April 30, 2018
Thousands attend memorial event for victims of flash flood disaster
Some 4,000 students of pre-military academics, teenagers and youth, held a memorial event in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv Saturday night (28th) for the ten teenagers who were killed in the flash flood disaster at the Zafit Stream.
Students from the Bnei Zion pre-military academy, where the victims of the disaster were due to start studying in the fall, sat in a circle of remembrance, cried together, sang songs and offered support to one another.
A memorial wall was put up at Rabin Square with the names of the victims, where participants could write words in their memory.
The Tel Aviv Municipal Building, adjacent to the square, was lit up blue-and-white, the Israeli flag’s colors, in solidarity.
(ynetnews.com)
The 10 teens killed in flood were 1,000 feet from safety says rescuer
A rescuer said Sunday (29th) that the 10 young Israelis who died in a flash flood while hiking in the Judean Desert on Thursday (26th) were just around 1,000 feet away from the end of the hike, and had the powerful current hit five minutes later, they would have been safe.
“They were, I estimate about 1,000 feet from ending the hike,” Dotan Sherf, a firefighter and rescue expert, told Army Radio . “It means that had they walked through that crevice for 5-10 minutes they would have been out. They were five minutes from the end of the hike.”
(gglz.net; timesofisrael.com)
Survivor of Arava flood released from Soroka Hospital
A teenage boy who was injured lightly in the flood disaster in the Arava on Thursday (26th) has been released from Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.
A girl who was injured also has been transferred for monitoring and supervision to Soroka Hospital’s intermediate cardiac intensive care unit in stable condition.
(israelnn.com)
Pompeo in Israel says U.S. ‘deeply concerned’ by Iran’s Mideast ambitions
The United States is “deeply concerned” by Iran’s ambition to dominate the Middle East, new Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on a flying visit on Sunday (29th).
“We remain deeply concerned about Iran’s dangerous escalation of threats towards Israel and the region,” he said.
Pompeo came to Israel after visiting Saudi Arabia and left Sunday evening (29th) for Jordan, the third leg of his visit.
The US Secretary of State was sworn in April 26, leading him to jokingly tell Netanyahu he visited Israel before setting foot in his own office.
(jpost.com)
3 Gazans shot dead Sunday – another arrested while attempting to breach border
IDF soldiers shot to death Sunday (29th) three Palestinians in two separate incidents who attempted to infiltrate into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip while another Palestinian was arrested while trying to breach the border fence.
In one of the incidents, two terrorists were reported to have attempted to cross the security fence at the same time while throwing explosive devices at IDF forces.
(ynetnews.com)
Fire breaks out at Kissufim Forest due to incendiary kite from Gaza
A fire broke out at the Kissufim Forest in the Eshkol Regional Council on Sunday (29th) due to an incendiary kite flown by terrorists in Gaza.
Firefighters were on the scene to combat the blaze.
“Burning-kites” are the latest weapon terrorists are using against Israel. So far an Israeli warehouse has been burned down and several wheat fields have been set on fire and destroyed, using this tactic.
(ynetnews.com)
Top Hamas official: Gaza border protests will continue after May 15
Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’ political Bureau, said last week that the ongoing Gaza border demonstrations – expected to reach their peak on May 15 – would continue afterward, Maariv reported. Haniyeh also predicted that the demonstrations would spread to the West Bank.
(algemeiner.com)
80 percent of Gazans killed at Israel border riots were affiliated with terrorists
A new report released Thursday (26th) revealed that 32 of the 40 Palestinians (80%) killed during the “Great Return March,” since March 30, were terrorist operatives or affiliated individuals. The findings clearly show that terrorist operatives and Palestinians affiliated with terrorist organizations play a key role in the front lines of the demonstrations near Israel’s border fence.
(terrorism-info.org.il)
Israel braces for a tense May
The coming month of May looks set to contain an unusual number of potential escalation points that could converge to create a highly explosive month
The Israel defense establishment is dealing with several pending potential flashpoints, including an Iranian threat to revenge a missile attack on an air base in Syria that was housing several senior Revolutionary Guard Corps officers (Seven were killed), a decision by the Trump administration on whether to cancel or amend the nuclear deal with Iran, weekly Hamas-led mass marches on the Gaza-Israeli border that continue to escalate, the celebration of Jerusalem Day, the expected move of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and Palestinian Nakba (Catastrophe) Day.
Collectively, these incidents have the potential to escalate various fronts at the same time: Gaza, eastern Jerusalem, the territories, in addition to Israel’s north.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Paraguay announces plans to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem
Outgoing Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes announced over the weekend that he plans to relocate his country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, following in the footsteps of the U.S.
Cartes made the announcement during an event marking Israel’s 70th Independence Day held in the capital of Asuncion over the weekend.
He explained that the move stemmed from both political obligations and his personal desire to promote the plan.
(israelhayom.com)
