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US Senate holding up Iron Dome funding for Israel, urged to release funds

World Israel News Staff — Wed, 12 Jan 2022 17:11:14 +0000

The House of Representatives approved $1 billion in funding, but legislation has been stalled in the Senate.

The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelming approved (420-9) legislation last September to provide $1 billion in funds, but the legislation has since stalled in the Senate.

A dozen major Jewish organizations spanning the religious and political spectrum are urging the U.S. Senate to quickly approve funding for the replenishment of Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system.

The House of Representatives overwhelming approved (420-9) legislation last September to provide $1 billion in funds, but the legislation has since stalled in the Senate.

The letter, which was spearheaded by the American Jewish Congress and Jewish Council for Public Affairs, calls on Senate leaders Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to move the measure forward.

“As American Jewish organizations dedicated to maintaining strong support for Israel’s security, we implore you to not allow any more needless delays in passing this legislation. Every day that goes by without this funding is one more day of danger and insecurity for the Israeli people,” the groups said.

Other groups include Agudath Israel of America, Ameinu, B’nai B’rith International, Hadassah, Israel Policy Forum, Jewish Women International, Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative Movement), Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Union for Reform Judaism and Zionist Organization of America.

The Jewish groups said they are “deeply troubled” by maneuvers to delay the consideration of H.R. 5323 by the full Senate, which “weakens our entire nation’s commitment to our Israeli ally’s security.”

Israel’s Iron Dome system came under heavy use during the May 2021 conflict with Palestinian terror groups in the Gaza Strip when more than 4,000 rockets were fired on Israel. The Iron Dome intercepted nearly 90 percent of them. The system, which the United States helped to develop, can cost as much as $80,000 per use.PP

“Rebuilding the supply of interceptor missiles takes time, due to the relatively slow manufacturing process, with cost being an inhibitor. On the other hand, terror groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and PIJ [Palestian Islamic Jihad] use less sophisticated rockets that are manufactured quickly, at a much lower cost, but that are no less deadly,” said the group.

In September, funding for Iron Dome became a point of controversy in the House when it was removed by a larger spending bill over objections by progressive Democrats.

Nevertheless, Democratic leaders in the House quickly introduced a standalone measure that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. However, the bill was blocked from being passed in the U.S. Senate by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who stated that he would not vote for the funding unless its cost was not offset by cuts elsewhere, specifically suggesting reappropriating foreign aid the administration intends to provide to humanitarian groups in Afghanistan.

“We as American Jews believe that Israel has no better friend or partner than the United States, and we are proud to be supporting a defense system that protects all of Israel’s citizens, regardless of their religious background or ethnicity,” the organizations said, adding that U.S. President Joe Biden has signaled that he is ready to immediately sign the legislation.

“We therefore urge you to ignore the unfortunate gamesmanship that is taking place right now in the Senate and to press forward in bringing the House-passed legislation to the floor for a vote.”

Source: https://worldisraelnews.com/senate-urged-to-take-immediate-action-to-replenish-iron-dome/

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Hamas sets an ultimatum for next week

Dalit Halevi — Fri, 07 Jan 2022 13:42:32 +0000

Hamas and Islamic Jihad threaten a military confrontation if Israel does not meet their demands by January 13.

Senior Egyptian sources told the Al-Rai Al-Aam newspaper on Thursday that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are pessimistic about the indirect negotiations with Israel and are accusing the Jewish state of procrastinating when it comes to implementing the understandings on the lifting of the “siege” on the Gaza Strip and promoting reconstruction of the Strip from the fighting in May of last year.

In an interview with the newspaper, these sources said that the Egyptians had separate talks with the leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in which they discussed the “deteriorating situation” in the Gaza Strip.

According to the report, the Palestinian Arab terrorist organizations have agreed to issue an ultimatum to Israel of next Thursday, January 13, by which it must take practical steps to ease the siege and remove all obstacles to reconstruction operations.

Senior members of these organizations made it clear to the Egyptian mediator that their patience with Israeli policy in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the Gaza Strip and in prisons was running out, and if Israel continues its policies of “provocation” and “procrastination”, then on January 13 “all possibilities would be open.”

This “angry message” was conveyed to Israel by the Egyptian mediator who is working to prevent another round of military confrontation, the report said.

Source: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/320023

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Abbas gives Israel one year to end occupation of West Bank

The New Arab Staff — Sat, 25 Sep 2021 05:38:40 +0000

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has given Israel one year to end the occupation of the West Bank, saying that he could take it to the ICJ if it fails to withdraw from occupied Palestinian territory.

Abbas addressed the UN General Assembly via video-link from Ramallah [Getty]

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday said that Israel “had one year ahead to end the occupation” of the West Bank.

Abbas made this statement in a speech addressing the UN General Assembly, adding that if the occupation doesn’t end, “we will head to the International Court of Justice, to have a decision on the legitimacy of the occupation on the borders of 1967”.

Speaking via video-link from Ramallah, Abbas hinted that he could withdraw recognition of Israel.

“If the occupation continues, what does our recognition of Israel within its 1967 borders mean?” he said.

Abbas also strongly condemned the Israeli government’s stated policy of not negotiating with his Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank. Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet said that he won’t meet the Palestinian president.

Abbas accused Israel of “evading a political solution”, warning that “undermining the two-state solution will open the doors for alternatives that will be imposed by facts on the ground, including the return to the Resolution 181 partition plan of 1947”.

He added that Israel’s practices of “ethnic cleansing and annexation” will “consecrate the reality of a single racist state”, saying that the international community “has failed to hold Israel accountable, allowing it to “behave as a state above the law”.

Israel has constructed hundreds of illegal settlements in the West Bank, where approximately 600,000 Israelis live.

