Netanyahu Vows ‘Strong, Swift,’ Response to Deadliest Palestinian Terror Attack in Over a Decade

January 31, 2023

Israel and the U.S.A. send Iran a STRONG WARNING

Israel and the U.S.A. send Iran a STRONG WARNING.

US Condemns Shooting Attack in Jerusalem: Absolutely Horrific

Palestinians Celebrate Deadly Terror Attack with Candy, Fireworks, ‘Allahu Akbar’

Gazans Fire Rockets at South, as Israeli Jets Hit Strip in Retaliatory Strike

Watch When Fire Rains from the Sky | Vision for Israel

WHEN FIRE RAINS FROM THE SKY | Vision for Israel

Hamas Tricked West Bank Residents into Delivering Cash, Weapons to Terrorists

German MP Says EU Has Legal Evidence to Declare IRGC a Terrorist Entity

Most Online Anti-Semitism Stems from Palestinians, Pro-Palestinian Circles - Report

Israeli Find Shown to Combat Antibiotic Resistance by ‘Pricking Bacteria to Death’

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Seven people were murdered, including children, in a terrorist shooting attack on Friday evening, January 27, in Jerusalem’s Neve Ya’akov neighborhood, while they were leaving a synagogue after Shabbat services. 

The attack occurred on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. The terrorist, identified as Alqam Khayri, a 21-year-old resident of eastern Jerusalem, was shot dead by police while attempting to flee. 

A second attack took place the morning after, when a 13-year-old terrorist opened fire on a group of Israelis outside the Old City of Jerusalem, severely wounding two people, a father and son. The younger victim, an off-duty soldier, managed to shoot the terrorist, as did another member of the group, wounding him. 

“Whoever tries to harm us – we will harm him, and those who help him,” Netanyahu said at the start of an emergency meeting of the security cabinet. 

“We will seal and demolish terrorists’ houses in an expedited fashion, in order to exact an additional price from those who supported terrorism. This process already started yesterday and is in progress,” Netanyahu said. 

Netanyahu sent his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those murdered in the “heinous and terrible attack.” The Israeli premier praised the “bravery shown by ordinary citizens” for shooting the terrorists and saving lives. 

He said the cabinet would discuss expediting the procedure by which Israelis can receive gun licenses, which in Israel is known for being a laborious process that is hindered by excessive red tape. The cabinet was also slated to discuss removing national insurance benefits from terrorists who hold Israeli citizenship or residency rights. 

Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai called on Israelis with firearm licenses to carry their guns. The IDF on Saturday deployed three more battalions in the West Bank amid the escalation of violence. (BB / VFI News)

“God, we ask for the protection of Israeli people, and the cessation of terrorist attacks against them. We offer our sincerest condolences to the victims’ families, and we hope that the survivors will be able to heal and recuperate quickly. May the terrorists that wish to harm Israel face justice for their hateful crimes.”

The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.

The United States on Friday, January 27, condemned the terrorist attack that happened in Jerusalem that same day. 

State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters that Washington is still gathering information about the attack, which he described as "absolutely horrific". Patel indicated that there are no changes to Secretary of State Antony Blinken's scheduled visit to Israel. 

US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides tweeted, “Horrific act of violence at a Jerusalem synagogue on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. I am shocked and disgusted at this heinous terrorist attack on innocent people, including children. Praying for all of the victims and their loved ones.” 

Opposition leader Yair Lapid commented on the attack and said, “A difficult and painful Erev Shabbat. The heart breaks when seeing the difficult sights. Terror in a synagogue, a criminal terrorist, a cold-blooded killer.”

“I send my condolences to the families who lost their dearest and wish recovery to the injured. The security forces neutralized the terrorist and will lay hands on anyone who helped him. Terrorism must not be allowed to rear its head, the terrorists and their senders must be dealt with harshly,” he added. 

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman said, “A shocking massacre tonight in Jerusalem. I send condolences to the families of the murdered, strengthen the security forces operating in the field and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded. The government must exact a heavy price from the perpetrators of the attack and their senders.” (INN / VFI News)

“God, we hope that there will be no more victims of terrorism in Israel, and that our allies will continue to speak out against such horrifying acts that endanger our people’s  security.”

