Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Israeli Soldiers Angered by ‘Breaking the Silence’ Claims Against IDF
A group of former IDF soldiers, incensed by an Israeli NGO’s claims that they abused Palestinians during last summer’s fighting in Gaza, have taken to social media to fight the allegations.‘#MyTruth’ Movement Grows Among IDF Soldiers Protesting ‘Breaking the Silence’ Report
Under the hashtag #my_truth in Hebrew, the soldiers, many of whom faced heavy fire from Hamas and other terrorist groups during the 50-day Operation Protective Edge, have begun posting stories of cases showing how they went to great lengths to avoid harming Palestinians. They also mention cases in which civilians took part in terrorist activity.
After reading the Breaking the Silence pamphlet, former IDF soldier Matan Katzman wrote on his Facebook page last Thursday that “during Operation Summer Rains in Beit Hanoun [in the northern Gaza Strip in 2006], we entered a house with a couple living in it. We asked them if they’re involved with Hamas, they said ‘no, not at all.’ We asked them if they have weapons in the house, they said ‘no, not at all.’ We stayed in the house for a couple of hours. When we left, we moved the couch and discovered an IED.”
The informal pro-IDF campaign by former Israeli soldiers also cited examples of humane and respectful behavior towards non-combatants during operations in Judea and Samaria.
Avishai Shorsham recalled in a testimony that he wrote of his service on his Facebook page on Wednesday, that “During an operation in the Nablus Kasbah, while we are in the middle of a stakeout, an old man who lived in the house felt sharp pain in his chest. Without accordance with our orders, we evacuated him in the middle of the night while endangering ourselves.”
According to the organization’s website, the recent Breaking the Silence pamphlet was produced with the “generous support” of such foreign organizations as Christian Aid, Dan Church Aid, Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat, as well as Open Society Foundations funded by George Soros.
One story, posted by Avihai Shoshan and Dror Dagan, tells of a risky 2004 mission to kill the head of Hamas’ Beit Lechem military operations, who was responsible for a deadly bus bombing in January that year which killed 11 people.Yarmouk and the Failure of Palestine Solidarity
“The Duvdevan Unit was chosen for the task, and after just a day-long briefing, set out to settle the score. The maneuvers themselves were complex and dangerous. For the purposes of security, we won’t elaborate. As we broke into the house and quickly checked the rooms, somebody fell and fainted who was later identified as the wife of that very senior Hamas operative.
“Dror, the company medic, didn’t hesitate and started treating the woman. Not two minutes passed when it turned out that the story of the fainting woman was really a trap. Everything was a show, a stalling trick to allow the wanted man to get organized. Inside a hollow wall, the wanted man is hiding and starts shooting indiscriminately. Several soldiers are immediately wounded, among them Dror the medic, who is mortally wounded.
“After a long rehabilitation, Dror is paralyzed from the chest down and is registered 100% disabled. Dror is wounded because he was educated on IDF ethical procedure of treating any wounded casualty, even if the casualty is the wife of a senior terrorist who faints during an arrest.”
The authors posted a picture apparently showing Dror in a wheelchair below the story.
Shorshan, one of the movement’s promoters, posted a call to fellow soldiers to “publish truth against the lies that Breaking the Silence has spread in Israel and around the world.”
If the story of Yarmouk tells us anything, it is that the Palestinian national movement and its supporters profoundly lack both intellectual imagination and moral integrity. Yarmouk might have been an opportunity for the Palestinian solidarity movement to re-examine its entire world view, now that an Arab regime is turning the descendants of the original Palestinian refugees into refugees themselves. Such a process would not necessarily lead to a meaningful transformation of the Palestinian view of Israel. But it could trigger a more honest appraisal of the role of Arab regimes in delaying a final resolution of the Palestinian issue, as well as recognition that the successive generations of Syrian-born Palestinians genuinely belonged to a country now ravaged by the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War.
