VFI News August 19, 2022

On August 14 around 1:30 am, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire on two different locations – firstly at a bus on the road near the Western Wall, and subsequently in a nearby parking lot, adjacent to King David’s Tomb.

The shooting resulted in 7 people being wounded in total, with two of them in serious condition. The terrorist reportedly started shooting while people were boarding the bus and injured a pregnant woman in her abdomen. 6 hours after the attack, he turned himself in and was taken for questioning.

Among the wounded were brothers Duvi (16) and Elazar (19) Prover from Telzstone, a suburb of Jerusalem, who were in the Old City when the Palestinian terrorist opened fire.

“We were getting on the bus,” Duvi told Kikar Ha’Shabbat. “I didn’t even realize I was shot. I was in the middle of helping a woman in a wheelchair get on the bus. My brother Elazar was tying a tourniquet on a seriously injured victim. The paramedic told him on the way to the hospital that he had saved his life.”

“Both my brother and I were saved by a miracle,” Duvi said. “The bullet simply entered on one side and came out from the other.”

Their brother Yair described the prognosis. “The orthopedists at Hadassah said that Duvi had amazing luck regarding the location of the injury. It was truly a miracle. If the bullet had hit a few centimeters deeper, he wouldn’t be alive. It was a huge miracle because five minutes earlier, a bus full of people passed by the station, and then my brothers’ bus arrived, which was much emptier. This was the bus that was hit and since it was emptier, there were fewer injuries.” (I365N / VFI News)

He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. - Job 5:9

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.

A Hamas terrorist was accidentally killed by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, during Operation Breaking Dawn, according to information released by Hamas and Palestinian media during the conflict, together with corroborating statements made on Sunday, August 14, by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit.

On August 7, the last day of the three-day battle, Palestinian and Israeli media reported that an explosive had struck a house in the central Gaza town of Bureij. Three boys, 13-year-old twins, and a 9-year-old, were killed in the explosion, and their father was injured, it was initially reported that evening.

While Israeli media only reported three deaths as a result of the incident in Bureij, other media outlets reported just over an hour later, that the father, Yasser Nimr Al-Nabahin, had died of his injuries.

Hamas's military wing, The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, immediately published a notice of his death. Nabahin was described by the terrorist group as an “al-Qassam mujahid” (holy warrior) and one of the military wing’s “loyal knights.”

US media reported last Monday that Nabahin was an off-duty “Hamas-affiliated” policeman, and Palestinian media also reported that the Gaza Interior Ministry had him on its payroll as a police officer. The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), however, previously stated that Hamas police serve in a “dual function” with the al-Qassam Brigades, “de facto still part of Hamas combat troops, participating in military activity against the IDF.”

The incident in Bureij was the result of the failed launching of a rocket by Islamic Jihad against Israel, Jewish and Israeli media reported on August 7, according to a preliminary IDF inquiry. The Associated Press last Monday also described the incident as “suspicious,” listing it with other possible Islamic Jihad rocket accidents.

On Sunday evening, the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit confirmed that a misfired rocket was responsible for the Bureij incident. (JPost / VFI News)

The Israel Defense Forces on Monday, August 15, revealed it discovered and “foiled” a tunnel dug by the Hamas terror group in the northern Gaza Strip, that crossed into Israeli territory, though it did not manage to penetrate Israel’s border barrier.

According to the IDF, the “terror tunnel,” which had two branches, did not pose a danger to Israeli towns along the border, as Israel has a high-tech underground wall protecting its southern towns against Gazan attack tunnels, which once posed a major threat.

Israel’s subterranean barrier — an underground reinforced concrete wall that is studded with sensors to detect tunnels — runs parallel to the overground border — a 20-foot (six-meter) steel fence — inside Israeli territory, several dozen meters from the internationally marked border.

The IDF also has a network of radar arrays, other surveillance sensors, and remote-controlled weaponry along the border. The IDF said it had found the tunnel as part of a “constant and ongoing effort to locate terror tunnels and neutralize them.”

“This is an attack tunnel with two branches, which crossed into Israeli territory but did not cross the new security barrier, and therefore did not pose a risk to the residents of Israel at any stage,” said Brig. Gen. Nimrod Aloni, the outgoing commander of the IDF’s Gaza Division.

He appeared to be indicating that had Hamas members exited the tunnel, they would have still faced Israel’s tall fence running along the border. According to Aloni, a part of the tunnel had been struck during May 2021’s 11-day war between Israel and Hamas but had since been repaired and rebuilt, including the two new branches which extended into Israel.

The IDF did not say exactly how deep the tunnel was but said its entrance was in the Gaza City area. The tunnel was rendered inoperable after the military poured massive amounts of concrete into the two passages. (TOI / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you keep Israel protected, and give us the means to be vigilant, cautious, and alert, so as to maintain peace in our land.”

Iran made a counteroffer to the European Union’s “final” draft to renew the 2015 nuclear deal, at midnight on Monday, August 15, the deadline set by Brussels.

