This week, ISIS continued its relatively moderate activity around the world. Its center of activity was in Nigeria. In Syria, ISIS operatives continue to attack people who collect truffle mushrooms in the desert region. In Nigeria ISIS continued to carry out attacks mainly against security forces in the northeast of the country. The Nigerian army continued its counterterrorism activity. Dozens of ISIS operatives were killed. In Afghanistan, at least six people were killed in an ISIS suicide attack near the Foreign Ministry building in Kabul. Read more...
This past week Palestinian terrorists carried out four shooting attacks in Judea and Samaria two soldiers were wounded. Israeli security forces continued their counterterrorism activities. Their activities focused on the Tulkarm region, where the commander of the Tulkarm Battalion was killed, and on the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp (near Jericho). The Gaza Strip remained relatively calm. IDF forces intercepted a Hamas UAV flying over the Gaza Strip. Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya said in an interview that the battle against Israel was reaching its final confrontation, and that Israel's weaknesses were being revealed day after day. Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh continued meeting with foreign diplomats to gain support for the Palestinian issue. Read more...
On March 9, 2023, Iranian Foreign Minister Amir Hossein Abdollahian arrived in Syria for a visit. The Iranian media reported that the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) Qods Force, arrived in Syria for a visit in the middle of March 2023. Khalil al-Haya, a member of Hamas' political bureau, interviewed by al-Jazeera TV, said Iran provided the Palestinian "resistance" [anti-Israeli terrorist activities] with political, financial and military aid, and had continued its support even after Hamas left Syria in 2013. Read more...
This week there was a decrease in the scope of ISIS activity around the world. In Afghanistan An IED was activated against a vehicle carrying the governor of the Sherzad region.Two Syrian soldiers were killed by gunfire, apparently by ISIS operatives, in the Palmyra Desert. In The Democratic Republic of the Congo An ISIS attack was carried out for the first time in the area of the town of Lubero. According to ISIS, it is an expansion of the organization’s activity outside the areas of Beni and Ituri, in the northeast of Congo. According to the findings of the Global Terrorism Index summing up 2022, which was published in Australia, ISIS is the deadliest terrorist organization. Read more...
This past week Palestinian terrorists carried out two attacks in Judea and Samaria. The Israeli security forces continued counterterrorism activities, focusing on Jenin, four Palestinians were killed. On March 18, 2023 a rocket was launched into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip. A Hamas delegation headed by Musa Abu Marzouq visited Moscow and met with the Russian deputy foreign minister. A Hamas delegation headed by Isma'il Haniyeh visited Algeria. Saleh al-'Arouri, deputy head of Hamas' political bureau, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) leader Ziyad al-Nakhalah met in Lebanon with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. In preparation for the Muslim religious month of Ramadan, Israel announced a series measures to ease conditions for the Palestinian population. Read more...
On March 13, 2023, a powerful IED exploded near the Megiddo Junction in northern Israel. It damaged a vehicle and seriously wounded the driver. Investigation revealed it was similar to IEDs which had been used to attack IDF forces in south Lebanon. The terrorist who placed it was pursued, caught and shot to death near the border on his way back to Lebanon. He apparently infiltrated into Israel several days previously. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah claimed Israel no longer engaged in aggressive action in Lebanon because of the "balance of deterrence." He said Hezbollah would support Suleiman Frangieh in the Lebanese presidential elections. Friction continues between Lebanese army forces and civilians on the one hand, and the IDF on the other because of IDF infrastructure activities along the border. Hezbollah claimed to have exposed an "IDF recording device" hidden in a fake rock in the Tel al-'Abed region. Despite expected support from Hezbollah and Amal, Suleiman Frangieh has not yet announced his candidacy in the Lebanese presidential race. According to reports from Syria, there are almost 3,000 Hezbollah operatives in the country, most of them low-level, now that the high-ranking operatives, fearing for their lives, have left. The airport in Aleppo reopened two days after an attack attributed to Israel. There was an explosion near a weapons factory in eastern Syria, which killed at least four people. The source of the explosion is uncertain. Read more...