To think in this way, though, would put the interpretation of the Nakba as an ongoing Israeli sin at risk, by introducing additional layers of unwelcome complexity. If Netanyahu can be called a war criminal, then why not Assad? If Palestinians in Yarmouk need solidarity and assistance now, how does talk of 1948 and the “right of return” help them? These and similar questions remain unasked by those who paraded through our streets with Palestinian flags last summer. Until they start asking them, more Palestinians will die in Syria and elsewhere in the Arab world.
Netanyahu's Coalition Says it Wants Peace with Palestinians
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's coalition stressed its desire Wednesday to achieve peace with the Palestinians and other Arab states as he prepared to present his new government.Obama sees 'difficult path' in renewing Israel-Palestinian talks
"The Jewish people have the indisputable right to a sovereign state in the Land of Israel, its national and historic homeland," read the coalition guidelines presented to parliament, AFP reported.
"The government will advance the diplomatic process and strive to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians and all our neighbors, while maintaining Israel's security, historical and national interests," they read.
Any such agreement would be submitted the Knesset, for approval "and if necessary by law, to a referendum".
President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he has not given up hope for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict but said tensions in the region and "serious questions about overall commitment" have made progress difficult.'EU must reassess Mideast policy, hold Israel to account for settlements'
"It's no secret that we now have a very difficult path forward. As a result, the United States is taking a hard look at our approach to the conflict," Obama said in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat, an Arabic international newspaper based in London.
"We look to the new Israeli government and the Palestinians to demonstrate - through policies and actions - a genuine commitment to a two-state solution," Obama said.
Obama said that he empathized with the concerns expressed by regional allies apprehensive over the possibility that Iran will be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.
A prominent group of former European diplomats and heads of state say that US policy with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has failed and that a new EU led approach is needed.Makovsky: Most land tenders announced during peace talks were agreed to by Abbas
According to a Wednesday report in the British newspaper The Guardian, the European Eminent Persons Group sent a letter to Brussels’ top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, demanding a “reassessment” that supports among other things a UN Security Council resolution that is expected to call for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2017.
The letter is also critical of current EU policy, specifically its use of financial assistance. It urges that tougher steps be taken to hold Israel accountable for West Bank settlement building, such as product labeling.
"We maintain our view that the current financial and political assistance given by Europe and America to the Palestinian Authority achieves little more than the preservation of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and imprisonment of Gaza,” the letter reads.
“The Palestinian Authority's tenuous grip on the West Bank population's allegiance has required strong security and other dependence on Israel, funded primarily by Europe and the US. Gaza has shamefully been left to one side."
The letter urges the European Union to pursue a tougher line on Israel in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election and the anticipated formation of his new rightist coalition.
During the nine months of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that ended in failure in 2014, 62 percent of Israel’s publicly announced tenders for housing beyond the Green Line were earmarked for the 1.9% of West Bank land that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had once consented would remain in Israel’s hands.Supporters of Israel Promoted in British PM Cameron’s New Cabinet
David Makovsky, who was a member of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s negotiating team during this period, pointed out this little-known fact during a speech Tuesday at a conference on US-Israel relations that took place at Bar- Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
Makovsky, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said that Israel was more “geographically cautious” with settlement announcements during the negotiating period than many realize.
“It would have been helpful if that could have been made public,” Makovsky said, explaining that for political reasons that was not a possibility.
This geographic caution was not stated publicly but was the policy.
Following his surprise victory in last week’s general election, British Prime Minister David Cameron has named his new cabinet, which includes two well-known supporters of Israel.Giuliani to IDF Soldiers: By Defending Israel, You Defend the US
The first all-Conservative cabinet in eighteen years (during his first term as Prime Minister, Cameron was forced into a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, who were decimated in last week’s elections) includes a record number of women ministers. Among them is Theresa May, who returns to the post of Home Secretary. Included in the brief for that job is combating the rise in anti-Semitism; speaking in the wake of the January 2015 terrorist atrocities in Paris, during which a kosher supermarket was attacked, May declared that the UK had to redouble its efforts to “wipe out anti-Semitism,” adding that she “never thought I’d see the day when members of the Jewish community” would be “fearful” of staying in the UK.
