Terrorist missiles hit Eilat

‘Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day and this morning we received a painful reminder of the reality in which we exist’

Wednesday, April 17, 2013  Israel Today Staff

Two missiles slammed into the southern Israel resort town of Eilat early Wednesday morning, causing damage to a residential area, but, miraculously, no injuries.

Area children, who had only recently arrived for school, were rushed to bomb shelters.

Israeli forces said the missiles were fired from the Sinai Peninsula, where various regional terrorist groups including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda are known to have set up shop in recent years.

Egypt initially rejected reports that the attack had emanated from Sinai, but later Egyptian forces began searching the area for possible launch sites.

Israeli Water and Energy Minister Silvan Shalom spoke for the government when he issued the following statement:

“Yesterday we celebrated Independence Day and this morning we received a painful reminder of the reality in which we exist. The shooting highlights our need to protect ourselves and not put our fate in the hands of others.”

Later in the day a Salafi Muslim group calling itself the Mujahedeen Shura Council claimed credit for the attack, announcing on its website that its fighters had managed to “target occupied Eilat with two Grad rockets.”

 

Israeli hackers strike back

Sunday, April 07, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff

Last week international computer hackers operating under the umbrella group Anonymous threatened to “erase Israel from the Internet” in a massive coordinated attack scheduled for today. By mid-morning Sunday, that attack had largely failed, and Israeli hackers had scored some blows of their own against the foreign assailants.

There was an increase in cyber attacks against Israeli government computer systems and the websites of local banks, as well as numerous smaller websites and networks. But nearly all of those attacks were repelled by Israel’s growing network of cyber defenses.

“There is hardly any real damage,” Yitzhak Ben Yisrael of Israel’s National Cyber Bureau told the Associated Press. “Anonymous doesn’t have the skills to damage the country’s vital infrastructure.”

A number of smaller Israeli websites were defaced temporarily, and in retaliation Israeli hackers defaced the websites of Islamist groups across the region.

More impressively, Israeli hackers penetrated the website associated with the Anonymous campaign against Israel – opisrael.com. Instead of reading about Anonymous’ anti-Israel views, those visiting opisrael.com on Sunday morning were instead presented with a pro-Israel banner and a long list of facts regarding the legitimacy of Israel and the history of the Jewish people.

The Israelis were operating under the newly formed banner of the Israeli Elite

 

 

Israel braces for massive cyber-offensive | The Times of Israel

 

Israel braces for massive cyber-offensive | The Times of Israel.

 

Israeli army expects new terrorist uprising

Sunday, February 24, 2013 |  Israel Today Staff

Israel has a new government (or will soon) and a new minister in charge of peace negotiations with the Palestinians, but Israel’s military chiefs expect anything but peace in the near term. In fact, they are preparing for war.

An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officer from the Central Command told Army Radio on Thursday that a new analysis of the situation suggests it is far more likely the Palestinians will launch a new wave of terrorism than return to the negotiating table.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has been rebuffing peace overtures from Israel for the past two years. The officer stated that if US President Barack Obama is unable in his upcoming visit to strong-arm Israel into meeting Abbas’ preconditions for talks, it is anticipated the Palestinians will turn to violence.

That is precisely the way the second intifada (or Oslo War) began in 2000, after Yasser Arafat did not receive 100 percent of what he demanded from the Israelis at Camp David.

The officer said a new uprising could also be sparked by renewed cross-border attacks on Israel from either Gaza or Lebanon.

In preparation for this, Israeli troops are currently undergoing regular training for brief, intense bouts of terrorist violence in urban settings.

 

Israel’s enemies turn on one another

Both Hamas and Hezbollah find themselves at risk of open warfare with rival Islamist groups in Gaza and Lebanon-Syria

Thursday, February 21, 2013  Israel Today Staff

It is a given that without the common enemy of Israel, many of the Middle East’s factions would be warring with one another. This is becoming more apparent as a result of the various “Arab Spring” uprisings.

Two of Israel’s most active foes – Hamas and Hezbollah – are currently in danger of being swept up in intra-Arab violence that could cripple their respective ability to threaten the Jewish state.

In Gaza, Hamas has of late found itself in competition with groups affiliated with Al Qaeda and Global Jihad for the hearts of minds of local Palestinians. In response, Hamas has reportedly started rounding up and jailing its rivals.

The information arm of Global Jihad has issued a warning that if Hamas does not cease this activity, it’s cells in Gaza will target Hamas interests and reignite violence with Israel, thereby inviting an Israeli assault on the Hamas regime. That according to Israeli monitoring group Terror Watch.

Along the Lebanon-Syria border, Syrian rebels battling the regime of Bashar Assad are becoming fed up with Hezbollah’s support for the embattled dictator. Hezbollah forces have crossed into Syria and are said to be taking part in battles against the rebel Free Syrian Army. More recently, Hezbollah began firing artillery across the border.

Free Syrian Army officials told the AFP that if the cross-border fire does not stop within 48 hours, Syrian rebel forces will return fire and might even invade Lebanon in order to eliminate the Hezbollah threat.