Tag: IDF

Israel is accelerating operational plans to take action against Iran – IDF chief Kohavi

ANNA AHRONHEIM – August 25, 2021

Israel’s military is accelerating its operational plans against Iran due to the progress of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kohavi has warned.

“The progress of the Iranian nuclear program has led the IDF to accelerate its operational plans and the recently approved defense budget is earmarked for that,” he said.

Kohavi commented as Prime Minister Naftali Bennett landed in the United States ahead of a visit with US President Joe Biden and other senior officials. Bennett is expected during his first visit to the White House to push Biden to harden his approach to Iran and drop efforts to revive the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“When we began to plan the visit, a return to the agreement seemed certain,” Bennett said ahead of his departure on Tuesday. “Since then, the time has passed, the president in Iran has changed, and things seem far less certain. In our view, it may be that there is no return to the agreement.”

With no diplomatic options likely to push Tehran to stop its nuclear program, Israel’s military believes that the Islamic Republic needs to be aware that should it continue with its program, it will face harsher sanctions and a true military option to stop it.

https://www.jpost.com

Israel Hits Hamas Targets With The 1st Airstrikes Since Cease-Fire Deal

– June 16, 2021

Overnight, tensions between Israel and Hamas erupted into violence, posing a potential threat to the brief period of peace reached between the two just weeks ago.

Israeli jets struck two targets early Wednesday in Gaza. In a tweet, which included a video of the attack, the Israel Defense Forces said its “fighter jets struck Hamas military compounds last night, which were used as meeting sites for Hamas terror operatives. Hamas will bear the consequences for its actions.”

The IDF said it’s “prepared for any scenario, including a resumption of hostilities, in the face of continuing terror activities from the Gaza Strip.”

It’s unclear if there were any injuries or deaths tied to the airstrikes.

The IDF launched this attack evidently in retaliation for a series of incendiary balloons launched by Hamas hours earlier. The balloons caused at least 20 fires on Israel’s southern border.

Those balloons were in response to a flag march in Jerusalem earlier Tuesday during which Israeli nationalists marched through Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem waving flags, with some yelling, “Death to Arabs.”

Palestinian leaders, who saw the march as a provocation, called for a “Day of Rage.” Israeli police responded to Palestinian demonstrators by attempting to disperse them with rubber bullets.

The tit for tat throughout Tuesday upended the brief cease-fire reached May 21 after an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas.

https://www.npr.org

Tensions spike with Tehran’s threat of revenge after IDF hits al Qods assets in Syria

Debkafiles – November 18, 2020

The IDF exposed the secretive Iranian al Qods Unit 840 operating in Syria on Thursday, Nov. 19, while drawing a threat from Tehran to “enemies and terrorists” of a :harsh revenge” for their “crimes against the Iranian nation. This was in response for a multiple Israeli air strike Tuesday night on a row of eight Iranian and Syrian sites in southwest Syria. Ali Shamkhani, Iran’s national security chief, said, “There is no safe and impenetrable haven for criminals and ill-wishers… that the “powerful hands of the Islamic Republic’s defenders cannot reach, sooner or later…”

The semi-clandestine Iranian al Qods Unit 840 that planted on the Israeli Golan the the anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices, which the IDF defused on Tuesday, was revealed by DF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Hidai Zilberman two days later. Unit 840 is responsible among other things, for planning and establishing terror infrastructure outside Iran, he said, for hitting Western targets and opposition groups. He reported that the anti-personnel mines discovered on Monday were planted several weeks ago by local Syrians under the command of the IRGC’s Qods Force, under the close watch of Israeli patrols and reconnaissance drones.

The targets included in Israel’s air raid were an Iranian military complex near Damascus International Airport, a secret military barracks housing high-ranking Iranian officials as well as visiting delegations, a command post for Division 7 of the Syrian army which cooperates with the Quds force, and mobile surface-to-air missile trucks which aimed fire at the Israeli jets during the strikes.

Syrian opposition sources reported at least 10 killed, including 5 members of Iran’s al Qods Force, three Syrian officers and air defense operators, two Iraqi or Lebanese troops as well as several seriously wounded.

