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Recent Appearances...

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Weekly pro-hostage deal and anti-government rallies drew ‘thousands’ of Israelis Saturday night

2025-03-02

[IsraelTimes] Weekly pro-hostage deal and anti-government rallies drew thousands of Israelis Saturday night, as the 42nd and final day of the Gaza ceasefire deal’s first phase came to a close.

Notice there isn’t even a hint of a crowd estimate. Interestingly, the photos at the link are carefully cropped to give no hint as well.

Meanwhile,
...back at the game, the Babe headed for second base. He almost made it. Then Sheila slapped him....
the families of Shlomo Mantzur and Itzik Elgarat — two of four slain captives returned to Israel early Thursday in the final hostage release of the first phase — announced their loved ones would be buried in closed ceremonies on Sunday and Monday, respectively. According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, Mantzur was murdered on October 7, 2023, while the other three were murdered in captivity.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said that "following the return, to eternal rest, of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzik Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur and Tsahi Idan... we will hold a central rally at Hostages Square to demand the return of all 59 captives until day 50 of the agreement," a week from Sunday on March 9.

"The window of opportunity is now," said the forum. "If a deal does not materialize in the coming days, we’ll be sentencing the hostages to death and lose the ability to locate and retrieve the slain captives."

The rally at Hostages Square included a video message from Sasha Troufanov, who was released from captivity in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
on February 15. Troufanov told that he "can’t process the fact that I’m here and there are still people who haven’t returned."

"Captivity is an insane mind game — you’re always faced with the thought that ’if I don’t get out in this deal, there probably won’t be another deal I’ll get out in,’" said Troufanov.

Referring to ubiquitous posters featuring photographs of hostages, Troufanov said, "The fact that they’re here next to me, but they’re not — they’re just pictures — is something that is difficult for me, and I’m sure it’s more difficult for their families."

Now that he’s on the side of those yearning for their loved ones’ release, "Suddenly, I understand what it’s like, and it’s overwhelming for me," he said.

"Isn’t it time to release the people there?" he asked. "The people who pray so hard to come home?"

"When I talk about returning the hostages, I mean all of them — living and dead," he said. "Every family wants closure."

He asked the the public, "don’t let feelings of Dire Revenge, anger and rage get the upper hand over values of unity, fraternity and sanctity of human life.

Troufanov thanked "each and every one of the people who have supported, helped and wised for my return home — I’m here thanks to you."

The rally also featured speeches from Michel Illouz, father of 26-year-old Guy Illouz, who died in Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
captivity after being kidnapped from the Re’im-area Nova music festival; Liron Oberlander, cousin of hostage Rom Braslavski, who worked as a guard at the rave; Roni Adar, sister of slain captive Tamir Adar, who was killed in battle against invading ~~bandidos~~ gunnies and snatched to Gaza; and Mor Korngold, brother of Tal Shoham, one of six living captives Hamas released last Saturday.

Also speaking was Ilan Dalal, father of Guy Gilboa Dalal, who was kidnapped at the Nova rave. The families of Dalal and fellow hostage Evyatar David received a sign of life last from their loved ones following last Saturday’s hostage release, when Hamas published a video of them watching the other captives be freed.

Ilan Dalal later told Channel 12 the video was "the best sign of life I could ask for, but on the other hand, there’s nothing more cruel."

"It’s not surprising because it’s Hamas, but it’s a new level of torture," he said.

In tandem with the demonstration at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, smaller rallies were held across the country, including in Jerusalem, Ness Ziona, Haifa, Hadera and other locales such as the Sha’ar Hanegev Junction in the south.

In Tel Aviv, a separate, anti-government rally was held on Begin Road, in front of the IDF headquarters, where hundreds of protesters marched to from a demonstration at Habima Square.. The rally usually draws around 1,000 people, including several hostage families and opposition politicians, and regularly features philippics by Einav Zangauker, mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, who on Saturday denounced the "sadistic government."

On Friday, The New York Times

...which still proudly claims Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize...
published a wide-ranging profile piece on Zanguaker, referring to the "anguished mother" from Sderot as "Netanyahu’s fiercest foe" and "an unlikely enemy of Israeli government."

Another harsh critic of Netanyahu who has regularly spoken at the Begin Road rallies at Dani Elgarat, the younger brother of slain hostage Itzik Elgarat. Following the return of Itzik’s body, Dani Elgarat called for a public revolt against the government.

Speaking at Saturday’s demonstration, Dani Elgarat accused Netanyahu of abandoning his older brother.

Affiliated anti-government groups have said they would commence a days-long civil disobedience campaign in Jerusalem on Sunday to demand Israel "rise to phase two" of the hostage deal.

The deal’s first phase saw Hamas release 33 women, children, civilian men over 50, and those deemed "humanitarian cases" in return for some 1,900 Paleostinian prisoners. Twenty-five of the hostages were freed alive, and eight were deceased. Hamas also released five Thai nationals not included in the deal.

Netanyahu’s right-wing flank has threatened to topple the government should Israel proceed to the second phase, which would see Hamas release remaining living hostages and require Israel to withdraw from Gaza.

Talks for the second phase began in Cairo on Thursday, after Netanyahu refused to begin them on February 3 — day 16 of the first phase — as stipulated by the agreement. On Saturday, talks appeared at an impasse, with the Israeli negotiators having gone home and Hamas saying it rejected an Israeli offer to extend the first phase rather than proceed to the second.

Romi Gonen, who returned in the first hostage release of the current phase, wrote on Instagram Saturday that it was the "the first Shabbat since I came back that none of our brothers and sisters returned."

