and exchange for two days.
The released hostages are now at Sheba Medical Center and Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where they are all reuniting with their families and loved ones.
In efforts to broker the release of all the hostages held by Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, Mossad spy agency chief David Barnea and CIA direct Williams Burns met with top Qatari officials in Doha.
The visit came after Israel and Hamas agreed on the two-day extension of the initial four-day truce in order to allow for the release of at least 20 more hostages. A total of some 240 hostages were abducted to Gaza on October 7th, now called Black Shabbat, when terrorists rampaged through southern Israeli Kibbutz communities, murdering at least 1,200 civilians, including children, babies, mothers, fathers, and elderly men and women.
The talks are focused on ensuring the smooth release of the additional 20 hostages and possibly expanding the temporary truce for more days in order to gain the release of all the women and children held by terror groups in Gaza.
Israel believes there are up to 83 women and 10 children being held by the terror groups. These numbers exclude five female soldiers. Israel believes the next two days are critical in getting Hamas to extend the deal in order to broker the release of all women and children hostages.
The second reason for Barnea’s trip is to lay the groundwork for future deals that could include the hostages who did not fall under the current agreement, all the men held hostage and possibly soldiers. Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari indicated Tuesday that negotiations for the release of the soldiers held hostage by Hamas could begin after civilian hostages are freed.
Qatar is a crucial communications channel with Hamas, as it hosts the terror group’s political bureau and is the primary residence of its self-exiled leader Ismail Haniyeh, as well as its former leader Khaled Mashaal. The country is one of Hamas’s main backers, transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to the terror group annually.
In further news, the IDF announced on Tuesday the deaths of three soldiers, Staff Sgt. Tomer Yaakov Ahimas, 20, Sgt. Kiril Brodski, 19, Sgt. Shaked Dahan, 19, all previous thought to have been taken hostage during the Hamas attack of October 7th. The three soldiers were classified as kidnapped by the IDF until this news bulletin when the IDF reclassified them as “fallen soldiers held hostage by a terror group.”
The deaths of the three soldiers brought the toll of fallen IDF soldiers since the outbreak of the war on October 7th to 395. Go To the Top
Monday, November 27, 2023
11 Hostages Released On Fourth Day Of Truce
The IDF stated that 11 hostages released from Hamas captivity are now in Israeli territory. “After they undergo an initial medical assessment of their health, our forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families,” the IDF says.
The 11 freed Israeli hostages entered Israel via the Kerem Shalom Crossing, not traveling through Egypt as was the custom on some of the previous days of the truce. The Kerem Shalom Crossing gate separates Israel from Gaza and also has a side gate separating Israel from Egypt.
After the brief medical check-up and an opportunity to call their families for the first time, the hostages are being airlifted to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital where they will be treated further and reunited with their families, the Health Ministry says.
The hostages in this fourth group include 9 children and 2 mothers all from Kibbutz Nir Oz. With almost a quarter of its population either kidnapped or murdered, Kibbutz Nir Oz was one of the most horrific sites of Hamas’s October 7 massacre. On that tragic day, the Nir Oz community engaged in a large, desperate group chat that created a record of the massacre as it unfolded.
Amiram Cooper, 84, one of the founders of Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and remains in captivity. His wife, also abducted on what is now being called, Black Shabbat, was released on October 23rd. The two were held in the same room during their captivity and said it was impossible to determine day or night.
At this writing there are still nine children, with ages spanning from 10 months old to 18 years old, who remain captive in Gaza and in the hands of Hamas
As the released hostage, 84 year old Elma Avraham, remains in critical condition and fighting for her life, returning hostages are beginning to describe the conditions of their captivity. The details included being kept in total darkness, using plastic chairs pushed together as beds, irregular meals of bread and rice and hours spent waiting for the bathroom. The captives recount that they were always told to whisper and stay quiet.
On the fourth day of the exchange, Hamas, Qatar and the US announced a two day extension of the truce agreement to release hostages. However, Israel has yet to confirm agreeing to the extension with IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari saying that an extension to the temporary ceasefire is not final: “We are managing a deal through mediators around the clock. Nothing is final until it actually happens,” he said. “Things are progressing, tonight as well, but patience is required.”
Evidently in an attempt to appease Hamas and possibly the great Arab world, Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari used the terms “detainees” for the Israeli hostages and “civilians” for the prisoners released in exchange for the hostages. There is a huge difference between innocent people abducted and held hostage compared to prisoners tried and convicted of security offenses– just saying! Go To the Top
Sunday, November 26, 2023
Third Group Of Hostages Released by Hamas
A third group of Israeli and foreign hostages were released from Hamas captivity Sunday evening in accordance with the Israeli Hamas agreement to pause the fighting and exchange hostages for prisoners. The group, numbering 17 people — 14 Israelis and three Thai citizens arrived in Israel late Sunday night local time.
The group was handed over to the Red Cross which delivered them to Israeli forces. Unlike previous releases, which took place at the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza, 13 of the Israelis were transferred through the border fence in northern Gaza, amid reports that they had been held in the Gaza City area, possibly in regions not yet reached by the massive IDF ground offensive.
The released hostages included nine children, two mothers, two more women, and one man. Although the Red Cross said an initial medical examination indicated they were all in good condition, one of the elderly Israeli hostages, Elma Avraham age 84, was taken straight to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba via helicopter in what was described as critical condition.
Also released was Abigail Idan, 4, an American-Israeli citizen from Kibbutz Kfar Aza, whose parents were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7th and whom US President Joe Biden had called repeatedly for her release. The Biden administration tracked her movement from northern Gaza as she was transferred from Hamas to the Red Cross and then routed directly into Israel with the elderly woman in critical condition mentioned above.
Abigail Idan, who turned four years old while in Hamas hands, was taken captive by Hamas terrorists on October 7, as she was hiding in her neighbor’s home. She had run to that home after her mother was slain and father mortally wounded by the Hamas attackers. Her brother and sister, not knowing where Abigail was, hid in a closet of their home for 14 hours until rescued.
Abigail’s father, Roee Idan, a Ynet photographer, was mortally wounded in the terrorist attack. During the first moments of the raid he had run outside to capture the first images of Hamas terrorists on hang-gliders in the skies over the kibbutz. As he realized the extent of what was taking place, he ran home to find that terrorists had killed his wife and Abigail was missing. He was murdered when he continued to defend his home against the Hamas terrorists.
With this third exchange, it seems the hostages were being held in northern Gaza neighborhoods that the Israeli offensive had not yet reached. Hamas, a brutal regime with a military hold on the Gaza Strip, posted a video of the hostage release which indicates it still has a significant military presence in the north. In just another added terror, hostages released in the first groups had said that when they were taken from where they were being held captive, they thought they were going to be executed.
In further news, Netanyahu said Israel was open to adding days to the current exchange agreement but will then return to war. Hamas also let it be known that the terrorist group wanted to extend the pause further than the originally agreed on four days. Go To the Top
Saturday, November 25, 2023
13 More Israeli Hostages and 4 Thai Hostages Released In Second Group
After a significant delay with both sides accusing the other of violating the terms of the ceasefire and hostage release agreement, 13 Israeli women and children along with 4 Thai hostages were finally released. A statement from the Israel Defense Forces says the released hostages are now in Israeli territory, and are being escorted by IDF Special Forces after undergoing an initial medical assessment.
“Our forces are accompanying the released hostages until they reach their families in the hospitals,” the statement says.
Sources in Israel have accused Hamas of violating the terms of the truce deal by releasing a child without her mother. Hila Rotem, 12, was freed tonight but her mother, Raya Rotem, 54, remains a hostage in Gaza. Israeli sources say that this discrepancy was one of the sticking points during the delays and disagreements earlier today.
Prior to the release, Israeli officials expressed “cautious optimism” that the second group of hostages would be released even as the world watched and worried during the long delay.
Several families of the hostages waited at the Soroka Medical Center as Israel held its collective breath during the delay. The families had been told by the Israeli authorities that they should wait there as reunions with their loved ones would take place at the medical center.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly held consultations by telephone with all of Israel’s security chiefs regarding how to proceed if Hamas did not release today’s group of hostages from Gaza by midnight, in accordance with the truce deal.
