RSS
In Show of Resolve, Top Israeli Official Sings, Dances With Students Whose Classmates Were Injured in Terror Attack
Illustrative: Israeli security personnel stand guard in the aftermath of a violent Palestinian terror attack near Jerusalem, Nov. 16, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
Israel’s Education Minister Yoav Kisch joined a group of high school students whose friends were injured in a Palestinian terror attack on Monday in song and dance while the senior official was being interviewed on Israeli television.
“The people of Israel are not afraid of a long journey,” they all sang, dancing together while the interviewers sought to get clarity from the minister on what victory would look like for Israel in the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
Kisch opened the interview by saying he was in Raanana, north of Tel Aviv in central Israel, where police say two Palestinians carried out coordinated stabbings and car-rammings, killing an elderly woman and injuring 17 others.
“I am here in Raanana, exactly where there was a terror attack, with students who came here to dance and strengthen the people of Israel and pray for the victory of our soldiers in the war,” Kisch said.
“I spoke to the students and told them a very simple thing: We will continue the war until victory,” the minister added, referring to Israel’s defensive war against Hamas in Gaza following the Palestinian terror group’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.
The interviewers asked Kisch to clarify what victory meant, to which the Israeli cabinet member responded, “We will not stop until the abductees are returned. We will not stop until Hamas is subdued. We must continue — this is a war for our existence as the people of Israel.”
During Hamas’ Oct. 7 onslaught, terrorists murdered 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others hostages, taking them to Gaza. Israel has said it will continue its war against the terror group until all the hostages are freed and Hamas is incapacitated, no longer posing a major threat to the Jewish state.
When Kisch finished his response about Israel continuing its war effort, the singing and dancing started behind him, a few seconds after which he joined in as the broadcasters were unable to continue their questioning.
The students in the video attend Amit Kfar Batya, a national religious high school in Raanana, where Monday’s terror attack occurred. Two terrorists from the West Bank attacked civilians in the normally peaceful, well-to-do town near Tel Aviv. The victim who died was identified as 79-year-old Edna Bluestein.
Of those injured, seven were children and teenagers, all of whom were taken to the emergency room. Four of the victims remain in serious condition.
The classmates of those injured were the ones dancing with Kisch, who joined them amid their singing and reading from the Hebrew book of Psalms, commonly read to pray for those injured or sick.
The principal of the school, Rabbi Yoni Berlin, told the Israeli network conducting the interview that his students wanted to show that they won’t live in fear.
“Our students have gone through a difficult event. We are all praying for the healing of our seriously injured students and for all the wounded,” he said. “Our students asked to come to the place, to get stronger and stronger in order to raise the flag and tell all those who seek to take our souls that the nation of Israel lives.”
אחלה יואב קיש @YoavKisch pic.twitter.com/xI8Z53HVso
— Avi Noga (@AviNoga3) January 16, 2024
The post In Show of Resolve, Top Israeli Official Sings, Dances With Students Whose Classmates Were Injured in Terror Attack first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: IDF Probes Whether Houthis Used Iranian Cluster Bomb-Bearing Missile
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The Israeli military said Saturday it launched a probe into the failure of its defenses to fully intercept a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi jihadists, parts of which struck not far from the Ben Gurion airport on Friday night.
According to the Ynet website, one of the hypotheses being examined is that the projectile contained cluster munitions, similar to those used by Iran to fire at Israeli cities during the 12-day war in June. Cluster munitions pose a challenge to interceptors as they disperse smaller explosives over a wide area.
In June, Iran fired several missiles carrying scattered small bombs with the aim of increasing civilian casualties.
The IDF said on Saturday that its initial review suggests the ballistic missile from Yemen likely fragmented in mid-air. Five interceptors from various systems engaged with the missile, including THAAD, Arrow, David Sling & Iron Dome.
Authorities said that shrapnel impacted a house in the central Israeli moshav of Ginaton, yet no one was hurt, with the fragment landing in the house’s backyard.
RSS
Iran Forces Kill Six Militants, IRNA Reports, Israel Link Seen
The Iranian flag is seen flying over a street in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 3, 2023. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iranian security forces shot dead six militants in a clash in southeastern Iran on Saturday, a day after armed rebels killed five police officers in the restive region, the official news agency IRNA reported.
IRNA said evidence showed the group was linked to Israel and may have been trained by Israel‘s Mossad spy agency. There was no immediate Israeli reaction to the allegation.
Another two members of the militant group were arrested, the report said. All but one of the militants were foreign, it added, without giving their nationality.
Iranian police said this month they had arrested as many as 21,000 suspects during the 12-day war with Israel in June.
Iran’s southeast has been the scene of sporadic clashes between security forces and armed groups, including Sunni militants and separatists who say they are fighting for greater rights and autonomy.
Tehran says some of them have ties to foreign powers and are involved in cross-border smuggling and insurgency.
RSS
Benny Gantz Urges Time-Limited National Unity Government to Further Chances of Hostage Deal
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz attends his party’s meeting at the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, June 27, 2022. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz on Saturday called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition politicians to form a temporary national unity government to further the chances of bringing home the hostages held in Gaza.
Addressing Netanyahu, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman, Gantz said that the proposed government’s two supreme priorities would be the release of Israeli hostages held by the jihadists of Hamas and instituting universal conscription in Israel by ending the exemption from military service enjoyed by the ultra-Orthodox.
Upon attainment of the goals, the government would dissolve and call an election.
“The government’s term will begin with a hostage deal that brings everyone home,” Gantz said in a video address. “Within weeks, we will formulate an enlistment outline that would see our ultra-Orthodox brethren drafted to the military and ease the burden on those already serving. Finally, we will announce an agreed-upon election date in the spring of 2026 and pass a law to dissolve the Knesset [Israeli parliament] accordingly. This is what’s right for Israel.”