Israel Update 24.11.22

JERUSALEM BOMBINGS

Aryeh Shechopek, 16, a Canadian-Israeli, was killed and 19 people were wounded in two explosions at bus stops in Jerusalem on Wednesday morning near the Central Bus Station and the Ramot neighbourhood in coordinated terror attacks. Two of those injured are in critical condition and four are in serious condition, with others moderately wounded. The bombs were detonated remotely and were packed with nails and bolts to maximize casualties. Read more here

BEERSHEBA ATTACK

A teenager was moderately hurt in a suspected car-ramming attack in Beersheba on Thursday morning. The driver, a 39-year-old resident of the Bedouin-majority city of Rahat, was arrested. Read more here

ISRAELI CAR CRASH CASUALTY KIDNAPPED IN JENIN

The body of Tiran Fero, 18, an Israeli Druze killed in a car crash in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, was snatched by Palestinian gunmen from hospital. A senior Palestinian official said the gunmen thought Fero was an Israeli soldier, but in fact he was a 12th grader at a school in the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel. Edri Fero, the victim’s uncle, said his nephew was still alive and connected to a ventilator when he was taken by Palestinian gunmen from hospital. “This is murder. It’s a terrorist attack. He was sedated and on life support, he was alive,..They disconnected him from the machines and tossed him into a car.” he said. The body of Tiran Fero, was eventually returned to his family after intense talks with the Palestinian Authority. Reportedly, Qatar, Jordan and Egypt were involved in the talks. Israel had sought a diplomatic solution but was also preparing for a military operation to retrieve the body. Read more here Read more here Read more here

HIZBULLAH THREAT

Hizbullah is reportedly storing hundreds of missiles carrying a toxic chemical payload at a warehouse, near the Lebanese-Syrian border. 110 Fajr missiles and over 300 Fateh missiles are all carrying the toxic chemical thionyl chloride.
Sources said experts from North Korea injected the toxic chemicals into the missiles under the supervision of an Iranian chemical weapons expert. The missiles are to be moved to an area in southern Lebanon near a base belonging to UNIFIL. Read more here

COUNTER-TERRORISM

Fathi Ziad Zakot, 31, who had a valid permit to enter Israel from Gaza for work, was arrested on Oct. 30 for planning a bombing attack on a bus in Israel on behalf of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Israel Security Agency has disclosed. After entering Israel on Oct. 19, Zakot obtained wires, batteries and other materials used to build an explosive device. In response, Israel revoked 200 work permits from Palestinians with ties to Zakot.Read more here

Israeli troops clashed with Palestinian gunmen near Jenin on Monday as they arrested Ratib al-Bali, who was “advancing significant terror attacks”. Al-Bali, previously jailed for terror offences, was involved in numerous shootings in recent weeks. In raids across the West Bank on Monday, another eight wanted Palestinians were arrested. Read more here

Undercover Border Police officers arrested wanted Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terror operative Abdullah Loubani near Jenin last Thursday. Loubani was in contact with PIJ members in Gaza and was involved in planning terror attacks in Israel. Read more here

GAZA

A 5-year-old boy from Gaza was brought on Sunday to the Wolfson Medical Centre, where Israeli doctors performed life-saving open-heart surgery to save his life, making him the 3,000th child from the Palestinian territories to undergo such surgery in Israel. Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli NGO has helped more than 6,000 children travel from abroad with their families for the critical operations. The boy’s mother said: “When the doctors told us there was a possibility for Israeli doctors to carry out the complicated operation Amir needed, we were so happy. Everyone here in Gaza talks about how Israeli doctors are the most professional in the world and that they can be trusted completely.” Read more here

DEFENCE

A ship-mounted version of the Iron Dome air defence system has been declared operational following a recent test aboard the Sa’ar 6-class corvette INS Oz. The navy’s new Sa’ar-6 corvettes are tasked with guarding the natural gas platforms off Israel’s coast as well as its shipping lanes. Read more here

Elbit Systems Ltd, an Israel-based international defence electronics company has developed a new drone, Lanius, described as a “highly manoeuverable and versatile drone-based loitering munition designed for short-range operation in the urban environment.”

