Author: AFSI Staff

The number of Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount has surpassed all previous years since the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967.

As of Sept. 6, 51,672 Jews have visited the holy site since last Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 16, 2023), according to the Beyadenu—Returning to the Temple Mount‎ organization.

The Temple Mount Administration activist group reacted to the report of the record-breaking number of visitors, saying, “The increase in the number of worshippers ascending the Mount, even during times of war, makes the return of Israel to the Temple Mount a living and existing reality.” The group noted that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “has been enabling and encouraging this positive transformation for a decade.”

Source:
Record number of Jews visit the Temple Mount, by JNS Update Desk, September 11, 2024

Three Israelis workers at the Allenby Border crossing with Jordan were shot and killed when a truck driver approaching the terminal from Jordan at the terminal opened fire.

The victims are Yohanan Shahouri (61) Ma’ale Efraim, Yuri Birnbaum (65) of Moshav Naama near Jericho and Adrian Marcelo Podmesser, a resident of Ariel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack: “We are surrounded by a murderous ideology led by Iran’s axis of evil. The great majority of Israel’s citizens know that we are fully committed to achieving the objectives of the war: To eliminate Hamas, to return all of our hostages, to ensure that Gaza never again constitutes a threat to Israel and to return our residents in the north and south securely to their homes. We will wield the sword of David together and with G-d’s help, we will win.”

Netanyahu concluded with: “One more word. There are those who ask – ‘Shall the sword devour forever?’ In the Middle East, without the sword, there is no ‘forever’.”

Sources:
Israel-Jordan Border Crossings Closed After Terrorist Kills 3, by Pesach Benson/TPS-IL, September 8, 2024

Netanyahu after Allenby attack: In the MidEast, without the sword, there is no ‘forever’, by Hezki Baruch/Israel National News, September 8, 2024

“The army is now seriously turning its attention to Judea and Samaria. The terrorists have raised their heads,” a regional Judea and Samaria security chief said.

MK Simcha Rothman, who lives in the Gush Etzion community of Pnei Kedem, told JNS, “I think the operation in Tulkarem Jenin is a start, but it is far from being enough. The main problem is the Palestinian Authority, which pays the terrorists—some of the terrorists themselves are employed by the P.A. in its security forces, with some trained by the U.S. They are behind many of the terrorist attacks we see in Judea and Samaria.

Rothman further stated that the IDF must be responsible for security, and to “stop thinking the P.A. is an ally.” Until that time, he fears “we will sadly see more and more terrorist attacks.”

Source:
‘The Army is Now Seriously Turning Its Attention to Judea and Samaria’, by Josh Hasten/JNS, September 6, 2024

The heads of municipal development companies in Judea and Samaria sent a letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant expressing grave concern about a threat to student transportation in Judea and Samaria. This is especially so following the recent car bomb discovered in the Binyamin Region that is believed to have been intended to be used against a school bus filled with children, which was scheduled to leave the town heading towards schools in the region.

The letter reads, “We are contacting you on behalf of the development companies in Judea and Samaria, which transport tens of thousands of students every day throughout the region. We want to express our great concern about the ever-growing threat to student transportation, in light of intentions to carry out attacks against vehicles transporting students. This situation is not only alarming, but constitutes a ticking bomb, which puts the lives of students, drivers and teachers in real danger.”

The signers of the letter demanded “immediate action to improve the security situation on the main transportation routes in Judea and Samaria” and not wait for another disaster that can be prevented.

Source:
Bus companies warn of growing threats against school buses in Judea and Samaria, by Yoni Kempinski/Israel National News, September 5, 2024

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an English-language press conference Wednesday evening on the war against Hamas in which he stressed the need for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi Corridor.

“Once we got out, once we left the Philadelphi Corridor, Iran could carry out its plan to turn Gaza into a base, a terrorist enclave, that would endanger not only the communities around it, but would endanger Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, the entire country of Israel. It became a huge terrorist base because we left that corridor,” he said.

“You have to understand the centrality of the Philadelphi Corridor to the arming of Gaza, to the arming of Hamas, and this all led to the October 7th massacre, which Hamas has proudly vowed to do again and again and again.

There must be a reversal of the devastating 2005 decision that forced Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor. Netanyahu laid out the facts clearly and succinctly on why Israel must not leave again. This decision is not a political one, it’s not a power grab, nor will it hurt any hostage deal. With Israel’s defense forces in the Phladelphi Corridor again, it will demilitarize Gaza and is a critical strategic move for Israel’s long-term security and defense. Netanyahu must stick to this position, which will strengthen Israel’s goals for winning the current war – and the protect against future terrorism infiltrating the country.

Source:
Netanyahu: ‘A deal to withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor will kill us’, by Israel National News, September 4, 2024

On Tuesday, Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli tweeted: “I proposed last night at the cabinet meeting that as a response to the murder of our people, we will charge an immediate price in land appropriation, and create another northern corridor, that is, retake control of the northern boundary area (where ​​Dugit, Nisanit, and Elei Sinai stood before the 2005 expulsion), and move the perimeter fence to the south.”

