Israel Battles both COVID-19 and Terrorism at Once // FAI ONLINE

Israeli police check vehicles at a checkpoint in the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv (Credit: Jack Guez, AFP)

Details of an Israeli strike on the Syrian regime airbase in Homs have been gradually emerging over the past two days, the latest in a string of Israeli operations against Iranian and Hezbollah targets on Syrian soil. The strike comes as the Israeli health ministry confirms over 7,000 Coronavirus cases and almost 40 deaths inside the Jewish State, with the actual number of infections estimated to be grater by a factor of 10 or more. Over 170 cases of the deadly virus have also been confirmed in the Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

Israeli police and IDF units were deployed to Bnei Brak, the large and crowded Ultra-Orthodox community just east of Tel Aviv-Yafo, as health officials announced that up to 40% of its residents, or 75,000 people, are potentially infected with COVID-19. The community is now under full quarantine and all elderly and immuno-comprised individuals have been evacuated. The nearby community of El’Ad, one of Israel’s fastest-growing towns, may also be under similar quarantine protocol soon.

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News of the Bnei Brak quarantine and the Syrian strike broke within 48 hours, highlighting the unique challenge that Israel currently faces as it fights a two-front war against both human and viral enemies. The Israeli Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman, announced yesterday that he himself was diagnosed with COVID-19, forcing his entire staff and Israeli cabinet officials whom he had contact with to follow isolation protocols, including Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

Conflicting reports regarding the Syrian airstrike have claimed that either Iranian weapons and materiel, or a meeting of senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah commanders may have been targeted. Per usual, the IDF and the Ministry of Defense had no comment on the strike. The Shayrat airbase near Homs has been the target of airstrikes in the past, including 2017, when US President Donald Trump pummeled the airbase with cruise missiles due to its role in a chemical attack against Syrian civilians. Without being specific, premier Netanyahu and other Israeli officials have admitted to hundreds of airstrikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in both Syria and Iraq over the past few years, as evidence has emerged of an advanced weapons pipeline between Iran and Israel’s northern frontier.

Many analysts believe that Iran may be accelerating their clandestine program to provide precision-guided munitions to Hezbollah in Lebanon, both because they are hoping for a lapse in Israeli defense due to Coronavirus, and also because of the high infection rate in Iran, where the diagnosis and deaths of multiple IRGC commanders and Iranian government officials has caused upheaval within the regime.

The coming days and weeks could prove to be critical for Israel, the United States and the people of the Middle East, as the ayatollahs in Tehran may find themselves backed into a corner, leading them to lash out. We ask our global partners to join us in prayer, for divine restraint against bloodthirsty men, for a divine hedge of protection around Israel, for the healthy recovery of coronavirus patients across the region, and for the Spirit of the Great Healer to work through our medical field teams during this unprecedented season of history.