News Digest — 1/31/22
Alleged Israeli Airstrike Targets Sites Near Damascus
Syrian air defenses were activated in response to an alleged Israeli missile barrage targeting the vicinity of the capital Damascus, state media said early on Monday (31st) citing a military source This is the first alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria this year.
The source was quoted as saying that the interception resulted in some material damage.
The missiles were launched from the direction of Riyaq, a Lebanese town east of Beirut, according to the Syrian SANA news agency.
According to the opposition-affiliated Halab Today TV, the strikes targeted sites belonging to the Assad regime near Al-Qutayfah, northeast of Damascus, causing injuries and material damage.
A series of cargo flights on airlines used to transport Iranian weapons traveled between Iran and Syria in recent weeks, according to independent flight trackers.
The strike comes a week after Syrian and Russian military jets jointly patrolled the airspace along Syria’s borders, including along the Golan Heights.
Last month, an alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Latakia’s commercial port in northwestern Syria, in what was the third alleged airstrike in December.
Earlier this month, Arabic media sources, including Al-Hurra and Al-Hadath claimed Israeli sources had told them that Israeli special forces had recently carried out sensitive operations in Syrian territory to prevent any threat from Hezbollah or other Iranian-backed forces in the country. According to the Al-Hadath report, three operations were carried out in the depths of Syrian territory since the beginning of 2022.
The Al-Hadath report added that the IDF is on alert along the Lebanese and Syrian borders due to concerns of attacks or rocket launches.. Additionally, the report claimed that recent Syrian-Russian air patrols were meant to limit Israel’s freedom of operations in Syria.
According to Al-Hurra, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force’s attempt to position itself along the border with Israel has become more complex.
Israel’s alleged airstrikes came hours after a Houthi ballistic missile targeting Abu Dhabi was intercepted by the United Arab Emirates’ air defenses.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is currently in the UAE conducting an official visit. The President was updated about the incident and he and his entourage are safe, as the visit is expected to continue as planned.
(reuters.com; jpost.com)
Gazans Launch Anti-Hamas Campaign, Reject Blaming Israel
Hundreds of Palestinian activists have launched an online campaign criticizing Hamas for harsh humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip.
The social media campaign, dubbed “They Hijacked Gaza,” began as a live three-hour long conversation organized by five Palestinian activists who left the Strip in 2019 after participating in the ‘We Want to Live’ protests which were violently suppressed by Hamas at the time.
The protests were ignited following the March 14th Movement, by a youth group which in 2019 launched the “We Want To Live” slogan online. The movement claimed to be anti-political, with an aim to achieve better rights, but response to the ensuing protests by Hamas was harsh as they raided homes….with videos showing security personnel beating activists and shooting into the air.
Activist Amer Balosha is a 29-year-old law graduate now living in Istanbul. He had been arrested by Hamas for his role in the March 14th Movement.
“Hamas has billions of dollars in investments in many countries, while people in Gaza starve to death and migrate in search of work,” said Balosha.
Mahmoud Nashwan, a 32-year-old engineer, now living in Belgium, said on Thursday (27th): “Imagine that your one-month-old son dies because of the cold. Imagine your son dying because there is no electricity, no money, no wages and no home.”
Hamas supporters have claimed that the Palestinian Authority and Israel are behind the “They Hijacked Gaza” campaign.
Hamas counter campaigns were launched online, claiming that the PA is guilty of financial and administrative corruption, collaboration with Israel and imposing economic sanctions on Gaza.
However, anti-Hamas activists have rejected the attempt to shift blame on Israel, according to The Jerusalem Post. Many are now blaming Hamas for “kidnapping Gaza.”
“Fifteen years ago, two million afflicted people were kidnapped in the Gaza Strip in the name of change and reform,” said Twitter user Bisan Issam.
“The lives and dreams of an entire generation were lost, crushed by despair and lack of resourcefulness. People are now throwing themselves at death in any way they can to escape the constant death in Gaza,” Issam added.
Hamas Commander Accused Of Spying For Israel Escapes From Gaza Prison
A former Hamas military commander who was accused of spying for Israel has escaped from a maximum-security prison in the Gaza Strip.
The fugitive, Abed al-Karim Abu Odeh, 35, was arrested by Hamas in 2019 on suspicion of mapping underground tunnels with a tracking device he allegedly received from his Israeli handlers.
It was not clear how Abu Odeh, who was being held in the Ansar prison in the Gaza Strip, managed to escape.
The rare escape is seen by many Palestinians as a severe embarrassment for Hamas.
