The IDF has released video footage of the Hamas drone which was shot down on Tuesday by an IAF fighter jet. The video was made available late in the day, hours after the incident took place.

“Hamas has been developing its drone capabilities, especially in the last two years,” Lt.Col. Peter Lerner said in a statement.

“Today’s event proves once more that Hamas continues to invest in tools of terror and not in the needs of the people of Gaza.”

An IAF warplane shot down an unmanned aircraft belonging to Hams above Gaza’s coastline on Tuesday afternoon. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s Office, the aircraft was under full surveillance from the moment it had taken to the air. The aircraft did not penetrate Israeli territory.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office reiterated that the IDF would not permit any violation of Israel’s airspace and would continue to act with determination against such violations.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told the Jewish National Fund in New York on Sunday that the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement is the new face of terror.

Shaked, a top official with Israel’s Bayit Yehudi party, addressed the JNF Conference in New York on Sunday, speaking on the issue of the BDS Movement and how its activities impact Israel in daily life. She condemned the movement, likening its activities to the tunneling of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza.

“The BDS movement is digging tunnels to undermine the foundations and values of Israel,” she said. “We have to stop these tunnels as well.”

The movement constitutes an existential threat at its core, she added. “Supporters of the BDS movement are attempting to destroy our very right to exist. They refuse to accept our most natural, basic and simple right: the existence of the State of Israel.”

Regardless of what mask terror wears, she said, one simple truth stands out: “You cannot defeat the enemy unless you call it what it is. That is why I am not afraid to do so. We are fighting Islamic extremism,” she said pointedly, underscoring a fact that has not once been uttered during the entire eight years of the entire reign of the the Obama administration.

The IAF on Thursday morning attacked three terror infrastructure targets belonging to Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip. The attack came in retaliation for high trajectory fire into the Eshkol Regional Council carried out earlier.

The IDF’s Spokesperson said that the IDF continues to view Hamas as being solely responsible for everything that takes place within the Gaza Strip. The IDF will continue to act harshly in order to maintain the quiet in Israel’s southern communities.

As The Jewish Press Online reported earlier, at least one mortar shell exploded in an open area of the Eshkol Regional Council, but local residents were unaware of the attack since the air raid system failed to activate. No one was injured.

The state prosecution on Wednesday announced its intent to object to a petition to the High Court submitted by the father of the Arab boy Mohammed Abu Khdeir who was murdered by three Jews in 2014. The petition requests that the state demolish the homes of the families of Abu Khdeir’s killers, the way it does in cases where Arab terrorists murder Jews.

The prosecution argued that it would be a mistake to treat Jewish and Arab terrorism equally. “Of course, every act of terrorism is unacceptable,” the prosecution wrote in its statement, “but we cannot ignore the gap in the scope of terrorism carried out by Palestinians and eastern Jerusalem Arabs compared with terror which is carried out by Jews.”

The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir took place in the early morning of July 2, 2014, one day after the burial of three Israeli teens who had been kidnapped and murdered by Hamas agents. Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Arab, was forced into a car by three young Jews on a street in eastern Jerusalem. Police located his charred body a few hours later at Givat Shaul in the Jerusalem Forest. The autopsy results suggested he had been beaten and set on fire while still alive.

The murder was condemned by the families of the three murdered Israeli teens, who sent Abu Khdeir’s family their condolences. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas blamed the murder on Israel and demanded that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu condemn it “as we condemned the kidnapping of the three Israelis.” However, when Israel included Abu Khdeir in the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial at Mount Herzl, his family insisted that his name be removed at once.

In February 4, 2016, two minors who participated in the Abu Khdeir murder were sentenced, one receiving life imprisonment, the other 21 years. The court ruled that their leader was Yosef Haim Ben-David, who was sent for psychiatric evaluation. On February 22, 2016, a court appointed psychiatrist testified that Ben-David was fit to stand trial, and on April 19, 2016 he was found guilty of murder. While awaiting sentencing, Ben David tried to commit suicide in his cell. On May 3, 2016, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years.

By Jonathan Benedek/TPS

Herzliya (TPS) – Education Minister and Chairman of the Jewish Home Party Naftali Bennett told a counter-terrorism conference Monday that Israel is the world’s “front post” in the battle against terror.

“No nation is as threatened by terror as we are,” Bennett told the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism annual conference. “We’ve got Hezbollah in the north, we’ve got Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria, we have ISIS in Sinai, we have Hamas in Gaza – four of our frontiers with the deadliest terror organizations in the world, yet we’re thriving and we’re leading the battle because we’re here and we’re not going anywhere.”

“By being here we collect intelligence, methodologies, lessons learned, and we’re out there fighting day in and day out,” Bennett added.

However, Bennett also said that Israel and its leading role in the battle against global terrorism was being undermined by many in the international community pushing for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

“My one request from you coming from all around the world is don’t push us to divide our country. Don’t try and break us. Back us,” Bennett concluded.

By Ilana Messika/TPS

Jerusalem (TPS) – The family of Avraham (Abera) Mengistu, an Ethiopian-Israeli reportedly held hostage by Hamas, gathered today with dozens of protesters in front of the Prime Minister’s Office on Sunday to protest the government’s failure to act on Avraham’s repatriation.

“We are here today to raise awareness of my brother’s plight, ” stated Ilan Mengistu to Tazpit Press Service (TPS). “I think it’s time for the prime minister to understand that it is forbidden to forsake an innocent Israeli citizen in the hands of terrorists.” he claimed.

“In two years, my brother has had no visits from the Red Cross, no one is aware of his exact location, and we, his family, have received no information whatsoever on his well-being, which violates his international human rights.” he said.

“Two years and not a single thing has been done,” stated Ayaline, Avraham’s father, in an official statement. “Do we count for nothing? How come the families of Hamas’ captives can can to Israel and hold their relatives when we have no information whatsoever? Mr. Prime Minister, this is in your hands!” he claimed.

Mengistu, a 28-year-old civilian from Ashkelon, crossed the border into Gaza in in September 2014, through the Zikim beach for unknown reasons. He has been missing ever since.

Hamas’ spokespeople refute the family statements claiming that Avraham is mentally unstable. They claim he was captured as a prisoner of war.

“Abera is a mentally unhealthy person who unfortunately ended up in Gaza, and is in need of medical treatment. This is a humanitarian case, not a political or military one,” Sahar Mola, one of the activists who participated in a similar protest last year, told TPS at that time.

The Mengistu family, along with the families of soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin whose bodies are also in the hands of Hamas, have called for a tightening of conditions for Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails. They also denounced the last June’s Israel-Turkey reconciliation deal for failing to include specific clauses about their children.

“It is within the prime minister’s capacity to use the rights of the Hamas prisoners in Israeli custody (such as family visitations, allowance, education or radio) as a bargaining chip to address the unlawful captivity conditions in which Avraham is being held.” Ilan Mengistu told TPS.

“We will not make peace with the current state of affairs and we will not stop pressuring the government until something is done.”he concluded.

Along with Avraham Mengistu, two Israeli Bedouins named Hisham al-Sayed and Jumaa Abu-Ghanima have also crossed the border to Gaza in similar circumstances, respectively in 2015 and 2016.

Ex-Yesh-Atid MK Pnina Tamano-Shata wrote on Facebook that the protest is proof of the government’s inaction. “Two years have passed and nothing has been done. The protest proves that the public will not abandon the fight in the face of governmental incompetence.”