WarSclerotic

The Hezbollah terror group on Friday issued a warning video to Israel apparently filled with satellite images and precise map locations of strategic sites in the Jewish state, with a message: “Attack and you will regret it.”

The video comes after an alleged Israeli airstrike on Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria the night before.

The video, with Hebrew subtitles, opened with Hezbollah fighters preparing to launch rockets and leader Hassan Nasrallah warning the Lebanese terror group would respond to any attack on Lebanon.

In recent years, Israel has acknowledged conducting hundreds of airstrikes in Syria, which it says were aimed at both preventing Iran from establishing a permanent military presence in Syria and blocking the transfer of advanced munitions to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel has designated these two issues as “red lines” that it will take military action to prevent.

But it has not attacked Lebanon, even though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu disclosed the locations of missile sites near Beirut during his address to the United Nations earlier this year.

Israel has repeatedly warned that Iran is trying to upgrade Hezbollah’s massive rocket arsenal and improve the accuracy of the missiles.

In an apparent reference to that, the Hezbollah video showed what appeared to be satellite imagery of several strategic Israeli superimposed with targets and their  coordinates. Among the sites in the video was the IDF military headquarters in Tel Aviv, several air force bases, an oil refinery and Israel’s nuclear reactor in Dimona.

The video ended with the warning “If you dare attack, you will regret it.”

Also on Friday, the Syria Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said it identified several of the sites hit in what it said was an Israeli bombardment that lasted “for an hour.”

The Israeli military refused to comment on the raid, but denied a report in Russian media that an Israeli plane had been shot down. The Syrian military claimed its air defenses shot down all incoming “hostile targets” late Thursday. However, many security analysts believe Syria often falsely claims to have intercepted missiles that successfully penetrated its air defenses.

According to the director of the Syria Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, the Israeli bombardment hit two positions in the south of Damascus province, including an area believed to be an Iranian weapons depot near the capital.

Once a regular occurrence, reports of Israeli airstrikes in Syria have become increasingly rare in the past two months, after Syria accidentally shot down a Russian spy plane during an Israeli raid, which Moscow blamed on Israel.

According to Abdel Rahmn, two Israeli missiles hit al-Kiswah, where he said there are “weapons depots belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah [terrorist group] as well as Iranian forces.”

Another missile hit the area of Harfa, near the Israeli border, where there is a Syrian military base, the UK-based monitor said.

In Kisweh, “the depots that were targeted are used to temporarily store rockets until they are taken somewhere else,” Abdel Rahman said.

Illustrative: This photo released on Wednesday, May 9, 2018, by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows flames rising after an attack in an area known to have numerous Syrian army military bases, in Kisweh, south of Damascus. (SANA via AP)

“It appears the Israelis had intelligence that weapons had arrived there recently,” he said.

Explosions were also reported in and around the Syrian capital of Damascus, near its international airport, which Israel claims has been used by Iran to supply terror groups with advanced weaponry.

According to the Kremlin-backed Sputnik new site, blasts were also heard near the town of al-Dimas, along the Damascus-Beirut highway, which may indicate that an arms shipment was targeted in the alleged Israeli strikes.

Thursday’s strike was the first time Syria’s air defenses had been called into action since they inadvertently shot down a Russian spy plane and the 15 people on board during an Israeli raid on September 17.

Despite the strained relationship with Russia, Israeli officials maintain that the IDF continues to operate in the country. However, many defense analysts suspect that Russia — with the advanced air defense systems it has in Syria — may be curbing Israel’s ability to rein its arch nemesis Iran’s military presence in the country.

Moscow blamed Israel for the incident and supplied Damascus with the advanced S-300 air defense system — something it had previously refrained from doing following requests from Jerusalem.

The S-300 systems were delivered to Syria last month, but they are not yet believed to be in use, as the Syrian air defense teams still need to be trained to operate them.

An incident in 2016, when Pakistan’s defense minister threatened Israel with nuclear attack in the wake of what turned out to be a fake news story, has been revealed to be just one small instance of an Iran-based global disinformation campaign that has been running for six years and has included dozens of news and media outlets.

According to an extensive Reuters investigation published Friday, over 70 news sites have been spreading disinformation and pushing a pro-Tehran narrative in 15 countries, as part of a widespread and sophisticated online campaign to influence public option all over the world.

The investigation directly tied the sites to Iran, but not to the Iranian government itself. “They look like normal news and media outlets, but only a couple disclose any Iranian ties,” Reuters noted. “They have published in 16 different languages, from Azerbaijani to Urdu.”

According to the Reuters piece, headlined “How Iran spreads disinformation around the world,” the Iran-linked news and media sites it uncovered draw more than half a million visitors a month, and are served by social media accounts with over a million followers.

It said journalists, cybersecurity experts and social media firms are only now starting to uncover the scope of the Iranian influence campaign. The report revealed a number of news sites targeting audiences across the Middle East and North Africa with pro-Iranian propaganda, often times alongside authentic news stories, some dating back to 2012.

