Did Israel Coordinate Syrian Air Strike With US?

Today’s Top Stories

1. Russia accused Israel of carrying out an overnight air strike on a Syrian air base which reportedly killed 14 people — including Iranian soldiers. Jerusalem officials declined to comment on what Moscow called “a dangerous development.” Meanwhile, NBC News reported that two US officials (unnamed) confirmed that Israel carried out the attack, and even gave the White House advance notification while the Jerusalem Post suggests even more:

There is some speculation among analysts that Israel carried out the attack in coordination with the US to test the latest Syrian response system in advance of such a response.

Israel has launched periodic air strikes in Syria to prevent transfers of game-changing weapons to Hezbollah and curb Iranian entrenchment. If Israel carried out last night’s strike, it could also have been a response to Bashar Assad’s recent chemical attack on Douma, a rebel-held town northeast of Damascus. At least 42 people, including women and children were killed. The NBC report assumed the strike was a response to the chemical weapons, though its sources didn’t specify that. The Tiyas air field, also known as T4, has been hit by Israel in the past, “destroying an Iranian drone control center and communications systems.”

A friend in Mare', northern Aleppo posted this just now in response to the strike on T4: "thank God I stayed awake [it's almost 05:00 now in Syria) and our expectation were proven right." Many anti-Assad Syrians who are awake are celebrating.

— Elizabeth Tsurkov (@Elizrael) April 9, 2018

2. This is not satire: Syria to chair UN disarmament forum on chemical and nuclear weapons. Still don’t believe it? See the UN web site for yourself.

3. In defiance of Congress, the Palestinian Authority is now openly budgeting its terror stipends. The Jerusalem Post picked up on a report by The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center. The PA’s recalcitrant response to the recently passed Taylor Force Act couldn’t be clearer.

In total, the PA expects to receive NIS 2.790 billion (around USD 790 million) in aid from donor countries in 2018. Hence the allocations for assistance to prisoners, released terrorists, and shahids represent nearly 46% of the foreign aid funds that the PA expects to receive.

4. The Gaza Riots: What’s Really Happening: With so much misleading coverage it’s hard to understand what’s really happening. HonestReporting rounds-up the latest events for you.

Israel and the Palestinians

• The IDF brass ordered a probe of the army’s handling of the ongoing Gaza border clashes. According to Haaretz, “the probe is not criminal but rather operational, and upon its conclusion the findings are to be presented to the military advocate general, who may decide whether to open a criminal investigation.”

• Only the Palestinians could burn thousands of tires and then blame Israel for Gaza’s tire shortage.

Hamdan criticized Israel’s decision to stop tire imports to Gaza, asserting that there is a shortage of tires in the coastal enclave.

“There is no doubt stopping tire imports will have a negative effect on Palestinians in Gaza especially considering there is shortage of them there,” he said. “We are going to exert all efforts so that Israel reverses its decision.”

No doubt, the related pollution is Israel’s fault too . . .

Hamas is burning thousands of tires along the border, polluting the air and harming the environment.
All children – in #Gaza and in #Israel – deserve to breathe fresh air and drink clean water.
Stop #Hamas from polluting our future. pic.twitter.com/IAEozOyYws

— George Deek (@GeorgeDeek) April 6, 2018

• IDF: Palestinians who breached fence planted explosives. Israel retaliated with a Monday morning air strike on a Hamas military compound in Gaza.

• The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court warned that the Hague is watching the Gaza protests and that actions by both Israel and Hamas “could potentially constitute war crimes.” The Jerusalem Post and Times of Israel picked up on Fatou Bensouda’s statement.

• The Palestinian Authority’s top cleric accused Hamas of deliberately sending civilians to die for the sake of headlines. Palestinian Media Watch (video or transcript) picked up on Dr. Mahmoud Al-Habbash’s denunciation of the Gaza “March of Return.”

• Located near the Gaza border, the Israeli town of Nahal Oz has weathered many Palestinian rockets and mortars fired from the Strip. Props to Reuters for giving its residents a voice on the latest Gaza clashes.

• Where did the New Yorker get the idea that Trump said this?

Trump declared that the U.S. would move its Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to East Jerusalem, something that no American President had attempted since Israel occupied the West Bank, in 1967.

• How the heck did Associated Press, Times of London and Sky News come to illustrate coverage of Syrian air strike with images of Syrian kids being treated for exposure to Bashar Assad‘s chemical weapons? You might think Israel was responsible for the chemical weapons attack. (All three subsequently changed their images.)

Around the World

• Hundreds protested antisemitism outside the UK Labour party’s headquarters in London.

• In regards to The Guardian’s coverage of Labour antisemitism, readers’ editor Paul Chadwick responds to Corbynistas going nuts every time their hero, Jeremy Corbyn, is criticized.

• Jeremy Corbyn calls for review of arms sales to Israel over Gaza border protests.

• Ynet takes a closer look at Hezbollah operations in Colombia.

Commentary

• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .

– Amos Harel: Israel is now directly confronting Iran in Syria
– Yoav Limor: Israel can only rely on itself
– Avi Issacharoff: Why did Assad use chemical weapons? Because he can
– Mohammed Ruzgar: Don’t let Syria’s chemical weapons attack go unpunished

I assume Israel attacked tonight in Syria to prevent Iranian deployment and transfer of precise missiles to Hez. It was based on good intel and operational feasibility and wasn’t a respobse to the use of chemical weapons by the regime. But if its interpreted as such even better.

— Yossi Melman (@yossi_melman) April 9, 2018

– Yoni Ben-Menachem: The Hamas gimmick that failed
– Moshe Arens: The source of Gaza’s woes
– National Post (staff-ed) : It’s Hamas that wants to see Palestinians killed, not Israel
– Herb Keinon: As US intervenes at UN for Israel, other world bodies enter the breach
– Noa Shusterman: Gaza will get worse before it gets better
– Eugene Kontorovich: Why Israeli rule in the West Bank is legal under international law
– Tom Gross: If Labour denied slavery, there would be more protest

Featured image: CC BY-SA carterse; 3D budget pie CC BY Pixs.com;

For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.

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