At 11:00 am Shabbat morning Israel shot down a Syrian drone flying toward it in the Golan Heights. It was a reconnaissance drone to spy on the area. A patriot missile intercepted it. Defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “We consider Syria responsible for …any violation of our sovereignty.”
Turkey vs. ISIS: according to the AP on Thursday Turkey Police swept through Ankara and detained more than 170 ISIS suspects. 82 were foreign nationals and 11 were Syrians caught in the Adana province. In western Izmir 7 more foreign nationals were detained. All were suspected of either having been active in conflict zones or planning to go back to Syria or other conflict zones.
U.S. President Donald Trump is moving forward with his mid-east peace plan and his advisers are drafting their ideas to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinian Arabs, according to the New York Times. Mid-East advisor and chief negotiator Jason Greenblatt says: ‘We’ve spent time engaging with the Israelis, Palestinians and key regional leaders to reach an enduring peace deal. We won’t use a timeline or force a deal we will only facilitate and not dictate an agreement to improve the security and lives of Israelis and Palestinians.’
Trump believes things are changing in the mid-east with Iran’s increased isolation by the rest of the Arabs, Egypt trying to seek peace between Hamas and Abbas and Saudi Arabia also pressing on Abbas to move forward with the peace process that the time is ripe for Israel PA negotiations for a peace settlement. Meanwhile…
Hamas is moving away from reconciliation with Abbas: Senior Hamas official in Gaza, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that both Turkey and Iran support the Palestinian struggle and that chairman Mahmoud Abbas's demand that Hamas lay down their weapons is wrong because the weapons of the “resistance organizations” are sacred. In Zuhri’s opinion Palestinians will continue to carry weapons until the “occupation” leaves Palestinian land.
According to BBC Iran is establishing a permanent military base inside Syria: The compound was used by the Syrian army outside El-Kiswah, located 14 kilometers (8 miles) south of Damascus. This is very close to Israel and Israel may be forced to do something about it.
Nasrallah says: Saudi Arabia declared war on Lebanon and Hezbollah, and he accuses them of forcing Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to resign. He also said Saudi Arabia is inciting Israel to strike Lebanon.