SECURITY/DEFENSE:
• Border police at Checkpoint 109 arrested two Sharon area residents found to be concealing a Kalashnikov assault rifle (AK-47) in their vehicle. They were turned over to security officials for interrogation.

• Soldiers opened fire after detecting two “images” moving along the Syrian border. A Syrian national was killed and a second man injured. Two residents of the northern community of Majdal Shams were arrested in what appears to have been a drug smuggling operation.

• 7 soldiers serving in an Atlit area base were brought in for questioning. It appears that an Arab family entered a closed military zone to fish and when they refused to comply with instructions to leave the area, a scuffle erupted. The soldiers were questioned regarding the altercation. IDF officials report that the soldiers involved were guarding the base and they are not members of elite naval commando unit stationed there.

POLITICS, DOMESTIC & MORE:
• Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah released a message that he will not compromise on a single prisoner, hinting to increased demands towards Israel’s securing the release of Gilad Shalit.

• IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi is leaving for Washington on motzei Shabbos for a one-week working visit. He will hold meetings with the vice president, chief of joint staffs, and other senior officials.

• Iranian official announces that in upcoming talks, his country will not discuss demands to halt halting its nuclear program.

• Samir Kuntar in the coming weeks will travel to Syria to meet Bashar al-Assad, reportedly to thank the Syrian leader for his role in obtaining his release.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)