Shalom and good evening, this is TV7 Israel
News broadcast to you from Jerusalem;
And in today’s top stories;
After 40 days of relative quiet, Palestinian
Islamists launch a rocket from the Gaza Strip
toward Israel’s southern communities.
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett emphasizes
Jerusalem’s resolve to force the Islamic
Republic’s Revolutionary Guards out of the
Israel’s northern neighbor, Syria; amid
corroborated reports of an Iranian scale back.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voices alarm
over his country’s capacity to battle a
potentially devastating coronavirus outbreak.
Palestinian Islamists launched a rocket from
the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip toward Israel’s
southern communities last night; a first such
incident after some forty days of relative
quiet.
The incoming projectile activated a rocket-alert
system of the IDF’s Home Front Command.
Thankfully, the rocket exploded in an uninhabited
area, causing no injuries or damage.
The IDF Spokesperson’s unit told TV7 that
in a retaliatory response to the indiscriminate
rocket directed toward Israel’s civilian
communities, “an IDF tank targeted three
Hamas military posts in the northern Gaza
Strip.”
While the intended targets were reportedly
destroyed, including a Hamas restraining installation
in an eastern neighborhood of Beit Hanoun
that is situated in the northern part of the
Jihadist plagued enclave; no casualties were
reported.
Turning now to Jerusalem, where;
Premier Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and Parliament
Speaker Benny Gantz’s Blue and White parties
have revised a number of clauses in their
previously-signed coalition agreement, in
light of criticism levelled against its apparent
‘constitutional-legality’ during a High
Court of Justice hearing, earlier this week.
Furthermore, members of the prospective national
emergency government are in the process of
pushing-through a number of laws in parliament,
or Knesset in Hebrew, as part of a last-minute
bid to accommodate the legal-requirements
for several “problematic clauses of the
coalition-agreement,” particularly in all
that pertains to the alternating premiership’
arrangement between Netanyahu and Gantz.
Consequently, Israeli Attorney General Avichai
Mandelblit amended his formal response to
the High Court of Justice, in which he underscored
that he currently saw no justified’ legal-grounds
for the court to disqualify either the coalition
agreement in its entirety, or any of its individual
clauses.
The High Court of Justice is expected to issue
its final ruling on the matter - including
Netanyahu’s eligibility to serve as Prime
Minister despite being under criminal indictment
- at an unspecified time, tomorrow.
Turning now to the Israeli Defense Ministry’s
Headquarters in the central city of Tel Aviv,
where;
Defense Minister Naftali Bennett emphasized
Jerusalem’s resolve to force the Islamic
Republic’s Revolutionary Guards out of the
Israel’s northern neighbor, Syria.
In a regional security briefing with a select
number of journalists, the top Israeli Defense
officials emphasized that so-long as Iranian
forces are deployed on Syrian soil, they are
putting themselves at risk.
“We are determined, very determined, and
I’ll tell you why.
For Iran, Syria is a distant adventure that
is 1,000 kilometers from home, the (Israel-Syria)
border of the Golan Heights.
For us it is about life.
We are far more determined.
Iranian soldiers who arrive on Syrian soil
and operate there, their blood is on their
heads, they are putting themselves at risk.
They are paying with their lives and will
continue [to do so] even more so.
We will not give in and we will not allow
a forward Iranian base to be established in
Syria.”
The comments by the Israeli Defense Minister
came after repeated attacks against Iranian-controlled
installations in Syria were registered over
the course of the past two weeks.
According to a number of those reports, at
least fourteen Iranian and Iraqi troops were
killed in yesterday’s attack alone, when
the Israeli Air Force allegedly targeted a
so-called scientific research institute, which
intelligence officials refer to as ‘Branch
247’.
TV7 has managed to corroborate that the targeted
installation in question was being used by
Iran and its proxies as a factory to upgrade
“statistical missiles” into “precision-guided
weaponry.”
Separately, a senior Israeli Defense official
revealed, on condition of anonymity, that
“For the first time since Iran first entered
Syria, it is now reducing its troop numbers
and is evacuating (a number of its) bases.”
The official further noted that the Islamic
Republic of “Iran has gone from being an
asset to a liability for Syria,” while asserting
that “Syria has been paying a rising price
for the Iranian presence in its territory,
for a war that isn’t its own.”
