Tag: Middle East

Gaza Area Violence Escalates as Israel Strikes Terrorist Targets

Julie Stahl – August 5, 2022

After days of being on heightened alert, Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip saying it had eliminated a number of Islamic Jihad terrorists.

Dubbed “Operation Breaking Dawn,” it began with Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip killing a top Palestinian Islamic Jihad northern brigade commander named Tayseer Jabari.

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz issued a joint statement saying that the operation was “aimed at removing a concrete threat to the citizens of the State of Israel and surrounding Gaza and harming terrorists and their emissaries.”

The IDF issued a statement saying that Jabari was “entrusted” with making decisions in the PIJ and had carried out anti-tank missile attacks against soldiers and civilians recently.

The IDF also said it had targeted about 10 PIJ operatives, including a terror squad on its way to carry out an anti-tank missile and sniper attack. The IDF also targeted “military bases and buildings” it said were used by “terrorist operatives.”

In an off-the-record briefing, an IDF spokesperson told journalists that Israel had acted against an “imminent threat” that “was very viral against our forces.”

Within two hours, Hamas confirmed eight dead and 43 wounded. Hamas issued a statement saying, “the resistance will defend our people” and “the resistance is united and will say its word in full force.”

And on Hezbollah’s al-Mayadeen network, a Jihad terrorist leader Al Nakhleh vowed to target Tel Aviv with missiles.

Reports said all Palestinian terrorist factions were mobilizing to fire rockets into Israeli territories.

https://www1.cbn.com

Khamenei adviser says Tehran ‘capable of building nuclear bomb’

JERUSALEM POST STAFF – July 17, 2022

Tehran is technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but has yet to decide whether to build it, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei told Al Jazeera’s Arabic service on Sunday.

Tehran will also directly respond against Israel should its security be targeted, the report says citing the advisor.

“In a few days we were able to enrich uranium up to 60% and we can easily produce 90% enriched uranium … Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one,” Kamal Kharrazi said.

Background
In 2018, former US President Donald Trump ditched Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, under which Iran curbed its uranium enrichment work, a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

About a year into Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy on Iran, Tehran started violating the pact’s nuclear restrictions.

Iran has long denied seeking nuclear weapons, saying it is refining uranium only for civilian energy uses, and has said its breaches of the international deal are reversible if the United States lifts sanctions and rejoins the agreement.

Indirect talks between Iran and President Joe Biden’s administration, which aim to bring both Washington and Tehran back into compliance with the nuclear pact, have stalled since March.

Kharrazi said Tehran would never negotiate over its missile program and regional policy, as demanded by the West and its allies in the Middle East.

https://www.jpost.com

Al-Qaida’s power base in Afghanistan now ‘worse’ than before 9/11

WND Staff – July 12, 2022

When Joe Biden abruptly withdrew all American troops from Afghanistan last year, he left behind billions of dollars worth of American war machinery for the Taliban – the terror organization then taking over the country – to have and to use.

He also left behind hundreds of Americans, despite his promise that he would see to it that every one got out.

Further, there were thousands of nationals who had worked with the U.S. during its years-long presence there, and who were likely to face the wrath of the terrorists who took control of the nation, and installed themselves as the government.

The U.S., of course, originally had gone in because of the Islamic extremists who were threatening and killing people and destabilizing that part of the world. And carrying out 9/11.

Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and editor of the Long War Journal, said in a report at Just the News that now the Taliban controls all 34 provinces – as opposed to about three-quarters as of the 9/11 date when Muslim extremists commandeered four jets and created terror in Washington and New York, costing nearly 3,000 American residents their lives.

“The State Department’s policy essentially normalizes Taliban control of Afghanistan,” he explained. “This is absolutely insane. If the U.S. is unwilling to support the Afghan resistance, then it’s effectively ceding Taliban control to Afghanistan.”

https://www.wnd.com

Hizballah drones were the opening shot of a maritime energy war vs Israel

– July 7, 2022

The IDF’s revelation on Wednesday, July 6, of a fourth Hizballah drone that was intercepted heading for Israel’s Karish gas rig, confirmed an assessment that the Lebanese terrorist organization was bent on starting a war, initially over this offshore gas platform. This hitherto undisclosed drone was intercepted three days before the three that were shot down on July 2 by Barak missiles. This one was downed by advance electronic warfare measures after being identified at a distance from Israel’s maritime economic zone, while still over Lebanese waters. No reason for the disclosure of this fourth drone at this time was offered by the military.

DEBKAfile’s Mid-East sources have concluded that Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Iran’s terrorist proxy Hizballah, has decided to go to war against Israel over its newest gas rig. In his words, “Lebanon’s oil and gas resources must be freed from Israeli control, just as the south was freed [in 2000] and Israel’s ‘security zone’ dismantled by force of arms.”

The drone tactic is the opening shot, say our sources, for three objectives:

  1. To scare the staff employed on Israel’s offshore gas and oil rigs in the eastern Mediterranean into fleeing for fear of their lives.
  2. Nasrallah included Greece’s maritime energy projects in his declaration of war.
  3. As a strong message that the management of gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean had passed from the Lebanese government to Hizballah control. The intention was to nullify the Lebanese prime minister’s condemnation of the drones as “unacceptable” and as jeopardizing ongoing US-brokered negotiations on the drawing of a maritime border between Lebanese and Israeli economic zones.

