By: TPS News

Israeli emergency medicine specialists held a special event this week during which they shared their unique knowledge on saving the lives of hemorrhaging patients with medical officials from around the world.

The Magen David Adom’s (MDA) Blood Services and the IDF Medical Corps held an international seminar in Herzliya on Sunday on the challenges of treating the complex hemorrhaging patient.

The leadership of the Trauma Hemostasis and Oxygenation Research (THOR) Network, a world leader in hemorrhage control which concentrates on providing treatment in civilian and military settings, attended the seminar, as well as military and civilian physicians and surgeons from around the world.

The seminar was headed by Deputy Director-General of Blood Services Prof. Eilat Shinar and IDF Lt. Col. Alon Glasburg.

“Death by hemorrhage is the main cause of death in trauma cases”, Shinar explained. “A patient can be saved from massive hemorrhaging by initiating treatment as soon after the injury as possible.”

MDA, the IDF Medical Corps and leading researchers have developed unique procedures to contend with this life-threatening situation.

Both military and civilian paramedics have dried plasma in stock, a blood product that contains clotting factors. The product is dried into a powder that can be stored in extreme temperatures and be given to patients in the field by dissolving it in water to improve the patient’s outcome.

In addition, the IDF and MDA use whole blood in the military med-evac helicopters.

MDA Director-General Eli Bin stated that “MDA’s Blood Services use some of the most advanced technologies and are of the most advanced in the world” and “constantly works to improve the medical treatment provided in the field to both civilians and military personnel.”

The seminar was held as part of the 6th Conference on International Preparedness and Response to Emergencies and Disasters, hosted by the Israeli Ministry of Health and the IDF’s Home Front Command.

Participants from 30 countries attended the conference.

Israel is a world leader in emergency response and medicine, with much of its knowledge accumulated through the treating of mass terror attacks and wounded IDF soldiers.

(TPS)

By: Aryeh Savir

Lea Tsemel, an Israeli lawyer famous for defending and supporting terrorists, was once again voted to head the Bar Association’s Military Tribunal committee, sparking rage among terrorism victims and right-wing politicians.

The Bar Association announced Sunday that it has once again appointed Tsemel as chairman of the Military Tribunal committee, after her eight years of service in this role.

Tsemel represented a long list of terrorists, including those involved in the 2000 lynching in Ramallah of two IDF soldiers, Hamas terrorists deported to Lebanon, PLO supporters, as well as Israeli Member of Knesset Basel Ghatas who was convicted of smuggling phones to security prisoners.

Tsemel currently represents Arafat Arfaiya who murdered 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher last year.

The Choosing Life Forum of bereaved families and victims of terrorism accused the Bar Association of “detachment” and “helplessness.”

“This is a spit in the faces of thousands of Israelis who have been murdered over the years by depraved terrorists and as the devil’s advocate Tsemel defended several of them,” the Forum stated.

“This is an unparalleled disgrace,” the Forum said, telling Bar Association head Avi Himmi, “our dear ones’ blood is crying out from the earth.”

The right-wing Otzmah Yehudit party said the Bar Association’s “unfortunate decision” is “a finger in the eye for thousands of families who lost their loved ones who were killed for being Jewish.”

“Of all the lawyers involved in the military courts trying terrorists, the Bar Association chose to appoint the largest terrorist supporter, Leah Tsemel, to chair the committee,” Otzmah Yehudit said.

“Tsemel is the most explicit symbol of betrayal and loss of a moral direction through the unending protection she provides for the worst of Israel’s enemies,” it added.

The Be’tsalmo human rights organization stated that “it is very unfortunate that the Bar Association chose to appoint someone so extreme that even High Court of Justice judges ruled that she is dangerous to the state, for such a sensitive role.”

This decision “joins the appointment of Meretz’s Gabi Laski’ as chairman of the Human Rights Committee. It is evident that someone at the Bar has forgotten that the bureau’s role is state-wide for the entire Bar and not a certain left-wing segment.”

An Israeli film about Tsemel in December made the shortlist for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Documentary Feature category, sparking rage in Israel.

The film “Advocate,” directed by Rachel Leah Jones and Philippe Bellaiche, follows Tsemel as she provides legal assistance to defendants, most of whom were subsequently convicted with terrorism.

The film received harsh criticism in Israel for its positive portrayal of Tsemel as a human rights activist, despite her actions to defend terrorists.