Dialogue with the US

The Palestinian president criticized “the states who give money and weapons to Israel, who uses them to kill Palestinians”. His remarks came one day after the US Congress approved $1 billion in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome system.

However, Abbas also referred to “our constructive dialogue with the American administration to restore US-Palestinian relations”. On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden told the UN General Assembly that he supports the creation of a Palestinian state, saying that it is “the best way” to ensure Israel’s future. Biden, however, added that “we are still a long way from that goal at this moment”.

In addition, Abbas called on UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres to organize an international peace conference “under the auspices of the international quartet only”, as well as to “activiate the UN resolutions concerning international protection for the Palestinian people”.

Abbas referred to the UNGA emergency meeting resolution of June 2018 that requested the UN Secretary General to present “recommendations for an international protection mechanism for Palestinians”.

The international quartet on the Middle East is made up of four countries and organizations involved in mediating the Israeli-Palestinian peace process – the United States, the European Union, the UN, and Russia.

Elections and reconciliation with Hamas

Concerning internal Palestinian politics, Abbas said that municipal elections will be organized in the Palestinian territories “in the coming months”.

He also referred to the presidential and legislative elections, which were planned for last May before Abbas called them off in April. He insisted that “we did not cancel the elections, but we postponed them until we have a guarantee that we can hold them in Jerusalem”.

Palestinians last went to the polls in 2006, when Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections. Abbas’s official term as Palestinian president ended in 2009, but no presidential elections have been held since then.

In 2007, Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip following a deadly conflict with Abbas’s Fatah movement. Abbas said that he was “working to form a national unity government” with Hamas which would “help to begin the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip”.

The besieged Gaza Strip is still suffering the effects of 14 years of crippling Israeli blockade and four wars which have happened since 2008.

The 85- year-old Palestinian president said during his speech that “I’ve struggled all my life for peace, and I have followed the legal and peaceful ways, but I have found no partner for peace in Israel.

“We thank the international community for helping the Palestinian people build their institutions and economy, but the time has come to take steps that could put an end to occupation,” he added.

Source: https://english.alaraby.co.uk/news/abbas-gives-israel-one-year-end-occupation-west-bank

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Amid regional upheaval, Egypt and Israel seek to strengthen ties and border security

Ariel Ben Solomon — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 01:52:14 +0000

Despite intelligence-sharing between the neighboring countries, Cairo has not invited an Israeli prime minister to visit since 2013, the year Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel in Israel on Aug. 18, 2021. Source: Twitter/PMO.

(August 24, 2021 / JNS) Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi invited Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for an official visit in the coming weeks, which would be the first state visit by an Israeli leader in nearly a decade.

The invitation, offered last week, comes amid the backdrop of ongoing violence emanating from the Gaza Strip, the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and the ongoing Iran nuclear threat, which Israel and its Arab regional partners perceive with alarm.

Zvi Mazel, Israel’s former ambassador to Egypt and a senior analyst with the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told JNS that he views the state visit as a possible sign of warming relations between the two countries.

“It’s good news, especially that the invitation is for an official visit, which means an honor guard at the airport and lots of journalists present—a message to the Egyptian people that the government favors business with Israel,” he said.

While Israel and Egypt have maintained a cold peace since the signing of the Camp David Accords in 1978, their mutual ties are largely limited to top government officials and secretive visits. They also both actively work to keep the volatile enclave that is Gaza and the Hamas terror organization that runs it in check.

Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and author of Motherland Lost: The Egyptian and Coptic Quest for Modernity and Reflection on the Revolution in Egypt, told JNS that the visit is a positive step, and that “Egypt has always shied away from an open relationship with Israel and discouraged its own citizens from normal relations, as well as fomenting anti-Semitism in its own state media.”

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in 2015. Credit: 360b/Shutterstock.

“Egypt has not invited an Israeli prime minister to visit despite increased intelligence cooperation since Sisi came to power in 2013,” noted Tadros.

The decision shows that the Egyptian government is more welcoming of working with this Israeli government, despite its possible reservations about Bennett’s ideological background, he assessed.

However, Mazel said that interest in Egyptian relations with Israel is narrowly based, with one main goal being the selling and buying of gas. He said this is not normalization in the plain sense of the term but a move based on commercial interests.

‘Old pattern of Hamas attrition war against Israel’

The head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate, Maj. Gen. Abbas Kamel, met in Israel last week with Bennett, who later tweeted a photo of the two. The prime minister said they discussed “diplomatic, security and economic aspects” of the two countries’ relationship, as well as Egyptian mediation vis-à-vis the security situation regarding Gaza.

For years, Egypt has served as a mediator between Israel and Hamas leaders.

Indeed, the visit comes as tensions in Gaza have flared up in recent days.

“Surely, Egypt is very important to Israel, and its role of mediator with Hamas is vital,” said Mazel. “Yet I don’t see any important achievement that would have changed the situation, and it seems we are going back to the old pattern of a Hamas attrition war against Israel.”

“Egypt only intervenes to stop Hamas attacks against Israel when it is afraid of a major flare-up that might endanger it,” he added.

Multiple fires broke out near the border with Gaza on Monday, which Israeli authorities believe were started by explosive-carrying balloons launched from the Hamas-controlled enclave, reported Ynet. In retaliation for the arson attacks, Israeli fighter jets struck several Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday night.

It comes as Israel and the United Nations allow the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Meanwhile, Egypt closed the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday amid increased tensions with Hamas. It represents the first time the crossing has been shut down during a workday since early 2021, reported the AP.

