A terror attack in Jerusalem left three dead and a dozen wounded on November 30. A second attack in the West Bank wounded Israeli soldiers. A UAV was intercepted from Lebanon. Israel awaited another group of hostages and bodies returned from Gaza as the ceasefire was extended for a day. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel and met with officials.
Israeli authorities announced the arrest of an Islamic State sympathizer involved in the November 23 Jerusalem bombings.
Two bombs exploded near bus stops in the Jerusalem area Wednesday morning. One Israeli-Canadian was killed and two dozen people were injured.
Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups provoked clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque in order to destabilize the already tense security situation left in the wake of four high-profile terrorist attacks in Israel.
Al Qaeda has released a message from its leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, that is timed to coincide with the Trump administration’s relocation of the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Zawahiri notes that the decision caused a “big uproar,” but he reminds listeners that Tel Aviv is also supposedly Muslim land. He calls for jihad to uproot the entire international system led by the US and the UN.
Al Qaeda’s general leadership and regional branches have released statements denouncing the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for its first operation inside Israel earlier today. However, Hamas quickly disputed the self-declared caliphate’s claim, saying that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi’s loyalists were merely attempting to confuse the media. According to Hamas, two of the attackers were sent by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the third by Hamas.