ReportWire

Tag: israeli-palestinian conflict

  • Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

    Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, during Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket fire from militants in Gaza.

    Footage shared on social media showed Israeli officers striking screaming people with batons inside the darkened building. Eyewitnesses told CNN that police had smashed doors and windows to enter the mosque and deployed stun grenades and rubber bullets once inside. Video shared by Israeli police show forces holding riot shields up as fireworks were launched back at them, ricocheting off the walls.

    Israeli police said in a statement that its forces entered al-Aqsa after “hundreds of rioters and mosque desecrators (had) barricaded themselves” inside.

    “When the police entered, stones were thrown at them, and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,” according to the statement.

    The Palestinian Red Crescent in Jerusalem said at least 12 people were injured during clashes in and around the mosque, and at least three of the injured were transferred to hospital, some with injuries from rubber bullets.

    The Red Crescent added that at one point its ambulances were targeted by police and were prevented from reaching the injured.

    The incident drew condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli police actions “in the strongest terms,” and called on Israel to immediately remove its forces from the mosque. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the “storming” of the mosque by police, saying it had caused “numerous injuries among worshipers and devotees” and was “in violation of all international laws and customs.”

    Police said they arrested and removed more than 350 people in the mosque, and that one Israeli police officer was wounded in the leg by stones.

    Images shared on social media showed dozens of detained people lying facedown on the floor of the mosque with their legs and arms bound behind their backs, and others with their hands tied being led into a vehicle.

    Al-Aqsa has seen hundreds of thousands of worshipers offer prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year. Jews are set to celebrate Passover on Wednesday evening.

    Over the last two weeks, there have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the mosque compound as part of an ancient Passover holiday ritual that is no longer practiced by most Jews. A greater number of Muslim worshipers stayed in the mosque after calls came to prevent those attempts.

    Last week, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police at the entrance of the compound. Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi.

    The mosque compound, frequently a flashpoint in tensions, is home to one of Islam’s most revered sites but also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount.

    The compound reopened for prayers shortly after.

    In a statement Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police, saying: “What is happening in Jerusalem is a major crime against worshipers.”

    “Israel does not want to learn from history, that al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution against the occupation,” Shtayyeh added.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that nine rockets were fired from Gaza Strip toward Israel after the incident in Jerusalem.

    “Following the previous report regarding the sirens which sounded in Sderot, five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” said the IDF. “Four of them were intercepted by the aerial defense array.”

    The IDF also said four additional rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel but landed in open space.

    “Following the additional sirens that sounded in the surroundings of the Gaza Strip, four rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip that landed in open areas. No interceptors were launched according to protocol,” the IDF added.

    Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, said in a statement that “the current Israeli occupation’s crimes at the al-Aqsa mosque are unprecedented violations that will not pass.”

    Later on Wednesday, the Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck weapons manufacturing and storage sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas.

    “This strike was carried out in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory earlier,” it said in a statement.

    Last year was the deadliest for both Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and for Israelis in nearly two decades, CNN analysis of official statistics on both sides showed.

    And this year has seen a violent beginning, too. At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being targeted by Israeli forces, the dead include Palestinians killing, wounding or attempting to kill Israeli civilians, people clashing with Israeli security and bystanders, CNN records show.

    In the same period, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN records show – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by friendly fire after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager while inspecting bus passengers.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Palestinian man shot dead in disputed circumstances near Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa compound | CNN

    Palestinian man shot dead in disputed circumstances near Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa compound | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    A Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police early on Saturday at the entrance to the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, frequently a flashpoint in tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

    Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi at the compound, home to one of Islam’s most revered sites but also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount.

    A former Israeli lawmaker, Talab Al-Sanee, said Al-Osaibi was killed after he tried to intervene when he saw Israeli police and border guards assaulting a young Palestinian woman.

    Israeli police said the man had grabbed a gun from a police officer who had stopped him for questioning and managed to fire two shots before he was killed by police.

    Social media video apparently filmed at the time of the incident captured the sound of at least 11 gunshots – the first one followed almost immediately by nine in quick succession, then another one after a moment’s pause.

    Al-Osaibi’s family asked police to release security camera footage of the incident to prove “the allegations that their son pulled a soldier’s weapon.”

    A police spokeswoman told CNN there is no video of the incident.

    The incident came in the middle of Ramadan, which has passed largely peacefully in Jerusalem. The first two Fridays of the Muslim holy month have seen hundreds of thousands of worshippers offer prayers at al-Aqsa without incident.

    A large group of Muslim worshippers staged a mass prayer outside the holy site Saturday after the incident, video from the scene showed.

    Local authorities in Al-Osaibi’s native region of Rahat in the Negeb called for a general strike on Sunday in response to the killing.

    And Palestinian Authority presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned in a statement against what he described as “the dangerous escalation by the Israeli occupation authorities,” calling the Israeli version of the killing of Al-Osaibi “fabricated.”

    The relative calm of Ramadan comes after a violent beginning to the year in Israel and the occupied West Bank.

    At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being targeted by Israeli forces, the dead include Palestinians killing, wounding or attempting to kill Israeli civilians, people clashing with Israeli security and bystanders, CNN records show.

    In the same period, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN records show – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by friendly fire after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager while inspecting bus passengers.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • A threat to democracy or much-needed reform? Israel’s judicial overhaul explained | CNN

    A threat to democracy or much-needed reform? Israel’s judicial overhaul explained | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    For months hundreds of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets across the country to regularly protest far-reaching changes to the Israel’s legal system some say threaten the country’s democratic foundations.

    At its core, the judicial overhaul would give the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and therefore the parties in power, more control over Israel’s judiciary.

    From how judges are selected, to what laws the Supreme Court can rule on, to even giving parliament power to overturn Supreme Court decisions, the changes would be the most significant shakeups to Israel’s judiciary since its founding in 1948.

    The proposed reforms do not come out of nowhere.

    Figures from across the political spectrum have in the past called for changes to Israel’s judiciary.

    Israel has no written constitution, only a set of quasi-constitutional basic laws, making the Supreme Court even more powerful. But Israel also has no check on the power of the Knesset other than the Supreme Court.

    Here’s what you need to know.

    The judicial overhaul is a package of bills, all of which need to pass three votes in the Knesset before they become law.

    One of the most important elements for the Netanyahu government is the bill that changes the makeup of the nine-member committee that selects judges, in order to give the government a majority of the seats on the committee.

    Netanyahu and his supporters argue that the Supreme Court has become an insular, elitist group that does not represent the Israeli people. They argue the Supreme Court has overstepped its role, getting into issues it should not rule on.

    But the anger has also reached the business community, academia and even the military

    Defending his plans, the prime minister has pointed to countries like the United States, where politicians control which federal judges are appointed and approved.

    Another significant element of the changes is known as the override clause, which would give the Israeli parliament the power to pass laws previously ruled invalid by the court, essentially overriding Supreme Court decisions.

    Supporters say the Supreme Court should not interfere in the will of the people, who vote the politicians into power.

