Tag: Middle East

Drill for 2,000 rockets a day and internal strife: IDF preps for war

ANNA AHRONHEIM – November 1, 2021

Israel’s Home Front Command and National Emergency Authority (RAHEL) is holding a week-long drill that started on Sunday simulating a large-scale war in which civilians are evacuated from northern border communities and security agencies will deal with massive rocket barrages sent by Hezbollah.

The drill is taking lessons that have been learned from past events in the North, as well as those from the May fighting between Israel and terror groups in the Gaza Strip – Operation Guardian of the Walls – and from the Second Lebanon War in 2006.

Following the May fighting, the Home Front Command “carried out a very significant learning process with a lot of research, and this exercise is going to test what we’ve learned,” said Home Front Command Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Itzik Bar.

Israel Police and Magen David Adom are also participating in the drill, which ends Thursday, and will see all security and various governmental bodies take part.

“This exercise is also a great opportunity for all government ministries to understand the implications, starting with disruptions in the energy sector – we are talking about 24-hour power outages across the country, 72 hours in localized communities – and other such aspects in terms of continual functioning,” Bar said.

https://www.jpost.com

Israel’s $1.5bn shopping list for a potential offensive on Iran’s nuclear program

Debkafiles – October 21,2021

Israel is said to have earmarked some 5 billion shekels ($1.5bn) towards the IDF’s price tag for a potential strike against Iran’s nuclear program. Military sources report that this sum would be spent on the acquisition of different types of aircraft, intelligence gathering, drones and dedicated armaments for enabling attacks on Iran’s fortified underground facilities.

IN other words, Israel is short at present of a full set of tools for going past a limited operation and conducting a comprehensive offensive for disabling Iran’s nuclear weapons program, say DEBKAfile’s military sources.

This shortfall is prominent in five main areas:

    1. Assuming that a single raid would not finish the job, to conduct multiple waves, the Israeli Air Force would require to supplement its current force with dozens of additional F-35 and F-15 aircraft. This would also call for the recruitment of more flight crews.
    2. Once the Israeli offensive is launched, Tehran may be counted on to activate allies from four fronts closer to Israel’s borders: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen. To forestall this potential proxy assault, the IAF has reorganized its assets by moving F-16 short range aircraft to the Ramat David base in the north. However, these aircraft are also in short supply and would have to be substantially augmented.
    3. An urgent request has been put in for the advanced Boeing-built KC-46 tankers (see photo) to refuel aircraft in flight across the 2,000km distance to Iran and back to base. The Re’em Boeing 707 in-flight fuel craft used hitherto are 60 years old and not up to the new task.
      Interim landings in Saudi Arabia or a US Gulf airbase would solve the refueling problem. But this option has to be counted out in light of the contacts the Saudis and Emiratis are developing with Iran. Washington has indeed promised Israel eight advanced in-flight refueling tankers, but it will take years before they are available.
    4. Israel is also asking for American MOAB GBU-43 bunker busters, that were designed specifically for targeting Iran’s fortified underground nuclear sites and tested once in the Afghanistan war. Israel has a small number of bunker busters. According to Western military observers, they were used against the Hamas’ underground “Metro” network last May in a mission dubbed “Lightning Bolt.” This was to have been a rehearsal for raids on Iran’s underground nuclear facilities. It turned out, however, that the Hamas bunker system had to be bombed multiple times to be effective and even then, sections of the Metro remained.
    5. In a war situation, Israel’s satellite coverage could not be stretched to cover Iran’s vastness (1.650 sq.km) and the additional areas commanded by its four main allies. American satellites would be called on for backup. Consent would have to be authorized by President Joe Biden as US commander on chief.

https://www.debka.com

Report: Iranian VP threatens to hold Iran’s 10,000 Jews hostage

Gary Willig – October 13, 2021

Iranian Vice President for Economic Affairs Mohsen Rezaee warned that the country’s 10,000 Jews were hostage against Israel, Iranian opposition groups and the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) reported.

