Archive for Mid-East News

| May 7, 2013
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Assad gave green light for Palestinian militants to attack Israel

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine official in Damascus says they received green light from regime to strike Israel from the Syrian-controlled part of Golan Heights.

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A spokesman for a Palestinian militant group in Syria said Tuesday that it had received a nod from President Bashar Assad‘s regime to attack Israel following alleged back-to-back Israeli airstrikes over the weekend.

Golan Heights - AP

Smoke rises after shells fired by the Syrian army explode in the Syrian village of Bariqa, close to the cease-fire line between Israel and Syria, – Photo:AP

Anwar Raja of the Damascus-based Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command said the regime has given “a green light” for the group “to attack Israeli targets” from the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights. Continue Reading »

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| May 7, 2013
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Erdoğan blasts Israel: No justification for air-strikes in Syria

Turkish PM joins Arab League, Egypt, Lebanon & Syrian rebels in condemning the Israeli Air Force strikes against Iranian missiles destined for Hezbollah, calling Israeli actions “unacceptable.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

 

Despite having repeatedly spoken out against Syrian President Bashar Assad, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday said that alleged Israeli air raids in Syria were “unacceptable.”

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan

Turkey’s Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan – Photo: REUTERS/Stringer

The Israel Air Force struck storage facilities near Damascus housing Iranian Fateh-110 missiles destined for Hezbollah overnight Sunday for the second time in 48 hours – according to foreign media reports – sending flames and the sounds of blasts throughout the city.

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| May 6, 2013
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Hamas: No peace with Israel – EVER!

The EU, US & UN are getting all excited over The Arab League’s suggestion of an Israeli-Arab peace deal, but everyone is ignoring the actual players on the ground, like Hamas, which refuses to make any peace deal under any terms.

By Ryan Jones

 

While the American administration gets all excited over the Arab League making passing mention of its previous regional peace proposal, Western power-brokers are completely ignoring the fact that Palestinian powerhouse Hamas rejects the idea of peace with Israel under any circumstances.

zzzzzAfter Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassem Al Thani commented last week that the Arab League would be willing to accept minor territorial compromise as part of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry got to work pressing Israel to accept the proposal. Continue Reading »

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| May 6, 2013
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Syria Reports: Dozens of Elite Troops Killed in IAF Strike

Syria claims Israeli bombs hit a Republican Guard bases killing dozens of soldiers, long-range missile storehouses, & a chemical weapons research installation.

By Gil Ronen

 

The Israel Air Force (IAF) struck several critical military facilities in Syria, killing dozens of elite troops stationed near the presidential palace, a high-ranking Syrian military official said in an interview with the New York Times.

File photo of IAF planes - Photo EPA

File photo of IAF planes – Photo EPA

Israel refused to confirm the attack, which was the second in three days. The strikes are widely seen as attempts to prevent the Syrian government from transferring weapons to Hizbullah in neighboring Lebanon. Continue Reading »

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| May 6, 2013
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Netanyahu goes to China as Israel goes on high alert

Iron Dome deployed in the north as airspace closed to all civilian traffic.

Security cabinet sends reassuring messages to Damascus: Israel’s sole interest is to prevent weapons from reaching Hezbollah

By , Gili Cohen , , and  
 

 

Though Jerusalem was careful not to claim responsibility for yesterday’s strike or for a similar one on Friday, the Israel Defense Forces deployed Iron Dome batteries near Haifa and Safed, authorities closed the northern skies to civilian air traffic, and pressure on gas mask distribution stations quadrupled compared to normal days.

Iron Dome

Iron Dome intercepting rocket launches.

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| May 5, 2013
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Analysis: Israel and a Sunni Alliance

An alliance will see Israel teaming up with Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey & the United Arab Emirates to forge a Middle East “moderate crescent” to “contain” Iran, rather than confront it.

By Gil Ronen

 

The report of a new alliance between Israel and several Sunni Muslim Arab states for “containment” of a nuclear Iran has people more worried than they should be, according to Arutz Sheva strategic affairs contributor, Mark Langfan.

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (left) has coffee with Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Fahd bin Abdullah upon his arrival April 23 at King Khaled Int'l Airport in Riyadh. - Photo Jim Watson AFP

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel (left) has coffee with Deputy Minister of Defense Prince Fahd bin Abdullah upon his arrival April 23 at King Khaled Int’l Airport in Riyadh.

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| May 5, 2013
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Israel + Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates & Jordan share intel

UK newspaper reports Israel agrees ‘4+1’, a joint effort with ‘regional powers’ to counter Iran’s “fundamentalist crescent” of Iran, Iraq, Syria & Hezbollah.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Israel has been working toward a cooperative agreement in compliance with Turkey and three Arab states to implement an allied system of detection technologies to defend against Iranian ballistic projectiles, British newspaper The Sunday Times reported.

Iranian ballisitic missile launched at war game.

Iranian Fateh-110 ballistic missile launched at war game. – Photo: Ho New / Reuters

The initiative, termed “4+1”, reportedly proposes joint efforts to be taken by Israel along with Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan to share access to radar and anti-missile technologies, according to the Times.

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| May 5, 2013
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Israel’s overnight air-strike hit Iranian missile shipment to Hezbollah

Just a few days after an alleged Israeli air-strike on Damascus, Syrian media reports Israeli jets fired on a military research center.

Western intel sources confirm Syrian reports, emphasizing targets were Iranian Fateh-110 advanced surface-to-surface missiles.

By Gili Cohen , and Reuters

 

 

Western intelligence sources confirmed on Sunday morning that both the overnight strike and Friday’s alleged attack on Syria targeted an Iranian missile shipment intended for Hezbollah.