    “We go to the polls, vote, and time after time, people we did not elect decide for us,” Justice Minister Yariv Levin said while unveiling the reforms at the beginning of January.

    Another bill, now voted through, makes it more difficult for a sitting Prime Minister to be declared unfit for office, restricting the reasons to physical or mental incapacity and requiring either the prime minister themselves, or two-thirds of the cabinet, to vote for such a declaration.

    Although several bills could affect Netanyahu it is the one about declaring a prime minister “unfit for office” that has the biggest implication for the Israeli prime minister.

    Critics say Netanyahu is pushing the overhaul forward because of his own ongoing corruption trial, where he faces charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing.

    That bill is largely seen by opposition leaders as a way to protect Netanyahu from being declared unfit for office as a result of the trial.

    As part of a deal with the court to serve as a prime minister despite being on trial, Netanyahu accepted a conflict of interest declaration. The Attorney General determined that the declaration meant Netanyahu could not be involved in the policy-making of the judicial overhaul. A petition is currently in front of the Israeli Supreme Court to declare Netanyahu unfit for office on the grounds he has violated that conflict of interest declaration and the attorney general has written an open letter to Netanyahu saying he is in breach of the deal and the law.

    Critics also argue that if the government has a greater say in which judges are appointed, Netanyahu’s allies will appoint judges they know will rule in Netanyahu’s favor.

    Netanyahu is accused of self-interest in pursuing the legal shake-up

    Netanyahu, it should be said, has completely denied this and has claimed his trial is “unraveling” on its own.

    In the past, Netanyahu has publicly expressed strong support for an independent judiciary. Asked why he’s supporting such an overhaul despite those public proclamations, Netanyahu told CNN’s Jake Tapper: “I haven’t changed my view. I think we need a strong, independent judiciary. But an independent judiciary doesn’t mean an unbridled judiciary, which is what has happened here, I mean, over the last 25 years.”

    Weakening the judicial branch could limit both Israelis and Palestinians in seeking the court’s defense of their rights if they believe they are compromised by the government.

    Palestinians in the occupied West Bank could be affected, and of course Palestinian citizens of Israel or those who hold residency cards would be directly affected. Israel’s Supreme Court has no influence on what happens in Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    Critics of the changes worry that if the politicians have more control, the rights of minorities in Israel, especially Palestinians living in Israel, would be impacted.

    Last year, for example, the court halted the evictions of Palestinian families in the flashpoint neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, where Jewish groups have claimed ownership of land the families have lived on for decades.

    The protesters have vowed to fight on, but Netanyahu has given no indication he will back down

    At the same time, Palestinian activists have argued that the high court has further entrenched Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, having never considered the legality of Israeli settlements there, even though they’re considered illegal by most of the international community.

    The high court has also been the subject of complaints from Israel’s far right and settlers, who say it is biased against settlers; they have condemned the court’s involvement in approving the eviction of settlers from Gaza and the Northern West Bank in 2005.

    The overhaul has caused concern across Israel’s financial, business, security and academic sectors.

    Critics say the overhaul goes too far, and will completely destroy the only avenue available to provide checks and balances to the Israeli legislative branch.

    They warn it will harm the independence of the Israeli judiciary, and will hurt rights not enshrined in Israel’s quasi-constitutional basic laws, like minority rights and freedom of expression.

    According to polling released in February by the Israel Democracy Institute, only a minority of Israelis support the reforms. The vast majority – 72% – want a compromise to be reached and, even then, 66% think the Supreme Court should have the power to strike down lawa and 63% of Israelis think the current method of appointing judges should stay as it is.

    Members of the typically apolitical high-tech sector have also spoken out against the reforms. Assaf Rappaport, CEO of cybersecurity firm Wiz, has said the firm won’t be moving any of the $300 million capital it recently raised to Israel because of the unrest over the overhaul.

    Israel’s Central Bank Governor Amir Yaron told CNN’s Richard Quest that the reforms are too “hasty” and risk harming the economy.

    Several former Mossad chiefs have also spoken out against the reforms, warning division over the issue is harming Israeli security. Hundreds of reservists in Israel’s army have warned they will not answer the call to serve if the reforms pass, saying they believe Israel will no longer be a full democracy under the changes.

    Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the government’s legislation was “misguided, brutal and undermines our democratic foundations,” and warned Israel was potentially on the brink of a “civil war.” Although the Israeli presidency is largely a ceremonial role, Herzog has been actively speaking with all parties calling for negotiations.

    And on the international front, Israel’s allies, including the United States, have also expressed concern about the overhaul.

    According to the White House, US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu in a mid-March phone call “democratic societies are strengthened by genuine checks and balances, and that fundamental changes should be pursued with the broadest possible base of popular support.”

    Protest organizers say they plan to intensify their demonstrations until the legislation is halted. But the government says it received a mandate from voters to pass the reform when it was elected last November.

    But in mid-March, the coalition government softened its plans for the first time, announcing that it had amended the bill that would reform the committee that selects judges. Instead of having the vast majority of the appointed seats on the committee, the government-appointed members would have a one-seat majority.

    On March 23, even after his own defense minister nearly gave a speech calling for the legislation to be halted out of concern for how it would affect Israeli national security, Netanyahu vowed to keep advancing the reforms.

    He called for opposition politicians to meet with him to negotiate, something they have said they will only do if the legislative process is halted.

    Complicating matters further, should the bills pass parliament the Supreme Court must then potentially decide on laws curbing its own power. This raises the possibility of a constitutional standoff. Would the Supreme Court strike down the laws, and if so, how would the government respond?

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • At least 4 Palestinians killed in IDF operation in Jenin | CNN

    At least 4 Palestinians killed in IDF operation in Jenin | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    At least four Palestinians were killed on Thursday and 23 others injured after an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry. At least five of the injured are in critical condition, the health ministry added.

    In a statement the Israeli security forces said they “neutralized two operatives of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist organization who are suspected of significant terrorist activity.”

    A third person “was neutralized after he tried to attack the fighters with an iron crowbar,” the statement continued.

    “During the operation, the forces fired at armed men who fired at them, injuries were detected. Also, violent disturbances developed during which suspects threw stones at the forces.”

    Hamas announced in a statement that two of the Palestinians killed in Jenin were its members.

    “The cowardly assassination of two leaders of the resistance will not go unpunished. The occupation have tried us before, knows for sure that our response is coming, and that the march of the resistance continues until liberation,” the Hamas statement read.

    Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said in a statement following the raid: “These continuous Israeli aggressive actions confirm that Israel is not at all interested in calming the situation and preventing its eruption, contrary to all international efforts seeking to prevent escalation during the (upcoming) holy month of Ramadan.” He also called for “practical measures on the ground by the US administration to stop the unilateral Israeli measures, and to provide international protection for our people.”