Israel’s Kan news reported on Sunday night that Cairo is also furious with Hamas leaders over violent riots at the Gaza-Israel border on Saturday that resulted in an Israeli Border Police officer being shot in the head. Bar-El Hadaria Shmueli, 21, was wounded as Gaza rioters at a Hamas-run rally surged toward the security fence; he remains in critical condition at Soroka Hospital in Beersheva.

‘A mediator in the conflict’

The announcement of the Egyptian invitation comes as Bennett is scheduled to meet with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on Thursday. Egypt and Israel, close allies of America, certainly view power changes in the Middle East with concern, and the perceived success of the Taliban in the eyes of terror groups affects regional stability.

At the same time, the Biden administration has prioritized human-rights concerns as part of its foreign policy, a matter that Egypt has long been accused of violating by outside groups.

The Israeli media has reported that el-Sisi seeks Bennett’s help in making its case to Biden this week, said Mazel, which has been part of a working system that has gone on for years.

According to Tadros, the Egyptian invitation signifies “a realization in Egypt after the last Gaza war that its historical role as a mediator in the conflict is highly beneficial to its position and relations with Washington.”

He added that “Egypt may thus see its role in the Arab-Israeli conflict as again useful in overcoming criticism of its human rights record, especially with the Biden administration.”

Source: https://www.jns.org/amid-regional-upheaval-egypt-and-israel-seek-to-strengthen-ties-and-border-security/

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Hamas demanding ‘impossible terms’ as deadlock with Israel continues

Yaakov Lappin — Tue, 24 Aug 2021 00:42:46 +0000

Col. (res.) David Hacham, a former Arab-affairs adviser to Israeli defense ministers, says any expectation of a significant change in Hamas’s extreme worldview is fantasy; the latest violence is part of a Hamas bid to “change the rules of the equation” with Israel.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar at a rally in Beit Lahiya on May 30, 2021. Photo by Atia Mohammed/Flash90.

(August 24, 2021 / JNS) Hamas in the Gaza Strip is pursuing terms that are impossible for Israel to accept as part of its extortion attempt to “change the rules of the equation,” a former defense official and expert on Gaza has said.

Col. (res.) David Hacham, an Arab-affairs adviser to seven Israeli defense ministers and a senior research associate at the Miryam Institute, told JNS that a central impasse blocking the path to a broader arrangement between Israel and Gaza is Hamas’s refusal to come up with realistic proposals to facilitate a deal for the release of the remains of two missing-in-action Israel Defense Forces’ soldiers who were killed in the 2014 war, in addition to two living Israeli civilians who entered Gaza and are being held by the terrorist organization.

With Israel linking progress on this issue to progress on a broader arrangement for Gaza’s reconstruction and economy—and Hamas refusing to budge on its unrealistic demands for facilitating an exchange deal to secure the release of the Israelis—a structural problem is in place, noted Hacham.

“Israel says that if Hamas wants progress on a broader arrangement, progress must be made on an exchange deal. Hamas says these are two separate issues, and it wants separate talks on increasing the entry of commodities and services into Gaza, and the entry of Gazan workers into Israel,” he said. “This is the key issue on the agenda. It is the central reason for all of the incidents we are seeing on the border. Hamas demands that Israel ‘lifts the siege.’ ”

In exchange for the release of Israeli civilians Avera Mengistu and Hisham Al-Sayed, and the remains of MIA personnel Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, Hamas’s leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, has demanded that Israel release 1,111 Palestinian security prisoners.

“Hamas is raising impossible standards for Israel,” said Hacham.

“In principle, Hamas is seeking to change the terms of the equation that has existed for a long time between Israel and Hamas,” he said. “Their slogan of ‘lifting the siege’ means opening up Gaza’s border crossings to Israel and the outside world, the naval arena and the air arena.”

Egypt’s General Intelligence Directorate has played the central role in mediating talks between Israel and Hamas, with most of the talks taking place in Cairo.

With no progress being made on the swap deal, the other negotiations channel is designed to achieve what Israel calls an “arrangement” and what Hamas calls a hudna (“calm”).

To that end, talks have revolved on enabling more traffic of goods, merchants and businesspeople through the Gaza-Israel border crossings. Even though no final arrangement has been reached, Israel recently took the step of allowing 1,000 Gazan merchants and 250 businesspeople into Israel.

Throughout the deliberations, Israel has ensured a constant humanitarian flow of basic goods, food and medical supply into Gaza though trucks that pass through Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Hamas is also demanding the entry of funds for rebuilding sections of the Strip and repairing damages following the May conflict it prompted and fought with Israel.

Yet the fact that the talks are stuck on the swap issue means there is “no moving forward,” said Hacham.

This will not change as long as “Hamas does not allow progress on the MIA’s remains and captive issue,” he stated. Hamas’s initiative to jump-start Gaza’s economy and see large-scale infrastructure projects take place is thus being stalled by Hamas’s own refusal to compromise on its demands.

As a result, the fact that an agreement was reached in recent days allowing some $100 million a month of Qatari assistance cash for needy Gazan families to come has not altered the impasse.

That agreement will see the United Nations allocate the funds through special ATM withdrawal cards, after a list of recipients was authorized by Israel, which is a far cry from the old allocation method, when Qatar’s envoy to Gaza, Muhammad Al-Emadi, would arrive with suitcases brimming with cash.

In the old arrangement, Hacham said, “Israel didn’t fully supervise where this money went. We can assume that not all of it went to needy families; some went to developing Hamas’s terror infrastructure and local rocket-production centers.”

As a result, Israel refused to consider going back to the old arrangement. Yet now that the deal was reached, Hamas is far from being satisfied or willing to scale back its escalation tactics on the border.

