Report In Syria: Dramatic IDF Operation In The Damascus Area
A Syrian military source told Al Jazeera on Wednesday evening (27th) that IDF forces had been deployed at a military base in Al-Kiswah, south of Damascus.
According to the source, dozens of soldiers were present at the site with equipment used for conducting searches. The force reportedly remained at the base for over two hours before departing in the same manner they arrived.
At the same time, reports surfaced of Israeli airstrikes in the Al-Kiswah area.
The Syrian television channel Sham TV reported that nine Syrian army soldiers were killed and others were injured in the strikes.
According to the report, this is a preliminary estimate of the number of casualties and injuries from the strikes.
In response, the IDF stated that “it does not comment on foreign reports.”
The reports come a day after six Syrian soldiers were killed in alleged Israeli drone strikes in the same area.
Defense Minister Israel Katz tweeted Thursday morning (28th): “Our forces are operating on all fronts, day and night, for Israel’s security.”
On Sunday (24th), the IDF revealed that soldiers from the 474th Golan Brigade under the command of the 210th Division, conducted several raids last week to locate weapons and apprehend and interrogate suspects in southern Syria.
Meanwhile Defense Minister Israel Katz declared on Tuesday (26th) that the IDF will continue to hold Mount Hermon and maintain the necessary security zone to defend communities in the Golan Heights and Galilee.
Katz said the decisions stem from lessons learned from October 7 and the need to prepare for future threats on the northern front.
“We will not allow the Israel-Syrian border to become a threat to our communities,” he stressed.
‘A Significant Source of Knowledge:’ IDF Kills Hamas’ Head of General Security Apparatus In Gaza
The Israeli Air Force last Friday (22nd) struck and killed Mahmoud al-Aswad, who served as Hamas’ General Security Apparatus leader in the Gaza Strip, the military announced on Wednesday (27th).
Aswad operated as the terrorist organization’s general security leader for Western Gaza, with the military describing him as a “significant source of knowledge” for Hamas.
The strike was conducted following IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) intelligence.
Additionally, IDF soldiers operated in Jabalya and the outskirts of Gaza City, dismantling terrorist infrastructure and killing Hamas personnel, amid the upcoming operations to take over Gaza City. In the northern city, the IDF’s Givati Brigade under the 152nd Division struck a terror cell and located a weapons storage facility, the military added.
Meanwhile in the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers killed a number of Hamas terrorists who advanced towards the troops in Khan Yunis. The terrorists were killed with the assistance of the IAF.
Additionally, on Tuesday night (26th), the IDF’s 607th Engineering Battalion, which the military stated was “established following the lessons learned from October 7,” began operating for the first time in the Gaza Strip under the command of the Givati Brigade Combat Team.”
Chief Of Staff Calls For Unity, Full Participation In Gaza Campaign
The Chief of the General Staff, LTG Eyal Zamir, conducted a field tour Wednesday (27th) in the Gaza Strip together with the Commander of the Southern Command, MG Yaniv Asor,and other leading commanders.
During the tour, the Chief of the General Staff was presented with the recent activities of the Etzioni Reserve Brigade and the Southern Brigade in the Gaza Strip. He spoke to the troops and commanders of the Etzioni Brigade, whose reserve duty was extended as part of the development in the campaign, and emphasized his appreciation for their activity in the Gaza Strip during these days.
Zamir said : “We are in a multifront campaign and are operating on all fronts with full strength. There are arenas in which we have already operated and are prepared to operate again if required.”
“Our main effort at this time is in enhancing the operation in Gaza City. We are focused on this right now and are continuing operational moves on the ground. We are committed to bringing back the hostages, defeating Hamas, and ensuring that an event like October 7 never happens again.”
“Thanks to the reservists, Israel stands tall against every enemy – your sacrifice is an inspiration to us all. Conscripts, career soldiers, and tens of thousands of reservists are answering the call and sacrificing their personal lives, along with their families, for the security of the state. You embody the deepest expression of Israeli solidarity and of commitment to the future of the state.”
“We will do everything to create stability and to reduce the burden on the reservists, with the understanding that this is a precious national resource.”
“Against the backdrop of challenges across all arenas, we cannot accept a situation in which not all parts of society bear the burden. Israel’s security requires the full partnership of all parts of the nation. This is a civic duty and a national imperative. I call on everyone to enlist and contribute their share equally – this is the call of the hour – and we all must respond to it,” he concluded.
The Battle For Gaza City Is Beginning – Col. (ret.) Richard Kemp
The Battle of Gaza City does not need to happen. The expected loss of human life and physical destruction could be avoided, if Hamas laid down its arms and released the hostages. That is made much less likely by the words and actions of Western leaders.