Both Egypt and Qatar were said to be instrumental in salvaging the deal and averting the crisis brought on when the two sides began accusing each other of violating the terms of the agreement. Go To the Top
Friday, November 24, 2023
13 Hostages Released On First Day Of Ceasefire
From a Great-Grandmother to a 2 year old little girl, 13 hostages were released into waiting Israeli hands today, Friday, November 24th. After 49 days in captivity these Israelis, abducted in the October 7th terrorist raid were finally going home to be with their families. In addition, 13 foreign farm workers held hostage from the October 7th attack were also released. The hostages were released in exchange for 39 prisoners held by Israel for various terrorist crimes.
A statement from the IDF confirmed that the hostages are in Israeli territory and are being escorted by Israeli Special Forces for assessment at area hospitals and reunions with their families. “We will continue to work together with the defense establishment’s bodies for the return of all the hostages,” the IDF adds.
In his first statement following the release of the first 13 Israeli hostages, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saluted the return of these first civilian hostages, but stressed that Israel stays committed to completing the return of all hostages and achieving the goals of the current war.
Regarding the exchange of innocent civilians for prisoners, Michael Oren, former ambassador to Israel, in an interview on MSNBC, went to great pains to correct the misconstrued idea that the release of Palestinian prisoners could be viewed in the same light as the release of Israeli hostages. The prisoners in the exchange have been convicted of terrorism crimes against Israel while the hostages were abducted civilians, including innocent children and elderly women, during a terrorist attack. He went on to state that it is imperative that Israel continue the war on Hamas as the terrorist organization’s stated mission is to destroy Israel, to purge the world of Jewish people. Leaving the organization militarily capable in Gaza is simply an invitation for future attacks.
For Americans watching this war play out on television screens from the relative safety of the US, the Hamas terrorist attack was not unlike the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, Pentagon, and hijacked airplanes. Many across the globe have called the October 7th, Black Shabbat attack, Israel’s 9/11 moment. Terrorist organizations do not make distinctions between innocent civilians and military foes. Even today when Hamas publishes death tolls, no difference is made between deaths of militants in the war and deaths of civilians, in addition there is no distinction between those killed by Israeli fire or “friendly fire” i.e. from failed Hamas or PIJ rockets meant for Israel that detonate in Gaza or militants using civilians as shields against the IDF. Go To the Top
Wednesday, November 22, 2023
Release of 50 Hostages Appears imminent
Israel announced today that the first hostages, part of those taken in the October 7th attack, could be released Thursday, November 23rd at 10:00 AM Israel time. UPDATE: Change in release day, now according to a Netanyahu aide, release to begin on Friday, November 24th. According to an Israeli senior official, Hamas is so desperate for a lull in the fighting that they may even agree to more hostages being released in a bid for additional days of halted fighting
Israel media reports indicated that on Wednesday, the government had received a list of the hostages to be released. If the reports are true, the deal includes a swap for Palestinian prisoners – up to 150 Palestinian female and under aged prisoners for 50 living hostages taken in the October 7th raid. The deal also includes an influx of fuel and humanitarian aid, plus the caveat that more hostages could be released at a rate of three Palestinian prisoners for each additional Israeli hostage.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said Tuesday that military pressure on Hamas was creating “better conditions” for the release of hostages held by the terror group in the Gaza Strip, and that such pressure will continue. He also stated that the deal to release hostages will not impact the IDF mission to end Hamas’ hold on Gaza and destroy the group as a functioning terrorist entity.
In additional news, the IDF released images of the tunnel found under the Al Shifa Hospital. The first images of the tunnel showed a staircase leading several meters down from the tunnel entrance and then a blast door about 55 meters from the staircase. The military reported that the blast door had been breached and the IDF is now searching the tunnel for Hamas assets possibly left behind as the terror group’s command center fled into Southern Gaza.
Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilian centers and population as shields for its terror purposes. How long the world will give Israel to complete the destruction of Hamas will probably depend upon how much evidence the IDF can reveal about the way Hamas operates as it embeds itself in civilian areas. A British doctor who used to work at Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical center, under which the IDF says Hamas operates a major command and control base, has confirmed that there were areas of the hospital where he could not go, or else he would be shot. Go To the Top
Wednesday, November 15, 2023
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Inside Gaza’s Al Shifa Hospital
On Day 40 of the Israel Hamas War, Israeli special forces backed by additional troops entered Gaza City’s Al Shifa Hospital to carry out a “precise and targeted operation” against the Hamas terror infrastructure at the site. At least five Hamas gunmen were killed by troops during a gun battle outside the hospital, with no Israeli soldiers injured or killed.
The raid found weapons and Hamas assets inside the hospital, confirming what Israel and US intelligence has been saying all along about Hamas’ use of civilian buildings and centers for military purposes. During searches of the wards and hospital area, rooms were located that contained combat and military equipment including uniforms, assault rifles and grenades.
Proving that Hamas is in violation of international law, a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the IDF had found “concrete evidence” of Hamas’s use of the hospital as a military facility for terror purposes. Israel said the IDF would publicize portions of what had been found inside. In addition, the IDF told the press that patients and hospital staff had not been harmed, while incubators, baby food and medical supplies were delivered by IDF tanks and taken to the necessary areas of the hospital. The IDF forces entering the hospital, consisting of medical teams and Arabic-speaking soldiers, were on the ground to ensure that the supplies reach those in need and that civilians were kept out of harm’s way.
At this time, the IDF appears in complete control of Al Shifa hospital with no further gunfire taking place. A source inside the hospital reported that Israeli forces raced through the corridors and fired warning shots as they moved from room to room looking for gunmen. There were calls for all Hamas terrorists present in the hospital to surrender. In another hospital raid earlier in the week, IDF forces let known Hamas militants escape with civilians and patients in order to not harm innocent victims of this war.
Israeli and US intelligence has said the hospital serves as cover for the terror group’s fortified underground command center — though it is unclear what or who remains there since the military launched its ground offensive in Northern Gaza. Hamas leadership is thought to have largely moved to Southern Gaza using the humanitarian corridors opened by Israel and traveling among the fleeing civilians. From all appearances, Israel is in control of Northern Gaza after taking the area’s parliament buildings, police stations and other Hamas government centers.
While Israel believes some of the 240 hostages captured by Hamas terrorists were housed at the hospital at one time, there is no indication of hostages currently being held there. Israel hopes to gain intelligence information from captured Hamas elements as to where the hostages are now.
Sadly, the IDF also announced early Wednesday that two officers, Cpt. Omri Yosef David, 27, from Carmiel and Cpt. Yedidya Asher Lev, 26, from Tal Menashe, had been killed in Gaza during Tuesday’s fighting, bringing the death toll in the ground offensive against Hamas to 48. Additionally, the IDF said four soldiers and officers had been seriously wounded in gun battles with Hamas militants.
In addition to its use of Shifa Hospital, the Israeli military believes Hamas held hostages under Rantisi Hospital and the IDF found that the terror group had extensive tunnel networks under several hospitals in the Gaza Strip.
The Al Shifa Hospital scenario and other intelligence gathered by Israel, highlights the challenging military operation that Israel is trying to pull off, as Hamas embeds itself within the Gaza civilian population.
In earlier news, an IDF spokesman showed a tunnel entrance under a child’s bed in a civilian home, it also released an intercepted phone call with a Hamas militant. In the call, the Hamas operative can be heard speaking to a Gazan man, saying he “can leave with any ambulance” he wants. During an interrogation, another Hamas terrorist reported that during combat, ambulances are used to evacuate fighters, commanders and operatives. They also transport food, cargo and weapons to Hamas assets because Israel will not bomb or shoot at ambulances, making that the safest way to transport during any war with Israel. Go To the Top
Thursday, November 9, 2023
Mossad thwarts Hezbollah Attack In Brazil
The terrorist organizations bent on eradicating the Jewish nation are not just based in the Middle East nations surrounding Israel. Hamas, Hezbollah, and Houthi, to name a few, are worldwide terrorist organizations funded, weaponized, trained and backed by Iran.
Hamas, a spin off of the Muslim Brotherhood, is not just in Israel, the West Bank or Gaza, the group has cells in Lebanese refugee camps, key Middle East capitals and many other nations across the globe. And in news from Sao Paulo, Brazil, we find the terrorist group Hezbollah working against Jewish interests in that country.
In a statement from the Israeli Spy agency, Mossad, the agency, in conjunction with the Brazilian Federal Police, says it took part in a Brazilian operation to thwart a planned terror attack by Hezbollah operatives against Jewish and Israeli targets on Brazilian soil.
Brazil’s Federal investigators say they uncovered a scheme allegedly involving the recruitment of Brazilian citizens by Hezbollah to orchestrate assaults against the Brazilian Jewish community. The intended targets reportedly included synagogues.