"There’s a tightness in my throat," she wrote. "Fifty-nine hostages are still held captive and waiting to return home."

"I was there, I know — they have no time," said Gonen, adding that the deal and releases "must not stop."

"It’s sad that even after hostages have come out and the entire world saw their state, we still need to fight for the obvious. Continue to fight, continue to pray — in the end, good always wins."

The families forum announced on Saturday that Shlomo Mantzur, 86, would be laid to rest Sunday in his home community of Kibbutz Kissufim.

According to the announcement, the family invited Israelis to stand along the road with flags to accompany Mantzur. The funeral procession will depart from Rishon Lezion at 9:45 a.m. and head south to Kissufim, according to the statement.

The procession is slated to pass at Yad Mordechai Junction around 10:45 a.m., at Sa’ad Junction at 11 a.m., and Gama Junction and Kissufim Junction around 11:15 a.m. The funeral will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Kibbutz Kissufim.

"The public is invited to the eulogy ceremony and the procession to the cemetery," the statement said. "At the family’s request, the funeral will be closed to the media."

The family of Itzik Elgarat, 68 when kidnapped, said his funeral would be held Monday at 2 p.m. outside his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, from which he was kidnapped on Oct. 7, 2023..

The service will be open to the public and media, but the burial will be private, according to the announcement.

Elgarat and Mantzur were each snatched from their homes on October 7, 2023, when thousands of Hamas-led ~~bandidos~~ gunnies stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gaza.

Terror groups in the Gaza Strip are holding 59 hostages, including 58 of the 251 kidnapped by Hamas-led ~~bandidos~~ gunnies on October 7, 2023. They include the bodies of at least 35 confirmed dead by the IDF.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

[Paleo] Teen in critical condition after terror suspect plows car into bus stop, injuring 13

2025-02-28

[IsraelTimes] Attacker identified as Jamil Zayoud, a 53-year-old Palestinian from the Jenin area of the West Bank who had been living illegally in Israel with his Arab Israeli wife

A Paleostinian man steered his car into a crowd of people waiting at a bus stop in northern Israel on Thursday in a terror spree that left 13 people injured, including a teen hospitalized at death's door, authorities said.

The suspect, identified as a Paleostinian from the Jenin area of the West Bank who was living in Israel illegally with his Arab Israeli wife, was shot and killed while attempting to stab coppers after fleeing the scene of the initial attack, police chief Daniel Levy said.

Police said the attack at Karkur Junction outside the city of Pardes Hanna was being investigated as a terror attack. It came a week after a series of bus explosions near Tel Aviv that Israeli officials attributed to Death Eaters based in the West Bank.

Medical officials said a 17-year-old girl was fighting for her life following the attack after being brought to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in nearby Hadera at death's door.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said the teen was sedated and hooked up to a ventilator, having sustained serious damage to her head and limbs.

A 60-year-old man and a 19-year-old woman were at death's door, also with head injuries, medics said. An 18-year-old woman was moderately injured, while six others sustained light injuries, MDA added.

Police told Channel 12 news that the suspect’s car accelerated before hitting a group of people waiting at the bus stop.

Grainy videos of the attack showed a sedan swerving suddenly into a bus stop on the side of the road at full speed before swerving back onto the divided highway and continuing.

At least six people could be seen lying immobile on a grassy embankment next to the bus stop in separate footage from the immediate aftermath of the attack.

"From there, he tried to continue onward with the car. He accelerated toward a nearby police car and hit it. The officers chased him, caught him and neutralized him," a police spokesperson said.

Police chief Levy told news hounds that the attacker crashed into a patrol vehicle, got out of his car with a screwdriver and tried to stab coppers, who then shot and killed him.

Arabic-language media named the attacker as Jamil Zayoud, 53. Originally from the Jenin area, he had been living illegally in Ma’ale Iron with his Arab Israeli wife, according to reports.

The Haaretz daily reported that Zayoud was indicted in 2021 for driving without a license.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attack, but it drew praise from the Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
terror group.

Thursday’s attack came a week after three empty buses went kaboom! in quick succession in parking lots in the Tel Aviv suburbs of Bat Yam and Holon, followed by the discovery of two more unwent kaboom! devices on additional buses, in what appeared to be a botched attack. No casualties were reported as a result of the earth-shattering kabooms.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israel outlaws, shuts offices of Arab reconciliation body led by radical cleric

2025-01-29

[IsraelTimes] Security forces briefly arrest Sheikh Raed Salah, accuse him of using committees that mediate disputes between families as cover to continue his Islamist political activities

Security forces shuttered the offices of reconciliation committees in the Arab city of Umm al-Fahm on Tuesday, citing the body’s Islamist ties.

Police and Shin Bet raided the committees’ offices and arrested their head, Sheikh Raed Salah,

... alternately Raed Saleh, he fancies the title "Sheikh of Al Aqsa" as suitable for the head of the outlawed Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, the militant arm of the Israeli branch of the Muslim Brotherhood based in Umm al-Fahm in the Galilee. The Southern Branch went in for Israeli politics as part of the Obama-era Arab Joint List project, though their goals are the same. Sheikh Saleh’s role is to cycle in and out of Israeli prisons for cause...

but released him later in the day.

The "peace spreading" committees were an initiative of the High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, a leading umbrella organization among Israel’s Arab minority. Established by Salah in 2017, the committees operate with the stated goal of curbing violence in Arab society by mediating between feuding families.

Given that the violence has been increasing, either they’re really bad at it or they’re aiding and abetting for reasons of their own.