Lanius is capable of scouting and mapping buildings by flying quickly and precisely through small corridors and doorways, thereby assisting its users in detecting and identifying possible threats…

Combatants using Lanius are less likely to find themselves mired in urban firefights and similarly dire, potentially lethal encounters. Read more here

LANIUS VIDEO (2 mins) View here

CO-OPERATION WITH ALLIES

The Mossad reportedly tipped off the UK’s MI5 about terrorist threats to British citizens, especially journalists, in recent weeks.Last week, MI5 Director General Ken McCallum said Iran had tried to kidnap or kill at least 10 UK-based individuals since January.Read more here

Israel in recent weeks has provided intelligence about Iranian arms transfers to Russia to dozens of Western countries and to senior NATO officials. Israeli officials want to organize an international conference in Israel about the proliferation of Iranian-made drones.Read more here

SIGD

November 23, 2022 marked the annual celebration of Sigd, a special holiday among the Ethiopian Jewish community, especially in Israel. Originating among Ethiopia’s Beta Israel Jewish community, Sigd has gained more general popularity among Ethiopian Jews and is a recognized holiday in Israel. Read more here

AZERBAIJAN

Azerbaijan is to become the first Shi’ite-majority Muslim state to open an embassy in Israel. Israel and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations for 30 years, and there has been an Israeli embassy in Baku since 1993. Read more here

JORDAN

Israel and Jordan have agreed to co-operate on restoration, ecological rehabilitation and sustainable development of the Jordan River, signing a joint declaration at the recent COP27 environmental conference. The countries will work to remove pollution sources by building wastewater treatment facilities and connecting communities along the river to advanced sewage infrastructure as they work to improve freshwater flows in the river.Read more here

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Israel’s largest hospital, Sheba Medical Centre has signed an agreement with Abu Dhabi based innovation giant G42 Healthcare to develop new health technology with collaborative projects planned in stem cell tech, cardiology and more. Read more here

SUSTAINABILITY

Israel’s YK Centre, a think tank and incubator which promotes the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), has linked up with three international bodies to launch an award to be given to banks, insurance companies and stock exchanges that have performed best in relation to the SDGs. Read more here

MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY

A new, non-invasive cancer removal technology has been developed by Tel Aviv University researchers. The technology uses low-frequency nanobubble-enhanced ultrasound mechanotherapy. Read more here

A new Israeli app HearO “listens” to voice samples that users record on their smartphones and alerts them if they are at imminent risk of congestive heart failure. A study with recovered patients found that the app predicted some 82% of relapses before they happened.Read more here

A feeding tube which could prevent tragedies. Guided by sensors, AI and electromagnetic navigation, Envue avoids the dangerous misplacement of feeding tubes in the lungs. Read more here

ISRAELI TECH ADOPTED BY UK HOMECARE PROVIDER

UK-based national homecare franchise provider Caremark is using an app from Tel Aviv-based Connecteam to manage and engage more than 7,000 remote caregivers across some 115 franchise offices. Founded in 2016, Connecteam is used by 20,000 companies of all sizes across 80 countries in industries, including healthcare, construction, security, manufacturing, retail and hospitality, to help manage some of the estimated 80% of the global workforce, or 2.7 billion workers, who don’t sit at desks. Read more here

CHESS

The World Team Chess Championship started on Sunday in Jerusalem, featuring the first appearance by US chess star Hans Niemann since he sued a rival over a high-profile cheating scandal. Twelve top teams, including Israel, will vie for the world title in the weeklong competition. Read more here

Ilana David from Beersheba is Israel’s first-ever woman to captain an all-male team, as well as being the only woman player at the tournament. Read more here

Many of Ukraine’s chess players came from the frontlines or from areas hit hard by Putin’s war,and compete with their countrymen in mind. Read more here

POST-SCRIPT to COP27

SUE SURKES: COP27 didn’t slash emissions but it did give Israeli climate tech a global stage. With Israel’s first ever pavilion at a UN COP convention, Israeli officials, firms and NGOs were able to showcase solutions, while signing agreements and commercial deals. It sometimes felt as if the entire Israeli environmental world passed through (the pavilion) at some point during the confab. Estimates of the number of Israelis at COP varied from several hundred to well over 1,000. Read more here