Tag Archive for IDF

| January 13, 2013
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Palestinian Shot Dead While Trying to Infiltrate Into Israel

21 year-old Palestinian Arab shot to death by IDF forces south of Hevron as he was trying to sneak into Israel. 

By Elad Benari

 

A 21-year-old Palestinian Authority Arab was shot to death by IDF forces south of Hevron on Saturday night, as he was trying to infiltrate into Israel through the border fence.

PA security forces march in Hevron

PA security forces march in Hevron
AFP Photo

An initial investigation has found that the Arab was shot and wounded in the lower part of his body. He was taken to the Soroka Hospital in Be’er Sheva, where he died of his wounds.

“A Palestinian attempted to infiltrate Israel through the security fence,” an IDF spokesman told AFP. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| January 11, 2013
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IDF Closes Route 10 to Civilian Traffic for a Year

IDF orders civilian vehicles to stay off Route 10 along Egypt-Israel border.

By Gil Ronen

 

The IDF has ordered Highway 10 along the Egypt-Israel border closed to civilian traffic for one year. Civilians are to keep at least 300 meters away from the highway, on its eastern side. Anyone wishing to enter the area must first receive permission from the IDF to do so.

The IDF Spokesman said that security considerations are behind the move.

Highway 10 was closed to civilian traffic in August 2011, following a terror attack that killed eight Israelis. It has since been reopened and intermittently closed whenever there was an escalation in the security situation in the region. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| January 10, 2013
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Watch: IDF’s Unit 669’s intricate rescue of Palestinians

IDF’s Ultra-Orthodox unit use civilian tractor to pull Palestinians trapped in car; 669 unit helicopter boards Palestinian family trapped on roof surrounded by water, power lines

Yoav Zitun

 

Lifesaving cooperation occurred Tuesday between haredi IDF troops and Palestinians who were trapped in a stream growing violent due to the stormy weather.

ההצפות אמש בטייבה

Floods in Tayibe

Soldiers of the IDF’s haredi battalion Netzah Yehuda managed to rescue three Palestinian men before the fierce currents washed over them. Ynet obtained a documentation of the rescue.

The IDF troops were called to an area near the Nablus River, where, they were told, cars were stranded with their drivers trapped in a constantly intensifying current. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| January 6, 2013
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Has the 3rd intifada already begun?

A Senior IDF officer, the Ezion sector commander makes grim prediction about Palestinian protests in the West Bank, but adds the IDF is always prepared to battle terror.

Itamar Fleishman

 

The defense establishment has been careful not to overstate the significance of the recent – growing – wave of unrest sweeping the West Bank, but according to IDF Ezion Sector Commander Colonel Yaniv Alaluf, the third intifada has already begun.

Colonel Yaniv Alaluf – Photo: Effi Sharir

“We’re no longer on the verge of a third intifada – it’s already here. We anticipate many more (clashes) from now on,” he said. Continue Reading »

Category: Jewish News | Tags: , ,
| January 3, 2013
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In August the I.D.F. is to Draft 3000 Haredim

IDF’s manpower unit finishes sorting haredi youths for their draft in 2013. ‘Army invested a lot in their enlistment,’ reports Major General Barbivai, the unit’s commander.

Yoav Zitun

 

Some 3000 haredi youths have been presented with draft notices and are set to be enlisted for military service in August 2013, said Major General Orna Barbivai, commander of the IDF Manpower Directorate, on Thursday.

Potential draftees (Illustration) – Photo: Tzvika Tishler

The IDF successfully finished sorting the 3000 youths, who were born on 1994 and 1995. Following the Tal Law‘s expiration, the IDF will draft for the first time thousands of haredim in accordance with the mandatory army service law. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| December 30, 2012
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Muslim soldier hides IDF military service from neighbors

‘Samir’, a Muslim Arab from the Galilee, may hide his uniform & weapon from his neighbors, but is still proud to be an IDF combat soldier.

By Reuven Weiss

 

He is a combat soldier in the IDF, but when he goes home to his village in northern Israel, Samir (alias) has to change out of his uniform and hide his weapon. A Muslim Arab who chose to volunteer for army service, Samir and his family can expect nothing but hostility if his neighbors find out about his military career.

“I love the army,” he says. Samir, 26, serves in the Tavor battalion, one of the Home Front Command‘s search and rescue battalions whose men also perform combat activities in addition to their rescue efforts. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| December 29, 2012
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I.D.F. divisions battle over techie recruits

Ground Forces, Military Intelligence & Cyber units are at odds over future recruits with advanced computer skills.

Intelligence units say 21st Century warfare demands redefining the term: ‘combat soldier’

By Yossi Yehoshua

 

The IDF General Staff has been grappling with a new dilemma recently: In the modern battlefield – who is a “combat soldier”?

Illustrative – Photo: Hadar Cohen

While classic warfare doctrines say that combat soldiers are those who literally face the enemy on the ground, modern warfare is fought in growing virtual arenas, in which cyber-combatants play key roles.

Various IDF corps now face a new reality, and according to a Friday report in Yedioth Ahronoth, they are at odds over the placement of future recruits, especially those presenting exceptional computer skills. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 28, 2012
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5 policemen wounded when Magav & IDF try to evacuate illegal West Bank ‘outpost’

IDF forces likely to return with reinforcements on Saturday evening after unsuccessful attempt to evacuate the Oz Tzion outpost situated between Jerusalem & Ramallah.

 

Five Border Patrol policemen were lightly wounded on Friday at the outpost of Oz Tzion in the West Bank, as dozens of policemen and soldiers tried to evacuate it before the Sabbath.

Mobile homes at the West Bank settlement outpost Ramat Gilad.

