JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Israel’s government on Sunday approved nearly $13 million in financing for the West Bank settlements of Kiryat Arba and within Hebron, officials said, following a wave of Palestinian attacks in the area. The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing cabinet will see some 50 million shekels ($12.8 million, 11.6 million euros) allocated to “strengthen” the communities. “Government offices, I must note, have all been recruited to assist the residents who […]
Tag: Israel
Israel wins UN committee chair
United Nations, United States—Israel on Monday was elected to chair a United Nations committee for the first time in the world body’s 71-year history, triggering strong protests from Arab countries and the Palestinians. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon won the chair of the legal affairs committee of the General Assembly by picking up 109 votes from the 193 member-states. Danon’s candidacy was put to a vote by secret ballot at the request of Arab countries. All […]
Four killed in shooting at Tel Aviv nightspot
by Jack Guez TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Two Palestinians opened fire at a popular Tel Aviv nightspot near Israel’s military headquarters on Wednesday, killing four people in one of the worst attacks in a months-long wave of violence. The shooting spread panic, and video posted on social media showed a uniformed officer firing a handgun, though his target could not be seen. Police said one of the attackers was arrested, while the other was […]
Israel set to form ‘most right-wing government in history’
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – by Laurent Lozano Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked set on Thursday to form the most right-wing government in Israeli history, with Avigdor Lieberman, a hardliner loathed by Palestinians, expected to become defence minister. Netanyahu aides were in talks with officials of Lieberman’s hawkish Yisrael Beitenu party on terms for its entry to the ruling coalition, which would boost its currently wafer-thin majority in parliament. Leaks to the Israeli media from both sides […]
Tension in Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa, West Bank checkpoint
Israeli security forces scuffled with Muslim worshippers outside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on Tuesday (April 26), after removing Jewish worshippers who violated visitation rules from the volatile site. In a video obtained by Reuters, Israeli security could be seen pushing a small crowd of Muslim worshippers who were angry at the violation and by the presence of the Jewish visitors at the site. Israeli media reported that the tension began when Jewish visitors laid on the […]
Israel blocks off Gaza Strip and West Bank for Passover
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the construction site of a new military border fence between Israel and Jordan, on February 9, 2016. Israel has begun construction on a security fence along its border with Jordan, the defence ministry announced, its latest such barrier intended to keep out illegal migrants and militants. The barrier will be 30 kilometres (19 miles) long between the resort city of Eilat and the site of the Sands of Samar […]
Push for safe zone for Syrian refugees near Israel frontier
JERUSALEM, Israel (Reuters) — A safe zone should be set up for displaced Syrians camping on the Syrian border with the Israeli occupied Golan Heights, the leader of a Syrian-focussed charity and a leading Syrian opposition figure said on Thursday (February 18). There is a growing encampment in the area where civilians fleeing the five-year Syrian conflict have been gathering. American-Israeli businessman and founder of the Amaliah charity, Moti Kahana, and Syrian politician, Kamal al-Labwani, told […]
Five Palestinian attackers killed in fresh attacks on Israelis
by Joe Dyke ISRAEL (AFP) — Five Palestinians were killed attempting to attack Israelis Sunday in a string of attacks across the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. They were the latest in a wave of Palestinian knife, gun and car-ramming assaults that erupted in October and came as US Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power visited Israel and the Palestinian territories for talks with leaders from both sides. In the first incident, two 15-year-olds […]
Islamic State ‘enjoyed Turkish money for oil’ – Israeli minister
Israel’s defence minister Moshe Yaalon said on Tuesday (January 26) that Islamic State militants had been funded with ‘Turkish money’, an assertion that could hinder attempts to mend fences between the two countries after years of estrangement. Yaalon said that the Turkish government wasn’t pulling their weight in the fight against “terrorism”. “Now it’s up to Turkey, the Turkish government, the Turkish leadership, to decide whether they want to be part of any kind of […]
Dozens attend funeral for Arab citizen wanted for Tel Aviv shootings
A few dozen relatives attended the funeral for Nashat Melhem on Tuesday (January 12), wanted for a January 1 gun rampage in Tel Aviv, who was killed in a shootout with police last week, ending a week-long manhunt. Israel returned Melhem’s body to his family who buried him immediately afterwards in a small funeral in his northern Israeli hometown of Arara. His father who condemned the Tel Aviv attack and called on the fugitive to […]
Palestinians arrested after protesting against Israel restriction orders
For thirteen days Palestinians in Jerusalem have been staging a protest against Israeli imposed restriction orders, that banish two men from the city. Two Jerusalemites have been ordered to leave the city and their homes for a period of up to six months. Samer Abu Aisha, who has also been at the protests, is one of the men facing expulsion. “On the 21st of December, my lawyer called me to go to the court, what […]
Turkey sees no normalization of Israel ties without end to Gaza blockade – Spokesman
Turkey’s relations with Israel cannot not be normalized unless its conditions for ending the Gaza blockade and compensation for the deaths of Turkish activists in 2010 are met, a presidential spokesman said on Monday (December 28). Relations between Turkey and Israel soured when 10 activists were killed in a raid by Israeli commandos on a Turkish boat, the Mavi Marmara, which was trying to breach the blockade. Expectations of a breakthrough were intensified after senior […]
