A7News: How did IDF bus come into range of Hamas anti-tank missile?

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Monday, Dec. 17 '18, ט' בטבת תשע"ט



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HEADLINES:
1. HOW DID IDF BUS COME INTO RANGE OF HAMAS ANTI-TANK MISSILE?
2. LABOUR UK OFFICIAL: JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL WARS IN THE WORLD
3. 'MAHMOUD ABBAS IS MURDERING US'
4. RUSSIA WARNS LEBANON OVER VIOLATIONS OF ISRAELI TERRITORY
5. IRANIAN GENERAL ACCIDENTALLY KILLS HIMSELF
6. 'THE BLOOD OF THE ENTIRE JEWISH PEOPLE IS FLOWING IN MY VEINS'
7. 'YOU CANNOT BE DEFENSE MINISTER'
8. NETANYAHU: HAMAS WILL PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR TERROR WAVE


1. HOW DID IDF BUS COME INTO RANGE OF HAMAS ANTI-TANK MISSILE?
by Uzi Baruch

This week, the army concluded its operational investigation into a Hamas attack on an IDF bus last month, an army spokesperson said.

On November 12th, Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired an anti-tank missile at the bus, injuring one IDF soldier.

The attack occurred during the largest escalation between Israel and the Gaza-based terror group since 2014.

Following the attack, army investigators probed the circumstances surrounding the incident, including how the bus had been allowed to travel so close to the Gaza border in the midst of Hamas attacks on Israel.

According to an IDF spokesperson, the bus' entry into a dangerous border area was the result of "operational gaps" in the conduct of Israeli security forces in the field in asserting control over and isolating areas along the front between Israel and Gaza.

"The lessons were learned from the incident and have been implemented," the spokesperson said. "Following the investigation, the Gaza Division formulated an updated plan to isolate the division's space in an emergency that will be fully practiced in the coming weeks."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/256284


2. LABOUR UK OFFICIAL: JEWS RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL WARS IN THE WORLD
by David Rosenberg

A Labour Party official has been suspended over anti-Semitic social media comments accusing Jews of orchestrating world conflicts and promoting 9/11 conspiracy theories.

Mohammed Yasin, the regional organizer for Labour in the West Midlands, was suspended by party officials over the weekend after anti-Semitic comments by Yasin on social media were brought to light, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported on Sunday.

In February 2016, Yasin tweeted that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world," accompanied by a picture of two people laughing, with the caption "When someone tells me its not the Jews".

In addition, Yasin had shared a video accusing the Rothschilds of being the world's "most wicked and wealthiest family," and a cartoon accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinian Arabs. Yasin also claimed that the 9/11 terror attacks were hoax created by Western leaders.

In another post, Yasin wrote "US imperialism needs Israel to keep the masses permanently at war."

According to a report by The Sunday Times, Yasin is the first active staff member in the party to be implicated in an anti-Semitism scandal, though numerous other Labour members and officials have been accused in the past.

Yasin told The Sunday Times that he was "not aware" of whether or not he had posted the comments which appeared on his account.


3. 'MAHMOUD ABBAS IS MURDERING US'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

On Sunday, hundreds of Israeli teenagers marched in Jerusalem, accusing Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas of instigating the recent wave of terrorist attacks, and calling the PA leader to be assassinated.

The demonstration took place as part of a campaign by the "Way of Life" movement. Protesters gathered at the entrance to the city and marched to the center of town. At the end of the march, the demonstrators held signs at Zion Square calling for Abbas' execution.

Some protesters held up large pictures of those murdered in the recent spate of attacks, while others held signs saying, "Execute the murderers" and "Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] is murdering us".

A few days ago, the Way of Life Movement launched a campaign calling on the Israeli government to target the Palestinian Authority chairman. The campaign was condemned by the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization's executive committee, calling for an end to the campaign.

The Way of Life movement responded in a statement, saying that "the time has come for the leaders of the terrorists to start fearing – Abu Mazen must be executed".

Jason Greenblatt, President Trump's envoy to the Middle East criticized the campaign, saying that he rejected incitement from both sides.

