By Benjamin Kerstein, Algemeiner— Under the pressure of continuing IAF air strikes, Iran is beginning to drawn down its military presence in Syria, unnamed Israeli security officials were quoted as saying on Tuesday. The Israeli news site Walla cited the officials saying, “For the first time since Iran entered Syria, it is reducing its forces…
By Shoshana Bryen, Jewish Policy Center— The German government has pulled the plug on Hezbollah, labeling it a terrorist organization – its political “wing” as well as its military “wing” – and banning its activity on German soil; associated organizations will also be outlawed. What took so long? Surely there was no benefit to Germany…
By Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute— Why are Iran’s Palestinian proxies, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, disturbed about the death of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s Quds Force, who was killed in a US airstrike on January 3, 2020? The two Iranian-backed groups in the Gaza Strip were quick to mourn the “martyr”…
By Ilan Berman, Al-Hurra Digital— What a difference four years can make. In the Fall of 2015, Russia’s government made the decision to formally launch a military offensive in support of the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Back then, the Kremlin’s regional position was profoundly weak. After a period of protracted post-Cold War decline,…
By Times of Israel— As tensions rose in the Persian Gulf over the weekend with Iran’s seizure of a British-flagged tanker, several commanders of Lebanese terror group Hezbollah, an Iranian proxy, said they were deploying forces for possible war with Israel, warning that the growing pressure from sanctions on Tehran could trigger such a conflict…
By Herb Keinon, JPost— Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chastised Iran on Monday for calling for Israel’s destruction during a panel discussion in Moscow where Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was sitting with him on the dais. “We have stated many times that we won’t accept the statements that Israel, as a Zionist state, should…
By Chris Mitchell, CBN— CBN News was given an exclusive look at what up until now was a secret IDF mission. It’s a one-of-a-kind Middle East story that combines the Israel Defense Forces, a Christian ministry and the brutality of the Syrian civil war. The story begins on the Golan Heights in the dead of…
BY Michael Eisenstadt and Jeffrey White, American Interest— The recapture by pro-Assad regime forces—including Lebanese Hizballah—of rebel-held Aleppo (December 2016) and of IS-held Deir al-Zur (ongoing as of September 2017) may not just mark the denouement of Syria’s tragic civil conflict, but may also pave the way for the next Hizballah-Israel war. Buoyed by these…
By Lilach Shoval, Israel Hayom— In the event of another war with Hezbollah, Israel’s achievement will be measured according to how massive a blow it would deal the Shiite terrorist group’s leadership and infrastructure, a senior officer involved in the wide-scale military exercise taking place near the northern border said Monday. “In any case, there…
By Herb Keinon, JPost— Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to go to Sochi on Wednesday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his fourth visit to Russia in the last 16 months. For reporters who cover Netanyahu, the drill is well known. Following the premier’s meeting with Putin, either he or one of…