The “Iranian Regime Countdown” organization wrote a post on its Telegram account on Monday that Rezaee said in a speech that “he Israeli government knows very well that if it makes a mistake, the regime will treat the 10,000 Jews living in Iran differently.”

Rezaee, a former head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, made the remarks in an address to the members of the Tharollah Tehran organization.

According to Iranian Regime Countdown, this is the first time Iran has threatened the country’s Jewish community instead of threatening Israel directly.

Rezaee has made similar threats to take large numbers of hostages in the past. In June, Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-born journalist living in the US, reported that Rezaee had threatened to take 1,000 Americans hostage in order to blackmail the US into providing relief for Iran’s struggling economy. Rezaee stated at the time that he would demand $1 billion for each hostage.

In January 2020, Rezaee threatened to “turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust” if the US attacked Iran.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com

Court rules: Jews can pray on Temple Mount

– October 6, 2021

For the first time since Jewish worship returned to the Temple Mount, an Israeli court approved the act and provided it with unprecedented legal standing.

Justice Bilha Yahalom of Jerusalem’s Magistrate Court,  accepted on Wednesday an appeal by Temple Mount activist Rabbi Aryeh Lippo against the police ban on prayer that he witnessed during his visits to the holy site.

“His daily Temple Mount attendance shows that this is a matter of principle and meaning for him,” Judge Yahalom noted in her ruling.

During the hearing, the court viewed a video documenting Jewish people praying on the Temple Mount. The court ruled that silently praying on the holy site is not a violation of police guidelines.

“The prosecutor doesn’t dispute that the appellant, like many others, prays on a daily basis on the Temple Mount, and this activity in and of itself is not a  violation of police instructions,” Judge Yahalom wrote.

Temple Mount organizations ad activists welcomed the ruling as it recognizes and green-lights “the positive process that is going on the Temple Mount.”

Activist Arnon Segal called it a “beautiful victory” while blasting the police for harassing Rabbi Lippo for no reason.

Shai Glick, CEO of the B’Tsalmo rights organization hailed the decision tweeting: “This is the first time we can say the words ‘the Temple Mount is in our hands.’ We are talking about a historic day for the Nation of Israel in its entirety.”

https://www.israel365news.com

Hamas punctuates Israeli air strike with another rocket – a shift in tactics

Debkafile – September 13, 2021

A fourth rocket punctuated the third round of Israeli air strikes over the Gaza Strip that responded to three nights of single Palestinian rocket fire. This last rocket like the others was aimed on Sunday night, Sept. 12 at Sderot and the Eshkol Council. All four Hamas projectiles were intercepted in time by Iron Dome rockets. The military spokesman reported that the fourth rocket prompted an expansion of the Israeli raid to five major Hamas facilities, including a “terror tunnel” as well as training compounds and arms production sites and depots.

The launching of the fourth rocket in the course of the latest Israeli counterstrike marked a change in Hamas tactics. Until now, the Palestinian terrorists ruling the Gaza Strip were wont to fire a rocket or two, wait for Israeli punishment and hold back for a while before launching their next small-scale rocket or arson balloon offensive against the Israeli population next door to the Gaza Strip. On Sunday night, Hamas changed the rules by initiating its next attack while an Israeli punitive operation was still ongoing.

DEBKAfile’s military sources note that Hamas’s decision to change the rules is worrying in the sense that it copycats Syria’s latest mode of retaliation for Israel’s alleged air strikes on pro-Iranian sites. On Sept.3, Syria aimed two SA-5 rockets at central Israel in direct response to a purported air raid over the outskirts of Damascus. Both were intercepted by Israel’s air defense system. This new government in Jerusalem downplayed that event as well another new feature of Hamas aggression. In the past fortnight, Hamas has been seen to direct heavy machine gun fire at its Israeli neighbors – so far without causing casualties. But there is no doubt that Hamas is diversifying its offensive tactics and very much on the warpath.

https://www.debka.com

Two missiles exploding off Israel’s coast marked Syria’s response to alleged IDF air raid

Debkafiles – September 3, 2021

A string of central Israeli coastal towns north and south of Tel Aviv were rocked Thursday night, Aug. 2 ,by a series of explosions around five minutes after one of the IDF’s alleged routine raids from Lebanon targeted another pro-Iranian site near Damascus.