The protest movement comes following a wave of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria, including a deadly shooting attack in Barkan in October which left two Israelis dead, the fatal stabbing of an Israeli-American man in September south of Jerusalem, a drive-by shooting attack north of Jerusalem last week which wounded seven, and a shooting attack last Thursday which killed two and left two more wounded.


4. RUSSIA WARNS LEBANON OVER VIOLATIONS OF ISRAELI TERRITORY
by David Rosenberg

The Russian government has warned Lebanon not to permit violations of Israeli territory by the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, the London-based Arabic media outlet Asharq Al-Awsat reported.

According to the report, Moscow warned the Lebanese government in a letter "not to play games with United Nations [Security Council] Resolution 1701", referring to the August 11th, 2006 motion by the Security Council marking the end of the second Israel-Lebanon war.

Officials told Asharq Al-Awsat that Russia had called on Lebanon to ensure that the terror tunnels dug by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory are neutralized.

The letter suggested that Russia backed Israel's demand that the Lebanese government be held responsible for Hezbollah activity within the country.

The request comes following high level meetings between Israeli and Russian officials, during which Israel revealed evidence of Hezbollah's attempts to infiltrate into Israeli territory with a series of cross-border terror tunnels.

Israel recently launched Operation Northern Shield to locate and neutralize the tunnels. In the days immediately after Operation Northern Shield began, Israeli security forces located three cross-border tunnels from southern Lebanon, including one tunnel from the village of Kafr Kila, which reached some 40 yards into Israeli territory.

On Sunday, Israeli forces located a fourth tunnel leading from Lebanon into Israeli territory.


5. IRANIAN GENERAL ACCIDENTALLY KILLS HIMSELF
by Elad Benari

A general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards who fought in Syria and Iraq accidentally killed himself on Sunday while cleaning a gun, The Associated Press reported.

The Guards' website said Gen. Ghodratollah Mansouri has accidentally shot himself in the head while cleaning his pistol.

The report said Mansouri was veteran of the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and a "defender of the shrine," a reference to Iranians who fight the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.

Since 2014, Mansouri was a regional commander of the Guards' ground forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad, some 900 kilometers east of the capital Tehran, according to AP.

Hundreds of Iranian forces have been killed fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Iran is a key supporter of the Assad regime in Syria, having providing the regime with both financial aid and military advisors against a range of opposing forces since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.

Near the start of the Syrian civil war, it was reported that then-Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had personally sanctioned the dispatch of officers from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to fight alongside Assad's troops.

Ali Akbar Velayati, a top aide to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made clear last summer that Iran would withdraw its "military advisers" from Syria and Iraq only if their governments wanted it to.

More recently, Iran's defense minister visited Damascus and said his country will continue its support of the Syrian government, while stressing the nature of the two countries' cooperation won't be decided by a "third party."


6. 'THE BLOOD OF THE ENTIRE JEWISH PEOPLE IS FLOWING IN MY VEINS'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

Two of the victims of last Sunday's terror attack north of Jerusalem made their first public appearance since the attack, speaking to reporters at Jerusalem's Shaare Zedek Medical Center.

Last week, Shira Ish-Ran, 21, was wounded when Hamas terrorists opened fire on a bus stop outside of the Israeli town of Ofra, north of Jerusalem in a drive-by shooting attack.

Shira, who was 30 weeks pregnant at the time, was evacuated to the hospital in critical condition, where doctors were forced to perform an emergency caesarian section to deliver her son, Amiad Yisrael.

While Shira's condition stabilized and improved over the next few days, her son remained in critical condition, and later died.

Amichai Ish-Ran, Shira's husband, was also wounded in the attack, after he shielded her with his body as the terrorists continued to fire at the bus stop. Five other civilians were also wounded.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference in Shaare Zedek Sunday evening, the couple expressed their thanks for the support they have received following their brush with death.

"It is so wonderful to be part of the [Jewish] people," the couple said, saying they had received "letters, messages, and visitors all the time, to the point that we had to tell people to stop. They sent flowers, food for Shabbat, candy from Jews all over – it's just amazing."