‘Hamas believes its charger was drawn up by God’

Hacham said that those who are holding out hopes for a change in Hamas’s radical worldview are clinging to fantasies.

“Hamas is an enemy. It is guided, conceptually and ideologically, by a call for Israel’s destruction. It does not recognize Israel. Hamas has not changed its ideology, concepts or objectives,” he said. “And it can’t change them. I remember speaking with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, who founded Hamas during the First Intifada in 1987, and asking him if the movement’s stances could change, whether mutual recognition could change. He told me, ‘Our charter was drawn up by God. So humans cannot change our charter.’ ”

Hamas’s 1988 covenant continues to reflect its ideology and policy towards Israel, said Hacham. “But we have to distinguish between Hamas’s practical actions and ideology. For tactical reasons, it is willing to reach ceasefires (hudnas), but not at the cost of recognition of Israel or acceptance of Israel as a legitimate element. Only as part of a tactical need.”

As a result of these dynamics, the chances of a long-term quiet with Hamas are slim, he assessed. However, stepped-up Israeli offensive actions and an Israeli determination to respond to each act of Hamas aggression could boost Israeli deterrence, he argued.

Boosted Israeli deterrence would, in turn, enable Israel to prioritize its strategic task of preventing Iran from breaking out to a nuclear weapon and dealing with Iran’s entrenchment in Syria, and Hezbollah’s threatening force build-up in Lebanon. “These are the issues at the top of Israel’s priority list. Hence, Gaza is a problem that has to be confined,” he said.

Deterrence can be improved through steps such as “commando raids or destroying their weapons storehouses, tunnels or even targeted killings—a tool that has proven itself,” said Hacham, while stressing that he is not in favor of a reoccupation of Gaza.

“But Israel can’t exclude retaking Gaza either. It has to take this option into account, but only in a scenario in which there are no other options,” he said.

Such a maneuver would involve heavy casualties among young IDF soldiers, he said, as well as civilians on both sides, despite Israeli efforts to avoid this; as such, it must be reserved as a last option.

Source: https://www.jns.org/hamas-demanding-impossible-terms-as-deadlock-with-israel-continues/

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IDF strikes Gaza after incendiary balloons spark fires in south

Aaron Boxerman and Judah Ari Gross — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 11:11:05 +0000

Army says warplanes hit Hamas terror group base located next to school after first suspected arson attacks in weeks; Palestinian media claim Israeli drone shot down.

Illustrative: Explosions light up the night sky above buildings in Gaza City as IDF planes hit the Palestinian enclave, early on June 16, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

Israel Defense Forces jets struck a series of targets in Gaza late Sunday night, hours after incendiary balloons launched from the Strip sparked several fires in southern Israel.

The Israel Defense Forces said warplanes hit several buildings in a Hamas military base, as well as unspecified “infrastructure and utilities used for activities” of the terror group.

It noted the base was located “adjacent to civilian sites, including a school,” without providing details.

According to the Hamas-affiliated al-Resalah, Israeli planes bombed areas west of Gaza City, before striking to the east of Khan Younis. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Palestinian media reported that terrorists fired from machine guns at Israeli aircraft over the Gaza Strip, amid the airstrikes, and managed to down a drone.

An IDF spokesperson said the military was not aware of any reports of drones that had been shot down.

The army said the airstrikes came in response to incendiary balloons launched into Israel.

“The IDF will respond aggressively against continued terror attempts out of the Gaza Strip,” the IDF said in a statement.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qasim mocked the Israeli airstrikes as a “failed attempt to show its own impotent power and restore its army’s battered image after it was shaken” during the recent fighting between the two sides.

“The noble resistance is ready to deal with all options, nor will it allow the occupation to impose its equations,” said Qasim, referring to the balance of deterrence between Hamas and Israel.

On Sunday afternoon, Gaza-based terror groups launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel, sparking a number of fires, a Fire and Rescue services investigator determined.

In response to the arson attacks, Israel announced it was cutting the Gaza Strip’s fishing zone in half, from 12 nautical miles to six, effective immediately and until further notice on Sunday night. Prior to May’s conflict between Israel and Palestinian terror groups in Gaza, Palestinian fisherman could operate up to 15 nautical miles from the coast.

“This follows the launching of incendiary balloons from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, which is a violation of Israeli sovereignty,” Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, said in a statement.

According to the fire department, three small brushfires were ignited in the Eshkol region of southern Israel, in the first arson attacks from the Gaza Strip since early July.

“A fire investigator from the Southern District Fire and Rescue Services found that the blaze was caused by the launching of incendiary balloons,” a fire department spokesperson said. There were no injuries or damage to property reported.

In its statement, COGAT said the attacks were ultimately the responsibility of the Hamas terror group, the de facto ruler of the Strip.

Bonfires in southern Israel allegedly sparked by incendiary balloons launched by Gaza-based terror groups on July 25, 2021. (Moshe Brochi)

Hamas has warned of a return to fighting should Israel seek to again tighten restrictions on the blockaded Gaza Strip. The coastal enclave has seen tighter controls than usual since the 11-day May conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Earlier on Sunday, Israeli authorities prevented 25 trucks bearing Qatari-funded fuel from entering the Gaza Strip. An Israeli defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited a failure by Palestinian Authority officials in Gaza to coordinate with them.

PA officials in Gaza rejected the claim, saying that the United Nations and Qatar were responsible for directly coordinating with the Israeli side. Both the UN and the office of Qatar’s Gaza envoy declined to comment.

“Further restrictions on Gaza will only generate an explosion in the face of the occupation,” Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanou told official Hamas radio on Sunday evening.

The Israeli defense official said Sunday night that the fuel was expected to enter the Gaza Strip on Monday, but that “nothing was set in stone.”

