Foreign
Brig.-Gen. to ‘Post’: Outdated Iranian arms proved ineffective against Israel
Iran’s attack on Israel was the first time it openly declared war on the Jewish State. Such an attack inevitably raised important insights that need to be mentioned.
Yes, this is the dawn of a new day.
Here are some insights from Saturday night in Israel:
A. After years of Israel publicly threatening to strike Iran – it turns out Iran is the one attacking us.
B. For the first time in history, Iran openly declares war on Israel.
C. For the first time since the establishment of the state, the profound and resolute commitment of the President of the United States, his cabinet, and his military to the security of Israeli citizens is fully demonstrated through actions, not just words.
Highlighting the opportunity to establish a defense alliance in the region
D. The critical importance of strategic peace with the Kingdom of Jordan is highlighted.
E. We have an incredible opportunity to establish an official strategic defense alliance with the countries of the Abraham Accords, Egypt, and Jordan under the auspices of the US. This opportunity must not be missed.
F. Israel has the most advanced air defense systems in the world.
This began with President Reagan including the Arrow development program in the Star Wars plan of the US. At that time, it seemed like science fiction.
Great credit goes to our defense industries, to our scientists, to the Defense Ministry, the Air Force, and the air defense system’s detection, identification, control, and interception capabilities.
G. If Israel Aerospace Industries and Rafael were listed on the stock exchanges in Israel and New York, their stocks would be soaring this morning. Orders from around the world are expected to be overwhelming.
H. Iran is a kind of superpower. Their military is relatively outdated, and their pride lies in their missile and drone systems. With all due respect and modesty, tonight, they realize that against Israel, these are worth less.
I. The response to Iran – timely and on point.
We are currently required to exercise wisdom, establish the right priorities, use clear thinking, and focus on our major issues: ending the conflict in Gaza and planning for the aftermath, the threat from Hezbollah, retrieving the abducted and displaced, and addressing the situation in the West Bank.
Iran’s turn will also come. We must prevent them from acquiring nuclear weapons.
In the meantime, they can be left to the international coalition.
J. The discussion about the Israeli response takes me back to one night in the Gulf War in 1991, after Iraq
launched dozens of missiles at Haifa and the Gush Dan region. Deputy Chief of Staff Ehud Barak and Defense Minister Moshe Arens urged a military response against Iraq. Prime Minister Shamir and Chief of Staff Dan Shomron sided with the US, which urged Israel not to respond and not to disrupt the international coalition acting against Iraq.
The decision was made by a young man named Arye Machlouf Deri, supported by his rabbi, Ovadia Yosef, who chose to think with reason rather than emotion.
Now, 33 years later, he is still in the cabinet as a minister and chairman of the Shas party.
The author, Brigadier General (res.) Avi Benayahu, is a strategic advisor, former IDF spokesperson, and advisor to prime ministers and defense ministers.
An Israeli air strike on the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza has killed top Hamas political leader Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official has told the BBC.
Locals say the air strike killed both Bardaweel, regarded as Hamas’s highest-ranking political leader, and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.
The total death toll in Gaza since the war began surpassed 50,000 on Sunday, its Hamas-run health authorities said, with least 30 people killed in Khan Yunis and Rafah so far on Sunday.
Israel resumed heavy strikes on Gaza earlier this week – in effect ending the first phase of a ceasefire that lasted almost two months. It blamed Hamas for rejecting a new US proposal to extend the truce.
Is the war starting again in Gaza?
Hamas, in turn, accused Israel of abandoning the original deal – mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the US. It envisaged the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the subsequent release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners – in addition to negotiations to end the war entirely and reconstruct Gaza.
In a statement on Sunday, Hamas said Bardaweel, 66, had been praying along with his wife when an Israeli missile struck their tent.
A father of eight, Bardaweel was one of Hamas’s most prominent political figures.
Born in Khan Younis refugee camp, he was known to be close to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and is considered part of the second generation of Hamas leadership, following the movement’s founders.
He headed the political wing of Hamas’s parliamentary bloc and was re-elected to the group’s political bureau in 2021.
Following the killing of Sinwar and Rawhi Mushtaha during the ongoing war, Bardaweel was regarded as Hamas’s highest-ranking political leader.
The air strike that killed Bardaweel was part of one of the most intense waves of aerial bombardment in southern Gaza since the collapse of the ceasefire agreement last Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society told the BBC that Israeli forces were surrounding several of the organisation’s ambulances as they attempted to reach an area hit by an Israeli strike in Rafah.
He added that several paramedics were wounded, and contact had been lost with one of the trapped teams, which has been besieged for weeks.
The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for residents of the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood in western Rafah after the area was hit by heavy shelling and a limited ground assault.
The attack included tank fire from Israeli forces positioned along the Philadelphi Corridor on the border with Egypt, and helicopters also took part in the assault.
Alaa al-Din Sabah, a resident of the neighbourhood, said in a voice message to the BBC: “Bullets are raining down on us like it’s pouring. A woman was shot and is bleeding. Ambulances couldn’t reach her.”
“I can see one of the paramedics lying on the ground, screaming.”
The Israeli military launched a campaign to destroy Hamas in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage.
More than 49,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since then, the Hamas-run health ministry says, and there is large-scale destruction to homes and infrastructure in the Strip.
France’s Foreign Ministry expresses in a statement its “deep concern” at the renewed outbreak of fighting in southern Lebanon.
The Quai d’Orsay condemns rocket attacks against Israel from Lebanon over the weekend, while calling on Israel to exercise restraint in its response.
“France reiterates the importance of not compromising the significant progress made in recent months to ensure the security of Israelis and Lebanese people on both sides of the Blue Line,” the statement reads, adding that French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot conveyed these messages to Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Rajji.
The Houthis announced an aerial blockade on Ben-Gurion Airport and threatened any airlines that fly to Israel.
Yemen’s Houthis announced a blockade on Ben-Gurion Airport and warned major airlines from flying to Israel, the terror organization said in a Saturday morning statement.
“After the success of our Yemeni Armed Forces in cutting off Israeli shipping in the Red Sea, a blockade is imposed on Ben-Gurion Airport in occupied Palestine,” the Houthis wrote in a statement on X/Twitter.
The Houthis warned Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Air France, British Airways, United Airlines, and easyJet from flying to Israel for “everyone’s safety.”
Footage released by Houthi Military Media says to show a launch of missile, which the Houthis say they fired at Israel, at an unknown location in this screen grab obtained from a handout video released on December 19, 2024. (credit: Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS)
Houthis target Ben-Gurion Airport
The organization wrote that any other airlines flying to Ben-Gurion Airport would also be targeted.
“Please take the decision of the Yemeni Armed Forces seriously, as Ben-Gurion Airport is no longer safe until the aggression on Gaza stops,” the statement read.
The announcement comes after the Yemeni terrorist organization fired multiple ballistic missiles towards Israel in the past week.
The terror organization targeted Jerusalem with missiles for the third time in two months on Friday.
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