A7News: Two Iranian soldiers killed by Israeli strike in Syria

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Tuesday, Feb. 12 '19, ז' באדר תשע"ט





HEADLINES:
1. TWO IRANIAN SOLDIERS KILLED BY ISRAELI STRIKE IN SYRIA
2. WATCH: LEFTISTS, ARABS OFFER CONDOLENCES TO SLAIN TEEN'S FAMILY
3. UN THREATENS TO BLACKLIST COMPANIES OVER TIES TO SETTLEMENTS
4. INVESTIGATION: BULLET HIT HELMET OF SOLDIER WOUNDED IN TRAINING
5. REP ILHAN OMAR IN DAMAGE-CONTROL: 'I UNEQUIVOCALLY APOLOGIZE'
6. HAREDI WOMEN KILLED IN BUS CRASH
7. REPORT: MOSSAD HELPED SMUGGLE IRANIAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST
8. 'IDF SPECIAL FORCES OPERATING IN AFGHANISTAN'


1. TWO IRANIAN SOLDIERS KILLED BY ISRAELI STRIKE IN SYRIA
by David Rosenberg

Two members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards were killed in Syria Monday night, when Israeli forces hit Iranian positions in southwestern Syria, Arab media sources claim.

According to a report Tuesday by the Syrian Qasioun News outlet, two officers in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp were killed Monday night in an Israeli strike in the Quneitra area on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The report cited claims that Israel had conducted airstrikes on targets in the Quneitra area, and also used tanks in an attack on Jubata al-Khashab, adjacent to the Israeli border.

In addition to the two Iranian soldiers killed in the attack, a number of soldiers were injured, the report claimed.

Official Syrian media outlets, including SANA, reported Monday night that Israeli tanks had opened fire on positions in Kuneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, but made no mention of an airstrike.

The IDF has refused to confirm or deny the reports.


2. WATCH: LEFTISTS, ARABS OFFER CONDOLENCES TO SLAIN TEEN'S FAMILY
by Hezki Baruch

Members of the leftist group "Tag Meir" arrived this morning, Tuesday, to the community Tekoa south of Jerusalem, together with Arabs from the area, to pay a condolence visit to the Ansbacher family, whose daughter Ori was brutally murdered by an Arab terrorist on Thursday.

A video shows Hadassah Froman, the wife of the late rabbi of Tekoa Menachem Froman, entreating the group outside the Ansbacher home not to bring up politics once they are inside.

"Of course," says a representative. "We have come to console and condemn [the murder], and that's all."

Another representative tells media, "Personally, I will do everything so that [Ori] is the last. I am happy that Palestinians joined this visit, and I think that this needs to signal for the future, that we need to join them and them us. We are all human beings, and murder is murder. It cannot happen again."

Asked whether scenes of Arabs in Hevron and Gaza celebrating and handing out candy after the murder did not represent Palestinian society, he said, "Murder is murder and must be condemned, and it is forbidden to hand out candies. The Palestinians who come here to console are the ones who are right."

He said it was not the first time he has come to a settlement to console after a murder, though it was the first time that the media, which he emphasized he had not notified, knew about it.

"We are brothers. I am always received nicely, and unfortunately there were cases like this in the past, and I hope this is the last case," he said.

Asked if cases like this cause him to doubt his "approach," he said, "Cases like this cause me to doubt the tilted policy of the government, which has brought us to cases like this."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258944


3. UN THREATENS TO BLACKLIST COMPANIES OVER TIES TO SETTLEMENTS
by Arutz Sheva Staff

The United Nations Human Rights Council has warned a number of companies in Israel and abroad that they face inclusion in a UN blacklist over their operations in Israeli towns and industrial zones in Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem and the Golan Heights.

In 2017, the UNHRC compiled a list of roughly 200 companies, including both Israeli and foreign firms, which were to be included in a UN blacklist for "acting contrary to international law and UN decisions," then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordan's Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, wrote in a series of letters to companies included in the list.

According to Yediot Ahronot, the UNHRC is preparing an expanded blacklist, set to be published at the 40th UNHRC session in Geneva next month, over the objections of the US and Israeli missions to the UN.

A number of major companies, including Coca Cola and a slew of large Israeli corporations, including banks like Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi; telecommunications firms including Hot, Bezeq, and Bezeq International; the pharmaceutical giant Teva; the Egged bus company; and Elbit Systems, a major producer of military electronic equipment.

The expanded blacklist could drive some foreign businesses out of Israel, and could make it more difficult for Israeli firms on the list to secure investment capital from abroad, the CEO of the Hot corporation warned.

"We believe the inclusion of Israeli companies in the UN Human Rights Council's blacklist might expose those companies to legal procedures, prompting international corporations to pull out of their investments in Israel," CEO Tal Granot-Goldstein wrote to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

"We request that the Israeli government and the Foreign Ministry intervene to prevent the publication of this list. Handling this matter is a national interest of the utmost importance."


4. INVESTIGATION: BULLET HIT HELMET OF SOLDIER WOUNDED IN TRAINING
by Arutz Sheva Staff

An investigation into the incident last night, in which a Paratrooper combat soldier was wounded during a training exercise, revealed that the shooting was carried out by another soldier in a detachment situated behind him who apparently did not recognize that the detachment in front had moved forward.

The soldier, who was evacuated in moderate condition to Soroka Medical Center in Be'er Sheva, was wounded by shrapnel. In addition, a hit to the soldier's helmet was identified.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that the circumstances of the incident would be examined.

