Israeli Strikes in Gaza and Golan Overnight // FAI ONLINE

IDF tank units positioned in the Israeli Golan Heights (Credit: Reuters).

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) struck enemy targets in both the Gaza Strip and Syrian Golan Heights last night in response to ongoing threats from both Hamas and Hezbollah, respectively. A single rocket was fired by unidentified militants from Gaza into Israeli territory on Tuesday evening, prompting several IDF airstrikes against Hamas positions in response, including an outpost and an underground facility in Khan Yunis, a Palestinian town in the southern Gaza Strip. No additional rocket fire was recorded. The single rocket may have been in response to the IDF’s public disclosure of a tunnel under the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory, which was subsequently neutralized. The tunnel was stopped by an underground barrier and never posed a threat to Israeli communities in the Gaza Envelope.

Meanwhile, the IDF also destroyed a structure north of the Syrian town of Quneitra which it identified as a weapons depot used by the militant group Hezbollah. Several Hezbollah and Iranian fighters were reportedly killed in the strike. The Israeli Air Force also dropped leaflets in the Syrian Golan region, identifying specific commanders in the local Syrian 1st Corps and warning them not to work with Hezbollah or Iran. Israeli intelligence has observed an increasing volume of Iranian activity in Southwest Syria since the region was re-occupied by Syrian regime forces in 2018, including the construction of barracks and depots, recruitment among local Syrian Arabs, and the transport of weapons. Lebanese Hezbollah has entrenched itself in the Golan region, opening a larger front with Israel that extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the Sea of Galilee. The Israeli government’s policy has been one of zero-tolerance for the presence of Iranian “al-Quds” forces or Hezbollah in Syria, although Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has taken a very measured approach in dealing with the problem, targeting mostly infrastructure instead of personnel in an attempt to avoid a full-scale conflict with Hezbollah.

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Anti-Israeli militant activity has been increasing in 2020 after the announcement of the so-called “Abraham Accords” peace campaign between Israel and it’s southern Arab neighbors. Peace talks have picked up steam this month, with Israel and the UAE announcing a flurry of diplomatic and economic initiatives, including no-Visa travel between the two nations. Palestinian leadership in both the Hamas and Fatah factions have bitterly opposed the accords, along with Iran and Turkey, who are active patrons of Palestinian militant groups.

We would like to thank the global FAI family for their continued prayers for the safety of civilians in Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Gaza. We pray that attempts by militant groups to disrupt the peace process would fail, that plots and schemes to harm the Israeli people would continue to be exposed and thwarted, and that the God of Israel would continue to use FAI field teams on the ground in northern Israel to be light and salt to those who need Good News among both Isaac and Ishmael.

Maranatha.