WarSclerotic

Hamas hails Jordan Valley shooting as ‘natural response’ to Al-Aqsa clashes

The Hamas terror group praises the deadly shooting in the Jordan Valley, calling it “a natural response to the occupation’s ongoing crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque and its barbaric aggression against Lebanon and the steadfast Gaza.”

Hamas warns Israel against “continuing its crimes against Al-Aqsa Mosque,” in the statement.

Hamas says the site must remain “purely Islamic, with no place for occupation or [Israeli] sovereignty.”

Police, Shin Bet arrest six Bedouin suspects for throwing rocks at buses in Negev

Police and the Shin Bet security service say they arrested six people suspected of throwing rocks at buses traveling on roads in the Negev, according to a statement.

The suspects are residents of the southern Bedouin town of Hura and include five minors and a 22-year-old man. They allegedly carried out several attacks in March, intending to hurt Jews.

A police investigation reveals that some of the suspects were used as observers, while others took on the role of throwing the rocks.

The Beersheba Magistrate’s Court extended the remand of the suspects, and an indictment is set to be filed against them at the beginning of next week.

IDF chief says pilots, drone operators, air defense reservists to be called up

Military chief Herzi Halevi has instructed the Israel Defense Forces to call up an unspecified number of reservist soldiers amid heightened tensions across the region.

In a statement following an assessment, Halevi says the call-up will be focused on air defense units and the “air attack arrays,” meaning fighter jet pilots and attack drone operators, as well as other aircrew.

Halevi also instructs the IDF to strengthen defenses in the Central Command, following a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank.

The IDF is currently searching for the suspects who carried out the attack, which left two sisters dead and their mother critically hurt.

Right-wing politicians urge tougher anti-terror action after deadly West Bank shooting

Shlomo Ne’eman, head of the Gush Etzion regional council and of the Yesha settler umbrella group, demands harsher government action against terrorism after a deadly shooting attack in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley.

“There is an enemy here trying to establish a state in the heart of our land, this is their motivation,” he says in a statement. “This must stop. Our expectation is not from the soldiers in the field and not from commanders, but from policy-makers, to destroy the hope of the enemy.”

Likud MK Etty Atia says it’s time for “comprehensive activity in the territories.”

Fellow Likud lawmaker Keti Shitrit says the current situation is “intolerable and cannot continue,” adding: “We have a duty to restore security and take tough and effective measures in order to restore deterrence. Praying for better days.”

Likud MK Dan Illouz says: “At this time we all must stand together for the State of Israel. My heart is with the families. We will not surrender to terror. A tough response is needed against the terror.”

Elisha Yered, the spokesperson for Otzma Yehudit MK Limor Son Har-Melech, announces that he is resigning due to what he says is the government’s “weak security policy, which is costing us in blood.”

EU envoy condemns West Bank shooting: ‘Violence is never justified’

The EU’s ambassador to Israel Dimiter Tzantchev condemns the deadly West Bank shooting attack in which two sisters were killed and their mother was critically injured.

“Horrifying news of shooting attack in Jordan Valley, West Bank: two young Israeli women killed, one is critically wounded,” he tweets.

“Condolences to the families of the victims, wishes for speedy recovery to the injured. I strongly condemn the terror attack! Violence is never justified,” he writes.

Victims of attack are sisters from Efrat, mother was critically hurt, mayor confirms

The two women in their 20s killed in the Jordan Valley terror attack are sisters, and their mother is the third victim who is in critical condition, the mayor of the Efrat settlement says in a statement.

Oded Revivi says the family is from Efrat. The father was driving a separate car ahead of the rest of the family, and turned around following the attack, witnessing the medical treatment of his wife and daughters.

The Efrat Local Council is accompanying the family members in coordination with welfare officials.

Netanyahu gets updates on terror attack, will hold security assessment — office

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says the premier is being updated on the details of the deadly terror attack in the northern Jordan Valley.

Netanyahu will hold a security assessment shortly, his office adds.

Lapid, Gantz send condolences to grieving families after deadly West Bank attack

Opposition leader Yair Lapid writes today is “painful and black” following a deadly shooting in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley.

“Two young women were murdered in the Valley. Another woman is fighting for her life. The price of terror is heavy and heartbreaking,” he tweets. “I pray with all the people of Israel for the woman’s life and send warm condolences to the families who lost their loved ones today in the valley.”

Lapid expresses confidence that security forces will capture the gunmen and that terrorism “will not beat us.”

National Unity party chair Benny Gantz also sends his well-wishes to the grieving families, praying for “the full recovery of the wounded woman.”

“I have no doubt security forces will reach the vile murders and those that sent them,” he tweets.

Police chief urges licensed firearm owners to carry guns after deadly West Bank attack

Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai calls on licensed gun owners to carry them after two Israelis were killed in a shooting attack in the West Bank’s Jordan Valley and a third was critically injured.

“This is a murderous attack that reminds us how serious the threat of hostile activity is,” Shabtai says.

Shabtai also comments on recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, stressing the role of security forces to ensure freedom of worship as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover coincide.

