Tag: Gaza

Israel’s air defenses that were busy in recent weeks repelling rocket attacks from Syria and the Gaza strip succeeded yesterday, for the first time, to defeat Palestinian mortar attacks that targeted Israel's border villages. In the four years since operation ‘Pillar of Defense’, the last conflict that erupted between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza, Iron Dome went through several spiral developmental cycles to expand the system’s capabilities against new threats, such as unmanned aerial vehicles and mortars. Yesterday, the system demonstrated for the first time, in combat conditions, its capacity to defeat a barrage of mortar bombs.

A series of blasts rocked the Gaza district of Sheikh Radwan, a Hamas stronghold. The blasts wounded two people and destroyed at least five cars belonging to Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants. The blasts come amid a power struggle between Hamas and Islamist extremist groups in Gaza. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Israel's defense electronics company RADA was recently awarded an order to supply tactical radar systems for a national alert system

As it seems, Egypt is already involved in a “full-fledged war” against Islamist groups. President al-Sisi enhanced his anti-terrorism narrative to enforce brutal crackdowns on the Muslim Brotherhood opposition. The Egyptian government actually declared the group a terrorist organization earlier this year -- but Egypt is still facing an escalation of extremist activity.

AQAP militants execute 14 soldiers in Hadarmout, amid sectarian fighting in Yeme | Overloaded Iraqi Mi-17 crash on a rescue mission to Sinjar | West provide air support, sending arms, advisors to assist Iraqi Kurds | ISIL regain grip of Deir el-Zor rural area in East Syria | US conducts air strikes against ISIL near Erbil | White House authorise humanitarian support to Iraqi minorities, air strikes targeting ISIS | US missile cruiser enroute to the Black Sea | 40,000 stranded on Sinjar mountain under ISIS death threats | France to speed up arms for Lebanon | Pakistan air strikes hit militants in Datta-khel, North Waziristan | US general killed by Afghan 'insider attack' | Egypt, Algeria align against Libyan extremists | 32 Strike Tunnels Destroyed in Gaza | Lebanon: ISIS Takes the town of Ersal | AQAP jihadists kill 9 Yemeni soldiers | Two Terror attacks rock Jerusalem | Iraqi Air Force to assist Kurds fighting ISIS | 23 Syrians killed by barrel bombs in Idlib

Operation 'Protective Edge' will be remembered as one of the first military operations where a modern army had to face an irregular enemy mostly in the subterranean operational environment. While irregular forces have exploited the underground dimension in the past, in Gaza, Lebanon, Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the Palestinians in Gaza relied on their subterranean tunnel network as a battlespace - gaining mobility, communications, force protection and survivability, and denying the enemy from its main advantage - dominance in intelligence and firepower.

Tension along the Israel-Gaza border has mounted in recent days, after a series of attacks from the Gaza Strip, On Sunday April 20th an IED was activated against Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers patrolling the security fence along the southern Gaza Strip. 12 hours later; on 07:15 Monday, Palestinian militants fired a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) at an IDF patrol along the security fence in the same area.

The past week has seen significant escalation from the Gaza area, with the launching of rockets from the Gaza Strip and Israeli responses to...

“Assad continues to assert his control Syria’s chemical weapons, air force, and military hardware. Assad is making advance preparations to use chemical weapons. He did not give the order yet, but preparing for it.”

The recent round of inconclusive fighting across the Gaza-Israel border prompts several observations about the outcome and possible implications for the future. Mark A. Heller, Principal Research Associate at the Tel-Aviv based Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) discusses some of the highlights of recent events in the recent edition of INSS Insight.

In his recent post David Eshel points at an interesting option which could be regarded utopian by many skeptics with only doomsday scenarios in their future perception. A plan concerning a “different Gaza”, which seems already in the making, In fact, while Mr Abbas seeks a virtual state at the UN, Hamas already controls a real one.

The evolution of the Syrian, Iranian armies and guerrillas into semi-irregular formations, challenging the Israeli domination of the battlefield with hybrid warfare concepts. Defense Update covers this topic in two parts, one outlining the transformation of the Syrian land forces.

Israel has suffered multiple terror attacks today, when a terrorist unit attacked vehicles and military units for several hours, along National Route 12, northwest...

Israel's newest rocket interceptor 'Iron Dome' was tested today in combat for the first time, intercepting GRAD rockets fired by the Palestinians from the Gaza strip.