Mobile homes at the West Bank settlement outpost Ramat Gilad. – Photo by Alon Ron

Oz Tzion is a new outpost situated between Jerusalem and Ramallah, near the Givat Assaf outpost. Its founder is Daniela Weiss, the former head of the Kedumim Local Council, and it includes a few wooden structures. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 27, 2012
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Report: US special forces preparing to join IDF elite operating in Syria

Israel’s real fear is that Syria’s chemical weapons will fall into the hands of the rebels, who are not the “good-guy freedom fighters” most in the West portray them to be.

 

By Ryan Jones

 

Various Western, Arab and Israeli media reports have been claiming for over a month now that Israeli special forces are on the ground in Syria in an effort to keep tabs on its chemical weapons stockpile.

IDF soldiers

IDF soldiers (illustration) – Photo courtesy I.D.F.

Those reports mesh well with news that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited neighboring Jordan this week to discuss with King Abdullah a possible air strike on the bulk of Syria’s weapons of mass destruction. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| December 27, 2012
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New IDF brigade establishes to protect Eilat

IDF formed Eilat Territorial Brigade to neutralize Sinai terrorist threat.

New border-fence to be completed by mid-2013

Yoav Zitun

 

The IDF‘s Southern Command on Wednesday welcomed a new territorial brigade tasked with protecting the city of Eilat and the nearby communities.

הגדר בהרי אילת. השלמת העבודות תתעכב עד אמצע 2013 (צילום: אריאל חרמוני, משרד הביטחון)

Fence in Eilat mountains – Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry

The brigade is part of the Edom formation which defends 30% of Israel‘s territory. It was created to address the growing terrorist threat emanating from the Sinai region in the backdrop of Egyptian instability.

Col. Roi Be’eri will lead the new brigade. The first order of business will be to secure the construction of the fence in the 15 kilometer stretch of the Eilat mountains. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| December 24, 2012
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National Poll: 45% of Israelis support unilateral withdrawal from most of the West Bank

Rafi Smith poll: 80% of Israelis support IDF presence in West Bank in the case of unilateral (civilian) withdrawal until ‘peace agreement’ is signed.

 

Almost half of the Israeli population supports a unilateral withdrawal from large sections of the Palestinian territories based on the pre-1967 lines, according to a poll conducted by Rafi Smith for the Blue White Future movement.

Foreign tourists on trip to W. Bank settlements - Photo: REUTERS

Foreign tourists on trip to W. Bank settlements – Photo: REUTERS

The poll was released ahead of an election debate between the “Zionist parties” hosted by the movement at Tel Aviv University on Sunday.

Forty-five percent of respondents answered they would back a unilateral withdrawal while maintaining the large settlement blocs including western Samaria, Kedumim, Jerusalem, Ma’aleh Adumim and Gush Etzion.

Continue Reading »
Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| December 22, 2012
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Israel’s PM: I will ignore int’l condemnation of building homes in Jerusalem

PM Netanyahu says Israel will continue to build in east Jerusalem despite condemnation from UN and the international community.

By JPOST.COM STAFF, HERB KEINON

 

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday said he would ignore the international community’s condemnation of prospective building plans for Jerusalem across the Green Line, in an interview aired in part on Channel 2.

The interview is scheduled to air in full on Saturday.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu - Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – Photo: Pool/Haim Zach

“The Western Wall is not occupied territory, and I don’t care what the United Nations says,” Netanyahu declared in reference to the plans.

“We are living in the Jewish State,” Netanyahu said, and “The capital of the Jewish state, for 3,000 years, has been Jerusalem.

Continue Reading »
Category: Jewish News | Tags: , , ,
| December 22, 2012
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5 Palestinians wounded by IDF on Gaza border

IDF says troops reacted ‘according to set procedures’ when the Gazans did not heed calls to exit the border fence area.

Gaza medics say the men are lightly to moderately wounded & not in life threatening condition.

By Reuters

 

Israel Defense Forces troops patrolling the border with the Gaza strip on Friday shot and wounded five Palestinians who were in an area on the Gaza side which Israel deems off limits, the IDF and Gaza medics said.

An IDF patrol vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border.

An IDF patrol vehicle near the Israel-Gaza border. – Photo by Eliyahu Hershkovitz

Gaza medical officials said the five agricultural workers suffered light to moderate wounds and were not in a life threatening condition. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| December 19, 2012
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Sadly, another Israeli warhorse is laid to rest – Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, 68

 

Former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak dies

IDF’s 15th Chief of Staff, at 68 dies after long battle with leukemia.

Mofaz: “We lost an extraordinary man.”
Yachimovich: “He was an officer and a gentleman.”

By Ynet

 

Former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shahak died Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. He was 68-years-old.

He passed away in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem, at noon.

Lipkin-Shahak was the IDF’s 15th chief of staff. He later served as the tourism and transportation minister in the 15th Knesset.

ליפקין-שחק במהלך תרגיל של חטיבת הצנחנים (צילום: זן ארליך, דובר צה"ל)

As chief of staff – Archives: ID

Born in 1944, Lipkin-Shahak enlisted in the IDF in 1962, joining the Paratroopers Brigade. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| December 18, 2012
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The PA-IDF collaboration in the West Bank has been faltering

Long-term cooperation between Palestinian-Israeli security units in West Bank at critical junction

By Elior Levy

 

The IDF and the Palestinian security forces in the West Bank have been enjoying a relatively good operational relationship over the past few years, but military sources told Ynet Tuesday that cracks have been appearing in the security relations’ proverbial veneer.

Palestinian security forces – Photo: AP

According to both Palestinian and Israeli security sources, the PA’s security forces stopped their IDF counterparts from pursuing their activities on at least two occasions in the past few weeks.

The Israeli soldiers opted to turn back rather than clash with the Palestinian security forces. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
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