Daniel Bialski, the vice president of Conib, the main Jewish organization in Brazil, shares hi profound alarm over the threat, but expressed a sense of reassurance that the Brazilian authorities took preemptive action. The Mossad thanked the Brazilian authorities for arresting the Iranian funded Hezbollah cell that was planning the attack. In addition, the Mossad notes that Hezbollah, Hamas and other terrorist groups are working around the world with backing from Iran to carry out attacks against Israeli, Jewish and Western targets, and the agency is working to thwart all such attempts “wherever needed.” Go To the Top
Wednesday, November 8, 2023
How Long Will the World Give Israel?
A month after the Hamas raid on October 7th 2023, now called Black Shabbat, Israel is a changed nation. Its citizens are struggling with a loss of faith in their political leaders and instead turning to the military to provide a path through terrible circumstances, even as they wonder how long the IDF will be allowed to fight and attain the stated goal of decapitating the terrorist organization that set the war in motion.
The pain of your every day citizen remains unbearably raw, “….hundreds of thousands of Israelis have join the ranks of the bereaved, the widowed, the orphaned, the broken, the traumatized and the terrified,” wrote Amir Ben-David. Their pain is here to stay.
The Israeli families most directly affected, those mourning slain relatives, those with loved ones held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are living a constant and continual horror. Other Israelis have been turned into refugees, evacuated from their homes near the conflict on the Gaza Israeli border in the south and the Lebanon Israeli border in the north, with no certain prospect of returning to their homes in the near future.
Overall, your average Israeli citizen casts a jaundiced eye at Netanyahu’s government that woefully underestimated Hamas. In most eyes, Netanyahu’s coalition government appears to be a collection of self-interested officials who refused to honestly acknowledge how badly they misjudged the terrorist threat, casting around for fall guys and even going so far as to minimize contact with bereaved families across the nation while failing to allocate needed financial resources for the refugees and communities affected by the terrorist attack.
In fact, most Israelis now singularly place their faith and trust in the IDF, their national army that has fought miraculous wars in the past and now has called up hundreds of thousands of reservists from the ranks of everyday citizens in an effort to recover from the Black Shabbat disaster and ensure that there will be no repeat in the future. A month into the conflict, the news that the IDF considers the war against Hamas as “going better than it expected” is cautiously welcomed. Thousands of Hamas terrorists have been killed, tunnels and other infrastructures destroyed, all with fewer losses of IDF soldiers than originally anticipated. Very few Israelis disagree with the declared twin missions of the war: to destroy Hamas as a threat to Israel and rescue the hostages.
However, one incontrovertible and baffling fact has come to light with the Black Shabbat attack: the Hamas terror group that the Israeli government and politicians allow to flourish in Gaza turns out to be a well trained, highly organized and developed army of 30,000+ militants. While each day there are reports of the destruction of immense enemy resources and the slaying of hundreds of gunmen and several Hamas commanders, this question is on every Israeli mind: how were they allowed to build up to this destructive size in the first place? It has become apparent that the “weak and puny” organization the Israeli citizen had been led to believe existed in Gaza, actually transformed the Gaza Strip into the biggest terror base any organization has ever built, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In addition, retired IDF Major General Giora Eiland, concluded “it is the most fortified place in the history of humanity with the best of Iranian technology and billions invested.”
This week the news has revealed that the IDF is gradually surrounding and punishing that incredibly fortified area, but it must be asked: Can the Israeli Military destroy in a few weeks what was built up during the more than 15 years of Hamas occupation? Will the world allow the IDF enough time to complete that mission?
One wonders if Gazan civilians have bought into or been coerced to give lip service to Hamas’ stated manifesto to eradicate Israel from the face of the earth. There is evidence both ways, which only makes the lines between militant combatants and civilians terrifically blurred. What the IDF has found is that every other private home in Gaza has an entrance shaft leading down to the miles and miles of Hamas’ tunnel infrastructure. Yet during this week’s humanitarian pauses the IDF has seen a growing flood of civilians fleeing south even in the face of Hamas’ stated opposition to the exodus. It’s possible that Gazans are united around their leadership, not opposed to it or simply in the wrong fortified area at the wrong time.
Time will answer many questions, especially as the IDF moves closer and closer to the fortifications of Gaza City and its main hospital, the Shifa Hospital. All intelligence points to the existence of the Hamas command center and a main shaft to all the tunnels as being directly under the Shifa Hospital. It is a known fact that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, so with terrorists hidden among hospital workers and patients, the battle for that command center and its tunnels will be a world-wide shocking event. How will the IDF fight in such a scenario? Israeli citizens and the world will watch, some with resignation, some with horror and some with condemnation of both sides. No one wins in this war, the world can hold some accountable but it will be the people, the everyday citizens of both Israel and Gaza that will pay the ultimate price. Go To the Top
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Gaza Invasion Commences In Secrecy and Blackout Conditions
24 days into the Israel Hamas War, called “Operation Swords of Arms” by Israel and “Al –Aqsa Storm” by Hamas, Israel has entered what the IDF and Israeli authorities are calling the “third phase” of the war.
On the Jewish Sabbath, October 7, 2023, Hamas, declaring they were responding to attacks on the Al-Aqsa Mosque situated on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, descended upon thousands of civilians in villages and a music festival near the Gazan border. Israel has militarily responded to the terrorist attack stating their aim is the total eradication of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, essentially a decapitation of the terrorist group. (Hamas is on the world-wide list of terror organizations)
In an ongoing and heart breaking result of the terror attack, only 826 of the 1400 victims of the October 7th attack have been able to be identified as the terrorist group methodically mutilated and burned their victims in their homes and cars, chasing festival goers over fields and roads. Only 700+ victims remains have been able to be released to families for burial.
This third phase of the war was ushered in by a total blackout of the Gaza Strip; no internet, no phones, no communications, designed to deny the terrorist group the ability to adequately respond to the IDF incursion into northern Gaza.
The IDF remains ambiguous and secretive regarding the army’s ground activities in the Hamas controlled enclave during this third phase, only announcing the death of one Hamas commander who carried out the deadly slaughter at Kibbutz Erez and Netiv Ha’asara on October 7th. In addition, the IDF announced the rescue of an IDF soldier taken hostage during the Al-Aqsa Storm attack and the death of two IDF soldiers and injury of two other IDF forces as the ground incursion moves further and further into the northern portion of the Gaza strip. The aim in this phase is not only the death of Hamas terrorists and rescue of hostages, but the destruction of fortified tunnels that honeycomb the area which will severely limit the ability of Hamas to hide from the IDF. UPDATE 11/1/2023: The IDF announced that 15 soldiers were killed in the invasion of Gaza on Tuesday, 10/31/2023.
Israel has refused the call to add fuel to the humanitarian aid entering Gaza from the southern entry point on the Egyptian border. Using photos and intelligence, the Israeli authorities point to the fact that Hamas has stockpiled millions of liters of diesel fuel it is refusing to release for Gaza’s civilian needs and that any fuel entering the enclave during this conflict would be commandeered by the terrorist group for its military activities.
The IDF has successfully responded to attacks on several fronts. Ongoing attacks by Hezbollah on the Lebanon border were answered with air strikes on those Iranian backed military positions. In addition, Yemeni Houthis, also Iranian backed, fired a ballistic missile towards the resort city of Eilat on the Red Sea which was destroyed by the Israeli Arrow Defense System.
Facing increased calls for a ceasefire, in a Monday evening press conference, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the idea that Israel would agree to a ceasefire with Hamas. “I want to make clear Israel’s position regarding a ceasefire. Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or after the terrorist attack of 9/11, Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas. After the horrific attacks of October 7, calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen.” Go To the Top
Tuesday, October 24, 2023
Trickle of Hostages Released In Waiting Game
After two weeks of war, Hamas has released four women hostages. This is just a trickle from the 200+ hostages taken in the first hours of the Sabbath morning attack on October 7th. Hamas has tied the release of more hostages to having fuel added to the humanitarian aid currently trickling into Gaza. Israel has specifically vetoed fuel as part of the aid, saying Hamas will divert it from humanitarian needs to their military needs. Today, the IDF shared photos of twelve storage tanks where Hamas is hoarding over a half million liters of diesel; fuel that the terrorist group has at its fingertips and is refusing to share with hospitals and other necessary civilian endeavors. These photos were shared a few hours after Hamas claimed that a power outage in a northern Gaza hospital was a “crime against humanity.”