The raid came in the wake of a decision by Defense Minister Israel Katz to outlaw the reconciliation program, citing its links to the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which Salah heads.

Israel declared the Northern Branch illegal in 2015 over repeated incitement to terrorism.

Two years later, police arrested Salah for sermons he gave lauding ~~bandidos~~ bully boyz from Umm al-Fahm who killed two coppers on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, and in 2020 he was convicted of incitement to terror.

After being released from prison in 2021, Salah expanded the program’s reach to other towns, amid surging violence in Arab communities.

Over the past two years, the number of Arab murder victims reached nearly double that of 2021, jumping from 126 in 2021, to 244 in 2023. This past year, the number stood at 230, according to data from the Abraham Initiatives group.

The program established a uniform set of guidelines for local reconciliation committees in resolving disputes between families, which often lead to violence.

Police alleged that the network acts as a cover for Saleh to continue his Islamist political activities, which are "in step with the worldview of the Moslem Brüderbund and disseminate the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement’s anti-Israel agenda."

Ra’am party chairman Mansour Abbas

...political head of the political arm of the Southern Branch of the Islamic Movement, the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel, now known as the Ra’am OPrty. Like Muslim Brotherhood parties elsewhere, they will ride the train down the iron rails of democratic politics and charity until the train reaches their station at the formation of the Caliphate, avoiding as much as possible all that messy bloodshed until afterward. It’s also important to check his public statements against what he says in private in Arabic, just in case taqqiya is involved...

criticized law enforcement’s move as inappropriate, asserting the reconciliation committees do not belong to any particular ideology or political movement while warning the ban could harm efforts to curb ~~violent~~ mostly peaceful crime.

"I would expect the Defense Ministry, minister of national security and attorney general to use their power against the criminal organizations dominating Arab citizens, and to take a tough stance against criminal organizations, rather than reconciliation committees," he told the Haaretz daily.

Link

Arabia

Houthis claim overnight missile attack targeted power station near Hadera

2025-01-05

[IsraelTimes] The Houthis in Yemen take responsibility for last night’s ballistic missile launch at Israel, claiming to have targeted the Orot Rabin power plant near Hadera.

It would mark the deepest claimed strike in Israel by the Houthis. Previous attacks by the Houthis have targeted the Tel Aviv area and southern Israel.

The IDF said the missile was successfully intercepted before crossing the country’s borders.

The Iran-backed terror group claims that “the operation successfully achieved its objectives.”

There were no reports of impacts in Israel.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Late-night Houthi ballistic missile attack thwarted by IDF, muting widespread sirens

2025-01-05

[IsraelTimes] No injuries or damage reported; in contrast with other recent attacks warnings sound only in a single town

A ballistic missile fired toward Israel from Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
was intercepted early Sunday morning, the military said, with air raid sirens largely remaining silent despite the threat.

The attack by the Iran-backed Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
rebel group just after midnight was the latest in a series of middle-of-the-night attacks that have sent millions scrambling for shelter, upending daily life in Israel and occasionally causing widespread destruction.

The army said the single ballistic missile "was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory."

Sirens only sounded in the town of Talmei Elazar, an agricultural community near Hadera, in the north of Israel’s heavily populated central coastal region. The military said the warnings were triggered there "according to protocol," without providing details.

In previous attacks, sirens have sounded across wide swaths of the country, seemingly due to fears of falling shrapnel, which can cover a large area due to the speed of the long-range missiles and the height at which they are intercepted.

Loud blasts were reported in several areas around central Israel following the interception, and videos showed flaming pieces of shrapnel streaking toward earth.

There were no reports of injuries or damage.

A spokesperson for the Houthis accused Israel of lying about the interception, and said the attacks would continue until Israel’s military campaign against the Hamas
Hamas

..always the voice of sweet reason...
terror group in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
ended, without taking direct responsibility for the launch.

Following the attack, the Houthi’s Saba news agency and al-Masirah TV reported three raids east of the Houthi-controlled city of Saada, in Yemen’s mountainous northwest, attributing the operations to the United States and Britannia.

There was no immediate comment from either military.

The Iran-backed rebels have stepped up their attacks since a November ceasefire between Israel and another Iran-backed terror group, Hezbollah, in Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
While most of the missiles and drones launched from Yemen have been intercepted, one missile maimed 16 people in Tel Aviv in December, according to the military and emergency services.

A number of people have also been injured while rushing for shelter.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Petah Tikva resident indicted for spying for Iran, sending footage of sensitive sites

2025-01-03

[IsraelTimes] An Israeli resident of the central city of Petah Tikva has been indicted at the Central District Court for carrying out missions on behalf of Iran that harmed national security, prosecutors say.

Days after the Shin Bet and police revealed the arrest of Alexander Granovsky, 29, he is charged with being in contact with a foreign agent, handing information to the enemy, and additional vandalism and arson offenses. Prosecutors ask the court to extend his remand until the end of proceedings in the case.

According to the indictment, Granovsky has been in continuous contact with an Iranian agent since November, receiving thousands of dollars and carrying out “a series of severe acts, including filming security facilities, spray-painting political messages, torching cars and additional acts.”

It says that in December, Granovsky was asked to purchase weapons and filmed the neighborhood where former defense minister Benny Gantz lives, as well as power plants in Hadera and Tel Aviv, sending the Iranian agent the footage.

He was also allegedly asked to buy and then destroy army uniform, and to find people with criminal pasts to carry out “acts of violence.” He sent contact details for two such people. The indictment says he also agreed to make Molotov cocktails but failed due to language barriers.

Granovsky was allegedly aware he was cooperating with a hostile element, and even brought up more potential tasks and demanded that the agent give him more — and bigger — missions.