Two of the Conservative Party’s most vocal supporters of Israel also find themselves in the cabinet: Michael Gove, the former Education Secretary, has been promoted to Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary, while Robert Halfon enters the cabinet for the first time as minister without portfolio. Halfon has also been appointed deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.
As well as frequently expressing his support for the State of Israel, Gove has rounded on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in the UK. Speaking to the Holocaust Education Trust shortly after the summer 2014 war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Gove explicitly compared the BDS campaign to the boycotts of Jewish stores and goods imposed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani met Tuesday with ten Israeli soldiers wounded in last summer's Operation Protective Edge.UN Watch: UN Watch Condemns Saudi Bid to Head UN Rights Council, Urges World Leaders to Oppose “Oppressive, Fundamentalist Regime”
Giuliani met with the soldiers at a midtown Manhattan kosher restaurant, on their last day of a ten-day trip to New York City, arranged by the Chabad-affiliated nonprofit group Belev Echad (With One Heart).
The former mayor also stressed to the soldiers that the United States and Israel are fighting a common enemy in Hamas and other Islamic terror groups, further criticizing Obama for refusing to use that term.
Noting American admiration for the Israelis' service to their country, Giuliani praised one of America's "greatest allies" for also helping to defend the US against terrorist threats.
“We’re both fighting, America and Israel, the same terrorists, the same ideas about Jihad and because of Israel I think the United States gets a lot of help and a lot of support. We learn a lot about security … Hamas is an enemy of the United States also," Giuliani argued.
"Thank you very, very much for what you’re doing because by defending Israel you’re also defending America,” he said with gratitude.
The fundamentalist Saudi monarchy is seeking to head the world’s top human rights body, a move liable to be “the final nail in the coffin for the credibility of a body that already counts dictatorships like China, Cuba, and Russia as members, and whose top advisor is co-founder of the Muammar Qaddafi Human Rights Prize,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch, a non-governmental human rights group.Vatican recognizes state of Palestine in new treaty
“We urge U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power and EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini to denounce this despicable act of cynicism by a regime that beheads people in the town square, systematically oppresses women, Christians, and gays, and jails innocent bloggers like Raif Badawi for the crime of challenging the rulers’ radical brand of Wahabbist Islam.”
UN Watch has learned from diplomatic sources, as confirmed by the Tribune de Genève, that Saudi Arabia, an elected member of the 47-nation Human Rights Council, is actively lobbying the Asian group to be elected as president for 2016. Germany currently holds the presidency, a one-year term that rotates among the five regional groups.
“Electing Saudi Arabia as the world’s judge on human rights would be like making a pyromaniac as the town fire chief,” said Neuer.
The Vatican officially recognized the state of Palestine in a new treaty Wednesday, drawing criticism from Jerusalem.Netanyahu: Nuclear talks continue even as official says Iran has God's approval to destroy Israel
The treaty, which was finalized Wednesday but still has to be signed, makes clear that the Holy See has switched its diplomatic relations from the Palestinian Liberation Organization to the state of Palestine.
The Vatican had welcomed the decision by the UN General Assembly in 2012 to recognize a Palestinian state.
But the treaty is the first legal document negotiated between the Holy See and the Palestinian state and constitutes an official recognition.
Israeli officials criticized the Vatican announcement.
Netanyahu was speaking at a special Victory Day ceremony in the Knesset on Wednesday marking 70 years since the capitulation of the Nazis to the Soviet Union.Wiesenthal Center: ‘P5+1 Must Denounce Iran’s Latest Threat to Destroy Israel’
"Against the enemies of freedom, enlightenment and progress we need to stand firm and in a timely manner, in order to prevent them from using weapons of mass destruction in order to realize their murderous agendas," the prime minister said.
