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12 IDF WOUNDED IN JERUSALEM ATTACK, 2 OTHERS WOUNDED ELSEWHERE

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IDF soldiers of the Golani brigade attend their swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem, Feb 6, 2019 (via Steve Carpenter on Facebook).

A car ramming attack near the First Train Station in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening wounded at least 12 members of the IDF’s Golani Brigade. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) reported on Thursday afternoon that the attacker has been safely apprehended. The Golani troops were in Jerusalem for their swearing in ceremony at the Kotel (Western Wall) on Thursday. The wounded soldiers still managed to attend the event.

The Jerusalem attack is the most severe so far in a string of terrorist attacks across Israel in the last 24 hours after the Hamas terrorist organization called for an escalation in “confrontation with the occupation and their settlers.”

  • An attempted stabbing attack against an Israeli police officer on the Temple Mount resulted in light wounds to the officer and the neutralization of the attacker.

  • Another attacker shot at IDF troops in the West Bank border town of Qalqilya, also wounding one soldier, before they returned fire.

  • Israeli residents in the West Bank settlements of Neria, Talmon, Dolev, Zeit Ra'anan and Harsha were ordered to stay indoors after a drive-by shooting attack. No confirmation of casualties at this time. .

  • Three balloons with improvised explosive devices (IED’s) attached exploded near Sderot, next to the Gaza Strip.

  • A stabbing attack is under investigation in Ashkelon, near the Gaza Strip.

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The attacks come as the IDF announced that additional troop reinforcements are headed into the West Bank amid ongoing riots and attacks in the disputed region, including ongoing confrontations in Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. Palestinian militant groups have vowed conflict with the Israeli military and settler populations on multiple fronts after a Palestinian teenager was killed in Hebron yesterday while lobbing a Molotov Cocktail at an IDF soldier.

Tensions have steadily escalated in the Palestinian territories after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas rejected US President Trump’s latest peace initiative, the so-called Deal of the Century, refusing to even take calls from Trump or to read the document. Egypt and the Gulf States have expressed optimism regarding the plan and have encouraged both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to carefully consider it.

We ask our global partners to join us in intercession for all of the people of Israel today. We pray for the full recovery of wounded IDF soldiers and a divine shield of protection around all IDF personnel, as well as innocent Israeli and Palestinian civilians, and for the demonic designs of violent men to be exposed and thwarted. Please lift up the FAI teams in Israel as well, as we seek opportunities to bless and minister to all the people of Israel.

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Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.

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ISRAEL STRIKES THREATS ON TWO FRONTS

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Archival footage of an Israeli airstrike on Damascus (Uncredited, via Reuters)

At least four airstrikes rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus and its surrounding environs early Thursday morning. Several amateur videos posted online showed incoming missile fire over Damascus and outgoing surface-to-air retaliatory fire as Syrian state media reported it was engaging “enemy targets” in its airspace. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the strikes, although Israel has admitted to conducting hundreds of strikes in Syria and Iraq over the past six years, mostly targeting weapons pipelines of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Lebanese Hezbollah and high-ranking members of Palestinian terrorist groups.

The targeted facilities in Damascus reportedly include a military airport, a research facility and a base that houses Syria’s 75th Brigade. There is no confirmation of damage or casualties at this time, nor has an objective been determined, although Syrian intelligence analysts generally agree that the IRGC and Lebanese Hezbollah are active in and around Damascus.

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Watch FAI’s groundbreaking film Covenant and Controversy III: The Great Trouble to learn more about where where this conflict is headed.

News of the airstrikes in Syria broke immediately following confirmation by the Israeli Air Force (IAF) that Israeli warplanes conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. The Gaza strikes came after another day of explosive balloons and mortar attacks terrorized Israeli citizens in the so-called “Gaza Envelope”. The Israeli Army confirmed airstrikes on several positions belonging to Hamas, the terrorist group that rules the sequestered strip.

Hamas called for “escalating confrontations with the occupation and its settlers” today after three incidents involving Molotov Cocktails in the West Bank city of Hebron. Often a flash point of tension, Hebron has been seething since US President Trump’s joint news conference with Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu last week, in which he announced his “Deal of the Century” Israeli-Palestinian peace accord - a plan which was roundly rejected across the board by Palestinian leadership. On Sunday, an IDF soldier was struck by a Molotov Cocktail while patrolling in Hebron, followed by a Border Patrol officer in the same city the next day. Monday’s attack resulted in light injuries to the officer, whose clothing was briefly ignited by the projectile. Then on Tuesday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian in the act of lobbing yet another Molotov Cocktail in their direction. The death of Palestinian youth engaged in “resistance” against Israel is often a lightning rod for Palestinian factions who propagandize the death of children as a pretext for bellicose rhetoric and increased violence.

