Thursday, August 31, 2023

08/31 Links Pt1: Four terrorist attacks in 24 hours; Signs Of Possible War In September-October; An Iran disaster of Biden's own making

From Ian:

MEMRI: Signs Of Possible War In September-October
Lately there have been growing indications that a war against Israel may break out in September or October 2023. The trigger may be spiraling violent clashes resulting in many casualties, or the use of new weapons leading to many fatalities on the Israeli side, in the face of which Israel will be unable to suffice with its regular counterterrorism measures.[1] While neither Hamas nor Hizbullah are eager to start a comprehensive confrontation with Israel,[2] such a confrontation could result from an uncontrolled deterioration on the ground or from the use of new and unusually deadly weapons by these movements.

The following are some of the factors pointing to the possibility of a war breaking out in the coming months:

1. Growing Provocations By Hizbullah On Israel's Northern Border
In the recent months, Hizbullah has repeatedly instigated increasingly bold provocations on the border. These included setting up tents in the Har Dov area, inside Israeli territory;[3] dismantling surveillance cameras along the border fence near Fatima Gate,[4] and firing an anti-tank missile into Israel.[5] In addition, Hizbullah, which does not recognize the Blue Line as the international border between Lebanon and Israel, has recently made a new territorial claim, demanding that Israel give Lebanon sovereignty over the northern Rosh Hanikra railway tunnel, likewise in Israeli territory.[6] At the same time, it also demands to curtail UNIFIL's freedom of action in South Lebanon. [7]

2. Adoption Of Gaza Fighting Methods By Islamist Terrorist Organizations In The West Bank, Such As The Firing Of Rockets And Excavation Of Command-And-Control Tunnels
The Palestinian terror organizations, especially Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), seek to change the mode of operation against Israel in the West Bank by duplicating the fighting methods used by the terrorists in Gaza.[8] This is manifest in the firing of rockets from the West Bank into Israel, the excavation of "command-and-control tunnels" in the West Bank (though not, as yet, tunnels infiltrating Israeli localities), and in military cooperation between different terror organizations, following the example of the Joint War Room in Gaza. There has also been an increase in efforts by Iran and Hizbullah to smuggle weapons into the West Bank, similar to the smuggling of weapons into Gaza.[9] PIJ secretary-general Ziad Al-Nakhaleh said that, during his June 2023 meeting with Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei, the latter had "reiterated [the need to] develop the arming of the West Bank and the resistance there." Nakhaleh added: "We, as Palestinians and as resistance forces and movements, understand the importance of arming the West Bank, but this requires efforts by the Palestinians themselves, and also the assistance of our brothers in the Islamic Republic of Iran."[10]

3. Possibility Of Clashes In Al-Aqsa During The Jewish Holidays In September, Potentially Sparking Violence Outside Jerusalem As Well
During the Jewish holidays in September and October, Jews are likely to visit the Al-Aqsa compound, as happens every year. Hamas and Hizbullah spokesmen have stressed that this could lead to a regional war. Saleh Al-'Arouri, deputy chairman of Hamas' Political Bureau and head of the movement's military wing in the West Bank, said in an interview with the Al-Mayadeen channel: "There are some in the [Israeli] cabinet who are contemplating measures like taking over and dividing the Al-Aqsa mosque, and carrying out assassinations." These people, he added, "know that this may lead to regional war." He recalled statements made by Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah, that "any attack on the Al-Aqsa mosque or on Jerusalem will prompt a regional war." [11]
Avi Abelow: The Palestinian Authority is an enemy entity
We have the most right-wing, proudly Jewish, sovereignty-in-Judea & Samaria-supportive government we ever will have, and even this government can't do anything to stop the terror war against us and the illegal Palestinian Authority land grab in Area C of Judea & Samaria.

Why? Because this government is not making the one policy change necessary to allow the IDF to end the terror war against us. What is that one thing? To finally implement a policy based on reality, recognizing that the Palestinian Authority is an enemy entity for its non-stop support of terror to kill Jews and destroy the Jewish state of Israel.

That is the one change necessary.

Once that change is made, Israel would stop transferring money to the Palestinian Authority, and calling upon world governments to stop funding the Palestinian Authority. Without this funding, the Palestinian Authority would have no money to continue funding the terror war against us.

In addition, the IDF would no longer go after individual terrorists, which achieves nothing, rather, the IDF would be given the order to take down the whole senior leadership of all terror organizations, including the Palestinian Authority, and remove all weapons in the hands of terrorists in Judea & Samaria.

I know it is a pipe dream, and the world would scream bloody murder at Israel for implementing such a policy, but this simple truth must be repeated loud and clear for at least the Jewish people to wake up to the dangerous deception we live with day after day. Only after we repeat this message enough will our "leaders" stop ignoring this reality and demand this step as well.

