October 2, 2018
IDF Neutralizes Over 100 Bombs Found Day After Violent Gaza Border Riots
The IDF said Saturday (9/29) that it neutralized over 100 explosives thrown at them by terrorists rioting at the Gaza border the previous day.
Over 20,000 Palestinians gathered at five locations along the Gaza Strip’s frontier with Israel Friday (9/28) in response to calls by Hamas, the terrorist group that has controlled Gaza since seizing it from the Palestinian Authority in 2007.
At the border fence, protesters burned dozens of tires, using the thick black smoke as a screen to throw rocks and explosives toward Israeli troops stationed on the opposite side of the fence. IDF soldiers responded with tear gas and gunfire.
The Israeli military said in a statement that in response to “over 100 grenades and explosive devices” hurled at troops during the protests, Israeli aircraft carried out two airstrikes on Hamas positions in the Strip. No Israeli casualties were reported.
“IMAGINE: A mob of 20,000 people throwing bombs and grenades, attempting to reach your home. The people of southern Israel don’t have to imagine, this is happening right now on Israel’s border fence with Gaza. Our troops are there to do what is necessary to protect Israeli civilians,” the IDF tweeted on Friday (9/28).
The next day, the IDF posted photos of bombs and other explosives material found in Israeli territory.
“With terrorists like this only minutes away from Israeli families, its the IDF’s duty to protect them,” the army said in a statement.
(worldisraelnews.com; ap.com)
Hamas Says Abbas Is Pushing Israel To Launch A New War In Gaza
A senior Hamas official on Sunday (9/30) accused Palestinian Authority Leader, Mahmoud Abbas of fomenting violence in the region and pushing Israel toward a new war in the Gaza Strip
“Abbas wants to control everything in Gaza, war is good for him,” Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a senior leader in the Gaza Strip told Arab media. Al-Zahar is in Cairo as part of a large delegation from Gaza taking part in talks to reach a Palestinian reconciliation deal and a possible long-term truce with Israel.
The talks have been deadlocked in recent months and Hamas blames Abbas who has imposed a series of crippling sanctions on the Strip in a bid to force Hamas to give up control. The terror group has ruled Gaza since it ousted Abbas’ rival Fatah faction in 2007.
Al-Zahar charged that the PA, together with several unnamed Arab states, were trying to persuade Israel to launch a wide-scale campaign in Gaza.
Recent days have seen a fresh upsurge in violence and Al-Zahar said the border violence would not subside until they achieve their goals.
“The Marches of Return will not end, no matter how much pressure they put on us,” he said.
(timesofisrael.com; afp.com)
Palestinians Ask World Court To Order US Embassy Out Of Jerusalem
The International Court of Justice said on Friday (9/28) it had received a complaint from the “State of Palestine” against the United States, which argued that the placement of the US Embassy in Jerusalem violates an international treaty and should be removed.
The court known as the World Court, is the United Nations’ venue for resolving disputes between nations.
It issued a statement saying the Palestinians were arguing that the 1961 Vienna Convention of Diplomatic Relations requires a country to locate its embassy on the territory of a host state.
The Palestinians have asked the court “to order the United States of America to withdraw its diplomatic mission from the Holy City of Jerusalem.”
Israel reunited west and east Jerusalem after the 1967 Six-Day War, but its sovereignty over east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state, remains internationally disputed.
In December, US President Donald Trump broke with decades of policy and recognized the united city as the Israeli capital, and said the US Embassy would relocate from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which it did in May.
Palestine was recognized by the UN General Assembly in 2012 as a non-member observer state. Its statehood is not recognized by either Israel or the United States.
Cases at the ICJ can take years to complete. Its decisions are final and legally binding but are not always adhered to. No date was immediately set for hearings.
(israelhayom.com)
In 3 Years, Russian Strikes On Syria Said To Kill 18,000, Half Of Them Civilians
BEIRUT, Lebanon – More than 18,000 people, nearly half of them civilians, have been killed in Russian airstrikes on Syria since Moscow began its game-changing intervention three years ago, a monitor said Sunday (9/30).
Russia, a steadfast ally of Syria’s ruling regime, began carrying out bombing raids in the country on September 30, 2015 – more than four years into the devastating conflict.
Since then, they have killed 18,096 people, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
“That number includes 7,988 civilians, or nearly half of the total,” said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
Another 5,233 Islamic State fighters were also killed in Russian strikes, with the rest of the dead including other rebels, Islamists and jihadists, the Britain-based monitor said.
Human rights groups and Western governments have criticized Russia’s air war in Syria, saying it bombs indiscriminately and targets civilian infrastructure including hospitals.
The White Helmets, a Syrian rescue force that works in opposition areas, said in a report released Sunday (9/30) that it had responded to dozens of strikes by Russia on buildings used by civilians since 2015.
They included Russian bombing raids on 19 schools, 12 public markets and 20 medical facilities over the past three years, as well as 21 of its own rescue centers.
(afp.com)
3 Arrested Over Botched Iranian Ad Featuring Israeli Soldiers
Iranian authorities say they have detained three people who were responsible for the blunder in which a billboard memorializing fallen Iranian soldiers mistakenly featured a photo of Israeli troops instead.
Media reports quoted the judiciary chief of the southern city of Shiraz, Ali Salehi, as saying on Friday (9/28) that prosecutors were conducting preliminary investigations in the case.
The street sign went up in Shiraz as part of the annual week-long commemoration events in memory of Iranian soldiers killed during the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War. This year, the 30th anniversary of the end of the war held particular significance.
The original photo showed the backs of one female and three Israeli soldiers standing on a hilltop near Hebron. It was edited to remove the female soldier and to change the backdrop to clouds, apparently to make the soldiers appear they were looking toward heaven. Farsi text was also added in praise of their sacrifice.
The billboard was ridiculed on Iranian social media, with some quickly pointing out that the mistake could have easily been avoided because the soldiers were carrying M-16 rifles, which the Iranian military does not use.
In the wake of the online backlash, local authorities took the billboard down under the cover of darkness a day after it was put on display.
(ynetnews.com; israelhayom.com)