Hamas has arrested a number of suspects on suspicion of helping Abu Odeh, according to a Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas officials described Abu Odeh as an “extremely dangerous security prisoner” and offered a reward for information leading to his capture.
The officials said they did not rule out the possibility that Abu Odeh, who was a top commander of the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, the “military” wing of Hamas, would try to cross the border into Israel.
Hamas set up checkpoints and deployed dozens of security officers in several parts of the Gaza Strip, especially near the border with Israel, in an attempt to prevent Abu Odeh from leaving the coastal enclave.
Hamas also warned fishermen in the Gaza Strip not to help Abu Odeh.
Eyad Al-Bozm, spokesman for the Hamas controlled Ministry of Interior, said Abu Odeh had escaped from the prison on Saturday morning (29th). “The Hamas security forces are taking measures to re-apprehend him,” he added without elaborating.
On Saturday night (29th), Hamas security officers raided the home of Abu Odeh and arrested some of his family members, while searching the house and damaging furniture, sources in the Gaza Strip said.
Kuwaiti Paper Pushes Normalization With Israel, Criticizes Palestinians
An editorial over the weekend in the Kuwaiti daily Arab Times called for Gulf States to normalize relations with Israel, questioning why they supported the Palestinians despite the Palestinians repeatedly insulting the Gulf States.
“When the Palestinians are happy, they curse the Gulf leaders and People. When they are angry, they use all of the defamatory and abusive words in their dictionary against us.” wrote Ahmed al-Jarallah, editor-in-chief of the Arab Times. “We, the Gulf nationals, overlook all that by sending them aid.”
In the editorial, titled “Normalize, Let Insulters Fend For Themselves,” al-Jarallah pointed to the Palestinians support for Saddam Hussein, Jamal Abdul Nasser, former Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi and IRGC Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani, saying that this was “just the tip of the iceberg.”
“This really makes everyone wonder – Did a few thousand dollars and a handful of Iranian missiles ignite such rage in them against us? How cheap are they?” added the editorial. “The Israelis who are the supposed occupiers, did not receive the insults and curses that the people of the Gulf and their states have received from the Palestinians.”
“How long will our people and our countries continue to be insulted by those who sell themselves to the highest bidder? Is Palestine still our cause for which we bear all this harm caused by the Palestinians?” questioned al-Jarallah, asking what benefit the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states were gaining.
Al-Jarallah called for the Gulf states to cut support for the Palestinians and to stop mediating whenever they launch missiles towards Israel. “In this case, let them rebuild what they destroy by their own acts.”
“Enough is enough! The camel’s back has been broken from the burden of grief we endure due to the ingratitude of the Palestinians.” wrote the editor. “All the Gulf states should normalize relations with Israel due to the fact that peace with this most advanced country is the right thing to do. Let the foolish fend for themselves.”
This is not the first time that al-Jarallah has pushed for relations with the Jewish state. In 2020, he welcomed the United Arab Emirates’ move to normalize relations with Israel.
At the current time in Kuwait, and under Kuwaiti law, individuals and companies cannot conclude agreements with organizations or persons living in Israel and cannot deal financially or commercially with persons who have an interest in Israel, even if they live outside Israel.
It is also illegal to import, exchange or possess any Israeli goods, commodities or products, whether received directly or indirectly. Products also cannot include any material from Israeli products.
Nobel Prize Won By Man Saved In Kindertransport Was Sold At Auction For Nearly $500,000
A Nobel Prize in Chemistry won by a man who was saved from the Holocaust by the Kindertransport was sold at auction last week for $457,531.
The Nobel Prize was awarded to Walter Kohn in 1998 for his development of the density-functional theory.
Kohn was born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1923. When the Nazis invaded Austria in 1938 and declared the Anschluss, or the unification of Austria and Germany, Kohn was kicked out of his school and his father’s business was confiscated by the Nazis.
In 1939. Kohn was sent to England as part of the Kindertransport, a program in which Jewish children were brought from Europe to the United Kingdom on the eve of World War II. He arrived in England in August 1939, just a month before the outbreak of the war. Both of his parents were killed in the Holocaust.
Kohn went on to study at the University of Toronto in Canada, where he majored in applied mathematics and then earned a PhD in physics at Harvard.
He taught physics at the University of California’s Santa Barbara and San Diego campuses and was instrumental in founding a Jewish studies department at the San Diego school. Kohn died in 2016 at the age of 93.
The lot in which Kohn’s Nobel medal was sold also included three science textbooks from Kohn’s early days as a physics and mathematics student. Bidding on the medal began at $275,000.
(jta.org; isnn.com)
