Trump: US may strike Pickaxe Mountain; Iran aims to halt all Hormuz shipping. - #NewVM #NewNewsupdates

Shalom and Erev Tov, good evening and welcome to our daily TV7 Israel News bulletin, broadcast from Jerusalem. Israel warns Iran against attacking it, stressing that it knows full well the consequences of miscalculation. President Donald Trump says the United States may have to strike at Pickax Mountain, which infrastructure which the Ayatollah regime constructed for its nuclear program. And the Islamic Republic of Iran announces its aims to prevent any and all transit of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Friction in southern Lebanon between Iran's proxy Hezbollah and the IDF escalated over the weekend, when the Shi'ite terror group launched two one-way attack-drones toward IDF soldiers operating within the Israeli military's forward-deployed security zone. At least one of the drones was successfully intercepted by the IDF forces. And while it remains unclear what had happened with the second drone, thankfully, no injuries were reported among the IDF troops. Meanwhile, in response to Hezbollah's violation of the ceasefire's terms and conditions, the IDF launched dozens of aerial and artillery strikes on the Iranian-proxy's infrastructure throughout southern Lebanon, which according to the IDF spokesperson's unit, included a command and control center, among a long list of other military targets. It is important to note that the IDF had publicly informed the residents of southern Lebanon with the exact locations of the intended strikes, as part of the Israeli military's policy to go above and beyond to avoid collateral damage. It is also important to explain that Hezbollah's latest attacks at IDF forces are perpetrated at a time of immense pressure, under which the Iranian terror group is demonstrably struggling to convince Lebanese society, including its own Shi'ite base, of its legitimacy. That after failing to prosecute a successful military campaign against Israel, which Hezbollah had launched on Iran's behalf. Moreover, with the United States rapidly enforcing its secondary sanctions regime against the Islamic Republic of Iran, Hezbollah's patron, to include institutions that facilitated money-laundering and illicit transactions on behalf of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, or IRGC, Hezbollah's own finances are now drying up, with the terror group's heavily-sanctioned banking institutions, to include Al-Qard al-Hassan, reportedly selling its collateral and defaulting on what it owes its civilian Shi'ite supporters. Meanwhile, after losing its most advanced subterranean command and control infrastructure, the Ali Taher Ridge, Hezbollah is desperately trying to dissuade Israel from destroying it, with IDF announcing plans to demolish the major underground tunnels network. Nevertheless, according to separate reports, Hezbollah is now proactively trying to convince Iran to launch a direct attack against Israel, if the IDF were to follow through on demolishing its infrastructure at Ali Taher. However, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, alongside other senior officials, have unambiguously warned Iran that if it would miscalculate, Israel's response would be devastating to the Ayatollah regime. We are determined to defend ourselves. We are determined to strike our enemies. They are not attacking us. Iran is refraining from doing so, and it knows why. Of course, it could err and make the mistake of attacking us anyway. It will suffer a blow it cannot even imagine. I say to our enemies – do not try us. This people knows how to unite in moments of testing, and right now it is the strongest power in the Middle East, and some say even beyond it." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during his weekly Cabinet meeting, further relayed his blessings to Israel's security forces for the Hebrew calendar's new year, and emphasized that while Israel continues to confront its enemies on multiple fronts, the most important tasks – to include the collapse of the Ayatollah regime – are not yet complete. I refer to, first and foremost, the toppling of the regime. This regime in Iran, its end is near. It is weak. It is fighting for its life. It is faltering. And this is another mission to complete, which we are determined to bring about. This will permanently change the face of the Middle East and the history of our people. We know that we are determined to do this, and we are determined and know that we are capable of doing this. Therefore, I say, may the year and its curses end, and may a year with its blessings begin, blessings greater than we had ever had. A happy new year to the people of Israel." Earlier of the weekend, at the White House, President Donald Trump was asked about whether he could provide the American public a timeline vis-à-vis the ongoing conflict versus Iran. When should the American public expect resolution on Iran? You just said that you could perhaps – A revolution? A resolution. Oh. You just said that you could perhaps – Oh, the big guns. So you took that one out and then other things. When should people feel – I thought the revolution