There has been a series of plots involving civilians apparently recruited by Iran that security agencies say have been foiled in recent months.

Link

Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Hudna: Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire comes into effect, halting nearly 14 months of fighting

2024-11-27

[IsraelTimes] Streams of cars seen heading toward southern Lebanon even as IDF warns civilians to not yet return to villages; IDF strikes in Beirut continue until hour before start of truce

A ceasefire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
came into effect at 4:00 a.m. on Wednesday, bringing an end to almost 14 months of Hezbollah-initiated fighting across the northern border, which began the day after the October 7, 2023 Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
terror onslaught in southern Israel.

The agreement, which Israel’s national security cabinet approved in a vote of 10 ministers to one on Tuesday night, will reportedly provide for a 60-day transition period, during which the IDF will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, while the Lebanese Army will deploy some 5,000 troops south of the Litani river, including at 33 posts along the border with Israel.

Hezbollah forces will leave southern Lebanon, and its military infrastructure will be dismantled. The US has also reportedly provided a side letter specifying Israel’s rights to respond to violations of the ceasefire, should there be any.
Give it an hour after the 4AM EDT start. There will be
A copy of the ceasefire deal was not published before it came into effect.

While Hezbollah has said that it accepts the ceasefire proposal, a bigwig with the terror group said Tuesday that it had yet to see the agreement in its final form.

"After reviewing the agreement signed by the enemy government, we will see if there is a match between what we stated and what was agreed upon by the Lebanese officials," Mahmoud Qamati, deputy chair of Hezbollah’s political council, told the Al Jazeera news network.

"We want an end to the aggression, of course, but not at the expense of the illusory sovereignty of the state." of Lebanon, he said. "Any violation of illusory sovereignty is refused."

Nevertheless, the ceasefire appeared to hold early Wednesday morning, with signs of celebration in Beirut, a day after Israel carried out its most intense wave of ~~Arclight~~ airstrike
...KABOOM!...
s in the Lebanese capital since the start of the fighting.

As the ceasefire came into effect, Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language front man, warned Lebanese civilians to not yet return to villages in southern Lebanon.

"With the ceasefire agreement coming into effect, and in accordance with its provisions, the IDF continues to be prepared in its positions in southern Lebanon," Adraee said. "Do not move towards the villages that the IDF evacuated or towards IDF forces in the area. For your protection and the safety of your families, avoid reaching the area."

He added that the IDF would inform them "of the safe date to return to your homes."

Nevertheless, Rooters reported that streams of cars carrying people displaced by the months of fighting were seen heading south, just over an hour after the ceasefire took effect.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Beirut after the ceasefire took effect, although it was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire has also been used in recent weeks to alert residents who may have missed Israeli evacuation warnings.

Both Israel and Hezbollah continued fighting in the hours leading up to the ceasefire, and earlier on Tuesday, the IDF said it had struck 20 sites within two minutes in the southern suburbs of Beirut, after issuing evacuation warnings.

Seven buildings targeted in the strikes were used by Hezbollah for the management and storage of funds, the IDF said, including headquarters, vaults and branches of the al-Qard al-Hasan association, known to be used by the terror group as a quasi-bank.

The other 13 sites included a Hezbollah aerial forces center, an intelligence division command room, weapon depots, and other military infrastructure, the IDF said.

Hezbollah too, continued to launch rockets and drones at Israel in the hours leading up to the ceasefire, setting off alarms across central and northern Israel.

Long-range rocket fire at around 10:20 p.m. on Tuesday set off alerts in Pardes Hanna, Hadera, Harish and several nearby towns, as well as communities close to the Lebanon border. The IDF said a short while later that air defenses had successfully downed three missiles. There were no reports of injuries as a result of the missile fire.

Meanwhile,
...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin...
the IDF continued to issue evacuation warnings for additional buildings in Beirut’s southern suburbs ahead of airstrikes against Hezbollah assets, and air strikes were reported in the capital less than an hour before the truce came into force.

At the same time, the Syrian Red Islamic Thingy reported that a volunteer had been killed and another had been injured in alleged Israeli strikes on the Lebanon-Syria border.

According to Syria’s state news agency SANA, Israeli warplanes had hit the Arida and Dabousiya border crossings with Lebanon, in the Tartus Governorate.

Some 18 people were maimed in the strike on the Arida border crossing, SANA reported, and an unspecified number of people were maimed at the Dabousiya crossing, as well.

In a statement, the Red Islamic Thingy said that its volunteers had been "performing their humanitarian duty of rescuing the maimed early on Wednesday" when the strikes were launched.

The strikes were said by the medical organization to have damaged several ambulances and work points.

There was no immediate comment from the IDF regarding the reports.

‘Peace is possible’: Announcing Lebanon truce, US insists this time will be different

[IsraelTimes] Biden and aides highlight beefed up enforcement mechanism, led by US and capable of responding immediately to violations, unlike after 2006 war.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

3 soldiers killed in northern Gaza Strip; hostage holders said incommunicado

2024-11-18

[IsraelTimes] Kfir soldiers killed in sniper attack, clash with Hamas gunmen Beit Lahiya; among them is nephew of Gadi Eisenkot; Hamas officials claim dozens killed or injured in an airstrike

The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday announced the deaths of three soldiers killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip in the past day, while Hamas-controlled officials in the Palestinian enclave claimed that dozens were killed or injured in an airstrike on a building.

The slain troops were named as:

Sgt. First Class (res.) Idan Keinan, 21, from Ramat Gan.

