The Israel Air Force launched a strike against a Syrian army unit Tuesday night in response to a rocket attack on the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon.
“The IDF views the Syrian regime as responsible for what occurs in its territory, and will act at any time and any way it sees fit to protect the citizens of Israel,” the IDF said in a statement to Jerusalem Post.
The response from the IDF came after two rockets struck the northern Golan Heights Tuesday. Local residents and over a thousand visitors to the Mount Hermon ski site fleeing into shelters or other cover.
“The time has come to bring back Israelis’ sense of security – personal and social. One depends on the other,” Labor leader Isaac Herzog said while speaking to students at Sapir College in Sderot. “We need to be determined and enlist the world to Israel’s side for the good of our security interests, because we cannot make a living without security, and there is no security without being able to make a living The IDF has over the past several days been on alert across the north, deploying air defense, armored units, infantry, and artillery guns.”
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Iran is seeking to attack Israel through any means possible including using Syrian forces.
An IDF officer has released a report showing the number of IED attacks by Palestinians on Israelis has jumped ten fold in 2014.
The rise of 20 IEDs during 2014 compared to 2 in 2013 is indicative of a rise of across-the-board violence in the West Bank.
“The level of sophistication is not very high,” said Maj. Irad Hershkovitz, the demolitions officer of the Shomron Regional Brigade. “It’s not Yahya Ayyash. It’s not the Second Intifada. But there has been a very significant rise.”
Maj. Hershkovitz told the Times of Israel that most of the IEDs are explosives placed inside a cheap metal casing along with a watch or cell phone timer.
However, he said a crackdown has been taking place on bomb makers in the West Bank.
“The solution is the waves of arrests that we do,” he said, noting that the army is active in Area A, which is under full Palestinian control, and within the refugee camps surrounding Nablus. “There is not a night in which a few Palestinians are not arrested,” he said. “Nothing else can be done. That is what stops the wave of terror.”
A rocket struck Southern Israel on Friday according to officials with the Israel Defense Forces, the first strike by Palestinians on Israel using rockets since September.
The strike in the Eshkol region set off the air raid sirens but the rocket landed in an open field causing no damage or injuries.
The strike came as Palestinians attacked Israeli forces at a West Bank checkpoint near the village of Turmus Aya. The IDF reported no injuries as a result of the attack.
The village where the assault from the Palestinians took place is where a Palestinian Cabinet minister collapsed and later died. The Palestinians claimed an Israeli soldier hit him when an autopsy showed that he actually died from a heart attack.
In the midst of the Palestinian attacks, the IDF announced they were going to allow Christians in the West Bank to visit their relatives in the Gaza Strip. They said it was a goodwill measure for Christians during their holy days.
The already strained relationship between Israel and Palestine grew further apart after the death of a Palestinian official who clashed with Israel Defense Forces.
An Israeli pathologist is joining with a team from Jordan to conduct the autopsy of Ziad Abu Ein, who died while en route to a hospital Wednesday after being struck in the chest with what is believed to be a tear gas canister.
Abu Ein headed the PA government agency that campaigns against security barriers and settlements. He fought with Israeli Defense Forces near Turmusaya in the northern West Bank. Palestinians claimed he was hit by the rifle butt of a soldier but Israeli witnesses say that he was not hit by a soldier.
The IDF says that 200 rioters were attempting to enter a Palestinian settlement and were being led by Abu Ein.
Abu Ein was extradited from the U.S. to Israel in 1981 for his connection to a 1979 terrorist bombing.
Israeli officials say they don’t expect to receive retribution from Syria after an airstrike.
An IDF official who requested anonymity told the Times of Israel that he doesn’t believe Syria can afford to open up another war front when they’re so engaged in fighting against Islamic terrorist groups attempting to overthrow the nation.
The officer also said that it’s unlikely terrorist group Hezbollah, who had been trying to obtain weapons and munitions from Syria, would strike out against Israel.
“I don’t see any reason why in 2015 Hezbollah will turn to Israel, there is no logic to that way of thinking,” he said in a briefing with reporters at military headquarters. “But if you are talking about capacity and the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) should be ready to deal with any capability of any one of its enemies. The capability of Hezbollah is growing every year.”
