US Calls for Tougher Enforcement against Hezbollah ahead of UN Mission Renewal

UN headquarters. Illustrative. By Joshua Spurlock

The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon may be overseeing over a decade of general calm, but the United States isn’t content with the effort to truly keep the peace. In particular, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley highlighted Hezbollah’s arms buildup, which is in violation of the U.N. Resolution that ended the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war. She said she agreed with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres that they want the efforts of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to be enhanced to “prevent the spread of illegal arms in southern Lebanon.”

Said Ambassador Haley in comments released by her office, “These arms—which are almost entirely in the hands of Hezbollah terrorists—threaten the security and stability of the region. UNIFIL must increase its capacity and commitment to investigating and reporting these violations. The United States will continue to raise the threat posed by Hezbollah as we seek significant improvements to UNIFIL when the Security Council renews its mandate this month.” … Continue Reading

Israeli Police Meet with Arab Authorities to Discuss Cooperation Despite Low Turnout

Israeli President Rivlin hosts meeting between Israeli Police and Arab leaders. Photo courtesy of Mark Neiman (GPO).

If Arabs and the Israeli Police don’t communicate effectively, it’s certainly not due to Israel not trying. Recently, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin hosted a meeting between Israeli Chief of Police Roni Alsheikh and Arab local leadership to discuss cooperation between the Police and Arabs and “to examine ways to advance the common issues and concerns,” according to a press release from Rivlin’s office.

However, the number of Arab leaders who attended fell short of Rivlin’s hopes. “I am very sorry that many of the council heads who wished to arrive did not come due to various pressures,” said Rivlin. “It is a shame, because we are destined to live together and we have to find a way to promote this understanding inside all of us.”

The meeting comes against the backdrop of tensions between Israel and the broader Arab community following a terror shooting committed by Arabs in the Temple Mount area that killed two Israeli policemen. In response, Israel set up metal detectors at the main entrance to the Temple Mount complex, but later removed them after outraged Arabs protested and the greater Arab world turned it into an international incident. And much as the recent police meeting was under-attended by Arab leaders, so too were condemnations of violence lacking from Arab leadership, lamented Rivlin. … Continue Reading

Israel Foils Hamas Money Laundering Ring Linking Turkey to Hebron

Hamas’ complicated money-laundering scheme. Photo courtesy of the ISA.

A terrorist money-laundering plot involving a cast of Hamas militants and their affiliates in two different countries had managed to get almost $200,000 into the heart of Israel’s Judea and Samaria region (also known as the West Bank). That is, until Israeli security forces recently busted the ring.

Hamas used couriers who went to Turkey to obtain funding “under the guise of business trips,” said a press release last week from the Israel Security Agency (ISA). Once in Turkey, the couriers met up with a Hamas command center militant who provided the couriers with tens of thousands of dollars. These monies were then used to purchase goods in Turkey, which in turn were shipped to the Israeli city of Hebron. There, the goods would be sold and “the funds given to Hamas militants in Hebron, minus fees,” according to the ISA.

Noted the press release, “The uncovering of the infrastructure indicates the unrelenting motivation of Hamas militants in Turkey and the Gaza Strip to the increase of Hamas terrorism in Judea and Samaria.” With the investigation complete, the IDF military prosecutor was set to file indictments on the guilty partners soon. … Continue Reading

Israeli Cyber Defense Center Has Blocked ‘Dozens of National-Level’ Attacks

Prime Minister Netanyahu at cyber center. Photo courtesy of Kobi Gideon / GPO

With cyber attacks targeting governments, businesses and other groups around the global regularly, Israel set up a national cyber event response center in September 2016. Since then, the center has been involved in blocking “dozens of national-level cyber-attacks” along with addressing “hundreds of cyber events,” according to an Israeli press release.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently toured the National Cyber Defense Authority (NCDA) facility that houses the center. He emphasized the importance of the center’s work. “The cyber threat is one of the biggest threats against both developing countries and our country,” Netanyahu was quoted by the press release as saying. “There are very many elements in the world that can disrupt our lives, steal bank accounts, obstruct our energy supply and cause accidents and sabotage in field after field. The threat here is very great.” … Continue Reading

Top European Court Upholds Terrorist Designation for Hamas

Hamas has fired thousands of rockets at Israel over the years, among other acts of terror. Illustrative photo of spent Rockets fired from Gaza. By Joshua Spurlock.

Europe’s most powerful court last week overturned a decision to annul the European Union’s designation of Hamas as a terrorist organization. The Independent reported that the European Court of Justice dismissed a decision from a lower court that argued the designation needed to be the result of an independent European investigation and had strictly been based on news reports and the internet.

The ECJ instead noted that simply an “ongoing risk” of terrorist activities was required to be on the terror list and that the EU did not need to do it’s own investigation. Not that that would have been too difficult. Hamas has launched thousands of rockets at Israel, claimed credit for suicide bombings and kidnappings in a period spanning multiple decades. The United States—which also designates Hamas as a terrorist organization—applauded the European court’s decision.

A statement from the U.S. State Department on the court action noted that Hamas “remains engaged in terrorist activity.” Despite a change in leadership at Hamas, the U.S. not only remains troubled by the organization, but the new leader only underscores those concerns given that he too has been designated as a terrorist by the U.S. The State Department statement said, “Hamas’s election of Yehya Sinwar as their political leader in Gaza earlier this year illustrates that the organization remains a terrorist threat. Sinwar is a hardline military commander.” … Continue Reading

Iranian Space Launch Condemned as Akin to Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Could Iran’s latest missile launch help them hit the West with nuclear weapons? Radiation Warning Symbol. Public Domain.

The recent Iranian launch of a space launch vehicle missile last Thursday received condemnation from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—which is especially understandable given that the missile research is ultimately a threat to their nations. A statement from the four nations—which compromise two-thirds of the powerful P5+1 group of nations that reached a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015—linked the space missile launch to efforts to develop missiles that can travel across continents and potentially carry nuclear warheads.

The statement, published by the U.S. State Department, pointed to United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231as calling upon Iran to “not undertake any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology like this launch. Space launch vehicles use technologies that are closely related to those of ballistic missiles development, in particular to those of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.”

The ominous linkage of the latest test to weapons of mass destruction was paralleled with a warning from the U.S. about Iran’s behavior. … Continue Reading