Cpt. Yogev Pazy, 22, from Giv’ot Bar

Staff Sgt. Noam Eitan, 21, from Hadera

They all served with the Kfir Brigade’s Nahshon Battalion.

According to an initial IDF probe, Keinan was killed by sniper fire on Saturday in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya.

Pazy — a platoon commander — and Eitan, were killed on Sunday morning in an exchange of fire with Hamas operatives, also in the Beit Lahiya area. Another soldier with the battalion was seriously wounded in the same incident, the IDF said.

Their deaths brought Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas and during operations on the border to 378.

Pazy was the nephew of former IDF chief of staff and former war cabinet observer minister Gadi Eisenkot. Eisenkot’s son, Master Sgt. (res.) Gal Meir Eisenkot, 25, was killed while fighting in Gaza in early December, followed by his nephew, Sgt. Maor Cohen Eisenkot, 19, a day later.

Keinan was buried at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery at 4 p.m. He was survived by his parents, a sister, and a brother. His sister Linoy wrote in a social media post that her brother “died as a hero.”

“How did they take you from us?” she asked. “I will never manage to get over a loss such as you.”

She also shared a message that he had written two months ago to his grandmother.

“If the Father in Heaven decides that someone needs to die for our people, it is the greatest merit in the world,” the soldier wrote. “I know what the dangers are and what could happen and I am at peace with that, and more than that, this is the path that I chose and this is the path that I believe every man in the country should choose.”

The military said over the weekend that it was continuing operations in the northern Gaza areas of Jabalia and Beit Lahiya, which have been the targets of an intense offensive since early October.

According to local medics, tens of Palestinians were killed or injured in an Israeli strike on a multistory residential building in Beit Lahiya on Sunday. The IDF in response to a query by The Times of Israel on the matter confirmed that the military had targeted several “terror targets” in the Beit Lahiya area overnight, but expressed skepticism over the casualty numbers claimed by Hamas.

“The IDF calls on the media to be careful with the information published by Hamas and the Health Ministry — which operates as a communication arm of Hamas, as has been proven in several previous events,” the IDF said.

“It should be noted that in the recent period, evacuation efforts were made for the civilian population in order to move them from the combat area, alongside the effort to expand the humanitarian space in the Mawasi area,” the military continued, adding that it “IDF acts in a targeted manner and makes great efforts to avoid harming [civilians].”

Earlier on Sunday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people in the Bureij camp in the central Gaza Strip when a missile hit a house, Gazan medics said. Hamas-controlled Gaza authorities do not distinguish between fighters and civilians in their updates.

The army sent tanks into Beit Lahiya and the nearby towns of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia, the largest of the Gaza Strip’s eight historic refugee camps, last month in what it said was a campaign to fight Hamas terrorists waging attacks and prevent them from regrouping. It says it has killed hundreds of gunmen in those three areas, which residents said Israeli forces had isolated from Gaza City.

Meanwhile, a Hamas source told the Qatari-run al-Araby al-Jadeed newspaper Sunday that there has been no communication with commanders in the field responsible for holding the hostages for about a month as a result of strict security measures around the hostages. The source said that the only way to save the remaining living hostages is via a negotiated agreement for their release that would include a ceasefire. However, the source denied claims that Hamas political leaders no longer have command over fighters in Gaza and asserted that decisions are being coordinated at various levels. The source said that members of the Hamas military wing, the Qassam Brigades, have pledged their allegiance to Hamas’s new leadership, which is based in Qatar. The new leadership was installed after Israel last month killed long-time Hamas leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the October 7 invasion and massacre, shortly after he had been selected as the overall leader of the terror group.

The source also reported that Hamas’s refusal to provide any information about the hostages, and in particular US citizens it is holding, without receiving something in return has caused Washington to increase pressure on negotiation mediators. He claimed Hamas had refused to provide information or video clips about the captives because the US did not give Hamas convincing indications about ending the fighting.

The source said Hamas had started a recruitment drive for more fighters, the second such campaign since the war started.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Cab company owner, 2 drivers charged with ferrying gunmen to deadly Jaffa terror attack

2024-11-04

[IsraelTimes] Indictment reveals that two terrorists had initially considered attacking sports stadium, before carrying out shooting at light rail station in south Tel Aviv, killing 7 civilians

The owner of a taxi company and two taxi drivers were indicted on Sunday for driving into Israel the perpetrators of the October 1 terror attack in Jaffa, in what the State Attorney’s Office described as a precedent.

The indictments also revealed new details of the planned attack, including that the holy warriors — who killed seven civilians at a light rail station — had considered attacking a nearby sports stadium.

In the stabbing and shooting attack, Mohammad Mesek, 19, and Ahmed Himouni, 25, from Hebron in the West Bank, murdered seven people and injured 11. Mesek was killed at the scene and Himouni was maimed. Hamas
Hamas

..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
later grabbed credit for the attack — one of the worst in years.

The three individuals indicted on Sunday are accused of driving the terrorists, who they knew didn’t have entry permits into Israel, across the Green Line, from East Jerusalem to Tel Aviv. The indictment is on charges of causing death by negligence and causing death by recklessness.

According to the indictment, the taxi company had started up a business illegally ferrying Paleostinians from the West Bank into Israel who did not have permits to enter. On the day of the attack in Jaffa, the indictment said, the company’s owner received a request to take 13 Paleostinians without entry permits into Israel, including the two terrorists.

The owner, who knew the individuals did not have entry permits, instructed one of his drivers to take the business, when they both knew that the Paleostinians’ "entry into Israel was forbidden and in order to make money, while taking an unreasonable risk that the company [might be] giving taxi services to terrorists," the State Attorney’s Office wrote in the indictment.

