Two Killed, 4 Wounded in Terror Attack at Re’em Junction in South Israel; Gunman Dead: Two Israelis were killed and four others were wounded, including two in serious condition, in a shooting attack at a junction in southern Israel on Friday afternoon, February 16, police and medics said.
The terror attack took place at Re’em Junction, just north of the city of Kiryat Malachi, shortly after 12:30 p.m. Police said the terrorist arrived at the scene in a vehicle and opened fire at people at a bus station with a handgun before he was shot and killed by an off-duty IDF reservist officer at the scene.
The Shin Bet identified the terrorist as Fadi Jamjoum, 37, from East Jerusalem’s Shuafat. He holds Israeli residency. A large number of police officers were conducting searches at the scene to ensure no other terrorists were involved, although law enforcement officials indicated that the terrorist had likely acted alone.
The Magen David Adom ambulance service said its medics treated six people at the scene, including a man in his 20s in critical condition who was later declared dead at Rehovot’s Kaplan Medical Center. MDA said it also treated three people in serious condition, one of whom was also declared dead at Kaplan.
One of the victims was later identified as Yishai Gertner, 23, of Modiin Illit. On Saturday, the second fatality was named as IDF reservist Sgt. First Class (res.) Ori Yaish, 27, of the Jerusalem Brigade’s 8119th Battalion’s support company, from Modiin. Two other people, including a 65-year-old woman, were listed in moderate condition.
Meanwhile, IDF data recently revealed that the number of terror attacks in Judea and Samaria throughout 2023 was 350% higher than in 2022. The data shows that there were 608 ramming, shooting, stabbing, and explosive device attacks, compared to 170 such attacks in 2022. 300 of the incidents were shooting attacks – the highest number since the Second Intifada. (TOI / VFI News)
“God, we pray for the families of the two victims of the recent terror attack and we ask that You provide them with comfort and peace. We send our sincerest condolences to them and we pray for the health and recovery of the injured citizens. Please, stop these terrorists and dismantle their organizations so they can no longer harm our people. May You grant us this request and help us live peacefully on the land You have given us.”
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More than 100 Terrorists Arrested at Nasser Hospital: The IDF announced on Saturday morning, February 17, that they had arrested over 100 terrorists in Nasser Hospital during operations in the Gaza Strip, and that operations would continue for the foreseeable future.
Troops from the 98th Division operating in the Khan Yunis area arrested the terrorists in Nasser Hospital with the support of Shayetet 13 special forces embedded in the Division. Simultaneously, troops from the Maglan and Egoz units eliminated terrorists around the area of the hospital.
Troops from the 7th Armored Unit raided several terror targets and found significant amounts of combat equipment, including explosives, grenades, and rifles. In addition, the 98th Division identified three terrorists traveling to an area suspected of being a launch complex and directed an airstrike against them.
Israel has also updated families of Gaza hostages that the IDF found boxes with medicine, intended for their loved ones in Hamas captivity, at the Nasser Hospital. The names of hostages were written on the boxes with the medications, which appeared to have never reached the captives. The finding is being examined, the IDF said.
In a Thursday briefing, IDF Spokesperson R.-Adm. Daniel Hagari stated, “We have credible intelligence from a number of sources, including from released hostages, indicating that Hamas held hostages at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and that there may be bodies of our hostages in the Nasser hospital facility.” (JPost / VFI News)
“God, we pray that You dismantle the Hamas terrorist organization and that until then, its operatives stop exploiting and endangering civilians and their infrastructure. We pray for an end to the war, as well as for the quick release of all the remaining hostages. May You keep them safe and strong amid the chaos.”
‘More than 30 UNRWA Workers Assisted in October 7 Attack’ – Gallant; Iranian Equipment Found Under UNRWA HQ: Defense Minister Yoav Gallant revealed on Friday, February 16, during a briefing to foreign reporters, the details of 12 Hamas terrorists who were employed by UNRWA and who participated in the massacre on October 7.
Gallant also told reporters that Israel has found intelligence that more than 30 of UNRWA’s employees actively participated in the massacre, and assisted in the kidnapping of civilians and soldiers.
During the briefing, the foreign reporters were presented with figures showing that 12% of the 13,000 employees of UNRWA are connected to the terrorist organizations in Gaza, and 1,468 of the employees are even active in those organizations.
Additionally, the Minister of Defense presented to the reporters a video from security cameras at the Erez crossing on October 7, in which paramedics from the Palestinian Red Crescent are seen helping to evacuate an injured terrorist from Hamas’ Nukhba unit.
Further, IDF forces recently found technological equipment made in Iran and China in the Hamas facility under the UNRWA in the Near East headquarters in Gaza. Israeli media report that approximately a week ago the building was raided by Israeli forces, who found several servers which are being analyzed for intelligence.
