Shalom and good evening, this is TV7 Israel
News broadcasting to you from Jerusalem;
And in today’s top stories;
The Israeli military released a document that
purports to unveil a covert joint-project
that is being carried out by the Islamic Republic
of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in which
Tehran is making significant efforts to arm
its Shi’ite Lebanese proxy with hundreds
of precision-guided missiles.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
claims that the Islamic republic does not
need to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement,
as its reduced commitments to the multilateral
deal was made within the guidelines of the
accord
The Islamic Republic of Iran has yet again
failed to launch a satellite into orbit, as
the projectile exploded on its launch pad.
The Israeli military released a document that
purports to unveil a covert joint-project
that is being carried out by the Islamic Republic
of Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, in which
Tehran is making significant efforts to arm
its Shi’ite Lebanese proxy with hundreds
of precision-guided missiles.
The IDF spokesperson’s unit published its
report, that provides extensive information
on the joint project, including names of high-ranking
Iranian officers who are said to be in charge
of the project.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu revealed
that the published intelligence report exposed
only a part of the joint Iran-Hezbollah project.
During a political press conference in Jerusalem,
the Israeli leader reiterated his previously
declared warning against Iranian-led efforts
to target Israel, during which he also added
the Arabic phrase “Dir Balak,” which effectively
insinuates that the Jewish State will respond
with force to any mischief that would originate
from either an Iran or Hezbollah attack.
"Today we exposed a part of Iran and Hezbollah's
precision-guided missiles project.
We know a few other things.
We are determined to thwart this dangerous
project.
The purpose of today's publication is to make
clear that we will not sit still and will
not allow our enemies to arm themselves with
lethal weapon against us.
I have told our enemies this week: Be careful
of what you do.
And today I tell them: "Dir Balak"."
Netanyahu’s threat echoed a similar warning
that was made by the IDF, in which it underscored
that “Hezbollah endangers Lebanon and hurts
its economy and security.”
While Hezbollah managed to deceive the Beirut
Government; as far as Israel is concerned,
since the report’s publication, the top
echelon of the Lebanese cabinet had learned
all the details that could be revealed about
Hezbollah and Iran’s secret activities.
As such, Jerusalem signaled to Beirut that
while the missiles are Iranian and the missile-upgrade’
factories are controlled by Hezbollah, the
state of Lebanon will be held accountable.
We have published the IDF report in its entirety
on our website, at: tv7israelnews.com - You
can find it in our TV7 Publications section.
Meanwhile;
The high state of alert on Israel’s northern
frontier Israel continues, in light of concerns
that Hezbollah will follow-up on its threat.
Therefore, the IDF decided to cancel all leaves
for soldiers in some of the combat brigades
that are stationed along the Israeli and Syrian
borders.
A senior military official told TV7 that the
IDF is prepared for any possible development.
Among others, it has deployed additional aerial
defense systems across the northern part of
the country, and beefed up its Intelligence,
Home Front and Air Defense forces.
In addition to that, the IDF held several
meetings with the leaders of the local authorities
of northern Israel, during which the Commanding
Officers of Northern Israel presented them
with the main points of the situation assessment,
to assure civilian preparedness in case of
an escalation.
In related News;
The U.N. Security Council decided to extend
the mandate of the United Nations Interim
Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, by one year.
The Council’s decision was unanimous.
In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry
in Jerusalem issued a statement in which it
expressed appreciation for the efforts by
the United States and other countries, to
strengthen the peacekeeping mission in south
Lebanon, but pointed out that “restrictions
posed by Hezbollah and the State of Lebanon
on UNIFIL continue to significantly hinder
the full and effective implementation of its
mandate.”
According to the Foreign Ministry’s statement,
‘If these restrictions remain in place,
UNIFIL’s relevancy will remain in doubt.’
The Foreign Ministry also referred to new
evidence, which it referred to as “disturbing,”
in which UNIFIL peacekeepers were attacked
by what the IDF claimed to be members of “Hezbollah.”
The video purports to show two armored UNIFIL
Vehicles attacked, in August of last year,
by people in civilian clothes, at an entrance
of a U.N. base, in Majdel Zoun.
One of the vehicles was lit on fire, after
which the peacekeeping force was overpowered
by the mob of alleged Hezbollah operatives.
In light of the video, which indicates clear
limitations of the UNIFIL mandate, the Israeli
Foreign Ministry said that “This evidence
should have pushed those who care about the
safety and stability of Lebanon to use this
mandate renewal opportunity to take a stronger
position on the fundamental issue of ensuring
full access to the force.”
Meanwhile;
The U.N. Security Council warned both Hezbollah
and Israel that any violation of Resolution
1701, which effectively ended the Second Lebanon
War in 2006, was liable to spark a new clash
that no side in the region could afford.
As such, the council called on all sides to
display maximum restraint and avoid any course
of action or statement that was liable to
undermine stability.
In addition to the discussions surrounding
the tensions in Lebanon, the U.N. Security
Council received a briefing from the world
body’s Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen.
In addition to the domestic challenges of
the war-torn country, Pederson termed the
rising tensions between Israel and Iran as
‘extremely worrying’ and urged both countries
to respect the sovereignty of Syria and all
other states in the region.
“Mr. Pederson said that tensions between
Israel and Iran are “extremely worrying,”
and urged the parties to respect the sovereignty
of Syria and all states in the area, by showing
maximum restraint, both in action and in rhetoric.”
In related News;
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
claimed that the Islamic republic does not
need to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement,
as its reduced commitments to the multilateral
deal was made within the guidelines of the
accord.
In an interview with China’s Central Television
Network, the Iranian top diplomat insisted
that the Islamic Republic made all efforts
to preserve the deal, despite the American
decision to withdraw and reimpose international
sanctions.
"We don't need to withdraw from the agreement.
You see this agreement was negotiated based
on mutual mistrust, particularly between Iran
and the United States.
And that is why we put in place in the agreement,
mechanisms to address violations and remedies
that each side could adopt in case of violation
from the other side.
And one of those remedies for Iran is to reduce
its commitments.”
Minister Zarif also emphasized during the
interview that two options remain for the
agreement to be salvaged.
"We have two options, one is for President
Trump to abandon his approach and agree to
rejoin those who are implementing the agreement,
or for Europe and the rest of the JCPOA participants
including China and Russia, to continue with
implementing their obligations under JCPOA.”
While the Iranian top diplomat continues to
urge the international community to adhere
to the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action”,
which is the technical term for the commonly
known “Iran nuclear deal”; the Islamic
Republic continues to violate U.N. Security
Council Resolution 2231, which in Paragraph
3 of Annex B “calls upon Iran not to undertake
any activity related to ballistic missiles
designed to be capable of delivering nuclear
weapons, including launches using such ballistic
missile technology.”
Tehran has rejected this clause from the day
Resolution 2231 was adopted.
As part of its efforts to bolster its capabilities,
the Islamic Republic attempted to launch a
satellite into Orbit yesterday, using a rocket
with ‘ballistic missile technology’ capable
of delivering nuclear payloads.
That said, the attempted rocket-launch from
Imam Khomeini Space Center in northern Iran
failed, when the projectile exploded on its
launch pad.
An Iranian official, who was quoted by the
international news-agency Reuters, said that
‘the failure was a result of "some technical
issues" and that "young scientists are working
to fix the problem."’
A U.S. official, who also spoke on condition
of anonymity, confirmed that “Iran suffered
a satellite launch failure.”
No further details were available about the
failed Iranian launch.
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