Israel hit with ‘largest ever’ wildfires
Israeli firefighters continue to battle wildfires that have been raging near Jerusalem for two days. Emergency services have described them as some of the “largest ever” in the country’s history.
The fires broke out on Wednesday along the main highway connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, spreading quickly due to the heat and strong winds.
The key highway and several other roads in the area were shut down, with people in at least ten communities forced to evacuate from what witnesses described as “walls of flame.”
More than 160 firefighting teams and 12 aircraft were deployed to contain the wildfires.
On Wednesday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “we are now in a national emergency, not just a local one,” adding that “defending Jerusalem” was a priority.
Firefighters worked through the night, unblocking the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway and allowing residents in several settlements to return to their homes on Thursday. However, the fire service acknowledged in a statement that “at this stage we still have not gained control” of the conflagration.
According to the local media, at least 12 civilians and 17 firefighters, including two pregnant women, have been hospitalized due to smoke inhalation and burns.
About 5,000 acres had burned out as of Thursday, including about 3,200 acres of forest. Canada Park, outside the city of Modi’in, has been the most affected, according to the forestry organization Jewish National Fund.
Netanyahu also announced that 18 people had been arrested on suspicion of arson in connection with the fires. However, police sources told the local media that only three detentions had actually been made and that the suspects had been trying to start fires not near Jerusalem but elsewhere.
The wildfires have prompted the Israeli authorities to reduce the scale of Independence Day celebrations, marked on April 30 and May 1. The traditional torch-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem was canceled.
The chairman of the Israel Fire and Air Rescue Association, Dov Ganem, has blamed the wildfires on the government, saying that it had been unprepared to tackle disasters of such scale. Ganem told the news outlet Walla that he had long been pushing for the country to develop an advanced aerial firefighting capability, but that his calls had been ignored by officials.
Israel strikes Syria in ‘defense of local minority’
The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has launched a drone strike against an “extremist group” in Syria. In a joint statement Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz called the attack a “warning operation” aimed at preventing violence against a Syrian Druze minority.
The strike targeted a “gathering of an extremist group that was preparing to continue its attack on the Druze population” in Syria, according to the Times of Israel. IDF Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir has reportedly ordered troops to further target Syrian government sites “if the violence against the Druze does not stop.”
Clashes between the Syrian government-linked armed groups and Druze fighters have erupted around Damascus, according to AFP.
At least 11 people were killed as “outlaw groups targeted civilians and security forces” in the Damascus suburb of Sahnaya on Wednesday, just a day after similar clashes claimed 17 lives in Jaramana, a mainly Druze and Christian suburb, according to the news agency.
The new Syrian authorities are dealing with tensions following sectarian violence in the coastal Latakia province, mostly targeting Alawites and Christians, that reportedly claimed 1,000 lives.
Or, maybe 2000. But nobody is really counting.
The violence prompted the US and Russia to denounce the persecution of Syrian minority groups, while the EU blamed “pro-Assad elements” attacking “interim government forces.”
Syria’s Interior Ministry has claimed the Israeli strike killed one member of the Syrian national security force, deployed to the area to stop clashes between armed groups, according to Reuters. The Syrian SANA news agency confirmed the Israeli strike but provided no information on any casualties.
Druze are a minority religious group that follows an offshoot of Islam and makes up 3% of Syria’s population. Some Druze in southern Syria asked for Israeli protection, calling it the “lesser evil” after the ousting of Bashar Assad in December following a surprise insurgency by Islamist forces.
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Starmer, Lammy display their remarkable stupidity,
and/or outright antisemitism in deal with the PA.
UK signs anti-Israel ‘memorandum of understanding’ with PA to work toward ‘two-state solution’
The Palestinians do not seek a two-state solution. They seek a one-state solution. The Palestinian National Charter States: “the establishment of the state of Israel are entirely illegal, regardless of the passage of time….”
The so-called “State of Palestine” is already fully embraced and accepted by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, which does not recognize the State of Israel. In 2020, the OIC issued a strong, unified declaration:
Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef A. Al-Othaimeen, asserted that the issue of Palestine and al-Quds is the OIC’s raison d’être, pivotal cause, and source of unity and strength. “It is at the heart of the OIC’s joint Islamic action and the main consensus of all Member States.
It is evident and obvious that the Palestinian “resistance” from “the River to the Sea” has nothing to do with peace or the establishment of two states that will coexist side by side in peace. Islam conquered the Middle East, which included primarily territory that had belonged to Christians. Yet after controlling the region for centuries, Islam failed to stop the establishment of a Jewish state. To counter it, foes of Israel invented the Palestinian people to sell to useful idiots. This deeply entrenched propaganda empowered antisemitic sentiments. Even in the face of hard facts, history and the constant threat to Israel’s existence, Israel continues to be persecuted and internationally harassed. The UK is governed by a far-left government that is now concluding a groundbreaking “Memorandum of Understanding” to further smear Israel as an obstacle to peace. Furthermore, it signed this document with only one party — the jihadist portion. The document has no weight or meaning, except to attempt to further delegitimize the State of Israel.
The Palestinian Authority is no better than Hamas. The UK government appears to have no knowledge of, or interest in, the Palestinian Authority’s pay-for-slay program, which is aimed at incentivizing the murder of Israelis. The UK government is an antisemitic disgrace; it knows exactly what it is doing in its ruthless quest to undermine Israel in the name of “peace.”
The so-called “Memorandum of Understanding” also smears Israel as an occupying state.
The United Kingdom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on Monday to advance “Palestinian statehood” as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy hosted the PA’s Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in London, marking the first official visit by a PA leader to the UK since 2021.
“This visit marks a significant step in strengthening our relationship with the Palestinian Authority — a key partner for peace,” Lammy said, emphasizing that Britain is dedicated to recognizing a “Palestinian state at a time that will have the greatest impact.”
The MoU reiterates the British government’s recognition of the PA as the sole legitimate governing power in the “Occupied Palestinian Territories,” rejecting any role for the terrorist group Hamas — which violently eliminated its Palestinian opposition in a brief conflict in 2007, taking full control of Gaza after winning legislative elections the prior year. It also underscores the importance of reunifying Gaza and the west Bank under PA control.
“The UK will continue to press for a return to the ceasefire and a return of humanitarian aid into Gaza,” Starmer wrote in a post on X.
“We are committed to a two-state solution, with lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Lammy added.
The British government also announced a £101 million ($135 million) aid package intended to provide humanitarian relief, stimulate economic development, and strengthen governance reforms in Gaza and the West Bank…..
£101 million to create a two state solution which is neither a solution, nor is it wanted by the Palestinians. But they will happily take the money from the hapless British and run.
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