Netanyahu quoted a senior Iranian official who he said was quoted in Arab media sources on Wednesday as saying that Iran has God's permission to liquidate Israel.
"These statements are being heard by the representatives taking part in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, and the talks continue as normal," Netanyahu said.
"We need to stand firm to prevent the Iranians from using weapons of mass destruction to carry out their will against Israel," Netanyahu added.
A senior official of the Simon Wiesenthal Center attending an international conference in Israel, demanded that the world powers negotiating a deal that will remove sanctions against Iran, denounce the Iranian regime’s continuous threats to destroy Israel.John Bolton: A Nuclear Iran Cannot Be Contained
“Over 1,000 people have converged on Jerusalem for the Global Forum For Combating Anti-Semitism, but our efforts to turn back the escalating threats to world Jewry won’t mean much if the leaders of the civilized world maintain their silence as Tehran’s threats to destroy the Jewish state continue unabated and unchallenged,” charged Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the leading Jewish human rights NGO.
“Now is the time for the United States, Germany, France, and England to finally demand that Iran drop its genocidal threats against Israel.”
Rabbi Cooper was talking about the latest threat from Mojtaba Zolnour, the advisor to Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Whatever the outcome of this week’s meetings, the GCC states are likely to pursue their own increasingly independent policy from Washington. Their leaders might not like it but the evidence from six years (and counting) of the Obama administration is unmistakably that America does not stand by its allies when their time of troubles comes.JCPA: After the “Corker Vote”: the State of Opposition to the Iran Deal
The Arab monarchs are nothing if not realists and they will explore multiple options rather than relying solely on a weak, feckless president who cannot distinguish his country’s interests from those of its adversaries.
That prospect is truly discouraging, highlighting that, in the precious little time remaining, America’s real objective must be to do whatever is necessary to stop Iran from crossing the nuclear finish line (assuming it has not already done so undetected by us).
Obama, however, will most probably only give evidence of the continuing decline he has wrought in American influence throughout the critical Middle East and around the world.
Obstacles to the Iran AgreementRebuffing Iran, IAEA head says deal allows access to military sites
It should not be taken for granted that an agreement will be signed by the June 30 deadline. Pay less attention to the Washington dramas. Bellicose Iranian declarations, U.S. Administration obfuscation on details, and events in the region may trip up the Iranian and P5+1 diplomats closeting in Vienna this week.
If – and it may be a big if – a nuclear agreement is reached, Congress will have much to ponder, in particular the vast gaps between hitherto disclosed American “fact sheet” details and Iranian leaders’ understandings and declarations.
“If there is no end to sanctions, there will not be an agreement,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on April 15, 2015. “The end of these negotiations and a signed deal must include a declaration of cancelling the oppressive sanctions on the great nation of Iran.” Iran wants sanctions, including UN sanctions as well as separate U.S. and EU sanctions, to be lifted immediately. The United States says sanctions against Iran will be removed gradually.
On May 9, 2015, the Iranian Supreme Leader’s representative at the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Ali Saeedi, declared, “There is no possibility for the inspection of military centers.” Inspections will be limited to Iranian provinces in which a part of the country’s nuclear fuel production cycle exists. “If they want to put their nose into other places within the framework of inspections, it will be against our national interests and security, and neither the Supreme Leader nor the parliament will allow this to happen,” Saeedi said.
Iran tentatively agreed last month to open its atomic activities to greater scrutiny as part of the deal, which would require it to commit to curbing nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons in exchange for relief from international sanctions.Iran says much of nuclear deal already agreed
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since set conditions, declaring military sites off limits “to foreigners … under the pretext of inspections.” Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami of the Revolutionary Guards warns that anyone setting foot into an Iranian military facility will be met with “hot lead” — meaning bullets.
