Bomb Neutralized
The IDF neutralized an explosive device located near the security fence in the southern Gaza Strip today. In a statement the IDF spokesperson said, “The terror squad that planted the bomb had plans to attack IDF soldiers and disrupt the activity of the forces operating in the area.The planting of the explosive device, conducted under a disguise of violent riots along the border, is another confirmation that Hamas terror organization is working to preserve the confrontation in the border area and to harm IDF soldiers while using civilians in the Gaza Strip as human and as a cover for terrorist activity. The IDF is ready to act against terror that seeks to harm its forces and defense infrastructures.”

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Massive Fire
A huge fire destroyed hundreds of dunks of the Ein Tzukim Nature Reserve near the Dead Sea. Between 300 and 400 dunams of the reserve’s unique vegetation were destroyed and many animals perished as well. According to the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the rehabilitation of the Ein Tzukim Nature Reserve will take years. Police arrested 2 Arab residents of East Jerusalem and 1 resident nearby village of Azaria for allegedly starting the fire. The suspects deny the allegations.

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PLO Office
PM Netanyahu praised the US decision taken earlier this week to close down the Palestinian diplomatic mission in Washington in reaction to the Palestinian refusal to enter into peace negotiations with Israel. He said, “The US made the correct decision when it decided to close the PLO offices in Washington. The Palestinians refuse to enter negotiations with Israel even as they attack Israel with false claims in international forums.”

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Defense Agreements
Defense Minister Lieberman traveled to the country of Georgia on Wednesday to sign counterterrorism and cybersecurity cooperation. He said, “On the issue of defense cooperation, we have set out four main objectives: cybersecurity, help in establishing a military reserves system, fighting terror and defending the homeland.” Lieberman and Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria also discussed Iran and the current situation in the Middle East. The two politicians signed an official cooperation agreement between their two ministries.

Over the years, Israel has sold a number of weapons systems to the eastern European nation and has also trained members of the Georgian armed forces in Israeli military tactics and strategy.

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Czech Embassy
Czech leaders on Wednesday endorsed moving the country’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In a joint statement, the Czech president, prime minister, parliament speaker and the foreign and defense ministers said the opening of a “Czech House” there in November would be “the first step in the plan to move the Czech embassy to Jerusalem.”

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Judo Identity
The International Judo Federation (IJF) announced that it will bring back the Grand Slam competition tour to the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, after the state pledged to allow Israeli athletes to participate with the Israeli flag and play the national anthem during medal ceremonies. The IJF published a statement saying the UAE had succumbed to the many pressures exerted on it and will permit the Israeli delegation to compete with the country’s national symbols.

According to an IJF statement, “The historic decision will allow all nations, including Israel, to be accompanied by their national symbols and anthem. The IJF salutes the efforts of the UAE for taking a major step toward promoting peaceful relations between all countries of the world. The UAE, along with our partners, remains committed to the struggle against all discrimination in sports, which should be used as a tool for reconciliation and promotion of peace in the world.”

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More Flights
Irish low-cost airline Ryanair is launching a new route between Tel Aviv and Memmingen, Germany on October 29. There will be two weekly flights on Mondays and Fridays with outward bound fares starting from €30 and inward bound fares from Memmingen to Tel Aviv starting from €25. Fares include only hand baggage. Memmingen is located in Bavaria, 110 kilometers west of Munich.

This will bring to 24 the number of routes Ryanair operates from Israel – 9 from Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv and 15 from Eilat. Ryanair will receive a grant of €150,000 from Israel’s Ministry of Tourism for launching a route to a city as yet unserved by any other carrier.

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Portuguese national carrier TAP Air Portugal is to launch daily Tel Aviv – Lisbon flights starting April 1, 2019. Round trip ticket fares currently being advertised on TAP’s website start from €236 for Tel Aviv – Lisbon – Tel Aviv (hand luggage only).

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Terror Attack
At about 6 pm on Sunday night, a terrorist from Hebron with a knife charged at a group of soldiers that were standing at the entrance to the Geva Haavot neighborhood, located between Kiryat Arba and Hebron. The soldiers opened fire on the terrorist, killing him. None of the soldiers were injured.

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War Crimes
A group of Israeli farmers is filing a war crimes complaint at the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Monday against the Hamas leadership over the torching of thousands of acres of farmland in recent months.

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New Ambassador
Amir Weissbrod presented his credentials in Amman as Israel’s new ambassador to Jordan, bringing to a close a crisis between the two states after an Israeli embassy security guard shot dead two Jordanians, one of which he claimed attempted to stab him. Diplomatic sources say relations between Israel and Jordan have been repaired and are now stronger than ever with more and more attempts being made to promote joint economic ventures.

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Philippines President
Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, arrived in Israel this week for a 4 day visit. Sales of Israeli weapons to his government are high on the agenda, according to Israeli media. Filipino officials have said the Philippines has recently acquired Israeli-made arms such as Galil assault rifles and pistols for its 120,000-strong police force, which is at the frontline of Duterte’s battle against illegal drugs and other crimes.

Duarte met with PM Netanyahu and thanked Israel for providing “critical help” to his country when “we needed it most,” an apparent reference to unspecified assistance Jerusalem provided Manila last year in freeing Marawi City in the south of the country from terrorists affiliated with Islamic State after a five-month siege. Duterte, who did not go into detail, said this “very substantial and critical” assistance was “an important help to preserve the republic.”

Netanyahu welcomed Duterte by recalling that the country opened its doors to some 1,300 refugees from Germany and Austria during the Holocaust and that it was the only Asian country to vote for the Partition Plan in 1947.

Duarte met with a gathering of hundreds of Filipino workers. An estimated 28,000 Filipinos live in Israel. Most of them work as health aides.

