RSS
IDF Nabs 14 Terrorists in West Bank During Overnight Raids
Illustrative: Israeli forces destroy weapon manufacturing lathes in the West Bank. Photo credit: IDF.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced the arrest of 14 wanted terrorists on Monday evening, adding to the nearly 3,600 who have been arrested since the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza.
The operation took place in the West Bank, where fighting broke out and the IDF opened fire on the terrorists.
“The soldiers of the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Border Police operated tonight to arrest 14 wanted persons throughout Judea and Samaria [the West Bank],” read an IDF statement. “The fighters were operating in Beit Omer in Sheva Tzion, the village from which a house was fired at in Caremi Tzur during the night. During the activity in the village, the fighters located a gun and ammunition. In Beit Fajer, in the brigade’s sector, the fighters located two more weapons.”
Since the war in Gaza broke out on Oct. 7 following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel, in which 1,200 people were murdered and more than 250 others taken hostage, the IDF, the Shin Bet security agency, and Israel’s Border Police have been working around the clock to prevent any repeat of the Hamas atrocities.
This work has led to the mass arrests of previously wanted terrorists from towns across the West Bank, including individuals who were in the process of planning terror attacks. Per IDF numbers, roughly 1,600 of the 3,600 arrested have been members of Hamas, illustrating the growing support among Palestinians in the West Bank of the Gaza-based terror organization.
According to new polling last week from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, some 71 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank believe Hamas’ decision to launch an offensive against Israel on Oct. 7 was “correct.” Mounting evidence has revealed that Hamas terrorists indiscriminately killed, mutilated, and systemically raped civilians during the onslaught.
The polling also found that, among Palestinians in the West Bank, 75 percent are satisfied with Hamas’ performance in the war with Israel, about two-thirds would prefer Hamas to control Gaza after the war, and a plurality (35 percent) would choose Hamas when asked about support for Palestinian political parties and movements.
Despite the support for Hamas, Palestinians in the West Bank did not rise up against Israel on Oct. 7, although the Israeli security establishment has been preparing for such a scenario, especially if another front opens on Israel’s northern border with the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.
The post IDF Nabs 14 Terrorists in West Bank During Overnight Raids first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login