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Israel Police: 2023 Hezbollah Attack Targeted Former Defense Minister Ya’alon
Moshe Ya’alon gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the list for the Israel Resilience Party in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 19, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/ Amir Cohen
JNS.org — The target of an attempted bombing by Hezbollah in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park a year ago was former Israeli Defense Minister and Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon, the Israel Police revealed on Wednesday.
“On Sept. 15, 2023, an explosive device exploded in Yarkon Park in Tel Aviv with no casualties; the investigation was assigned to the Central Unit of the Tel Aviv District Police and the Israel Security Agency (ISA),” the statement said.
A probe, which included an analysis of security cameras “focusing on relevant parties who used to frequent the area of the attack at the relevant time,” led to the conclusion that Ya’alon was targeted, it added.
The terrorist group “had installed a camera on the body of the explosive charge in such a way that it was possible to observe movements on the park’s trails remotely,” but failed to hurt Ya’alon, according to the police.
The news came a day after the ISA revealed that a cell associated with Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah was responsible for placing the explosive, which was planted next to a tree in the bustling park in the north of the coastal metropolis.
Ya;alon, 74, was named chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in 2002, retiring three years later after 37 years of military service. He subsequently served as minister of defense on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party in successive governments before running for Knesset together with former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz in 2019.
יעד פיגוע המטען בפארק הירקון לפני כשנה הוא הרמטכ״ל ושר הביטחון לשעבר משה בוגי יעלון, שמונה חשודים נעצרו
בתאריך 15.09.23 אירע פיצוץ מטען בפארק הירקון בת”א ללא נפגעים והחקירה הוטלה על היחידה המרכזית של מחוז ת”א והשב”כ. במסגרת החקירה עלה חשד, כי הפעלת המטען הינו אירוע פיגוע חבלני…
— משטרת ישראל (@IL_police) September 18, 2024
In related news, the ISA announced on Tuesday that it had thwarted a second attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate a former senior security official. According to the ISA, the attack involved an explosive device and was intended to be carried out in the coming days.
The security agency described the explosive device as a “type of Claymore anti-personnel mine known to be used by Hezbollah,” similar to the charge used in the planned attack on Ya’alon in September 2023.
The planned terrorist attack was said to have been prevented “in the final stages of implementation,” the ISA noted, adding that the targeted Israeli official has been updated by security forces and that additional details could not be provided “at this stage.”
Arab media reported on Wednesday that the intended target of the bombing was Aviv Kochavi, who was the IDF chief of staff between 2019 and 2023. Hezbollah operatives surveilled the retired military leader at a “sports facility” he used to frequent in Tel Aviv, according to the reports.
Hezbollah has attacked northern Israel nearly daily since it joined the war against the Jewish state in support of Palestinian Hamas on Oct. 8, firing thousands of rockets, missiles and drones. The attacks have so far killed more than 40 people and caused widespread damage. Tens of thousands of civilians remain internally displaced due to the violence.
On Tuesday, Hezbollah blamed Jerusalem for the pager explosions that wounded some 3,000 of its operatives and killed 12 in Lebanon and Syria on Tuesday, warning that Israel will get “its fair punishment.”
The post Israel Police: 2023 Hezbollah Attack Targeted Former Defense Minister Ya’alon first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted
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
The Israeli army said on Saturday that a missile fired from Yemen towards Israeli territory had been “most likely successfully intercepted,” while Yemen’s Houthi forces claimed responsibility for the launch.
Israel has threatened Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement – which has been attacking Israel in what it says is solidarity with Gaza – with a naval and air blockade if its attacks on Israel persist.
The Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said the group was responsible for Saturday’s attack, adding that it fired a missile towards the southern Israeli city of Beersheba.
Since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis, who control most of Yemen, have been firing at Israel and at shipping in the Red Sea, disrupting global trade.
Most of the dozens of missiles and drones they have launched have been intercepted or fallen short. Israel has carried out a series of retaliatory strikes.