The Syrian state SANA news agency earlier reported three military personnel dead. Syrian air defenses were said to have intercepted the “Israeli aggression” in the south of the country and downed a number of missiles.

https://www.debka.com

Israel-Hezbollah Conflict: Both Sides ‘Fully Prepared’ for Large-Scale War

– October 30, 2020

Tensions between Israel and Lebanon escalated in late August when the Jewish state’s military launched airstrikes against Hezbollah observation posts, in response to the Lebanon-based Shia militant group firing two shots from across the border aimed at Israeli troops.

Newsweek has cited representatives of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) and the Lebanon-based militant group Hezbollah as saying that they are completely ready for a potential full-fledged military conflict.

Brigadier General Ido Mizrachi, chief engineering officer of the IDF, told the US magazine that while the Israeli military sees Hezbollah “as the main enemy for now”, the IDF is doing its best to prevent this conflict from becoming “a genuine war”.

“But we have to be ready to operate against Hezbollah, and especially if we need to do that geographically, physically within the area of South Lebanon. This will be a very complicated situation for us, but that’s what we need to be ready for”, Mizrachi pointed out.

He predicted that the conflict between Israel and Hezlollah would show no signs of ceasing in the future, claiming that “this challenge” would become “deeper, stronger, and more complicated”.

“Some things change. They know that we developed a high level of technology to locate and destroy their assets. I’m not sure they’re going to put up a white flag and peace agreement. I mean, I hope so, but it’s not going to happen, I think, in my generation”, the general added.

A Hezbollah spokesperson, in turn, told Newsweek that the militant group is “always fully prepared regardless of the [Israeli] drills”, in an apparent nod to the IDF’s recent large-scale military exercises codenamed Lethal Arrow, which simulated a war with Hezbollah.

https://sputniknews.com

Israel prepares for Gaza showdown after 7 rockets notch up Palestinian aggression

Debkafile – August 21, 2020

Palestinian terrorists launched three salvos of 7 rockets overnight Thursday, Aug. 20 – one a direct hit to a Sderot home, six intercepted. The IDF hit back in three waves against Hamas military sites, including a rocket factory near Khan Younes. During a night broken by repeated Palestinian rocket fire, three women were treated for shock and a third was hurt when stumbling while running for shelter.

This was the IDF’s 12th day in a row of strikes against Hamas military sites and it continued up until 6 am Friday morning, when the Southern Command urgently reviewed the deteriorating situation for its next decisions. . Local farmers told not to work in the fields adjoining the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian rocket fire came on top of the hundreds of arson and incendiary balloons launched against Israel in the past two weeks. During the day, 42 fires were ignited by balloons from the Gaza Strip; three more early Friday. The IDF reported that 15 incoming clusters were intercepted by the new “Light Flame” device devised to counter terrorist balloons for the Border police force

From a safe place in friendly Turkey, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh threatened to raise the stakes with a renewed cycle of violence, unless Israel complied with the long list of demands submitted by the terrorists via Egyptian intelligence officers who  shuttled between Tel Aviv and Gaza this week. Hard cash may be the only answer acceptable to the Palestinian Hamas for buying calm. Tensely awaited is a decision by Qatar about whether or not to continue its $25m aid program to Gaza when it runs out next month. Meanwhile, the Erdogan government is being solicited for terrorist funding.

https://www.debka.com

IDF adds elite units to border buildup, braces for Hizballah strike in days

Debkafile – July 27, 2020

Israel’s northern border remained tense on Tuesday, July 28 as IDF forces prepared for another Hizballah attempt to strike a military target in the next day or two, after the first encounter with IDF troops on Mt Dov on Monday was a letdown. The next strike is expected on or around the Muslim Eid festival on Thursday. Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah declared again that the death of a fighter in an Israel strike in Syria last week was still to be avenged.

The IDF meanwhile further reinforced its border deployment along 150km from the coast to Mt. Hermon with advanced firepower, surveillance units and troops of a commando brigade, ready to ward off a Hizballah attempt to seize a military position. Hizballah units were sighted during the day near the Lebanese-Israel border fence and inside Shiite villages of the South. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister both toured the IDF northern command and warned the enemy that Israel was armed and ready for any scenario.