    The violence marks the latest round in what has become a brutal cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians. A total of 88 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of this year, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, a number that includes militants and civilians. Since the beginning of the year, 13 Israeli civilians and one security officer have been killed in what Israeli officials say were Palestinian attacks.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israeli incursion shatters lives in ancient Middle Eastern city | CNN

    Israeli incursion shatters lives in ancient Middle Eastern city | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Nablus, West Bank
    CNN
     — 

    The heart of occupied Nablus is one of the most ancient cities in the Middle East. With two churches, 12 mosques and a Samaritan synagogue around densely populated residential areas, the occupied West Bank city’s nickname is “Little Damascus” because of the way its architecture, arches and even the local accent and food are reminiscent of those of the Syrian capital.

    On a normal day, the smell of spices and hand-made Nablus soap, the bright colors of cloth, and the welcoming faces of people fill the narrow alleys of the Ottoman-era Old City.

    A massive Israeli military incursion on Wednesday targeting three suspected militants changed all that. A CNN team visited the city a day after that raid, to find residents looking into the eyes of every stranger, not welcoming, but concerned about the reason for their visit.

    The market was on strike, mourning the 11 Palestinians killed the day before. Rather than selling their wares, business owners were collecting spent bullets from the alleys, with bullet holes and blood stains testifying to the violence the day before.

    “We heard explosions and went to hide under the beds. We covered our ears with blankets,” said an old woman with trembling hands and a shaking voice, who was afraid to be identified. “I can’t even describe how shocking it was. We saw death with our own eyes. We didn’t expect to get out of this alive.”

    Bullet holes in a door testify to the violence of the previous day.

    Residents of the Old City have faced many night-time military invasions over the last year, especially since the new Lion’s Den militant group started operating there.

    But this week’s invasion came at a very unexpected time of the day.

    “They came around 10 a.m. We consider that rush hour in a densely populated area,” said Ahmad Jibril, head of the Emergency and Ambulance Department of the Palestinian Red Crescent in Nablus. The dead included a 72-year-old market trader who, Jibril alleged, “was shot with 10 live bullets all over his body although he wasn’t causing any threat.”

    Paramedic Amid Ahmad, who was working to rescue the injured, said this is the first time since the height of the last intifada in 2000 that he has seen the Israeli army using weapons the way they did this week.

    “They were shooting randomly everywhere,” he said. “There was an extremely huge number of injuries. Everything was so difficult – reaching the injured, evacuating the injured, everything was difficult because the area is very narrow and was all blocked by the army that prevented us from working.”

    Israel Defense Forces international spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht denied that Israeli troops were firing “randomly,” saying: “The IDF only shoots at threats.”

    Another IDF spokesman, Maj. Nir Dinar, told CNN he hoped it was not true that IDF forces had blocked medics from reaching the wounded, and said he was “not familiar with such behavior.”

    Nablus residents say undercover Israeli military operatives were involved in the raid, one reason they were so distrustful of strangers the following day.

    This Nablus building was damaged in the raid.

    Bullet holes are seen on a car in Nablus, the day after the deadly raid.

    Sahar Zalloum was coming home from bringing her husband’s breakfast to his shop in the market, she said, when she was shocked to see a man she believes was an undercover operative at the door of her house: “I heard some noises in the yard. I saw a man wearing a sheikh’s clothes sitting with a gun. He asked me to get into the house. I ran home – it was terrifying, we didn’t dare to look out from any window, snipers were on all of the rooftops.”

    Zalloum and her husband survived uninjured. But many were not so lucky.

    Social media video appears to show at least two Israeli army vehicles near the entrance of a mosque, amid gunfire as a group of Palestinians come out of the mosque.

    CNN asked the IDF about the video, but received only a generic statement in response, saying in part: “The circumstances of the event in the video are under examination.”

    The wounded were transferred to Al Najah Hospital in the city, where Elias Al-Ashqar is a nurse. A video captured him in the emergency room, screaming “My father, my father” the moment he realized one of the dead was his father Abdul-Hadi Al-Ashqar, 61.

    “I didn’t believe it, then I came closer,” he told CNN the next day. “I had one of my colleagues with me. I asked him if he sees this dead man as my father. I looked around, waiting for anyone to say that I was mistaken. But it was my father.”

    Since the beginning of the year, 62 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health – the highest number at this point in a year since the year 2000. Israel argues that many of the dead are militants, or people attacking Israeli civilians or clashing with Israeli military forces.

    But some of them – like Elias Al-Ashqar’s father Abdul-Hadi – appear simply to have been innocent bystanders.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Ten Palestinians killed during Israeli raid targeting militants in West Bank | CNN

    Ten Palestinians killed during Israeli raid targeting militants in West Bank | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem and Gaza
    CNN
     — 

    At least 10 Palestinians were killed Wednesday during a major Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank that also left more than 100 injured, Palestinian officials said.

    Israeli authorities said Wednesday’s operation targeted three suspects “planning attacks in the immediate future.” The three were “neutralized,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Israel Security Agency said in a joint statement.

    In the unusual daytime raid, Israeli forces entered Nablus in the West Bank.

    The Islamic Jihad militant group said two of its commanders were killed in ensuing clashes with Israeli troops.

    The Lion’s Den militant group also confirmed its members were involved in the fighting, but did not say if any of their members were killed.

    All three of the suspected Palestinian militants targeted by the IDF were killed, a list of the dead released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health shows.

    Six of the dead were men in their 20s, the ministry said. One was 16, one was 33, one was 61 and was was 72. All were men, the ministry list of dead shows.

    An IDF statement said earlier that two of those killed were from the Lion’s Den militant group and that one was from Islamic Jihad.

    The names of at least two suspects released by the IDF – Hussam Esleem and Waleed Dakheel – appeared to match names of the dead released by the Palestinian health ministry. The IDF said one was shot while fleeing and the other two were killed in an exchange of fire with the military.

    Israeli authorities said that suspects threw rocks, Molotov cocktails and “explosive devices” at Israeli forces.

    The raid brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to 61 this year, the Palestinian health ministry said. That number includes people shot as they attacked Israelis, militants being targeted in raids, people clashing with Israeli forces during raids, and bystanders, CNN records show.

    Eleven Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks this year: seven in a shooting near a synagogue, three in a car ramming attack, and a border police officer who was stabbed by a teenager and then shot by friendly fire from a civilian security guard.

    Relatives mourn the death of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli raid, outside a hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus on February 22, 2023.

    IDF raids into the West Bank usually occur overnight; the last time the military conducted a daylight operation, they said it was because of an immediate threat.

    The Palestinian health ministry said five of the dead were men in their 20s. One was in his 30s, along with a man who was 61 and one who was 72.

    In addition, the ministry said 104 Palestinians were injured “with live ammunition … six of them in critical condition.”

    Islamic Jihad’s armed faction in Gaza, the Al Qassam Brigade, warned they are “watching the enemy’s escalating crimes against our people in the occupied West Bank, and its patience is running out.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Isolated Iran finds ally China reluctant to extend it a lifeline | CNN

    Isolated Iran finds ally China reluctant to extend it a lifeline | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


    Abu Dhabi, UAE
    CNN
     — 

    Shortly before leaving for his first state visit to China on Tuesday, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi issued a thinly veiled criticism of his powerful ally, saying the two countries’ relationship has not lived up to expectations.