In an Associated Press interview Tuesday, Amano said Iran specifically agreed to implement what’s known as the agency’s “Additional Protocol” when it agreed to the outlines of the deal now being worked on.
The protocol would allow the Vienna-based agency’s inspectors much more access than they have now to follow up on suspicions of undeclared Iranian nuclear activities or equipment.
The United States and Russia are among the 147 countries with additional protocols, although the US and some others have provisions designed to ensure that inspections do not compromise national security, something Iran also demands. Still, Amano said the same rules will apply to Iran as to the others that have signed on.
“In many other countries from time to time we request access to military sites when we have the reason to, so why not Iran?” he said. “If we have a reason to request access, we will do so, and in principle Iran has to accept it.”
Amano said the agency can request access, clarification or a “short-notice inspection” anytime “there is any inconsistency (or) abnormality” to what Iran has declared as its nuclear work or assets.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tuesday that major portions of a draft nuclear agreement between Tehran and the P5+1 worlds powers have been agreed on, while acknowledging that some small differences remained.Merkel to Rivlin: Nuclear agreement unlikely to be reached with Iran
“We have now a text that a major part of it, even all its phrases, has been agreed but a part of it is still a source of difference,” Araqchi said in an interview upon arrival in Vienna on Tuesday, ahead of a next round of negotiations.
“In certain paragraphs, there is difference on one phrase and in certain other paragraphs, one sentence and in certain parts, the whole phrase has not been agreed; yet now a major part has ended,” he added.
Arachi said he hoped the agreement would be finalized by the target date of June 30.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Reuven Rivlin on Tuesday that reaching an agreement with Iran might prevent further development of Iran’s nuclear capability. However, she added, the current reality shows no promise of an agreement.Obama’s lonely Gulf summit
She also reiterated Germany’s commitment to Israel’s safety and security.
In response, Rivlin said that tougher sanctions on Iran would probably be a more effective measure than the present situation. He also emphasized that, if attacked, Israel reserves the right to defend itself to the best of its ability.
Prior to her meeting with Rivlin, Merkel visited a school in Berlin where she was asked by one of the students why Germany continues to sell weapons to Israel.
Merkel unhesitatingly replied that, because six million Jews lost their lives under the Nazi regime, Germany is obligated to defend Israel.
The White House may deny it, but the spotty attendance of Persian Gulf leaders at the summit meeting President Obama organized for them this week is an unmistakable signal of dissatisfaction with their U.S. ally. Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is not about to follow the example of Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu by publicly assailing Mr. Obama’s nuclear negotiations with Iran or his reluctance to counter its aggression across the region. But his decision not to attend a dinner and a day of discussions at Camp David after the White House had already announced his attendance — and the nonappearance of three of the five other heads of state — shows that the administration’s efforts to reassure these long-standing U.S. Middle East allies are falling short.Speaking to WWII veterans, Netanyahu compares Iran to Nazis
The cause of the Arabs’ dissastisfaction is not hard to discern. While insisting that he is ready to bolster their defenses and quiet their fears about an emerging U.S.-Iranian detente, Mr. Obama is offering only modest steps: a reiteration of past presidential statements pledging to defend the Gulf states against external attack; a plan to better integrate the region’s missile defenses; more sea and air exercises. What’s not on offer is what the kings and emirs say they want, including a formal defense treaty, sales of high-tech weaponry like the F-35 warplane and greater U.S. support for the forces fighting the Iranians and their proxies in Yemen and Syria.
Speaking at the Knesset during a discussion devoted to the victory of the Allied forces in World War II 70 years ago, Netanyahu said world powers should learn a lesson from the rise of Nazi Germany and not go ahead with an agreement that would allow Tehran to continue enriching uranium and lift sanctions.Kerry meets Putin, will ask to delay S-300 transfer to Iran
“The lesson of history is never to make concessions to a radical regime which waves the banner of genocide and expansionism,” he said. “This morning a senior Iranian official is quoted as saying Iran has divine permission to exterminate Israel. Those conducting the negotiations with Iran hear this and continue talks as usual.”
