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Resources updated between Monday, October 1, 2018 and Sunday, October 7, 2018

October 7, 2018

Kim Levengrond Yehezkel, 29 (left), and Ziv Hajbi, 35, who were killed in the terror shooting

A Palestinian attacker opened fire inside a joint Israeli-Palestinian industrial zone in the West Bank on Sunday, killing two Israelis and seriously wounding a third, the military said.

Military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the preliminary finding is that a 23-year-old from a nearby village carried out a "terror attack" in the Barkan industrial zone near the settlement of Ariel before fleeing the scene. But other workers in the industrial zone suggested the attack was carried out by a disgruntled employee and was not politically motivated.

Conricus said the suspect was not known to authorities and was not believed to belong to a Palestinian militant group, saying it appeared to be a "lone wolf" attack. "We know he is still armed and considered dangerous," he added.

Both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman denounced the attack and said the perpetrator would be brought to justice.

Since 2015, Palestinians have killed over 50 Israelis, two visiting Americans and a British tourist in stabbings, shootings and car-ramming attacks. Israeli forces killed over 260 Palestinians in that period, of which Israel says most were attackers.

Gaza's Hamas rulers and other militant groups praised Sunday's attack, but none claimed responsibility for it.

The victims were identified as a Jewish man and woman in their 30s. Another woman in her 50s was also seriously wounded. Closed-circuit footage from the scene showed a man holding a handgun and wearing a backpack, fleeing down a flight of stairs and then dashing past stunned onlookers.

Israelis and Palestinians work side by side at Barkan, an industrial zone in the West Bank that includes some 160 factories. The Palestinian economy is heavily restricted under Israeli military rule, forcing tens of thousands of Palestinians to seek work in Israel as well as Jewish settlements.

Conricus said the attacker was employed in one of the factories and had a valid working permit. While insisting the attack was an act of terrorism, he acknowledged there were "other factors involved as well," without elaborating.

Moshe Lev-Ran, an export manager at a company whose factory is located next to the scene of the attack, said he doubted the official account.

"One of the workers was fired and he didn't like the owner... Everybody knew him. He went upstairs to the second floor because he knew who he wanted to shoot, and he shot," he said. "That's what I think happened. I don't believe it was one of the Palestinians who just woke up in the morning and took a gun to shoot an Israeli."

"No way in our industrial zone," he said, describing an atmosphere of camaraderie in Barkan.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said: "This was not only an attack on innocent people going about their daily lives, it was also an attack on the possibility of Israelis and Palestinians co-existing peacefully."

Palestinian kills 2 Israelis in West Bank industrial zone Document

October 5, 2018

The United Nations headquarters in New York

"Summary:
President Trump and Ambassador Haley have expressed frustration that countries that receive generous amounts of foreign assistance from the United States consistently vote against the U.S. at the United Nations. The U.N. is a political body, and many member states are hostile to key U.S. policies and objectives. Many influential countries in the U.N., particularly in groups like the G-77, see the U.N. as a vehicle for enhancing their influence in order to counterbalance the United States. To advance U.S. interests at the U.N., the U.S. must use its influence and resources, including foreign assistance, to reward and support nations for siding with the U.S.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  1. At the United Nations, major recipients of U.S. assistance are among the countries that support America the least.
  2. The U.N. is a political body, and many member states are hostile to key U.S. policies and objectives.
  3. Congress and the Administration should restore the requirement that U.N. voting be taken into account in allocation of U.S. foreign aid and give the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. authority to allocate a portion of aid to support U.S. interests...

Heritage Foundation: The U.S. Should Employ Foreign Aid in Support of U.S. Policy at the U.N. Article

Equipment suspected of being used to make pipe bombs, found in the home of a Palestinian in the West Bank on October 4, 2018.

IDF arrests two Palestinians in pipe bomb attack on Jewish shrine in West Bank Document

Members of the Islamic State (File photo)

National Strategy for Counterterrorism of the United States of America Document

October 4, 2018

A Palestinian holding up a knife (File photo)

A Palestinian boy, estimated to be around 8 years old, threatened to stab soldiers near a West Bank checkpoint close to Route 443 on Thursday, the IDF spokesperson reported.