As we approach the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Oslo accords, it is imperative that this fact no longer be ignored.

The Palestinian Authority is our enemy and it is an absolute travesty that it is not treated as such.
Seth Mandel: An Iran disaster of Biden's own making
Princeton University’s announcement that it has hired President Joe Biden’s senior Iran envoy Robert Malley is full of praise for Malley’s career experience, and it notes that Malley is spending time this fall at the school while he is “on leave” from the State Department. In what I’m sure is an innocent oversight, the press release neglects to explain why Malley is suddenly on leave and available to spend a semester or more at Princeton in the midst of the administration’s ongoing negotiations with Iran.

Malley has lost his security clearance and has reportedly been under FBI investigation for mishandling classified information.

The Biden administration has lied repeatedly, to members of Congress of both parties and other State Department officials, about Malley’s transgressions, so the Princeton announcement is useful. The Biden White House has forced the public to play Kremlinology, reading scraps of information to attempt to piece together what on earth its secretive, borderline-paranoiac government is doing.

The administration — and I’ll explain why in a bit — is unbothered by Malley’s lapses. It kept him on his tasks after he lost his security clearance and even after it could no longer hide his clearance suspension.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) of the foreign relations committee and ally of President Biden, told CBS last month he had not been briefed and that “there is a lot of concern and interest in Congress on that committee and others about the status of any potential negotiation with Iran."

He continued, "The Iranians are providing the Russians critical drones and munitions for their aggression in Ukraine. I think that puts even greater tension on any possible conversations between the United States, our regional allies, and Iran. And I do think we need a briefing to update the members of Congress.”

Princeton’s decision to pick up Malley’s paycheck until the government is allowed to pay him again is an interesting move. The university is acting as an arm of the Biden administration while making a mockery of both the FBI investigation and national security more broadly, though the latter is perfectly in character.

Why isn’t the White House the least bit bothered by the national security implications of Malley’s actions?


Grant Shapps becomes first Jewish UK defence secretary for nearly 30 years
Grant Shapps has been appointed defence secretary after Ben Wallace formally handed in his resignation.

Wallace announced last month that he would resign from the senior Cabinet role at the next reshuffle, bringing an end to his four years in the job.

In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Wallace said: "The Ministry of Defence is back on the path to being once again world-class with world-class people.

"The United Kingdom is respected around the world for our armed forces and that respect has only grown more since the war in Ukraine.

"I know you agree with me that we must not return to the days where defence was viewed as a discretionary spend by Government and savings were achieved by hollowing out."

Seen as one of the more popular cabinet ministers among Tory members, Wallace was at one time seen as a potential leadership contender.

He ruled himself out of the running for the Conservative leadership last year despite being an early frontrunner in the race to replace Boris Johnson.

The former prime minister praised the outgoing defence secretary and appeared to give his approval to Shapps as a successor.

Posting on Twitter, he said: "Sad to see the departure of my friend Ben Wallace. A fine Defence Secretary who got so many calls right - especially on Ukraine. Grant Shapps is an excellent choice to succeed him.”
Turkish outlet links Chabad to Mossad, LGBT support in Northern Cyprus
The Turkish publication, Milli Gazete, claimed on Wednesday that the Chabad-Lubavitch Jewish organization has been operating in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and supporting the LGBT community.

The Milli Gazete report alleges, "Chabad commits many crimes. They launder money and leak information to Mossad. They decipher all military points. They buy land from near military areas, as in Geçitkale."

The report also mentions that "Chabad also supports LGBT."

What claims does the Turkish media outlet make about Chabad?

Further insights from the original article include:
Milli Gazete claims that Chabad-Lubavitch is the primary force behind Zionist land acquisitions in the TRNC.
The region is voicing concerns over the potential transformation of Northern Cyprus into a part of the "Great Israel Project" if the ongoing land sales are not halted.
An unnamed TRNC official has informed Milli Gazete that through the organization, Zionists have secured approximately 25,000 acres of TRNC land through nearly 2,000 companies.
Rabbi Haim Azimov, identified as the head of Chabad's TRNC structure, was reportedly dispatched to the TRNC by the US in 2006. Following significant political shifts in 2008, Chabad's influence and activities in the region have allegedly increased.
The TRNC official also made significant allegations, pointing to unauthorized activities by Chabad, threats towards those opposing them, and connections to organized crime.


Judea and Samaria terror wave shows no signs of slowing
Palestinian terrorism in Judea and Samaria continues to surge, with an attack near Modi’in on Thursday claiming the life of an IDF soldier and wounding three others, as well as a Palestinian and two Israeli civilians.

Terrorists have murdered 36 civilians and soldiers in Israel this year alone—compared to 31 in the whole of 2022 and 18 in 2021.

