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IDF to Stay in Philadelphi Corridor
FILE PHOTO: Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Islamist terror group Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip April 22, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahdy Zourob/File Photo
JNS.org – The Israel Defense Forces is preparing to shift in the coming weeks from high-intensity warfare to targeted operations the Gaza Strip, a transition it calls moving from Stage B to C. The Israeli military plans, however, on continuing to hold the 8.7-mile (14-kilometer) Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border.
This continued Israeli control of the border will be critical in preventing the resurgence of Hamas’s smuggling operation and will help dampen the Iran-backed terror army’s hopes to rebuild itself.
Richard Goldberg, senior adviser at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told JNS, “History would repeat itself the minute the IDF abandons the Philadelphi Corridor, with Hamas rebuilding its smuggling operations. Egypt was obviously complicit in the Hamas tunneling operation and cannot be trusted with the border.
“The U.N. which is pro-Hamas, is not an option. That leaves the IDF to continue destroying all existing tunnel infrastructure and interdict future tunneling and other smuggling attempts.”
The Philadelphi Corridor, which Israel seized as part of its Rafah offensive, has historically been the route for Hamas to smuggle weapons and contraband from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. By maintaining a presence in this corridor, the IDF aims to ensure that Hamas is unable to rebuild its terror capabilities.
The Philadelphi Corridor has been a focal point for years, turning into a smuggling zone even before Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, and evolving into a monstrous network of tunnels in the years that followed.
The network of tunnels facilitated the flow of arms, explosives and other contraband, bolstering Hamas’s massive military infrastructure throughout Gaza.
The tunnels sneaking under the Philadelphi Corridor also enabled the transfer of luxury goods, cigarettes and other materials for the Gazan black market, all of which was taxed by Hamas, feeding its war chest.
Chronic corruption
Many observers have pointed to chronic corruption at the Rafah crossing, where bribes were allegedly paid to Egyptian security officials to facilitate smuggling. Additionally, high-level Egyptian figures are allegedly involved in these operations, organizing the passage of Gaza residents into Egypt for a fee. It is possible that this is why Egypt also failed to dismantle the dozens of tunnels that the IDF is now finding and destroying.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who visited the Rafah area on Tuesday, said that the military killed more than 900 terrorists, including commanders, during the Rafah operation.
“The reason we are working here week after week is now focused on the destruction of the terrorist infrastructure and the destruction of the underground infrastructure, which takes time,” Halevi continued. “Therefore, this is a long campaign, because we do not want to leave Rafah with the terrorist infrastructure intact. There are those we eliminated underground, and some that tried to emerge above ground, and we eliminated them.”
He added, “This ongoing effort of ours, this pursuit, is very, very important. They should feel exhausted, while we feel energized and determined. When we move to the next phase, we will adapt appropriate measures for that phase, bring new tactics, provide logistical support in a different way that fits that phase, and all these things ultimately are focused by our determination, perseverance and patience, wearing down the other side and accomplishing our missions. A lot of willpower, a lot of patience and perseverance, and the results will speak for themselves going forward.”
As long as the IDF maintains control of the Gaza-Egypt border, Hamas’s efforts to rebuild its terror army will be significantly hindered.
Securing the Philadelphi Corridor ensures that Hamas remains isolated from its external sources of weapons and materials, which are crucial for its military operations. It will also harm Hamas’s domestic arms production ambitions, since homemade production sites also rely on material entering the Strip.
In that sense, the Philadelphi Corridor can be compared to Israel’s strategic control of the Jordan Valley, which enables it to intercept and disrupt many Iranian arms smuggling efforts via Jordan into Judea and Samaria (although some smuggling runs have gotten through).
The IDF is also continually expanding a “sterile zone” around the Corridor, as part of its ongoing counter-tunnel and terror infrastructure destruction operations, Israel’s Channel 12 reported on June 30.
The failure of Egypt over the years to put a stop to the tunnels means Israel must take matters into its own hands. The IDF’s continued presence in the Philadelphi Corridor ensures that Israel retains control over a critical aspect of its national security, without relying on external actors.
The post IDF to Stay in Philadelphi Corridor first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli Gov’t Votes to Cut All Ties with ‘Haaretz’
English and Hebrew editions of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – Israeli government ministers on Sunday voted to cut all connection with the left-wing Haaretz daily.
The Cabinet decision came, according to a statement from Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi’s office, in response to “numerous articles that harmed the legitimacy of the State of Israel in the world and its right to self-defense, particularly in light of the recent statements by the publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, who expressed support for terrorism and called for sanctions against the government.”
Karhi explained, “We cannot allow a reality in which the publisher of an official newspaper in the State of Israel calls for sanctions against it and support the state’s enemies in the midst of a war, while international bodies harm the legitimacy of the State of Israel, its right to self-defense, and actually impose sanctions against it and against its leaders.”