According to the report, the boy arrived at the checkpoint and, after a few seconds, pulled out a large knife, shouted at the soldiers and threw the knife at them. No injuries were reported.

The boy then escaped to the nearby village of Beit Ur al-Tahta.

Palestinian sources suggested that the knife might have been planted on the boy by Israel. The Palestinian Maan news agency wrote that "Eyewitnesses have also said in a number of cases that Israeli security forces planted knives on slain or imprisoned Palestinians to claim that they were acting in self-defense during a stabbing attack.

The phenomenon of under-age attackers has become increasingly common in recent years and has been attributed to incitement in the Palestinian education system.

Last week, the European Parliament's budgetary committee voted to freeze more than 15 million euros from the Palestinian Authority if they do not reform their textbooks.

"The reserve will be released," the bill reads, "when the Palestinian Authority has committed to reform its school curriculum and textbooks to bring them in line with UNESCO standards for peace and tolerance in school education."

Report: Pre-Teen Palestinian Boy Threatens to Stab Israeli Soldiers Document

An UNRWA classroom (File photo)

Why didn't we stop funding UNRWA years ago? Article

October 3, 2018

Iran justifies terrorism, and 119 of 193 U.N. member states agree.

October 2, 2018

The incendiary balloon found in central Israel

An incendiary attack balloon was discovered Monday night in an ‎industrial zone in central Israel, the ‎police said. ‎

This was the first time a Palestinian airborne ‎incendiary device has been detected this deep inside ‎Israeli territory.‎

Over the last six months, balloons and kites carrying firebombs or explosives have been regularly launched from the Gaza Strip into Israel, sparking countless fires and causing extensive damage.

The balloon was found in the Ligad Technology ‎Park in Modiin by passersby. Police sappers were called to the ‎scene and were able to neutralize the device safely. ‎

Modiin, located some 35 kilometers (22 miles) ‎southeast of Tel Aviv, has several neighboring ‎Palestinian villages.‎

A police source said that the incident was in line ‎with several similar cases indicating Palestinians ‎in the West Bank may be trying to mimic the attacks from Gaza and launch incendiary ‎balloons into central Israeli cities.‎

Meanwhile, incendiary kites and balloons sent over the Israel-‎Gaza Strip border sparked eight fires in ‎border-adjacent communities over the holiday ‎weekend, causing moderate damage. ‎

The Palestinian arson ‎terrorism campaign has so far decimated nearly ‎‎10,000 acres of ‎‎‎forest ‎and farmlands on the Israeli ‎side of the ‎‎‎border, causing ‎‎‎millions of dollars in ‎damage to the area.

Environmental experts ‎say it ‎‎‎‎will take at least 15 years to rehabilitate ‎the ‎‎‎‎vegetation and wildlife that have been destroyed.‎

Incendiary balloon launched from West Bank ‎discovered in central Israel Document

October 1, 2018

An execution noose is prepared in Iran (File photo)

Iran's new "Islamic revolutionary courts" handed down death sentences to three Iranian citizens accused of "spreading corruption on earth."

According to a report from Reuters, the announcement of the sentences was released on Sunday and is part of a larger effort by Tehran to crack down on "financial crimes" and public protest against the regime.

Iranian judicial officials also stated that an additional 32 people were tried and convicted in the Islamic revolutionary courts, and were each given a 20-year prison sentence, Reuters reported.

With U.S. sanctions against Iran about to take effect, Iran's economy has already shown signs of damage. According to Reuters, the country's currency has only 30 percent of the value it had just six months ago.

While the economy continues on a downward path, many in the country are threatening to protest or rebel. Many citizens have demonstrated against perceived economic "corruption, cost of living, and profiteering."

A group of truck drivers has already begun striking over their low wages and the high cost of truck parts. The Iranian regime previously stated that if the truck drivers continue their protests, they will face the wrath of the Iranian justice system.

"Harsh penalties await those who ... block lorry traffic on roads," said Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the spokesman for the Iranian judiciary, according to Reuters.

The Iranian government considers the impending sanctions a tactic in an "economic war" against the Gulf State. According to Reuters, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei promised "swift and just" action against his country's economic enemies.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Court Hands Down Death Sentences for Three Accused of 'Spreading Corruption On Earth' Document