In Thursday’s attack, the terrorist, later identified as Daoud Abdel Razeq Fayez, from the Palestinian village of Deir Ammar, near Ramallah, spotted a group of off-duty Israel Defense Forces artillery battalion soldiers making their way home at a bus stop on the Israeli side of the Maccabim crossing between Judea and Samaria and Israel proper. Fayez, who was driving a truck with Israeli license plates, then ran the soldiers down.

He himself was returning home after working in the Israeli city of Gedera, and made a U-turn on Route 443 after spotting the soldiers, according to the preliminary investigation of the incident.

The terrorist’s age and family status (a father of five in his 40s), and the fact that he held an Israeli work permit, having passed security screening, break from the conventional terrorist profile, raising concerns in Israeli security circles.

Israel currently allows some 150,000 Palestinians to work within its borders and in Judea and Samaria Israeli communities, as part of a policy designed to limit the appeal of terrorist recruitment efforts and incitement.

Differentiating between civilians and terrorists, and using economic opportunities to help stabilize Judea and Samaria, counteracting the influences of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Iran, has been a central pillar of Israel’s approach. This has been combined with nightly raids to pre-empt attacks and capture wanted terrorists. Such measures have prevented several hundred terror attacks in the past year, but a growing number are slipping through the net.
36 Israelis murdered in 2023: The biggest death toll since the second intifada
3 terror attacks in the span of 12 hours. 36 Israelis murdered in terror attacks in 2023 so far. What is causing the rise in terror attacks? i24NEWS Correspondent David Matlin is joined by Brig. Gen. (Res.) Amir Avivi and Lt. Col. (Res.) Maurice Hirsch to break down the details surrounding this recent terror wave


Israeli soldier murdered, five injured in terror truck ramming
An IDF soldier was murdered and five others were wounded in a terror ramming by a Palestinian driving a truck at the Maccabim checkpoint on the central Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Route 443 highway on Thursday morning.

Three of the injured people were also soldiers, the IDF confirmed. Later on Thursday, the murdered soldier was identified as Sergeant Maxim Mulchanov, a lone soldier from Ukraine.

They were hit on their way to a bus stop on the Israeli side of the checkpoint while making their way to an IDF “fun day” in Modi'in.

The terrorist, who had a worker’s permit, rammed into the soldiers at the first checkpoint at Maccabim and then drove another 10 kilometers in an effort to ram into a second checkpoint at Hashmonaim.

He was killed by security forces at the Hashmonaim junction after the soldiers had been warned by security personnel that the terrorist was on his way, and they were prepared to kill him.

The defense ministry security officials identified the car as it approached, including noticing broken glass on the car from the ramming.

The terrorist had passed regularly through the crossing to get to a construction site in the Gan Yavne region, where he worked.

The terrorist crossed into Israel on foot with the work permit at 5:55 a.m. on his way to work.

Later, he acquired the use of an Israeli car under unclear circumstances.
1 killed several injured in car ramming near Jerusalem
Thursday morning a car rammed into Israelis at a bus stop close to a checkpoint near Jerusalem. 1 Israeli has been killed while several others are in varying levels of conditions, the terrorist has been neutralized.




Four IDF soldiers wounded in Joseph's Tomb terror explosion
An IDF officer and three soldiers were injured after a large explosive device was detonated by Palestinian terrorists as Israeli forces entered Nablus to secure the entry of Jewish worshippers to Joseph's Tomb on Wednesday night, according to the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

One soldier was in moderate condition, while the officer and the other two soldiers were in light condition. The soldiers were transferred to Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Hospital and two of the four were released within a few hours.

Video from the scene showed a large cloud of smoke rising after the detonation. The explosion reportedly took place near IDF soldiers.

Armed clashes were reported in the area as well, with video reportedly from the scene showing additional explosive devices being thrown toward Israeli forces. At least one Palestinian was injured by Israeli fire during the clashes, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Despite the clashes, the visit to Joseph's Tomb continued as planned.

Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for explosive attack
The local branch of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad's military wing, the al-Quds Brigades, said that it had activated the explosive device against Israeli forces. The group stated that the explosive attack came "within the framework of the response to the continuous aggression against our people in the city of Nablus and its camps, and the response to the crimes of the Zionist occupation against our people and our struggling Palestinian people."


Terrorist killed after stabbing attack at Jerusalem light rail station
A man was moderately injured in a stabbing attack at the Shivtei Yisrael light rail station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening, according to Israel Police.

The terrorist was shot and killed by a Border Police officer at the scene after stabbing a 25-year-old man. The terrorist was identified as Khaled Samer al-Zaanin, a 14-year-old from the Beit Hanina neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Magen David Adom paramedics responded to the incident and transferred the victim to Shaare Zedek Medical Center for further care.