The movement seeking a return to Gaza never died among conservative, right-leaning Israelis. A group calling itself “Returning to settling Gaza” is pushing Minister Chikli’s idea of punishment through land confiscation. Since fanatical Islamists don’t care for their lives or the lives of others, their land matters to them. With that said, the goal is to take it away from them and settle Jews there.

Back on June 29 former IDF Spokesman General (res.) Moti Almaz was asked if it’s the right thing to carve out slices of Gaza and responded: “It’s a price tag here for those who raised a hand against Jews in Israel. They will lose territory. this is a price tag that Zionism set, and the State of Israel decided to give up. We must learn the lesson of October 7 – we must have territory. We will use this territory not as an occupation, not as a finger in the eye. When you take an area and plant something in the area – you say something about it. I am here because that’s the only way I can protect the Gaza envelope communities.”

Source:
Push to Annex Parts of Gaza to Penalize Hamas, Resurrect Settlements, by David Israel/Jewish Press, September 4, 2024

Called by the Yesha Council, hundreds of Israeli residents of Judea and Samaria gathered in protest at intersections throughout the territory on Tuesday night, demanding that the army launch a broad operation against Palestinian terrorism.

“The residents of Judea and Samaria no longer rely on miracles,” the announcement read. “A war is being waged in Judea and Samaria; the prime minister and the IDF should treat it as a war and fight the terrorist infrastructure in the Arab cities just as they fight in Gaza and Rafah!”

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan said, “This fight is a fight for our very existence here. It is inconceivable that while half of the residents of Judea and Samaria are mobilized in the north and south, the security of their families will be abandoned.”

Source:
Jews in Judea and Samaria demand wider campaign against Palestinian terror, by Akiva Van Koningsveld/JNS, September 3, 2024

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday evening during a lengthy press conference that after the execution of six Israeli hostages by Hamas last week just days after brokers were determining final details for a hostage release deal, the international community must direct its pressure toward Hamas, not Israel.

In reference to a remark by US President Joe Biden earlier in the day, saying Netanyahu had not done enough to reach a deal, the prime minister told reporters, “After a terrible massacre, to change the angle and place the blame on Israel? I can’t believe he said that.” We deeply mourn the senseless loss of six more lives at the hand of the brutal Hamas.

We believe it since Biden and his band of Israel haters will do anything to save face, more so now since one of the six hostages murdered in captivity over the weekend was an American. Even as we deeply mourn the senseless loss of six more lives at the hand of the brutal Hamas, we know that Netanyahu is right in that the scales of pressure must tip the other way toward Hamas – preferably like a sledge hammer. Between Biden’s inane comment and the media incorrectly reporting or ignoring the truth about potential hostage deals and hostage “deaths”, the weight wrongly remains on Israel.

Source:
Netanyahu: International Pressure Must Be Directed at Hamas, Not Israel, by Hana Levi Julian, September 2, 2024

As terror attacks in the Hebron and Gush Etzyon areas escalated over the weekend, residents demanded security forces close off access roads leading towards Palestinian villages.

“The region was relatively quiet for months, because ever since the war started the access to the roads from the villages was closed. But as soon as they let them move freely, the attacks start. Just this morning, another attack happened because the roads were opened,” said Meir Dana-Picard, Chairman of the Board of Residents in Mount Hebron.

He was referring to Sunday morning’s drive-by shooting near the Palestinian village of Tarqumiyah in the Hebron region in which three police officers were killed. The terrorist came from the area of the village of Idna, whose access road was reopened that very morning. The attack took place approximately half an hour after the renewal of traffic.

What started off as a massacre by Hamas in Israel’s south and random bombings in the North by Hezbollah is now spreading in other areas of the country like a cancer. Not only is preventing further terror attacks in this area critical but so is securing it so another Oct. 7 cannot happen. Israel must come up with a comprehensive strategy to combat all the Iranian proxies’ broader plans to harm Jews.

Source:
Mount Hebron Leaders Call for Action as Palestinian Terror Attacks Surge, by Sveta Listratov/TPS-IL, September 1, 2024

Recent events have reportedly triggered a major policy shift in Israel’s approach to Judea and Samaria. Designated a “secondary arena” since the onset of the war with Hamas on Oct. 7, onset, the recent increase in terror attacks in the area have convinced top officials that this stance is no longer tenable. The Israel Defense Forces now considers Judea and Samaria as the country’s most critical front after the Gaza Strip.

While this directive is still in its initial stages, with substantial changes on the ground expected to take time, a series of operations across Judea and Samaria are imminent. “The Jenin operation is just the beginning,” security officials emphasize.

The recent spate of terrorist attacks in Judea and Samaria underscores the need for comprehensive action across the entire sector. With a new level of aggressive action required, one security source described what’s needed as “not just mowing the lawn but uprooting the problem at its source.”

Source:
Israel to classify Judea, Samaria a ‘combat zone’ amid terror escalation, by Hanan Greenwood/JNS, September 3, 2024