“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l

Wednesday, February 14, 2024

LOL >>>> Iran claims terrorists blew up gas pipeline

 

DIN: " Terrorists blew up a gas pipeline?" "Terrorists?" 

Explosions struck a natural gas pipeline in Iran on Wednesday, with an official blaming the blasts on a “sabotage and terrorist action”.

Details were scarce, though the blasts hit a natural gas pipeline running from Iran's western Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province up north to cities on the Caspian Sea. The roughly 1,270-kilometer (790-mile) pipeline begins in Asaluyeh, a hub for Iran's offshore South Pars gas field.

The news comes in the country as tensions remain high in the Middle East amid Israel‘s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Saeed Aghli, the manager of Iran's gas network control center, told Iranian state television that a “sabotage and terrorist” action caused explosions along several areas of the line.

There are no known insurgent groups operating in that province, home to the Bakhtiari, a branch of Iran's Lur ethnic group. Aghli did not name any suspects in the blasts.

Iran's Oil Minister Javad Owji, also speaking to state TV, compared the attack to a series of mysterious and unclaimed assault on gas pipelines in 2011 — including around the anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. Tehran marked the 45th anniversary of the revolution on Sunday.

St. Sgt. Omer Sarah Benjo killed in missile strike


 The IDF has cleared for publication that Staff Sergeant Omer Sarah Benjo, 20 from Ge'a, was killed as a result of a Hezbollah missile barrage on a military base in northern Israel.

She served as a combat intelligence coordinator in the 869th Battalion of the Galil Formation.

Eight individuals were taken to Ziv Medical Center in Tzfat for wounds sustained as a result of the barrage, one in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and six in light condition.

One of the wounded, a man in his 30s, was taken by helicopter from Ziv to Ramabam Medical Center in Haifa due to the severity of his wounds.

National Unity Party chairman Minister Benny Gantz addressed the deadly rocket attack stating: "The IDF, through the Northern Command and all formations, has been working for four months to protect the north and push Hezbollah from the borderline," he said.

He also added that "we are in combat in the north all the time, and this morning we experienced a difficult event for which the response will come soon and strongly."

"We must be clear - the party responsible for the shooting from Lebanon is not only Hezbollah or the terrorist elements that carry it out but also the government of Lebanon and the state of Lebanon which allows the shooting from its territory and there is no target or military infrastructure in the area of the north and Lebanon that is not in our sights.

"Also in the future and in whatever arrangement there is, whoever endangers us will be dealt with operationally. We are not ready to return to the reality of October 6, neither in the south nor in the north," Gantz said.

Al Jazeera reports that their journalist Ismail Abu Omar was injured in Gaza But Don't say That He Is a Hamas Commander

 

The Al Jazeera news network reported on Tuesday that one of their journalists was injured during an IDF strike in the southern Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, the IDF revealed that Ismail Abu Omar, the journalist that the Al Jazeera news network reported about, is a deputy company commander in Hamas' Eastern Battalion of Khan Yunis.

According to the IDF, Abu Omar even filmed himself in Kibbutz Nir Oz during the October 7th massacre and published it on social media platforms.

The IDF published a photo depicting Abu Omar participating in the massacre.

On Sunday, the IDF’s Arabic language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, revealed that the IDF had found the laptop of Muhammad Washah, a journalist for Al Jazeera in a Hamas base in northern Gaza.

The IDF claims that Washah served as a senior commander in Hamas’s antitank missile system, and moved to the research and development department of its air force at the end of 2022.


Irit Tratt to Zev Brenner: Jewish Families Should Visit Israel Instead of European Vacations


  In a wide ranging interview on the Talk Line Network with radio legend Zev Brenner, Irit Tratt from New York touched on issues ranging from why support for Israel is diminishing amongst young Jewish Americans ,to the alarming rise of Antisemitism on college campuses, to projecting that President Trump will receive a large portion of the Jewish vote nationally later this year.


Notably, Irit, a renowned columnist and National Board Member for the Republican Jewish Coalition and Steering Committee Member for the Jerusalem Center Public Affairs Board of Fellows, made sharp comments about Jewish families who travel to vacations at popular destinations, implying they are defacto choosing to withhold support for Israel.

Irit said that is the time for the Jewish diaspora to stand with Israel by actually going to Israel. “Instead of families going to Europe on their next vacation, they should go to Israel instead, which is important at this time,” Irit said.

Mrs. Tratt’s op-eds have been published in her own Newsmax column, as well as the Jerusalem Post, JNS, Israel Hayom, Washington Times, and Algeminer.

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Biden tells Bibi Israel may have to release more Palestinian Murderers than in last deal

 

President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday that in any new hostage deal, Israel will may have to release more Palestinian prisoners for each freed hostage than it did in the previous pause in Gaza fighting, two U.S. and Israeli officials said.

Why it matters: The number of Palestinian prisoners Hamas is demanding Israel release as part of a new hostage deal is the main sticking point in the indirect negotiations between the parties.

  • While U.S. officials say Biden agrees with Netanyahu that Hamas' demand to release thousands of prisoners, including many convicted of murdering Israelis, is "over the top," the U.S. president also believes Israel could show more flexibility on the issue.
  • That's in part because at least five of the roughly 40 women, children, elderly and wounded hostages that could be released are female soldiers.

Behind the scenes: Netanyahu told Biden during their phone call on Sunday that "unlike some reports in the Israeli press," he does want to get a new hostage deal. But he stressed it needs to be a deal that can pass in the Israeli cabinet, U.S. and Israeli officials said.