Spokespeople from the hospital reported that the victim was stable and fully conscious upon arrival.

Hamas's spokesperson for Jerusalem responded to the terrorist attack on Wednesday evening, stating "The stabbing attack in Al-Musrara neighborhood in Jerusalem this evening is a heroic act in a victory for al-Aqsa and for the blood of the martyrs, and it is a natural response to the crimes of the occupation. This operation and what we witnessed today of a heroic run-over operation in Hebron and the wounding of a number of settlers by throwing stones in Qalqilya, reaffirms that our people will continue to resist, and will disturb the occupation and its settlers."


'It will save lives': Bypass road around terror-heavy Hawara to open soon
The main section of a road that bypasses the Palestinian town of Hawara, where terror attacks commonly occur, will open after the High Holidays, Israel Hayom has learned.

Four Israelis have been killed in Hawara in the past half a year – brothers Hallel and Yagel Yaniv in February and father and son Shay Silas and Aviad Nir Nigrekar earlier this month.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev toured the site on Wednesday together with the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, when the two announced that the road would open two months ahead of schedule due to the danger facing Judea residents, who – without an alternative – are forced to drive through Hawara to commute to work.

Dagan has been the main driving force behind the initiative and together with families of terror victims has pushed for a bypass road for about six years.

Work on the road began approximately two years ago with several delays in the beginning. The construction received a boost in the form of an additional 50 million shekels following the murder of the Yaniv brothers and was planned to be completed by December.

Regev lauded the project, saying the bypass road "will save lives and give residents a sense of security."
Israelis at risk of Iranian terror attacks, kidnappings abroad - NSC
Israelis are in danger of kidnapping attempts at home and abroad by Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad so they can use those captives as bargaining chips, the country’s National Security Council’s counterterrorism Division said on Thursday.

“Hamas and PIJ officials have been highly motivated recently to carry out kidnapping within the country in order to increase the movement’s bargaining chips,” the NSC said.

“It is not impossible that the organizations will strive to promote kidnapping attacks of Israelis and Jews outside the country's borders,” it added.

The counterterrorism division issued its warning in advance of the Jewish holiday period when many Israelis travel within and without the country. It spoke out amid a terror wave in Israel, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have pinned on Iran.

The counterterrorism division’s statement included warnings on Iran as well as terror alerts in Sweden and Denmark due to incidents of Quran burning in those countries.

With respect to Hamas and PIJ, it noted that they have eyed kidnapping plots given that talks for the return of the bodies of two Israeli soldiers and to free two Israeli captives held in Gaza have hit an impasse.

Iran’s neighboring countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Kurdish region are most likely to be targeted by Iranian terror efforts.

Countries in the Mediterranean basin, Africa and Latin America are also at risk, the counterterrorism division said, but it did not elaborate further on the matter.
Palestinian gets life plus 26 years for deadly 2018 terror shooting
An Israeli military court on Thursday handed down a life sentence plus 26 years to a member of a Palestinian terror cell that carried out a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank in January 2018.

Ahmed Kunba, a resident of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, was part of the squad that killed 35-year-old Raziel Shevach near the outpost of Havat Gilad.

On January 9, 2018, the group of gunmen opened fire and killed Shevach, a father of six, on a highway near the then-illegal outpost. The terrorists fled the scene, and Israeli security forces launched a manhunt for them over the following weeks.

Kunba was convicted in July of intentionally causing the death of Shevach. The charge is equivalent to murder in the West Bank military court.

He was additionally convicted of a number of other security-related offenses, as well as plotting and carrying out a number of other attacks along with the leader of the cell, Ahmad Nassar Jarrar, who was killed by Israeli troops less than a month after the attack.

In addition to the life sentence, Kunba was ordered by the Samaria Military Court at the Salem base in the northern West Bank to pay a total of NIS 1.5 million ($394,000) to Shevach’s family.
Headlines Hazy on Details in Coverage of Palestinian Terror Attacks
Within the span of 12 hours, one Israeli was killed and at least six others were wounded in two separate Palestinian terror attacks.

The first attack occurred on the evening of August 30, when a Palestinian teen from East Jerusalem stabbed a 25-year-old Israeli in the back at the Shivtei Yisrael light rail station. The victim managed to escape before an off-duty Border Police officer shot the terrorist multiple times, ultimately killing him.

Approximately 12 hours later, a Palestinian terrorist rammed a truck into a group of off-duty soldiers walking along the highway near a checkpoint, hit a nearby car and then drove away. Israeli security forces were able to kill the terrorist before he could commit another ramming attack.

In their coverage of these two terror attacks, several news outlets provided vague headlines that left readers with hazy information as to the nature of these attacks. The Jerusalem Stabbing Attack: Spotlighting the Terrorist, Obscuring the Victim

In the headlines for their reports on the Jerusalem light rail stabbing attack, both the Associated Press (AP) and Agence France-Presse (AFP) wire services focused on the fate of the terrorist while obscuring the identity of his victim and the nature of his attack.