The statement was an apparent reference to the 1938 Munich accords, by which world powers allowed Hitler to carve up Czechoslovakia in the hopes of appeasing the Nazi leader — a comparison made before by Israeli officials.
Netanyahu cited Iran’s “tentacles of terror across the Middle East” and its burgeoning nuclear program, which is suspected of being for military purposes, saying Israel was obligated “to determinedly defend our sovereignty and security.”
“In parallel, we will not ease up on the effort to warn world powers that a compromising agreement with Iran will turn out to be a mistake that will cost dearly. In any case, Israel will defend itself, by itself, from any threat,” he said.
The top US diplomat will make the case to Putin that Russia should not proceed with its planned transfer of an advanced air defense system to Iran.If Sanctions Have Already Collapsed, We Know the Outcome of the Iran Talks
Diplomats in Moscow and Washington are at odds over an announcement last month that Russia would lift a five-year ban on delivery of an air defense missile system to Iran, drawing a hasty rebuke from the United States and Israel.
The White House said the missile system would give the Islamic Republic’s military a strong deterrent against any air attack. The Kremlin argues that the S-300 is a purely defensive system that won’t jeopardize the security of Israel or any other countries in the Middle East.
The deadline is fast approaching for the completion of the draft of the Iran nuclear agreement. When the framework was announced last month, the assumption was that the deal would soon be put on paper. But it soon became clear that there were serious differences on key issues between Iran and the West about the final terms of the pact that had to be hammered out in negotiations. President Obama has insisted that he will not budge on his insistence that Iran agree to sanctions being lifted on a delayed basis and be able to be “snapped back” in the event of Tehran violating the deal, the imposition of intrusive nuclear inspections and that it will be forced to give up its stockpile of enriched uranium. But confidence that he will stand his ground in the talks is being undermined daily by evidence that the economic sanctions that brought Iran to the table are already breaking down. As Eli Lake reports at BloombergView, the delivery of nine used commercial airliners in Iran for use by Mahan Air illustrates that the ground on which Obama is standing is falling apart. If sanctions can’t be kept now, why would Iran give in on any of these issues, let alone fear they would be re-imposed later?Iran threatens war if ‘aid ship’ to Yemen attacked
The airliner deal that Lake discusses is important because, as he notes, the U.S. Treasury Department has targeted Mahan Air in the past because of its ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. But now apparently, all is forgiven and the company’s efforts to bolster its fleet are not being interfered with by the U.S. or its allies.
The efforts of Russia, which has already announced the sale of anti-aircraft missiles to Iran, and China to undermine the sanctions to which they have only reluctantly endorsed, are well known. So, too, if the fact that Western Europe has been chomping at the bit to buy Iranian oil as well as do business in the country. As I wrote last month, even American companies are now eagerly preparing to dive back into the Iranian market.
Iran threatened to declare war on any country that attacks a ship it says contains humanitarian aid currently making its way to Yemen, accompanied by warships. The warning came amid heightened tensions after the Islamic Republic seized a cargo ship last month.MEMRI: Pakistani Urdu Weekly: 'Iran Is A Greater Danger For Muslims Than Israel' – Israel Has Not 'Massacred The Muslim Population In Iraq, Nor It Has Bloodied Rivers With Muslim Blood In Syria'
Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier-General Massoud Jazzayeri warned that any attack on “the Iranian Red Crescent aid ship will spark war in the region. And this fire may not be put out or brought under control.”