    The first Iranian president to arrive in China on a state visit in two decades, Raisi was keen to tell Beijing that it has not given enough support to Tehran, especially economically.

    “Unfortunately, I must say that we have seriously fallen behind in these relations,” he said, referring to trade and economic ties. Part of his mission, he said, was to implement the China-Iran Strategic Partnership Plan (CISPP), a pact that would see Beijing invest up to $400 billion in Iran’s economy over a 25-year period in exchange for a steady supply of Iranian oil.

    Raisi said that economic ties had regressed, and that the two nations needed to compensate for that.

    The public criticism on the eve of the landmark trip demonstrated the heavily-sanctioned Islamic Republic’s disappointment with an ally that has in many ways become one of its few economic lifelines.

    The speech was likely “a reflection of Tehran’s frustration with China’s hesitancies about deepening its economic ties with Iran,” Henry Rome, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told CNN. “The same issues that have constrained China-Iran relations for years appear to remain.”

    Analysts said Raisi’s speech was a clear call for China to live up to its end of the relationship, seeking economic guarantees from the Asian power so he can have something to show at home amid a wave of anti-government protests and increasing global isolation.

    “The mileage Raisi will get for having a visit is going to be very limited if that visit doesn’t produce anything,” said Trita Parsi, vice-president of the Quincy Institute in Washington, DC. “The Iranians are not in a position right now in which a visit in and of itself is sufficiently good for them…They need more.”

    Whether Iran is satisfied with what China offered it, however, is yet to be seen.

    “Though more substance may be achieved following the visit, the reality is that Raisi needs both the substance and the announcement of concrete agreements,” said Parsi. He added that China, on the other hand, appears to be inclined to “play matters down” as it balances the partnership with its ties with Gulf Arab states at odds with Iran, as well as its own fraught relations with the US.

    In a joint statement, both China and Iran said they are “willing to work together to implement” the CISPP and “continue to deepen cooperation in trade, agriculture, industry, renewable energy, infrastructure and other fields.”

    On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, who accompanied Raisi to China, said that the two countries agreed to remove obstacles in the way of implementing the CISPP, adding that Iran was “optimistic at the results of the negotiations,” according to state news agency IRNA.

    Chinese President Xi Jinping also accepted an invitation to visit Iran on a future date.

    Raisi’s trip comes as Beijing strengthens its ties with Iran’s foe Saudi Arabia, and as cheap Russian oil potentially threatens Iran’s crude exports to China.

    Less than two years after he took power, Raisi’s term has witnessed growing isolation from the West – especially after Iran supplied Russia with drones to use in its war on Ukraine – and failed efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that removed some barriers to international trade with the Islamic Republic.

    As Western sanctions cripple its economy, Beijing has helped keep Tehran afloat economically. China is Iran’s biggest oil customer, buying sanctioned but cheap barrels that other nations would not touch.

    Tehran’s other ally, Russia, has however been biting into its Asian oil market as China buys more Russian barrels – also sanctioned by the West – for cheap, threatening one of Iran’s last economic lifelines.

    The visit is therefore a strategic one, analysts say, and an attempt by Iran pull itself back up from domestic instability and worsened isolation from the West.

    “(It) is an opportunity for Raisi to try to draw a line under the past five months of domestic unrest and project a sense of normalcy at home and abroad,” said Rome.

    But Jacopo Scita, a policy fellow at the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation in London, said he did not expect the visit to result in much more than a recognition of China’s partnership with Iran.

    “Raisi will hardly get much from the economic perspective, except for a new series of memoranda of understanding and some minor deals,” he told CNN.

    Iran has also been reminding its people that looking eastward is the right path toward economic revival as prospects of returning to nuclear agreement fade, said Parsi. The government has been keen to show that it has “an eastern option” that is supportive and lucrative, he said.

    Scita said that China is unlikely to live up to Iran’s expectations, however.

    “I don’t believe that Beijing can offer guarantees to Tehran except a pledge to continue importing a minimum amount of crude regardless of the global market situation and China’s domestic demand,” he told CNN.

    How Raisi’s visit will be received back at home remains unclear. If the trip yields no concrete results in the coming days, then Iran’s move eastward could prove to be “a huge strategic mistake that the Raisi government has really rushed into,” said Parsi.

    Additional reporting by Adam Pourahmadi and Simone McCarthy

    Turkey’s earthquake left 84,000 buildings either destroyed or in need of demolition after sustaining heavy damage, Turkish Urban Affairs and Environment Minister Murat Kurum said Friday, according to state media.

    The deadly earthquake – which sent shockwaves across the region – has so far killed more than 43,000 across both Turkey and Syria.

    At least 38,000 people died in Turkey, according to Turkey’s governmental disaster management agency, AFAD. The death toll in Syria remains at least 5,841, according to the latest numbers reported Tuesday by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

    Here’s the latest:

    • Since the February 6 earthquake, a total of 143 trucks loaded with aid provided by six UN agencies have crossed from Turkey to northwest Syria through two border crossings, a OCHA statement said Friday.
    • Two men were rescued in Hatay ten days after the earthquake struck, said Turkey’s Health Minister Fahrettin Friday. And late on Thursday, a 12-year-old boy was rescued from rubble in southern Hatay 260 hours after the earthquake hit, according to CNN Turk, which reported live from the scene.
    • World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said upon returning from Syria on Tuesday that more than a decade of war in the region has left towns destroyed, with the health system unable to cope with this scale of emergency. “Survivors are now facing freezing conditions without adequate shelter, heating, food, clean water or medical care,” he said.
    • Turkey added Elazig as the 11th province in the list of those impacted by the quake, the ruling party spokesman said.
    • A Turkish family was reunited with the ‘miracle baby’ that was found in the rubble of the quake after they had given up hope.
    • A confused woman asked her rescuers “What day is it?” when pulled alive from the rubble of last week’s earthquake after 228 hours.
    • After attending the Munich Security Conference in Germany, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel on to Turkey and Greece on Sunday to see US efforts to assist with the earthquake and to meet with Turkish and Greek officials, the State Department said Wednesday.

    Palestinian activist beaten by Israeli soldier says he is scared for his life

    Palestinian activist Issa Amro, who was filmed being assaulted by an Israeli soldier on Monday, told CNN Thursday that he is physically and psychologically affected by the attack and fears for his life.

    • Background: Lawrence Wright, a writer for the New Yorker magazine, posted video of the assault on Twitter. It showed two IDF soldiers manhandling well-known activist Amro, throwing him onto the ground, and one soldier kicking him, before that soldier is pushed away by other troops. The Israeli soldier who was filmed assaulting Amro in Hebron was sentenced to 10 days in military jail. In response to CNN’s interview with Amro, Israel Defense Forces international spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht said there was “no justification” for the soldier’s behavior, but suggested Amro had provoked the incident.
    • Why it matters: Amro said he is afraid for his life and for the lives of the people in the area, but added that, “unfortunately what happened to me is happening almost every day.” He said he filed many complaints to the Israeli police about soldier and settler violence, but had gotten no accountability. Amro also said he wants the Biden administration to reopen the Palestinian consulate in East Jerusalem.