This stand-off is making the lives of innocent civilians, including the remaining hostages, in Gaza increasingly tenuous. Hamas has imbedded itself in civilian areas, schools, apartment buildings, hospitals and mosques in the hope of triggering further outrage as military assets in those areas are targeted by the Israeli Air Force. Today there are news sources showing that rockets barrages set to be fired into Israel are placed next to schools and equally innocent civilian areas. UPDATE 10/26/2023 from The Times Of Israel: over 500 rockets fired by Hamas and the PIJ have landed inside the Gaza strip since the current conflict began.
In addition to all the above and also making life increasingly difficult inside of the Gaza strip, Hamas is the only source of information coming out of Gaza. As the world saw last week, according to Hamas it was the Israeli Air Force that bombed a Gaza hospital which resulted in hundreds of casualties. Further review by outside intelligence organizations, including the US, revealed that the hospital was devastated by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket that either erroneously hit the hospital or, in order to ramp up Arab anger, was deliberately aimed at the hospital. Even now we don’t have an accurate number of casualties in that particular event. How do you square the desperate need to decapitate a terrorist organization with the resulting casualties that are certain to be sustained by the civilian population? Casualties that the terrorist organization is perfectly willing to absorb? What would you have Israel do?
As I said in an earlier update, God is grieved by the injuring and killing of innocents by anyone, any nation, organization, group or people. He has promised that all who are responsible for these outrages will be held accountable in His time. We have to trust this promise. The minor prophet Zephaniah specifically addresses this when he emphatically announced that God cares about justice. The worst thing according to Zephaniah is indifference or complacency in the face of injustice. The great Jewish political activist and holocaust survivor, Elie Wiesel said something similar, “The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, its indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, its indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, its indifference.” Though perhaps not as well remembered, the prophet Zephaniah suggested that God says the same thing.
God is not indifferent and He asks us not to be indifferent to the plight of innocent civilians whether Israeli or Palestinians. I don’t know the answers, God is in control, He needs to hear our prayers on behalf of all those whose lives are destroyed in this terrible situation. Go To the Top
Thursday, October 18, 2023
God Is Grieved. This Is A Truth.
Devastated is how I would describe my feelings today. Devastated over the news coming out of the Middle East, over politics in the United States, rhetoric from all factions that believe they have the truth on their side. I don’t pretend to have any answers, I am only watching in horror as nations, leaders and groups claim to have THE truth on their side. Dr. David Jeremiah in his message last Sunday said this about truth, “just because you believe something doesn’t make it the truth.” Truth is not based on belief, truth is truth, regardless of belief.
The Hamas Israeli War is a conflict born out of who believes they have the truth on their side. In his book, the prophet Nahum explicitly tells us that God is grieved by the death of innocents and His goodness and justice compels Him to orchestrate the downfall of oppressive nations. This prophecy of God’s judgment on evil is good news, unless you happen to be one of those nations facing His judgment. If you as a nation are oppressing anyone, beware. God is grieved. That is a truth.
Today we are seeing news reports, including videos, of innocent people on both sides injured, killed and kidnapped. Iran is encouraging it’s proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen to enter the fray, probably with the main purpose of drawing the United States and other western nations into this conflict.
In addition, today, Yemeni Houthis an Islamic Shia faction in predominantly Sunni Yemen, who don’t have the technology to get a rocket as far as Israel, fired rockets toward that nation probably in the hopes that they would land in either Saudi Arabia or Egypt in order to blame Israel or the United States for the destruction. Thankfully, the US destroyer USS Carney intercepted and shot down the rockets over the Red Sea before they could fall on an unknown destination. UPDATE: News sources are saying that Saudi Arabia also intercepted a rocket from that same barrage and destroyed it before it could land.
In a continuing horrific saga, the number of hostages taken into Gaza from Israel has risen to 203. This rising number reveals the extent of innocent victims wronged by the Hamas attack on southern Israel and Kibbutz close to the Gaza Strip even as Israel poses for a ground invasion which will certainly cause more casualties among innocent civilians who are surrounded by Hamas militants imbedded in their schools, hospitals, homes, and mosques.
Innocents drawn into horrific conflicts and wars. God is grieved. This is a truth. Go To the Top
Thursday, October 11, 2023
Day Six of the Israeli Hamas War
As horrific images begin to emerge from this active conflict between Israel and Hamas, most people in the know say it is only the beginning. In the next days as Israel gears up for a house to house ground invasion, these images will be just the tip of the iceberg. We need to be prepared for additional gruesome images and horrific details to emerge, according to retired Admiral John Kirby of the National Security Council, as he talked from the While House press room.
Secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, currently in Israel and planning to travel to other Mideast nations, said that some of the images had been seen before, but others were new to him, and again said that Hamas’ acts harkened back to the worst of ISIS atrocities.
Many of the injured, slain and abducted Israelis have dual citizenship, American, French, German, Philippine and others. This makes the war and the ongoing hostage situation personal to people worldwide and precarious. At this point, Israel has said to Hamas that the all out siege, including no electricity, fuel and food will continue until the release of all hostages. In addition, there have been talks of a humanitarian corridor through the Egyptian checkpoint, but so far Egypt has pushed back on those proposals saying an exodus of Gaza Palestinians from the territory would have grave consequences for the Palestinian cause. Most likely that means it would difficult to impossible to distinguish Hamas militants from the civilian population streaming out and all people leaving Gaza would have to be detained somewhere, further adding to the refugee situation already in place from previous wars.
The Israeli government is under intense public pressure to completely topple Hamas and leave no “Hamas” stone unturned in the Gaza enclave. The prevailing thought is that Hamas needs to be crushed regardless of the number of casualties. That is a truly difficult thought for those families with soldiers on the front line and families with hostages being held by Hamas. Sadly, as the world looks on, there don’t seem to be any answers for all the sides of this horrific conflict. Go To the Top
Monday, October 9, 2023
48 Hours Into the Israel Hamas War
48 hours into the fighting, the IDF spokesperson announced that the Israeli army has managed to gain full control over southern Israeli towns infiltrated by terrorists, but warned that some terrorists might still be in the country.
As Israel goes on the offensive against Hamas, 300,000 reservist troops have been called up. This is the largest mobilization in the nation state’s young history.
IDF officials had earlier said that their primary goal was regaining control of Israeli territory around the Gaza border before ramping up the counter-offensive in Gaza. Israel has so far not sent troops into the territory, but has been pounding the densely populated and blockaded area with airstrikes since Saturday. Per Israeli policy, the strikes on civilian areas are preceded by the “knock on the roof” to warn civilians to evacuate.
According to IDF spokesperson, Lt. Col Richard Hecht, dozens are being held as hostages, he added that Hamas did not “knock on the roof” as Israel does, prior to putting civilians in danger.
The high volume of reservists mobilized raises speculation of a possible ground invasion, but no such announcement has been made so far. However, U.S. officials have said they anticipate a ground invasion within the next 48 hours. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly told U.S. President Joe Biden that Israel has no choice but to invade Gaza, according to news sources.
In previous conflicts with Hamas, the longest duration before calling a ceasefire has been 50 days. Whether this conflict will match that is anyone’s guess, but the viciousness of attacks on civilians certainly calls for an unprecedented answer. In addition, the northern border of Israel with Lebanon has seen sporadic fighting in the last few days. While a two front conflict would be difficult, it isn’t something that Israel hasn’t faced before. Possibly the immense call up of reservists is an answer to that danger. Go To the Top
Monday, October 9, 2023
Why Now? What’s In It For Hamas? Is Iran Involved?
Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel comes at a time when the Middle East nation is experiencing historic internal political and domestic divisions. Then add to that, the high-stakes negotiations between Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States, all of which might get you to at least a reasonable conclusion. But Hamas, or if Iran is involved, doesn’t have to have reasonable reasons!
While Hamas claimed it was taking revenge for a series of recent actions by Israel at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque and in the West Bank, Israeli officials counter with the fact that the escalating crackdowns against rising terror attacks have been going on for more than a year. So, again, why now?
Former U.S. intelligence and military officers say they believed the timing of the Hamas attack was primarily aimed at disrupting negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia as the talks appeared to be on the verge of historically normalizing relations with Israel.
Those in the know say Iran is seeking “to put pressure on their implacable foe Israel” with this attack.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has said, “We are against any bilateral relations between our regional countries and the Zionist regime,” a reference to Israel.
Diplomats say that if Saudi Arabia agreed to recognize Israel it would lead other Arab states to do so. A series of such agreements would end decades of hostility between Israel and its neighbors dating back to 1948 and further back Iran into an isolated corner.
