Israel-Palestinian Conflict

The IDF deployed at least two Iron Dome anti-missile batteries in southern Israel on Friday, two days after three rockets were launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Since the beginning of 2014, representatives from Israel and Saudi Arabia have had five secret meetings to discuss a common foe, Iran. On Thursday, the two countries came out of the closet by revealing this covert diplomacy at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington.

In the event of a new conflict with Hezbollah, the IDF would seek to evacuate more than a million civilians in south Lebanon within 24 hours before proceeding to strike thousands of Hezbollah targets in some 240 villages and built-up regions, a senior military source said on Wednesday.

Israel Air Force jets struck three targets in the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Thursday, following rocket strikes on southern Israel late Wednesday night.

An Islamic preacher on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem told congregants that the Nazis burned the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust because they had been kidnapping children to use their blood in Passover bread. He also claimed that Jews worship Satan, plotted the 9/11 attacks, and control the Freemasons who sacrifice their wives and children in secret ceremonies.

U.S. President Barack Obama told Israeli television that the emerging deal between Iran and world powers is the only way to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, and that “a military solution will not fix it,” the Times of Israel reported.

Israel will be briefly jolted back into last summer’s ordeal with rockets, sirens and army maneuvers beginning Sunday, as the military’s Home Front Command holds a yearly emergency drill simulating three enemies attacking the country at once.

While stopping short of fully endorsing the Arab Peace Initiative, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he welcomed the general idea behind it — a regional agreement between Israel and the moderate Arab states.

A jihadist group with Islamic State ties claimed responsibility for a Friday mortar attack at a Hamas base in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Air Force attacked four targets in the Gaza Strip early Wednesday morning, following an earlier rocket attack on Israeli territory.

Hezbollah fighters captured two hilltops from al-Qaida’s Syria-wing Nusra Front in areas close to the Lebanese border and have killed dozens of enemy combatants, Hezbollah-run al-Manar television reported Monday.

The United States on Friday blocked a global document aimed at ridding the world of nuclear weapons, saying Egypt and other states tried to “cynically manipulate” the process by setting a deadline for Israel and its neighbors to meet within months on a Middle East zone free of such weapons.

A senior Iranian military official warned on Thursday that any Israeli attack would unleash a firestorm of missiles on its cities fired by the Islamic Republic’s Hezbollah allies in Lebanon.

The US State Department approved a massive sale of bombs and missiles worth $1.897 billion, pending final congressional authorization. The procurement package includes bunker buster munitions and its timing suggests the Americans are seeking to alleviate Israeli concerns over the developing deal with Iran.

The United Nations will explore options with Israel’s new government for a return to negotiations on creating a Palestinian state within a reasonable timeframe.

Jerusalem historically has been the only capital of the Jewish people, and so it will remain, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared Sunday at the government’s official Jerusalem Day ceremony at Ammunition Hill.

Pope Francis warmly welcomed Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on the latter’s visit to the Vatican today (Saturday). The Pope even went so far as to call Abbas “an angel of peace.”

Wasal Abu Yousef, a member of the PLO leadership, said Thursday that Palestinians would not return to the negotiation table with Israel unless a deadline for the end of the Israeli “occupation” is set.

“I will never give up on the hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” said President Barack Obama, “Palestinians deserve an end to the occupation and the daily indignities that come with it. That’s why we’ve worked so hard over the years for a two-state solution and to develop innovative ways to address Israel’s security and Palestinian sovereignty needs.”

The Lebanese group Hezbollah has built up a massive arsenal of rockets and other advanced weapons in Shi’ite villages of southern Lebanon, a senior Israeli intelligence official said Wednesday, warning civilians would be at risk if war breaks out.