was more interesting. No, a resolution. I don't know. I can't tell you. But we've already won the big thing – there's not going to be a nuclear weapon. You know, if we left today, it would take them 25 years to rebuild their country. But I want to leave so that the next president doesn't have to worry about it. It is important to explain that President Trump's remark regarding a, quote, revolution was not made in a vacuum, as there are ongoing discussions among senior policy-makers about prospects for a spark that would trigger nationwide protests throughout Iran, particularly over the dire economic situation in the country. Separately, when a reporter inaccurately stated that the American deployment to the region was, quote, record-long, President Trump immediately pushed back and emphasized that within five months, the United States has managed to effectively frustrate the Ayatollah regime's nuclear ambitions. Eighteen service members have died. We're seeing record-long deployments. You initially said this – Record-long? Why is it record-long? So, how long were we in Vietnam? How long were we in Vietnam? We're seeing record-long – No, no. How long were we in Vietnam? We're in five months now. We've been – and you know what we did in five months? They're not going to have a nuclear weapon. That's what we did. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. Because if they did, you probably wouldn't be standing here very long. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. We've stopped them from having. We may hit pickaxe very soon, because if there was anything going on with pickaxe. But we know everybody that's moving had pickaxe. We know everybody that's moving everywhere, all over Iran. And if anything goes bad, we hit them. We hit them hard. But we've been in there for five months. And in five months, what did we do? We stopped them from having a nuclear weapon. If we didn't go in there, you wouldn't have Israel right now. You wouldn't have the Middle East. And they probably would go at European cities and our cities next. But we stopped them from having a nuclear weapon in five months. Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Scott Besant, in an exclusive interview to Fox News channels MyView with Lara Trump, stressed that the Arab Gulf nations have had enough vis-à-vis the Ayatollah regime's terrorism against freedom of navigation through the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The oil-producing nations of the Gulf are actually building alternative pipeline routes that will no longer entail oil going through the Strait of Hormuz. And the Iranian chokehold, to the extent they have one – and I can tell you, they do not have one, we are in control of the Strait – but to the extent that they can threaten their neighbors, once we leave, that will not exist anymore. The remarks by Secretary Besant were made at the backdrop of repeated attempts by the against American naval vessels and other commercial ships that were situated either in or near the Strait of Hormuz – drawing decisive retaliatory strikes by U.S. Central Command. The latest exchange of fire took place after Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Razei had insisted, in an interview with a regime-run television station, that the Ayatollah regime would make changes to the Strait of Hormuz in a clear act of desperation. We are making changes into the Strait of Hormuz. From now on, in the coming days and weeks, we are going to announce a restricted, prohibited zone outside the Strait of Hormuz, which begins from the blockade line of the U.S. Navy, including the Strait of Hormuz, and extends to the Persian Gulf from the other side. Meaning each ship that enters this zone with the intention of crossing the Strait of Hormuz and be identified, we put it on a sanctions list. What does that sanctions list mean? In all of the world, we have a point where we can sanction many countries. And that's the Persian Gulf." Meanwhile speaking to the Healy Forum in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Presidential Advisor Anwar Ghargash emphasized that the Gulf nations in general, and the Emirates in particular, could not accept Iran's ongoing terrorism against commercial vessels transiting international waterways. No single state should control the Strait of Hormuz. It is an international waterway of global importance, not a strategic privilege to be exercised by whichever country happens to possess the means to disrupt it. We have said, and will continue to say, that using an international waterway as an instrument of coercion is unacceptable. Thank you for watching TV7 Israel News, which is made possible by the generosity of our viewers. If you are blessed by our productions and would like to help support TV7 Israel, which operates as a non-profit, you can donate via our website at www.tv7israelnews.com. I would like also to take this opportunity to thank all of you who do support TV7 Israel on a regular basis. Please keep praying for the peace of Jerusalem and the Salvation of Israel. I am Jonathan Hessen, wishing you a Shavua Mevorach and God willing, until our next update, Shalom from Jerusalem.