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Israel Warns Advanced Cruise Missiles Could Fall in Hands of Armed Groups

A tomahawk cruise missile launches from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup for a live-fire exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 in the Philippine Sea, September 18, 2018. (Reuters)
A tomahawk cruise missile launches from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup for a live-fire exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 in the Philippine Sea, September 18, 2018. (Reuters)
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Israel Warns Advanced Cruise Missiles Could Fall in Hands of Armed Groups

A tomahawk cruise missile launches from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup for a live-fire exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 in the Philippine Sea, September 18, 2018. (Reuters)
A tomahawk cruise missile launches from the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup for a live-fire exercise during Valiant Shield 2018 in the Philippine Sea, September 18, 2018. (Reuters)

The Israeli security and military leaders have expressed their concern on Sunday over the development advanced cruise missiles, which can fly at supersonic speeds, that can fall in the hands of armed groups.

They said the Middle East is witnessing an unprecedented arms race whereby countries and various armed groups are knocking on the doors of the world’s leading arms producers, the United States, China and Russia, all of whom are known for manufacturing the advanced cruise missiles.

They voiced fears that the missiles may land in the hands of “Israel’s enemies” and “terrorist organizations”. Israeli sources predicted that China could be the greatest arms supplies for these groups.

“The greatest fear comes from the proven fact that nearly all weapons that are made in China eventually end up in the Middle East,” they added.

expressed its worries Sunday from the development of new cruise missiles with a pace exceeding the speed of sound, while it uncovered a US Congress draft law prohibiting Washington to sell arms to any Arab state without Tel Aviv’s approval.

Israel’s Channel 12 military correspondent, Nir Dvori, said the advanced cruise missiles possess a very quick ability to maneuver in the field, changing entry routes and making it difficult for the Israeli defense system to deal with their speed.

Separately, lawmakers at the US House of Representatives introduced a bipartisan bill that could allow Israel to veto any American arms sales to the Arab countries.

The proposed bill "would require the President to consult with the Israeli government to ensure [qualitative military edge] concerns are settled" in respect to weapons sales to Middle Eastern countries, read a statement by the office of lead sponsor Representative Brad Schneider.

The proposed legislation also asks the US President to inform the Congress of the potential impact of the planned deal on Israel’s military superiority in the region, no later than 60 days after receiving a request to sell arms and military equipment to countries in the Middle East.

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Arab World

Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
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Anxiety Clouds Easter for West Bank Christians

Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP
Residents of the West Bank town of Zababdeh say its church bells are often drowned out by the roar of Israeli air force jets headed for action nearby. - AFP

In the mainly Christian Palestinian town of Zababdeh, the runup to Easter has been overshadowed by nearby Israeli military operations, which have proliferated in the occupied West Bank alongside the Gaza war.

This year unusually Easter falls on the same weekend for all of the town's main Christian communities -- Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican --- and residents have attempted to busy themselves with holiday traditions like making date cakes or getting ready for the scout parade.

But their minds have been elsewhere.

Dozens of families from nearby Jenin have found refuge in Zababdeh from the continual Israeli military operations that have devastated the city and its adjacent refugee camp this year.

"The other day, the (Israeli) army entered Jenin, people were panicking, families were running to pick up their children," said Zababdeh resident Janet Ghanam.

"There is a constant fear, you go to bed with it, you wake up with it," the 57-year-old Anglican added, before rushing off to one of the last Lenten prayers before Easter.

Ghanam said her son had told her he would not be able to visit her for Easter this year, for fear of being stuck at the Israeli military roadblocks that have mushroomed across the territory.

Zabadeh's Anglican church was busy in the runup to Easter but across the West Bank Christian communities have been in sharp decline as people emigrate in search of a better life abroad.

Zabadeh looks idyllic, nestled in the hills of the northern West Bank, but the roar of Israeli air force jets sometimes drowns out the sound of its church bells.

"It led to a lot of people to think: 'Okay, am I going to stay in my home for the next five years?'" said Saleem Kasabreh, an Anglican deacon in the town.

"Would my home be taken away? Would they bomb my home?"

- 'Existential threat' -

Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967 and in recent months far-right ministers in its coalition government have called for the annexation of swathes of the territory.

Kasabreh said this "existential threat" was compounded by constant "depression" at the news from Gaza, where the death toll from the Israel's response to Hamas's October 2023 attack now tops 51,000, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Work has been hard to find for Zababdeh's mainly Christian residents since Israel rescinded Palestinian work permits following the October 2023 attack by Hamas that sparked the Gaza war.

Zababdeh has been spared the devastation wreaked on Gaza, but the mayor's office says nearly 450 townspeople lost their jobs in Israel when Palestinian work permits were rescinded after the Hamas attack.

"Israel had never completely closed us in the West Bank before this war," said 73-year-old farmer Ibrahim Daoud. "Nobody knows what will happen".

Many say they are stalked by the spectre of exile, with departures abroad fuelling fears that Christians may disappear from the Holy Land.

"People can't stay without work and life isn't easy," said 60-year-old maths teacher Tareq Ibrahim.

Mayor Ghassan Daibes echoed his point.

"For a Christian community to survive, there must be stability, security and decent living conditions. It's a reality, not a call for emigration," he said.

"But I´m speaking from lived experience: Christians used to make up 30 percent of the population in Palestine; today, they are less than one percent.

"And this number keeps decreasing. In my own family, I have three brothers abroad -- one in Germany, the other two in the United States."

Catholic priest Father Elias Tabban insists the hard times his congregation has been going though have deepened their faith.

Catholic priest Elias Tabban adopted a more stoical attitude, insisting his congregation's spirituality had never been so vibrant.

"Whenever the Church is in hard times... (that's when) you see the faith is growing," Tabban said.