Home Frontline Defense Frontline Defense: October 16, 2018

Frontline Defense: October 16, 2018

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A firefighter near Gaza. (Photo: Kobi Richter)

Israel and the West Bank

Israeli police are investigating an attack that killed Aysha al-Rabi, a 45-year-old Palestinian woman, on October 12. A Jewish extremist is suspected of throwing a rock at al-Rabi’s car near the Tapuah junction.

Multiple incendiary balloons were found in Jerusalem in mid-October. One landed in a construction site for a kindergarten in the German Colony neighborhood while others were located in the Valley of the Cross. No one was injured in either incident.

An Israeli soldier shot and killed a Palestinian brandishing a knife on October 15 at the Gitai Junction near Ariel. The Israel Defense Forces identified the attacker as 22-year-old Elias Salah Yassin.

Gaza

The IDF destroyed a tunnel from Gaza’s Khan Yunis that stretched over 600 feet into Israel. According to the Times of Israel, it was the 15th underground passageway destroyed in the past year.

The Israeli NGO Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael – Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) estimates that Palestinian fire kites and other incendiary devices have caused 1,053 fires and burned over 3,000 acres of farmland and forests over the past six months. Fires have broken out in  Be’eri Forest, Kissufim Forest, Shokeda Forest, Hannun Forest, and HaBesor Stream Forest killing animals, destroying habitats, and straining the capabilities of local first responders.

The IDF killed a Palestinian man on October 12 after he crossed through the Gaza border fence under the cover of smoke and attempted to stab a soldier. Six other Palestinians were killed and another 252 injured during border clashes over the same weekend. Following the rioting, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman announced a halt to all fuel shipments into the terrorist-controlled enclave until the unrest subsided.

Sinai Peninsula

The Egyptian military released a statement in early October saying it had killed 52 suspected militants in recent weeks, bringing the total number of insurgents killed in Comprehensive Operation Sinai 2018 to more than 500 since the campaign began in February. Egyptian security forces also confiscated automatic rifles and grenades as well as a drone.

Commercial truck traffic between Egypt and Israel resumed through the el-Auga route near central Sinai, according to an Egyptian general. Trade through the crossing mostly comprises food and raw materials.

Golan Heights

After fighters supporting the government of President Asad retook the Syrian side of the Golan Heights from rebel fighters earlier this year, Damascus reopened a border crossing in Quneitra allowing UN peacekeepers with the Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) to return to their posts in Syria. Syrian-Jordanian border crossings also reopened.