(TPS)

By: Aryeh Savir

The Jerusalem District Court on Monday ordered two terrorists who launched fireworks directly at an Israeli family’s home in the Old City of Jerusalem to compensate the family members for NIS 305,000 and pay the attorney’s fees of NIS 40,000.

This ruling is the result of a civil lawsuit filed by the family after the terrorists were convicted in a criminal proceeding.

The attack occurred about a year ago during the night while the mother of the family, her married daughter, the daughter’s husband and their baby daughter, who at the time of the attack was only eight days old, were in the house.

This family has already lost a member in a terror attack in Jerusalem a few years ago.

The lawsuit describes how at about 10 pm the attackers gathered on the roof of a school near the family home, equipped with gloves and fireworks. They began firing fireworks at the family home which “exploded with a mighty bang.”

The mother, who was in the yard, rush into the house, and the assault lasted for several minutes. The terrorists aimed the fireworks directly at the home, its windows, the home yard as well as at the security cameras on the premises.

According to the lawsuit, there were no bodily injuries but the victims felt under attack for all intents and purposes, experienced a sense of dread and real danger, this while the family came to the place to rest after the birth of the baby daughter, who woke hysterically to the sound of explosions.

Although some of the attackers were convicted in a criminal proceeding and were sentenced to imprisonment and fines, the court did not order them to compensate the family.

The lawsuit stated that for attempted assault under aggravated circumstances, malicious damage and reckless and negligent conduct, the terrorists must compensate family members for a total of NIS 305,000.

The verdict was given against two of the attackers, while the procedure against two other attackers has yet to go underway.

Haim Blicher, a lawyer with the Honenu legal rights organization who represented the family, stated that “we will continue to work to exact a high price from any terrorist or perpetrator whose goal is to undermine our right to live here in the State of Israel.”

The objective is to convey “a clear message that harming the Jews will never again be worthwhile,” he added.

(TPS)

By: Aryeh Savir

Israel has successfully upgraded its Iron Dome defense system a decade after the system was first successfully tested, the Ministry of Defense stated Sunday.

“The success of the series is an important milestone in Israel’s operational ability to defend itself against existing and future threats in the arena,” MoD stated.

“In the series of experiments, the system’s capabilities were tested in a new and advanced development, in a number of scenarios, which simulate future threats that the system may face during a confrontation,” the statement added.

The nature of the upgrade was not specified, but it may relate to Hamas’ latest challenge to the system in the form of saturated rocket fire.

The Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror groups carried out a 60-hour attack on Israel in May, during which they fired some 700 rockets at Israeli cities and towns.

Hamas has bragged that its new launching capabilities “can embarrass and challenge the Iron Dome system and maintain the constant fire for 30 hours.”

The terror organization further claimed that its saturated firing methods have overpowered the Iron Dome’s capability to intercept their rockets.

“The Qassam Brigades’ rate of fire in the last round of hostilities was the highest in the history of the confrontation with occupation,” a Hamas official said, noting that the group simultaneously launched 56 rockets towards Ashdod and another 60 towards Ashkelon and Be’er Sheva.

Hamas further announced it will attempt to target the Iron Dome batteries in the next round of violence.

The Iron Dome is a key component of Israel’s multilayered defense system. The air defense system has a very high success rate and proved its day-to-day operational efficiency in protecting the residents of the country.

To date, the system has performed more than 2,400 successful operational intercepts with about a 90% success rate.

Israel over the years has developed a multi-layered defense system to contend with the ever-evolving ballistic projectile threats from Iran, the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The defense system is based on four operational layers: the Iron Dome Defense System for close-range projectiles, David’s Sling Weapon System designed to contend with mid-range missiles, the Arrow-2, and the Arrow-3, for long-range missiles.

(TPS)

By: Aryeh Savir

Israeli forces stationed on the northern border with Lebanon are on high alert following mounting tensions in the Middle East, and specifically the showdown between the US and Iran.

The US’ assassination of Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and the subsequent Iranian attack on US bases in Iraq has Israel expecting a possible reprisal attack from Iran, and possibly through its proxy, the Hezbollah terror organization.

Hezbollah, with its massive stockpile of rockets and missiles, poses a formable challenge to the IDF and Israel’s security. However, new research suggests that the threat emanating from Lebanon may be more significant than that.

The Israeli Alma Research and Education Center, which closely monitors Lebanon, has issued a report in which it noted that there has been a significant rise in the number of Shiites serving in the Lebanese Army (LAF) in recent years, which may lead to it becoming a proxy of the Shiite Hezbollah terror organization.

