Bennett Says Israel ‘Moving from Defense to Offense’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
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Bennett Says Israel ‘Moving from Defense to Offense’

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during a cabinet meeting (AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett tried to justify the widespread escalation in the West Bank and the massive arrest campaigns among political activists saying Israel was moving from defense to offense.

Speaking at a weekly cabinet meeting, Bennett said, "We are moving from defense to offense, and attacking the sources of terrorism, anytime, anywhere, at night, during the day, in the morning, in the evening, and wherever they are."

During the session, Bennett, the Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Public Security Minister Omer Barlev, and all security leaders left the meeting to conduct "security deliberations" about the army and intelligence activities in the West Bank, Jenin, and Nablus.

"As I said, there will be no restrictions on the security forces, on the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Israel Police. We will continue to pursue the terrorists everywhere," he said.

Gantz revealed that he delivered a "strong message to the Palestinian Authority" to take action to protect Joseph's Tomb in Nablus and punish the violators.

He said that Israel will work quickly to "ensure that the site is refurbished and quickly returned to its original condition."

Israeli forces continued their escalation for the third day in a row on Monday in the northern areas of the West Bank, injuring dozens and arresting 25 people suspected of assisting the perpetrators of the armed operations.

Clashes erupted between the Palestinians and Israeli forces.

"Dear citizens, we are in a difficult and challenging period. It could be that it will be prolonged. The second intifada took several years, but in the end, we won. The wave of lone-wolf terrorism in 2015-2016 continued for almost a year and cost us 50 victims, but in the end, we won. This time too, we will win,." said Bennett addressing Israelis.

The PM stated that lone attacks without organizational infrastructure are a significant challenge for the security establishment, but it will meet them.

"Our enemies will seek out every crack and exploit every opportunity to attack us."

Political sources revealed that the Israeli government approved a proposal submitted by Bennett, Lapid, and Minister of Welfare and Social Affairs Meir Cohen to establish a team to formulate a policy on revoking the eligibility for "state pensions, support payments, and the other benefits from state bodies of the families of terrorists who are residents and citizens of Israel and who carried out security offenses and acts of terrorism."

The team will formulate recommendations and present them to the cabinet on the relevant issues, including advice regarding necessary legislative changes.

Bennett said: "We will settle accounts with terrorists and with the circles that surround them."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army issued Sunday a demolition order for the home of a Palestinian Diaa Hamarsheh, who carried out the Bnei Brak operation about two weeks ago.

Hamrasha is from Yabad village in the northern West Bank. The occupation army handed the family a demolition notice and a deadline to appeal the order.



UN Force Says Israeli Work on Syrian Frontier Saw 'Severe Violations' of Ceasefire

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Israeli forces digging along the Alpha Line separating the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights from a demilitarized zone in Syria patrolled by United Nations forces on Nov. 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Israeli forces digging along the Alpha Line separating the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights from a demilitarized zone in Syria patrolled by United Nations forces on Nov. 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
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UN Force Says Israeli Work on Syrian Frontier Saw 'Severe Violations' of Ceasefire

This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Israeli forces digging along the Alpha Line separating the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights from a demilitarized zone in Syria patrolled by United Nations forces on Nov. 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Israeli forces digging along the Alpha Line separating the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights from a demilitarized zone in Syria patrolled by United Nations forces on Nov. 5, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

United Nations peacekeepers warned Tuesday that the Israeli military has committed “severe violations” of a cease-fire deal with Syria as its military continues a major construction project along the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights from Syria.

The comments from the UN Disengagement Observer Force, which has patrolled the area since 1974, come after an Associated Press report Monday that published satellite imagery showing the extent of the works along the frontier.

The work, which UNDOF said began in July, follows the completion by the Israeli military of new roadways and what appears to be a buffer zone along the Gaza Strip’s frontier with Israel. The Israel military also has begun demolishing villages in Lebanon, where other UN peacekeepers have come under fire.

While such violence hasn't broken out along the Alpha Line, UNDOF warned the work risked further inflaming tensions in the region.

“Such severe violations of the (demilitarized zone) have the potential to increase tensions in the area and is being closely monitored by by UNDOF,” it added.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Syrian officials have declined to comment on the construction, though UNDOF described Syria as having “strongly protested” the work, the AP reported.

High-resolution images taken on Nov. 5 by Planet Labs PBC for the AP show over 7.5 kilometers (4.6 miles) of construction along the Alpha Line, starting some 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) southeast of the Israeli-held Druze town of Majdal Shams. That's the town where a July rocket strike killed 12 children playing soccer.

The images appear to show a trench between two embankments, parts of which appear to have been laid with fresh asphalt. There also appears to be fencing running along it as well toward the Syrian side.

The construction follows a southeast route before heading due south along the Alpha Line, and then again cutting southeast. The images show excavators and other earth-moving equipment actively digging along the route, with more asphalt piled there. The area is also believed to be littered with unexploded ordnance and mines from decades of conflict.

As Israel conducted the construction work, which UNDOF described as “extensive engineering groundwork activities,” it has protected earth-moving equipment with armored vehicles and main battle tanks, the peacekeepers said Tuesday. Troops and earth-moving equipment have crossed the Alpha Line into the demilitarized zone in Syria, known to UNDOF as the “area of separation.”

“Violations of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement have occurred where engineering works have encroached into the AOS,” the peacekeepers said in a statement, using an acronym for the area. “There have been several violations by (Israel) in the form of their presence in the AOS because of these activities.”

UNDOF has repeatedly protested the work, which it described as violating the cease-fire deal over the months of construction so far.

“Based on the engagement, (Israel) has indicated that the current earthworks are being carried out for defensive purpose to prevent unauthorized crossing and violations by civilians,” the peacekeepers added.

Israel sent a 71-page letter in June to the UN outlining what it described as “Syrian violations of the Alpha Line and armed presence in the area of separation (that) occur daily.” The letter cited numerous Israeli-alleged violations by Syrian civilians crossing the line.

Syria has constantly accused Israel of launching attacks against it from territory it occupies in the Golan Heights. Israel has frequently struck Syria over the years, particularly after the start of the Mideast wars following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault on Israel.

Israel seized control of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. The UN Secretary Council voted to create UNDOF to patrol a roughly 400-square-kilometer (155-square-mile) demilitarized zone and maintain the peace there after the 1973 Mideast war. A second demarcation, known as the Bravo Line, marks the limit of where the Syrian military can operate.

UNDOF has around 1,100 troops, mostly from Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Uruguay, who patrol the area.

Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 — a move criticized by a UN resolution declaring Israel’s action as “null and void and without international legal effect.” The territory, some 1,200 square kilometers (460 square miles) in size, is a strategic high ground that overlooks both Israel and Syria.

Around 50,000 Jewish settlers and Arabs who are mostly members of the Druze sect live there.

In 2019, President Donald Trump unilaterally announced that the United States would “fully recognize” Israel’s control of the territory, a decision that has been unchanged by the Biden administration. However, it's the only other country to do so, as the rest of the world views it as occupied Syrian territory.