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Partner with FAI as we build on the edge of the growing eye of the storm in the Golan Heights. Our Legacy Center will stand as a bastion of solidarity with a Jewish Jerusalem as well as a beacon of refuge and hope for the surrounding nations.

Sources:

https://twitter.com/IDF/status/1225213839052038145

https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1225143061459566594

https://twitter.com/ignis_fatum/status/1225142384079638528

https://twitter.com/manniefabian/status/1225089499010564097

https://twitter.com/JudahAriGross/status/1225086344936009728

https://twitter.com/wakaltyaqein/status/1225071637269241857

https://twitter.com/Omar_Gaza/status/1225189861608562688

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225208434267697153

https://twitter.com/Mulhak/status/1225207475097554949

https://twitter.com/Mulhak/status/1225206439721029633

https://twitter.com/MGhorab3/status/1225206402215489536

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225202820942618629

https://twitter.com/HadiAlabdallah/status/1225199302479360000

https://twitter.com/m3nati/status/1225197562963144705

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1225217515011411969

https://twitter.com/Omar_Gaza/status/1225198321003831299

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRUTQgoynf0&feature=youtu.be

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Border-Police-officer-IDF-soldier-hit-by-Molotov-cocktails-in-clashes-616365

https://www.timesofisrael.com/hamas-calls-for-increased-confrontations-with-israel-and-settlers/

https://www.timesofisrael.com/molotov-cocktail-explodes-on-border-policeman-in-hebron/

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/syrian-air-defenses-intercept-israeli-missiles-over-damascus-state-media-says-1.8501073

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275639

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/13/world/middleeast/israel-iran-strike-syria-tunnels.html

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LINES DRAWN FOR AND AGAINST ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE

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LINES DRAWN FOR AND AGAINST ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN PEACE

The commander of IRGC made phone calls to the leaders of Hamas and Palestine to discuss united opposition to US President Trump’s “Deal of the Century.”

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TURKISH ARMY CROSSES SYRIAN BORDER INTO IDLIB, ENGAGES WITH PRO-REGIME FORCES

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Turkish military vehicles arrive in Idlib province on Feb 2, 2020. (Credit: المركز الإعلامي العام MMC via Telegram).

Convoys of Turkish military vehicles crossed the border into Syria’s Idlib governate on Sunday, marking a dramatic escalation in the struggle for control of the restive province. Turkish president Erdogan had threatened a counter-offensive in Idlib last week after the Syrian regime’s latest campaign to pacify the last rebel-held province made significant progress. This is the fourth major Turkish offensive into Syria and the second into Idlib province in just 3 years. Erdogan also ordered the invasion and occupation of Kurdish-majority border areas around Afrin and Tel Abyad in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

The Turkish military had previously established a ring of observation posts in Idlib, according to the terms of a de-confliction agreement with Russia in 2018. Several of the posts had been surrounded by militias loyal to the Syrian regime, providing a pretext for Erdogan to deploy a larger invasion force into Idlib. Upon their arrival, Turkish forces immediately began engaging pro-regime positions with airstrikes and shelling. Turkey has been the main patron of Syrian rebel groups since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, including radical Salafist groups like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al-Qaeda franchise.

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The entrance of the Turkish military into Idlib places Turkey in direct confrontation with Iran and Russia, whose air and ground forces are supporting the Syrian regime. The proximity of Turkish, Iranian and Russian forces to each other on opposing sides presents a significant risk of escalation, not only for the war in Syria, but for the entire region. Almost 400,000 civilians have already fled from the fighting along the Syrian axis of advance, with another half-million people at risk, mostly women and children.

We ask our global partners to join us in prayer in the coming days for a swift end to the conflict in Idlib with minimal casualties, and for the latest round of war and upheaval to open up new paths for laborers of the harvest to bring Good News to the harassed and helpless people of Syria, who are caught in the cross-fire between four brutal regimes.