There are complex conditions by all sides for such an agreement, however the current Saudi ruler has signaled a willingness to recognize Israel, given the vast economic benefits such a policy would provide to his country, even going so far as to agree to increase oil production, something the US government has sought for two years in the wake of the Ukrainian Russian conflict.
In the meantime and probably adding to the timing, Prime Minister Netanyahu has stoked the domestic divisions with several toxic decisions and reforms, all of which sparked mass protests across the country.
Hamas and those states supporting the terrorist organization viewed the deep political divisions in Israel as a perfect opportunity to strike. According to one official, there is a sense among Israel’s adversaries that it “has never been more divided, never been weaker, never been more torn apart”. Making the disruption of the talks just an added benefit.
The attack by Hamas from the Gaza strip has been compared to the 9/11 attacks in the US with one official saying “This event was a national trauma, like 9/11,” he said. “We have dozens of people who are abducted — civilians.”
Without a doubt, Israel will respond robustly and with overwhelming militarily force. “This really forces Israel to react with the utmost force,” added the official. “There is a consensus with the Israeli public and the political sphere that this changes everything in the region and for Israelis.”
Saturday, October 7, 2023
Hamas Invasion Eerily Reminiscent of 1973 Yom Kippur War
In an attack reminiscent of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Israel was attacked today during a major Jewish Holiday, Simchat Torah, a normally joyous day when Jews complete the annual cycle of reading the Torah scroll. The surprise attack was eerily similar and practically 50 years to the date of the Yom Kippur War launched by Egypt and Syria in 1973.
The Yom Kippur War raged from October 6 to October 25, 1973. In the first three days Israel halted the Egyptian offensive and pushed the Syrians back to the pre-war ceasefire lines. After launching a four-day-long counter-offensive deep into Syria, the Israelis found themselves on the outskirts of Damascus. On the other front, Egyptian forces were repulsed, and Israeli forces crossed the Suez Canal into Egypt. After an initial ceasefire brokered by the United Nations on October 22, unraveled, the Israelis came to within 100 kilometers of Cairo. This development led to a second ceasefire on October 25, 1973, and an official end to the war.
Comparisons to the Yom Kippur War, one of the most traumatic moments in Israeli history, sharpened criticism of Netanyahu and his far-right allies, who had campaigned on more aggressive action against threats from Gaza. Political commentators lambasted the government over its failure to anticipate what appeared to be a Hamas attack unseen in its level of planning and coordination. In response to the invasion, the Israeli government declared war on Hamas and vowed to inflict and “unprecedented price.”
Asked by reporters how Hamas had managed to catch the army off guard, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli army spokesman, replied, “That’s a good question.”
This attack, launched by Hamas militants, included thousands of rockets and an invasion by dozens of Palestinian fighters into Israeli towns near the Gaza Strip which resulted in killing at least 70 Israelis (per NBC News) and stunning the country. Israel immediately retaliated with airstrikes aimed at the heart of Gaza. The Israeli military stated that the Palestinian deaths were mainly due to the fact that Hamas regularly places military assets in civilian buildings and apartment complexes.
In a startling sign of the breadth of the assault, hours after the invasion began; Israeli troops were still fighting Hamas gunmen in 22 locations near the Gaza Strip. In addition, the assault has included the taking of hostages by Hamas militants, a particularly thorny and emotional issue for Israel which has a history of making heavily lopsided exchanges in order to bring captive Israeli citizens home. The number of hostages, injured and dead is not known at this early stage of the war; however videos show at least three Israelis being taken into Gaza. Go To the Top
Wednesday, July 26, 2023
First Part of Israeli Government Judicial Reform Voted Into Law
On Monday, Netanyahu’s government was able to vote into law one part of the Judicial Reform it deems necessary. In Monday’s vote, which passed 64 to 0 because the opposition party walked out of the Knesset, the “reasonableness” clause, which allowed the Israeli Supreme Court to void legislation it deemed “unreasonable when compared to the Basic Laws, was thrown out.
Unlike the U.S., Israel does not have a constitution with built-in procedural hurdles for changing the country’s basic political and legal structures and protecting minority rights and civil liberties. Instead, the protection of minority rights and civil liberties is rooted in the principles outlined in Israel’s Declaration of Independence. This is identified as Israel’s “Basic Laws.”
Almost immediately after the vote, the Supreme court received an appeal from seven groups which include the Movement for Quality Government and the Israeli Bar Association, challenging the legislation. In essence, the court will review a law that limits its own power, setting up a showdown with the government, a face-off that many view as a constitutional crisis. i.e. The court could strike down the legislation designed to curb its powers, and the government could choose not to comply.
The face-off will not happen any time soon as the court is not sitting during the month of August and Netanyahu’s government goes on hiatus July 30 to Mid- October. The earliest any decision would come from the court will be in September and the government’s response would probably come in November.
For now, the protests have largely subsided because of the government’s hiatus, but look for the issue to be revived after each arm of Israeli democracy, the Knesset and the Court, reconvenes this fall. Go To the Top
Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Israeli Artifacts Taken to Mar-a-Lago Will Be Returned
Donald Trump will finally return ancient artifacts sent to the US by Israel in 2019 after the items had been taken from the White House and moved to Mar-a-Lago after Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Israel sent the items to the US in December 2019 for a Hanukah event at the White House. The artefacts were meant to be displayed for the 2019 event and then returned to Israel, but the US state department prevented their display over concerns they may have been taken from the occupied West Bank.
The artifacts, which include a set of ancient coins and ceramic oil lamps, have been at Mar-a-Lago since December 2021, according to the New York Times. Go To the Top
Saturday, July 8, 2023
Jenin: Martyr’s Capital or Hornet’s Nest
If you are looking for Jenin on a map of Israel, you will find it on the northernmost border of the West Bank, within inches of the Galilee region of Israel. Maps of ancient Israel identify Jenin as Ein Ganim, Beth Hagan, Ginah, and a few other names. It’s the same Jenin in the news today, located about 31 km from Nazareth to the north, 32 km from Beit Shean to the east and 67 km from Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea.
In the late 1930’s, before Israel existed as a state, Jenin was known as a center of rebellion against British rule and early Zionist immigration to Palestine. During the Arab revolt in 1938, a British official was assassinated in his Jenin office and as a result, British forces blew up a quarter of the town.
In 1947, 19 West Bank sites, with Jenin as the northernmost, were established to house some of the thousands of Palestinians who fled their homes when the state of Israel was established and its Arab neighbors waged an unsuccessful war to crush it. While it has been historically proven that the refugees were encouraged to leave their homes by the Arab leadership that assured them the war would be catastrophic for Israel and they would soon be back home, the fact that those sites still exist is appalling, but to date, no nation or state has stepped up with a solution.
In the intervening years, the camps have become built-up towns or neighborhoods, though with generally substandard conditions and specifically, the Jenin camp has developed into a militant stronghold, called “the martyr’s capital” by Palestinians, and “the hornet’s nest” by Israel
(Intifada: uprisings of Palestinians aimed at ending Israeli control of certain territories and creating an independent Palestinian state)
To Israelis, especially in the years since the Six-Day War in 1967 and more recently the 2002 Second Intifada, Jenin and more specifically, the Jenin Refugee Camp, has had a reputation for nurturing militants and suicide bombers. According to Israeli officials, more than 50 shooting attacks on the Israeli population have emanated from the Jenin area in 2023 and at least 19 militants have retreated to Jenin for safe haven after carrying out attacks since the fall of 2022.
To Palestinians, Jenin is a heroic symbol of resilience and resistance against the rule of those who came before Israel and Israel itself. That legacy and reputation was sealed in 2002, when, at the height of the Second Intifada, the camp was the scene of a fierce, 10-day battle in which 52 Palestinians, around half of whom may have been civilians, and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed. Palestinian officials tried to cast the Israeli assault of 2002 as a “massacre” with hundreds of Palestinian fatalities in the camp, a claim that the United Nations examined and rejected. In addition, according to Israeli estimates, during the Second Intifada, at least 28 suicide bombers set out from the Jenin camp.
Because of escalating violence this year, Israel has mounted frequent raids into Jenin to arrest Palestinians suspected of planning or carrying out attacks against Israelis. Many of the raids have turned deadly after setting off prolonged gun battles between troops and armed militants. Go To the Top
Friday, July 7, 2023
What Happened in Jenin?