Israel has stayed out of the Syrian Civil War other than to make surgical strikes when they find Syria attempting to send weapons to Hezbollah. There was no confirmation from the IDF that was the reason for the recent strike but the officer did make comment that seemed to indicate it was the reason.
“Anyone who tries to arm our enemies should know that we can go anywhere, anytime, in any way, in order to foil his plans. We will not compromise on this,” he said.
The likely replacement for Chuck Hagel as defense secretary is seen as a likely stronger support of Israel than previous Obama Administration appointees.
Ashton Carter is described by those within the defense intelligence community as “an efficient administrator” and is believed to be an ally of top military brass rather than someone who views military leadership as an adversary.
Carter visited Israel in 2013 and told IDF soldiers “protecting America means protecting Israel, and that’s why we’re here in the first place.”
Carter, while considered the front runner, has been passed over for the top defense position on two other occasions and Israeli officials say they’re optimistic but will be cautious until Carter officially holds the position.
Israeli officials are also encouraged that Carter has been a strong advocate for making sure Iran does not have the ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Police and IDF forces across Israel are on high alert Friday because of the possibility of clashes between Jews and Muslims as two major holidays collide on the same day.
Yom Kippur and Eid al-Adha overlap for the first time in over 30 years.
Reinforced police units have been deployed in cities that have significant Muslim minorities: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa and Acre. The military has closed the West Bank and the Gaza Strip which is usually done during the major Jewish holidays.
Yom Kippur is a major day in Israel where devout Jews ask God to forgive them for their sins. Almost all businesses close and TV and radio stations usually are off the air.
The Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha lasts three days and consists of family celebrations and events.
Israeli officials did not say if the increased security will end after Yom Kippur or ocntinue through the end of the Muslim holiday.
A Syrian aircraft has been shot down over the Golan Heights by Israeli defense systems.
The shooting down of the aircraft is the first time since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War that the battle has crossed into Israeli territory in a major way. Until this point, only stray mortar fire had struck Israeli territory.
Israeli Defense Forces say that the plane was a MiG-21 fighter jet and a surface-to-air missile took the plane down. The wreckage of the plane landed in Syria and the pilot reportedly was able to eject and land in Syrian territory.
Syrian government spokesman tried to claim the shooting down of the plane meant Israel was supporting the terrorist group ISIS. World leaders immediately dismissed the Syrian claim as “absurd.”
The head of the Israeli Navy has stated that he will put his ships everywhere if that’s what it takes to defend the nation of Israel.
“We will guard, protect and act in any enemy coast, and fight bravely for the nevy and the state of Israel,” Admiral Ram Rothberg said during a memorial ceremony.
The ceremony was to remember the INS Dakar and held on the INS Tanin.
“Without a doubt, this power, operationally and strategically, is very important for Israel, the IDF and the navy,” Adm. Rothberg stated. “More than four decades passed since INS Dakar’s last voyage… Although the threats have changed, and today you have the most modern equipment, the most advanced technologies, and the most quality means, the mission remains the same mission that the INS Dakar personnel were sent on, and the responsibility is the same. To protect the Israeli coast, sea waters, and working with all of the IDF’s branches to achieve the relevant goals.”
The Admirals in attendance at the event said the new submarines will allow them to gain intelligence in places they have been unable to visit in the past.
The Israeli Military Advocate General Corps announced investigations into five incidents connected to the 50-day battle between Israel and the terrorist group Hamas.
The most high profile of the cases involves the airstrike on a beach that resulted in the deaths of four Palestinian children. However, the IDF said none of the situations is being investigated under the guise of a “war crime.”
The MAG Corps speed at launching investigations is seen as a response to actions after the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that had some incidents left without investigation years later.
The beach investigation will look into accusations from reporters that no Hamas military targets were in the area of the beach at the time of the air strikes. The strike took place near a hotel where foreign journalists had been staying and they observed the air strike.
An investigation that has already taken place regarding an Israeli rocket that struck a UN school has shown that while one Israeli rocket hit the school, no injuries were caused to anyone by the strike. Hamas had claimed children were injured as a result of the strike.