“The US and Saudi Arabia should know that Iran’s self-restraint has a limit,” he told the Arabic-language TV Alalam, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Following are excerpts from the Haftroza Al-Qalam article:Despite Risks to Personnel, Israel Has Treated 1,600 Syrians in Last Two Years
"Yes, Muslims! Iran Is A Danger; Only Iran Is The Protector Of Israel And Of All The Infidels In This Region [Of The Middle East]"
"[I am] grateful for the fact that because of the crisis in Yemen, Iran's reality has been exposed to a lot of Muslims. Iran is a greater danger for Muslims than Israel. British intelligence agencies' hundred-year effort created the Iranian Revolution. Yes, no doubt, Israel too is a big threat and a big enemy, but it lives in fear and worry to save its existence.
"It [Israel] has not helped international imperialists in Afghanistan; neither has it massacred the Muslim population in Iraq, nor it has bloodied rivers with Muslims' blood in Syria; it did not cut the throats of Muslims in Yemen. But Iran has done all of these. You just read the moving story of the horrible massacre of Muslims in the Iraqi city of Tikrit [by a pro-Iran militia]. You would not believe that man can resort to such cruelty.
"The West itself concocted and spread stories about Daulat-e-Islamia's [ISIS] cruelty, but the international media has not spared two minutes, or two lines, in reporting how in Tikrit the Iranian Pasban [militia] put Genghis Khan and Halaku Khan [the 13th century Mongol invaders] to shame. This is because Iran is, at this time, the 'darling' of the infidels.
Israel has treated 1,600 victims of Syria’s civil war over the last two years, according to a report written by Ron Ben-Yishai for Ynet. Ben-Yishai was on the Israeli-Syrian border in the Golan Heights and reported on the transfer of an injured fighter into Israel for treatment.IDF Gaza Front Commander Turns “Palestinian” Hero over Misquote
The recent escalation in fighting has led to a stream of wounded Syrians arriving almost daily, and “[i]t is likely that most if not all of these nationals are rebels from the rival jihadist Islamic State and al-Nusra Front groups.”
While there are trusted contacts on the Syria side of the border, the IDF still has to take precautions.
Reading the headlines various Middle East editors have slapped on a recent AFP/Reuters story, one would believe a top-ranking IDF officer switched sides, God forbid:PMW: PA and Fatah present Israel "as occupied Palestine"
“Israeli General: ‘Israel and Hamas have common interests.'”
“A top Israeli general thinks Hamas is crucial to peace in Israel”
“No obvious alternative to Hamas in Gaza, says top Israeli general”
“Israeli general says Hamas needed for Gaza stability”
These headlines display a remarkable level of wishful thinking on the part of Arab, European and Israeli editors, gleaning confirmation for their political views from a factual—and frank—discussion of realities in the Gaza strip by said officer.
It began with a meeting this week, between soon-retiring southern command chief Major General Sami Turgeman and local southern mayors, in which the commander addressed the situation in Gaza, eight months after last summer’s Operation Protective Edge, and what to expect from the next round of fighting against Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority and Fatah continue to deny the existence of Israel, presenting towns, villages and sites all over Israel as "Palestinian" and "occupied."Jimmy Carter Trying to Strong-Arm PA and Hamas into Reconciling
In the terminology of the PA's National Security Forces, Mount Tabor is situated in "occupied Nazareth" [Facebook, PA National Security Forces, March 10, 2015] and the hippodrome in Caesarea is in "Palestine" [Facebook, Feb. 8, 2015].
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement reiterated the same message - that there is no room for Israel next to "Palestine" - by stating:
"Palestine means the entire national land, from the [Jordan] River to the [Mediterranean] Sea The_land_is_for_us Palestine"[Facebook, "Fatah - The Main Page," April 8, 2015]
Since May 7, 2015, all broadcasts on official PA TV have been showing a logo with the PA's representation of the map of "Palestine," which includes the PA areas, the Gaza Strip and all of Israel. The map appears with a key, symbolizing the "return" of Palestinians. PA TV possibly shows the logo in anticipation of the annual "Nakba day," May 15, when Palestinians commemorate the "catastrophe" of the establishment of the State of Israel.
