Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon welcomed the IDF's discovery of a terror tunnel Monday, 18 April 2016, noting it as a strategic step in defeating Hamas' war objectives. "We have no illusions about Hamas' intentions," said Ya’alon. "Even before Operation Protective Edge, and of course afterwards, we have been devoting considerable efforts - technological, operational, and intelligence - to detect tunnels in Gaza. In recent months, Hamas has experienced the effects of the collapse of tunnels they have dug - they have been killed on the job and now face exposure," he continued, adding that Hamas "can can draw conclusions, cease engaging in terror and we will be free to help improve the quality of life in Gaza and the welfare of the residents there. We do not want confrontation, but if Hamas tries to challenge the State of Israel and disrupt the lives of residents of communities near the Gaza Strip, it will be beaten with a very hard blow. We will not tolerate such attempts." (Arutz-7) Pray for the strongholds of deception, hatred and terrorist leadership to be broken over Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Intercede for strong government heads to be raised up who have a vision for building and strengthening the Gaza Strip society, rather than spending the billions of dollars of foreign aid, for decades poured into Hamas coffers, on devising means to destroy the Jewish State. [Comment]

It has been cleared for publication that the IDF recently discovered a terror tunnel from Gaza into southern Israel, marking the first such discovery since 2014's Operation Protective Edge. The tunnel was a particularly large and complex one; its route stretched along the eastern sector of the Gaza Strip all the way to southern Gaza, and crossed onto the Israeli side. At some points it reached as much as 30 meters in depth. After being discovered, IDF forces quickly mobilized to secure and neutralize it - though precisely how is under a gag order, as is the tunnel's exact route. A senior defense official said that the IDF's number one priority over the past year has been to locate such terror tunnels, which Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terrorist groups in Gaza have been busily rebuilding since the 2014 war. Israel has repeatedly protested Hamas' use of international aid - particularly building materials - to rebuild its tunnel capabilities, while preventing the aid from reaching civilians in Gaza.

Palestinian media has been reporting intense IDF activity, including heavy digging equipment, along the border with Gaza for the past several days. The military source added that Israeli operations against the tunnels were being aided by revolutionary advanced technology, though he did not elaborate. The official explained that both locating and securing such tunnels is an extremely complex, demanding mission. Responding to the discovery, the IDF emphasized that Israel is not interested in an escalation, but will operate wherever and whenever necessary to neutralize potential threats to the citizens of Israel. (Arutz-7)

A senior Hungarian cabinet minister warned that refugees entering Europe are anti-Semitic. Janos Lazar, PM Viktor Orban’s cabinet chief, delivered the warning on 14 April 2016 during a press conference in Budapest. "Refugees entering Europe now are strongly anti-Semitic,” he said in explaining why his government was blocking the vast majority of people from Syria and Iraq from entering the country. "Where there are large numbers of immigrants, there is greater anti-Semitism - France and Germany, for example,” Lazar said. He also claimed Hungary has low levels of anti-Semitism. While anti-Semitic violence is rare in Hungary, intolerant rhetoric against Jews in government and mainstream media is widely seen as a problem. Mazsihisz, the umbrella group of Hungarian Jewish communities, recently said the Hungarian government pledged at least $2 million dollars in funding this year for maintenance and renovations of abandoned Jewish cemeteries. Meanwhile, the remains of Jews murdered during World War II and found in the Danube river in 2011 were buried in Budapest on Friday, 16 April 2016. The bones, some pockmarked with bullet holes, are now thought to have belonged to Jews shot on the banks of the Danube by members of the Hungarian Nazi-allied Arrow Cross party in late 1944 or early 1945. (JTA) [Comment]

A new survey shows an alarming failure to assimilate in the UK. At least 800 British Muslims have left the country to wage jihad with ISIS. Another 600 were caught trying to join the group. If that isn’t warning enough about the failure of Britain’s three million Muslims to assimilate, a new survey of British-Muslim attitudes should be. The survey of 1,081 adult Muslims, conducted by the research firm ICM using face-to-face interviews, was recently featured in a documentary on Britain’s Channel 4. Thirty-one percent of respondents believe that a British Muslim man should be permitted to marry more than one woman. Twenty-three percent support replacing British law in some areas of Britain with Shariah law, the system of Muslim jurisprudence. Under its strictest versions, a woman’s testimony and parental inheritance rights are legally worth half of a man’s, and adultery is punishable by stoning. More than a third of Muslims think Jews have too much power in Britain, compared with 9% of the general population. Meanwhile, 7% of respondents support the establishment of an Islamic state, and 4% sympathize with the idea of committing terrorism "as a form of political protest.” Those last two figures seem small, until you consider that they could total some 100,000 to 200,000 British Muslims. (Wall St. Journal) [Comment]

JERUSALEM — A bus exploded Monday in Jerusalem, wounding 21, in what police called a "terror attack."

Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident was caused by an explosive device. The blast then ripped through a second bus next to it, causing both buses to catch on fire, Channel 2 said. Plumes of black smoke could be seen miles from the scene.

