Israel’s Fronts “Tense” Warns Defense Minister (Worthy News In-Depth)
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – Israel’s defense minister warned his nation Sunday that “all our fronts are tense” after Israeli security forces killed two suspected terrorists within 24 hours while Iran “extends” its influence in the region.
Yoav Gallant, who Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried to dismiss last week over policy disputes, made the comments while visiting the Israeli-controlled West Bank.
“We will not allow the Iranians and Hezbollah to harm us. We have not allowed it in the past; we won’t allow it now or anytime in the future,” Gallant said while visiting an army brigade in the area.
His comments came shortly after Israeli soldiers killed a Palestinian man following a West Bank car-ramming on Saturday, the army announced.
The Israeli army said a “terrorist” conducted a “ramming attack adjacent to the town of Beit Ummar,” with a spokesperson confirming the presumed assailant’s death. The Palestinian Authority identified the dead man as Mohammed Baradyah, 23.
Israeli medics said three men were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem with severe, moderate, and light wounds.
The Palestinian’s death came less than 24 hours after an Arab Israeli allegedly snatched a gun from a police officer at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque compound and fired it before being shot dead.
STUDENT KILLED
Police said they shot dead 26-year-old medical student Mohammed al-Asibi, a resident of the Bedouin village of Hura in southern Israel.
The incident happened late Friday close to the Chain Gate, an access point to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, authorities clarified.
Passers-by reported hearing gunfire and scores of police deployed in the Old City at around 1 am. Asibi’s family disputed the police account of his death and demanded to see security camera footage, Israeli media reported.
Across the border, two Iran-affiliated fighters were killed in the latest Israeli air strikes on targets in Syria, a war monitor said Sunday. State news agency SANA reported that five Syrian soldiers were wounded.
A strike early Sunday near the western Syrian city of Homs was Israel’s third since early Thursday after the capital Damascus was targeted that morning and early Friday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said “two pro-Iran fighters whose nationalities are so far unknown were killed” in the strikes.
The Observatory said an arms depot belonging to Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah forces in the military airport of Dabaa, in the southwestern sector of Homs, was destroyed.
TARGETING HEZBOLLAH
Israeli forces have targeted Hezbollah, citing the Iran-backed group’s declared objective to seek the destruction of Israel.
However, Syria’s air defense intercepted several missiles, but five soldiers were wounded, and some material damage was reported, SANA said.
Earlier in strikes on Friday, Israel launched “several missiles from the occupied Golan Heights” against positions near Damascus, Syrian state media reported.
The Observatory said those attacks targeted a weapons and ammunition depot of the Syrian military and pro-Iran groups.
Sepahnews, the website of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, announced Friday that officer Milad Heidari had been killed.
On Sunday, the website reported that Meghdad Mahghani, a military adviser wounded in the same strike, had “attained the high rank of martyrdom,” suggesting he died.
Later in the day, Israel shot down a drone that infiltrated its airspace from Syria, Israel’s army said.
HIGH PRICE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking after the strikes in Syria on Sunday, said: “We are exacting a high price from the regimes that support terrorism beyond Israel’s borders. I suggest that our enemies not err.”
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani condemned the Israeli attacks in Syria, saying the “blood of these high-ranking martyrs will not go to waste.” He claimed that Tehran “reserves its right to respond… at the appropriate time and place”.
Later Sunday evening, a car bombing rocked Damascus, slightly injuring two people, said Syria’s interior minister, though it wasn’t immediately clear who was responsible.
Concerns over violence in and near Israel’s volatile borders came as Palestinians began observing Ramadan, deemed a holy month by Muslims, in Jerusalem.
Besides these challenges, Israel’s government faces massive protests prompted by proposed judicial reforms.
The prime minister initially fired Minister Gallant for disagreeing with a proposed bill that critics say will increase the government’s influence over the Supreme Court.
However, Netanyahu, who faces corruption charges he denies, says the measures are aimed at limiting the abuse of the system by “overly activist judges.”
MASSIVE PROTESTS
Yet thousands of Israelis resumed demonstrations in Tel Aviv Saturday night, calling for a total cancellation of the government’s judicial overhaul plan.
Local media reported that 160,000 people turned out in Tel Aviv and other locations.
Just last week, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed the controversial judicial reform bill that provoked months of rallies and
nationwide strikes.
Netanyahu said the delay until the next parliament session after the Jewish holiday of Passover would enable dialogue and “prevent a civil war.”
He also warned that an “extremist minority” was tearing Israel apart.
Defense Minister Gallant appeared concerned about the growing security challenges for Israel amid domestic turmoil and growing terrorist threats both inside Israel and near its borders.
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.