Archive for November 23, 2012

IDF goes on High Alert in Judea and Samaria

The IDF & Security Services are on alert in Judea & Samaria and Jerusalem due to intel of another terrorist attack.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The IDF is on alert in Judea, Samaria (Shomron) and Jerusalem on Friday over threats of further terrorist attacks. There has been increased violence in the region in recent days, beginning with the outbreak of the Pillar of Defense battle with Gaza terrorists.

On Thursday night the IDF conducted an arrest operation, detaining 28 Palestinian Authority residents suspected of involvement in terrorism.

The night before, 55 suspects were arrested, some of them PA members of parliament affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Continue Reading »

Tayibe man suspected of bombing Tel Aviv bus arrested by Shin Bet

 

Shin Bet says man who previously lived in West Bank & was allowed to settle in Tayibe under family reunification law, was recruited by Ramallah terror cell to assist in attack that injured 29 on Wednesday

Yoav Zitun

 

Cleared for publication:The terrorist who carried out the bombing attack on a bus in central Tel Aviv Wednesday was apprehended by Israeli security forces within hours of the attack.

Bus after explosion Photo: Gettyimages

The terrorist was apprehended in a joint operation conducted by the Shin Bet, Israel Police and the IDF. Twenty-nine people were injured in the attack.

The Shin Bet said Thursday that the terrorist, an Israeli citizen who previously lived in the West Bank and was allowed to settle in Tayibe under the family reunification law, was recruited by a terror cell from the village of Beit Liqya, near Ramallah. Continue Reading »

Senators Threaten Abbas to Cut PA Aid Over His UN Statehood Bid

PA Chairman Abbas was warned by a bipartisan group of Senators that he would be risking American aid if he goes forward with U.N. move.

By Rachel Hirshfeld

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators warned Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday that he would be putting millions of dollars of American aid at risk if he goes forward with his planned statehood bid at the United Nations next week.

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas

PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas – AFP photo

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), co-authors of a Senate resolution denouncing the statehood bid, wrote to the Palestinian Authority president on Wednesday warning him that “any such efforts may cause consequences in regards to U.S. Continue Reading »

55 terror suspects in Judea & Samaria arrested by IDF

Number of terrorist incidents in West Bank rises in recent days, prompting large arrest operation by IDF & other security forces

According to the IDF, senior terrorist operatives were among the detainees

By Israel Hayom Staff

 

While Israel was busy with Operation Pillar of Defense on its Gaza border, the number of terrorist incidents in Judea and Samaria has risen over the past few days.

A rise in violent activity has been noted in recent days in Judea and Samaria. [Illustrative] – Photo: Oren Nachshon

On Wednesday night, the Israel Defense Forces, in cooperation with the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), the Israel Police and the Border Police, launched a large arrest operation in Judea and Samaria,

“In light of the rise in violent incidents and terrorism in Judea and Samaria in recent days, and as part of an effort by security forces to restore quiet to the area, it was decided to initiate an arrest operation,” the IDF said in a statement.

Continue Reading »

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal: I accept a Palestinian state on ’67 borders

Mashaal says he’ll move to a peaceful path contingent on the “end of the occupation” & Palestinian statehood.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal declared a position on Palestinian statehood that is nearly identical to that of his Fatah rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, in an interview with CNN aired Wednesday.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal - Photo: Screenshot CNN

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal – Photo: Screenshot CNN

“I accept a Palestinian state according [to] the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as the capital, with the right to return,” the Hamas leader told Christine Amanpour in Cairo.

Pushed about his party’s refusal to recognize Israel, Mashaal said such a declaration could only be made once a Palestinian state has been created.

Continue Reading »

Barak reiterates: Gaza…Hamas, Jihad took a hard hit

Defense Minister & Finance Minister  comment on Gaza operation, supporting PM’s decisions but apprehensive in face of what lies ahead.

‘Hamas will bounce back,’ Ashdod mayor Yehiel Lasri says.

Ynet

 

“The price the other side paid was so great that it will have to think 70 times before doing this again,” said Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz in a special Ynet Live broadcast Thursday, discussing the ramifications of the ceasefire with Hamas and the aftermath of Operation Pillar of Defense.

Defense Minister Ehud Barak – Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg

“We had two alternatives, and we reached a crossroad,” the finance minister said. Continue Reading »

Terrorist Attempts Murder of Border Guard in Jerusalem

 

A knife yielding female Arab terrorist attempted to stab to death an Israel Border Guard on Sultan Suleiman street in Jerusalem.

By David Lev

 

A female Arab terrorist attempted to murder an Israel Border Guard on Sultan Suleiman street in Jerusalem. The Arab attacked the officer with a knife outside a police station on the street. The officer fought back his attacker, and was lightly wounded. The terrorist was subdued by several officers near the building.

Border Guard vehicle – Photo: PP

It was just the latest in a series of attacks by Arabs in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria over the past few days, as PA Arabs showed their solidarity with Gaza Arabs, as Israel attacked terrorists and terror installations in Gaza during Operation Pillar of Defense. Continue Reading »

Truce, but, sirens sound in southern Israel

 

Of the 13 projectiles fired from Gaza after 9 pm Wednesday, 10 failed to reach Israel, exploding in Palestinian territories instead.


By Neri Brenner

 

Air raid sirens sounded shortly after 10 am on Thursday in the Eshkol Regional Council after a rocket appeared to have been fired towards the region from Gaza. Witnesses said that they saw the rocket exploding in a Palestinian territory. Security services said it was a false alarm.