The pressure they are piling on Israel to end the war, including threats to recognize a “Palestinian state,” are translated by Hamas into signals to them to fight on. Why would they give up the struggle if there is a chance their enemy will be restrained by its own so-called allies? It is hard to reconcile the constant attacks on Israel’s vital self-defense with the near silence about the savages that started this war and keep it going.
Threats of force with the means to back it up, accompanied by unquestioned political will, is the only language tyrants understand. Instead, what is the West’s response? To undermine it with every means at their disposal.
The IDF has no choice but to destroy Hamas in Gaza City. Hamas has to be defeated, the hostages rescued, and their rule that threatens Israel and keeps the population subjugated to their will ended. This will be a battle for good against evil, and if Israel has to fight it, the West should not get in the way.
The writer, a former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, was chairman of the UK’s national crisis management committee, (COBRA)
“There Will Not Be A Palestinian State,”Sa’ar Says After meeting With Marco Rubio
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, when asked by reporters in Washington what the plan was for a Palestinian state, said that there would not be one.
Sa’ar made the comment to reporters following a Wednesday meeting (27th) with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington that the foreign minister described as “very good.”
The pair discussed key issues in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, as well as the importance of countering Iran’s malign influence. They did not take questions from the press ahead of the meeting.
Sa’ar is also slated to meet with Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, whom he hosted in Israel in May following the murder of two employees at the Israeli Embassy in Washington.
Building Thousands Of Homes In E-1 Is Critical For The Future Of Jerusalem And For Israel’s Security – David M. Weinberg
Every Israeli prime Minister since Yitzhak Rabin has planned and promised to build in the E-1 quadrant adjacent to Jerusalem. E-1 begins on the eastern slopes of the Mount of Olives and is the last significant piece of unsettled land in the Jerusalem envelope. It is the only place where thousands of homes can be built to overcome Jerusalem’s serious housing shortage.
There has been no significant new building underway in the Jerusalem envelope for more than two decades. Jerusalem needs 6,000 new apartments a year just to meet the demands of natural growth.
Highway No. 1, which runs from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and down to the Jordan Valley, is the only west-east axis across the State of Israel with a Jewish population majority. It is the only safe route through which Israel can mobilize troops from the coast to the Jordan Valley in case of a military emergency. Israel needs to secure the road via the E-1 corridor and the city of Maale Adumim.
The world needs to understand that Jewish communities beyond the 1967 lines are not “obstacles to peace” and do not constitute “occupation” of foreign land, but rather are manifestations of Jewish return to ancestral lands.
Many Israelis once entertained the possibility of a full-fledged, democratic, and demilitarized Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria living in peace alongside Israel – but no longer. The slaughter of the Second Palestinian Intifada disabused most Israelis of that notion, and Hamas’ Oct.7assault buried it even deeper. It is no longer believable or feasible, at least for the very long term.
The writer is a senior fellow at Misgav: The Institute for National Security & Zionist Strategy.
Mossad Locates And Retrieves Syria’s Files On Eli Cohen
Eli Cohen was a master spy for Israel; some believe him to have been the greatest spy in the history of the Jewish state.
He was born in Egypt, was a native speaker of Arabic, and then moved to Israel, where he was recruited by Mossad to infiltrate the highest circles in the Syrian government.
He was first sent to live in Argentina, for several years, establishing his cover as a Syrian businessman in exile. He then moved to Syria, where he was accepted among the Syrian community as a returning Syrian businessman.
He soon managed to penetrate the highest official and business circles, frequently giving parties where his guests, including military men, would talk freely about their work and their plans.
Eventually Eli Cohen was found out, and executed.
Several months ago, the Mossad brought back from Syria a huge cache of material about Eli Cohen that had been held in the strictest secrecy.
How those Mossad agents managed to locate the 2500 documents, and bring them all back intact to Israel is another story of derring-do that we may never find out about.
Within the files, the Mossad found Cohen’s original forged passports, his apartment keys, and messages and assignments he received from the Mossad.
In addition, the files contain an original copy of the last will and message which Cohen wrote before his execution, which until now was only available to the public as a copy of the content.
Even though Eli Cohen’s body has never been found, the new discoveries were revealed near the 60th anniversary of Cohen’s death.
A master spy, Eli Cohen is a national hero in Israel. Many questions remain that will not be answered definitively by these documents, which will be studied by historians and made available to the wider public.
Now we will learn how Cohen managed to inveigle so many high officials, civilians and military, to attend his soirees; what he learned about the deployment of Syrian troops, especially on the Golan Heights; how he persuaded the Syrian military to plant eucalyptus trees at military outposts so as to provide shade for their troops, trees which later served as targets for the IDF; whether Cohen—who paid a brief visit back to Israel in 1964—wanted to remain in Israel, as some say, but was persuaded by the Mossad handlers to return to Syria; how he was caught by Syrian counterintelligence; and how, brave to the last, he died, hung in public in Damascus, in 1965, at the age of 40.