On Monday, July 3rd, 2023, hundreds of Israeli commandos took part in the largest military assault in several years in the Jenin Refugee Camp, searching the crowded camp for militants, weapons and explosive devices. Lasting two days, the search revealed laboratories for manufacturing explosives, caches of weapons and explosive devices hidden inside buildings, under the narrow city roads and even in pits underneath a mosque. The army used heavy machinery to dig up roads, homes and businesses in the hunt, leaving the city in ruins but unearthing and removing explosives and weapons that were meant to harm and kill Israelis.
A spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces said that twelve Palestinians and one Israeli soldier had been killed during the raid. The troops withdrew on Wednesday, July 5th, but given the history, analysts say, it may not be long before the Israeli military returns.
Two extreme organizations, Hamas, the militant Islamic group that controls the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a group rivaling Hamas in Gaza and sponsored by Iran, have taken up residence in the hospitable confines of Jenin in an attempt to create a stronghold in northern Israel. In addition, unaffiliated militants have sprung up in Jenin, groups consisting of a new generation, many born after the end of the Second Intifada, who do not answer to any organization; i.e. the Palestinian Authority, the PIJ or Hamas.
While Jenin is not an area with any substantial wealth or industry, the citizens seem to have developed a unifying sense of destiny and accord where normally competing factions, commonly found throughout a deeply divided Palestinian society and politics, fight as one. The Palestinian Authority, which is generally weak and unpopular, has all but abandoned this hotbed of militancy, signaling a loss of control that makes it easy to flood the area with weapons provided by Iran and other extremists bent on the destruction of Israel.
Added to the grief generated by the lives lost in the raid is the fact that it will take years to rebuild after the destruction. There is certainly intense anger directed at the Israelis, an attack in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, July 4th that wounded seven Israelis was described as the first response to the Jenin raid. However, there is also deep and passionate anger aimed at the Palestinian Authority generating increasing concerns of a breakdown of order in the West Bank. This dynamic could be significant for the future of this decades-long conflict. Go to the Top
Friday, April 7, 2023
Beachside Boardwalk Site of Tel Aviv Attack
According to Israeli law enforcement officials, an alleged terrorist carried out a car-ramming assault and attempted to open fire at people in the Charles Clore Park, a popular seaside promenade in Tel Aviv on Friday night. An Italian tourist, later identified as Italian national Alessandro Parini, a 35-year-old lawyer from Rome, was killed and seven other tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom were wounded in the attack on the beachside boardwalk.
Surveillance camera footage showed the attacker’s vehicle speeding toward pedestrians walking near the park, before overturning and in another clip from the scene officers were seen opening fire at a man who got out of the vehicle. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack from any extremist group; although the Islamic Jihad said in a statement that the attack is a “natural and legitimate response to the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people.”
The Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which once again coincides with the Jewish festival of Passover, is known to be a volatile period between Israeli forces and Palestinians. Tens of thousands of worshipers visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site, throughout the month. The mosque is located on the Temple Mount, a site sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, which makes it a flashpoint for extremists and those intent on pursuing grudges. Clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount have led to tit-for-tat rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Israeli missile strikes into Hamas strongholds in the Gaza Strip.
In a preventative measure, the IDF imposed a closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip crossing points from 5 p.m. Wednesday until Saturday evening. The same was set to happen next week on the last day of Passover beginning on April 11 and lasting until April 12. Some crossings opened Friday specifically to let worshippers attend mass prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. According to the military, such closures are standard practice during festivals and holidays due to increased tensions. Go to the Top
Wednesday, April 5, 2023
More Violence on the Temple Mount
Violence broke out overnight on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City as two religious celebrations compete for the hearts and minds of the people and space on an area fraught with sacred tension.
For Muslims, the Holy Month of Ramadan continues until April 20th. Many Muslims observe Itikaf, a non-mandatory religious practice that is common in Ramadan whereby worshippers stay at mosques overnight to pray, reflect and recite the Quran. Since Ramadan began March 22, scores of Muslim worshippers have repeatedly tried to stay overnight to observe Itikaf at the Al Aqsa Mosque. However, Itikaf is not allowed by Israeli authorities except during the last ten days of Ramadan, a ban that Palestinians refuse to honor.
The final two weeks of Ramadan overlap with Passover—an important, weeklong Jewish holiday that began Wednesday April 5th, sparking fears of additional violence in and around the Al Aqsa Mosque compound.
Jews are permitted to visit the Temple Mount, but not pray there, under the longstanding “Status Quo” agreement (see article below). But such visits, which have grown in numbers in recent years, have often raised tensions, particularly because some Jews are often seen praying. The fragile peace has been rubbed thin by calls from ultranationalists to storm the Temple Mount during Ramadan. In addition, some Jewish groups are calling for an animal sacrifice in defiance of an Israeli ban on the ancient practice. Many Palestinians say that it is this call for an animal sacrifice has stoked fears that Israel is reneging on the fragile “Status Quo.” According to PM Netanyahu, that is not the case and the Israeli government is standing by the agreement.
All these circumstances have collided and escalated into violence that is reminiscent of the events that led up to the 2021 eleven day war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip. It is this similarity that has caused the most concern among Muslim-Majority nations.
The Israeli IDF and Hamas traded military forays after the incident on the Temple Mount, Hamas with rocket fire and the IDF with precision missile strikes at Hamas military targets. Stay tuned to whether or not this escalates into another prolonged series of military attacks and raids. Nothing is easy about affairs on the Temple Mount, it remains to be seen whether the myriad of voices trying to be heard about the Holy site can come to any agreement on an area sacred to three world religions. Go to the Top
Tuesday, March 21, 2023
The Status Quo and Ramadan
The protests over the Judicial Reforms continue to spread in Israel, even as Israeli security forces are preparing for and completing preparations for Ramadan, set to begin Wednesday, March 22nd and end Friday, April 20th, 2023. Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai noted that the tensions of Ramadan could add to the unrest around the country. Shabtai stressed on Sunday that they will work to ensure freedom of worship for Muslims, Jews and Christians during the Ramadan holidays and maintain the “Status Quo” so important to all sides.
If you have ever wondered about the “Status Quo,” the key elements that define this long standing policy for the Temple Mount are access and entry. With respect to access, since before 1967 to the present, the site is open to non-Muslims and Muslims alike for purposes of visits. The big difference about these visits is simple – only Muslims can worship on the site. While Israel has been responsible for the perimeter security of the site since 1967, which includes a “TSA” type of screening for everyone entering, the Waqf (the Islamic presence under Jordanian Authority) is responsible for security on the mount itself. In addition, Israel has maintained a symbolic presence on the site, including a police station, and has always exercised its authority to deploy its security forces on the mount during disturbances, especially when tensions soar, such as during Ramadan.
Ramadan, a holy month of fasting, is the ninth and most significant month of the Islamic calendar. The observance of Ramadan commemorates the 610 AD year when Muhammad is said to have received the first revelation of the Quran. The monthlong adherence to Ramadan consists of a time of self-restraint and self-reflection that is practiced through fasting and prayer; both of which are pillars of Islam and requirements for all Muslims, according to the Quran. During the last 10 days of Ramadan, considered the most significant days of the month, Muslims traditionally sleep at the Al Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount. Thus, in order to keep the flashpoint safe, Jews and non-Muslims are specifically prohibited from the Temple Mount during those days.
The status quo policy surrounding the Temple Mount is believed to be one of the most instrumental factors for maintaining peace in the Jewish-Arab world. For religious Jews, the Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism. For Muslims, it is the third holiest site in Islam. When the Ottoman Empire captured Jerusalem in 1517 and subsequently controlled the city for the next 400 years, right up to the British rule at the end of WWI, the Ottoman rulers overall mission was to prevent sectarian clashes in the city. Those conflicts were not just between Jews and Muslims, but also among various Christian sects claiming authority over the holy sites, causing the Ottomans to issue a number of edicts setting out how control of the city would be preserved.
In 1757, Ottoman Sultan, Osman III, issued the decree that became known as the “Status Quo” that banned non-Muslims from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque while affirming the right of Jews to pray at the Western Wall. Two hundred years later during the 1967 war, Israel seized the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan, including the Temple Mount. But in an example of “no good deed goes unpunished,” and in an attempt for goodwill, the management of the site and thus the Status Quo, was left in the hands of the vanquished Jordanians and the WAQF. Since then, there has been a growing movement calling for Jews to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. But, in spite of the religious overtones of the nation, most Israeli leaders have been secular, if not outright atheist. Therefore, the official stance of Israeli authorities has been to adhere to the Status Quo because preventing an explosion of anger across the Muslim world has generally been a greater priority for political leaders than attempting to change what happens on the Temple Mount. Go to the Top
Saturday, March 11, 2023 – Updated March 21, 2023
Protests Over A Judicial Overhaul and Terrorist Shooting in Tel Aviv
On Monday, March 20, 2023, Or Eshkar died from the wounds he received during the Tel Aviv attack carried out eleven days ago (see Article below). His heartbroken family has chosen to donate his organs. Please pray for his family, friends and Israel.