The Reuters investigation established that the news agency called “Another Western Dawn,” which duped the Pakistani defense minister into issuing a nuclear threat against Israel in December 2016, is linked to Iran.

At the time, Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif threatened Israel in response to what he thought was a threat, falsely reported by AWDnews.com, ostensibly issued by then defense minister Moshe Ya’alon to use nuclear force if Pakistan sent troops to Syria.

Truck-mounted missiles on display at the IDEAS 2008 defense exhibition in Karachi, Pakistan. (Wiki Creative Commons/SyedNaqvi90)

The AWDnews article was headlined, “Israeli Defense Minister: If Pakistan send ground troops to Syria on any pretext, we will destroy this country with a nuclear attack.”

It falsely quoted Ya’alon saying: “As far as we are concerned,that is a threat,if, by misfortune, they arrive in Syria, we will know what to do,we will destroy them with a nuclear attack.”

Visiting Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, shakes hands with his Pakistani counterpart Khawaja Muhammad Asif prior to their meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Monday, March 12, 2018. (Pakistan Press Information Department via AP)

The Pakistani minister tweeted: “Israeli def min threatens nuclear retaliation presuming pak role in Syria against Daesh. Israel forgets Pakistan is a Nuclear state too.” (“Daesh” is an acronym for Islamic State.)

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon visiting the Arrow II intercepting missile launcher at the Palmahim Israeli Air Force base March 2, 2015. (Photo credit: Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Israel’s Defense Ministry quickly issued a statement making clear that the AWDnews story was false, and Asif was roundly criticized by Pakistani officials for responding to it.

AWDnews offers content in English, French, Spanish and German. According to data from web analytics data, its website receives around 12,000 monthly visitors.

Reuters said politicians in Britain, Jordan, India and the Netherlands, as well as human-rights activists, an Indian music composer and a Japanese rap star, have all shared bogus AWDnews stories in the past.

In 2014, Israel’s then-finance minister Yair Lapid quoted a AWDnews storythat falsely attributed pro-Israeli statements to Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal.

Al-Faisal’s remarks were quoted by several media outlets in Israel, though regional policy experts confirmed to The Times of Israel at the time that the Saudi foreign minister never made any such statement in public.

The AWDnews site regularly fabricates reports about Israel and the Muslim world, including reports claiming Israel orchestrated the conflict in Ukraine and that the Mossad is closely tied to the Islamic State jihadist group.

Reuters said it traced the dozens of disinformation sites back to Iran by their various links to the International Union of Virtual Media (IUVM). The report said some websites carry stories, videos and cartoons supplied by the Tehran-headquartered IUVM, while others, which make no mention of the agency, list IVUM contact information in their website’s online registration’s records.

On its website, IUVM lists among its goals: “Confronting with remarkable arrogance, western governments and Zionism front activities to correct the deflection of people movements in world,” and “Explaining the importance of Palestine and Quds issue to Internet audience.” Quds is the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

The majority of IUVM-linked sites target readers in Yemen, where Iran and Saudi Arabia have been fighting a proxy war, according to the report. The sites also target audiences in Syria, Egypt, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

This July 16, 2013 file photo shows a sign at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, California. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

Emails sent to IVUM bounced back, Reuters said, and all phone numbers provided by the agency were not in service. Other news outlets carrying IUVM content were also found to have bogus addresses and phone numbers.

Reuters said its investigation found that the sites “clearly support Iran’s government and amplify antagonism to countries opposed to Tehran — particularly Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United States.”

Noted Reuters: “The identity or location of the past owners of some of the websites is visible in historical Internet registration records: 17 of 71 sites have in the past listed their locations as Iran or Tehran, or given an Iranian telephone or fax number. But who owns them now is often hidden.”

Twice in 2018, social media firms have removed accounts, groups or pages linked to a stealth influence campaign out of Iran.

In October, Facebook said it took down accounts linked to an Iranian effortto influence US and British politics with messages about charged topics such as immigration and race relations.

The social network identified 82 pages, groups and accounts that originated in Iran and violated policy on coordinated “inauthentic” behavior. It carried out an even broader sweep in August, removing 652 pages, groups and accounts linked to both Iran or Russia. IUVM’s Facebook page was removed in the August sweep.

In addition to Facebook, in recent months Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Google have removed accounts that were found to be linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting as part of a misinformation campaign dating back to at least January 2017.

The European Union agreed to support a US-sponsored United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Hamas, following negotiations with Washington, diplomats said Thursday.

The draft resolution will likely be voted on in the United Nations General Assembly on Monday, an official in Israel’s mission to the UN told The Times of Israel on Thursday.

After the US agreed to make some changes to the initial draft, the EU on Thursday agreed to support the text. All 28 EU member states are expected to vote in favor.

“All 28 members will support the US text,” a European diplomat told AFP.