  • Netanyahu said the proposal that the U.S., Israel, Qatar and Egypt agreed to in Paris two weeks ago was "very generous" because Israel agreed to more than 10 times the number of days for a pause in fighting than it did in the initial part of the previous hostage deal. The Paris proposal includes a six-week pause in fighting in return for release of roughly 40 hostages as part of the first phase of the deal.

Why Did Gazan Comedian "General Moshe" stop laughing??

 


 A Gaza comedian who mocked Israel Defense Forces on October 7, dressing up as a senior IDF officer and begging, “We need protection. Protect us,” is laughing no more.

Ala’a Qadouha, who performed as “General Moshe,” is not even weeping. He is dead, courtesy of the Israel Defense Forces he so often mocked.

The comedian was killed together four family members Monday night in an attack on their home in Nuseirat, in central Gaza, according to Arab media quoted by the Abu Ali Express news outlet.

“Qadouha, together with his friend, the house comedian of Hamas, Ali Nasman, who was killed at the beginning of the war, often posed as Jews/soldiers and promoted Hamas agendas on social networks,” Abu Ali Express reported.

Qadouha often succeeded in convincing his Arab audience that he was, indeed, an Arabic-speaking senior Israeli military officer, using his skills to present positions appeared to be coming from the IDF itself and which weakened Israel’s military stance.

The comedian was close friends with Ali Nasman, the Hamas house comedian, who also often posted as an Israeli or IDF soldier while promoting Hamas agendas on social networks.

Ali Nasman was killed by the IDF at the beginning of the war.



France Happy to Join Harassment Campaign Against Israelis in Judea and Samaria

 


France is joining the Western harassment campaign against Israelis living in Samaria, who are often forced to defend themselves against attacks by neighboring Palestinian Authority Arabs long before Israeli military forces are able to arrive on the scene.

According to an announcement Tuesday by French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, France has joined the United States and Britain in imposing sanctions against so-called “extremist Israeli settlers” the Western nations claim are “guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

“As such, 28 individuals are subject to an administrative ban from French territory,” Séjourné said in the statement. “France reaffirms its firm condemnation of this unacceptable violence. As we have stated on numerous occasions, it is the responsibility of the Israeli authorities to put an end to it and prosecute its perpetrators,” he added.

The harassment of Israeli residents in Samaria began two weeks ago with the first round of sanctions imposed on four Israelis by the United States.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the move. “The vast majority of residents of Judea and Samaria are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are fighting right now in active and reserve duty to protect Israel,” he pointed out.

“Israel acts against all violators of the law in all places and therefore there is no place for drastic steps on this matter,” Netanyahu added.

The prime minister also raised the matter in his phone call on Sunday (Feb. 11) with US President Joe Biden, noting that for some time already there has been a decrease in the number of attacks against Palestinian Authority Arabs in Judea and Samaria.

Last month, then-Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called the claims of “growing settler violence” a “blood libel” and “a lie disconnected from reality.”

Freed Hostages Say Prescribed Medication Never Reached Them in Gaza

 



A relative of one of the two hostages rescued from Hamas captivity in Gaza early Monday morning has spoken out, saying her uncle Fernando Marman, 61, never received any of his prescribed medications despite Hamas promises to Qatar that the medicine was delivered to those who needed it.

“We handed over all the medications as part of the last medicine deal,” Maayan Sigal Koren told Galei Tzahal Army Radio in an interview on Tuesday. “[But] according to what they said, they never got anything.”

n fact, she said, “they were surprised that there was any such deal.”

Marman and Luis Har, 70, were rescued from the southern Gaza border town of Rafah by Shin Bet and IDF special forces. They are recovering at the Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan.

The families said they were informed that both men were given some medication while in captivity, but not the medicines specifically sent for them.

Last month, Qatar and France brokered a deal with Hamas to deliver urgently-needed medication to some 45 hostages with chronic medical conditions who are still being held by Hamas in Gaza.

Specific medical packages meant to last several months were to be delivered to each of the 45 hostages, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) coordinating deliveries in the enclave.

In accordance with the deal brokered by Qatar and France, for each box of medication intended for a hostage, Hamas was to be provided with 1,000 boxes of medicine for Gazans along with increased humanitarian aid.

The medications, purchased in France, were delivered to Egypt on January 17 by two Qatari Air Force planes and from there, were brought into Gaza where the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was to coordinate distribution.

Hamas promised Qatar the medications would reach their intended destination, including those for the hostages, and at that point, all communications on the issue ended.

Netanyahu meets the rescuers


 

Palestinian Loving Transgender Shoots Christians in their "Lakewood" Church

 


The "woman" who opened fire at Joel Osteen’s packed Houston-area mega-church on Sunday, identified by authorities as Genesse Ivonne Moreno, 36, previously penned antisemitic writings,  used a weapon with a “Palestine” sticker in the brazen attack, officials said Monday. 

Moreno entered Lakewood Church just before a Spanish-language service was due to begin at 2 p.m. with a 7-year-old boy, and opened fire as hundreds of people were taking their pews.

Two off-duty officers working security at the church — Houston cop Christopher Moreno, who is not related to the shooter, and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Agent Adrian Herrera — returned fire and fatally shot Moreno, officials said during a Monday afternoon press briefing. 

The young boy, who is currently “fighting for his life” sustained a gunshot wound to the head, Police Chief Troy Finner said Monday. He remains hospitalized in critical condition. 

When asked whether the child was shot by an officer, Finner declined to speculate, but said on Sunday, “That "female," that suspect, put that baby in danger. I’m going to put that blame on her.”

The boy’s relationship to Moreno, who is originally from El Salvador, was not immediately known.

Moreno had a criminal history dating back to 2005, with charges of assaulting a public servant, assault causing bodily injury, forgery, possession of marijuana, theft, evading arrest and unlawful carrying of a weapon, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.