The IDF spokesman said the explosion had come from a Syrian air defense missile over the sea off central Israel and was being investigated. However, multiple blasts were heard in a wide range of towns from Netanyahu in the north, through Herzliya, Rosh Ha’Ayin, Ramat Gan, Givatayim, Tel Aviv and Rishon Letzion. No warning sirens were switched on since, it was explained, no populated areas had been threatened. All the same, half a dozen pieces of missile shrapnel were discovered in a back garden of Neve Shalom south of Tel Aviv.

A second communique, this one from the police, said that a Syrian SA-5 anti-air missile (see picture) had exploded opposite the western Sharon region north of Tel Aviv. Falling shrapnel had dropped in the sea and a Tel Aviv back yard. The communique added that the |DF would be questioning why no warning siren was activated. This appeared to be the focus of the inquiry rather than the broad range and multiplicity of the explosions.

In the meantime, DEBKAfile’s military sources report, residents of Rishon Letzion south of Tel Aviv came up with an explanation. They testified to hearing two explosions – not one. It turned out that a second missile had been fired from Syria, this one a surface-to-surface Russian-made Scud. Our sources have learned that this one was intercepted in time by a David’s Sling, the missile system designed for protection against intermediate missile attack as part of Israel’s multi-tier shield.

This has not been confirmed by the military or the police. However, if that is how the purported Israeli raid over Damascus unfolded, it seems to indicate that the Syrians have decided to finally retaliate for each reported Israeli attack. On Aug. 20, a Syria anti-air rocket fired from Damascus exploded in the Dead Sea region of southern Israel. Rather than a stray rocket, as claimed at the time, that may have been the first harbinger of a new Syrian policy to raise the stakes and confront Israel directly over its long campaign to root the Iranian military presence from its borders. The Assad regime would have gained the nod of its supporters, Iran and Russia, before embarking on this course.

https://www.debka.com

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

WAR DRUMS: Israel warns they are now ‘ready to strike Iran’ after new report reveals 10 weeks from nuclear weapon

ETH – August 5, 2021

(ETH) – Israel’s defense minister Benny Gantz has said that his country is ready to attack Iran and that there must be a global response to the threat that the Islamic republic poses.

According to MSN News, His comments come amid growing tensions following a deadly drone strike on an Israeli-operated tanker off the coast of Oman. Israel, along with the U.S. and the U.K. has blamed Tehran for the attack on Mercer Street last week that killed two people. Iran has denied involvement. “Israel is ready to attack Iran, yes,” Gantz told Ynet on Thursday.

“We are at a point where we need to take military action against Iran. The world needs to take action against Iran now,” he added according to a translation of his comments tweeted by Ynet journalist Attila Somfalvi.

This also follows the report from the Jerusalem Post, revealing that Tehran will be able to break out to a nuclear weapon within 10 weeks, Defense Minister Benny Gantz told diplomats from UN Security Council member states on Wednesday as tensions ratcheted up between Iran and the international community over its maritime attacks.

“Iran has violated all of the guidelines set in the JCPOA [nuclear agreement] and is only around 10 weeks away from acquiring weapons-grade materials necessary for a nuclear weapon,” Gantz warned. “Therefore,” he added, “it is time to act. The world must apply economic sanctions and take operative action against the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps,” which has targeted shipping vessels.

Lapid, Gantz, and other Israeli officials have addressed the Iranian nuclear issue with their American counterparts recently, delivering an “unusual warning,” according to a report from the Times of Israel. “Something has to happen with the negotiations with Iran,” a senior diplomat told Kan. “This ‘limbo’ cannot be a time when Iran is quickly advancing toward becoming a nuclear threshold state.”

https://endtimeheadlines.org

First Iranian kamikaze drone against Israeli tanker. As tension rises, Gantz vows “appropriate response”

Debkafiles – July 30, 2021

Iran for the first time launched a suicide drone on Friday, July 30, against an Israeli-operated merchant vessel, the Mercer Street, north of the Omani island of Masirah in the Indian Ocean. Two crewmen, a Briton and a Romanian, were killed as the ship caught fire. The US Navy rushed to the burning ship’s aid and escorted it to harbor in Abu Dhabi, in the UAE. It was attacked while on its way from Dar es Salaam to Fujairah with no cargo aboard.