The forces destroyed a server farm and other technological equipment, including multiple databases, and killed 120 terrorists during the operation. The soldiers raiding the building worked off of previous intelligence from the ISA due to a tunnel found earlier on under the building. That tunnel was in turn discovered through another tunnel entrance which was found near a UNRWA school. (INN / VFI News)
“Their malice may be concealed by deception, but their wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.” – Proverbs 26:26
PA Prime Minister: We’re Ready for Unity with Hamas, World Needs to Forget October 7: Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh says the PA is still seeking unity with Hamas terror group and may hold talks with the group in Moscow on February 26.
“Russia has invited all Palestinian factions who will be meeting on the 26 of this month in Moscow. We will see if Hamas is ready to come to the ground with us,” he said at the Munich Security Conference.
“We are ready to engage. If Hamas is not then that’s a different story. We need Palestinian unity,” he said. He added that Hamas needs to meet certain prerequisites.
Asked about making common cause with a group that carried out atrocities on October 7, Shtayyeh indicated that the world needs to forget the massacre happened. “One should not continue focusing on October 7.”
He avoided questions about the PA making reforms sought by the West and indicated that PA President Mahmoud Abbas would not transfer power to a deputy. (TOI / VFI News)
“Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.” – Isaiah 9:16
Israel ‘Outright Rejects’ Foreign Efforts to Create Palestinian State after Hamas War, Netanyahu Declares: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government unanimously approved a measure declaring that the country “outright rejects” any attempts by foreign powers to create a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu announced the move at the start of a cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, February 18. It comes as various forces at the UN and even US President Biden’s administration have pushed Israel to accept a two-state solution after the war against Hamas in Gaza.
“In light of the talk recently heard in the international community about an attempt to unilaterally impose a Palestinian state on Israel, I am bringing today a declarative decision on this issue for the approval of the government. I am sure it will be widely accepted,” Netanyahu told the cabinet in Hebrew.
“Israel outright rejects international dictates regarding the permanent settlement with the Palestinians,” the declaration said.
“Such an arrangement will be reached only through direct negotiations between the parties, without preconditions. Israel will continue to oppose the unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. Such a recognition, following the massacre of October 7, will reward the terrorism, a reward like no other, and will prevent any future peace settlement.” (FN / VFI News)
“Lord, we ask that You guide our leaders and give them discernment to make the best decisions for our people in the talks to come. We pray that they don’t compromise our values nor the welfare of our citizens, but that they prioritize the people of Israel during any negotiations and agreements they will have to make. ”
One Billion NIS that Israel Transfers to PA Goes to Terrorists: A court hearing revealed that close to one billion NIS that is transferred to the Palestinian Authority every year, ends up in the hands of terrorists and their families, Israeli media reported on Sunday, February 18.
This information was revealed during a hearing following the decision by the execution authority to impose a NIS 276,000 lien on the Palestinian Authority after it transferred a monthly salary of NIS 12,000 to Islamic Jihad terrorist, Elah Shalmon Maher, who murdered Dalia Lemkus in 2014.
At the hearing, the Execution Authority clarified that this is a debt from August 2021 to June 2023 only.
It further explained that “as it appears from the material submitted to the court and as it has been proven, the Palestinian Authority pays terrorists and their families huge sums every month; probably close to one billion NIS a year.” (INN / VFI News)
“Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked.” – Psalm 37:16
IDF’s Northern Command Chief Warns Hezbollah of ‘Awesome Power’: IDF Northern Command head Maj. -Gen. Uri Gordin met on Sunday, February 18, with the northern residents’ local defense groups to boost morale and coordinate further efforts versus Hezbollah and, if necessary, vis-a-vis Syria.
Gordin held a series of meetings with the different groups spread out across the northern border, both to hear their latest security concerns and to personally speed up defense processes to strengthen the groups.
“If we end up needing to go on the attack in the North, it will be with awesome power. The defense of your towns by your local defense groups, both those that have been evacuated and those that have not been evacuated, are a part of our broader defense concept,” said Gordin.
He added, “You are not just residents; you are an inseparable part of the defense line and our greater defense apparatus” in the North.
Further, Gordin complimented the local defense groups not only on their new level of organization and training that they have undertaken since October but also on their contribution to “changing the security reality” in the North, especially versus Hezbollah. (JPost / VFI News)
“You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; You encourage them, and You listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.” – Psalm 10:17-18
US Researcher Finds that ‘More than 50% of Buildings in Gaza Are Damaged’: Jamon Van Den Hoek, Associate Professor of Geography at Oregon State University, told Israeli media that more than 50% of the buildings in Gaza have been damaged since the start of the war.
He added that the areas with the most damage are “Gaza districts and northern Gaza, which suffered the most damage before the temporary ceasefire.”
Jamon noted that there have been changes in the data and “since the start of the temporary ceasefire, the built-up areas of Khan Yunis, which suffered the least damage before the ceasefire, have undergone severe damage.”
He added that “the damage in Rafah has recently started increasing. The Gaza and North Gaza districts are still leading, but we see that the damage has become extensive also in Khan Yunis and it has caught up with the gap in terms of the level of damage.”
According to the data he presented, 69.3%-81.9% of the buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip, 51.9%-64.8% of the buildings in Khan Yunis, and 30.9%-43% of the buildings in Rafah were damaged. (INN / VFI News)
The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.
