Iron Dome Intercepts Syrian Missile Following Claims Of Attacks On Damascus

A missile fired towards the Golan Heights was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system on Sunday afternoon (20th), the Israel military said.

It happened just shortly after the Syrian regime had accused Israel of carrying out airstrikes in southern Damascus on Sunday morning, according to the official news agency SANA,

It said that the attack triggered Syrian air defense systems.  “A military source said that our air defenses had successfully engaged an Israeli aerial attack targeting the southern region and prevented it from achieving any of its objectives,” SANA reported.

The Israeli military refused to comment on the reported strike.  It is rare for such Israeli strikes to occur in the daylight hours,

In Sunday’s attack, approximately 10 missiles were fired at targets in al-Kiswah, south of Damascus, according to Syrian media.

Social media said that the airstrike followed just hours after an Iranian cargo plane had touched down in the Damascus International Airport.  According to flight information, another plane from Iran had been on its way to Syria on Sunday afternoon, but turned around right after the Israeli airstrikes.

Israel has vowed repeatedly to fight against Iran’s presence and influence in Syria.  

The missile that was intercepted over the Golan Heights on Sunday was a surface-to-surface missile deliberately fired from Syria at Israel.  It apparently was a highly unusual retaliatory attack in response to an airstrike earlier in the day attributed to Israel.

It is not the first time that Israel has intercepted Syrian rockets, but in the past, most incoming projectiles following Israeli airstrikes were believed to be errant anti-aircraft missiles, rather than intentionally fired offensive surface-to-surface rocket attacks.

The rocket was shot down by the Iron Dome system before it breached Israeli airspace, causing no damage.

(timesofisrael.com; worldisraelnews.com)

 

Khartoum Lets Netanyahu’s Plane Fly Over South Sudan, In First For Israel

In an unprecedented move, Sudan on Sunday (20th) allowed an Israeli plane to cross over the air space it controls.

The flight, carrying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Israel from a lightning visit to Chad, jetted over South Sudan, whose skies are under the control of the civil aviation authorities in Khartoum.

The flight came hours after Netanyahu lauded Israeli “inroads” with the Islamic world as he and Chadian President Idriss Deby resumed ties, and amid a reported diplomatic push to reach an understanding with Khartoum to allow Israeli overflights above Sudan to shave hours off flights to Western Africa and Latin America.

Israel has friendly relations with South Sudan, but the country’s airspace is controlled by its northern neighbor, which does not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state.

Sunday night’s (20th) flight was the first time an Israeli aircraft was allowed to fly over South Sudan, officials in the prime minister’s entourage said.

Shortly after takeoff, the captain announced that this was a “historic flight,” and that thanks to the shortcut the return flight would be an hour shorter than the trip’s first leg.

(timesofisrael.com; ap.com)

 

Israel Revokes Permits For UNRWA Schools In Jerusalem

Israel is revoking the permits for Jerusalem schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for ‘Palestinian refugees.’  Instead the schools will be run by the Jerusalem municipality and the Israeli education ministry, like all others.

The Israeli National Security Council has decided to expel UNRWA from Jerusalem, saying the organization perpetuates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and prevents the descendants of refugees from settling abroad, Hadashot TV reported on Saturday (19th).

“The era of UNRWA in Jerusalem is over.  The time has come to stop the refugee lie in Jerusalem.  There are no refugees in our city, only residents,” then Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat stated in October.  “They must receive their services from the municipality, like any other resident.”

Early in the year, the Trump administration cut $300 million in funding to UNRWA.

“The US decision to stop funding UNRWA creates a rare opportunity to deal immediately and decisively with the PA’s intention to perpetuate the ‘refugee problem’ and encourage incitement,” Barkat said at the time.  “The United States does not want UNRWA, Israel does not want UNRWA, and the residents do not want UNRWA.”

“Israel’s policy is that UNRWA should be closed down,” Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said recently.  “They’re the problem, not the solution.”

Israel recently pushed forward a five-billion-shekel plan to invest in Arab neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem.

(walla.co.il; worldisraelnews.com)

 

German Politicians Urge Canceling Event With Malaysia Over Ban On Israeli Athletes

A prominent member of Germany’s Green Party has called for a stop to cooperation with Malaysia after that country announced a ban on Israeli athletes from an international tournament there.

Volker Beck urged Berlin Mayor Michael Muller and other local officials to cancel a travel trade fair because Malaysia is the partner country in running the event.  “This regime must not be courted,” Beck stated.

The trade fair, which is billed as the largest such event in the world, is scheduled to take place in Berlin March 6-10.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad announced that Malaysia will deny visas to Israelis, barring them from participating in the 2019 World Para-Swimming Championships scheduled to take place in Kuching, Malaysia, July 29-August 4.  The defiant prime Minister insisted that he would stand by the decision even if the International Paralympic Committee moved the tournament out of Malaysia because of the ban.

Prime Minister Mohamad said “the Israelis should not come to our country because we have no relations with them.”

Michaele Engelmeier of Germany’s Social Democratic party, also incensed by Mohamad’s ban, called for the cancelation of the swimming event in Malaysia.  “The International Paralympic Committee must act as host. The right reaction can only be the cancelation in Malaysia and a new contract,” she said.

(worldisraelnews.com)

 

In Brussels As In Gaza: ‘Oh Allah, Burn The Zionists

The trial of the terrorist who killed four people at the Jewish Museum of Brussels in 2014, Mehdi Nemmouche, has started in Belgium.  He fought with the Jihadists in Syria’s war before returning to Europe’s capital and carrying out the anti-Semitic attack.

Meanwhile, one of Belgium’s most important imams prayed in a public sermon for Allah to kill all Zionists and burn them: “Lord, master of worlds, fill with fear the hearts of the Zionist oppressors.”

Mohammed Toujgani is seen saying in a 31-minute sermon: “Lord, fill their hearts with fear.  Lord make the earth tremble beneath their feet. Lord make the blood of the martyrs a weapon under the feet of the Zionist oppressors, and may this blood ignite a fire that burns them and starts a wind that eviscerates them….O Lord tear them down.”

Last May, it was revealed that teaching manuals in Gulf Arab-financed mosques in Belgium promote anti-semitism, according to a Belgian intelligence report.  The texts used in mosques including the Brussels Grand Mosque describes Jews as “evil,” says the report.

The opening trial and the new revelation about the senior imam only confirm that there are certain areas in Brussels that look very similar to Gaza, where “moderate Islam” doesn’t exist, and that Europe’s bien-pensants say “such attacks are all part of an open society,” even when one of the imam’s followers takes a gun to kill four Jews at the local museum.

(israelnn.com)