The Israeli defense official further reiterated
statements that were made by Minister Naftali
Bennett in recent weeks, which highlight Jerusalem’s
intention to “ramp up the pressure on Iran
until its departure from Syria.”
Meanwhile in Damascus;
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad voiced alarm
over his country’s capacity to battle a
potentially devastating coronavirus outbreak.
Speaking at a committee overseeing measures
to curb the corona contagion’s spread, Assad
warned that a sudden spike could result in
a “real catastrophe”.
"The small numbers do not mean that these
figures could not suddenly spike in a few
days or few weeks and we would see in front
of us real catastrophe that exceed Syria’s
health and logistical abilities."
The Assad regime imposed a general curfew
on territories under its control over a month
ago after announcing its first officially
confirmed coronavirus case.
It is important to mention, however, that
medical sources in Syria accused Damascus
Authorities of orchestrating a cover-up of
the real situation across the war-torn country.
These allegations were repeatedly rejected
by regime officials.
Separately, in the northern Turkish-controlled
parts of Syria;
Ankara authorities have erected a quarantine
center for Syrian expatriates who return to
their home-country from Turkey, amid the latter’s
efforts to contain the contagion’s spread;
since more than 129 thousand corona-virus
cases have been officially confirmed.
"This center is set up to house Syrians who
have returned from Turkey, for 15 days, until
it becomes clear whether or not they have
the coronavirus.
After completing my quarantine here, I plan
on resuming my daily activities as normal.
This (time-period here) will give me and those
I deal with in Syria confidence (that I am
well)."
While authorities stressed the importance
of “health verification of persons in transit,”
the manager of the Syrian Quarantine Center
noted that the rising number of Syrians returning
from Turkey is putting a strain on their already
stretched resources.
"After the spread of the coronavirus around
the world and in neighboring countries, this
health quarantine center was set up in Jisr
al Shughour province.
Here we receive our fellow countrymen who
were abroad.
This is happening with coordination with the
Turkish side and through the official crossing
points.
Those who return (to Syria) are taken by specialized
cars to the center, where they are kept for
the whole quarantine period, which is 14 days,
until we can guarantee their health . After
this, each person is free to go to their home
or their village."
It is important to highlight that the United
Nations dispatched 52 truckloads of humanitarian
aid to Syria’s northwestern Idlib region,
which is under the control of the Al-Qaeda
linked Tahrir al-Sham terror group.
The trucks entered the Jihadist controlled
territory through the Cilvegozu border gate
in Turkey's southern Hatay province, which
borders Idlib province.
According to the U.N. ‘the supplies are
earmarked for the residents of Idlib city
and nearby rural areas.
Turning now to Yemen, where;
The Iranian-backed Houthy rebels, which control
the northern part of the war-torn country,
announced a first confirmed case of the corona-contagion,
after a Somali migrant was found dead in his
hotel room.
"Today, the Ministry of Health and Population
announces the discovery of a confirmed coronavirus
case in a Somali migrant.
Once the news had reached the Ministry of
Health and Population of the presence of a
case in one of the capital's hotels on Sunday
May 5, 2020, an epidemiological investigation
team moved immediately to the hotel where
they found the affected person dead.
A sample was taken from him and the results
of the investigation showed him to be infected
with the novel coronavirus - it was a confirmed
case of the coronavirus."
It is important to explained that Yemen is
the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula.
And while it is considered one of the major
hotspots of transit for migrants and Jihadists;
it was one of the last countries to declare
corona-infections on April 10th.
Yemen has now reported 21 cases, including
3 deaths, in territory held by the internationally
recognized government’ and one case, a death,
in areas under the Iran-aligned Houthis.
Thank you for watching us.
As part of TV7’s global prayer initiative,
I would like to encourage you to join myself
and the team here in Jerusalem to pray today
for the peace and salvation of Ukraine, alongside
our ongoing prayers for the peace of Jerusalem,
the peace and salvation of Israel, as well
as for all those who are impacted by the corona
contagion world-wide.
I am Jonathan Hessen, have an Erev Tov, and
we will see you again tomorrow at the same
time.
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