According to the indictment, the driver told the Paleostinians who got into his taxi to turn off their cell phones and to draw the curtains in the rear windows of the vehicle. The holy warriors were said to have worn black clothes — unlike the other Paleostinians who were being transported — and had two backpacks: one holding a dismantled M-16 assault rifle, and another holding knives and ammunition.

After crossing into Israel, the first driver had some of his passengers, including the two terrorists, change to the second driver’s taxi, "because of his fear of police inspection," the indictment said. It noted that the second driver was not an employee of the company, but worked in cooperation with it.

According to the indictment, the holy warriors had originally planned to carry out their attack at a crowded venue, such as a sports stadium. While passing by the Bloomfield stadium, one of the holy warriors asked the driver if there was a game on that evening, ostensibly to see if he could carry out a mass terror attack at the venue. There was no game being played that night.

Before carrying out the attack, the holy warriors entered Jaffa’s al-Nuzha Mosque, stashed their bags in the mosque’s bathroom, and threatened worshippers not to leave.

Then they boarded the Tel Aviv light rail, attacking civilians on board, before getting off and continuing on foot and shooting and stabbing people on Jerusalem Street in the city.

The seven civilians murdered in the attack were Victor Shimshon Green, 33, Revital Bronstein, 24, Shahar Goldman, 30, Inbar Segev Vigder, 33, Nadia Sokolenco, 40, Ilia Nozadze, 42, a Georgian citizen and Jonas Chrosis, 26, a Greek citizen.

The attack came amid heightened tensions in Israel, as the Israel Defense Forces announced a ground incursion into Leb
...an Iranian satrapy until recently ruled by Hassan Nasrallah situated on the eastern Mediterranean, conveniently adjacent to Israel. Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else? It is the home of the original Hezbollah, which periodically starts a war with the Zionist Entity, gets Beirut pounded to rubble, and then declares victory and has a parade. The Lebs have the curious habit of periodically murdering their heads of state or prime ministers...
in a bid to push the Hezbollah terror group away from the border, and just minutes before Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
launched a massive missile attack on Israel.

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Israeli couple from Lod, man from Bnei Brak are latest charged with spying for Iran

2024-11-01

[IsraelTimes] In new espionage cases, prosecutors say pair tracked woman at top security think tank, while man spied on nuclear scientist for potential assassination

A couple from Lod were indicted Thursday on suspicion of spying for Iran. Officials said the two gathered intelligence on key national infrastructure sites and followed an academic figure at a security think tank that Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
allegedly intended to harm physically.

In permitting for publication the arrest of Lod residents Rafael and Lala Guliyev, both aged around 32, the Shin Bet and Israel Police noted in a joint statement that their case was the latest in a number of incidents of alleged espionage for Tehran that were made public in recent weeks.

Hours later, prosecutors also revealed that another man, Asher Binyamin Weiss of Bnei Brak, was indicted last week on suspicion of activities that involved tracking a nuclear scientist, who was the target of an alleged Iranian liquidation plot uncovered when another suspected Iranian cell was caught.

Both the recent cases saw the suspects allegedly following security figures, photographing and filming their homes and cars and then sending the material to Iranian handlers who were seeking to recruit assassins, according to prosecutors.

In their statement, the Shin Bet and police said the Guliyevs were recruited as part of an Iranian network focusing on im~~migrants~~ colonists to Israel from the Caucasus region. They said the two were approached by an Israeli of Azerbaijani origin named in the statement as Elshan (Elchanan) Agyeiv, 56.

According to officials, Rafael Guliyev carried out surveillance tasks on security sites in Israel, including Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, and collected information on an academic working at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). Iran had singled out the woman to be targeted for physical harm, the statement said, without giving details or naming her.

Officials said Rafael Guliyev was also tasked with finding an assassin on behalf of his Iranian handlers and was assisted by his wife on a number of missions.

A Shin Bet official said the investigation revealed "once again the efforts of the Iranian intelligence agencies to recruit and exploit Israeli citizens in order to promote espionage and terrorist activity in Israel."

An indictment was filed against the pair at the Lod District Court, revealing more details of the allegations against them.

Asking that the suspects be held until the end of proceedings, prosecutors noted that they "committed security offenses at a time when Israel is fighting one of the most difficult wars it has ever known, on many fronts, including Iran. They were aware of being agents of entities hostile to Israel and nonetheless continued to cooperate with them."

Prosecutors said that Guliyev had been in contact with two Iranian agents since 2021. Over the years he also allegedly made his own suggestions of activities that the agents could find beneficial.

He received $600 for each day he spent following the INSS woman, and spent hours filming and photographing her home and car, according to the indictment.

Guliyev’s Iranian handlers told him to purchase equipment such as a dedicated phone, high-quality cameras and a laptop computer on which he installed encryption software. Communications were made via the Telegram app and encrypted applications, prosecutors said, with the Iranians urging Guliyev to be careful that the messages were not discovered.

The couple are also accused of photographing and videoing the Moldovan consulate in Tel Aviv, Israel Electric Coroporation sites, the Haifa Port, a water pumping state in Hadera, public bomb shelters in Tel Aviv and graves of victims of Hamas
Hamas

..a regional Iranian catspaw,...
’s October 7 massacre. They were also said to have photographed posters of hostages held in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
that were posted near the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv.

In total, the pair received $26,000 from the Iranians, according to the charge sheet.

A senior Shin Bet official said in the statement that the spate of recent incidents showed "the efforts by Iranian intelligence to draft and take advantage of Israeli citizens for the purpose of spying and terror acts in Israel."