    Protesters set fire to ATMs as Lebanese lira hits 80,000 against the dollar in new record low

    Lebanon’s national currency has hit a new record low of 80,000 Lebanese lira against the US dollar, according to values sold on the black market on Thursday. On Thursday, protesters blocked roads across Beirut and set fires to ATMs and bank branches, according to videos posted on social media by the organizers, United for Lebanon and the Depositors Outcry Association, who are both advocating for the release of depositor savings.

    • Background: The lira has been on an exponential fall since January 20 when the Lebanese central bank (BDL) adjusted the official exchange rate for the first time in decades, from LL1,500 to LL15,000. Lebanese banks have been closed since Tuesday due to a strike announced by the Association of Banks in Lebanon. Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement Thursday that “efforts are continuing to address the financial situation.”
    • Why it matters: Lebanon has been in a deepening financial crisis since 2019. The country moved toward securing an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout in April 2022, but the deal is yet to be finalized.

    Iran denies links to new al-Qaeda leader, calls US claim ‘Iranophobia’

    Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian on Thursday denied claims by the US that al-Qaeda’s new leader, Seif al-Adel, is living in his country. “I advise White House to stop the failed Iranophobia game,” wrote Abdollahian on Twitter. “Linking Al-Qaeda to Iran is patently absurd and baseless,” he said.

    • Background: US State Department spokesman Ned Price on Wednesday told reporters that the US backs a UN report linking al-Adel to Iran. “Our assessment aligns with that of the UN, the assessment that you (a reporter) referenced that Saif al-Adel is based in Iran,” said Price during a press briefing, adding that “offering safe haven to al-Qaeda is just another example of Iran’s wide-ranging support for terrorism, its destabilizing activities in the Middle East and beyond.”
    • Why it matters: Tensions between Iran and the US have only worsened in recent months, as the Islamic Republic supplies drones to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine and negotiations to revive a 2015 deal remain frozen. The US said it killed al-Qaeda’s former leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in a drone strike on Kabul, Afghanistan last year.

    A Roman-era lead sarcophagus was uncovered on Tuesday at the site of a 2000-year-old Roman necropolis in the Gaza Strip. The necropolis is along the Northern Gaza coast and 500 meters (0.3 miles) from the sea.

    The sarcophagus may have belonged to a prominent individual based on where it was found, the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ director of excavation and museums, Jehad Yasin, told CNN on Thursday.

    Yasin said the ancient Roman cemetery was discovered in 2022 “as excavations were carried out at the site in cooperation with Premiere Urgence Internationale and funded by the British Council.”

    Premiere Urgence Internationale, a French humanitarian organization, has collaborated on “Palestinian cultural heritage preservation” projects in Gaza under a program called INTIQAL.

    The coffin was exhumed from the site to perform archaeological analysis for bone identification, which will take around two months, according to Yasin.

    A team of experts in ancient funerary will unseal the coffin in the coming weeks.

    While Gaza is a site of frequent aerial bombardment and a land, air, and sea blockade imposed by Israeli and Egyptian officials, the sarcophagus remains intact.

    “The state of preservation of the sarcophagus is exceptional, as it remained sealed and closed,” read a press release from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.

    French and Palestinian archaeologists have uncovered eighty-five individual and collective tombs in the 3,500-square-meter Roman acropolis since its discovery last year, while ten of them have been opened for excavation.

    Beyond the rubble of the coastal enclave lay dozens of artifacts and burial sites from the Roman, Byzantine and Canaanite eras.

    Last year a Palestinian farmer discovered the head of a 4,500-year-old statue of Canaanite goddess Anat while another Palestinian farmer discovered a Byzantine-era mosaic in his orchard.

    In 2022 the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities released their first Arabic archaeological guide titled “Gaza, the Gateway to the Levant.” The guide charts 39 archaeological sites in Gaza, including churches, mosques and ancient houses that date back to 6,000 years.

    The ministry expects more archaeological findings at the necropolis.

    Further sarcophagi are likely to be uncovered in the following months, said Director Yasin.

    By Dalya Al Masri

    A man and woman walk along a damaged street at night in earthquake- stricken Hatay, Turkey on Thursday.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Palestinian man killed and 13 injured in Israeli raid in West Bank, say Palestinian officials | CNN

    Palestinian man killed and 13 injured in Israeli raid in West Bank, say Palestinian officials | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    A Palestinian man was killed and 13 were injured in an Israeli raid in Nablus early Monday, Palestinian health officials said, in what Israeli authorities said was an operation to arrest suspects in the fatal shooting of an Israeli soldier last year.

    The Palestinian Ministry of Health said Amir Ihab Bustami, 21, “was shot by the Israeli occupation soldiers and killed at dawn today in Nablus.”

    Six people were wounded by live bullets during the raid in Nablus and seven others were injured “as a result of the army’s pursuit of them,” the Palestinian Red Crescent said. The agency said one person was hospitalized, and that they had also handled 75 cases of tear gas inhalation.

    The Israeli military said the overnight raid was in response to the killing of Ido Baruch in an attack near the settlement of Shavei Shomron in the occupied West Bank on October 11, 2022.

    “[Israeli forces] apprehended the assailants Obkamel Guri and Asama Tuille, from Nablus, who carried out the shooting attack during which Staff Sergeant Ido Baruch was killed,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement on Monday. “The forces also apprehended three additional suspects who were with the assailants.”

    The Israeli forces exchanged fire with the suspects and confiscated two rifles at an apartment in Nablus, the IDF said, adding that two of the suspects were injured during the raid.

    Lion’s Den, a Palestinian militant group that emerged in Nablus last year, claimed responsibility for the killing of Baruch. The group put out a statement Monday saying it had lured Israeli soldiers into an ambush in Nablus and killed them, but there was no evidence to support that claim. The IDF said no Israeli injuries were reported in the raid.

    The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that Israeli forces “surrounded one of the residential buildings” in Nablus and heavy gunfire and an explosion were heard.

    Separately, the Israeli military launched airstrikes in Gaza, targeting “an underground complex” belonging to Hamas for manufacturing rockets, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement early Monday. The airstrikes came after a rocket was launched from Gaza into Israel on Saturday, which the IDF said was intercepted.

    Hamas confirmed in a statement that one of its sites was hit in West Gaza on Monday. Israeli warplanes “launched about 10 air raids targeting a site of the resistance,” al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said in a statement early Monday, adding that there were no casualties.

    Following the strikes, four rockets were launched from Gaza into Israel, according to a later statement by the IDF that said it struck Hamas military posts in response.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israeli forces raid Jenin, killing 14-year-old boy, Palestinian officials say | CNN

    Israeli forces raid Jenin, killing 14-year-old boy, Palestinian officials say | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    Israeli forces raided the West Bank city of Jenin on Sunday, killing a 14-year-old boy, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. Qusai Radwan Waked was shot in the abdomen, the ministry said.

    The target of the raid was Jibril Zubeidi, who was detained, Israeli and Palestinian authorities said.