At a Haaretz-organized London conference on Oct. 27, Schocken urged that sanctions be imposed on the Jewish state, accused the government of imposing apartheid rule in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, referred to Palestinian terrorists as “freedom fighters” and claimed that the Israel Defense Forces was carrying out a second nakba, or “catastrophe” (the Arab term for the creation of the modern-day State of Israel in 1948).
In response to the remarks, several Israeli government ministries vowed to cancel business ties with Haaretz, including the Foreign, Education, Culture and Sport, and Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism ministries.
Sunday’s government decision halts all state-paid advertising, state-funded subscriptions and other connections with the newspaper.
Haaretz lost hundreds of subscribers due to Schocken’s remarks, news site Walla reported earlier this month. The financial blow to the paper is “one that has not been seen in many years,” Haaretz stated, according to Walla, adding that during internal meetings there was talk of “a crazy rate of cancellations and a sharp drop in newspaper advertising.”
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yariv Levin is seeking to advance a bill that would criminalize calls by Israeli citizens for international sanctions against the Jewish state. Under the proposed law, offenders could face up to 20 years in prison for public calls for sanctions against “Israel, its leaders, members of the security forces and Israeli citizens.”
According to Levin, calls for boycotts are “tantamount to encouraging and promoting a move whose actual purpose is the denial of Israel’s right to self-defense. This act is all the more serious when committed during an existential war and while our daughters and sons are being held in inhumane conditions by a murderous terrorist group.”
The post Israeli Gov’t Votes to Cut All Ties with ‘Haaretz’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UAE Locates Body of Missing Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan
Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Photo: @Chabad/X.
JNS.org – The body of Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who went missing in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 21, has been located by UAE intelligence and security services, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign ministry said in a joint announcement on Sunday morning.
“Israel’s mission in Abu Dhabi has been in contact with the family from the beginning of the incident and continues to support them during this difficult time. His family in Israel has also been informed,” the statement read.
“The murder of Tzvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism. The State of Israel will utilize all available means to bring the perpetrators to justice,” it continued.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said in response to the announcement that, “I mourn with sorrow and outrage the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” adding, “This vile antisemitic attack is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people.”
The murder “will not deter us from continuing to grow flourishing communities in the UAE or anywhere—especially with the help of the dedicated commitment and work of the Chabad emissaries all over the world,” the statement continued.
Herzog thanked UAE authorities for their swift action on the case, and expressed his confidence that they would bring the murderers to justice.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with Rabbi Kogan’s wife and family. May his memory be a blessing,” the statement concluded.
Chabad said in response to the news that, “With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday.”
The PMO said on Saturday evening that the Mossad was investigating the incident and reminded Israelis that the National Security Council (NSC) advisory for the Arab Gulf state was level 3, a moderate travel warning “with a recommendation to avoid any non-essential travel to the country, and for those who are in the country–take extra precautions.”
Kogan stopped communicating with his family on Nov. 20. He reportedly failed to arrive at meetings previously scheduled on that day, and his wife contacted the Chabad security officer, who notified authorities about his disappearance. He reportedly went missing from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai.
He was an emissary for the Abu Dhabi Chabad branch and ran a kosher supermarket in the UAE.
Chabad is one of the largest religious Jewish organizations in the world, with branches in scores of countries.
According to Channel 12, Kogan is believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by an Uzbek cell operating on behalf of Iran. His body was discovered in Al-Ain, an inland oasis city on the eastern border with Oman. The authorities found signs of violence on the body, and there were also indications of a struggle in Kogan’s car.
Kogan was found in his car in Al-Ain, with his phone turned off. Initial investigations revealed that three Uzbeks followed him after he left the supermarket, and they are suspected of being responsible for his murder. The use of Uzbek militants by Iran is a known tactic.
Israeli authorities are aware that the Uzbeks traveled to Turkey, and Israeli security agencies are coordinating with Turkish officials to uncover the truth. A delegation from Israel has been sent to the UAE to oversee the investigation.
An Israeli who lives in Abu Dhabi and is acquainted with Kogan told Ynet that the rabbi “is a nice guy who is very active in the community. His family is ruined, and the Israeli and Jewish community is appalled. Kogan was the assistant of Chabad’s chief rabbi in the Emirates, and formed and managed the kosher supermarket of the community.”
Kogan married two years ago, and his wife is the niece of Gabi Holtzberg, a Chabad emissary who was murdered in Mumbai in 2008.
Relations between Israel and the UAE were normalized in the fall of 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. Despite criticisms from Abu Dhabi of Jerusalem’s conduct during its ongoing war against Iranian-backed terrorist groups, a senior Emirati official said late last month that normalization was not at risk.
The post UAE Locates Body of Missing Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot
Justin Trudeau condemned for subsequently attending a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.
The post Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.