Supporters of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror group prepare balloon-borne incendiary devices to launch toward Israel, east of Gaza City, on June 15, 2021. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)

Israel regularly responds with airstrikes against Hamas positions in Gaza after incendiary balloon attacks. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has repeatedly said that he will not allow such incidents to occur without a response.

“Israel is interested in calm and has no interest in harming Gaza residents, but violence… will be met with a strong response,” Bennett told the cabinet following such strikes in early July.

During the war, Israeli airstrikes and Palestinian rockets caused at least $290 million worth of damage to the Gaza Strip, international assessors reported in early July.

Israel and Hamas have been conducting indirect negotiations in Cairo in an attempt to strengthen the fragile ceasefire between the two sides. Israeli officials have said they will condition allowing the reconstruction of Gaza and easing the heightened restrictions on reaching a prisoner exchange with Hamas that secures the return of Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, and the bodies of IDF soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, who died in 2014 fighting.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-strikes-gaza-after-incendiary-balloons-spark-fires-in-south/

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Gaza unrest: Fire balloons, airstrikes mark a new round of violence in Israel

Michael Ruiz | Fox News — Wed, 16 Jun 2021 10:39:25 +0000

Israel’s Defense Forces launched a counterattack into Gaza after a balloon attack sent incendiary devices floating into southern Israel.

The counterstrike, which happened Tuesday evening in the U.S. and early Wednesday morning local time, targeted Hamas military compounds, according to the IDF.

Tzvi Joffre@TzviJoffre

Jun 15, 2021

Replying to @TzviJoffre

Definitely, an instance in which I was glad to be proven wrong. Maybe we finally do have a government that will stand up for more than just Tel Aviv.

Tzvi Joffre@TzviJoffre

Video of the @IDF strikes tonight in #Gaza. (Credit: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit)

The targets were used by Hamas’ Khan Yunis and Gaza Brigades for “terror activities,” according to the IDF.

Masked Palestinian man walks away after launching incendiary balloons towards Israel. (Ahmed Zakot / SOPA Images/Sipa USA)(Sipa via AP Images)

“The Hamas terror organization is responsible for all events transpiring in the Gaza Strip, and will bear the consequences for its actions,” the military said in a statement. “The IDF is prepared for any scenario, including a resumption of hostilities, in the face of continuing terror activities from the Gaza Strip.”

Authorities on both sides said there were no injuries, the Times of Israel reported.

Explosions light-up the night sky above buildings in Gaza City as Israeli forces shell the Palestinian enclave, early on June 16, 2021. (MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

WHO IS NEFTALI BENNET, ISRAEL’S NEW LEADER?

The violence comes just three weeks after a cease-fire halted 11 days of fighting that marked the worst clashes between the IDF and Hamas militants since a small-scale war in 2014.

The balloon attacks sparked nearly two-dozen fires.

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The unrest comes after an Israeli nationalist march in East Jerusalem that celebrated the 1967 capture of the city.

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17 policemen, 200 Palestinians hurt as hundreds riot on Temple Mount

Times of Israel staff — Sun, 09 May 2021 12:15:49 +0000

One officer moderately wounded in intense clashes after Ramadan prayers; police use stun grenades, rubber-coated bullets after Palestinians throw rocks and bottles.

Palestinian protesters look on during clashes with Israeli security forces at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

Israeli police burst into the Temple Mount compound on Friday evening after Palestinians threw rocks and bottles at officers, as widespread clashes in Jerusalem spread to the holy site following prayers held there on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Police said 17 police officers were hurt and around half of those hospitalized, with one in moderate condition after taking a rock to the head. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that at least 205 Palestinians were wounded in clashes throughout Jerusalem, mostly around the Temple Mount and by Damascus Gate. Eighty-eight Palestinians were hospitalized, mostly for injuries with rubber-coated steel bullets, it said.

By midnight the violence — some of the worst in Jerusalem for years — seemed to have subsided, with most protesters dispersing.

Police said Friday evening that force used “riot dispersal means following violent disturbances on the Temple Mount, during which hundreds of suspects began throwing stone, bottles, and objects at police officers.”

Video from the scene showed pitched battles, with Palestinians throwing chairs, shoes, rocks, and bottles, and shooting fireworks, and police responding with stun grenades, tear gas, and rubber bullets.

Protesters chanted “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great.” Several wounded demonstrators could be seen being carried away on stretchers.

Most of the Palestinians hospitalized were being treated at Al-Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem. The hospital was urgently calling for people to come and donate blood.

Global.TV@GlobalTelevsion

#BREAKING : Ongoing Clashes between #Palestinians and Israel security near Temple Mount / Aqsa Mosque area in #Jerusalem. This comes on last Friday of #Ramadan, #Israel security using sound grenades to disperse protests:

See video here: https://twitter.com/i/status/1390726060644306944

In a statement, Israel Police said: “We will not allow riots, violence, and attempts to harm police officers through taking advantage of the freedom of worship and religion and turning it into a violent incident.

“We will respond with a heavy hand to all violent disturbances, riots, and attacks on our forces.”

Demonstrators had called for more people to try and reach the compound, but police blocked roads leading to the site.

Footage on social media appeared to show police officers on the roof of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Red Crescent also said that its attempts to send reinforcements from the West Bank to Jerusalem to deal with the wounded were blocked by Israeli forces.

Israeli security forces deploy during clashes with Palestinian protesters at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

The Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem has long been one of the main flashpoints of Israeli-Palestinian friction. The holiest place in Judaism — as the site of the two biblical temples — is also home to the Muslim holy sites of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Dome of the Rock.