Rosenfeld said two people on board the bus that exploded were seriously wounded, while the other injured people were in a nearby bus and car that were also damaged.

Police are trying to determine whether one of the two critically injured bus passengers was a possible suicide bomber.

"Since we know there was an explosive device that exploded on a bus, there is no doubt that it was a terror attack," said Yoram Halevy, chief of the Jerusalem District Police.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat said the explosion was caused by a "small bomb" but did not elaborate further.

 

 

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Bus explosion in Jerusalem

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation, saying, "We will locate those who prepared this explosive device."

Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza, issued a statement praising the bus bombing but did not take responsibility for it, the Associated Press reported.

Alexis Hope Silverman, a Jerusalem mother of three, said she heard  sirens "screeching non-stop for ten minutes straight. I knew something happened. I’m used to sirens but this was different.”

Hannah Jo Kanarek said she was sitting in her car at an intersection not far from the explosion.

"I watched all the emergency services racing towards the area. I knew immediately what it was,” she said.

The blast comes amid a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israelis the past several months and raised initial fears of suicide attacks a decade ago in Israeli cities, the AP reported.

Attacks on Israeli buses by suicide bombers were frequent during the Palestinian uprising in 2000-2005 but they have been rare since, according to Reuters.

Police in England announced Friday 15 April 2016, the arrest of five people on suspicion of planning terror attacks in a case which could prove linked to the ISIS cell behind the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels. The West Midlands Police force said three men, aged 26, 40 and 59, and a 29-year-old woman were arrested in Birmingham, in northern England, the previous night and another man, 26, was arrested at Gatwick Airport south of London early Friday morning. The police source said the arrests were the result of "an extensive investigation by West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit (WMCTU), together with the wider counter terrorism network, MI5 and international partners including Belgian and French authorities.” The five were in custody and being questioned "on suspicion of being involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism." Police said a "number of properties" in Birmingham were still being searched Friday as part of the ongoing investigation. While the police did not directly link the arrests to the November 2015 carnage in Paris or the bomb attacks on Brussels Airport and subway system in March 2016, two of the suspects linked to the violence made repeated visits to Birmingham prior to the attacks in Paris. (CBS) [Comment]

One of the terrorists responsible for the Brussels airport bombing said during questioning that one of the goals of the attack was to hit checkout counters of flights headed to Israel, French news agencies reported on 14 April 2016. Terrorist Mohamed Abrini, who was apprehended days ago after he was first seen on surveillance footage of the attack wearing a hood, told authorities that Ibrahim el-Bakraoui chose the targets of the airport attack which included a flight to Tel Aviv. Ibrahim and his brother, Khalid El Bakraoui, are believed to have carried out two suicide bombings during the attacks. It seems Abrini apparently had a change of heart and fled after the two explosions in the airport. According to the report, Abrini went into hiding after seeing an arrest warrant was issued against him. French networks reported that he changed his hideout location several times, wearing wigs to avoid being recognized in public. Prosecutors have already filed charges against four people believed to have been involved in the attacks last month. A total of 32 people were killed and 270 wounded. (INN) [Comment]

Leaders from more than 50 Muslim nations accused Iran on Friday 15 April 2016 of supporting terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of regional states including Syria and Yemen. The leaders, including Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, have been attending a summit in Istanbul this week of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss a range of issues such as the humanitarian fall-out from Syria's civil war. "The Conference deplored Iran's interference in the internal affairs of the States of the region and other Member States including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism," the OIC said in its final summit communiqué. The final communiqué came a day after Iran's Rouhani urged summit delegates to avoid sending out divisive messages. "No message which would fuel division in the Islamic community should come out of the conference," said Rouhani, according to Iranian state television. Also on Friday, most states taking part in a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) denounced the terrorist group, Hezbollah, for spreading "terrorism” and for destabilizing the national security of its member countries. (Arutz-7) Iran is the main supporter of Hezbollah and Palestinian terror groups that constantly add to their advanced weapon’s arsenals and plan - and carry out - attacks against Israel. [Comment]

Actor Morgan Freeman on Wednesday posted a Facebook profile photo in which he was smiling against the background of Jerusalem's OId City, captioned as "Jerusalem, Israel". 

However, on Thursday the actor appeared to cave into anti-Israel attacks and removed "Israel” from under the photo description.

Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme was similarly attacked two weeks ago when he wrote "Jerusalem, Israel" under a photo. It took the martial arts star an hour to change this to "Jerusalem".

Freeman is currently promoting his National Geographic Channel series, "The Story of God with Morgan Freeman" which has been setting record ratings for the network and is the fourth most-watched telecast of all time for the US network.

The six-part miniseries follows Freeman as he travels to 20 cities in seven different countries in a quest to find answers to the mysteries of faith. The photo was apparently taken when Freeman was filming in Israel, last October.

Freeman's original post Screenshot

Freeman's edited post Screenshot