The incident followed a relatively quiet night in Israel‘s south. The final Color Red alert sounded in the Shaar Hanegev Regional Council at 22:58, two hours after the ceasefire between Israel and the factions in Gaza went into effect. Continue Reading »

Gaza’s Hamas Gave Israel No Choice but to Strike

Negotiations leading to peace can be realistic with an adversary who shares that goal. But Hamas, whose covenant calls for the slaughter of Jews worldwide, is striving not to join peace talks, but to prevent them.

By MICHAEL B. OREN

 

CRITICS of Israel’s campaign to defend millions of its citizens from deadly Hamas rocket fire claim that it lacks a clear objective. Israel has bombed Gaza in the past, they argue, and received only rockets in return. Is there any logic, much less an end, to the cycle of violence? Can it lead to negotiations and peace?

Such questions can be answered only by going back to the origin of the campaign that we Israelis now call Operation Pillar of Defense. Continue Reading »

Netanyahu: Ground Incursion May be Necessary After All

Responding to criticism on his Facebook page, PM Netanyahu said that ‘next time’ would be different if Hamas doesn’t keep the cease-fire

By David Lev

 

On Wednesday evening, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that Israel was accepting the U.S.-Egypt brokered cease-fire with Hamas, saying that it would “provide an opportunity for the situation to stabilize and become calmer.” But on his Facebook page Wednesday night, Netanyahu wrote that despite the cease-fire, “it may be necessary for us to conduct a major and harsh military campaign” against Hamas – and if such a campaign would become necessary, Israel would follow through.

Netanyahu was responding to thousands of Facebook commenters who slammed him, along with Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, for failing to fully rout Hamas and engage in a ground campaign to destroy the terror group for once and for all. Continue Reading »

Tehran angered by France FM blaming Iran for Gaza conflict

Iran reputes the French FM for his observations that Tehran is the source of most mid-East conflicts, including the Gaza violence for the past week.

By REUTERS

 

DUBAI – Iran reacted angrily to assertions by French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and accused him of not understanding the realities in the region after the diplomat accused Tehran of being responsible for the Gaza conflict.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius – Photo: AFP/File

On Wednesday Fabius accused Iran of negative intentions in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Gaza and that it bore a “heavy responsibility” for the fighting for providing long-range weapons.

Iran has denied allegations it has supplied Hamas with Fajr-5 rockets, which the militant group that controls Gaza said it had fired on Tel Aviv, but Iran has made clear it has provided military aid. Continue Reading »

Murdoch’s ‘Jewish press’ tweet sparks anger

Being charged with anti-Semitism, media magnate apologizes for weekend tweet having observed that ‘Jewish owned press is consistently anti-Israel’ in coverage of Israel-Gaza conflict

AFP

 

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch stirred an online row with a weekend tweet complaining about the “Jewish-owned” press and a subsequent apology did not appear to have calmed the furor.

Rupert Murdoch. Strong Israel supporter – Photo: MCT

Murdoch, whose News Corporation empire includes HarperCollins publishers, Fox television, BSkyB, The Wall Street Journal and the London Times, wrote Saturday on Twitter: “Why is Jewish owned press so consistently anti-Israel in every crisis?”

Facing accusations of anti-Semitism, Murdoch backtracked on Sunday, saying he disagreed with his critics, but was sorry anyway. Continue Reading »

The Vatican: “Israel is Baby-Killer”

Not a word of protest was heard from the Vatican all the years Sderot babies were in mortal danger.

12,000 Rockets at Jewish babies brought silence.


Vatican City began noticing the violence last week.

By Giulio Meotti, Italy

 

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, President of the Vatican Council for Culture, commenting on the war between Israel and Hamas, delivered a severe attack on the Jewish people: “I think of the ‘massacre of the innocents’. Children are dying in Gaza, their mothers’ shouts is a perennial cry, a universal cry”.

Vatican - Jerusalem

Vatican – Jerusalem – Israel Radio Photo

The Catholic Church high official equated Israel’s operation in Gaza against terror groups with the New Testament story of Herod’s slaughter of Jewish babies in his effort to kill Jesus. Continue Reading »

20 Rockets Fired by Terrorists Since Ceasefire Began

According to ‘Kol Yisrael’, Israel’s national radio, 20 rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel since the ceasefire went into effect at 9:00 p.m.

By Elad Benari

 

Gaza’s terrorist rulers marked the ceasefire that went into effect on Wednesday evening by continuing to fire rockets at southern Israel.

According to Kol Yisrael radio’s midnight newscast, 20 rockets were fired from Gaza into southern Israel since the ceasefire went into effect at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday evening. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages.

Before the ceasefire went into effect, terrorists fired a barrage of 40 rockets at the area, targeting Ashdod, Ashkelon, and Be’er Sheva among other cities. Continue Reading »

Hamas breaks truce as rockets hit south after cease-fire; IDF doesn’t respond

After ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect at 9 pm, Gaza terrorists continue to launch rockets toward Israel

By Ynet reporters

 

Several rockets were launched from Gaza toward south Israel after 9 pm Wednesday, when the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect. The IDF held its fire.

‘IDF has stopped firing’ – Photo: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Air raid sirens were heard after 9 pm in Eshkol, Sderot and the Hof Ashkelon and Sha’ar Hanegev regional councils. Rockets landed in the Eshkol and Sha’ar Hanegev regional councils, but there were no reports of injury or damage.

Sirens were sounded in Ashdod, Kiryat Malachi and surrounding communities shortly after 10 pm. Continue Reading »