The post Israel Says Missile Launched by Yemen’s Houthis ‘Most Likely’ Intercepted first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel
People attend the funeral procession of Iranian military commanders, nuclear scientists and others killed in Israeli strikes, in Tehran, Iran, June 28, 2025. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Large crowds of mourners dressed in black lined streets in Iran’s capital Tehran as the country held a funeral on Saturday for top military commanders, nuclear scientists and some of the civilians killed during this month’s aerial war with Israel.
At least 16 scientists and 10 senior commanders were among those mourned at the funeral, according to state media, including armed forces chief Major General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards commander General Hossein Salami, and Guards Aerospace Force chief General Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Their coffins were driven into Tehran’s Azadi Square adorned with their photos and national flags, as crowds waved flags and some reached out to touch the caskets and throw rose petals onto them. State-run Press TV showed an image of ballistic missiles on display.
Mass prayers were later held in the square.
State TV said the funeral, dubbed the “procession of the Martyrs of Power,” was held for a total of 60 people killed in the war, including four women and four children.
In attendance were President Masoud Pezeshkian and other senior figures including Ali Shamkhani, who was seriously wounded during the conflict and is an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as Khamenei’s son Mojtaba.
“Today, Iranians, through heroic resistance against two regimes armed with nuclear weapons, protected their honor and dignity, and look to the future prouder, more dignified, and more resolute than ever,” Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, who also attended the funeral, said in a Telegram post.
There was no immediate statement from Khamenei, who has not appeared publicly since the conflict began. In past funerals, he led prayers over the coffins of senior commanders ahead of public ceremonies broadcast on state television.
Israel launched the air war on June 13, attacking Iranian nuclear facilities and killing top military commanders as well as civilians in the worst blow to the Islamic Republic since the 1980s war with Iraq.
Iran retaliated with barrages of missiles on Israeli military sites, infrastructure and cities. The United States entered the war on June 22 with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.
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Israel, the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons, said it aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons.
Iran denies having a nuclear weapons program. The U.N. nuclear watchdog has said it has “no credible indication” of an active, coordinated weapons program in Iran.
Bagheri, Salami and Hajizadeh were killed on June 13, the first day of the war. Bagheri was being buried at the Behesht Zahra cemetery outside Tehran mid-afternoon on Saturday. Salami and Hajizadeh were due to be buried on Sunday.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would consider bombing Iran again, while Khamenei, who has appeared in two pre-recorded video messages since the start of the war, has said Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking US military bases in the Middle East.
A senior Israeli military official said on Friday that Israel had delivered a “major blow” to Iran’s nuclear project. On Saturday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement that Israel and the US “failed to achieve their stated objectives” in the war.
According to Iranian health ministry figures, 610 people were killed on the Iranian side in the war before a ceasefire went into effect on Tuesday. More than 4,700 were injured.
Activist news agency HRANA put the number of killed at 974, including 387 civilians.
Israel’s health ministry said 28 were killed in Israel and 3,238 injured.
The post Iran Holds Funeral for Commanders and Scientists Killed in War with Israel first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival
Revellers dance as Avril Lavigne performs on the Other Stage during the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
i24 News – Chants of “death to the IDF” were heard during the English Glastonbury music festival on Saturday ahead of the appearance of the pro-Palestinian Irish rappers Kneecap.
One half of punk duo based Bob Vylan (who both use aliases to protect their privacy) shouted out during a section of their show “Death to the IDF” – the Israeli military. Videos posted on X (formerly Twitter) show the crowd responding to and repeating the cheer.
This comes after officials had petitioned the music festival to drop the band. The rap duo also expressed support for the following act, Kneecap, who the BCC refused to show live after one of its members, Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh – better known by stage name Mo Chara – was charged with a terror offense.
The post Pro-Palestinian Rapper Leads ‘Death to the IDF’ Chant at English Music festival first appeared on Algemeiner.com.