    In a joint statement, the Israel Defense Forces, Border Police and Israel Security Agency said that during the raid, “armed individuals fired at the forces who responded back with live fire… Furthermore, suspects hurled explosive devices and rocks at the forces.

    “We are aware of the reports regarding a number of armed individuals who got injured during the exchange of fire,” the Israeli statement said.

    A video from Jenin on Sunday showed what appeared to be at least seven Israeli military vehicles entering the city, and another showed smoke rising from behind a multi-story building. Locals said the Israeli forces had used a smoke bomb during the raid.

    Zubeidi was suspected of “terrorist activity against security forces and planning attacks,” as well as involvement in the brief seizure of the body of an Israeli Druze man who was killed in a car accident in the West Bank in November, the Israelis said.

    The body of the man, Tiran Ferro, was taken from a hospital in Jenin by gunmen demanding the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israelis. The gunmen handed the body over to Palestinian Authority security officials the following day. The IDF said there had been no negotiations and no exchange for Ferro’s remains.

    Zubeidi had previously served 11 years in an Israeli prison, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA said. One of his brothers, Dawoud, was killed by Israeli forces last year, while another, Zakariya, is a Fatah official also imprisoned in Israel.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Traumatized and afraid, Jenin residents are still reeling from Israeli raid | CNN

    Traumatized and afraid, Jenin residents are still reeling from Israeli raid | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jenin, West Bank
    CNN
     — 

    Mohammed Abu al-Hayja was sleeping alongside his wife and two young daughters last month when loud gunfire woke them up. Minutes later, Israeli soldiers rammed down his door and burst through his apartment.

    “They spread through the house in seconds,” 29-year-old al-Hayja told CNN. “Two soldiers came up to me, told me to get up, one told me, ‘Leave your daughter with her mother,’ and then he took me and cuffed my hands behind my back.”

    Al-Hayja’s traumatic run-in with Israeli security forces happened as they carried out what they described as a counterterrorism operation in the center of the Jenin refugee camp on January 26. The building they targeted is just a few meters from his home.

    “The security forces operated to apprehend a terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization,” the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), the Israeli Security Agency and the Israel Border Police said in a joint statement, hours after the raid.

    Ten Palestinians were killed in Jenin, including an elderly woman, according to Palestinian officials. Another Palestinian was killed in what Israel Police called a “violent disturbance” near Jerusalem hours later, making it the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records. As violence spiraled in the region, at least seven people were killed and three injured in a shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem a day later according to Israeli police.

    In Jenin, Al-Hayja recalls the events of January 26 clearly, explaining that after being handcuffed an Israeli soldier took him to the bathroom and made him kneel down, before wrapping a towel around his head.

    Restrained, blindfolded and stuck in his bathroom, al-Hayja then started hearing gunfire from inside his apartment. “I could hear it, and if I concentrated I could hear one of the soldiers talking to my wife,” he says.

    Al-Hayja says he was able to convince the soldiers to let him go to his wife. Still blindfolded, he crawled to his living room, as bullets flew above him.

    Israeli soldiers had removed one of his couches and set up a firing position by the window to provide cover for their units engaging Palestinian gunmen nearby. Using apartments like al-Hayja’s to provide cover fire is “standard operating procedure,” a spokesman for the Israeli military told CNN.

    Mohammed Abu al-Hayja's house, seen from the outside.

    Representatives of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) visited Jenin in the days after the incident and spoke to al-Hayja and his family. “Their children were noticeably traumatized,” Adam Bouloukos, director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank told CNN. “This kind of invasion violates not only international law but common decency.”

    As Israeli soldiers fired, the Palestinian gunmen fired back, holes from their bullets dotting the family home’s doors and walls. Al-Hayja showed CNN a bag of spent bullet casings he says the Israeli soldiers left behind. “They fired a crazy number of bullets,” he added.

    While they did, al-Hayja and his wife lay on the floor clutching their young daughters for more than three hours. Their oldest daughter is 2-and-a-half, the youngest 18-months-old. “Honestly, I thought I had maybe 1% chance of making it out alive,” he said.

    Moments later an explosion rocked the apartment. He later found out that Israeli soldiers had mounted a second firing position in his bedroom.

    They sawed off the window bars and fired a rocket at the building the gunmen were in, with scorch marks smudging al-Hayja’s ceiling.

    “I said to myself, we are going to die,” he said.

    From atop al-Hayja’s building, the sprawling Jenin refugee camp spreads toward the horizon and up the hills. What were once temporary tents, is now a more permanent-looking slum of sandstone houses, cobbled on top of each other.

    Down below, lies the building targeted by Israeli soldiers. The structure was so damaged after the raid that local officials decided it was safer to bulldoze it down. On the rubble, people have placed banners with the faces of some of those killed – “martyrs,” they read – and a lone Palestinian flag.

    Abdel-Rahman Macharqa, a paramedic in Jenin, told CNN that he unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate one of the victims on January 26.

    While this operation was one of the deadliest in years, for residents here, such Israeli incursions occur all too often. Posters remembering other people killed in confrontations with Israeli security forces over the years line walls across the neighborhood.

    The IDF says these raids are targeted, aimed at terrorists, and that they open fire when those they are searching for fire at them.

    But people in Jenin see it differently. “The Israelis raid the camp and they fire at anything that moves,” paramedic Abdel-Rahman Macharqa told CNN.

    The 31-year-old has seen multiple gun battles in Jenin and says the situation is becoming increasingly riskier, even for those who save lives, like him.

    “They [Israeli soldiers] have fired at me five times,” Macharqa said. “We don’t feel safe, even in uniform.”

    Bullet holes from the incident mark the walls in the neighborhood.

    An elderly lady walks near the scene of the raid.

    “When we say goodbye to our wives and children to come to work, we know we could become martyrs,” he added.

    Macharqa witnessed part of the raid in Jenin as it unfolded on January 26. The paramedic tried to help one of the three civilians whom Israeli officials say were killed there, along with seven gunmen.

    “They opened fired on him and he was hit three times,” he recalled. Macharqa said he pulled the man away and attempted to resuscitate him, but he died.

    “We deserve to live,” Macharqa said. He feels frustrated, not just by Israeli actions, but also what he sees as the passive attitude and double standards of the international community.

    “Israelis claim he is a terrorist, but Ukrainians, when they defend themselves from the Russian invasion is that terrorism?,” he asked.

    On the day of the raid, Ziad Miri’ee peaked out of his door after he heard gunfire. He saw an Israeli soldier firing through his car to hit a young man from his neighborhood.

    “Our neighbors over there tried to pull him out (of the street),” he said. “The kid died.”

    Miri’ee, 63, says he was one of the Jenin camp’s oldest residents, but he also believes the situation has been getting worse.

    “In 2002, when they raided the camp and bulldozed the houses it was much easier than the three-and-a-half hours of last week’s raid,” he said. At the time, during the second intifada, Israeli forces occupied the camp, destroying around 400 homes.

