Archive for category: news

News Update

Fighting continues in Gaza, Hezbollah continues to fire at Israel, fires continue to rage in the north, Israel continues to strike Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, IDF to call up 50,000 more reservists, and it looks very much like there will be all out war against Hezbollah in the very near future.

Today is the 57th anniversary of the liberation and unification of Jerusalem and the return of Jewish sovereignty to the entire city including our holiest place, the Temple Mount. It was also during these days that Hebron, the burial place of our patriarchs, and Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, and many other biblical cities and towns that were part of our ancestral Jewish kingdom, were liberated from Jordanian occupation and returned to Jewish control.

When Christianity ruled Jerusalem, it built a church on the Temple Mount, in the location where our Holy Temple stood for close to 1,000 years. When the Moslems conquered Jerusalem they magically transformed our Temple Mount into Islam’s third holiest site and replaced the church with a mosque and golden domed shrine.

When the Jews took back the Temple Mount in 1967, we did not follow the precedent set by the world’s great religions and remove the Islamic structure to prepare to construct the Jewish Temple. Instead, we let Islam remain in our holiest place and gave it administrative control over it. That mosque, Al Aqsa, is now the rallying cry for Muslims to “liberate” it, and the entire land of Israel, from infidel control and return it to Islamic control, exactly as commanded in the Koran and Islamic teachings.

The reason Israel didn’t, and has not, removed the Islamic presence from the Temple Mount is because doing so would cause worldwide condemnation and pariah status, Islamic outrage and all out war. But isn’t that happening already? The Arab nations and Iran would still destroy us if they had the power to do so, and they continue to try, via Hezbollah, Hamas and their obedient Palestinian proxies. Israel is already condemned and vilified in the international community. How much worse could it get??

Of course, no one is advocating destroying the Moslem religious places on the Temple Mount, like what the Jordanians did when they blew up all of the synagogues in the ancient Jewish quarter of the Old City when they ruled Jerusalem from 1948 – 1967. In a grand gesture of please, friendship and brotherhood the leaders of Islam would voluntarily agree to relocate their holy places to a nearby location off of the mount, at Jewish expense, and Moslems would be permitted to visit the mount at specified times.  Such a gesture would usher in a messianic-like era of peace and prosperity for the entire world.

What an amazing opportunity for Islam to prove to the world that it is a truly a religion of peace, and not one of war (Jihad) against Jews and Christians?

On this Jerusalem Day, let us pray for the peace and security of Jerusalem and the entire land of Israel, and for the peaceful return of our Holy Temple to its place on the Temple Mount.

News Update

The IDF is striking strategic Hezbollah targets in multiple locations deep inside Lebanon. Several assassinations of Hezbollah terrorists, via drones, have also been reported. Artillery is shelling targets in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah is responding with drone attacks at Metullah and Kiryat Shemona.

Yesterday, a Hezbollah drone crashed into a hostel in Nahariya. Hezbollah also fired a large barrage of rockets at Katzrin, in the Golan, triggering major fires. The Israel Nature and Parks Authority reported that approximately 2,500 acres of land were burned in the fires and that it could take several years for the areas to recover. Fires also broke out in Kiryat Shemona due to rocket fire there. Hezbollah has expanded its range of attacks to include the cities of Nahariya and Acre.

On Saturday, Hezbollah fired 2 Burkan short-range ballistic missiles at Kiryat Shemona, causing extensive damage to an IDF base there. No casualties were reported.

According to IDF sources, Hezbollah has used only about 5% of its rocket and missile arsenal and that they are testing IDF air defenses.

Arsonists are suspected to have started several fires in Jerusalem, in the valley near the Israel Museum. Flams reached the gates of the museum before they were put out by firefighters, along with six firefighting planes.

According to Syrian sources, an Israeli airstrike killed 12 pro-Iranian terrorists in a factory in the Aleppo area last night.

The Maldives government will ban Israeli passport holders from entering the island nation.

On Friday, President Biden presented a U.S. backed Israeli proposal for a ceasefire and hostage release plan. The plan has 3 phases. The first phase would include a 42 day ceasefire, withdrawal of Israeli forces from populated areas, return of some hostages, handing over hundreds of Palestinian terrorists (including murderers) held in Israeli prisons, return of Palestinian civilians to their homes in all areas of Gaza, and a surge of humanitarian aid. Phase 2 would then be negotiated, which would aim for a release of all remaining hostages and a total end to hostilities. Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear that any ceasefire would only be temporary and that Israel would continue the war until Hamas was destroyed militarily and could not rule Gaza again. The proposal is now in the hands of Hamas.

Last night, Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and told him that, “Israel would not stop the war in Gaza until it brings back all of the hostages and collapses Hamas’ rule,” and added, “In any case, after the war, Hamas will not rule Gaza.”

News Update

A terrorist rammed his vehicle into 2 soldiers at a checkpoint near the entrance to Nablus, killing them. The soldiers were Staff Sgt. Eliya Hilel, 20, from Tel Zion, and Staff Sgt. Diego Shvisha Harsaj, 20, from Tel Aviv, both from the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion. The terrorist surrendered to the Palestinian Authority security service, which has yet to transfer him to Israeli authorities. For more, click here. 

The IDF has gained full control over the Philadelphia corridor, the strip of land bordering Egypt. At least 20 tunnels have been found there, and it’s unclear yet how many of them went under the border to Egypt and were used to smuggle in supplies and weapons. Troops also located structures and dugouts housing dozens of loaded rocket launchers, which were positioned only meters from the border in the belief that the IDF would not strike an area so close to Egypt.

IDF soldiers killed in Gaza:

Staff Sgt. Yedidya Azugi, 21, of the Paratrooper Brigade’s 101st Battalion, from Revava.

Israel intercepted a cruise missile over the Golan, which was launched from Iraq.

The Israel Lands Authority informed UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency, that the organization must leave the premises it has been using in eastern Jerusalem and pay Israel tens of millions of shekels in delinquent rent for the years it has been using the property. For more, click here. 

News Update

IDF forces are reportedly advancing towards the Rafah city center. Tanks were reported to be seen near the central mosque in the city center. IDF forces are also fighting in Jabaliya and in central Gaza. There are currently 10 brigades operating in the Gaza Strip, 5 of which are in Rafah.

The Egyptian army officer who was killed in a shooting incident with IDF troops at the Rafah crossing yesterday was found to have opened fire on IDF troops. He was reportedly angry about the situation in Rafah. Israeli and Egyptian officials are working together to prevent similar incidents from occurring in the future.

Israeli forces intercepted 2 drones headed for Eilat. Iranian militias in Iraq claimed responsibility for the drone attack.

At least 30 rockets were fired towards Meron yesterday, and 25 at Kiryat Shemonah. A Home in Kiryat Shmona took a direct hit and fires broke out in the surrounding areas. IDF forces struck the rocket launchers. The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Mayadeen channel said earlier that the IDF had killed a senior operative of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad near the Lebanese border with Syria.

The European Union is reportedly discussing imposing sanctions on Israel if it does not comply with the rulings made by the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry urged the EU to pressure Israel into following the ruling.

Former President Donald Trump told Jewish donors at a fundraising event held on Monday that he supports Israel’s right to defend itself and to continue its operation in Gaza. For more, click here.