Mohammad Marandi, a spokesperson for Iran’s nuclear-negotiating team, tweeted on Tuesday that Tehran “wants to make sure that if the current or future US president withdraws from a deal, the US will ‘have to pay a price.’”

“This is the best way to protect a potential deal,” Marandi added. “If the US doesn’t have to pay a price for violating or leaving a future deal, history will repeat itself.”

Earlier, Marandi reportedly told, “I can’t say there will be a deal, but we’re closer than we’ve been before.” Iran’s response, as one diplomatic source put it, was a “yes, but,” rather than keeping with the EU’s “take it or leave it” formulation. Tehran essentially responded to the EU’s deadline by trying to extend it and continue negotiations, the source said. (JPost/ VFI News)

“Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.” - Psalm 2:10-11

Holocaust survivors are some of the bravest people you will ever meet; they have lived lives full of extraordinary hardship and trauma and yet chose to pioneer Israel to rebuild their lives and create new families. Unfortunately, after giving their hearts and souls to fight for Israel and populate it, they find themselves often forgotten and neglected by society, needing help, and in need of company in their old and vulnerable age. That is why Vision for Israel organizes celebration events full of fun to honor them and show that they are still seen. We fill the tables with food, elevate their joy with music and dancing and spend time showing them just how much we value them.

Iran’s hardliners have threatened to kill former US president Donald Trump and his secretary of state Mike Pompeo following the stabbing of Sir Salman Rushdie - allegedly by Hadi Matar, a Muslim who has been praised by the religious regime in Tehran.

A media outlet, whose editor is personally selected by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has suggested that after Rushdie, “it is now the turn of Trump and Pompeo”.

“God has taken his revenge on Rushdie. The attack on him shows it is not a difficult job to take similar revenge on Trump and Pompeo and from now on they will feel more in danger for their lives,” reads the paper’s front-page editorial.

“If the conditions for a fair trial of Mr. Trump and Mr. Pompeo and other criminals become available, they will be charged for committing this heinous crime and will face the consequence of their criminal actions. However, let there be no doubt that I say here to all American statesmen that the hand of revenge will eventually come out of the sleeve of our nation.” (TT/VFI News)

A French-Iranian academic held in Iran for the past three years in a case that has raised tensions between Tehran and Paris has returned to prison after a brief furlough, her supporters said.

Fariba Adelkhah was last week allowed to leave Tehran’s Evin prison for five days. Hopes that the measure may be extended were not fulfilled, her support group said in a statement published late Sunday, August 14.

“Unfortunately, Fariba’s five-day leave was not extended, or transformed into house arrest,” it said. “It gave her a break, but it’s still bad news.”

Activists say that at least 20 foreign and dual nationals are being held by Tehran on baseless charges, in a deliberate policy of hostage diplomacy aimed at extracting concessions from the West.

It is relatively common for prisoners in Iran to be allowed brief leave for a time at home with families before returning to jail. A specialist in Shiite Islam and a research director at Sciences Po university in Paris, Adelkhah was arrested in June 2019 along with her French colleague and partner Roland Marchal. (TOI / VFI News)

Israel's men's team took home a gold medal in the marathon team competition at the European Championships, held in the German city of Munich, 50 years after the massacre at the 1972 Olympics that claimed the lives of 11 Israeli athletes.

Israeli runners Marhu Teferi and Gashau Ayala won the silver and bronze medals, with the former finishing in second place and the latter in third.

At this year's competition in Munich, it was decided that medals would be awarded to both - individual athletes and teams. The teams' final place was to be determined by the best overall result of its three fastest runners.

Teferi was even close to taking a gold medal for himself, but German athlete Richard Ringer passed him right as they were nearing the finish line. The two were immediately followed by Ayala. (YNN/ VFI News)

“God, we thank you for allowing Israeli athletes to enhance our reputation, so that we can foster good relationships and maintain prosperity.”

Using technology originally intended to find deposits of subterranean water on Mars, Israeli start-up ASTERRA’s satellite-image analysis software can now detect deposits of lithium under Earth’s surface from space.

Currently one of the tech manufacturing market’s most sought-after minerals, lithium is used in electric vehicles, semiconductors, chips, cell phones – anywhere you find a battery, you’ll probably see lithium in use.

As such, the company’s tech development discovery is a remarkable windfall, and ASTERRA has registered a patent for the new use of its technology in finding lithium reservoirs around the world, while still developing its water-finding capabilities.

Under founder Lauren Guy’s management, ASTERRA launched its CTO office (which Guy now helms) at the beginning of 2022, aiming to expand the technology’s uses to additional verticals and find other natural resources under the ground – the company decided to focus its efforts on lithium first, given its increasing demand and currently insufficient supply. (JPost / VFI News)

However, there need be no poor people among you, for in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess as your inheritance, he will richly bless you. - Deuteronomy 15:4

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

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