LAF and Hezbollah conduct joint patrols, the terror organization periodically uses LAF army uniforms to disguise its activities, and the LAF enables the deployment of the organization’s military infrastructure along the border.

Family ties between Hezbollah operatives and LAF troops also increased the potential for the LAF becoming a Hezbollah proxy and joining its offensive operations against Israel, Alma warned in its paper.

Therefore, Alma says that the LAF cannot be viewed as an independently acting force detached from Hezbollah’s objective to destroy Israel.

In February 2017, Lebanese President Michel Aun stated that Lebanon, the LAF and Hezbollah are all part of one alliance directed against Israel.

Alma pointed to several events taking place along the border in recent years that indicate circumstantial links between Hezbollah’s interests and actual attacks carried out by the LAF against Israel.

For example, a LAF sniper in August 2010 shot at IDF forces who were on the Israeli side of the border near the Lebanese village of Adisa, killing an IDF Battalion Commander and seriously wounding a Company Commander. In response, two Lebanese soldiers were killed as part of the Israeli retaliation.

Alma estimate that the planned shooting was executed according to an explicit directive from a local Company Commander in the LAF.

“It is difficult to explain these events unless we presume that Hezbollah initiates them or at the very least, that these events demonstrate the willingness of the LAF to assist Hezbollah,” the authors Tal Beeri and Sarit Zehavi said.

In Alma’s assessment, the LAF will “take an increasingly active part in any future war against Israel.”

The US Aid Problem

The US aid has been providing the LAF with military aid, which may be deployed in southern Lebanon, and it is logical to assume that “such aid is likely to be used against Israel in any future war,” Alma warns.

The US thinks that by providing massive aid to the LAF it is promoting an alternative to Hezbollah, in the hope that it will fill the void after the terror organization is defeated. However, it appears that the US military aid has not made the LAF any stronger and has not weakened Hezbollah either.

The US has imposed wide-ranging sanctions against Hezbollah since 2017 while simultaneously providing aid to the LAF, even after Israel protested the move. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the US to balance these two positions, Alma believes.

                                                (TPS)

By: Baruch Yedid

Israel resumed the supply of cooking gas to the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom crossing after a few days during which there was a severe shortage of gas in the Strip.

Egypt raised the prices of gas and there were technical difficulties in supplying gas from Israel, resulting in Gazan residents suffering from a severe cooking gas shortage that prompted worries that the deficiency would cause the closing of bakeries within a few days.

The Egyptians raised the price of gas by NIS 7 per balloon and put it at NIS 61, an 11% increase, and therefore Gazan importers stopped buying it. Samir Hamada, head of the gas committee of the Gaza fuel companies association, admitted that the gas was running out at all supply stations and warned of “a major fuel crisis.”

A Gaza official told TPS that the supply from Israel had decreased over the past year mainly because of the reduction in the number of Israeli suppliers after the gas industry in Gaza switched to Egyptian suppliers and developed a dependency on imports from Egypt.

Owners of the gas distribution stations said that Hamas has instructed them not to comment on the matter “with the intention of blurring the fact that there is a gas shortage,” but the Hamas government has denied the existence of a gas supply crisis.

Ministry of Economy spokesman Abdel Fattah Musa told local media that talk about a shortage were rumors and that gas supplies were available.

Hamas also warned the station owners not to take advantage of the winter and create an artificial shortage to raise prices or create a monopoly.

In the meantime, stormy weather in the Gaza Strip caused dozens of houses to be flooded with rain and sewage, mainly in the Jabalya area, where 12 houses collapsed.

Swimming enthusiasts organized a demonstration of sympathy with the families whose homes were flooded and demanded that Hamas work to find a solution for the dilapidated infrastructure.

Social activists also demanded that UNRWA compensate the families.

Hamas on Sunday accused Israel of opening its dams and flooding 100 dunams of agricultural crops, an allegation it repeats on an annual basis.

(TPS)

Edited by: TJVNews.com

The Directorate of Defense Research and Development (DDR&D), at the Israel Ministry of Defense revealed that a technological breakthrough has been achieved in the development of lasers for the interception of RAM (rocket, mortar, and artillery) threats, UAVs, and ATGMs, according to a report on the Israel National News web site.