The interception of the three Hizballah unarmed UAVs was presented by the Israeli military as an important feat, although the Barak missiles were highly expensive compared with the cheap drones. However, Hizballah, did not care about recovering the drones but aimed at this stage for a psychological advantage. This was meant as a declaration that a new page had been opened in its contest against Israel over the oil and gas fields of the Mediterranean.

https://www.debka.com

Israel to simulate striking Iran in massive IDF drill

ANNA AHRONHEIM – May 17, 2022

The IDF will simulate striking targets far from Israel’s borders with a large number of planes while simultaneously acquiring new targets on various fronts in real-time during its largest military drill in history.

The drill is unique and unprecedented in scope and will enable the army to maintain a high level of readiness in an ever-changing region, the IDF said. It aims to improve the military’s capabilities in an intense, multifront and prolonged war on all its borders.

During the drill, the IAF will practice striking targets far from Israel’s borders, while troops continue to contend with a multifront war on its borders.

The IDF is planning several military options against Iran should the nuclear talks between the West and the Islamic Republic fail, and it will practice one of the possible options during the exercise.

The military will also implement the lessons learned from Operation Guardian of the Walls throughout the entire month. During the 11 days of fighting last year, there was heavy rioting in those areas as well as in mixed Arab-Israeli cities such as Lod and Jaffa. Two people were killed, and several civilians were injured.

As part of the drill, the IDF will simulate scenarios in which there is rioting twice as violent as last year.

The military wants to be able to send troops before violence breaks out, and not in response to the violence, and it will work to keep roads open in areas in the Negev and in the Wadi Ara area of the North.

Thousands of soldiers and reservists are taking part in the drill, dubbed Chariots of Fire. All commands, including the IAF and Israel Navy and regular and reserve forces, will take part.

https://www.jpost.com

Biden to visit Jerusalem with unprecedented statement: Zion belongs to Muslims

– May 11, 2022

US President Joe Biden is planning a visit to Israel in June. Still, a recent report claims that while here, he will visit the eastern section of Jerusalem in a clear message of support for establishing a Palestinian capital in the Jews’ eternal capital.

CNN reported on Monday that the President’s office had announced unfinalized plans for the visit to the eastern section of Jerusalem. The president may visit Al Makassed Hospital, located on the Mount of Olives. It is the largest Palestinian medical center in Jerusalem. Nearly 80% of the hospital employees are residents of the West Bank who have special permits to enter Israel.

No US president has ever visited this section of Jerusalem. This stands in stark contrast to President Trump, who prayed at the Western Wall. In addition, the Biden administration had pledged to reopen a consulate for Palestinians in the eastern section of Jerusalem after Trump closed the consulate when he moved the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Barry Shaw, a Senior Associate at the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies, criticized Biden’s decision:

“He has demanded that he will not be accompanied by any Israeli official but will meet members of the Palestinian Authority who have been permitted to administer certain hospitals and schools in east Jerusalem but who insist that their capital will be in Israel’s undivided and sovereign capital, Jerusalem, even though their government and administrative…offices are in Ramallah.”

“This is a devious way for Biden and his State Department to get back at Israel and drive a wedge into Israel’s legitimate and exclusive sovereign rights over its Jerusalem capital, following Israel’s refusal to allow the State Department to open a US consulate there to serve Palestinians.”

“This visit…is likely to damage US-Israel relationships in a very profound way. While Biden is prepared to visit Jerusalem and meet Palestinian officials, his White House has publicly opposed the building of Jewish homes in Judea. Both over this issue and that of Iran, the gap is widening between Jerusalem and Washington.”

https://www.israel365news.com

IDF opens largest training drill in Israeli history

ANNA AHRONHEIM –  May 9, 2022

As tensions boil over in the West Bank amid a string of deadly terrorist attacks in Israel, the IDF launched the largest exercise in its history on Sunday.

Thousands of soldiers and reservists will take part in the drill, dubbed “Chariots of Fire,” including the air force, navy and regular and reserve forces.

The four-week drill will simulate a multifront and multidimensional war against Israel’s enemies in the air, at sea, on land and on the cyber front.

“There won’t be a unit that doesn’t take part in this drill,” IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ran Kohav said.

The goal of the drill is to improve the readiness of the entire military and examine the ability of troops to carry out a powerful and prolonged campaign against enemy forces. It will also reveal logistics and firepower issues that soldiers might face in a war.

The drill aims to improve cooperation between the IDF, government ministries, security organizations and civilian bodies, including their capabilities to transition from routine to a full emergency scenario with multiple areas that are constantly evolving.

A “cabinet” was also established to simulate the political echelon that would be an active partner in the decision-making process during war. The cabinet is made up of former reserve officers, including Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yaakov Amidror and Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Gershon Hacohen.

https://www.jpost.com

The Palestinian Authority’s Child Soldier Strategy

Itamar Marcus – February 9, 2022

If you want to know what is really at the heart of the Palestinian conflict with Israel, don’t ask the politicians or the diplomats. Go to the real experts: Palestinian children. Unlike the rest of the world, they’ve been paying close attention to what their leaders and educators have been teaching them — and they’re already signing their lessons in blood.