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TURKEY MOBILIZES AS ERDOGAN THREATENS IDLIB COUNTER-OFFENSIVE

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Turkish military vehicles deploying to the Syrian border (via Ahval.com)

Turkish army trucks carrying personnel and military hardware were mobilized near the border of Turkey and Syria on Saturday, only two days after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened another incursion into Syria to counter a Syrian and Russian offensive against rebel forces in Idlib province. In conjunction with massive Russian bombing campaigns, the Syrian army and its Iranian-backed militia partners have made significant progress toward the provincial capital of Idlib in the last week, after breaking a stalemate with rebel forces that had lasted more than a year. Idlib is one of the seedbeds of the Syrian revolution and the last remaining province under rebel control. Under a de-confliction deal with Russia in 2018, Turkey is allowed to keep observation posts inside Idlib, where it maintains a military presence in support of rebel groups there. The largest rebel faction in Idlib is Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, an jihadist offshoot of al-Qaeda, which controls more than half of the provincial territory. The remnants of ISIS leadership had also found sanctuary in Idlib as late as last year, where ISIS leader Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi was cornered by US forces in the shadow of the Turkish border in October, 2019.

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FAI had the unique and powerful opportunity to bring hope and Good News to the victims of the Syrian Civil War.

In a televised address, Erdogan accursed the Syrian regime of cruelty against its own people, and accused the Russians of violating the 2018 agreement. Already, Turkish-backed rebel forces have begun a counter-offensive. An online video published today showed the recapture of a joint Syrian-Russian base in Idlib, and other rebel forces managed to recapture several towns near the former rebel stronghold of Aleppo.

The entrance of the Turkish army into the conflict with Syrian and Russian forces would be a significant escalation, potentially drawing two regional powers into a hot war with one another. Already, almost 400,000 Idlib residents have fled their homes to travel north and eastward toward the Turkish border and Kurdish territory.

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SYRIAN AND RUSSIAN FORCES PUSH TO END SYRIAN REVOLUTION

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Syrian residents of Idlib province flee in advance of the oncoming offensive led by the Syrian Army, the Russian Air Force and their Iranian-linked allies (Via Aleppo Media Centre, Twitter).

The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) began a major offensive to retake the last remaining rebel-held province in Syria this week. Idlib province in Syria’s northwest has effectively been controlled by Syrian rebel forces for the past seven years, and after the surrender of rebel groups in southwestern Qunitera province in 2018, it has remained as the last bastion of the Syrian revolution. A conglomerate of rebel factions occupy the province, ranging from moderate nationalists to al-Qaeda and ISIS-linked jihadists.

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FAI had the unique and powerful opportunity to bring hope and Good News to the victims of the Syrian Civil War.

Thousands of Syrian army regulars, along with Lebanese Hezbollah, Palestinian militias and other foreign militia groups sponsored by Iran, have begun a major campaign to take the restive province back from the remaining rebel forces with support from the Russian air force. The Russians have conducted more than 200 bombing sorties in recent days, including the reported use of cluster munitions, which are illegal under international law. The Syrian army has also stepped up its use of its notorious “barrel bombs”, explosives-packed oil drums, which are most often dropped from regime helicopters. The crude munitions are infamous for their indiscriminate and devastating effect on Syrian civilians. At least 10 civilians have died in air raids so far this week.

So far, the regime has made considerable progress towards the provincial capital of Idlib, capturing the vital town of Maarat al-Numan and pressing into its surrounding villages on the way to Idlib city, barely 40 kilometers away. Thousands of civilians have fled northward towards the Turkish border or eastward towards Syrian Kurdistan. Many have entered the provinces controlled by the Kurdish-led SDF, where they are warmly welcomed.

US officials estimate that as many as 700,000 more Syrian civilians could be displaced before the Idlib campaign is over. Over 13 million Syrians have already been displaced in the 8 year civil war, almost of half of which reside in camps in the nations surrounding Syria. The conflict has claimed the lives of an estimated half-million Syrians.

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/syrian-army-takes-key-town-in-last-major-rebel-bastion-of-idlib/2020/01/29/dcb58438-41ec-11ea-99c7-1dfd4241a2fe_story.html

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/10-killed-air-attack-syria-idlib-200130114220892.html

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/breaking-syrian-army-captures-several-areas-in-eastern-idlib/

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/palestinian-led-liwaa-al-quds-in-action-against-jihadists-in-aleppo-video/

https://twitter.com/vvanwilgenburg/status/1222887082017935361

https://twitter.com/thiqanewsagency/status/1222907886269059073

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1222804876100587526

https://twitter.com/mohmad_rasheed/status/1222811824464130049

https://twitter.com/thiqanewsagency/status/1222817419191779333

https://twitter.com/thiqanewsagency/status/1222817419191779333

https://twitter.com/AleppoAMC/status/1222820248648372224

https://twitter.com/Step_Agency/status/1222825365330153472

https://twitter.com/Step_Agency/status/1222835559405629442

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1222875271700926467

https://twitter.com/SkyNewsArabia_B/status/1222875667752198145

https://twitter.com/thiqanewsagency/status/1222907886269059073