Israel News for 12-24-18
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Border Attack
Last night, IDF soldiers opened fire at a group of gunmen who crossed the 1974 ceasefire line in the Golan Heights and were approaching Israel’s border fence from Syria. No Israeli injuries were reported in the incident and the IDF is working to determine whether the unidentified individuals had been on an intelligence-gathering operation. The infiltrators did not succeed in entering Israel.
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Israel in Syria
IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said Sunday that US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US troops from Syria shouldn’t be “exaggerated” as it has little bearing on Israel’s activity in the region since the Israeli military has been operating independently in the war-torn country for years.
Eisenkot pointed out that, “The Iranians had a vision where they had 100,000 fighters in Syria including ground troops, navy and intelligence unit, as well as a number of outposts along the Golan Heights … Over the past two years we’ve been able to thwart these plans, entirely on our own. However, we still haven’t been able to destroy the Iranian capabilities to establish regional hegemony in Syria.” He added that Israel continues to mount air strikes to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from being smuggled into Lebanon.
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More Work
PM Netanyahu has appointed Tourism Minister Yariv Levin as the new Minister of Aliyah (immigration) and Integration. Levin will hold both portfolios.
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No Sale
The Palestinian Authority announced on Sunday that its security forces have thwarted attempts by Palestinians to sell lands and houses in the West Bank and east Jerusalem to Jewish buyers, and the PA’s Preventive Security Service said in a rare statement that it has arrested 44 Palestinians suspected of involvement in the alleged real estate transactions.
In recent weeks, Palestinian religious authorities have repeatedly warned Palestinians against engaging in such deals and said that anyone who violates the law would be accused of “high treason.” The warning came in the aftermath of a number of cases in which east Jerusalem residents either sold their houses to Jewish organizations or were suspected of acting as middlemen in the real estate transactions.
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