Friday’s attack from Palestinian terrorist Alqam Khayri, was the deadliest Palestinian terror attack on Israelis since 2008. 

Videos posted to social media showed hundreds of Palestinians in at least 7 different cities marching and chanting in the streets, honking cars, firing rounds into the air from rifles, handing out candy, and igniting fireworks in jubilation over the terrorist attack. 

The morning after the shooting attack, another one took place, also in Jerusalem, when a 13-year-old Arab terrorist opened fire on a group of Israelis, severely wounding a father and son.

The Palestinian Authority issued a statement on Saturday, January 28, saying it holds Israel “fully responsible for the dangerous escalation” in violence, while failing to mention the two terror attacks. It also referred to the Palestinian terrorists as “martyrs.” 

The terrorists were planning a large-scale bombing attack against Israel. Gaza-based terror groups later launched a barrage of rockets into Israel. The Palestinian Authority announced it would be cutting security cooperation with Israel. (BB / VFI News)

“The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.” - Proverbs 5:22

Gazans fired several rockets toward southern Israel, and Israeli Air Force warplanes carried out sorties in the Gaza Strip early Friday, January 27, as tit-for-tat fighting broke out amid sky-high tensions following a West Bank raid that left nine Palestinians, most of whom were terrorists, dead, a day earlier. 

At least three rockets were fired from Gaza at around 3:30 a.m. Friday, as Israeli jets bombed sites said to belong to the Hamas terror group in retaliation for a rocket attack hours earlier. 

One of the rockets was intercepted by the Iron Dome air defense system, another landed in an open field, and a third fell short of the border, the army said, after alarms sounded in the towns Nir Oz, Ein Habesor and Magen. 

The Israel Defense Forces said it was also investigating after incoming sirens were activated near Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near the Gaza border. 

The rocket attacks came as Israeli jets carried out a series of bombing raids in the central Gaza Strip in response to Gazan terrorists firing two rockets toward Ashkelon at midnight. Both projectiles were intercepted by Iron Dome. 

The military said it targeted an underground facility where rockets are manufactured in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. It said the site was in an area surrounded by residential buildings and 180 meters (590 feet) from a storage facility maintained by UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees. Footage released by the military showed the site being bombed from the air. (TOI / VFI News)

“Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.” - Psalm 120:6

For those living in Israel, rocket attacks from Gaza are not uncommon. But in the towns of Ofakim, Netivot, and others in the south of Israel, the lack of shelters remains a huge problem. Most of the residents don’t have access to bomb shelters or safe rooms. During the recent Guardian of the Walls operation, a war that went on for 11 days, more than 4,360 rockets were fired at Israel. We were urgently contacted to help provide lifesaving equipment designed for these emergencies—specifically: mobile shelters. Watch as we deliver them, along with the hope of a safer future for their communities.

The Shin Bet uncovered a scheme in which Hamas terrorists in Gaza use Palestinians from the West Bank, sometimes without their knowledge, as aid in carrying out terror attacks, the intelligence agency revealed on Wednesday, January 25. 

This activity is managed by the "Bank Staff" - a Hamas body in Gaza that's managed by people once exiled from Israel in the Gilad Schalit deal. 

How does the scheme work? The terrorists in the Gaza Strip hide their real identities and pose as business companies, recruit young Palestinians from the West Bank for paid "work", and send them to carry out various tasks. 

Some of them were transferring funds meant for buying weapons for terror attacks, others transported packages with weapons or ammunition in them without knowing the true nature of their cargo. 

The weapons and funds handled by the unwitting delivery people were intended to ultimately be delivered to Hamas terrorists in the West Bank who are recruited from Gaza to carry out terror attacks. 

Furthermore, some of the messengers, who were in contact with Hamas terrorists in Gaza, had been charged with weapons trafficking in the past. As a result, some of them were indicted in a military court. One of the detainees is Salam Zid, a 27-year-old resident of the Jenin refugee camp. 