Head of the Directorate of Research and Development in the DDR&D, Brig. Gen. Yaniv Rotem stated: “We are entering a new age of energy warfare in the air, land and sea. The R&D investments made by the DDR&D in the last years have placed the State of Israel among the leading countries in the field of high-energy laser systems. Throughout the year 2020 we will conduct a demo of our capabilities.”

“In the future, we would also like to see it airborne on aircraft and even use it as an offensive weapon,” Rotem said.

According to Israel’s Channel 13, the technological development will enable the long-range targeting and stabilization of laser beams, allowing them to intercept targets at great distances, as was reported by Algemeiner.

Ha’Aretz reported that the breakthrough in the Israeli effort came about a year and a half ago, when the Israeli developers created technology to focus and stabilize the laser beams over distances (and overcoming atmospheric disturbances). That led to the development of effective interception technology capable of providing a new layer of defense for Israel on land, at sea and in the air.

The goal is to use the laser-based system against Qassam rockets, such as those that have been fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip, as well as against mortar shells, anti-tank missiles and drones, according to a report on the Ha’aretz web site.

Laser-based interception is silent and invisible, and the cost is less than 10 shekels (about $3.50) per interception, in contrast with Iron Dome, which costs about 170,000 shekels ($49,000) per interception and makes noise on launch.

Today the DDR&D in the Israel Ministry of Defense revealed its investment in laser technology, which has led to the technological breakthrough that will enable the development of platforms to intercept a variety of threats. Based on high-energy lasers, this technology will prompt a strategic change in the defense capabilities of the State of Israel.

As a result of the aforementioned technological breakthrough, the DDR&D has launched three programs for the development of high-energy laser demo systems in cooperation with defense industries, Rafael and Elbit Systems:

• · Development of a demo ground-based laser system to complement the capabilities of the Iron Dome (an additional layer to the air defense array)
• · Development of a maneuver platform-mounted laser system to defend troops in the field
• · Development of a laser demo system mounted on an air platform to intercept threats above cloud covers and for the defense of wide areas

Algemeiner reported that Defense Minister Naftali Bennett commented, “The Israeli brain continues to lead to breakthrough innovations. The laser project will make our defense system more deadly, powerful, and advanced.”

“This is a significant advance in strengthening the security of the State of Israel,” he added. “Alongside the existing weapons of war, we have added a laser sword against our enemies in the north and south.”

The only laser-based military system that has been deployed anywhere in the world is one used on American ships, but it is only effective on relatively easy targets, such as rubber dinghies, and at short ranges, according to the Ha’aretz report.

By: Aryeh Savir

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu applauded the US, announcement that it is imposing new sanctions on Iran and called on the United Kingdom, Germany and France to join the US effort and reimpose sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

The three countries are signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which the Trump administration has withdrawn from.

The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced Friday that it was sanctioning eight senior Iranian regime officials who “have advanced the regime’s destabilizing objectives,” as well as the largest steel, aluminum, copper, and iron manufacturers in Iran, who collectively generate billions of dollars annually.

The eight officials include Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council; Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, the Deputy Chief of Staff of Iranian armed forces; and Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij militia of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

The 17 Iranian metals producers and mining companies include a network of three China and Seychelles-based entities, and a vessel involved in the purchase, sale, and transfer of Iranian metals products, as well as in the provision of critical metals production components to Iranian metal producers.

The sanctions target Iran’s sources of revenue used to fund and support its nuclear program, missile development, terrorism and terrorist proxy networks, and “malign regional influence.”

“The United States is targeting senior Iranian officials for their involvement and complicity in Tuesday’s ballistic missile strikes,” said Secretary Steven Mnuchin, referring to Iran’s attack on US bases in Iraq.

“These sanctions will continue until the regime stops the funding of global terrorism and commits to never having nuclear weapons,” he stated.

Netanyahu, at the beginning of Sunday’s weekly Cabinet meeting, commended President Donald Trump for imposing “new and very harsh sanctions against this regime.”

He called on Britain, France and Germany to” join the American effort. They need to go to the Security Council, and there they need to activate the sanctions that have been decided upon.”

“I would like to reiterate: Israel will not allow Iran to develop nuclear weapons,” he concluded.

Israel has long campaigned for the reimposing of crippling financial sanctions on Itan as a means to force it to step away from its nuclear program and its financing of global terrorism.

Mnuchin stated in October that “we have executed on a maximum pressure campaign for sanctions. They have worked, they are working, they are cutting off the money.”

The US “will continue to ramp up, more, more, more,” he added.

   (TPS)