For years, children interviewed on state TV have been echoing the messages they’ve been taught by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Fatah: that Israel has no right to exist, and that their goal — for which they are anxious to sacrifice their lives — is Israel’s destruction.

Twelve-year-old Abd, who lives in a refugee camp just outside the PA capital of Ramallah, explained his life goals on PA TV: “The Jews stole our land from us and I have been waiting 12 years already… and my grandfather has been waiting 70 years. … I hope to return to Lod, my city … I feel that tomorrow I will return and liberate Palestine. … Every day, every minute, and every year I imagine that I’m in Lod…” (PA TV, November 3, 2020 and May 23, 2021) Lod is an Israeli city not far from Tel Aviv. The child lives near Ramallah, but Lod, he says, is “my city.”

Surprising? Not if you’ve been following the PA education of its children.

Palestinian children are indoctrinated to believe that they are victims of Israel’s existence from birth (“I have been waiting 12 years already”). The PA Ministry of Education recently included a giant map of “Palestine” that erased all of Israel in an event at a PA school. The words on the poster were explicit: “Palestine — the entire land is ours, from the [Mediterranean] Sea to the [Jordan] River.” (Facebook, PA Ministry of Education, November 16, 2021)

What about Israel’s right to exist? That is non-existent in the PA child’s world. Palestinian children are taught that Israelis are “foreigners who came from all ends of the earth, foreigners who did not know Palestine and did not live in it — neither them nor their fathers and forefathers.”

https://www.algemeiner.com

Expert Warns Another War Between Israel, Gaza Could be Coming Soon

Chris Mitchell – January 3, 2022

JERUSALEM, Israel – On Saturday, Israeli warplanes launched strikes against terror targets inside the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip after terrorists fired two missiles that landed off the coast of southern Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said it struck rocket manufacturing sites and Hamas military targets in Gaza.  Hamas fired heavy machine guns and – for the first time – anti-aircraft missiles at the Israeli warplanes.

The strikes mark only the second incident between Hamas and Israel since a ceasefire ended a war last May.

For 11 days in May, Hamas fired more than 3,000 rockets into Israel.  Israel’s Iron Dome shot down about 90% of those rockets while the IDF responded with surgical strikes against the terror group’s military infrastructure inside Gaza.

Jonathan Schanzer, from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, writes in his new book “Gaza Conflict 2021” that much of the media covering the war got it wrong.

“You know, a lot of people talk about fake news. I’m not sure that applies here. I’m not even sure that the word bias applies here. The problem was, it was almost as if the West and the Middle Eastern media – and I would actually say that includes Israeli media as well as Arabic media – it seemed like they were covering two different wars entirely,” he told CBN News.

The majority of those reports stated the war began over disturbances on the Temple Mount and a real estate dispute in a Jerusalem neighborhood.

“That was all over the Western press, but yet, people just decided to ignore the fact that Palestinian elections were canceled, and that Hamas was angry and looking to make a splash. And that’s exactly what they did by launching the war,” said Schanzer.  “People forget – you know, they talk about how angry they are at Israel when it responds to these rockets, which by the way, I mean, these are provocations by Hamas.  Israel’s responses are almost entirely defensive in nature. But also people forget that Hamas almost single-handedly destroyed the peace process in the 1990s. So, if the concern is peace, the idea that you would blame Israel for a war with Hamas is rather ridiculous.”

Schanzer says much of the media also failed to recognize Hamas’s covenant to destroy Israel, fueled by their violent beliefs and main funding source: Iran.

https://www1.cbn.com

Israel warns the world: Threat is ready to take it into ‘dark abyss’

RT – November 12, 2021

Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has accused Iran of wanting to wipe out Tel Aviv and of seeking world domination via “radical militant Islam.” The warning comes after Tehran once-again threatened to destroy Israel.

In a pre-recorded message delivered during the Government Press Organization’s annual Christian Media Summit on Thursday, the PM remarked that “Here in Israel, we are fighting a very visible enemy, radical militant Islam that is sweeping across the Middle East.”

The premier’s remarks coincide with threats issued by the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Aerospace Force Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh. He warned that any mistake made by Israel in its dealings with Tehran will only accelerate Iran’s eradication of the Jewish state.

In his address, however, Bennett also noted positive developments in regional relations for Tel Aviv, claiming that Israel was “facing a new dawn” after creating ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain under the Abraham Accords, inked last year. The agreement saw Israel normalize relations with the two nations.

Israel’s navy publicly participated in joint exercises with the UAE and Bahrain in a first-of-its-kind operation, which started on Wednesday. While it was not clearly declared anywhere, Tel Aviv’s media has surmised that the drills were also to send a warning to Iran.

Tensions between Tehran and Tel Aviv have simmered dangerously close to boiling point in recent months, with the latter expressing grievances over Iran’s nuclear program.

https://www.rt.com