Four Gazans carrying knives, grenades arrested crossing border
Four Palestinians were caught Thursday evening (1st) by IDF forces trying to infiltrate through the Gaza border into Israel, carrying knives and grenades. The security establishment is looking into whether they were planning a terror attack or purposefully were trying to get arrested to avoid Gaza’s deteriorating economic situation.
According to reports, the suspects were observed by IDF spotters as they approached the border fence and were apprehended immediately after crossing into Israel.
(ynetnews.com)
Israel braces for growing Iranian threat in Lebanon and Syria
The Israeli security cabinet will convene a special meeting next Tuesday (6th) to discuss the growing involvement of Iran in Lebanon, Channel One Israeli television reported Thursday night (1st). According to the report, the meeting comes amid Iran’s effort to strengthen its grip on Lebanon and build a precision missile factory inside the country. Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot is due to brief the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday (4th), when he will deliver his annual assessment of the situation along Israel’s borders, including the situation in Lebanon and Syria.
(worldisraelnews.com)
Top adviser to Khamenei says Iran’s regional influence ‘inevitable’
The top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday (1st) the country’s leadership has no intention of reining in its influence across the Middle East despite U.S. pressure to do so, the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who sees Iran as a rising threat to regional stability in the Middle East, has pledged to work with Gulf Arab states and Israel to curb what they say are Tehran’s attempts to extend its influence in the region.
“Iran’s influence in the region is inevitable and to remain a key player in the region, this influence will continue,” the adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, was quoted as saying.
(farsnews.com)
Israeli Ambassador to UN slams Poland’s Holocaust bill
Addressing an annual service to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day, Thursday (1st) at the United Nations General Assembly, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon warned the world against allowing a legislation to pass that denies the truth and rewrites history.
Despite his warning, hours after the ceremony, the Polish Senate passed the controversial bill that will outlaw blaming the country of Poland for crimes of the Holocaust committed on its soil.
“On this Holocaust Remembrance Day, we tell our children the unthinkable stories of this dark chapter in human history so that no tragedy of this kind will ever happen again,” Danon said. Warning against allowing any legislation that denies the truth and attempts to rewrite history, Danon added “as we honor those few brave souls who stood strongly against evil and saved Jews from death, we must not forget those who cooperated with the Nazi evildoers. We will firmly oppose any attempt to distort the truth.”
(worldisraelnews.com)
Ukraine leader’s concern for ‘unacceptable’ Polish Holocaust bill
KIEV, Ukraine – Ukraine’s leader said Thursday (1st) that he was “deeply concerned” by Poland’s adoption of a controversial Holocaust bill which was designed to defend the country’s history, but has instead sparked an uproar.
“I am deeply concerned by the decision of the Polish Parliament,” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wrote on Facebook.
(timesofisrael.com)
U.S. adds Hamas political chief to terrorist list
The U.S. State Department has added the leader of Hamas’ political wing to the list of designated terrorists.
Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, is the head of Hamas’ political bureau and a former Palestinian Authority prime minister. He was placed on the list because the State Department determined that he has either committed or is a risk to commit terror attacks that harm U.S. citizens or the country’s national security or economy, according to a State Department news release on Wednesday (1/31).
(jta.org)
Hamas ‘undeterred’ by U.S. terror designation
The U.S. decision to put the head of the Hamas terror group on its terror blacklist on Wednesday (1/31) will not deter “our resistance to Israel,” the group said.
“The American decision to include Ismail Haniyeh on the terrorist list is a failed attempt to pressure the resistance,” said the group that runs the Gaza Strip.
“This decision will not deter us from continuing the resistance option to expel the occupation,” it said in a statement.
Hamas, which has fought three wars against Israel since 2008, receives support from Iran.
(afp.com)
Jerusalem Belongs to the Jews: An Islamic Truth – Qanta Ahmed
As a believing Muslim observing Islam, I am compelled by the Koran to support Israel’s sole claim to the Holy Land; the Koran says it is so. The Koran states: “Moses said to his people: O my people! Remember the bounty of God upon you when He bestowed prophets upon you, and made you kings and gave you that which had not been given to anyone before you among the nations. O my people! Enter the Holy Land which God has written for you.”
Nowhere does the Koran make mention of the Muslims’ claim to the Holy Land. Instead, God reveals in the Koran that the Holy Land is designated for the followers of Moses. It is this Islamic truth that political Islamists vehemently deny. Dr. Qanta A. Ahmed, MD a British-American Muslim and member of the Council on Foreign Relations, is Associate Professor of Medicine at the State University of New York.
(timesofisrael.com)
Russia, Israel discuss security for 2018 Soccer World Cup
MOSCOW – The Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev has discussed security issues at this year’s Soccer World Cup with his Israeli counterpart Meir Ben-Shabbat, RIA news agency reported on Thursday (1st).
“The exchange of information between the two countries’ law enforcement agencies, cooperation for legal assistance requests and cooperation for providing security throughout preparations for and during the 2018 world event were discussed,” Russia’s Security Council said in a statement.
Russia will host the World Cup from June 14 to July 15 in 12 venues spread across 11 cities including Moscow, St Petersburg and Sochi.
(russiainsider.com; reuters.com)
Smoke Grenade hurled in Ukrainian bookstore during Holocaust lecture
MOSCOW – An unidentified person wearing a ski mask hurled a smoke grenade into a Ukrainian bookstore during a lecture about the Holocaust.
At least 45 people were attending a talk entitled “A terrible story: The Holocaust. Memory. Pain. Lessons” at the E bookstore on Monday evening (1/29) in Lviv, in western Ukraine, when the incident occurred.
The event was a lecture by the Holocaust historian Elena Andronatiy.
After the smoke subsided and the room was aired out, the lecture resumed. There were no injuries.
More than 130 anti-semitic incidents were recorded in Ukraine last year.
(jta.org)
