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The Associated Press‘ headline, “Israeli military strikes Hamas target in northern Gaza Strip,” effectively misrepresents Sunday’s exchange between the IDF and Hamas. Israel Air Force planes indeed struck an observation post belonging to the Palestinian terrorist group, but only “in response to the launching of incendiary balloons from Gaza territory into Israel over the course of the day,” according to the IDF.
There were no injuries reported.
Moreover, earlier Sunday gunshots fired from southern Gaza targeted Israeli civilians tasked with building the security barrier along the frontier.
On Monday, Israeli media reported that Hamas had launched close to a dozen missiles into the sea in what is being construed as a warning to Israel that the months-long relative calm between the sides could be shattered at any moment.
Israel and Hamas have for the most part been abiding by an unofficial cease-fire agreement forged following numerous flare-ups widely attributed to the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad.
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More than ten years after Maj. Eliraz Peretz and St.-Sgt. Ilan Sviatkovsky were killed near the border fence with southern Gaza Strip, the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) arrested one of the Palestinians involved in the terrorist attack. The man apprehended was 38-year-old Abdullah Daghmah.
Peretz and Sviatkovsky were killed in an ambush after responding to an alert that several men were spotted planting explosive devices in the area. The IDF soldiers were attacked with mortar shells and gunfire. According to the Shin Bet, Daghmah confessed that the assault had been planned by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, considered the military branch of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ ruling Fatah party. However, the Islamic Jihad took responsibility for the killings.
Noting the delay in tracking down one of the perpetrators, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emphasized: “All those who seek evil know that even if years pass, the State of Israel will not give up until we deal with the terrorists.”
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Defense Minister Benny Gantz are haggling over whether to push back the August 25 deadline to pass Israel’s budget, a move that would potentially stave off a fourth national election in less than two years.
Current legislation being considered would extend the deadline and give the government until November to come to an agreement. A preliminary vote on the bill is tentatively slated to be held in the Knesset on Wednesday.
If the bill is not passed and no budget is approved by August 25 then parliament will automatically be disbanded and an election date will be set.
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The United States will introduce a resolution this week to extend the United Nations arms embargo on Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted on Sunday. “Countries in the Middle East from the Gulf to Israel support extending the arms embargo,” the top American diplomat said, adding, “It is deeply important to every one of them. Arabs and Israelis are speaking with one voice, and the [UN] Security Council must listen.”
Pompeo’s remarks came after as Dr. Nayef F. M. Alhajraf, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, sent a letter to the UN Security Council in support of the move. “Iran has continued to proliferate conventional weapons and arm terrorist and sectarian organizations and movements throughout the region,” the GCC, which includes Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, said in a joint statement.
Israel has for months been pushing for the embargo on its arch-foe to be extended, arguing that failure to do so would allow the Islamic Republic to increase its militarization of the region.
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Antisemitism Watch: Some 2,000 people have signed a petition seeking to have the account of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan removed from Twitter. The appeal on Change.org includes an open letter to Jack Dorsey, CEO and co-founder of the social media giant. Farrakhan has an estimated 350,000 followers on Twitter, and, according to organizers of the campaign, allowing the notorious antisemite to remain on the platform would be “negligent in times when hate crimes against Jews are on the rise.” Farrakhan has previously described Adolf Hitler as “a great man,” and referred to Jews as “termites” and “Satan.”
Notably, YouTube recently removed a video of Farrakhan’s Fourth of July address following pressure from HonestReporting. During his nearly three-hour speech, Farrakhan unleashed a litany of antisemitic remarks.
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Israel’s Yvel jewelry company is working on what is being labeled as the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask, which will cost a cool $1.5 million and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The 18-karat white gold face covering will be decorated with 3,600 diamonds and outfitted with top-rated N99 mask components at the request of the buyer, according to owner and designer Isaac Levy.
“I am happy that this mask gave us enough work for our employees to be able to provide their jobs in very challenging times like these right now,” Levy added.
Levy declined to identify the customer, but revealed that he was a Chinese businessman living in the United States.
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In what could very well be the most peculiar — or, depending on one’s vantage point, inspiring or upsetting — news coming out of Israel for a while, the captain of the country’s national hockey team has signed a deal to play for a team located in Oswiecim, also known as Auschwitz. When Eliezer Sherbatov, 28, hits the ice this season, he will be just a short walk away from the notorious concentration camp where the Nazis murdered some 1 million Jews during the Holocaust. Sherbatov told an Israeli newspaper that he felt welcomed in his new home and was not concerned about fans harassing him with antisemitic taunts.
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