IDF recovered bodies of 5 Palestinian terrorists killed in ‘terror tunnel’ blast

A senior IDF official commented last week in a statement that there would be no efforts made by Israel to return the terrorists’ bodies to Gaza until there is progress in talks on the return at least 4 Israelis, including the two deceased soldiers held by Hamas.
• Death toll of dead terrorist from IDF’s terror-tunnel demolition now, 12.

By i24NEWS

 

The Israeli army revealed on Sunday that it is holding the bodies of five militants killed last week when the Israel destroyed a “terror tunnel” that was burrowed into its territory from Gaza.

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Twelve militants, most of whom belonged to the Islamic Jihad group, died when the army blew the tunnel up on October 30, however several more men were unaccounted for. Continue Reading »

Palestinians, BDS threaten 2018 Giro d’Italia cycling race in Jerusalem

Refusing to cancel, organizers said the Giro will still start in Jerusalem and include two additional stages in Israel, but “political sensitivities” will be taken into account and its route will not go through land international law considers “occupied.”
• For the very first time in over 100 years, a portion of the sport’s Grand Tours will take place outside of Europe.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

When the world’s cycling elite converge on Israel next year for the storied Giro d’Italia race, they will grapple with the rugged hills of Jerusalem, speed by the shimmering Mediterranean Sea and huff their way through the dry southern Negev Desert. Continue Reading »

VIDEO: Muslim & Jewish medics on break, praying together

WATCH: In a rarely seen example of such diversity and unity, Israel again proves that those who seek bonds of friendship can even pray together, unhindered by political rhetoric.

By Arutz Sheva Staf

 

On Thursday evening two emergency response dispatchers from United Hatzalah went on their shift break and took time out to pray in the break-room. Both responders prayed their evening prayers but they were of two different religions. Working side by side as dispatchers, helping volunteers of all religions save the lives of all people from all backgrounds in Israel, allowed them to feel comfortable praying alongside one another in the same room at the same time. Continue Reading »

Satire: Trials & Tribulations of a Serious BDS Supporter

Allah gave me a chance to take my revenge for Palestinians by supporting BDS and I was going to hit Israel hard by thoroughly damaging her economy, but, my kids were very upset with my new lifestyle without using any Israeli products.  They could no longer watch TV, drink Coca Cola or Pepsi, or eat out at McDonald or KFC. – My little child was crying when I strictly banned her having a Kit Kat chocolate bar, her most favorite chocolate.

– Let’s Damage the Israeli Economy (Support BDS Movement)

By Noor Dahri

 

One day I decided to support the BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) movement against the State of Israel because I hate Israel and I have spent all my life hating Israel and Jews. Continue Reading »

With US assistance, Israel filibusters automatic anti-Israel UNESCO resolutions

Israel’s envoy to UNESCO, ‘The days of passing countless anti-Israel resolutions in 5 minutes are over. From now on, UNESCO will need to devote dozens of hours, even add additional days for debate. Then members will decide if wasted time for useless resolutions that are purely political and have nothing to do with education, culture or science were worth it.’

By Itamar Eichner

 

Following a US-backed Israeli filibuster that lasted almost four hours, the Palestinian delegation and other Arab states failed Thursday in passing a resolution denouncing Israel during the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s 39th General Conference in Paris. Continue Reading »

WATCH: British PM May rejects PA demand to apologize for Balfour Declaration

British Prime Minister May, “So when some people (Palestinian leader Abbas) suggest we should apologize for this letter, I say absolutely not!”
– Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu thanks Britain for ‘paving the way’ for Israel’s rebirth.

By Arutz Sheva Staff

 

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday ruled out the idea that Britain would apologize for the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which proclaimed Britain’s support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in then-Palestine.

Speaking at a celebratory dinner to mark the centenary of the Balfour Declaration in London, May said that that the British government was proud to support Israel. Continue Reading »

PA Official: Hamas controls Gaza, Police swapped blue Hamas uniforms for PA uniforms

On Fatah-Hamas reconciliation in Gaza, Palestinian Authority official says “We couldn’t even arrange a safe trip for Abbas to Gaza….In actuality, Hamas is in control on the ground in Gaza…It is not in our interest or desire to prevent Hamas from continuing its security-related activity in the Gaza Strip.”
• Jordanian-Palestinian communication nearly severed over Fatah-Hamas reconciliation.

Daniel Siryoti and Israel Hayom Staff

 

The Palestinian Authority does not have the ability to prevent Hamas or any of the other Gaza Strip-based terrorist groups from continuing to dig terror tunnels, senior PA officials told Israel Hayom on Thursday.

One senior PA official close to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Israel Hayom that the “Palestinian reconciliation and the transfer of control [in Gaza] are on the declarative level only. Continue Reading »

IDF deploys to protect Syrian Druze after Israeli injured in Golan by spillover

After an Israeli resident of the Druze village Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights was treated, IDF is focusing on the developments of Syrian infighting in the Hader region, just across the Israeli border.

By UDI SHAHAM

 

Israel Defense Force spokesperson Ronen Manelis said in a statement that the IDF will stand by the side of the Druze population as the fighting in Syria intensifies, after a resident of Majdal Shams was injured by gunfire on Friday from was seems to be spillover from the Syrian war.

