IDF braces for possible Hezbollah retaliation, deploys Iron Dome in north
(JNS.org) Following reports of an Israeli airstrike in Syria on Sunday that killed six members of the Lebanon-based terrorist group Hezbollah, Israel deployed Iron Dome missile defense batteries in the north of the country as part of preparations for a possible counter-strike.
On Tuesday morning, an Israel Defense Forces rapid response team was called up in the northern town of Metula after civilian vehicles bearing Hezbollah flags were spotted close to the Israeli border in the Lebanese town of Khiam. A number of shots were fired from the vehicles, but a rapid investigation revealed that the gunfire was part of a funeral procession for one of the Hezbollah members killed in Sunday’s strike.
On Monday, Israeli defense officials convened an emergency meeting to assess the situation. While majority opinion in security circles is that Hezbollah will not initiate a large-scale confrontation with Israel, security officials are concerned about the possibility of a series of escalations that could lead to such a scenario.
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Temple Mount tourists unknowingly featured in Palestinian propaganda
(JNS.org) An innocent photo of a group of young Canadians and Americans visiting the Temple Mount was used in a false accusatory article on a Palestinian website, indicating that the visitors had stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Geoffrey Zalter, 23, came to Israel on a MASA teaching fellows program (a joint project of the Israeli government and the Jewish Agency that brings young Jews to Israel) to teach English for a year. He went to the Temple Mount last week and was photographed there with a group of his friends from the program by several Palestinians.
On Jan. 18, the picture appeared on the “Palestinian Information Center” website alongside an article containing a slew of false information, including that a group of Jews had stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque and tried to fly a drone over it twice.
“Palestinian men and women were praising Allah (directed at us, with the intent to make us feel uncomfortable), yelling at us and taking pictures,” Zalter wrote on Facebook regarding the Temple Mount visit.
“I was in complete shock from the behavior of the people on the Temple Mount and from the false report,” Zalter told Israel Hayom. “I had heard about false reports against Israel and Jewish people in the Palestinian media before, and now I see they really exist.”
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EU to appeal court ruling that removed Hamas from terror group list
(JNS.org) The European Union (EU) will appeal a December ruling by the EU General Court to remove Hamas from an official list of terrorist groups.
The court had explained that the procedural decision to remove Hamas from the EU terror blacklist was based on media reports and other Internet content, rather than on Hamas’s actions.
“As a result of the appeal, the effects of the [December] judgment are suspended until a final judgment is rendered by the [EU] Court of Justice,” EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters Monday.
In December, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said that “we expect [the EU] to immediately put Hamas back on the list” because Hamas is “a murderous terrorist organization.”
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Miss Lebanon under fire over photo with Miss Israel at Miss Universe pageant
(JNS.org) Miss Lebanon, Saly Greige, is fielding off heavy criticism in her home country and calls for her to be stripped of her national title due to a photo posted on social media in which she appears with Miss Israel, Doron Matalon.
Matalon posted the photo from preparations in Miami for the Jan. 25 Miss Universe pageant. Israel and Lebanon are enemy nations, and Greige distanced herself from the Israeli contestant, saying on Instagram that Matalon photobombed her before posting the photo online.
“Since the first day of my arrival to participate to Miss Universe, I was very cautious to avoid being in any photo or communication with Miss Israel, who tried several times to take a photo with me. … I was having a photo with Miss Japan, [and] Miss Slovenia, suddenly Miss Israel jumped in and took a selfie, and uploaded it on her social media,” Greige said.
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Iran confirms general killed by Israeli airstrike in Syria
(JNS.org) Iran confirmed that a general in its Revolutionary Guards was killed in the Israeli airstrike in Syria on Sunday.
In a statement published on the Revolutionary Guards website Sepahnews, Tehran confirmed that General Mohammad Ali Allah-Dadi was “martyred while defending the shrines and innocent people of Syria.”
“The commander was in Syria to provide advice to the nation to confront the Salafist-takfiri terrorists,” added the statement, referring to Sunni jihadist groups in Syria.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told Press TV regarding the airstrike, “We condemn all actions of the Zionist regime as well as all acts of terror.”
According to reports, an Israeli Air Force helicopter strike on Sunday in the Quneitra region of Syria, near the border with Israel in the Golan Heights, reportedly killed six Hezbollah terrorists—including Jihad Mughniyeh, the son of late Hezbollah military commander Imad Mughniyeh, as well as several members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Hezbollah and Iranian forces were reportedly in the Quneitra region to assist the Syrian government in recapturing the area from the al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group al-Nusra Front, which seized the region late last summer.
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Gaza jihadists rally in support of Islamic State, condemn Charlie Hebdo
(JNS.org) Jihadists took to the streets in Gaza on Monday to support the Islamic State terror group and condemn the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which published an image of the Prophet Mohammed on its latest cover.
“Today, we are telling France and world countries that while Islam orders us to respect all religions, it also orders us to punish and kill those who assault and offend Islam’s Prophet Mohammad,” said one of the protesters, Abu Abdallah al-Makdissi, Reuters reported.
On the cover of its Jan. 14 edition, Charlie Hebdo featured a cartoon of Mohammed holding a sign saying, “Je Suis Charlie” (I am Charlie), with a headline above the cartoon reading, “Tout Est Pardonne” (All Is Forgiven).
Many of the demonstrators wore uniforms similar to Islamic State fighters and identified with various jihadist factions in Gaza. The jihadists gathered outside a French cultural center in Gaza and burned the country’s flag.
While the Palestinian terror group Hamas controls Gaza, there has been a growing number of Salafi-inspired global jihadist groups on the rise there.
Last year, leaders of one of the Salafi factions known as the Al-Quds Mujaedeen Shura Council in Gaza issued a statement pledging allegiance to Islamic State.
These Gaza-based Salafi jihadist groups have often been at odds with Hamas and have been targeted by Hamas’s internal security forces. At the same time, these emerging groups have been responsible for rocket fire on Israel, both from Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula.
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Palestinian protesters throw eggs and shoes at Canadian foreign minister
(JNS.org) Palestinian protesters threw eggs and shoes at Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird’s convoy after a meeting in Ramallah between Baird and his Palestinian counterpart.
Baird visited Ramallah to urge the Palestinian leadership to refrain from unilateral actions such as joining the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“This person backs up the Zionist movement,” protester Abdullah Abu-Rahmeh said, The Associated Press reported. “This person diminishes the rights of our people, takes part and backs up building of settlements. We tell him that he’s not welcome.”
Under the leadership of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who visited Israel in January 2014, Canada has strongly backed Israel in international bodies such as the U.N.
Last week, the ICC opened up a preliminary inquiry into possible Israeli “war crimes” in the disputed territories following a request by the Palestinians. In a meeting with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, Baird slammed the ICC decision.
“The decision by the prosecutor is deeply ironic, awards terror, and amounts to blasphemy against international law,” Baird said.
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