    “2002 was a child play compared to the incident here last week. We couldn’t step a meter outside the house because the bullets were coming in,” he said.

    Ziad Miri'ee was one of the Jenin camp's first residents.

    A child plays by a window, next to the building that was destroyed.

    Miri’ee believes the situation is bound to get even worse, as frustration with the occupation grows, the lack of future on the horizon is driving more and more young people to join the ranks of militant organizations such as the Islamic Jihad.

    “Yes, there’s more [fighters] from this generation,” he says. “This generation was born into the war.”

    Upstairs from Miri’ee, al-Hayja is still shaken by the traumatic experience. Inside his home there’s no room for bravado, just concern over the safety of his daughters.

    “I don’t interfere or get involved in these things, I just go from my work to my house and it all landed on my head,” he said. “You are in your city and you are not safe, you are in your house and you are not safe.”

    “You are not safe from this occupier who occupies your land” he added. “You are not safe at all.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Exclusive: Netanyahu says don’t get ‘hung up’ on peace with Palestinians first | CNN

    Exclusive: Netanyahu says don’t get ‘hung up’ on peace with Palestinians first | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said people can get “hung up” on peace negotiations with the Palestinians, saying he has opted for a different approach in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.

    “When effectively the Arab-Israeli conflict (comes) to an end, I think we’ll circle back to the Palestinians and get a workable peace with the Palestinians,” he said.

    Asked by Tapper about the Biden administration’s concerns that settlements in the occupied West Bank could exacerbate tensions, Netanyahu pointed to the success of the Trump-era Abraham Accords that normalized relations between Israel and several Arab countries.

    “I went around them (Palestinians), I went directly to the Arab states and forged with a new concept of peace… I forged four historic peace agreements, the Abraham Accords, which is twice the number of peace agreements that all my predecessors in 70 years got combined.”

    His comments come at a tense moment for Israel. Palestinians and Israelis have suffered terrible bloodshed in the past week, and fears are growing that the situation will spiral out of control. Last Thursday was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in nearly two years, followed by a shooting near a Jerusalem synagogue Friday night – which Israel has deemed one of its worst terror attacks in recent years.

    The Biden administration has advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but there has been very little movement and seemingly few active efforts toward that goal by Netanyahu or Palestinian leaders.

    Analysts say the Abraham Accords have also done little to moderate Israel’s position on the Palestinians. When asked what concession Israel would grant Palestinian territories, Netanyahu responded: “Well, I’m certainly willing to have them have all the powers that they need to govern themselves. But none of the powers that could threaten (us) and this means that Israel should have the overriding security responsibility.”

    There are hopes that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Israel and the West Bank this week would help cool rising tensions.

    But both administrations appear to be on opposite sides of the coin when it comes to Israeli settlements. Netanyahu vowed this week that Israel would “strengthen” settlements in response to shooting attacks in Jerusalem, a position Blinken cautioned against on Tuesday.

    When asked about US concerns that expanding Israeli settlements on Palestinian land could hamper peace prospects, Netanyahu said: “Well, I totally disagree.”

    Biden and Netanyahu have a complicated relationship, especially over Iran. Netanyahu clashed with former US President Barack Obama over negotiations with the Palestinians, then again more openly over the Iran nuclear deal – which Biden would like to re-enter.

    Netanyahu explained his position on Iran to Tapper, saying, “If you have rogue regimes that are (intending to get) nuclear weapons, you can sign 100 agreements with them, it doesn’t help.”

    “I think the only way that you can stop or abstain from getting nuclear weapons is a combination of crippling economic sanctions, but the most important thing, is a credible military threat,” he said.

    Iran has said its nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and that it formally halted its weapons program, but US officials warned Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have gone far beyond the parameters of the failed 2015 nuclear deal since former US President Trump exited it. Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency chief warned that Tehran has amassed enough material for “several nuclear weapons” and urged diplomatic efforts to restart to prevent such a scenario.

    Another point of contention among among US allies has been Israel’s ambivalent stance on Ukraine. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Israel has been performing a diplomatic balancing act in relations with Moscow.

    Although it has officially condemned the invasion and regularly sends aid to Ukraine, Israel has yet to send the Ukrainians weapons, and has been criticized for not being more forceful in its criticism of Russia.

    Israel does not want to upset Russia when the Israeli air force is looking to hit targets across the border in Syria. Israel has launched hundreds of strikes against its neighbor in recent years, mostly aimed at disrupting Iran’s supply of precision-guided missile technology to Hezbollah.

    Netanyahu referenced this complicated scenario to Tapper, adding that Israel has been “taking action against certain weapons development” in Iran. He however refused to confirm or deny whether Israel was behind drone attacks at a military plant in Iran’s central city of Isfahan over the weekend.

    “I never talk about specific operations… and every time some explosion takes place in the Middle East, Israel is blamed or given responsibility – sometimes we are sometimes we’re not.”

    The wide-ranging interview touched on concerns about Netanyahu’s cabinet, described as the most far right and religious in the country’s history, which has already faced internal tensions and widespread public protests.

    Netanyahu’s governing coalition relies on the support of a number of nationalist political figures once consigned to the fringes of Israeli politics.

    Netanyahu dismissed concerns about the inflammatory rhetoric and actions of these members, saying: “I’ve got my two hands on the wheel.”

    Pressed on some of those extreme statements – including reports that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described himself as a “fascist homophobe” – Netanyahu said: “Well, a lot of people say a lot of things when they’re not in power. They sort of temper themselves when they get into power. And that’s certainly the case here.”

    Netanyahu accused critics of hypocrisy and not holding a similar lens against his predecessors, while adding: “Look, I’m controlling the government, and I’m responsible for its policies, and the policies are sensible, and responsible, and continue to be that.”

    The six-time prime minister also rejected criticism of his government’s push for judicial reforms, that would give parliament (and by extension the parties in power) the ability to overturn supreme court rulings, appoint judges, and remove from ministries legal advisers whose legal advice is binding.

    This comes after he was forced to dismiss key ally Aryeh Deri from his ministerial posts after the High Court ruled that it was unreasonable to appoint the Shas party leader to positions in government due to his criminal convictions.

    Netanyahu told Tapper that he believed the changes would “make democracy stronger.”

    His country has seen ongoing demonstrations against judicial reforms, drawing tens of thousands of Israelis to the streets in January.

    Meanwhile, Netanyahu continues to face charges on three separate cases in a long-running corruption trial that has dogged him politically. He has repeatedly denied all the charges against him, and has described the trial as a “witch hunt.”

    When asked whether there was an truth to claims that Netanyahu was trying to override the judiciary due to his own interests, he said “that’s false. None of the reforms that we’re talking about… have anything to do with my trial.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Two wounded in shooting in Jerusalem, police say, after synagogue attack leaves seven dead | CNN

    Two wounded in shooting in Jerusalem, police say, after synagogue attack leaves seven dead | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Two people were wounded in a shooting attack in Jerusalem on Saturday, emergency services say, the day after a gunman killed at least seven people near a synagogue in the city.

