February 8, 2018
Israeli wounded in Gush Etzion stabbing attack
An Israeli security guard sustained injuries Wednesday morning (7th) when a Palestinian terrorist stabbed him at the entrance to the Gush Etzion settlement of Carmel Tzur, near Hebron. A second security guard shot and killed the terrorist.
The wounded security guard sustained stab wounds to his arm. He was treated on site and then taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
(israelhayom.com; reuters.com)
Report: Israel attacks Syrian military installation
The Israeli Air Force reportedly attacked a target near Damascus, Syria, early Wednesday (7th), Syrian media reported.
Syrian state media said that the target was situated in Jamraya, on the outskirts of Damascus.
Meanwhile, the Syrian General Command said in a statement that “warplanes of the Israeli enemy at 3:42 am on Wednesday (7th) fired several missiles from inside the Lebanese territories on one of our military positions in the Damascus countryside.”
The Command said that their air defense intercepted the missiles and destroyed them.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Lebanon says will prevent Israel from building border wall
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Higher Defense Council gave orders on Wednesday (7th) to prevent Israel from building a border wall on Lebanese land, amid rising tensions over land and maritime borders.
“This wall, if it is built will be considered an assault on Lebanese land,” the council said in a statement published after it’s meeting with senior government and military officials.
“The Higher Defense Council has given its instructions to confront this aggression to prevent Israel from building the wall on Lebanese territory.” the statement continued.
Israel said the wall it is building is on sovereign Israeli land, on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, where the UN demarcated Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
(jpost.com; ynetnews.com)
Egypt opens border gate into Gaza Strip for three days
Egyptian authorities have opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip for three days, the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo announced on Wednesday (7th).
The terminal will be opened in both directions, the embassy said.
It was the first time the border crossing has been opened since the beginning of the year.
(timesofisrael.com)
Hizbullah threatens Israel’s offshore gas rigs with missiles
On Tuesday (6th) Hizbullah disseminated flyers, and showed a video, staking claims to contested maritime border territory, and threatening Israel’s natural gas drilling rigs with missiles
The video showed footage of Israel’s own offshore gas rigs with missile launchers, illustrating the threat Hizbullah wished to convey.
(ynetnews.com)
Abbas: Jerusalem is Arab, Islamic and Christian
Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is continuing his diplomatic offensive against the United States and Israel following President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Washington’s cut to the financial aid it provides to UNRWA.
In a speech in Ramallah, Abbas said that Jerusalem is “Arab, Islamic and Christian,” and that Palestinian Arabs would not allow anyone to say that it is the “united capital” or to move the American embassy to it.
Abbas is due to address the UN Security Council on February 20 where he is expected to respond to Trump’s Jerusalem move.
(israelnn.com)
France reproaches Poland over Holocaust law
France reproached Poland over a new bill recently passed by the Polish legislature banning the phrase “Polish death camps” and barring publication or public discussion of Polish complicity in the Holocaust. “We find this law unwelcome, we must not rewrite history, it’s not good,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian.
“I also hope that the Polish people will change their minds and make sure that in the next elections they get out of this straitjacket imposed on them by nationalist choices that are quite regrettable,” added Le Drian.
(isralenn.com)
Israeli Cabinet mulls artificial island for aid transfer to Gaza – Itamar Eichner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has directed his cabinet to look into proposals to construct an artificial island across from the Gaza coast for the delivery of aid.
Minister for Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi told Ynet: “Israel is ready to provide its technological skills and infrastructure to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, on the condition that the funds come from the international community and that we know that they will not go to strengthen Hamas. We are waiting to see if the world is ready to donate.” He said the funds given by Qatar to Hamas were all invested in military and terror activities, including rockets.
(ynetnews.com)
German material discovered in Iranian-made Syrian chemical weapons
German intelligence reports released last year made clear that Iran attempted over 30 times to obtain illicit nuclear and missile goods from Germany during 2016. Now it seems that the German federal authorities approved a local license to sell Iranian businesses military applicable equipment that was used in a Syrian chemical rocket attack that killed 21 people, including children.
According to a report Monday (5th) in the German newspaper Bild, the Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control allowed the Krempel Group to sell electronic press boards (an insulating material) to Iranian companies. After Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad launched two poisonous gas attacks last year, photos of the rocket debris displayed the Krempel company’s logo.
(worldisraelnews.com; bild.de; jta.org)
Danish government plans face veil ban – Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
Denmark’s government said on Tuesday (6th) it planned to fine people who covered their face in public, restricting the burqa and the niqab worn by some Muslim women. “It is incompatible with the values of the Danish society or the respect for the community to keep the face hidden when meeting each other in the public space.” France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, and the German state of Bavaria have all imposed some restrictions on wearing full-face veils in public places.
(reuters.com)