EU Ambassador to the UN João Vale de Almeida at a Security Council meeting January 18, 2017. UN/Evan Schneider)

If adopted, the resolution would be the first General Assembly vote to condemn the Palestinian terrorist group. The EU’s support dramatically increases its chances of passing, though it is unclear whether it will guarantee the needed simple majority among the UN’s 193 member states.

Earlier this week, European diplomats said there were disagreements on the proposed US text, notably including references to UN resolutions and to the two-state solution.

The Europeans had asked, and the Americans agreed, to insert a clause that states that a future Israeli-Palestinian peace deal should be “in accordance with international law, and bearing in mind relevant UN resolutions.”

However, the draft still does not make explicit mention of a two-state solution, though virtually all recently passed UN resolutions passed on the subject do.

Both the US and the EU recognize Hamas as a terrorist organization.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, right, talks with the French UN Ambassador Francois Delattre, center, and British UN Ambassador Karen Pierce before a Security Council meeting at UN. headquarters, Monday, April 9, 2018. (AP/Seth Wenig)

The new draft of resolution, entitled, “Activities of Hamas and Other Militant Groups in Gaza,” also makes explicit mention of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terror group with a large presence in the Gaza Strip.

The draft “condemns Hamas for repeatedly firing rockets into Israel and for inciting violence, thereby putting civilians at risk” and demands that “Hamas and other militant actors including Palestinian Islamic Jihad cease all provocative actions and violent activity, including by using airborne incendiary devices.”

It further condemns Hamas’s use of sources in Gaza “construct military infrastructure, including tunnels to infiltrate Israel and equipment to launch rockets into civilian areas, when such resources could be used to address the critical needs of the civilian population.”

The interior of a Hamas attack tunnel that penetrated Israeli territory and was destroyed by the Israeli military on October 11, 2018. (Israel Defense Forces)

The draft resolution also calls on all parties to fully respect international humanitarian law, “including in regards to the protection of the civilian population.”

It encourages “tangible steps towards intra-Palestinian reconciliation,” as well as “concrete steps to reunite the Gaza Strip and the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority and ensure its effective functioning in the Gaza Strip.”

Addressing the General Assembly’s annual debate on the “Question of Palestine” on Thursday, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon urged the international community to vote in favor of condemning Hamas for the first time in the body’s history.

“Every year, the United Nations adopts at least 20 resolutions specifically to condemn Israel. Not a single one of these resolutions or any GA resolution at all has ever included Hamas,” he said.

In this file photo taken on June 13, 2018 Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaks to the General Assembly before a vote to condemn Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in the General Assembly in New York. (Don Emmert/AFP)

“But the international community has an opportunity to take a moral stance and finally condemn Hamas,” Danon said. “If the international community does not condemn Hamas, it is enabling a terrorist organization.”

On Wednesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh sent an open letter to General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa and to its member states, slamming the US-sponsored resolution, arguing it was meant to “delegitimize Palestinian resistance.”

“We in the Islamic Resistance Movement — Hamas are following up with great anger and condemnation the ongoing and miserable efforts by the United States of America, not only by adopting the Israeli narrative of the conflict, but also by providing all the necessary material and moral support for the Israeli occupation to continue its aggression against our people and deprive them of their basic rights of freedom, independence and self-determination, guaranteed by all international conventions and laws,” Haniyeh wrote in the letter.

Palestinian rockets are shot toward Israel from Gaza on November 12, 2018. (AP/Hatem Moussa)

“We stress on the necessity to work hard to thwart the American efforts to condemn the resistance at the UN General Assembly,” the letter added.

Earlier this month, Hamas fired more than 400 rockets and mortar shells at southern Israel from the Gaza Strip in the space of a single day, killing at least one person — a Palestinian man living in Israel with a work permit — and injuring dozens more.

It appeared to be the largest-ever number of projectiles fired at Israel from the coastal enclave in a 24-hour period, more than twice the number fired on any day of the 2014 Gaza war, according to Israeli statistics.

The flareup was sparked after a covert Israeli operation in the Strip went awry, with seven Palestinians, including a Hamas commander, killed in the ensuing gun battle. One Israeli soldier was also killed.

A ball of fire above the building housing the Hamas-run television station al-Aqsa TV in the Gaza Strip during an Israeli air strike, on November 12, 2018. (MAHMUD HAMS / AFP)

A ceasefire negotiated by Egypt, the UN and others has largely held since then.

Danon responded to the Hamas letter by saying that “a terrorist organization going to the UN for assistance is like a serial killer asking the police for assistance.”

“Hamas speaks about international law while it fires rockets into civilian populations, holds the bodies of IDF soldiers and Israeli citizens, and uses its own people as human shields,” Danon said.

Two apparently mentally ill Israeli civilians — Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed — who entered Gaza of their own volition in 2014 and 2015, respectively, are currently being held by Hamas, along with the remains of two IDF soldiers, Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul, killed in the 2014 Israel-Gaza war.

Michael Bachner and AFP contributed to this report.