January 29, 2019
Netanyahu: Nasrallah Is Trying To Cover Up A ‘Great’ Humiliation
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah has suffered a “great humiliation” as a result of Israel’s “immense success” in Operation Northern Shield.
“His people invested great effort in digging those cross-border attack tunnels, and within three weeks we totally took away that weapon from them,” added Netanyahu at the Israeli cabinet’s weekly meeting on Sunday (27th).
Breaking a prolonged silence on Saturday (26th), Nasrallah confirmed the IDF’s operation against the tunnels from Lebanon but said that it did not affect the terror organization’s ability to attack Israel.
The Nasrallah interview aired on Hizbullah’s own television channel, Al-Mayadeen. It followed reports that he was ill, either with cancer or had suffered a heart attack, and that he was under house arrest by Iran facing demands to disclose the whereabouts of “tens of millions of dollars” allegedly embezzled from Hizbullah bank accounts funded by Tehran.
Nasrallah reacted publicly for the first time to the Israeli military operation along the Lebanese border against attack tunnels.
He said that the tunnels were old, and that it took a long time for the IDF to discover tham.
He denied that the terror organization’s capabilities had been hurt significantly by the Israeli action to neutralize the tunnels.
“The uncovering of the tunnels does not affect by 10% our plans to take over the Galilee. If we decide to do it, we’ll just rebuild the tunnels. Really, ”To enter Galilee we do not need tunnels,” Nasrallah told Al-Mayadeen.
He added that in the next war, all of Israel will be a war and battlefield.
(worldisraelnews.com; almayadeen.net)
Is Jerusalem A Sacred Islamic City? – Imam Tawhidi
There is a big difference between a city being sacred in the eyes of God and it being a sacred Islamic city. For example, all prophetic tombs, birthplaces and areas where miracles took place are considered sacred in Islam, but they are not specifically Islamic locations. A sacred Islamic location is a location where a significant Islamic event has taken place by either Allah or Prophet Mohammad.
The Holy Koran states very clearly that the Holy Land, Jerusalem, belongs to the Jewish nation of Moses, the Israelites. Koran 5:20 makes it clear that God “had not given this land to anyone among the world” other than the Jewish nation. From this verse, and others of similar context, we understand that Jerusalem is a sacred city according to God, but it is not a sacred Islamic city, due to the fact that its sacredness was established before the existence of Islam.
Koran 17:1 reported on the Prophet Mohammad’s night journey to Al-Aqsa Mosque (The Farthest Mosque). First, Prophet Mohammad traveling to a location does not make that location “Islamic.” Second, there is little evidence that “Al-Aqsa Mosque” is actually in Jerusalem, and there are a large number of Muslims who believe that “The Farthest Mosque” is a reference to a mosque in the heavens, due to the fact that the current Al-Aqsa Mosque did not exist during the lifetime of Prophet Mohammad, making it impossible for him to have visited it.
The writer, an Iranian-born Australian Shia Muslim Imam, is president of the Islamic Association of South Australia.
(jpost.com)
Israel Sends Search And Rescue Team To Brazil After Dam Bursts
Israel prepared and sent a search and rescue mission to Brazil after a dam collapsed at an iron ore mine in the state of Minas Gerais on Friday (25th), releasing a torrent of mining waste that slammed into the facilities of the Vale SA mining company and cut through a nearby community, leaving a 500-foot wide wake of destruction stretching for miles.
At least 34 people have been confirmed killed. Some 250 people were still missing as of Sunday (27th) according to the Minas Gerais fire department.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Saturday (26th) and offered to send an Israeli team to help locate the missing. Bolsonaro thanked him and accepted the offer. The two leaders agreed that the Israeli team would leave within 24 hours.
The IDF Homefront Command said over the weekend that it was in charge of organizing the search and rescue mission.
Meanwhile in Minas Gerais, frantic family members of the missing, crowded into a warehouse set up by Vale for those affected, next to a stretch of river erased by the sludge.
(israelhayom.com)
Malaysia Stripped of Paralympic Event After Israeli Ban
The International Paralympic Committee on Sunday (27th) stripped Malaysia of the right to host the 2019 world para swimming championships after the country banned Israeli athletes from participating.
The championships, a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, had been scheduled for Kuching between July 29 and August 4.
The IPC said a new venue would be sought for the same dates, although there might have to be some flexibility in light of the circumstances.
“All World Championships must be open to all eligible athletes and nations to compete safely and free from discrimination,” said IPC President Andrew Parsons in a statement after a meeting of the IPC governing board in London.
“When a host country excludes athletes from a particular nation, for political reasons, then we have absolutely no alternative but to look for a new Championships host.”
Malaysia, a majority-Muslim country that does not maintain relations with Israel, announced this month that it would ban Israelis from any event held in the Southeast Asian nation.
Israel had condemned the ban as “shameful” and said the decision was inspired by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s “rabid anti-Semitism.”
(israelhayom.com)
Boy On School Trip Unearths Second Temple-era Coin in Stream
A boy found a 2,000-year-old coin from the Second Temple-era rule of Herod Agrippa, a king of Judea, during a hike last week in the northern West Bank.
The rare piece was uncovered in the Shilo stream during a school trip, according to a Sunday (27th) statement from the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli body that administers civilian matters in the West Bank under the Defense Ministry.
The coin features three stalks of grain on one side, and a royal canopy surrounded by an engraving reading “KIng Agrippa” on the other side.
The student found the coin on the eastern side of the stream – one of the main tributaries of Tel Aviv’s Yarkon River which flows into the Mediterranean Sea – and informed the group’s tour guide, the statement read.
The coin was handed over to the Israel Antiquities Authority to be added to the Authority’s collection of National Treasures.
Herod Agrippa ruled Judea from 41CE until his death three years later. He was the grandson of Herod the Great and the father of Herod Agrippa II, the last king of the Herodian Dynasty.
Archeological Unit staff members said, “This is an exciting find… Every archeological find has a story that gives more details on the history of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people… Findings like this one completes another piece in the historic puzzle of our nation.”
(timesofisrael.com)
