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According to American and British media reports, there are currently some 50 members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the Crimean Peninsula, training Russian forces on how to deploy Iranian-made drones against Ukrainian targets.
The IRGC is a branch of the Iranian military that has been responsible for terror attacks against Western, Israeli, and Jewish targets around the globe. In 2019, it was designated by the United States as a terror organization.
A popular Iranian drone being used by Russia is the Shahed, a long-range aircraft that carries an explosive payload and is made to blow up on impact.
Recently, six Ukrainians were killed when these suicide drones were used against infrastructure and civilian areas in Kyiv and eastern Ukraine.
According to a report published last week, Israel is discreetly supplying Ukraine with intelligence on the Iranian-made drones that are currently being used by Moscow.
The United States, United Kingdom, and France are set to discuss Russia’s use of Iranian military drones at a closed-door meeting of the UN Security Council this week.
Although Iran denies sending drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, Reuters recently reported that the Islamic Regime has promised to deliver more aircraft and surface-to-surface missiles to Russian forces.
After a barrage of drone strikes rocked Kyiv, which Ukraine asserted were supplied to Russia by Iran, @Reuters has learned of a weapons deal in which sources say Iran will supply Russia with drones and surface-to-surface ballistic missiles https://t.co/kRkzYQdlfT pic.twitter.com/De3iefsAkS
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 18, 2022
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The Australian ambassador to Israel was called to the Israeli Foreign Ministry on Tuesday following Canberra’s decision to reverse its recognition of western Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
During the 30-minute meeting, the Foreign Ministry’s political director, Aliza Bin Noun, chastised Ambassador Paul Griffiths for what she deemed a “wretched decision” that ignores the vital connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish state and will only serve to embolden extremists.
Bin Noun also criticized the timing of the announcement, with heightened tensions in Judea and Samaria, and Israel and Lebanon on the verge of signing a maritime deal.
Griffiths is reported to have responded that his government’s decision is a return to traditional Australian policy, that leaves the status of Jerusalem up to a final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
In response to the Australian announcement, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid stated that “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of united Israel and nothing will ever change that” while also noting that only Israel can define its capital city.
Moshe Lion, the mayor of Jerusalem, also criticized the decision, saying that “A united Jerusalem has been and will continue to be the capital of Israel forever.”
While Canberra’s decision was panned by Israel and the Australian Jewish community, it was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad praises Australia for canceling its recognition of west Jerusalem as the capital of Israel: "A courageous step and a victory for the Palestinian cause and narrative."
— Khaled Abu Toameh (@KhaledAbuToameh) October 18, 2022
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Overnight, the Israeli Defense Forces and Shin Bet (Israeli Security Agency) arrested 12 Palestinians suspected of terror activities against Israeli civilians. The suspects were apprehended in the Palestinian population centers of Nablus, Abu Dis, the Aida refugee camp, Bani Na’im, Al-Ram, and Ein Umm Ashrayat.
These arrests are part of Break the Wave, an Israeli counter-terrorism operation that has been ongoing since early 2022, when Israel suffered a spate of deadly terror attacks. This operation has been characterized by nightly raids and arrests of Palestinian terror suspects in the West Bank.
In related news, there have been a number of indiscriminate shooting attacks against Israeli civilians over the past few weeks. On Tuesday, a Palestinian gunman sprayed bullets at two homes in the Jewish community of Shaked in the Samaria region.
On Friday, an Israeli man was wounded in his sukkah (traditional dwelling) after a Palestinian gunman fired at the community of Beit El.
In September, an Israeli Yeshiva student was injured in the southern Hebron Hills after a Palestinian gunman fired into his community.
These attacks are but the latest in a spate of attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers in Judea and Samaria, including shootings, rock throwing, and car rammings.
IDF says troops arrested 12 wanted Palestinians during overnight arrest raids in the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/05gxmInsNR
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 19, 2022
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Israeli Police announced on Wednesday that arrests had been made in the shooting death of Arab Israeli journalist Nidal Aghbariya, who was killed last month.
The four suspects, who range in age from 20 to 30, were arrested in the northern Arab Israeli city of Um el-Fahm by a joint force of police, Border Police, and canine units. A pistol was recovered in the home of one of the suspects.
Aghbariya, who ran an Arabic news site, was gunned down in early September as he sat in his car in Um el-Fahm. His family home had earlier been attacked in 2021.
Following Aghbariya’s murder, a number of Arab and Israeli organizations openly lamented his death and called for a stronger police response against intra-communal violence perpetrated by Arab criminal organizations.
There has been a sharp increase in violent deaths within Israel’s Arab community over the past couple years, with 126 people murdered in 2021 and over 75 murders in 2022.
Police arrest four Umm al-Fahm residents in probe of journalist’s murder https://t.co/CUTch9eT48
— The Times of Israel (@TimesofIsrael) October 19, 2022
Recommended Reading
- ‘We Don’t Know Who is Alive’: Concern Mounts for Jews Living in Russian-Occupied Ukraine (Jacob Judah, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- ‘The US is Pressing the PA to Increase Security Coordination With Israel’ (Yaakov Lappin, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Your Alliances Show Your True Colors – Opinion (Emily Schrader, The Jerusalem Post)
- OneRepublic Singer Says ‘Won’t Boycott Israel Only Because Other Artists Do So’ (Shirit Gal, Ynet News)
- For Mehdi Hasan, Two Anti-Semitic Wrongs Make Ilhan Omar Right (David M. Litman, Jewish News Syndicate)
