Israel News for 5-22-2024
News Update
Ireland, Spain, and Norway said that they will officially recognize a Palestinian state on May 28. Slovenia, Malta and possibly Belgium are expected to follow. Sweden recognized a Palestinian state in 2014. Since 1988, 139 out of 193 UN member states, primarily non Western states, have recognized a Palestinian state.
On May 10, the UN General Assembly approved in overwhelming majority the Palestinian request for powers similar to those of a member state. The only countries that voted against it, besides Israel, were the U.S., Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Papua New Guinea. The only reason a Palestinian state has not been admitted as a full member of the UN is because that must be approved by the UN Security Council, where the U.S. has always used its veto power.
The Palestinian Authority and Hamas applauded the decisions of the European countries. Bassem Naim, a senior Hamas political bureau member, said, “These successive recognitions are the direct result of this brave resistance and the legendary steadfastness of the Palestinian people… We believe this will be a turning point in the international position on the Palestinian issue.”
Israel recalled its ambassadors from Ireland, Spain and Norway for immediate consultations. [So as a reward for the Oct. 7 massacre, Hamas and the Palestinians get a state? Makes perfect sense.]
The Nahal Brigade entered Rafah last night, expanding the operation there to 5 brigades. There are currently 3 brigades operating in Jabaliya, 1 in the corridor in the center of the Strip, and 1 protecting the American humanitarian-aid pier.
According to a U.S. intelligence report, Israel has eliminated only 30-35% of the Hamas terrorists that existed prior to October 7. The report also states that only 35% of Hamas’s tunnels have been destroyed.
The Defense Ministry signed a 2.8 billion shekel ($756 million) deal with defense contractor Elbit Systems to supply ammunition for IDF ground forces over the next two years. This is part of a move to produce more arms domestically. Israel has also started to produce air-to-ground bombs, which until now have been exclusively supplied by the United States.
An IsraelAM reader sent me a question yesterday, asking about several verses in the Koran that speak favorably about Jews, which some Muslim Imams use as proofs that Islam truly wants peace with Israel and loves the Jewish People. I answered by explaining the Islamic concept called “Naskh” (نسخ), or “abrogation”, which states that the later prophecies in the Koran supersede the earlier ones — and the later verses relating to Jews are extremely negative, to put it mildly. I published a video explaining this in greater depth – click here to watch.
Regarding my last video titled, “Stop Disrespecting the Palestinians and Ignoring their Demands“, some people seemed to have have misunderstood my point, possibly because they just read the title and did not watch the video. Just to clarify, my point is that we need to understand and accept that the Palestinians want the entire land “from the river to sea” and will not settle for less — especially Jerusalem. To them and to Islam, the land of Israel is Islamic land and must be liberated with Jihad.