Aaron Boxerman@aboxerman1

May 7, 2021

For reasons still unclear, Israeli security forces have begun using sound grenades and tear gas inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, wounding some. It’s hard to imagine a worse time for something like this, whatever the circumstances behind the incident.

See video here: https://twitter.com/aboxerman1/status/1390723748484034560

Aaron Boxerman@aboxerman1

Another video from tonight at Al-Aqsa/Temple Mount (credit: unknown). This appears to be the most intense incident at Al-Aqsa since 2017.

See video here: https://twitter.com/aboxerman1/status/1390730412784226305

There are growing fears that the confrontations in Jerusalem could intensify still further.

Saturday night is “Laylat al-Qadr” or the “Night of Destiny,” the most sacred in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Worshipers will gather for intense nighttime prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sunday night is also the start of Jerusalem Day, a national holiday in which Israel celebrates the unification of Jerusalem — when Israel captured the eastern half of the city, including the Old City, from the Jordanians in the 1967 war — and religious nationalists hold parades and other celebrations in the city.

Palestinian medics transport a protester who was injured during clashes with Israeli police at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad Gharabli / AFP)

The Islamic Movement called on police to leave the site and said it “holds the Israeli authorities fully responsible for any deterioration and any bloodshed in Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Israeli police on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem after riots broke out on May 7, 2021 (Israel Police)

It called on Arab Israelis to come to Jerusalem for “Laylat al-Qad” celebrations to counter “calls by settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

Earlier Friday, as tens of thousands gathered for afternoon Ramadan prayers, some worshipers waved flags of the Hamas terror group and reportedly called for attacks on Israel.

Video showed throngs of people at the compound, some of whom were waving the green flag of Hamas, the Islamist terror group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Israeli security forces deploy during clashes with Palestinian protesters at the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem, on May 7, 2021. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP)

“We are all Hamas, waiting for your orders commander Mohammed Deif. Hamas — shoot a rocket at Tel Aviv tonight,” they were quoted as chanting by Channel 13 News, referring to the head of the terror movement’s armed wing.

Palestinians wave flags of the Hamas terror group after afternoon prayers for the last Friday of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan, on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City, May 7, 2021. (Jamal Awad/Flash90)

The clashes came amid spiraling tensions over the pending eviction of four Palestinian families in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood as part of a long legal battle with right-wing Jewish Israelis trying to acquire property in the neighborhood.

On Tuesday, Deif warned Israel would pay a “heavy price” if the evictions went ahead, raised fears of a wider conflict could be sparked as Hamas and other factions in Gaza warn of renewed violence over the issue.

Tensions in Jerusalem, specifically around the Old City, also flared last month after police prevented people from congregating outside Damascus Gate at the start of Ramadan, which Arabs said was an inflammatory move that obstructed a long-held tradition of gathering at the site during the Muslim holy month. Authorities later canceled the policy.

After some Palestinians filmed videos in which they attacked ultra-Orthodox passersby, the Jewish supremacist Lehava group responded by marching through Jerusalem’s downtown calling for “Death to Arabs” and searching for Palestinians to attack.

Additionally, tensions have also soared in the West Bank over the past week, and on Friday three Palestinians opened fire at Border Police near a military base. Israeli forces shot two of the assailants dead and critically wounded the third.

All three attackers identified with Hamas, the Kan public broadcaster reported, citing Palestinian sources. Officials have said they were planning a major terrorist attack, possibly in Jerusalem.

The Temple Mount clashes also come after fresh clashes broke out in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood on Friday evening, for the third day in a row.

Police said a protest in Sheikh Jarrah “quickly turned into a violent riot,” with rocks thrown at officers.

Citing “the chants that were heard and the rioting that began, the order was given,” a police statement said the protesters were instructed to disperse, but did not heed the order.

As cops dispersed the demonstrators, they threw rocks at the officers, who responded with riot dispersal means, according to the statement. The Haaretz daily said two protesters were injured by stun grenades.

Police arrested two people on suspicion of rioting and rock-throwing.

Numerous lawmakers from the predominantly Arab Joint List and left-wing Meretz party attended the protest.

“They are forcefully expelling [Palestinians] from here, a disgrace,” Joint List MK Ofer Cassif was quoted saying by the Ynet news site.

Cassif, the only Jewish lawmaker in the Joint List, has attended several recent protests in Sheikh Jarrah, including a demonstration there last month in which he was beaten and punched by officers. Police have claimed Cassif goaded the officers, several of whom are being investigated over the incident.

Joint List MK Ofer Cassif is pictured after being beaten during a demonstration in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood on April 9, 2021. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP)

At Friday’s protest, Cassif’s glasses were again broken after he was shoved by an officer, according to Haaretz, while Ynet quoted fellow Joint List MK Ahmad Tibi saying he was pushed by police.

“Troops arrive here, enter homes, and break bones. We see them beating the protesters… and what happened yesterday when scum like him arrives,” Cassif said, referring to far-right Religious Zionism MK Itamar Ben-Gvir. “He receives support.”

Ben Gvir, a disciple of the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane, on Thursday set up what he claimed to be a parliamentary office in Sheikh Jarrah. He agreed on Friday to vacate the site in return for a police presence near homes claimed by right-wing Jews.

MK Itamar Ben Gvir seen with Lehava chairman Benzi Gopstein in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah on May 6, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

Friday’s clashes between protesters and police followed two consecutive nights of rioting in Sheikh Jarrah, fueled by a years-long land dispute between Palestinians and right-wing Jewish nationalists in the strategic district near Jerusalem’s Old City.

Along with the warnings from terror groups and denunciations of the Palestinian Authority, Israel is also facing growing international scrutiny over the pending evictions, which the United Nations on Friday said could be a “war crime.”

Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement Friday pushing back on criticism of the pending evictions and accused the Palestinian Authority and terror organizations of fanning the tensions.

“Regrettably, the PA and Palestinian terror groups are presenting a real estate dispute between private parties, as a nationalistic cause, in order to incite violence in Jerusalem,” it said. “The PA and Palestinian terror groups will bear full responsibility for the violence emanating from their actions. The Israel police will ensure public order is maintained.”

A man holding the Israeli flag shouts at protesters waving the Palestinian flag during a demonstration against the expulsion of Palestinian families from their homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood Sheikh Jarrah, April 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Dozens of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah may be removed from their homes in the coming weeks if the Supreme Court turns down their appeal against a pending eviction. They are likely to be replaced by right-wing Jewish nationalists who say the Palestinian homes were built on land owned by Jewish associations before the establishment of the State of Israel.

According to Ir Amim, a left-wing human rights group focusing on Jerusalem, around 200 families in East Jerusalem are now under threat of eviction, with cases slowly marching through administrative bodies and Israeli courts. Around 70 of those families live in Sheikh Jarrah.

The neighborhood has long been a focal point of Jewish-Arab tensions. A small Jewish community lived in the area before 1948 when East Jerusalem fell under Jordanian control. Home to a shrine revered as the final resting place of Shimon Hatzadik, a third-century BCE high priest also known as Simeon the Just, the neighborhood is often visited by Jewish pilgrims.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed it, in a move not recognized by most of the international community.

See additional videos here:

عاجل| شرطة الاحتلال تعتلي سطح المصلى القبلي في المسجد الأقصى الآن pic.twitter.com/sr6cQmNucY

— منير الجاغوب (@MonirAljaghoub) May 7, 2021

המתיחות בירושלים: מפגינים מתעמתים עם המשטרה בשייח ג'ראח. המשטרה משתמשת ברימוני הלם כדי לפזר את ההמון@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/01tlB0NVmM

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021

המתיחות בירושלים: מחאה אלימה בשייח ג'ראח, שני מפגינים נעצרו | תיעוד מהעימותים@SuleimanMas1 pic.twitter.com/pDFg6mo6uL

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) May 7, 2021

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/police-burst-into-temple-mount-compound-as-hundreds-riot-after-ramadan-prayers/

[Disclaimer]

The post 17 policemen, 200 Palestinians hurt as hundreds riot on Temple Mount first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

White House says Israeli delegation will not change US position on Iran deal

TOI Staff and Judah Ari Gross — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 11:09:12 +0000

Mossad chief, national security adviser head to DC Monday to lobby against US return to nuke deal; IDF chief backs out and delegation delays trip due to security flare-up.

US President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks before signing the American Rescue Plan, a coronavirus relief package, in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, March 11, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Israel’s delegation to Washington DC will not change the United States position on rejoining the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the White House press secretary said in a briefing Friday.

On Monday, a high-level Israeli delegation will travel to Washington to voice objection to the US return to the Iran nuclear deal, but not to hold talks on the details. It will be headed by Mossad chief Yossi Cohen and National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat.

Asked whether the visit will impact the administration’s position on rejoining the deal, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said: “No.”

Psaki expanded on the indirect negotiations with Iran, saying that while the White House “knew they would be challenging, we’re encouraged that there are still conversations between all parties and that they’re still happening.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a press briefing at the White House, March 5, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

“As it relates to Israel, we have kept them abreast, as a key partner of these discussions, of our intentions and we will continue to do that on any future visits,” Psaki added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized in a meeting with the delegation last week that Israel is not a party in the nuclear agreement with Iran, and not committed to it, clarifying that “Israel is committed to its own security interests only and will act accordingly,” an Israeli official said Friday.

“The instructions to the senior security officials that are flying to Washington for talks is to present Israel’s opposition to the agreement in Iran and not to negotiate over it, because we are talking about a return to the previous agreement that is dangerous for Israel and the region,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“If in the future there are serious contacts on Iran’s part over an improved agreement, Israel will state its position on the characteristics and content that such an agreement should have,” the official added.

FILE: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi at a press conference after a security cabinet meeting following the escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip, at IDF headquarters in Tel Aviv, on November 12, 2019. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kohavi has canceled his participation in the delegation amid a security flare-up in Jerusalem and in Gaza.

The rest of the delegation postponed the trip by a day after 36 rockets were fired at Israel Friday night from the Gaza Strip and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank escalated over the weekend.

Israel is generally concerned that the US is rushing too quickly to return to the 2015 nuclear accord, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, and is ignoring the concerns of Israel and other Middle Eastern countries, notably those in the Gulf.

Israel and the US set up a strategic group, which last convened on April 13, to coordinate their efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear arms. The group is led by Biden’s National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and his Israeli counterpart Ben-Shabbat.

Early last week, Kan news reported that Israel was lobbying the US to push for improved international oversight of Iran’s nuclear program, having concluded there will not be significant changes to the treaty but nonetheless seeking to slightly improve the terms of the pact, which is being negotiated in Vienna, with Europeans acting as intermediaries between Washington and Tehran.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that 60-70 percent of the issues had been resolved in Vienna.

In this handout provided by the EU Delegation in Vienna, representatives of the European Union, Iran and others attend the Iran nuclear talks at the Grand Hotel in the Austrian capital, April 15, 2021. (EU Delegation in Vienna via Getty Images, JTA)

Earlier this month, European powers expressed “grave concern” over Iran’s move to boost uranium enrichment to 60% in response to what Tehran says was an attack by Israel against the key nuclear facility of Natanz.

