Rampant Terrorism Against Israel

An army spokesperson said the attack occurred near the Israeli town of Hamra, and that the IDF has launched a manhunt for the terrorists responsible for the shooting.

“Following the reports of a shooting attack at the Hamra Junction, a report was received regarding a car accident between a Palestinian and an Israeli vehicle. IDF soldiers who were dispatched to the scene located numerous bullet hits on the Israeli vehicle, it was indicated that the accident was in fact a shooting attack.”

The Islamic Jihad published a message congratulating the attack in the Jordan Valley and said that the operation was carried out as part of the policy aimed at carrying out attacks against the IDF checkpoints in Judea and Samaria, to hurt Israel in a way that it does not expect, and to send a strong message according to which “the crimes of the occupation against our (Palestinian) people will not go without a response that is commensurate with the scope of the crime”.

The fatally wounded victims have been identified as two sisters, Maia and Rina Dee, 20 and 15 years old respectively, from the town of Efrat, south of Jerusalem. The critically wounded victim is their 48-year-old mother.

The mother was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center in Jerusalem, where she is listed in a critical and unstable condition. Emergency first responders from MDA and United Hatzalah were dispatched to the scene to treat the victims but were forced to declare two of the victims dead at the scene. (INN / VFI News)

When the bodies of the victims entered the funeral hall, the two remaining sisters broke down crying and fell on their sisters’ bodies.

The ceremony opened with the reading of Psalms for the recovery of the victims’ mother, Leah, who remains in critical condition following the attack.

Rabbi Leo Dee, the victims’ father, eulogized his daughters: “Today, the Jewish people have proven that we are one. When a family in Efrat hurts, we all hurt. There is no clearer proof of our unity, Am Yisrael Chai.”

“We have been marching through the streets of Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv with Israeli flags, arguing over whether there should be a majority of 61, 65, 70, an override clause, or no override clause, in the Supreme Court, let’s be honest, most of us have no idea what any of this means.”

“But in three weeks’ time in Yom Hazikaron and Yom Haatzmaut, we will once again be marching side by side, all of us carrying our Israeli flags, left-wing next to the right-wing, religious next to secular, uniting against the real threat, the threat of pure evil, the threat of a mad ideologically driven terrorism funded by Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, with the Kalashnikov rifle, who doesn’t care if you’re from Efrat or Tel Aviv, London or Italy. Who’s prepared to destroy your children’s lives in an instant, and then we will all march as one.” (INN / VFI News)

According to a report by Israeli media, the incident occurred on the Kaufmann Street promenade late on Friday night, April 7, with “Arab Israeli” male Kafr Qassem mounting a bicycle lane in a car before hitting a number of foreign tourists from Italy and the United Kingdom enjoying a walk by the seashore.

Footage of the attack then shows the car careering off the road, eventually flipping as it ground to a halt. Qassem was subsequently shot dead by Israeli police, with officers reportedly believing that the attacker was reaching for a weapon when they approached him.

The incident — which is being treated as a terrorist attack by Israeli authorities — is reported to have killed one man, Italian national Alessandro Parini. Seven others were also injured as a result of the attack, though media reports indicate that only three needed hospitalization, all of whom are now described as being in good condition.

Government officials from Italy, Israel, and the United States have all condemned the attack, with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni denouncing the attack as “cowardly”. (BB / VFI News)

However, the fact that rockets were fired from Syria, on the evening of April 8 and 9, as well as a drone launched from Syria on April 1 targeting Israel, illustrates that the regime is seeking normalization while it doesn’t rein in dangerous terrorists and militant groups.

Israel responded to the rocket fire from Syria on Sunday early in the morning. However, the importance of the rocket fire goes beyond just the rockets themselves or any response.

The Syrian regime was supposed to bring stability and quiet, but it appears that it has allowed terrorist groups to continue to operate openly and threaten others. This is not exactly news, since the regime has tolerated various Iranian-backed groups for years because those groups aided Syria in its civil war.

What is new is that the regime is now playing a dangerous game by not reining in the groups even as it poses as seeking normalization. Normalization would imply the regime controls its own territory. The regime cannot have it both ways, claiming to control its territory, but allowing attacks on other countries from its territory. (JPost / VFI News)

Palestinians have stockpiled weapons in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, with some barricading themselves inside to prepare attacks on Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall below — and to provoke Israeli raids that inflame opinion in the Arab world and in left-leaning Western media.

At the same time, Joe Biden has been giving Prime Minister Netanyahu the cold shoulder, and he has also criticized Israel’s judicial reforms — which would, ironically, bring the Israeli judiciary closer to the American norm, and would be far less radical than reforms Biden himself has considered, such as “packing” the Supreme Court.

That has created a sense that Israel is alone and divided — and Iran is taking advantage, seeking to test Israel and expose its sudden strategic weakness.

On Sunday, April 9, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, both backed by Iran, met in Beirut in a show of solidarity. Netanyahu has sounded the alarm, telling Israelis that the security situation is “challenging” and calling up the Border Police reserves. (BB / VFI News)

In a move aimed at “preventing resistance against the hijab law,” violators who are identified will initially receive “warning text messages as to the consequences,” police said Saturday, April 8, in a statement distributed by Iranian state media.

The statement claimed such resistance tarnishes the country’s spiritual image and spreads insecurity. It was released on the heels of a growing number of Iranian women dumping their veils since the September death of Mahsa Amini, an aspiring 22-year-old lawyer.

Saturday’s police statement called on business owners to “seriously monitor the observance of societal norms with their diligent inspections”.

Describing the veil as “one of the civilizational foundations of the Iranian nation” and “one of the practical principles of the Islamic Republic,” an Interior Ministry statement on March 30 said there would be no retreat on the issue. It urged citizens to confront unveiled women. (NYP / VFI News)

Relations between the neighbors have long been strained, with Azerbaijan being a close ally of Iran’s historical rival Turkey and holding close ties with arch-foe Israel. The arrests came after months of diplomatic tensions.

Baku said the six Azerbaijani nationals were “recruited by Iranian secret services to destabilize the situation in the country.” It announced the arrests in a joint statement by the interior ministry, state security service, and prosecutor general’s office.

It said the group was plotting to “set up a ‘resistance squad’ aimed at establishing a Sharia state in Azerbaijan through armed unrest and violent overthrow of Azerbaijan’s constitutional order.”

It accused them of being “engaged in a pro-Iranian propaganda of religious radicalism, fulfilling orders from abroad to undermine Azerbaijan’s tradition of tolerance.”

According to Azerbaijan, they promoted “radical Islam” using money from drug profits. (TOI / VFI News)

“The David’s Sling system will extend the operational range of Finland’s ground-based air defense capabilities significantly,” the statement said.

David’s Sling, produced by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, is capable of intercepting rockets and missiles at a range of 40-300 kilometers (25-185 miles). The statement said that Finland’s minimum flight altitude requirement for the system was set at 15,000 meters (9.3 miles).

David’s Sling, also known as the Magic Wand, has been operational in Israel since 2017 and makes up the middle tier of Israel’s multi-layer missile defense capabilities, which also included the short-range Iron Dome and a top level of Arrow 2 and Arrow 3 systems, which are intended to engage long-range ballistic missiles.

This marks the first foreign sale of the system. The agreement also includes an option for a second purchase valued at 216 million euros ($235 million.) (TOI / VFI News)