Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine guard a base in Naameh near Beirut. AFP
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine guard a base in Naameh near Beirut. AFP
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine guard a base in Naameh near Beirut. AFP
Members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine guard a base in Naameh near Beirut. AFP

Israel foils Iranian and Hezbollah-backed plot to kidnap soldier


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Israel has reportedly thwarted a terrorist plot to kidnap of one of its soldiers, a plan its security services say was masterminded by Iran and Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah.

The cell was intercepted and 10 members were arrested, the Shin Bet domestic security agency said.

It said it believed the plot was meant to obtain leverage for the release of jailed Palestinians.

The Shin Bet said the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, or PFLP, was to carry out the plot in the occupied West Bank.

Iran and Hezbollah apparently provided the cell members with funding and training, as well as giving them a front organisation known as Al Shabab Al Alumi Al Arabi.

The Shin Bet claimed the Syrian army was also involved in training the members.

The agency said it retrieved its information from the interrogation of a PFLP suspect in April, claiming that he revealed the existence of two cells, one in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah and another in Samaria, near the city of Nablus.

The plan was spearheaded by a Lebanese man named as Assad Al Amali, who provided the link to Iran and Hezbollah, the Shin Bet said.

The PFLP is a secular Marxist organisation that rejects Israel's existence and the moderate line of the Palestine Liberation Organisation led by President Mahmoud Abbas and dominated by his Fatah party.

Despite its hardline position on Palestinian national aspirations, it also rejects Hamas, the group that rules Gaza.

Iran and Israel are involved in a shadow war in the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, and the wider Middle East. Iran has provided funds and equipment to Hamas and has fought three wars against Israel. It has also funded Hamas operatives in the occupied West Bank.

Western intelligence sources say Israel stepped up strikes on Syria in the past few months are part of a shadow war approved by Washington.

It is part of the anti-Iran policy that has in the past two years undermined Iran's military power without triggering a major increase in hostilities.

Syria never publicly acknowledges that Iranian assets are the targets of the strikes in a country where Tehran's military presence has covered most government-controlled areas.

Israel acknowledged conducting many raids in Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011.

Israeli defence officials said in recent months that Israel would step up its campaign against Iran in Syria where, with the help of proxy militias, Tehran has expanded its presence.

But those plots against Israel have also reached into its own territory, as the Shin Bet's latest claim demonstrated.

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The Cairo Statement

 1: Commit to countering all types of terrorism and extremism in all their manifestations

2: Denounce violence and the rhetoric of hatred

3: Adhere to the full compliance with the Riyadh accord of 2014 and the subsequent meeting and executive procedures approved in 2014 by the GCC  

4: Comply with all recommendations of the Summit between the US and Muslim countries held in May 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

5: Refrain from interfering in the internal affairs of countries and of supporting rogue entities.

6: Carry out the responsibility of all the countries with the international community to counter all manifestations of extremism and terrorism that threaten international peace and security

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Sustainable Development Goals

1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere

2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation

10. Reduce inequality  within and among countries

11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its effects

14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development

15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the global partnership for sustainable development

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