“The motivation to disturb the peace has risen in recent days, and is a result of unrelenting incitement,” he says. “We should continue with wise and targeted activity against anyone who disrupts the order, and on the other hand continue to allow freedom of worship for everyone and preserve channels of discourse and dialogue.”

Gallant to huddle with top security officials after deadly West Bank shooting

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant will hold an assessment shortly with senior defense and military officials following the deadly shooting attack in the West Bank, his office says.

In the attack in the northern Jordan Valley, two women were killed and a third was critically wounded.

3rd shooting attack victim in critical condition, being taken to hospital by chopper

The third victim of the deadly shooting attack in the northern Jordan Valley is being taken to hospital in critical condition, medics say.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service says its medics are taking the 45-year-old woman by helicopter to the Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem in Jerusalem.

Two women in their 20s were declared dead at the scene, MDA says.

44 rockets, anti-aircraft missiles launched from Gaza overnight, says IDF

The Israel Defense Forces says 44 projectiles, including rockets and anti-aircraft missiles, were launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel overnight.

In a briefing with reporters, military spokesman Daniel Hagari says nine of the rockets failed to cross the border and fell short in the Palestinian enclave, 12 were fired toward the sea, 14 landed in open areas in Israel, one landed in a populated area in the southern city of Sderot, and eight were intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system.

Hagari says the Israeli Air Force struck over ten Hamas targets in Gaza in response to renewed rocket attacks on the south, using around 50 tons of munitions.

Regarding the IAF strikes against Hamas targets in Lebanon, Hagari says “the state of Lebanon is considered responsible for everything that happens in its territory, and even for the firing [of rockets] by Hamas Palestinian factions, we will not allow Hamas to operate from Lebanon.”

The IDF is instructing residents of cities and towns near the Gaza Strip to stay near a protective space that can quickly be reached when a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets.

Residents are instructed to stay in the protected space for 10 minutes after hearing a rocket siren, says the military

A fresh round of rocket sirens are sounding across southern Israeli cities and towns, after a brief lull.

Incoming rocket alerts are heard in Sderot, Ibim, Nir Am, Mefalsim, Gavim, Nachal Oz, and Alumim.

The military does not immediately provide further details.

Overnight, around 40 rockets were reportedly launched from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel amid Israeli airstrikes in response to earlier attacks.

A home in one of Sderot’s oldest neighborhood is found to have sustained damage in the overnight salvo from the Gaza Strip, the Sderot municipality says.

It is not immediately clear if the damage was caused by rocket shrapnel, but medics say it appears to be the cause.

A mother and her daughter who stayed in a protected room in the home were unharmed, Magen David Adom medics say.

Tensions are running high at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the flashpoint Temple Mount site, Islam’s third-holiest site, where thousands of Muslim worshippers are gathering for Friday prayers during the holy month of Ramadan, following a long night of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip and a rare strike in Lebanon overnight.

According to reports in the Hebrew media, Palestinian worshippers at the site were calling to support the “resistance,” a reference to terror group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Israeli security forces expect some 100,000 worshippers at the Temple Mount over the course of Friday.

Overnight, Israel struck multiple sites in the Palestinian enclave, including weapon production sites and tunnels serving Hamas, hours after a barrage of rockets from Gaza and from Lebanon on Thursday.

Israel hit “terror infrastructure” belonging to Hamas in southern Lebanon in the early hours of Friday morning. The group has a presence in southern Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camps.

UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping outfit deployed along the buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon, says the Israel Defense Forces informed the force that it will begin “an artillery response” to Thursday rocket launches into Israel from Lebanon.

UNIFIL says its personnel soon heard loud explosions around the city of Tyre in southern Israel and that the head of mission and force commander, Major General Aroldo Lázaro, was speaking with authorities on both sides.

“Both sides have said they do not want a war,” UNIFIL says in a statement, warning that the “actions over the past day are dangerous and risk a serious escalation.”

The Israel Defense Forces say Israeli jets hit additional targets in the Gaza Strip amid ongoing airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave.

Fighter jets took out a shaft for an underground weapons production site, three other sites for weapons manufacturing and a terrorist tunnel, belonging to terror organization Hamas, the military says.

These attacks disrupt Hamas’s ability to “strengthen and arm itself,” the military says, adding that the terror group “bears responsibility” for recent events and “is the one that will pay the price for the security violations against the State of Israel.”

Israel has been striking Gaza overnight and launched a rare airstrike in Lebanon less than two hours ago, following a day of rocket barrages from the Palestinian enclave and from Lebanon territory on Thursday.

Nearly three dozen rockets were launched at Israel from Lebanon on Thursday afternoon, most of them intercepted by the Iron Dome system.

Rocket alerts sound in southern Israel amid airstrikes in Gaza, Lebanon

Rocket sirens are sounding in the southern Israeli towns of Sderot, Ibim and Nir Am, amid ongoing military airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

Israel has been targeting multiple sites in the Palestinian enclave and in Lebanon in response to rocket barrages from both territories on Thursday.

The military a short while ago said it struck multiple targets including “terrorist infrastructure” belonging to terror group Hamas in southern Lebanon.

“The IDF will not allow the Hamas terrorist organization to operate from within Lebanon and holds the state of Lebanon responsible for every directed fire emanating from its territory,” the military says.