Israel was preparing to enter “Yom Hazikaron” the day to remember fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism, on Tuesday evening. The Defense Ministry’s Families and Commemoration Department released its annual report last Friday saying that 23,741 soldiers have died fighting for Israel since 1860. Additionally, 3,150 civilians have been killed in terrorist attacks or during wartime since Israel declared independence in 1948. Commemorative events at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City will be held following a siren at 8 PM, with events to be held at dozens of cemeteries around the country throughout the day on Wednesday.

Iranian officials made a series of bellicose statements in recent days, declaring that the Islamic Republic will continue to sell its oil on the “grey market” despite US sanctions and also continue to develop its renegade nuclear program while insisting that it is continuing to abide by the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement. Meanwhile, US National Security Adviser John Bolton announced that an aircraft carrier and additional air force units have been ordered deployed to the Middle East as a warning against Iranian belligerence following recent threats to close the Straights of Hormuz to international shipping.

The effort to Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) Israel suffered more setbacks this week when two of the most popular vocal artists in the world, Latin star Daddy Yankee and Quavo, part of the rap trio Migos, announced upcoming concerts in the Jewish State. Quavo is set to perform in Tel Aviv’s Hangar 11 next Thursday in conjunction with the Eurovision song contest while Daddy Yankee will perform at Live Park in Rishon Lezion on 26 June.

Following the barrage of rockets fired into Israel from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and Israel’s retaliatory strikes over the weekend, the Iranian-backed Palestinian Islamic Jihad terror militia admitted on Monday that a Palestinian baby killed during the fighting was a victim of a rocket that PIJ operatives were attempting to fire from inside the home of the child’s family, “due to a technical failure” according to a report by Hamas’ al-Risala News. “There is a claim that the technical failure was caused by low-grade explosives in the rocket,” it added. “There is no doubt that the baby’s death has nothing to do with the enemy’s [Israel’s] planes”.

Reports out of Syria indicate that forces loyal to the regime of Bashar al-Assad have begun an offensive to re-take the last major stronghold of rebel groups in the country’s northwest corner, near the Turkish border. Observers reported seeing heavy bombardments of rebel-held positions including barrel bombs dropped from helicopters, other air-dropped weapons and artillery.

While Cairo is exerting its influence in Gaza to avoid a new conflict and mediate a period of calm, Iran sees Gaza as one more base from which to grow and control a proxy terrorist army.

Iran has built up the largest arsenal of missiles in the Middle East. The majority are located in Iran, while the remainder are among Iranian proxies in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and most of all in Lebanon, under Hezbollah. In recent years, Iran has worked to improve the quality of its missiles and rockets – expanding their range, and improving their precision. However, there is reason to believe that Iran will not rush to launch missiles toward countries with significant retaliatory capability, such as the United States and even Israel, and that if it were to decide to do so, it would probably prefer that such launches – at least in the initial stage – be carried out by its proxies, especially Hezbollah. (PDF)

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