Thursday night, March 9th, 2023, three men were shot near a café on the corner of Dizengoff Street and Ben Gurion Street, a Tel Aviv neighborhood typically bustling with walkers, talkers, lovers, all enjoying the evening after a day of work. I have walked down Ben Gurion Street in Tel Aviv, during the day and the evening, it is dotted with cafes, shops, restaurants and homes. At crosswalks are young parents with babies in strollers, elderly couples with arms intertwined, children racing ahead of parents, all taking in the familiarity of neighbors and local businesses. It was fun to be a part of that when I was there, nothing about it shouted terror! So it makes me sad to write this news piece.
Three men, friends in their 30s, were shot and injured by a Palestinian attacker. Or Eshkar, 32, was hospitalized in critical condition, his friend, Rotem Mansano, 34, was also in serious condition and being treated in the emergency neurosurgery ward. The third victim, Michael Osdon, 36, who suffered light to moderate wounds, told reporters that the three friends were on their way to a wedding when they were attacked. “I was wounded relatively lightly,” he added, “Please pray for my friends.”
Speaking to reporters at the scene of a shooting in Tel Aviv on Dizengoff Street, Police Chief Kobi Shabtai said that “four armed individuals” helped take out the gunman who wounded the three men. Those individuals included two police officers, one of them off duty, and two citizens, one a reserve IDF officer.
After the shootings, the mayor of Tel Aviv called for protestors to go home and stay home until this latest attack could be sorted out. Protestors! What is happening in Israel that terrorism and local protests could collide?
A new ultraright governing coalition, put together by Netanyahu in order to retain his prime ministership, is trying to sharply reduce the Israeli Supreme Court’s powers. The effort is at the heart of a deep ideological and cultural divide in Israel between those who want a more secular and pluralist state and those with a more religious and nationalist vision. The dispute has brought about waves of protests, which include the military and the all important Israeli tech sector, leading to fears of civil unrest. By curbing the Supreme Court, the overhaul would weaken one of the few checks on the Israeli government. A check that is considered a key protector of minorities and a rare, if limited, source of legal recourse for Palestinians living under Israeli occupation in the West Bank.
This coalition effort to overhaul the judiciary reflects how Israel has changed over the last three decades and highlights the rising influence of two groups that have long locked horns with the court: ultra-Orthodox Jews and West Bank settlers.
It also reflects Mr. Netanyahu’s shifting priorities. According to a former party colleague, Mr. Netanyahu once supported judicial independence. He pointed to a 2012 statement by Netanyahu, “A strong and independent judicial system is what enables the existence of all the other institutions in a democracy.”
Galvanizing the Israeli right against establishment institutions like the Supreme Court and playing a major role in the march to judicial overhaul was Israel’s withdrawal in 2005 from the Gaza Strip after 38 years of occupation and the subsequent dismantling 21 Israeli settlements there. Those who lost their homes and their supporters feel the expulsion was driven by an Israeli establishment that seemed callous and hypocritical. A look at the decisions of the court reveal that, while the Supreme Court has not obstructed most settlement construction, it backed the government’s 2005 decision to withdraw from Gaza and destroy those Israeli settlements
Regarding the participation of ultra-Orthodox Jews, known in Hebrew as Haredim, in the unusual coalition, the court has struck down some privileges granted the Haredim at the birth of Israel in 1948. Those benefits gave them autonomy over certain parts of their lives, such as managing their own education system and exempting them from mandatory military service. To date, the court rulings have never been enforced but the perception of intrusion became entrenched in the community and thus – the court must go!
The most current polling of the nation shows that a majority of Israelis do not support such a drastic judicial overhaul. In fact, the seriousness of the nation’s divide can be seen in the protests across the land and across the population. All of which came to a bustling, historic street in central Tel Aviv on Thursday night.
Sunday, October 23, 2022
Spasm Of Violence Following August 2022 Ceasefire
Most Israel news today is about attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem rather than a struggle between Gaza militants and the Israeli Army. On October 22nd, newspapers reported on three situations between Palestinians and the IDF, checkpoint security guards and an Orthodox man who was a stabbing victim.
According to authorities, the 20 year old ultra-Orthodox man was stabbed in the back while walking in an East Jerusalem park. After a search, the alleged attacker was shot by police when he reached into his pocket for what was assumed to be the knife. In another incident, the West Bank checkpoint at Jenin was rammed by a Palestinian who was injured and apprehended at the scene. This checkpoint was on high alert after an earlier attack on October 9th, which left an Israeli soldier dead and a security guard severely injured. In the third incident, three suspects in a vehicle fled from IDF troops near the city of Qalqilya, a west bank city secured by the Israeli military. One soldier was hit but not seriously injured by the vehicle and the IDF unit responded by opening fire on the vehicle. The incident is being investigated and security forces are searching for additional suspects.
The latest newsworthy attacks are part of a spasm of violence that has followed the August 7th ceasefire brokered after several days of fighting in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The PIJ, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, is the second largest terror group in Gaza after Hamas and its primary sponsor is Iran which has provided millions of dollars in funding as well as training and weapons. Since the ceasefire, the PIJ has increased its presence and activities in the West Bank, stepping up attacks on Israeli settlers, IDF soldiers, installations and check-points. All this comes as the Palestinian Authority (PA), which coordinates with Israel regarding law enforcement in the West Bank, has increasingly lost control of the security situation as public discontent with the PA and its leader Mahmoud Abbas has grown. This loss of control has given terror groups and those advocating the destruction of the state of Israel greater opportunities to pursue these violent attacks. Go to the Top
Thursday, August 11, 2022
Ceasefire Goes Into Effect Between IDF and PIJ
The ceasefire brokered on Sunday night, August 7th, by Egypt and the UN, has quieted the 3 day conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Preliminary numbers, which have yet to be confirmed, indicate that, from August 5th through the 7th, the Israel Defense Forces launched 147 air strikes against targets in Gaza, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants launched 1,100 rockets and mortars into Israel. The Israeli Iron Dome intercepted 380 of those 1,100 rockets while 200 misfired and landed in Gaza itself. The misfired rockets killed innocent Palestinian civilians, including children. All told, forty-six Palestinians were killed, 24 of them militants of the PIJ, and 360 Palestinians were injured in the IDF airstrikes, while In Israel, 70 Israelis were injured due to the PIJ rockets that landed in Israeli territory.
On Monday, August 8th, the military liaison to the Palestinians announced that crossings between Israel and Gaza would reopen for humanitarian purposes after a security assessment. The reopening allowed fuel shipments to once again be trucked into Gaza. During the conflict, Gaza residents were faced with intermittent electricity as the conflict led Gaza’s sole power plant to drastically reduce operations because of a lack of fuel. Later Monday, the local electricity company announced the power plant was again generating electricity and supplying Gaza residents with this necessity.
Security sources also reported that the Erez terminal between Israel and Gaza could be reopened to Palestinian laborers as soon as Tuesday if calm is maintained. Erez, which serves as the sole pedestrian crossing for Palestinians in the coastal enclave, was struck Sunday by mortars launched from within Gaza, according to the Defense Ministry.
The terminal, which is usually used by thousands of Palestinians to enter Israel each day for work, was shuttered last week amid the threat of a PIJ attack on the border and remained closed amid the fighting.
In this current conflict the IDF focused all its airstrikes on the PIJ as Hamas sat on the sidelines, neither joining or preventing the PIJ from engaging the Israeli Defense Forces. This latest Israeli/Gaza conflict with the PIJ was the deadliest since the seven days of fighting with Hamas in May 2021. Go to the Top
Friday, August 5, 2022
Israel and Militants of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Face Off In Gaza
A small militant faction, called the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is at the center of Friday’s flare-up between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The PIJ, is a Damascus-based Palestinian Islamist organization formed in 1979 and sponsored by Iran and Syria. It is a rival militant group of Hamas and both vie for the support of Palestinians. However, unlike Hamas, the PIJ offers no social services, nor does it intend to engage in any form of diplomatic dialogue with Israel. Hamas regularly sits on the sidelines as PIJ wages terrorist battles with Israel; neither joining or stopping the organization.
