November 20, 2020

Education Minister Galant Opens High School in Samaria

Bahrain Announces Plans to Open Embassy in Israel

Report: Iran Feeding Uranium Gas into Advanced Underground Centrifuges

Erdan Demands Immediate Action on Hezbollah

Tel Aviv Among World's Most Wheelchair-Friendly Cities

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At least 10 people were killed and more injured in Israeli airstrikes in Syria overnight, a monitor group reported Wednesday morning.

Israeli military aircraft struck Syrian air defense batteries and an army base used by Iran’s Quds Force in Syria late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning.

The Israeli aircraft bombed a Syrian army air defense center, as well as a regional headquarters for the Quds Force in Syria and supply depots and weapons caches used by pro-Iranian forces.

The targets were struck in Damascus and south of the capital, including in Sayyidah Zaynab and Kiswah.

A total of 10 fatalities were reported, all of them combatants, the SOHR said.

The casualties included three Syrian air defense personnel, five Iranians, and two pro-Iranian fighters whose identity has yet to be confirmed. They are likely either Lebanese or Iraqi nationals, the SOHR report said. (INN / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you bring peace to the region, and end the need for conflict.”

The IDF has found improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in Israeli territory near the border with Syria in the southern Golan Heights, the military said on Tuesday.

Engineering units neutralized the explosives that were found close to where the IDF thwarted an attempt by terrorists to place explosives about three months ago.

“The IDF considers the Syrian regime responsible for any action taken in its territory and will not allow any violation of Israeli sovereignty,” the military said in a statement.

Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who was on a tour of the Northern Command on Tuesday said that the Syrian state was responsible for the explosives that were found. (JPost / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect your people from all harm.”

Education Minister Yoav Galant (Likud) and the head of the Samaria Regional Council, Yossi Dagan, attended the event marking the inauguration of a yeshiva high school building in the community of Bruchin in the heart of the Samaria region.

The event, held according to Health Ministry guidelines, was also attended by the deputy head of the Regional Council, Davidi Ben Tziyon, various officials from the Education Ministry and the Amit educational network, community leaders from Bruchin, and the dean of the new institution, Rabbi Yair Shtebun.

Speaking at the event, Minister Galant said: “I am delighted to be here in order to celebrate the inauguration of this new building for a yeshiva high school in Bruchin, together with my good friend Yossi Dagan, who has done so much to develop Jewish settlement in the Samaria region and specifically to advance the educational network here. This new building will serve all the students of the local communities and neighborhoods that have been established in the area in the last few years.” (INN / VFI News)

Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. - 1 Timothy 4:12

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Israel Wednesday, following the arrival of a delegation from Bahrain.

The Palestinian Authority protested as Pompeo was expected to become the first US top diplomat to visit a Jewish community in Judea or Samaria, with a planned trip to a vineyard in the Samaria town of Psagot, which named one of its wines after him.

Pompeo is on a Europe and Middle East tour that has so far taken him to France, Turkey, and Georgia.

He flew to Israel on the same day as the foreign minister of Bahrain, one of several Arab states that have agreed under US-brokered pacts to normalize relations with the Jewish state.

Pompeo is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bahrain's Foreign Minister Abdellatif al-Zayani at the start of his two-day visit.

Zayani said his trip, the first official visit to the Jewish state by a Bahraini official, marked "a further step on our journey towards a better, more peaceful, more secure and more prosperous Middle East." (INN / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you continue to foster peace and cooperation in the region.”

Bahrain's Foreign Minister announced Wednesday afternoon that his country is preparing to open an embassy in Israel, just months after formal relations were established between the two countries.

"We are initiating the process of opening an embassy in Israel," said Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif Rashid Al-Zayani after arriving in Jerusalem Wednesday.

At the same time, Israel confirmed that it has received approval from Bahrain to open an embassy in the Bahraini capital city of Manama.

Al-Zayani landed in Israel Wednesday morning, leading the first delegation ever from Bahrain to the Jewish state.

He was accompanied by Trump envoy Avi Berkowitz, and met with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White) at Ben Gurion International Airport, before heading to Jerusalem for planned meetings with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. (INN / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you continue to bless the new friendships Israel has made.”

Iran has begun feeding uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas feedstock into the advanced IR-2m uranium-enriching centrifuges installed at its underground plant in Natanz nuclear facility, according to a UN nuclear watchdog report on Wednesday.

The move is the latest nuclear standoff escalation by Iran with the US, Israel, and their allies.

According to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the Islamic Republic can only accumulate enriched uranium with first-generation IR-1 machines, which are the only ones it can operate at the underground plant. The Obama-era deal is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

 A previous International Atomic Energy Agency report said that Iran had installed IR-2m machines underground.

Until Iran’s new breach on Wednesday, it was unclear whether Tehran had taken the incoming Biden administration into account with its moves at Natanz. (JPost / VFI News)

Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6

Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan submitted on Tuesday an official letter to the UN Security Council (UNSC) demanding it takes immediate action against Hezbollah's military buildup and continued activity in southern Lebanon.

Erdan's appeal to the council follows a quarterly report recently submitted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that focuses on the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, which came into effect during the 2006 Second Lebanon War, and was meant to resolve the conflict.

One of the resolution's original conditions was "the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of July 27, 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state." 

Guterres' report, however, pointed at severe violations of that resolution by Hezbollah, which, according to the report, has been advancing military buildup in southern Lebanon - a claim that has been made by IDF officials on multiple occasions.   (JPost / VFI News)

When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. - Proverbs 21:15

Tel Aviv has been ranked as one of the most wheelchair-friendly cities in the world by London-based Truly Belong magazine.

"The eclectic city has made great strides in recent years to become fully accessible to people with disabilities. Almost all of the city’s intercity bus lines can be accessed by wheelchair and offer various technologies for the visually impaired, including bus stations that announce upcoming buses and line numbers over a speaker system," the magazine reported.

"Stringent construction codes also ensure that all new buildings must offer wheelchair access, and almost every store and restaurant in the city is equipped with ramps."

The city's municipality has worked hard over the years to ensure that the city is wheelchair-friendly to all who need it.  

"Wheelchair-assisted tourists exploring Tel Aviv will find the city quite navigable," the municipality website states. "It is flat in most places, so even those without a motorized chair will find moving about to be relatively easy – in crowded places as well. Several guided group tours have been designed especially for wheelchair-bound visitors." (JPost / VFI News)

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. - Matthew 5:16

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10 Dead in Israeli Airstrikes on Syria