The Israeli owners had transferred the vessel to Japanese ownership after previous less serious incidents against their ships in the same region, while continuing to operate it from their London-based Zodiac Maritime Office.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz called an urgent conference on Friday night with Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi and other senior commanders, following which Gantz announced that Israel would make an “appropriate response” to the attack.

DEBKAfile adds: The event broke new ground as indicated by the following:

    1. It marked Iran’s first direct armed drone attack on an Israeli merchant vessel.
    2. The drone was identified by a US official as a “one way” drone – although the Americans stayed clear of former incidents of this kind. He added that “other drones took part” indicating a concerted assault. This confirmed an earlier report from the private maritime intelligence firm Dryad Global of a drone sighting around the vessel prior to the attack.
    3. Iranian sources, including the Al Alam Arabic language TV channel, reported that the Israeli vessel was attacked in reprisal for Israel’s air strike of July 22 against Revolutionary Guards bases at Qusayr, 25km from Aleppo in western Syria. They revealed that a number of Iranians were killed in that strike.
      (Russian officials claimed that all the missiles fired by Israeli jets in that attack had been intercepted by Russian-made air defense systems.)
    4. This was the first time that Tehran had cited Israeli military action in Syria as justification for attacking an Israeli commercial vessel
    5. Saudi sources disclosed that on that same Friday night, one of their ships was also attacked with armed drones wielded by Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea.

https://www.debka.com

Is Israel preparing for the inevitable civil war in the West Bank?

Eric R. Mandel – July 10, 2021

As President Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken ponder how to entice the Palestinian Authority (PA) to negotiate with Israel, a far more significant problem is being ignored. The Biden team marched along, facilitating a transfer of money to the PA and reopening the U.S. Consulate in East Jerusalem, another Palestinian demand, without tangible reciprocity. But this will not reveal the elephant in the room: an inevitable, coming uprising by Hamas in the West Bank.

Hamas instigated the Gaza war in May as part of a strategy to weaken Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party and increase Hamas’s popularity among Palestinian Arabs living in the West Bank. As Amos Harel writes in Haaretz, the rule of Abbas “is less stable. … The succession battles among his subordinates are being waged openly and, above all, Hamas is continuing to gain popularity against the backdrop of what is perceived as its success in standing up to Israel during the fighting in May.”

The U.S. evidently thinks it can strengthen the PA’s standing with the Palestinian people by insisting any rebuilding of Gaza be coordinated through the PA and not Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror organization. But covering over the rot of the PA with increased foreign aid is a Band-Aid at best. Hamas may allow some money to flow through the PA to Gaza, but Abbas won’t control it for long.

Are Israel, America and their Middle Eastern allies planning a strategy for the likely possibility of a civil war in the West Bank? Do they believe that funneling humanitarian aid to Gaza through the PA will lead to a long-term cease-fire between Israel and Hamas or inhibit Hamas from setting the West Bank on fire once sufficient arms, material and money get into their hands?

The attention of the international community is focused on Gaza, but Hamas apparently is one step ahead, strategizing with its Islamist patrons to find opportunities to move closer to taking over the West Bank. Then it could impose Muslim Brotherhood control on the rest of the Palestinian State. Funding from Iran, Qatar and Turkey is in place to help make this happen.

Israel’s next war with Hamas may be not just in Gaza but also in the West Bank, centered in Judea and Samaria, as happened during the Second Intifada of the early 2000s. This time, Israel may be fighting on three fronts simultaneously. Add to that Iranian-controlled militia embedded in Syria and Iraq, ready to transfer arms and troops to tip the balance in favor of Hamas.

https://thehill.com