The PIJ’s founder believed that a war to liberate Palestine would unite the Arab and Muslim world into a single great Islamic state. Since the 1980’s that belief has been difficult to sustain as the Arab world continues to fight among themselves, is unable to resolve conflicts among the different sects of Islam (i.e. Shiite and Sunni) and as several Arab nations have made treaties and pacts with Israel.
The current tensions began on Monday when the IDF arrested the PIJ’s West Bank leader in Jenin. After the West Bank arrest, the PIJ began issuing threats against Israel which led the Israeli government to shut down major highways around Gaza and locking down the territory.
Following the week of rising tensions, the IDF announced the death of a senior PIJ commander in Gaza airstrikes on Friday night. The senior PIJ figure was among 10 casualties of the IDF Gaza airstrikes. In addition, the IDF says it hit a rocket material manufacturing site, weapons production site, rocket launching position and military site. “The attack on the sites causes significant damage to the terror organization’s ability to develop military capabilities,” per the IDF. The Israeli military uses the “knock on the roof” strategy to warn civilians of an imminent airstrike, as it is common knowledge that terrorist organizations conceal themselves and weapons in civilian areas. The PIJ militant organization responded with a volley of rockets into Israel, most of which were intercepted by the Israeli Iron Dome.
One rocket exploded in the border town of Sderot and there were no injuries reported. The only known Israeli casualties were five people taken to the hospital, including four who were injured while making their way to a shelter and one who suffered from anxiety. In addition, three additional people received treatment from paramedics due to similar injuries.
The rockets and airstrikes followed a lull in the region’s violence. Gaza had been significantly quiet since May 2021, with most of the 2022 bloodshed coming from West Bank terrorist groups. Israel has responded to the West Bank violence with nightly raids and arrests, including razing known terrorist homes.
Egypt is currently mediating between Israel and the PIJ in an effort to bring an end to the current round of violence in Gaza. It is interesting to note that the UN has condemned Israel for the death of the PIJ commander, yet there has been no such condemnation of the US after killing the Al Qaeda chief, al-Zawahri. Just a thought. Go to the Top
Saturday, July 30, 2022
Israeli Firefighters Battle Large fire In Central Israel
There were 21 firefighting teams from the fire services along with four airplanes, a helicopter and the Jewish National Fund battling a large fire raging near the central city of Modiin on Saturday, July 30th. According to fire and rescue services, the blaze was threatening a nearby national park and most of the efforts were focused on preventing the blaze from reaching the park, which houses the Biblical Landscape Reserve.
The fire started near an IDF military base about 11 kilometers from Modiin and strong winds were helping the fire spread toward the nature reserve. It was not immediately clear what caused the fire, but Israel is grappling with a difficult heatwave.
Modiin, the ancient home of the Macabees, is located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, about 30 kilometers from each city. Just to give you an idea of how every situation in the Holyland, even a fire in a city with a name that you don’t recognize, has Biblical ramifications, in the area surrounding Modiin are two important Biblical sites, Gezer, about 11 kilometers west of Modiin and Abu Ghosh, where the remains of ancient Kiriath Jearim have been excavated, is approximately 23 kilometers northwest of Modiin. What is so important about these ancient sites?
Gezer in the Bible
The strategic city state of Gezer was mentioned several times in the Old Testament:
- As the Israelites took possession of the Promised Land, Joshua defeated the king of Gezer. (Joshua 10: 33)
- The nation of Israel did not fully control Gezer until the time of King Solomon when Pharaoh, king of Egypt, attacked and set it on fire, thus capturing the city state. The Canaanite inhabitants were slaughtered and the city given to Pharaoh’s daughter who had just become one of Solomon’s wives in a political marriage of convenience. Solomon then fortified Gezer as one of his three chariot cities which included Megiddo and Hazor. (1 Kings 9:16).
Kiriath Jearim in the Bible
In 2nd Samuel, chapter 6 we read about the biblical city of Kiriath Jearim, best known for the dwelling place of Abinadab. Abinadab’s abode was home to the Ark of the Covenant for approximately 120 years, from the time of Samuel until the time of David. Kiriath Jearim was originally a Gibeonite city that fell within the tribal territory of Judah near the borders of Benjamin and Dan. After defeating the Philistines, David determined it was time to bring the Ark to Jerusalem, but he made this decision without consulting God. His rash decision caused a terrible event to unfold. David and his men did not follow the Lord’s instructions about how to transport the Ark, instead they put it on a cart pulled by oxen, the Ark began to wobble and a man named Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. For this act, he was instantly killed. Later, after 3 months, David returned with the Lord’s blessing and safely brought the Ark to Jerusalem.
Suffice it to say, even natural events, situations and catastrophes have ramifications in the Holyland. Fires, earthquakes and floods can ruin ruins! Israel needs our prayers in every situation. God will bless those that keep His nation in their prayers. Go to the Top
Sunday, July 23, 2022
Alls Quiet On The Israel Front
Israel has apparently clamped down, successfully, on terrorist attacks and clashes in Israel as the nation anticipated President Biden’s Middle East Visit.
The last two attacks to make headlines include a deadly Palestinian and Jewish clash that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd, in an Orthodox suburb of Tel Aviv and a May 29th clash between demonstrators in the Old City of Jerusalem.
In the Tel Aviv attack, a pair of Palestinian attackers went on a stabbing rampage, killing at least three people and wounding four others before fleeing.
Then on May 29th in East Jerusalem, around 70,000 Israeli and settler demonstrators clashed with Palestinian counter-demonstrators in the Old City area. The demonstrators were marching through the Old City in celebration of Jerusalem Day, an Israeli holiday commemorating the country’s victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and the annexation of East Jerusalem (Times of Israel, 29 May 2022).
In the same celebration, the Israeli government also allowed around 2,600 Jews, including prominent right-wing extremists, to visit the Al Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount complex in the Old City for the holiday, further stoking tensions with Palestinians (Times of Israel, 29 May 2022).
Multiple clashes occurred throughout the day, erupting after some Israeli demonstrators began chanting anti-Arab slogans. At least 23 Palestinians were injured during the clashes and required hospitalization (AP News, 29 May 2022).
Nineteen people, mostly Israeli civilians — including 18 inside Israel and a Jewish settler — have been killed in attacks by Palestinians and Israeli Arabs since late March. These attacks culminated in Israeli security forces stepping up their operations in the West Bank, carrying out almost daily raids to arrest suspects. These types of Israeli security raids have drastically reduced the type of weapons available for attackers to use, which means fewer casualties. However, even one death is one too many.
Israel regularly destroys the homes of individuals it blames for attacks on Israelis. The practice, which often fuels tensions, has been condemned by critics as a form of collective punishment; however Israel insists it deters further attacks.
On the Gaza front, in June 2022 Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel, shattering a two-month lull in violence at the Gaza-Israel border.
The Israeli military said aerial defense systems intercepted the projectile, which activated warning sirens in the southern coastal city of Ashkelon and there were no reports of casualties.
Hours later, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes on four military sites for Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza. Go to the Top
adjacent to the Temple Mount on Friday, July 14th. Both policemen were Druze, an secretive Islamic sect that peacefully lives in Israel and supports the nation. Druze soldiers, policemen and security guards are an integral part of Israel’s defense forces and are highly thought of in the military. This maybe why they were targeted by the terrorists.
After shooting the two Druze policemen, the terrorists ran down a alleyway and back onto the Temple Mount. Apparently they had hidden themselves and their weapons on the Temple Mount overnight. The security for Muslim worshippers and visitors is not as stringent as the security for Tourists, Christians and Jews to enter the Temple Mount. In fact, the entry places are not the same, Tourists, Christians and Jews can only enter from the Mughrabi Bridge near the Western Wall, while the Muslim public are able to use eleven gates to access the Temple Mount.
Israel closed the Temple Mount to any visitors until Sunday the 16th in order to search for more weapons and investigate the incident. The closure has caused Muslim nations and groups to publicly lash out at Israel, even though their condemnations of Israel did not contain any mention of the terrorist act.
One good thing to come out of this is that Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel and Palestinian President Abbas did talk on the phone. According to Haaretz Newspaper, The two leaders decided over the weekend to diverge from their usual habit; instead of clashing and avoiding dialogue, they cooperated to resolve the crisis and prevent the volcano from erupting.Go to the Top or Go to 2017 News Articles
US, maintain consular offices in Jerusalem (most in West Jerusalem) today. Go to the Top
Tours to the Holy Land 