Amichai said that the couple's son, Amiad Yisrael Ish-Ran, who died three days after his birth, had brought people across the country together in prayer, despite the briefness of his life.

"Our baby managed to do in the three short days that he was alive more than what the rest of us manage to do…he simply brought us together…everyone came together and wanted to join together to strengthen us. Everyone felt connected. I'm so proud to be part of this people."

Shira expressed her thanks to the Shaare Zedek medical staff and paramedics who helped save her life.

"I want to give special thanks to the hospital staff. It isn't easy to be a patient. Words cannot describe how much support they gave us emotionally and physically. Thanks to the paramedics, who saved my life. And of course, thank God."

"I lost a great deal of blood in the terror attack, and I needed a lot of blood transfusions. I feel like the blood of the entire Jewish people is flowing through me, strengthening me with every step. The Jewish people is strengthening me physically. The blood of the entire Jewish people is coursing through my veins right now – not my [blood] at all – and it gives me a great deal of strength."


7. 'YOU CANNOT BE DEFENSE MINISTER'
by Arutz Sheva Staff

A harsh exchange of words developed Sunday morning at the weekly cabinet meeting in light of the demonstration by residents of Judea and Samaria outside the meeting and the intensification of terrorism in Judea and Samaria.

According to Hadashot 2, the exchange began after the justice minister announced that she was abstaining in the vote to permanently appoint Prime Minister Netanyahu as defense minister. "I will abstain, Bennett should be defense minister," she said.

Minister of Education Naftali Bennett joined in and told Netanyahu, "You cannot be defense minister, the gap in the barrier is not the Supreme Court, it's the IDF."

Prime Minister Netanyahu responded harshly to Bennett's remarks and said, "You are doing a foolish deed. We heard about your ultimatums." Bennett fired back, "It's a shame [you] don't fight terror like [you] do government ministers."

At this stage, Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz intervened in the exchange. He said of Netanyahu, "He can be both defense minister and foreign minister."

In response, Minister Shaked attacked Minister Katz and accused him of kowtowing to Netanyahu. "Don't speak nonsense, you are flattering in order to get the foreign ministry portfolio."

Minister Elkin also attacked Bennett and told him, "It's a joke to throw the legal responsibility on the prime minister when the justice ministry portfolio is with Ayelet Shaked from your party. You are making the discussion about politics instead of principles. To make a connection to a hole in the wall at Beit El is a joke. It happened when there was a full-time defense minister [Liberman]."


8. NETANYAHU: HAMAS WILL PAY A HEAVY PRICE FOR TERROR WAVE
by David Rosenberg

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that his government had sent a "clear message" to the Hamas terror organization, following a string of attacks in Samaria.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu claimed that the government had taken "vigorous" action both to uproot Hamas terror cells in Samaria, and to promote Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria in response to the attacks.

"Following the wave of murderous terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria last week we have taken vigorous security and settlement actions," said Netanyahu.

"Our forces located and eliminated two of the terrorists and a third turned himself in. Regarding the fourth, we are taking decisive action to find him and we will also deal with him to the fullest extent of the law."

The Prime Minister added that he had ordered Israeli security forces to accelerate the process of demolishing the homes of the terrorists involved in the attacks.

"I ordered the acceleration of the demolition of terrorists' homes. We have revoked work permits for terrorists' clans and in contrast to what has hitherto been the case, as Defense Minister I have ordered that the permits not be automatically restored after the revocation period. I sent a clear message to Hamas: We will not accept a situation in which there is a ceasefire in Gaza and terrorism in Judea and Samaria. We will exact a heavy price for this."

Netanyahu also said that in the wake of the attacks, his government would normalize the status of thousands of homes in Israeli towns across Judea and Samaria.

"I have directed that the status of thousands of homes in settlements in Judea and Samaria be legalized, that two new industrial zones be established near Avnei Hefetz and Betar Ilit respectively, and that 82 new residential units be approved in Ofra. There will be other steps."

"The Palestinian terrorists think that they can uproot us from the heart of our land. By our actions and the strength of our spirit we will make it clear to them and to the entire world that we are here to stay."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/256248