The AP headline highlighted the death of a “Palestinian teen assailant” at the hands of the Israeli police but failed to provide its readers with any context as to what the “assailant” had done and who he had attacked.

It appears that for this esteemed news service, the fate of the terrorist is more newsworthy than either his actions or his victim.


Weapons Found next to Teddy Bears in Palestinian Nursery School
Lt. Col. Gilad Mills and his soldiers from Battalion 603 of the 7th Brigade in the Engineering Corps. were amazed by what they found during a nighttime operation near Hebron. The soldiers arrived at a building identified by intelligence from the Shin Bet and the IDF - and discovered during a search that it was a nursery school in which a gun, cartridges, a grenade and dozens of bullets were hidden.

"I have never come across anything like this," Mills said. "The weapon was not even secured, but was simply under the mattress - any crawling baby could have reached it."

IDF soldiers discover weapons hidden in nursery school classroom in the Hebron area
The unusual seizure took place as part of a combined divisional operation of the 603rd Battalion, paratroopers and other units. About 150 fighters participated in the activity, the main part of which was seizing weapons and making arrests. As part of the operation, the fighters raided 14 different locations in the Hebron area, when Lt. Col. Mills' force searched several buildings in the village of Deir Tzamat.

Mills describes the scene: "We entered the building, it had one floor and four rooms. At the entrance we actually saw hooks for schoolbags with children's names on them. There were paintings of bears hanging on the walls. We began to scan the rooms. As a father, I saw a room I knew from my daughter's nursery – a room for napping where all the mattresses are arranged in a pile. Next to the mattresses there was a shelf on which there were many teddy bears with the names of the children. One of the soldiers began to search, picked up one mattress - and was amazed. He saw two weapons, one of them a gun, and two more cartridges, a gas grenade and dozens of bullets."
Security forces raid Palestinian gun workshop, seize lathes, dozens of firearm parts
Israeli security forces on Thursday morning raided a Palestinian workshop in the West Bank city of Beitunia, which police said was used to manufacture firearms, arresting one suspect and seizing equipment, firearms, and dozens of weapon parts in the process.

Police said the 26-year-old Palestinian resident of Beitunia had been wanted for weapons dealing and building firearms at the workshop.

Police officers, with Israeli soldiers, raided the site early Thursday and confiscated seven lathes, six handguns, three assault rifles, dozens of weapon parts, and other military equipment, police said.

The lathes were destroyed by combat engineering troops, police said.

Police said they planned to arrest more suspects involved in operating the workshop.

During the operation early Thursday, Palestinian rioters hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at the forces, causing no injuries. Soldiers responded with riot dispersal means, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF said troops also detained 17 wanted Palestinians during overnight raids across the West Bank, with clashes in some areas.

In the West Bank town of Zababdeh, close to Jenin, IDF troops located and destroyed dozens of primed explosive devices made out of fire extinguishers, which would have been used against forces, the military said.


Jerusalem police nab Palestinians for US embassy break-ins
Police recently arrested two Palestinians from the Hebron area for breaking into a U.S. embassy warehouse in Jerusalem and stealing property last month, the Israel Police said.

The suspects, both men in their 20s from the town of Tarqumiyah, worked at a construction site near the embassy in the capital’s upscale Arnona neighborhood.

According to the police, the pair took advantage of their work permit in Israel to steal “maintenance property” during a “series of break-ins.”

The burglars were eventually apprehended and taken in for questioning, a spokesperson said, adding that the investigation is ongoing.

Their initial pre-trial detention was set to expire on Thursday.
PreOccupiedTerritory: Palestinian Plan To Stop IDF Killing Children Involves Arming, Sending Children To Get Killed (satire)
Armed groups in the most restive city under nominal Palestinian Authority rule conducted another in a long series of meetings today to discuss the tactics and strategies surrounding the deaths of underage locals in confrontations with Israel’s military, and decided to continue addressing the phenomenon by giving those underage locals weapons, or involving them in scouting activity, thus removing the minors’ noncombatant status but enabling Palestinians, activists, and credulous Western media to claim that Israel kills Palestinian children.

Commanders from at least three Iran-backed terrorist factions in Jenin convened last night to discuss the ongoing phenomenon of Israel Defense Force troops killing Palestinian children. The groups agreed in response to the phenomenon – more than a dozen Palestinian minors have been killed in clashes in the last two years – to increase the use of Palestinian children in combat and combat-support roles such as snipers, ammunition mules, scouts, and surveillance drone operators.