Soroka Medical Center reported that the soldier was operated on during the night and is currently hospitalized in the orthopedic department in light-to-moderate condition. He is expected to undergo further surgery in the coming days.


5. REP ILHAN OMAR IN DAMAGE-CONTROL: 'I UNEQUIVOCALLY APOLOGIZE'
by Mordechai Sones

Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar apologized today after facing political isolation for tweets that were condemned by both parties as anti-Semitic.

"Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes," Omar said. "My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish Americans as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize."

She continued, "At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC, the NRA or the fossil fuel industry. It's gone on too long and we must be willing to address it."

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258917

Despite the expedient apology, Omar is due to speak this month at a fundraising event alongside a senior charity official who has published social media posts praising the killing of Jews. This was reported by Islamist Watch's Sam Westrop.

Islamic Relief USA is hosting a fundraising dinner for aid to Yemen on February 23. Rep. Omar is due to speak alongside senior Islamic Relief USA official Yousef Abdallah, who was widely criticized in 2017 after the Middle East Forum found he had expressed violently anti-Semitic ideas on social media.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258917


6. HAREDI WOMEN KILLED IN BUS CRASH
by David Rosenberg

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258839

The victims killed in a massive traffic accident outside of Jerusalem Sunday morning have been identified as residents of the haredi city of Modiin Illit in southwestern Samaria.

Initial reports identified the two women as sisters. They were later identified as Rachel Chaya Guttman, 24, and Ruchama Rosen, 27.

The accident occurred at approximately 9:15 a.m. Sunday morning on Route 443.

A bus from the Kavim company's 304 line which links Modiin Illit to Jerusalem, was travelling down Route 443 from Modiin Illit towards the capital when the accident occurred, a spokesperson for Kavim said in a statement Sunday afternoon.

"Sadly, this morning at 9:15 a.m., a 304-line bus of Kavim Illit which was travelling from Modiin Illit towards Jerusalem on Route 443 was involved in a serious traffic accident near Beit Horon."

"Representatives of the company are cooperating fully with rescue workers, the police, MDA, and the municipality of Modiin Illit. The company is in the middle of a preliminary investigation into the incident, and the findings will be forwarded to the relevant authorities."

In addition to the two women killed in the accident, 41 other victims were injured. Two of the injured are said to be in serious condition, with another five in moderate condition, and the remaining 34 victims in light condition.

The victims were treated on the scene and at least 33 people were evacuated via ambulance to hospitals in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Tzrifin. One victim was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem, 14 to Shaare Zedek, 11 to Assaf Harofe (also known as Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center), six to Hadassah Mount Scopus, and one to Ichilov.

Police reported earlier on Sunday that the accident took place following a smaller accident on Route 443.

A passenger van in the opposite lane, heading toward Jerusalem, then perceived the accident and stopped on the left side of the lane, with the intent of providing aid at the scene of the accident.

At this point, a bus following the van hit the van and flipped over on its side, skidding into a ditch and hitting the safety rail.

📹 To watch the video: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/258839


7. REPORT: MOSSAD HELPED SMUGGLE IRANIAN NUCLEAR SCIENTIST
by Mordechai Sones

An Iranian nuclear scientist in possession of information about the Revolutionary Guards' nuclear program was smuggled from Tehran to Britain in a combined operation that involved intelligence agents from Britain, the United States, and Israel.

British media reported that British intelligence agents used the immigrant crisis and smuggled the scientist in a dinghy. The Sunday Express newspaper implies he has been a western asset for years, who helped plan the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, a nuclear scientist who died in a 2012 Tehran car explosion.

The 47-year-old scientist hid among Iranian immigrants in a boat that crossed the Channel. The engineer arrived in Kent, England, along with 12 other immigrants. The MI6, Mossad, and the CIA were involved in the operation.

Britain tried to conceal its involvement in the operation because it opposed the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement and remained party to it.

The Express quoted a source saying: "This wasn't without its challenges.

"His absence was noted quickly and we were informed that a special unit of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had been dispatched.

"Once in France the question of how to get him into Britain remained.

"We couldn't simply fly him in.

"Though unusual, it was determined infiltrating him into a group of fellow migrants preparing to cross the Channel by boat offered one solution."

The scientist wanted to reach Britain and then take off for the United States. To this end he crossed Europe and passed through Greece, Albania, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, and France. In France he boarded an immigrant boat in which he arrived in Britain on New Year's Eve.


8. 'IDF SPECIAL FORCES OPERATING IN AFGHANISTAN'
by Mordechai Sones

Iranian media claim that Israel sent special forces soldiers to Afghanistan to gather intelligence about Iranian military movements.

The Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that Israeli soldiers were operating from an American Air Force base in Shindand, in the western province of Herat, about 75 kilometers from the Iranian border.

According to the report, the soldiers are gathering intelligence on Iranian movements in the Persian Gulf region.

Base in Afghanistan
iStock
The Russian news site Sputnik reported the Israelis were working "under the flags of the United States and the United Arab Emirates."

Sputnik quoted an expert on Israeli affairs, Semyon Tzippis, who said that the IDF soldiers' activities were carried out within the framework of the American forces stationed there, and that this was done with the knowledge of the Afghan government.

Tzippis claimed these are elite IDF units taking advantage of their stay there also to practice operations in the difficult terrain there.

Afghanistan, Iran
iStock