In Judea and Samaria, PA Arab attackers are continuing to hurl rocks at Israeli vehicles traveling through Judea and Samaria.
Jewish drivers were targeted near the western Samaria community of Alei Zahav, and in the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Hevron.
No one was injured, but the vehicles were damaged in the attacks. IDF soldiers were ordered to search the area.
Humanitarian Aid Deliveries to Gaza Continue.
While PA terrorists continue to launch rocket and mortar attacks on southern Israeli communities, hundreds of truckloads of supplies are being delivered daily to Gaza.
Last week 910 truckloads (22,167 tons) of supplies, including 180 truckloads of construction materials were delivered through the land crossings into the region, according to the IDF Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (CoGAT).
General merchandise, fuel supplies and foodstuffs are delivered in daily deliveries through the Kerem Shalom and Karni Crossings.
On Wednesday, 272 truckloads of goods, fuel and merchandise made their way into the region, just a day after a short-range Kassam rocket was fired from Gaza at Kibbutz Zikim.
The rocket exploded next to a kindergarten just as dozens of parents were dropping of their children at school. A 14-year-old girl was wounded in the blast, and several others suffered traumatic shock.
Police have imposed a gag order on the stabbing of two Christian women near the city of Beit Shemesh on Saturday, but said Thursday they believe the stabbing was a terrorist attack. Earlier police had said the incident may have been criminally motivated.
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Police have imposed a gag order on the stabbing of two Christian women near the city of Beit Shemesh on Saturday, but said Thursday they believe the stabbing was a terrorist attack. Earlier police had said the incident may have been criminally motivated.No terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the fatal attack.
The victims, both Christian missionaries, had been hiking in the Jerusalem Forest when they were attacked by two Arab men bearing knives. American Kristine Luken was killed, and an Israeli immigrant from Britain, Kay Wilson, was badly hurt.
Wilson told police that she survived the brutal attack Saturday by pretending to be dead. She was stabbed multiple times with a large serrated knife.
At one point, she said, one of the Arab attackers ripped off a Star of David necklace she was wearing and then stabbed her in the chest where the star – which traditionally symbolizes Jewish identity – had lain.
After the attackers left she was unable to call for help, as her severe injuries left her struggling for breath. However, she managed to stand and walk toward a nearby town, and found two families near the road who called for help.
A memorial will be held for Luken on Thursday in a church in the Old City of Jerusalem. Luken, who will be buried in the United States, worked as the head of the British branch of Church Ministry among Jewish people (CMJ).
Doctors say Wilson is recovering, and may even be released from the hospital by the weekend. She is an educator for Shoresh Tours, a CMJ branch that runs tours in Israel.
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The IDF’s Operations Division recently published a new set of strict guidelines regarding the use by IDF officers and soldiers of social networks such as Facebook.
The guidelines were published following several incidents in which photos published by IDF soldiers on their Facebook profiles were later used by hostile elements against the IDF and Israel.
The most serious of these incidents is probably which in November published personal information on hundreds of IDF officers and soldiers who took part in Operation Cast Lead in Gaza in early 2009 and called them ‘war criminals’.
The website called on internet users to distribute the personal information on the soldiers throughout the web and said that the solders “held key positions as part of a murderous mechanism.” The list included soldiers’ names, pictures, personal addresses, dates of birth, and their role in the IDF.
An investigation by the IDF concluded that the operators of the website received their information largely from websites such as Facebook and other similar social networks. The IDF therefore determined that there is a real danger to the personal security of soldiers as a result of their publishing their personal information in social networks, including the fact that they serve in the army.
As such, the Operations Divisions warned soldiers not to upload any photos which identify the unit in which they serve, for fear that this could lead to unwanted persons obtaining the soldiers’ personal address. The guidelines also prohibit soldiers from publishing photos or other information in social networks of the day-to-day operations of specific units, for fear that this information could be given to pro-Arab organizations who would then falsely accuse soldiers of war crimes.
“Most of us claim that we do not share all things with everyone,” said Lt. Col. Ami Weinberg, head of the Defense Department in the Operations Directorate. “Experience has shown that there is no control over this in social networks and that information can be obtained by people with whom we did not plan to share it.”
Weinberg stressed that “the IDF has no intention of prohibiting its soldiers and commanders to use social networks, as that is the right of every human being; we are, however, obliged to care for soldiers’ personal safety, and as such warn about such dangers and provide guidelines.”
The guidelines also stress that photos which clearly give away what role the soldier has in the army should not be published. As well, friend requests from people who do not identify themselves should not be accepted. Soldiers who have been contacted by or have received threats from any anti-Israeli elements must notify their commanding officers right away.