Palestinian terrorists have exploited children for combat purposes before; the use of noncombatants as human shields has featured as a prominent Palestinian tactic in multiple wars with Israel. The evolving policy under discussion represents an expansion of that methodology into the offensive sphere: instead of waiting for Israel to strike Palestinian militant positions embedded among civilians, the emerging approach calls for children to participate in combat in an active way. That aspect did not originate with the Palestinians either; child soldiers have fought in numerous wars – but many fewer wars in the modern era, when international bodies monitor and address, at least in theory, such violations of International Law and the Laws of Armed Conflict.
PMW: Fatah takes credit and celebrates murder of Israeli this morning
This morning an Israeli soldier was murdered and five other Israelis were wounded in a ramming attack by a Palestinian terrorist in a truck on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv rt. 443 highway.

In a number of different announcements, Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah has celebrated the murder and announced that the killer was a member of Fatah. These are two of them:
Text on image: "And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision.” [Quran 3:169, Sahih International translation]
“Fatah Movement – Ramallah and al-Bireh District...
Accompanies to his wedding in the highest Heaven
Its son, the heroic Martyr
Daoud 'Abd al-Razeq Fayez
(note: the PA teaches that “Martyrs” marry 72 Dark-Eyed Virgins in Paradise)
Son of the Deir 'Ammar [refugee] camp who ascended [to heaven] from the bullets of the occupation (i.e., Israel) near Ni'lin checkpoint, west of Ramallah”

Posted text with image: “In the name of Allah the Merciful
Fatah National Liberation Movement - Ramallah and Al-Bireh district – AL-Karamah area - Deir Ammar camp –
announces the death of its son, the heroic Martyr, Daoud Abd al-Razzaq Fayez, who carried out the heroic Beit Sira operation.
A new moon (i.e. PA term for Martyrs) joined the team of moons and Martyrs
We belong to Allah, and to Him we return.
The condolence house will be open for 3 days starting today... In the hospitality hall of the Deir Ammar Mosque.”

[Fatah movement, Bethlehem Branch, Telegram Channel, Aug. 31, 2023]

"The flood of West Bank [attacks] has begun – and no one will be able to stop it. [Israelis:] Gather your disgrace and go away."

[Fatah movement, Bethlehem Branch, Telegram Channel, Aug. 31, 2023]
PMW: Murder of 3 Israeli civilians praised by Palestinian terror organizations
Israel should expect more terror attacks against civilians, according to threats from Palestinian terror organizations that vowed to “choose the rifle” and “intensify the resistance” – the Palestinian euphemism for terror - following the murder of an Israeli woman earlier this month.

Batsheva Nagari - an Israeli kindergarten teacher and mother of 3 in her 40s who was shot and murdered by two Palestinian terrorists in front of her 12-year-old daughter, while the two were hitching a ride near Hebron on Aug. 21, 2023. The driver giving them a ride was also shot and seriously wounded in the attack. The terrorists, who fired over 20 bullets, fled the scene before being arrested the following day

The terror wing of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Movement immediately took responsibility for the murder in an official announcement. Quoting the Quran and thanking Allah, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades called for more terror against Israelis:
Text: “A military announcement from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – Hebron Area
‘Fight them; Allah will punish them by your hands and will disgrace them’ [Quran 9:14, Sahih International translation]
With Almighty Allah’s help, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades – Palestine, the military wing of the [Palestinian] National Liberation Movement ‘Fatah,’ announces its responsibility for carrying out the self-sacrificing operation (i.e., terror attack) in Hebron… [on] Aug. 21, 2023, in which a female Zionist settler was killed and another was seriously wounded.”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Aug. 21, 2023]

Fatah repeated its allegiance to violence, stating that the attack was committed:
“Out of loyalty to the commitment to our Martyrs, and out of our loyalty to the choice of the rifle as a strategic choice.
This is a revolution until victory.
A killing for a killing, a bombing for a bombing, fear for fear”
[Fatah Movement – Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Aug. 21, 2023]


JPost Editorial: The UN has failed to do anything about Hezbollah
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at UN headquarters in New York earlier this week. “The potential for a violent escalation on Israel’s northern border is growing as a result of flagrant violations by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah,” Gallant reportedly told Guterres. “The UN must act immediately.”

Hezbollah’s threats have been rising as the terrorist group increasingly conducts provocative activities along the border. UN resolutions were supposed to prevent Hezbollah from increasing its arsenal, but the UN has looked on as Hezbollah expanded its illegal missile stockpiles from several thousand to more than 150,000 today.

This has all taken place since 2006 under UN eyes. Hezbollah has not only stockpiled missiles and rockets, it has also increasingly sought to import and manufacture precision-guided munitions, enabling it to carry out more precise attacks on Israel. The group has set up bunkers and infrastructure throughout towns and villages in southern Lebanon, transforming the region into an armed camp and forcing civilians to live next to its dangerous weapons stockpiles.