A police source said the force will work relentlessly "against those conscienceless criminals who cooperate with the enemy and endanger the Israeli public."

The INSS, in a statement, thanked the Shin Bet for foiling the plot. Institute chief Tamir Hayman said it was "not surprising that INSS people are a target for Iran and its proxies" as the think tank plays a leading role in security research.

Hayman said he was in constant contact with relevant security services and acting according to their instructions.

Hours later, the State Attorney’s Office reported it had filed an indictment against Weiss, the Bnei Brak resident, on suspicion that he acted on behalf of Iran by tracking an Israeli nuclear scientist whom the Iranian regime sought to assassinate.

Weiss was indicted on charges of contact with a foreign agent, passing information to the enemy, and obstruction of justice.

According to the indictment, Weiss used a GoPro camera to video the scientist’s house and car. The Iranian agent sent the video footage to a young man from East Jerusalem who was tasked with assassinating the scientist. Seven East Jerusalem residents were arrested last month in connection with that case, which saw officials bust another alleged Iranian spy ring.

Weiss also allegedly carried out acts of sabotage such as setting cars on fire and spraying graffiti. He is also accused of posting hundreds of posters in Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan calling for civil revolt.

For his work, he was paid thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, prosecutors said. In order to prove he had carried out instructions, he sent photos of his actions to his handlers, they said.

The seven suspects from last week, all men aged 19 to 23 from the Beit Safafa neighborhood in East Jerusalem without previous criminal or security-related records, were pursuing the liquidation of an Israeli nuclear scientist as well as the mayor of a large city in central Israel, the authorities said in a statement at the time.

Six of those suspects are Israeli citizens, and the other is a permanent resident.

The suspects carried out various missions for their Iranian contacts, including posting graffiti demanding the release of Israeli hostages, vandalizing sites in Jerusalem, and photographing various locations, the authorities said. Then, upping the severity, the leader of the ring, a 23-year-old named Rami Alian, was asked to hurl a hand grenade at a security serviceman, though the attack never went ahead.

Alian was ultimately given a photo and address of a nuclear scientist whom the Islamic Theocratic Republic wanted him to assassinate, and was told he would be paid NIS 200,000 ($53,000) if he succeeded, authorities said.

He allegedly began preparations, gathering information about the target, including his daily habits, whereabouts, and other personal information, but the cell was arrested before it could move forward.

The Shin Bet in recent months has announced a series of alleged Iranian plots, in which Tehran had tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions.

In September, seven Jewish Israelis were arrested on suspicion of spying on security figures and IDF bases for Iran.

They were accused of collecting information for their Iranian contacts about several Israeli citizens, including a senior security figure — whom authorities have not publicly identified — and may have been part of a plot to ultimately assassinate the figure. It was not immediately clear if that was the nuclear scientist believed targeted in the other case.

The suspects allegedly followed this figure, including taking pictures at his door, and also surveilled his children.

In September, a man from the southern city of Ashkelon was arrested on allegations that he was smuggled into Iran twice and received payment to carry out missions on behalf of Tehran, and was recruited to assassinate either Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet.

Then, on October 14, a man and his 18-year-old partner, both from Ramat Gan, were arrested on charges they carried out various acts of sabotage and vandalism on behalf of an Iranian agent.

On October 16, the Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of a man from central Israel, who allegedly acquired a weapon in order to kill an Israeli scientist on instructions from an Iranian agent, after performing several smaller tasks on the agent’s behalf.

Those recent cases came after authorities in January uncovered a scheme involving Israelis who were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.

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Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Umm al-Fahm resident charged with planning terror attack on behalf of ISIS

2024-10-30

[IsraelTimes] Police and the Shin Bet say they recently arrested an Umm al-Fahm

…home of the militant Northern Branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Israel…

resident on suspicion of planning a terror attack on behalf of ISIS.

According to an investigation, Abed al-Rahman Mahajna pledged allegiance to the terror organization and its leader multiple times in recent months and was involved in the rioting that took place amid unrest across the country in May 2021, during the Gaza operation Guardian of the Walls.

Police found in Mahajna’s possession documents detailing explosives preparation and a will expressing his desire to die as a martyr.

The Haifa District Attorney’s Office filed charges against him today.

“This case joins a series of arrests made against Israeli citizens who planned to carry out terrorist activities in Israel,” a senior Shin Bet source says. “The trend of Israeli citizens being involved in terrorism and espionage is extremely grave, and the defense establishment will act with a firm hand against those involved.”

Link

Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Alleged spy ring that took pictures for Iran charged with aiding enemy in wartime

2024-10-27

Follow-up to this story from a week ago.

[IsraelTimes] Seven Israelis accused of photographing hundreds of sites, including IDF bases, ports, Iron Domes, a soccer stadium and a southern town, over several years

Seven residents of northern Israel were indicted on charges of aiding an enemy during wartime Friday, over allegations the group spied on behalf of Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate ~~Jews~~ ~~Zionists~~ Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol...
for years in exchange for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The charge sheet, filed at Haifa District Court, alleges that Azis Nisanov, 43, headed an organized spy ring that knowingly provided Iran with photos and other information on sensitive facilities, including civilian sites, military bases and air defense batteries, and also snooped on a University of Haifa researcher, in what prosecutors have called one of the most damning espionage cases in the country’s history.

The alleged affair, which was revealed by Israeli authorities last week following the arrest of the seven suspects in September, is one of several suspected Iranian plots involving Israeli citizens that police say they have uncovered in recent months, shining a light on Tehran’s apparent efforts to harm Israel amid an expanding Middle East war.

