News Digest — 8/22/22
Gantz: Jerusalem Is Israel’s; Can’t Be The Palestinians’ Too
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital, and he cannot see how an arrangement can be made to make it belong to the Palestinians as well in an interview with radio 103FM on Monday morning (22nd).
“Jerusalem is Israel’s capital like it’s always been and will always be,” he said.
He went on to suggest that the Palestinian capital can be the villages surrounding Jerusalem.
“There are civilian villages that the Palestinians call Jerusalem, and they are not in the metropolitan envelope of Jerusalem, and they can be defined as their capital.”
Gantz also spoke about the maritime border dispute with Lebanon, saying that “Israel has announced that it will protect its assets and is willing to reach agreements with the Lebanese government.”
He added that he hopes Hezbollah doesn’t drag Israel into an armed conflict.
Regarding the Iran Deal, Gantz said that Israel isn’t ruling out an armed attack on Iran if need be.
“It’s not a good deal – it has a lot of holes,” he said. “Israel will need to make sure that its responses develop in order to be able to use them.”
Finally, when asked about the appointment of a new IDF chief of staff, Gantz responded that he would make an announcement soon.
Islamic Jihad Leader In Samaria To Face Charges In Israeli Court
Sheik Bassam al-Saadi the leader of the Islamic Jihad in the Samaria region who was arrested at the beginning of August, will face an indictment on terrorism offenses in an Israeli military court.
Al-Saadi’s arrest was the reason for the terrorist organization’s threats against Israel that led to Operation Breaking Dawn.
The IDF stated Sunday (21st) that the Shin Bet’s investigation of the leader of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin – on suspicion of committing crimes that constitute membership and performing service for a banned association, as well as incitement and support of terrorism – has ended.
The material of the investigation has been forwarded for consideration to the military prosecution, which states that it intends to file an indictment against al-Saadi.
The court granted the request of the military prosecution and extended his detention for five days, until August 25.
Al-Saadi holds very important information about all the terrorist activities of the Islamic Jihad in the Samaria area and is believed to be behind the terrorist organization’s unification and intensification in recent months. He was arrested by Israeli Special Forces on August 1, amid a heavy gun battle in Jenin.
In response to his arrest, the Islamic Jihad threatened to retaliate against Israel, and after four days of tensions and a state of high alert in the south, the IDF launched the 55-hour-long Operation Breaking Dawn against the Gaza-based terror organization which left about 25 terrorists dead, including two of its top commanders.
Taysir al-Jabari, commander of the Islamic Jihad’s northern division, was eliminated on the first day of the three-day offensive, and the commander of the southern division, Khaled Mansour, was eliminated the next evening. Khatab Amasi, Islamic Jihad’s commanding officer of the Rafah Brigade, and Ziad Madalal, Mansour’s deputy, were also killed in the strikes.
The Islamic Jihad leadership demanded the release of several prisoners held by Israel, including al-Saadi, as a condition for the ceasefire. Israel rejected the demands.
Ceasefire Talks Said To Cause Rift Between Israel And Egypt
The Egyptian-brokered ceasefire negotiations to end the recent conflict between Israel and Gaza-based terrorists hit an impasse and caused a “significant deterioration” in relations between Jerusalem and Cairo, Kan public broadcaster reported, citing unnamed sources.
Egypt, which has served as mediator in ending several rounds of conflicts between Israel and Gaza-based terror groups in recent years, worked with Qatar to end the three-day escalation earlier this month between Jerusalem and the Islamic Jihad. The skirmish saw more than 1,100 PIJ rockets fired at Israel.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, 49 people, including 15 children, were killed during the three-day operation. At least 11 children were killed by PIJ terror rockets that fell short of their target and landed inside Gaza.
Egyptian officials were further angered because Israel did not “take its foot off the gas” and reduce military activity in Judea and Samaria in the days following the operation, the report said. Instead the IDF carried out a major raid in Nablus following the truce, in order to arrest terrorists, killing several.
Operations in Judea and Samaria were ongoing for several months before Operation Breaking Dawn and continued after the ceasefire to round up terrorist cells in the area who were responsible for a number of terror attacks in the spring and early summer that took the lives of 19 Israeli citizens.
Hours after Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid hailed Egypt for its role in brokering a ceasefire with the Islamic Jihad terror group, Egypt’s representative at the United Nations lashed out at Israel for its “flagrant violation” of Palestinian rights, citing ‘inaccurate statistics’ to prove his point and denouncing the Jewish state’s blockade of Gaza – while conveniently omitting mentioning Egypt’s own blockade of the Strip.