Gallant’s office said he and Guterres held a positive and productive discussion that focused on growing threats to Israel’s security and to stability in the Middle East region. The question now is whether the UN will act.

Gallant and Israel are doing their utmost to raise a red flag through diplomatic channels about the dangers posed by Hezbollah. Israel has often been told that it must consult international partners and work within the guidelines of international organizations such as the UN, which frequently criticize Israel for engaging in self-defense.
Israel battles France over UNIFIL as UNSC vote delayed
Israel’s battle to thwart a French push at the United Nations Security Council to constrain the movements of a peacekeeping force on its northern border with Lebanon went down to the wire on Wednesday.

The 15-member Security Council had been expected to hold its annual vote to extend the mandate under which the peacekeepers – known as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon – operate.

At the last minute, the meeting, which was set for Wednesday, was delayed until Thursday. It was not clear whether a consensus could be reached among its members this week, even though UNIFIL’s mandate expires at midnight on Thursday.

It remains possible that the annual vote to extend the mandate will take place next week.

Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan on Wednesday said he was concerned that passage of France’s proposal “might damage severely UNIFIL’s ability to fulfill its mandate.”

“I hope that the member of the Security Council will not surrender to the pressure of the designated terrorist organization like Hezbollah, which wants to continue with its illegal military build-up [on Israel’s northern border], which is endangering the stability of the whole region, and might wreak havoc on Lebanon in the future,” he told The Jerusalem Post.

The United States, which holds the rotating UNSC presidency this month, has backed Israel’s position.
UNSC empowers UNIFIL to inspect Hezbollah sites, extends mandate
The United Nations Security Council backed the independence of its peacekeeping force to investigate Hezbollah military sites on Israel’s northern border in a 13-0 vote. Russia and China both abstained.

The text included new language that allowed the peacekeeping force, known as the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, to make surprise inspections.

“The resolution adopted today includes language strongly reaffirming UNIFIL’s full freedom of movement and its ability to conduct announced and unannounced patrols,” US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the UNSC.

“It’s imperative that this be fully implemented and that UNIFIL not face unacceptable obstacles to carrying out its mission,” she said.

“We know UNIFIL has been unable to access a range of troubling [Hezbollah] sites across the blue line, including illegal firing ranges, Green without Border sites, rocket launch sites,” she said.

Such restrictions “hinders the mission’s ability to reduce the likelihood of conflict,” she said.

The UNSC vote was a victory for Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates which had worked to thwart a move by France to have UNIFIL seek to coordinate its movements with the Lebanese government. Last year’s resolution guaranteed that it could act without such coordination.

Opponents of the move believed that such coordination would make it difficult for UNIFIL to move quickly to inspire problematic sites and would tip off Hezbollah from a pending inspection.
UNIFIL mandate set to expire – can Israel & Lebanon keep the peace?
Mordechai De Haas, Daniel Shek, and Eitan Dangot discuss what Israel can do on its northern border with UNIFIL's mandate set to expire.


Decades after Israel’s Osirak strike, Iraq says it’s seeking civilian nuclear program
Iraq’s government is pursuing a civilian nuclear program, the country’s military spokesman said, a potentially fraught development some four decades after a daring Israeli raid destroyed Baghdad’s reactor at Osirak.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani discussed the development of a peaceful nuclear program during a meeting of the Ministerial Council for National Security on Wednesday, according to Maj. Gen. Yehia Rasool.

The reactor would be used to produce electricity, with the oil-rich state looking to reduce its dependence on polluting fossil fuels, Rasool said on X, the social media site formerly known as Twitter.

The sides discussed “initiating the building of a nuclear reactor limited to peaceful purposes,” he said.

The meeting was attended by other ministers, as well as a technical committee on nuclear energy, Rasool said.

Iraq has for years spoken about attempting to restart its nuclear program, but such discussions have rarely risen beyond low-level talks, stymied by endemic instability and vociferous Israeli and international opposition to such a move without intense oversight.

Electricity is a sensitive political issue in Iraq as despite the country’s huge oil reserves, its dilapidated power grid is incapable of meeting peak demand and Iraqis endure hours-long outages every summer.

Ravaged by decades of conflict and international sanctions, the petrostate relies on Iranian gas imports for a third of its energy needs. It is also beset by rampant corruption.

To reduce its dependence on Iranian gas, Baghdad had been exploring several possibilities, including imports from Gulf countries such as Qatar, as well as recovering flared gas from oilfields.
Seth Frantzman: Rockets target giant Khor Mor gas field in Iraq, no damage reported
Two rockets targeted a large and important gas field in the Kurdistan autonomous region of northern Iraq. The gas field has been targeted in the past several times in similar attacks. Iranian-backed groups in Iraq have often used rockets and drones to target the Kurdistan region and US forces.