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Colombian Recognition
Colombia’s new president Ivan Duque said yesterday that the previous president’s decision to recognize the “State of Palestine” is irreversible.

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Water Plan
According to anonymous sources, Israel’s Water Authority and its Ministry of Energy have sketched a plan to build a tunnel that will annually pump between 300 million and 500 million cubic meters of desalinated water to the receding Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). To finance the plan, estimated to cost NIS 5 billion (approximately $1.3 billion), Israel has approached the European Union and the German government.

Israel is currently in it’s 5th drought year. As of Monday, the water level of the Sea of Galilee, responsible for 25% of Israel’s freshwater supply, is at 214.23 meters below sea level, 1.23 meters under the levels defined by the Israeli government as a minimum required to supply the country’s water needs.

In May, the Israeli government relaunched a television, radio and billboard campaign encouraging Israelis to save water by reducing their shower time by two minutes, watering their gardens in the evening and fixing leaking pipes.

Existing desalination facilities in Israel produce around 660 million cubic meters a year, according to statements by the Water Authority. Two additional desalination facilities planned to launch by 2023, are estimated to bring this number up to around 1 billion cubic meters a year.

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New Housing
The civil administration in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) has given final approval for the building of 384 housing units — 56 in Barkan, 168 in Nofim, 108 in Tzofim, 44 in Ma’ale Adumim and 8 in Avnei Hefetz. An additional 600 units are in the final stages of approval and will be located in Kiryat Netafim, Otniel and Beit El.

The Yesha Council, an organization of municipal councils of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, released a statement saying, “This is an insufficient amount and the smallest number of housing units approved in the last year and a half. In the previous committees, the number of building permits ranged from 2,000 to 3,000, which is also relatively limited compared to a total number of permits throughout the country, which are in their tens of thousands. We are calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove the restrictions and order a large-scale construction throughout the West Bank … This is something that is required to be done today.”

The Peace Now organization criticized the new housing and urged the government to instead focus on providing more affordable housing within the Green Line.

The US government did not criticize the new housing approvals.

Meanwhile, a delegation of senior US government officials dined with their Israeli counterparts in the City of David National Park in Jerusalem, which is adjacent to the Old City in the Arab neighborhood of Silwan. In recent years Jews have been moving in to the area.

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New Outpost
The Amana organization, which promotes the building of Jewish settlements, has moved it’s headquarters from the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood to the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem. The land for the building was granted to them 26 years ago by Jerusalem’s then mayor Teddy Kollek (of the Labor party). A new Jewish neighborhood is planned for the area, which is located right next to the Old City and populated almost exclusively by Arabs.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Uri Ariel (Bayit Yehudi) who served in the past as the movement’s CEO said that Amana’s new building “constitutes a significant reinforcement to the (Jewish) settlement in east Jerusalem and the bolstering of the Jewish territorial contiguity in the area.”

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Navy Participates
For the very first time, an IDF Navy delegation took part in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC), the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise. During the drill, which took place near Hawaii last month, Israeli officers joined the commanding team. The exercise included 25 participants from 26 countries, 47 warships, 200 fighter planes, and five submarines.

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Gaza Ceasefire
A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect Wednesday evening, although it was not confirmed by either side. Following the authorization of Israel’s security cabinet, the Kerem Shalom border crossing was reopened and 700 trucks carrying urgently needed building supplies, foodstuffs, textiles, animal feed, fuel, gas, hygiene products and more crossed into Gaza.

The ceasefire, brokered by Egypt and the UN, requires the halting of all rocket fire and incendiary balloons and kites from Gaza. Israeli officials said, “the current calm is the result of aggressive Israeli army action that will continue as necessary, and the quiet was achieved following the understandings advanced by the Egyptians and the United Nations.”

The agreement does not provide for the exchange of prisoners, including two Israelis held in Gaza and the remains of two Israeli soldiers taken by Hamas at the end of the last Gaza war. This has evoked protests from politicians in Israel, as well as the families of the prisoners and the dead soldiers.

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The head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, reportedly came to Tel Aviv yesterday to discuss the final details of the ceasefire agreement. Kamel is also scheduled to meet today with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

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Lebanese media reported today that a cargo shipping connection between Gaza and Cyprus will be established as part of the ceasefire agreement. Israel will have security control over the sea lane. The agreement will also include Qatari funding for Gaza’s electricity and for Hamas salaries.

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Gaza Fighting
Since Wednesday night, more than 180 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza. Rockets hit the cities of Sderot and Ashkelon and many border communities. One rocket even landed as far as Bersheva. Seven people were injured in the attacks, mostly from shrapnel. The Iron Dome defense system intercepted at least 30 rockets. Most of the others fell in open areas.

In response to the rocket attacks, Israeli air force jets attacked more than 150 Hamas targets in Gaza. Last night they destroyed a multi-story building at the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, which was the headquarters of Hamas’s interior security unit that is responsible for all security operations carried out inside Gaza and is considered to be an executive branch of Hamas’s political leadership. Witnesses said the air force fired several warning missiles at the building before the actual strike, to give people a chance to evacuate the building. Hamas claims that the building was simply a cultural center.

The air force also attacked numbers terror tunnels, military bases and training camps. Palestinians claim that 3 people were killed in the Israeli attacks.

According to reports, Israel and Hamas agreed to an Egyptian brokered ceasefire last night that went into effect at midnight. But communities leaders in the south are angry at the government for agreeing to a ceasefire instead of putting a final end to Hamas terror.

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Palestine Recognized
Colombia’s outgoing President Juan Manuel Santos announced on Wednesday that he would recognize the “State of Palestine”. The Israeli embassy in Bogota called the move “a slap in the face by a friendly country” and urged the new incoming president to reverse the decision.

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