Hizballah prepared the way for another attack by denying that anything happened at Mt. Dov on Monday and that Israel had made a huge song and dance about a non-incident, although Hizballah fighters never fired a shot. The IDF claimed it had footage of the attack which proved otherwise.

The prime minister and defense minister warned Hizballah in joint statements Monday night, July 27 that it is “playing with fire.” Their statements came after the IDF thwarted a Hizballah intrusion and a Kornet attack on tanks at Israel’s Mt. Dov outposts. Hizballah later claimed that the incident did not happen and that its revenge for the killing of one of its fighters in Israel’s raid near Damascus last week was still to come. The IDF replied that the incident was documented.

“We take a grave view of this attempt to infiltrate our territory,” PM Binyamin Netanyahu said. “Hezbollah and the State of Lebanon are held responsible for this incident and for any further attacks originating from Lebanese territory against Israel. Hezbollah is playing with fire. Any attack against us will be answered with great force,” he said.

https://www.debka.com

Rocket fired from Gaza towards southern Israel

Elad Benari – March 27, 2020

Color Red sirens were sounded on Friday evening in , the envelope and the Shaar Hanegev region.

The Spokesperson’s Unit said one rocket was identified as having been fired from Gaza towards Israeli territory.

The rocket is believed to have exploded in an open area. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.

Calm has mostly been maintained in southern Israel over the last month, after the Islamic Jihad fired over 80 rockets at southern Israel before it reportedly asked for a ceasefire.

Three weeks ago, a rocket fired from Gaza toward southern Israel failed to hit its target and exploded within Gazan territory.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com

Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Gaza with ALL-OUT WAR if missile attacks continue

RT – February 24, 2020

Israel will stop at nothing to ensure its security and may well launch a broad military campaign against Gaza if the local armed groups continue with missile strikes, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Air raid sirens were heard across southern Israel for the second straight day on Monday. The IDF said that some 50 rockets were fired from Gaza at Israeli territory, with 90 percent of them intercepted.

The missile strikes were met with a harsh response, with the Israeli Defense Forces confirming on Twitter that multiple strikes against targets in Gaza have been carried out.

“We are now hitting with planes, tanks, and helicopters,” Netanyahu announced as he visited an Iron Dome air defense system battery in the Ashdod area. He also added a special message for the leaders of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militants.

Speaking later in the day at the Israeli settlement of Ariel in the West Bank, Netanyahu added more threats.

“I don’t plan to let up… Beyond the hard strikes on our enemies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad need to understand – this [missile attack against Israel] won’t continue. If they do not completely stop, we will have to activate the plan we prepared for a broad campaign.”

Netanyahu said he was well aware of the price that IDF troops – who are conscripts – and their families would pay in such a campaign.

“I am not rushing into war,” the PM said, but if Israel is forced to launch a major offensive, “woe to Hamas and Islamic Jihad when that day comes!! It’s their choice.”

https://www.rt.com

A Day of Terror for Israel: Many Injured After 3 Terror Attacks in Just 12 Hours

Emily Jones – February 6, 2020

JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli officials have arrested the man responsible for injuring 12 soldiers by ramming his car into them early Thursday morning outside First Station, a popular entertainment center in Jerusalem.

The man was arrested at the Gush Etzion Junction in the West Bank Thursday evening, police said. He was handed over to Israel’s Shin Bet security service for interrogation.

“Following an extensive operational and intelligence effort, the IDF, working with the Shin Bet, the Israel Police’s special police unit and other special forces, has arrested the terrorist who carried out the ramming attack in the predawn hours of this morning in Jerusalem,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

“He is unconscious and connected to a respirator in the intensive care unit,” hospital officials told Israeli media.

He and the other soldiers involved in the attack were in Jerusalem to attend a swearing-in ceremony at the Western Wall that morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Israel would catch the perpetrator, saying that “terrorism will not defeat us.”

President Reuven Rivlin said Israel is “praying” for the injured soldiers.

The car-ramming incident is one of 3 terror attacks against Israel in just 12 hours.

https://www1.cbn.com