Egyptian Ambassador to the UN Osama Abdel Khalek decried the “43 martyrs” who died during the 55-hour operation, a number that was inaccurate according to the UN’s own statistics, which were relayed to Abdel Khalek before his speech by the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland, according to the Times of Israel.
Abdel Khalek failed to distinguish between the deaths of Islamic Jihad terrorists and Palestinian civilians and condemned the arrests of terror suspects.
“Egypt will never abandon its historic responsibilities to the Palestinian brotherly people and our efforts to build a better future where peace, stability, and security will prevail in the Middle East,” he said.
(kan.org.il; worldisraelnews.com; timesofisrael.com)
Report: Cyprus, Israel Reach Deal On Iron Dome Sale
Cyprus has reportedly struck a deal with Israel to purchase defenses capable of shooting down Turkish Drones, Greek media reported.
The sides have already finalized the deal, although haven’t officially announced it, Kathimerini newspaper learned on Friday (19th).
The Cypriot Defense Ministry has reportedly started to “implement the government’s decision to purchase” the Iron Dome missile defense system, with agreements already being signed by Israel.
The media did not specify how many batteries of the system would be purchased, or when they would arrive in Cyprus. The two countries have been reportedly holding talks about the deal since early 2021.
Early in March, 2022, military chief Lieutenant-General Demokritos Zervakis went on his first official visit to Israel, where he met with his counterpart, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi. Zervakis also examined Iron Dome possibilities at that time.
During the March visit, the general also received a briefing at the northern border and visited an Iron Dome air-defense system battery,” the IDF said in a statement.
The air defense system is designed to intercept and destroy missiles and rockets heading for populated areas. It showed a 97% success rate during the recent Operation Breaking Dawn against Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket attacks, triggering additional interest among foreign buyers.
In October 2021, Greek news reports indicated that Cyprus was in advanced negotiations with Israel to purchase Iron Dome batteries.
The Greek news agency SIGMA also reported that Cyprus would purchase four warships from France, which together with the Iron Dome would be “a comprehensive response to any Turkish threat.”
The Iron Dome deal, if it materializes, could further undermine relations between Jerusalem and Ankara, which have been at loggerheads for many years stemming from geopolitical issues, although the two countries are currently repairing ties.
‘No Safe Haven’ For Zionists, IRGC Commander Warns
The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) reiterated on Saturday (20th) that Israelis could expect no safe haven in the Jewish State.
“The Zionists have no safe haven in occupied Palestine and all parts of the land are within the reach of Palestinian resistance movements’ firepower,” Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by Iran’s official Fars agency.
Salami has a long record of anti-Israeli and antisemitic statements.
“This year, many Zionists have been killed in operations by resistance group members in occupied Palestinian territories,” Salami said.
Following Operation Breaking Dawn between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group in the Gaza Strip earlier this month, Salami stressed that the Palestinian response showed “a new chapter had begun and that Israel will pay another heavy price for its recent crimes.”
“The Palestinian resistance is stronger today than in the past,” he said, adding that the Gaza groups have found “the ability to manage its major wars.”
Elsewhere in Iran, IRGC spokesman Ramazan Sharif said that Israel was in a “terrible security situation and under intense pressure.”
Touching on a report in Iranian international news that attributed the targeted killing of IRGC official Col. Hassan Sayeed Khodai to Israel, Sharif denied that Israel had “any intelligence presence at all” in the IRGC.
Surprise Summer Rain Washes Over Northern Israel
Heavy rain fell in Upper Galilee in the north of Israel on Sunday (21st), which is unusual for mid-August.
The rain was heavy enough that it caused some light flooding in some areas.
This is not a sign that autumn is approaching, as temperatures were set to rise on Sunday night (21st), with humid and warm weather forecasted.
“I was driving south on Highway 90, near the Guma Junction, when it suddenly started to rain,” said Dudu Finian from Mahanayim. It really rained hard for a while.”
“I felt like I was in Thailand,” Dana Moran-Ravid from the Youth Center in the Upper Galilee told News12. “I stepped out of the office for a minute, and suddenly rain washed over me from out of nowhere. I couldn’t believe this was happening in the middle of the summer, but, no doubt, it was definitely a change from our usual routine.”
The heavy rain washed over the Hula Valley, one of the most important birdwatching sites in the world. Located in the Galilee, hundreds of thousands of visitors are drawn to the Hula-Valley-Crane-Lookout to observe white cranes on their way to South Africa, stopping one last time before beginning their flight over the Sahara Desert.
Israel Meteorological Services said that rainfall during August is surprising, but it does occur occasionally in the area and that “it is not necessarily unusual.”
