Israel security services revealed on Wednesday the foiling of a Hamas abduction plan set to be carried out in the West Bank during the Hanukkah holiday this week. An investigation by the Shin Bet internal security agency revealed that three members of an alleged Hamas cell operating from the West Bank intended to dress up as Jewish settlers and kidnap a soldier or a settler from one of the bus stations in the central junctions near Nablus in the northern West Bank, according to a statement by Israel Security Authorities (ISA). The ringleader of the cell was identified as Mu’ad Ashtiyeh,…
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U.S. diplomatic missions in Israel and Jordan are barring employees and families from personal visits to Jerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank and cautioning citizens to take care, citing “widespread calls for demonstrations” starting Wednesday in response to President Trump’s planned policy announcement on Jerusalem. The Consulate-General in Jerusalem and embassies in Tel Aviv and Amman also said official visits to those areas will be allowed only for “essential travel and with additional security measures.” During a White House officials briefing on Tuesday evening, reports said Trump on Wednesday will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and begin the process…
The military has announced a new capacity to protect Israel’s natural-gas drilling platforms following a successful test Monday of the Iron Dome anti-rocket system installed on a missile ship. The Israel Defense Forces tested Iron Dome’s ability to protect the country’s drilling platforms in the Mediterranean Sea. The system, constructed on the missile ship’s helicopter pad, operates in tandem with the identification systems of the navy and air force. The testing began more than a year ago as a joint project of the navy, air force and defense contractors. During the test, an Iron Dome battery was installed on the…
Two Israelis were injured Friday, one of them seriously when a Palestinian terrorist rammed a truck into them in the Gush Etzion area in central Judea and Samaria. The terrorist then tried to stab soldiers and was shot, the Israeli military said. The vehicle attack occurred at two separate junctions, with the terrorist hitting one victim at one location and then hitting the other further down the road. The two victims and the terrorist were evacuated to hospitals in Jerusalem for treatment. The victim who sustained light injuries, David Ramati, said he had seen the terrorist charge toward him at…
Following the surprising resignation of Lebanon’s prime minister, Israel is planning a diplomatic offensive to step up pressure on Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah at the United Nations, a senior Israeli government minister said Thursday. Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz says he believes conditions are ripe to take a stand against Iranian actions in the region, including its support for the Lebanese Shiite militant group. In particular, he said that Israel wants the world, after years of inaction, to tightly enforce a 2006 cease-fire agreement that called on Hezbollah to disarm and stay away from Israel’s border. “The resignation of Lebanon’s Prime…
Israel’s Intelligence Minister, Israel Katz, confirmed that Israel would act militarily if Iran were to attain nuclear weapons. Speaking in Tokyo on October 26, Katz addressed nuclear Iran, confirming that the Jewish State would directly respond to a nuclear Iran if President Trump’s new efforts, mainly sanctions, do not deter the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. He stated, “If international efforts led these days by US President Trump don’t help stop Iran attaining nuclear capabilities, Israel will act militarily by itself. There are changes that can be made [to the agreement] to ensure that they will never have the ability…
JERUSALEM, Israel – The Ministerial Legislative Committee voted on a bill to annex 19 “settlements” to the Jerusalem municipality. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu supports the measure, which, if passed, will be voted on by the Knesset before becoming law. Settlements include any city, town, neighborhood or community outside the “green line,” officially called the 1949 Armistice Demarcation Line, which prevailed from 1949 to 1967. Often referred to as the pre-1967 armistice lines – that is, prior to the Six-Day War – the demarcations were never meant to be permanent. They were originally designated as “interim arrangements” that would be…
At least three rockets fired from Syria hit the Israeli Golan Heights last weekend. The incident was initially downplayed as errant mortar fire, mere “spillover” from Syria’s ongoing civil war. But top military officials admitted later that the attack was likely intentional, and was just the latest in a string of escalating provocations. A senior officer in the IDF Northern Command told Israel’s NRG news portal: “It was not mortar shells or artillery shells, but rockets that hit our territory. The chance that it was unintentional is very low: There were no battles taking place in the area from which…
Israel’s Security Cabinet voted last Tuesday to not negotiate with the Palestinians until Hamas disarms and recognizes the State of Israel. In response, the Cabinet released a list of necessary conditions to enter negotiations for the peace process. The vote came following the recently announced Palestinian unity government between Fatah and Hamas. Egypt’s State Information Service confirmed the Palestinian Authority’s future control of the Gaza Strip with a meeting scheduled for all relevant Palestinian leadership in Cairo towards the end of November. The Palestinians claim the Egyptian brokered unity deal will go into effect December 1, 2017, and a reported 3,000…
Speaking at the first of its kind conference for Christian media sponsored by the Israeli government, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told participants that Christians are Israel’s best friends. “Israel has no better friends — I mean that, no better friends in the world — than the Christian communities around the world,” Netanyahu told reporters and media personnel at the Christian Media Summit in Jerusalem on Sunday, October 15. Netanyahu upheld Israel’s commitment to religious freedom and compared its record to neighboring countries in the Middle East. “Israel is the one country in a vast region where Christians not only survive, they thrive,”…