Shalom and good evening, this is TV7 Israel
News broadcast to you from Jerusalem;
And in today’s top stories;
The Secretary General of the Lebanese Iranian-proxy
Hezbollah confirmed Israel’s increased attacks
on weapons-manufacturing sites in Syria; all
the while denying Iran’s active operational
involvement in the war-torn country.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards have
reportedly stepped up efforts to transfer,
by means of aerial shipments, numerous advanced
precision-guided Fateh-110 missiles to Syria.
Air travel is gradually returning to (what
can be called) a new normal, after weeks of
bare minimum flights.
The Secretary General of the Lebanese Iranian-proxy
Hezbollah confirmed Israel’s increased attacks
on weapons-manufacturing sites in Syria; all
the while denying Iran’s active operational
involvement in the war-torn country.
Speaking from an undisclosed bunker to his
supporters in Beirut via tele-conference,
Nasrallah shed light on the increased activity
– which he attributed to the Israeli Air
Force – insisting that the aerial bombardments
targeted numerous installations that are "linked
to missile production in Syria."
The Hezbollah leader further claimed that
the reason behind the attacks aim at thwarting
Jerusalem’s enemies from acquiring large
quantities of “precision (guided) missiles,"
which he asserted could spell "new dangers"
for Israel.
Furthermore, in contrast to recent statements
by a top Israeli Defense official – which
were reported by TV7 - about Israeli operational
activity that triggered a start of an Iranian
withdrawal from Syria; Nasrallah claimed that
“Syria’s allies started to evacuate bases
and positions two years ago, without any connection
to Israeli attacks.”
He insisted that Israel is currently waging
an imaginary battle, called ‘not allowing
the presence of Iranian military troops in
Syria', while further declaring that “Hezbollah
forces and Iranian strategic advisers will
remain in Syria in accordance with Syria’s
interests, and Israeli attacks won’t change
this.”
Meanwhile;
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards have
reportedly stepped up efforts to transfer,
by means of aerial shipments, numerous advanced
precision-guided Fateh-110 missiles to Syria.
According to these reports Iran has been exploiting
Russia’s military presence, to dissuade
Israeli attacks against its incoming weapons
shipments.
It is important to mention that TV7 was able
to corroborate part of these reports, as the
contents of the Iranian shipments in question
could not be immediately verified.
If the contents do include the relatively
advanced Fateh-110, it may indeed pose a tactical
threat to Israel, as the missile in question
has a reported range of up to 300 kilometers,
and its fourth generation has an acclaimed
100% precision.
Nevertheless, senior Israeli military sources
told TV7 that “Israel’s intelligence assessment
of the situation in Syria is outstanding,”
including vis-à-vis the purported reports
of weapons-shipments that the Islamic Republic
is trying to transfer into Israel’s neighboring
countries for the purpose of attacking the
Jewish State.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, one of
the sources asserted that “Iran had managed
to transfer these types of weaponry in the
past, all of which were reportedly destroyed
by Israel.
“
In related news;
The Israeli-based ImageSat International,
also known by its acronym ISI, published satellite
images purporting to show a new Iranian-constructed
underground weapon storage built in Syria’s
Albukamal region, which is situated adjacent
to the border with Iraq.
According to ISI’s intelligence report,
the images – which TV7 corroborated by an
external intelligence analyst separately - revealed
that “an underground tunnel of significant
proportions is being constructed alongside”
the Syrian border with Iraq.
The external analyst further confirmed to
TV7 that the “subterranean structure has
clear Iranian fingerprints,” which may indeed
corroborate the ISI analytic assessment.
Among others, the Images captured construction
vehicles at the entrance of the site in question,
which has the capacity of storing a wide array
of both statistical and precision guided missiles.
Furthermore, the newly discovered site, which
was made public on May 12th, is about 3 kilometers
(or about 1.8 miles) east from another tunnel
that was destroyed some two months ago in
an aerial bombardment that was attributed
to the Israeli Air Force.
In light of this revelation, ISI published
an assessment in which it highlighted “Iran’s
commitment to further developing its military
presence in this area, despite repeated attack.”
Turning to the United States, where;
The U.S. State Department has officially notified
Congress of the fact that the Islamic Republic
of Iran continues to be the world’s largest
state sponsor of terrorism.