In July 2022, he was contacted by an unknown Facebook account with the name Khaled Talab. The user offered him a job in a Turkish delivery company that works in the West Bank. In the beginning, Zid was asked to deliver large sums of money worth thousands of shekels between various areas in the West Bank like Bethlehem, Ramallah and Hebron, but Zid didn't know that this was Hamas money.  (JPost / VFI News)

The EU on Monday, January 23, declined to sanction the 125,000-strong IRGC without a court decision from an EU nation that declares it is engaged in terrorist activities. The EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said that "It is something that cannot be decided without a court decision first. You cannot say I consider you a terrorist because I don't like you.” 

Norbert Röttgen, a Christian Democratic Union lawmaker in the German parliament, told Israeli media that the legal requirement for Germany and the EU to proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization has been met. 

Röttgen, who was chairman of the Bundestag Foreign Affairs Committee from 2014 to 2021, flatly rejected the arguments of the European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who claim there is not a court case to justify the classification of the IRGC as a terrorist entity. 

“All the legal requirements are fulfilled,” Röttgen said, adding that “currently the German attorney general is prosecuting terrorist attacks linked to the IRGC on several synagogues in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, and in the US there is a federal court decision against the IRGC for acts of terrorism.” 

The German parliamentarian said that “the German Foreign Ministry is pretending that there are legal obstacles to proscribing the IRGC. The foreign minister says that investigations or convictions in the EU are needed to list the Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group, but the European Court of Justice has clarified that investigations or convictions can also be from outside the EU for a group to be put on the terror list.”  (JPost / VFI News)

“Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent.” - Deuteronomy 16:19

Sixty-eight percent of online anti-Semitism originates in Palestinian or progressive pro-Palestinian circles – according to a new report on the state of anti-Semitism, by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, which was exposed by Minister Amichai Chikli during the cabinet meeting on Sunday morning, January 29. 

Chikli said that “anti-Semitism is changing the way it manifests and it is increasingly focusing on hatred towards the Jewish state and the denial of its right to exist.” 

Chikli shared that most of the anti-Semitic discourse on social media, 68%, according to the comprehensive research carried out by the Diaspora Affairs Ministry, “originates in Palestinian or in progressive pro-Palestinian circles.” 

Chikli added that even though there has been a decrease in anti-Semitic incidents around the world, “there has been a noticeable jump in the number of anti-Semitic incidents specifically in the US, where a hostile atmosphere is emerging on some college campuses towards Jewish students, especially if they identify as Zionists.” 

 “The State of Israel has a duty to lead the fight against anti-Semitism and to act in order to expand the adoption of the IHRA definition [for anti-Semitism], in as many countries and institutions as possible."

In addition, the Diaspora affairs report specified a sharp increase of 13% in the scope of violent anti-Semitic events in 2022 compared to 2021. The report also showed a significant increase in anti-Semitic discourse online, compared to the last five years and in relation to 2021 in particular. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that Jewish people are shielded from anti-Semitism and don’t have to face discrimination, prejudice and violent attacks. We hope that more research will be conducted, so that the real culprits become exposed and prevented from spreading anti-Semitic hate onwards.”

Israeli scientists have developed a substance that overcomes antibiotic resistance by “pricking bacteria to death,” researchers at Ben Gurion University told Israeli media on Friday, January 27, in a breakthrough that could help combat a major threat to global health. 

The substance contains “nano needles” which have a lethal effect on bacteria, and will be developed into topical creams and antibacterial coatings for surfaces, the scientists said, noting that it has shown 90% effectiveness in killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria in lab conditions. 

When bacteria stop being affected by antibiotics, it is known as antibiotic resistance, and these pathogens are sometimes colloquially called superbugs. The World Health Organization considers this phenomenon “one of the biggest threats to global health.”

 As antibiotics work by interfering with specific functions of bacteria, researchers at Ben Gurion University in Beersheba decided to try a different approach: physically destroying the bacteria. 

“Most antibiotics in use today work by affecting functions inside the bacteria, but our solution attacks the outside of the pathogen instead,” Nofar Yehuda, one of the scholars, told Israeli media. “Our solution is a material of tiny ‘nano needles’ that are basically poking the bacteria to death.” 

The key ingredient is polysaccharides — long chains of carbohydrate molecules — derived from sea algae. They created the new substance by mixing the polysaccharides with tiny copper particles. (TOI / VFI News)

“This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” - Proverbs 3:8

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.
 
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