The step will bring Iran closer to the 90% purity threshold for military use and shorten its potential “breakout time” to build an atomic bomb — a goal the Islamic Republic denies.

A spokesman for the US State Department indicated that Washington was backing down from a key prerequisite for its return to the deal.

The Biden administration had repeatedly said that it would only return to the nuclear deal if Iran first returns to compliance. However, last week US State Department Spokesperson Ned Price said at a press conference that Washington would only need to be sure that Iran intended to return to compliance.

Critics of the deal have long denounced the deal’s so-called “sunset clauses,” prohibitions on certain nuclear activities that end after a certain number of years. Though the deal technically prohibits Iran from ever developing a nuclear weapon, detractors of the agreement say these clauses will allow Iran to do so with impunity once the sanctions against the regime end.

In this image made from April 17, 2021, video released by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting, IRIB, state-run TV, various centrifuge machines line a hall at the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility, Iran. (IRIB via AP, File)

The agreement is also narrowly focused solely on the nuclear issue, ignoring Iran’s development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles that can reach Israel and parts of Europe, as well as its constant funding and support of terror groups like Hezbollah.

Proponents of the agreement generally argue that while the deal is imperfect, it was the best possible deal that could be struck under the circumstances and at least postpones the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon.

Agencies contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.timesofisrael.com/white-house-says-israeli-delegation-will-not-change-us-position-on-iran-deal/

[Disclaimer]

The post White House says Israeli delegation will not change US position on Iran deal first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.

Russia wants to show who’s the boss – Analysis

Udi Shaham — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 04:17:03 +0000

Israelis are furious that their taxes are funding vaccines for the enemy.

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia September 12, 2019.

(photo credit: REUTERS/SHAMIL ZHUMATOV)

The current Israeli discourse revolves around two main issues regarding the saga of the civilian who crossed into Syria and was returned to Israel over the weekend.

The first question the public is asking is why the government invested its efforts to return a civilian who crossed into Syria within two weeks of the occurrence, while civilians and the bodies of soldiers who were sent by the country into war have been held for years in the Gaza Strip. And it doesn’t see their return on the horizon.

The other question is the price. In return for that civilian, Israel sent two shepherds, who were arrested in recent weeks by the IDF after they had crossed into Israel, back to Syria, according to the army. Reports say there was another element as part of the deal: an article stating that Israel would fund hundreds of thousands of Russian-made COVID-19 vaccines that would serve the Assad regime in Syria.

It seems that this article sparked outrage and denial on both sides. Israelis are furious that their taxes are funding vaccines for the enemy. Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when asked about this on Saturday night, used careful language and said, “Not even one Israeli vaccine was given to that thing.”

According to reports, the Assad regime denied that such an article was part of the deal.

Maybe this is exactly the point the Russians want to make, that they, as an influential power in the region, can bring Israel and Syria to close a deal.

Zvi Magen, former ambassador to Russia and currently a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies, said it is not about money but about influence.

“People like [Russian President Vladimir] Putin and [Syrian President Bashar al Assad], who have billions [of dollars] going around them, do not need that million and a half,” he said. “We should look for another motive.”

“That motive is probably international and diplomatic,” Magen said. “Putin wants to appear like a person who mediates, coordinates, manages and dictates [to] Israel and Assad what should be the right arrangement.”

Some suggest that to strengthen the effect of this mediation, the Russians even tried to humble both sides and make them appear as if they did something that they would never do otherwise.

Israeli commentators linked this matter to a September 2019 report when Netanyahu flew to Russia to meet Putin and was forced to wait hours until the Russian president was available to see him.

“[The Russians] wants to show who is boss – who manages those affairs in the region,” Magen said.

This deal comes amid an ongoing battle over influence in the region. Israel wants to maintain its ability, through understandings with the Russians, to combat the Iranian entrenchment in Syria. The Russians want to make sure Israel understands that it is able to do so thanks to their grace.

“Israel has a delicate matter with the Russians in Syria,” Magen said. “It has the Iranian war there, and the role of the Russians [in Israeli eyes] is to cooperate with them. This is the case most of the time. But from time to time there are Russian voices saying, ‘Why are we allowing the Israelis to do whatever they want? We should respond to their attacks and take down their jets.’”

“There are voices critical against Israel in Russia, and it is an Israeli interest to satisfy the Russians and meet their demands,” he said, adding that since the Russian invasion into Syria, Israel refrained from interfering with Syrian matters and focused only on battling the Iranians.

Finally, there is a battle against the US. Magen believes the deal was also a signal to the Americans that Russia is still here in the region and that it has influence with their closest ally in the region.

“Putin does not feel comfortable with [US President Joe] Biden,” he said. “He goes back to the policies of the president before his predecessor, [Barack] Obama, which were marginalizing the Russian influence in Syria and putting pressure on it.”

“These days, Putin is hosting the Astana format in Sochi,” Magen said. “It is a summit for the Turks, Iranians, and Russians, and they are working on an agreed-upon outline in Syria… It is not a coincidence that Biden recently mentioned the Golan Heights.”

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently cast doubt on the legality of the Trump administration’s decision to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

In light of Putin’s efforts to become more dominant in the region, “Biden tries to be nice with the Syrians,” Magen said. “It’s not that he will give them the Golan Heights, but he wanted to show them that he is also a player here on this field called Russia.”

“So Putin now had a chance to show he is still relevant,” he said. “He showed that he can bring Israel, with its hands and legs bound up, and put it at Assad’s feet.”

Source: https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/russia-wants-to-show-whos-the-boss-analysis-659705

[Disclaimer]

The post Russia wants to show who’s the boss – Analysis first appeared on Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association.