Iranian Fateh-110 Missile - Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Iranian Fateh-110 Missiles – Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

 

The sources said the target was a shipment of Fateh-110 missiles. The Fateh-110 is a medium-range advanced guided missile capable of hitting targets at a range of up to 300 kilometers. Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2013
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Explosions Shock Damascus, Israel Accused of 2nd Airstrike

A series of ground-shaking explosions rock Damascus, as local media claims that Israel responsible for rocket attack on research center in capital.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

 

A series of explosions were heard in Damascus overnight Saturday, as the official Syrian news agency SANA claimed that Israel carried out a rocket attack on the Jamraya scientific research center in Damascus.

Blast in central Damascus - AFP photo

Blast in central Damascus – AFP photo

The agency did not say whether there were any wounded or dead.

Syrian television said “the Israeli attack aims at loosening the noose around the terrorists in the eastern Ghouta” region, near Damascus. Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2013
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Was PM Fayyad coerced into denying criticizing PA in New York Times interview?

Outgoing Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad, who was quoted slamming the PA leadership, says he was misled by the NYT correspondent.

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Salam Fayyad has denied criticizing the Palestinian Authority leadership in an interview with the New York Times.

Prime Minister Salam Fayyad

Outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. – Photo: Daniel Bar-On

In a statement published on Saturday by the Palestinian Wafa news agency, the prime minister’s office said that Fayyad “did not make any statements or conduct any interviews for the New York Times or any other newspaper or agency since his resignation.”

In an article published on Friday titled “Fayyad steps down, not out,” New York Times correspondent and columnist Roger Cohen quotes Fayyad as saying: “Our story is a story of failed leadership, from way early on… It is incredible that the fate of the Palestinian people has been in the hands of leaders so entirely casual, so guided by spur-of-the-moment decisions… we hold ourselves hostage to our own rhetoric.” Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2013
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Report: Hizbullah Received Advanced Missiles from Iran

The surface-to-surface missiles bound for Hizbullah that were destroyed in an Israel Air Force airstrike were reportedly sent by Iran.

By Maayana Miskin

 

The “game changing” weapons destroyed in an Israeli airstrike Friday before they could reach Hizbullah were sent by Iran, the New York Times reports, citing senior American officials.

The strike reportedly targeted Fateh-110 missiles. The Fateh-110 has a range of up to 300 kilometers.

Syrian sources gave the New York Times similar information, saying that Iran had sent arms and rockets to Damascus International Airport and planned to ship them on to Hizbullah.

A diplomatic source in Lebanon previously told the AFP news agency that the airstrike destroyed surface-to-air missiles delivered by Russia. Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2013
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Israel has the right to hit missiles, Obama says after strike

 

Obama: “What I have said in the past and I continue to believe is that the Israelis justifiably have to guard against the transfer of advanced weaponry to terrorist organizations like Hezbollah,”

By JTA

 

WASHINGTON — It is Israel’s right to prevent Hezbollah from getting weapons, President Obama said, a day after Israeli jets reportedly destroyed Iranian missiles in Syria bound for the Lebanese terrorist group.

President Barack ObamaNeither the U.S. nor the Israeli governments have confirmed multiple reports quoting anonymous officials in both countries as saying that Israel was responsible for the strike early Friday on Damascus airport.

Obama, in his first remarks on the issue, in an interview Saturday with Telemundo, also would not confirm Israel’s role in the strike. Continue Reading »

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| May 5, 2013
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Finland, Denmark follow Cyprus’ lead & upgrade PA to embassy status

The Northern European countries say upgrade is not recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state but a sign to encourage a negotiated peace with Israel.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

The governments of Denmark and Finland announced on Saturday that they would be upgrading the status of the Palestinian missions in Copenhagen and Helsinki to be equivalent to that embassies.

Israeli Arabs wave Palestinian flags during a rally, April 2007.

Israeli Arabs wave Palestinian flags during a rally, April 2007. – Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

In a joint statement the two Nordic countries emphasized that the upgrade of the status “does not entail a formal bilateral recognition of a sovereign Palestinian state.”

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| May 4, 2013
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Hezbollah vows: We won’t allow Israel & US conquer Syria

After reports of Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah-bound missiles shipment, Hezbollah

political chief says  ‘ready to prevent Syria from falling into Tel Aviv & Washington’s hands’

By Roi Kais

In the wake of reports that Israel attacked a shipment of “game changing” long range, ground-to-ground missiles intended for Hezbollah in Syria Friday night, Ibrahim Amin al-Sayed, head of Hezbollah’s political bureau, said that his organization “is ready to prevent Syria from falling into Tel Aviv and Washington’s hands”.

Hezbollah rally in Lebanon (archive) Photo Reuters

Hezbollah rally in Lebanon (archive) Photo: Reuters

Al-Sayaed even admitted that Hezbollah operatives were active in Syria to protect Lebanese citizens “from the Israeli-American cooperation.” Continue Reading »

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| May 4, 2013
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Palestinian PM Fayyad: Palestinian saga is one of failed leadership

 

 

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad criticizes past & present Palestinian leaders and deeply regrets their historical decisions saying, ‘We don’t strategize, we cut deals in a tactical way and we hold ourselves hostage to our own rhetoric’.

By Ynet

In an exceptionally candid interview to the New York Times, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad described the history of the Palestinian people as “a story of failed leadership, from way early on”

סלאם פיאד לצד נשיא הרשות אבו מאזן (צילום: EPA)

Salam Fayyad sitting next to Mahmoud Abbas – Photo: EPA

“It is incredible that the fate of the Palestinian people has been in the hands of leaders so entirely casual, so guided by spur-of-the-moment decisions, without seriousness,” he added. Continue Reading »

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