Syrian Fighting in Golan Heights – Google Maps

“In recent hours we witness the intensifying of the fighting at the area of the Druze village of Hadher in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights,” he said. Continue Reading »

Israel Navy integrates advanced sonar systems to detect Hamas commando incursions

Mounted on a small & fast amphibious assault ships, the “Simba” sonar can accurately identify & locate the position  within a radius of many kilometers, Hamas commando infiltrations into Israel by sea for immediate action.

By Yoav Zitun

 

The Israeli Navy is currently implementing the “Simba”, a mobile sonar for precise location in shallow waters, designed to quickly and precisely identify terrorist infiltrations into Israel by sea, mainly from the Gaza Strip.

Three and a half years since the last naval incursion into the Zikim Beach just north of the Gaza Strip during the Operation Protective Edge, the IDF estimates that Hamas’ naval commando has improved dramatically and already includes hundreds of trained fighters equipped with advanced diving systems. Continue Reading »

U.S. Congress to get bipartisan resolution recognizing centenary of Balfour Declaration

The resolution states that Congress “commemorates the centenary of the Balfour Declaration; affirms its commitment to maintaining the strongest of bilateral ties with the State of Israel; and recognizes the importance of the establishment of the modern State of Israel as a secure and democratic homeland for the Jewish people.”

By JTA

 

A bipartisan resolution to be introduced in the U.S. Senate will recognize the 100-year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration.

Sens. James Lankford, R-Okla., and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., were to propose the resolution on Thursday. A concurrent resolution was to be proposed in the House of Representatives.

“It is entirely appropriate for the United States Congress to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, a statement that ultimately led to the reestablishment of the State of Israel in 1948,” Lankford said in a statement. Continue Reading »

IDF tells ICRC ‘No’ search for buried Gaza terrorists until agreement on Israeli captives

Knowing Hamas is holding 2 captives and the remains of 2 deceased soldiers in Gaza (for years), the Red Cross had no reservations asking Israel to locate 5 missing tunnel-diggers believed to be ‘buried’ in Israel.

By i24NEWS

 

Israel will not allow a search for Palestinian militants missing and presumed dead after an Israeli strike on a terror tunnel to be retrieved until there is “progress” on the return of Israelis held captive by Hamas, a senior Israeli defense official said on Thursday.

Conflict in the Middle East

On Monday the Israeli army said it had detected and destroyed a tunnel reportedly being dug by the Islamic Jihad terror group, which stretched into Israel from the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

CAUGHT: Swiss officials visited Israel’s Golan Heights for years, against national policy

Having contravened official policy of not recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights in it’s futile desire to appear impartial & neutral, Swiss officials have for years visited the Golan Heights, and for days at a time, to observe tests of Israel’s Elbit Systems Hermes 900 drone the Swiss gov’t purchased for $265 million.

By Reuters

 

ZURICH – Switzerland’s defense ministry has admitted sending staff to test reconnaissance drones in contested land held by Israel—an embarrassing blow for the neutral European country’s status as an honest broker in the Middle East.

Swiss officials visited an airfield in the Golan Heights region on three occasions in 2012, 2013 and 2015 to monitor tests of the Israeli-built Hermes 900 aircraft that they are buying for $265 million. Continue Reading »

Israeli jets destroy Syrian arms factory affiliated with Hezbollah

SPECIAL SECURITY REPORT

Lebanese media reports Israeli Air Force jets destroyed an arms facility in an industrial area near Homs, Syria that, according to Russian media, is affiliated with the Lebanese based terrorist group Hezbollah.

By Roi Kais and Yoav Zitun

 

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked an armament factory in the area surrounding the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday, according to Lebanese news site Elnashra. The factory that was attacked was allegedly affiliated with Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, according to Russian broadcasting channel RT Arabic, formerly known as Rusiya Al-Yaum.

A photo posted online after attack, claiming to be of the Israeli strike in Syria – Ynet (not credited)

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli planes were reported to have flown in the commercial mountain range over the Lebanese Mountains, before a massive explosion was heard on the Lebanese-Syrian border. Continue Reading »

Backed by 50 bereaved families, Yisrael Beytenu pushes bill to execute terrorists

Having passed legal scrutiny, Israel’s Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the chairman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party have sponsored legislation seeking the death penalty for convicted terrorists. In support of this action, a group of 50 bereaved families are urging Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to promote the bill, saying “clear action” is the only way to deter killers.

By Yair Altman

 

A group of 50 families who lost loved ones to terrorist attacks has called on Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked to promote a bill sponsored by Yisrael Beytenu MK Robert Ilatov that would allow Israel to execute convicted terrorists.

“We ask that you use every means at your disposal to pass this bill as soon as possible,” the families said in a letter sent to Shaked on Tuesday. Continue Reading »

POLL: Israelis say Russia’s Putin has greater mid-East influence than POTUS Trump

In a survey of Israel’s adult population, 600 Jewish & Arab men & women, more Israelis feel the world is anti-Israel, but 70% of the Israelis polled think that regional cooperation between the Jewish State and other mid-East countries is possible.

By LAHAV HARKOV

 

More than half of Israelis (59%) think that international criticism of them stems from a basic hostility toward Israel, a poll commissioned by Mitvim: The Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policy and Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung, and provided exclusively to The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday has found.

The poll, conducted by Smith Research in advance of Mitvim’s first annual conference on Wednesday, indicates that only a third of Israelis (34%) think that international criticism is based on disagreements about Israel’s policies. Continue Reading »