Rockets continued to be fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip throughout the day Wednesday despite appeals for calm by the UN and several world governments and despite the refusal of the Islamist terror militia Hamas, which rules the Strip, to join the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror militia in attacking Israel, leaving it to bear the full brunt of Israel’s retaliatory response. “We are not talking of mediation, it’s not appropriate to talk about it,” a PIJ spokesman said early Wednesday afternoon. “When we complete our response that we want to send, it will be possible to talk about calming things down.”
At press time, over 220 rockets had been fired into Israel since the beginning of the current flare up late Sunday night, which began when Israeli aircraft fired a missile into the home of senior PIJ leader Bahaa Abu al-Ata, killing him and his wife. Reports have surfaced that Israel has threatened to begin targeted killings of PIJ agents in Syria if the rockets do not stop immediately, but the PIJ response to these warnings has been to continue firing.
Here are some videos about the recent events:
Lebanon Rocked by Escalating Street Protests
Massive street protests continued in Lebanon on Wednesday despite an appeal by 84 year old President Michael Aoun for the demonstrations to end and warnings from several prominent analysts that the country’s economy was on the verge of catastrophic collapse after nearly three weeks of banks, schools, universities and most businesses being closed. The local currency has been in freefall and many banks have restricted withdrawals, while many shops have reported running low of food, fuel and other basic necessities.
Turkey Hosts Iranian Diplomat Wanted for 1994 Terror Attack
Hadi Soleimanpour, who served as Iran’s ambassador to Argentina in 1994 and is suspected of involvement in the Hezbollah attack on the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires that year that killed 85 people and injured more than 150 others, was a guest of the Turkish government recently. Instead of enforcing an international warrant for Soleimanpour’s arrest, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warmly greeted and personally hosted him at last Saturday’s Economic Cooperation Forum in Turkey’s resort city of Antalya.
Russian Hacker Extradited to US
Israel’s decision to extradite Russian hacker Aleksey Burkov to the US this week closed the door on the possibility that Jerusalem would trade him for Israeli tourist Naama Issachar, who was arrested in Moscow in April. Lawyers for Issachar have explained to the media that she landed in Moscow on a flight from India and was on her way to a connecting flight to Israel when she was searched by police and found to have 9 grams of marijuana in her luggage, for which she was found guilty of drug smuggling and sentenced to 7 ½ years in prison. A Russian attempt to trade her for Burkov was rejected by Israel with the agreement of her family.
Russian Veterans Honored in Jerusalem
Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Leon and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs, Zeev Elkin hosted Russian officials on Tuesday for the cornerstone laying ceremony of the Memorial Candle Monument dedicated to the defenders and residents of Leningrad, including over 150,000 Jews, which refused to surrender to the Nazis despite being surrounded and besieged for over a year during the Second World War. The monument was funded by the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress (EAJC) and Viktor Vekselberg. Jewish National Fund (KKL), Keren ha-Yesod, and the Russian Jewish Congress (RJC).
Today’s video shows some of the natural beauty of Israel
This article originally appeared on ICEJ, November 13, 2019, and reposted with permission.