According to local reports, several rockets landed near the perimeter of the large Khor Mor gas field in the Sulaimaniya region of northern Iraq on Wednesday, Kurdish officials from the autonomous local government said. They did not immediately report any damage or casualties.

“Two rockets landed outside the field without causing any damage,” said one security source. The Pearl Consortium, United Arab Emirates energy firm Dana Gas, and its affiliate, Crescent Petroleum, have the rights to exploit Khor Mor and Chemchemal, two of the biggest gas fields in Iraq. Ahmed Mufti, Kurdistan Regional Government natural resources deputy minister, informed reporters about the rocket fire on Wednesday evening, according to Rudaw media in Erbil.

What is the Khor Mor gas field?
The gas field is located in Sulaimani province in the autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq. This is near the town of Chamchamal and is on the road to Kirkuk, an area that is controlled by the Iraqi federal government. In recent months there have been tensions in Kirkuk between Iranian-backed militias and local Kurds. In 2017 Iranian-backed militias, working with Baghdad, attacked Kurdish forces in Kirkuk. The militias have been blamed in the past for rocket fire targeting Kurdish areas and coalition forces. There are also controversies in Iraq regarding energy exports.

The Kurdistan region will investigate the latest rocket fire.
Congressman: ‘Insanity’ to have Iranian propagandist at US military seminar
Speakers at the 2023 U.S. Strategic Command Deterrence Symposium, which was held Aug. 16-17 in Omaha, Neb., included current and former military leaders, a member of Congress, a governor and a university president.

And then there was Seyed Hussein Mousavian of Princeton University.

The U.S. Strategic Command, which is part of the U.S. Defense Department, details Mousavian’s biography, including his service as Iranian ambassador to Germany (1990-1997); head of the foreign relations committee of Iran’s National Security Council (1997-2005); and Tehran’s spokesman in its nuclear negotiations with the international community (2003-2005).

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), a member of the House Armed Services Committee, sees the situation differently.

“Mousavian helped lead the murderous Iranian regime’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons so it could threaten the United States and our allies with annihilation,” he said, as reported in The Washington Free Beacon. “Now he’s in semi-retirement at Princeton as a full-time propagandist for the IRGC. Inviting him to spread lies at a U.S. military seminar is insanity.” (The IRGC is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which the United States considers a terrorist organization.)

Gabriel Noronha, a former adviser on Iran for the U.S. State Department, told the Beacon that it was “unimaginably foolish” to invite Mousavian to speak at the event. “He is a pawn and propaganda agent of the Iranian regime, which explains why he is allowed to travel back to Iran,” Noronha said.

Mousavian previously boasted about death threats against a former U.S. envoy to Iran frightened the U.S. diplomat’s wife.
'It's important not to put our men and women on the line in a war with Iran'
The rising star in the GOP presidential primaries, Vivek Ramaswamy told Israel Hayom in an interview on Monday that he was against using US military force against Iran. He stated that this would be tantamount to taking part in a war "we don't belong in." He also made it clear that he was vehemently against letting Iran have nuclear capabilities and that its missiles threaten the US directly, although he insisted that Israel would be alone in using force against Iran.

"One of the most important areas for partnership, and this is in the interest of both the US and Israel, is making sure together, that Iran never ever, ever becomes nuclear-equipped. If you look at the kinds of missiles that Iran is working on now, they don't need those missiles to hit Israel.

They need those missiles to hit the United States. And so, this is out of self-interest in the United States that I take that strong posture."

Q: So, will you use military force to stop Iran? The only time they stopped nuclear development was during the George W. Bush administration because they were afraid he would attack them.

"We will not stop Israel from defending itself to the fullest capacity. And we remain supportive of Israel, because they are our friend. I think it's really important that the US not put our own men and women on the line in a war with Iran, when in fact, there's no reason for us to be in that kind of war now, and I don't think that's good for the United States, and I don't think that's good for Israel. But what we do need to do is to make sure that Israel is strong so that Iran isn't emboldened.

"This is, you know, an ayatollah in Iran who would rather Israel not exist, let's just call that truth out for what it is. And so, Israel needs to be in a strong position to defend itself. And the United States will be at Israel's back. But I think that that's a very different thing from automatically sleepwalking ourselves into war. I'm an anti-war president. And the way I'm going to do it is by deterring war, be it ending the war in Ukraine and deterring China. These are important elements of why I think it's important to be strong, but in a way that doesn't accidentally walk us into wars that we don't belong in."

Ramaswamy's open rejection of a US strike on Iran sets him apart from the last three presidents. Both parties have said – implicitly and explicitly – that if needed, the US might have to resort to force against Iran and is prepared to put all options on the table.




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