Former US President Jimmy Carter is reportedly pushing for the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas to reconcile, against the wishes of both organizations.Khaled Abu Toameh: Hamas says Fatah behind recent Gaza bombings
According to AI Monitor, two weeks ago Carter visited PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah; during their talks, Carter encouraged Abbas to return to the Beach Refugee Camp Agreement from last year, in which the PA and Hamas agreed to combine into one unified government.
He was unable to visit Gaza due to security restrictions, but managed to communicate a similar message to Hamas leaders.
Both Hamas and the PA representatives said that they were uninterested in Carter's plan.
Hamas on Tuesday accused members of its rival Fatah faction of being behind the recent spate of bombings in the Gaza Strip.Lebanon turns to UNIFIL to end air, sea, land ‘border violations’ by Israel
A senior Hamas official said that investigations into the bombings, which targeted security installations and figures in the Gaza Strip, showed that Fatah members associated with the Palestinian Authority security forces in the West Bank were responsible for the attacks.
The official denied that Salafi jihadists who are affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group were linked to the bombings.
The Hamas official was quoted by the Palestinian Amad news agency as saying that at least 12 Fatah members have been arrested in the Gaza Strip in connection with the bombings.
In a meeting chaired by the head of mission and force commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, Maj.- Gen. Luciano Portolano, and attended by senior officers from the Lebanese and Israeli armies, Israel’s neighbor demanded a halt to “Israeli violations” of its sovereignty.Syrian rebels claim Nasrallah suffered stroke
“The Lebanese delegation presented [a list of] Israeli violations by air, ground and sea, demanding they halt immediately,” the Lebanese army said in a statement, according to the Beirut-based Daily Star.
“The Lebanese delegation] stressed the need to resolve incidents in the field, even if they are simple, in order to prevent them from developing and causing larger incidents,” the statement said.
The Lebanese delegation, headed by Brig.-Gen. Muhammad Janbeh, argued that UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006, needs to be implemented.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has suffered a stroke and is being treated at a Beirut hospital, websites affiliated with the Syrian rebels claimed on Tuesday, spawning a maelstrom of rumors.Israel Says Hezbollah Positions Put Lebanese at Risk
The online reports, which were not independently confirmed by any official source, said the cerebrovascular accident was not serious, and that the Shi'ite group's leader was evacuated to the Al Rasul Al Azam Hospital in Dahye last Thursday.
It was not immediately clear if Nasrallah suffered from cardiac arrest or a stroke, but the Syrian sites reported he was still in the southern-Beirut hospital, under medical supervision.
"Nasrallah has suffered from inadequate health as of late," the rebels said, as the news slowly made the rounds on the Internet, "and has seemed drained -- sweating and reaching for water in recent TV appearances."
Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah is a longtime ally of Syria's President Bashar aAssad and has been directly involved in combat in the war-torn country.
Viewed from the air, Muhaybib looks like a typical southern Lebanese village — a cluster of about 90 houses and buildings punctuated by the minaret of a mosque and surrounded by fields.
But when the Israeli military trains its lens on that hilltop Shiite village close to the border, it sees nine arms depots, five rocket-launching sites, four infantry positions, signs of three underground tunnels, three antitank positions and, in the very center of the village, a Hezbollah command post.
As Israel prepares for what it sees as an almost inevitable next battle with Hezbollah, the Shiite Lebanese organization that fought a monthlong war against Israel in 2006, Israeli military officials and experts are warning that the group has done more than significantly build up its firepower since then.
Maps and aerial photography provided to The New York Times by Israeli military officials this week illustrate, they say, that Hezbollah has moved most of its military infrastructure into the Shiite villages of southern Lebanon and around their perimeters. Israel says this amounts to using the civilians as a human shield.
Without knowing when the next war will break out, or what might precipitate it, the Israelis are blunt about the implications: They will not hesitate to strike at those targets, so southern Lebanon will most likely be the scene of widespread destruction.
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