In a published review of 2019, the U.S. State
Department asserted that Iran has continued
to support Hezbollah, Palestinian terrorist
groups, among other terrorist organizations,
that are operating throughout the Middle East.
The report also specifies that the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards, most prominently through
its Quds Force, “has the greatest role among
Iranian regime actors in directing and carrying
out a global terrorist campaign;” while
further highlighting that the IRGC has been
directly involved in terrorist plotting and
has killed U.S. citizens.
Among the other countries listed in the report,
which include North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba,
the State Department also sheds light on Syria’s
role in support for terrorist groups, which
includes the provision of weapons and political
support to Hezbollah.
The Department’s report, which is based
on corroborated intelligence, confirmed that
the Islamic Revolutionary Guards and its proxy
militias remain present and active in Syria
with the permission of the Damascus regime
of President Bashar al-Assad.
Turning now to Israel, where;
The manhunt for the terrorist responsible
for the murder of Sergeant First Class Amit
Ben Ygal is still ongoing.
The Commanding Officer of the IDF’s Menashe
Regional Brigade, Colonel Yair Peli, voiced
confidence that the operations to apprehend
the terrorist will be successful; while emphasizing
that the Israeli security establishment will
continue to guarantee that the Israeli residents
of the West Bank will remain safe.
(Sync B 1 1 00:31 – 00:41) Separately, the
Israeli soldier who sustained injuries in
the car-ramming terror attack, adjacent to
the West Bank settlement of Negohot yesterday
has reportedly deteriorated.
Doctors were forced to amputate his leg, and
he is now diagnosed in serious condition.
Nevertheless, doctors informed the soldier’s
family that his condition is stable.
In a sharp turn to Israel’s Ben Gurion international
airport, where;
Air travel is gradually returning to (what
can be called) a new normal, after weeks of
bare minimum flights.
According to Israel’s airport authority,
efforts are being made to create a “coronavirus
free area” at the country’s main airport,
which is already well-known for its rigid
security.
"Actually we are starting today, the restart
of the airport operation, with all the new
regulations, the health regulations, of social
distancing, face masks, terminal hall cleaning
process and setup, we are monitoring and checking
if the process and the new regulation fits
to our needs or actually the passengers' needs.”
Zakai further noted that the efforts are being
conducted in cooperation with representatives
and national authorities of other countries,
with which Israel is establishing a so-called
“safe green corridor.”
"We are working together not only with the
national health authorities with Israel, also
with all our colleges all over the world,
you can see here the representatives of the
French embassy, they are here in order to
help EL AL staff to check the document of
the passengers, in order that they will not
go to quarantine when they are arriving to
France, this kind of process we will see more
and more in the airport."
The scrutinizing procedures that are currently
demanded of passengers, however, has raised
the international flight costs – and demands
complete adherence to a long list of strict
measures.
"We have to take two taxis separately, we
cannot both be together with my husband, so
it's more money, and then when we arrive at
the airport, they check twice the temperature,
then they put you a bracelet to say that it's
checked, and then again like distance and
everything."
Meanwhile;
With expected international travel to be possible,
tourism may also soon follow.
While international tourism is not yet permitted
to Israel, the first country to announce its
plan to restart its tourism industry is Georgia
– which revealed that as a first stage,
it will only allow tourists from Israel to
enter its country.
"Georgia should become one of the first countries
to be able to resume tourism and start hosting
guests again.
The Tourism Agency, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and the Ministry of Economy are very
active in this process.
Today we can say that we are having successful
negotiations with several countries, which
will soon end with an acceptable result for
us.
Apparently, the first such country will be
Israel, with which we will have a safe green
corridor, which will very soon provide an
opportunity to receive guests, tourists from
this country in Georgia.
Of course, we will do our best to receive
these guests as befits our country and to
take care of their health."
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, as well as
our brothers and sisters at the AlphaOmega
channels in Romania, to pray today for the
salvation and peace of Romania, 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.
Furthermore, I would like to thank all of
our partners for your continued support, both
by means of prayer and finance.
I am Jonathan Hessen, have an Erev Tov and
Shabbat Shalom, and we will see you again
on Monday at the same time.