All seven were accused of aiding an enemy during wartime, one of the few charges in Israel that carries a potential death penalty

or life in prison, as well as passing information to an enemy. Two suspects were also charged with obstruction of justice.

"This is one of the most severe cases of security offenses that have been uncovered in the State of Israel, and which was carried out by Israeli citizens who knew well that they were acting against the country’s security and for Iran, at a time when Israel was engaged in a tough war on several fronts," a Justice Ministry spokesperson said in a statement.

The suspects, all residents of Haifa and the north who emigrated from Azerbaijan, include a soldier who deserted the military, as well as two minors aged 16-17. They performed some 600 missions over two years, authorities said.

According to the 20-page indictment, Nisanov was first contacted by an Iranian intelligence agent named in the charge sheet as Alkhasan Agayev in the second half of 2022 through a mutual acquaintance and agreed to take pictures of sensitive sites in exchange for money, due to financial hardships he was going through.

While the group was mainly handled by Agayev, they were also in contact with a second agent, named only as "Orkhayan," prosecutors allege.

"The two agents were in constant contact with the suspects and recruited them to carry out various tasks with the goal of collecting intelligence for Iran, including photographing and collecting information on civilian infrastructure, military bases, defensive systems and IDF weapons, and also trailing various people," the Justice Ministry statement said.

Prosecutors say Nisanov initially recruited Vyacheslav Gushchin, a 46-year-old former employee of his, to help take pictures and collect information. In 2023, health issues forced Sadykov to limit his spying, leading Nisanov to bring others into the cell, including Alexander Sadykov, 58, who became his deputy.

Also brought in were his son, Yigal Nisan, 20, who was serving as an enlisted soldier in the air force at the time, Yevgeny Yoffe, 47, who was a friend of Sadykov’s, and the two unnamed minors, according to prosecutors. The indictment noted that Nisan was declared AWOL on December 4, 2023.

According to the charge sheet, the spying activity continued following the October 7 Hamas
Hamas

..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
attack, though in November the group adopted a cover story — pretending to be tour guides — to contend with the heightened security in the aftermath of the massacre and the outbreak of war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
.

Among the locations photographed by the ring were dozens of military sites across the country, including air force bases that were later targeted by Iran during ballistic missile attacks on Israel in April and on October 1.

Following the April 13 attack on the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, one of the unnamed suspects was dispatched to photograph what he could of the damage caused to the base, prosecutors said.

Other sites photographed by the group, such as a military radar station on Mount Meron and north Tel Aviv’s Glilot, where the Mossad spy agency and 8200 signals intelligence unit are based, have been targeted by Iranian proxy groups such as Hezbollah in recent months, prosecutors noted.

In Haifa and Eilat, the group repeatedly sent pictures of both cities’ naval bases and civilian ports. They also photographed the Ashdod civilian port, Iron Dome missile defense batteries around Israel, power plants near Hadera and adjacent to the Elyakim military base in the Lower Galilee, and other vital facilities.

The group also collected information about an unnamed professor at the University of Haifa who researches natural gas deposits, with an emphasis on the Caucuses, according to the indictment.

And they were accused of trying to gather information about foreign sites, including chartering a boat to Cyprus to photograph the port there and the landing path for flights between the island and Israel. They were also tasked with photographing a Jordanian port from Eilat.

"Our assessment is that the activities of this ring caused damage to the security of Israel," a Shin Bet official said when the arrests were announced on Monday.

In mid-September the group was asked to provide photographs of soccer matches at Beersheba’s Turner Stadium, as well as youth league practices. The group was also tasked with spying on the nearby town of Lahav. Several members were collared by authorities while taking pictures of the community on September 19, with Gushchin and Yaffe arrested days later.

In return for their actions, the suspects were paid $300,000, including compensation for outlays of equipment such as cameras and phones, according to the charge sheet. The money was initially transferred via foreign exchange agents and later was sent as cryptocurrency. No money changers were named in the indictment.

Authorities said they were seeking a court order to keep the seven behind bars until the conclusion of legal proceedings.

After news of the arrests broke earlier this week, Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar called for Israel to impose the death penalty on those convicted of treason during times of war.

"The phenomenon of traitors to the country harming Israel’s security for the sake of money while we are fighting for our future in an existential war demands the harshest measures, including a law allowing for the death penalty for aiding the enemy in wartime," he said in a statement.

Israel’s penal code already includes capital punishment, but only for exceedingly rare cases, treason being one of them.

The Shin Bet in recent months has announced a series of alleged Iranian plots, including some in which Tehran had tried to trick Israelis online into carrying out missions.

On Tuesday, authorities announced they had nabbed a separate seven-man Iranian spy ring, this one in East Jerusalem, that had allegedly pursued the liquidation of an Israeli nuclear scientist as well as the mayor of a large city in central Israel.

In September, a man from the southern city of Ashkelon was arrested on allegations that he was smuggled into Iran twice and received payment to carry out missions on behalf of Tehran, and was recruited to assassinate either Israel’s prime minister, defense minister, or the head of the Shin Bet.

Then, on October 14, a man and his 18-year-old partner, both from Ramat Gan, were arrested on charges they carried out various acts of sabotage and vandalism on behalf of an Iranian agent.

On October 16, the Israel Police and State Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of a man from central Israel, who allegedly acquired a weapon in order to kill an Israeli scientist on instructions from an Iranian agent, after performing several smaller tasks on the agent’s behalf.

Those cases came after authorities in January uncovered a scheme involving Israelis who were allegedly recruited to gather intelligence on high-profile figures.

Link

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