    The two men injured in the City of David area of Jerusalem on Saturday, one aged 22 and one in his 40s, are father and son, according to police. A 13-year-old who police say shot and wounded the pair was “neutralized and injured” by “two passers-by carrying licensed weapons.”

    Tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories remain high after Friday’s shooting, which police chief Yaakov Shabtai described as “one of the worst terror attacks in the past few years.” The shooter in that attack was also later killed by police forces, according to police.

    “As a result of the shooting attack, the death of 7 civilians was determined and 3 others were injured with additional degrees of injury,” police said.

    Five of the shooting victims were pronounced dead at the scene, Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency rescue service said: four men and a woman. Five people were transported to hospitals, where another man and woman were declared dead. Among the wounded is a 15-year-old boy, the MDA said.

    The attack occurred around 8:15 p.m. local time on Friday, near a synagogue on Neve Yaakov Street, according to a police statement.

    Shabtai said the gunman “started shooting at anyone that was in his way. He got in his car and started a killing spree with a pistol at short range.” He then fled the scene in a vehicle and was killed after a shootout with police forces, police said.

    Police identified the gunman as a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, saying in a statement that he appeared to have acted alone. East Jerusalem is a predominantly Palestinian area of the city, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged people against revenge attacks on Friday night. “I call on the people not to take the law into their own hands. For that purpose we have an army, police and security forces. They act and will act according to the cabinet instructions,” he said.

    Friday’s incident came one day after the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records.

    On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in the West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, prompting the Palestinian Authority to suspend security coordination with Israel. A tenth Palestinian was killed that day in what Israel Police called a “violent disturbance” near Jerusalem.

    Overnight, on Friday morning local time, Israel launched air strikes on the Gaza strip after rockets were fired towards Israel.

    Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the scene of the attack on Friday evening, telling people who were chanting angrily that “it cannot continue like this.”

    “I can tell you, [the people chanting] you are right. The burden is on us. It cannot continue like this,” Ben Gvir, who also leads the far-right Jewish Power party, said.

    Some people on the scene were chanting support for Ben Gvir, saying “You are our voice, we support you.”

    CNN’s Hadas Gold and team, who were also at the scene of Friday night’s shooting, heard what sounded like celebratory gunfire and car horns honking from the nearby predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

    The White House condemned the “heinous terror attack” at a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday and said the United States government has extended its “full support” to Israel, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

    The US State Department also condemned the “apparent terrorist attack” in Jerusalem “in the strongest terms.”

    “This is absolutely horrific,” said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. “Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to those killed and injured in this heinous act of violence.”

    Patel said no change to the schedule of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming trip to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank was expected.

    Israel's Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir speaks with Israeli forces on January 27, 2023.

    The European Union, France and the UK also condemned the shooting.

    “I am appalled by reports of the terrible attack in Neve Yaakov tonight. Attacking worshippers at a synagogue on Erev Shabat is a particularly horrific act of terrorism. The UK stands with Israel,” Neil Wigan, the British ambassador in Israel wrote on Twitter.

    The EU ambassador to Israel, Dimiter Tzantchev, also condemned the “senseless violence,” saying in his tweet, “Terror is never the answer.”

    And the French embassy in Israel tweeted that the incident was “all the more despicable as it was committed on this day of international remembrance of the Holocaust.”

    United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres also condemned Friday’s deadly attack, his spokesman said.

    “It is particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship, and on the very day we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day,” he said.

    Guterres also expressed worry “about the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory,” urging all “to exercise utmost restraint.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank with tensions high after outbreak of violence | CNN Politics

    Blinken to visit Israel and West Bank with tensions high after outbreak of violence | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Jerusalem and Ramallah next week has gained new urgency after a wave of deadly violence in Israel and the West Bank.

    His trip, which also includes a stop in Egypt, was already expected to be complicated, as it will be the top US diplomat’s first visit to Israel since the new Israeli government, which includes ultra-nationalists and ultra-religious parties, took power.

    Now, Blinken is poised to face a rapidly escalating crisis that shows no signs of de-escalation.

    At least seven people were killed in a mass shooting at a synagogue in Jerusalem Friday that is being described as a terrorist attack. Israeli police said the gunman, who was killed by police, was a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem who appeared to have acted alone.

    On Thursday, Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in a raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank city of Jenin. Another Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli troops later that day in the town of al-Ram, adding to the death toll on what was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records. Then overnight on Friday Israel launched air strikes on Gaza after rockets were fired towards Israel.

    The Palestinian Authority responded to the Jenin raid by announcing that it will cease security coordination with Israel starting immediately.

    While US officials have indicated that the days of violence will not upend the top diplomat’s trip, the White House on Friday condemned the “heinous terror attack” on the synagogue and State Department officials on Thursday expressed concern about the security situation following the Jenin raid.

    “There is the potential for things to worsen in security terms, in terms of protests or any other kind of kinetic action,” Barbara Leaf, the top State Department official for the region, told reporters on Thursday ahead of the synagogue shooting, adding that the department is in close touch with diplomatic and security personnel on the ground. She also urged the two sides to retain and deepen security coordination.

    The Biden administration has been careful in its language and sought to publicly avoid criticizing the new government in Israel, which is led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and includes controversial far-right government ministers. Over the past few weeks, US officials have held numerous engagements with the new government – Blinken’s trip follows visits by national security adviser Jake Sullivan and CIA Director Bill Burns. Israel is one of the US’s staunchest allies and the importance of the relationship was underlined earlier this week as the two nations launched their largest joint military exercise ever on Monday.

    Aaron David Miller, who served for two decades at the State Department as an analyst, negotiator and adviser on Middle East issues, told CNN that he has “never seen an administration engage with a new Israeli Government as frequently and as early and at as senior level as this one.”

    “I think their strategy was basically to say, ‘OK, you formed this government, your hands are on the wheel. You told us you’re in charge, and we’re now going to engage with you directly and intensely. Because if things head south, you’re the one who’s going to have to be responsible with respect to controlling your own ministers,’” he said. Miller said he predicts the relationship between the two administrations will be publicly non-confrontational, especially as Biden looks to ensure he is seen as pro-Israel ahead of a potential US reelection campaign.

    The far-right elements of the new Israeli government, meanwhile, have already exacerbated tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

    The new national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir has previously been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. Earlier this year, after being named minister, he visited the Jerusalem compound known as Temple Mount by Jews and the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, in a move that drew international condemnation.

    Although he visited during open hours for non-Muslims, his visit was seen as controversial because Ben Gvir has publicly called for changes to the delicate status quo agreement that governs the compound.

    State Department spokesman Ned Price responded at the time by saying that the US believed the visit has “the potential to exacerbate tensions and to provoke violence.”

    Although the Biden administration has advocated for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there has been very little movement and seemingly few active efforts toward that goal. It is something that Blinken will address during his meetings with Israelis and Palestinians, said Leaf, the State Department official.

    Miller said he does not expect any progress to be made on this issue during Blinken’s visit, which will instead be more of an “extended condolence call” due to the synagogue attack in Jerusalem Friday.

    Jeremy Ben-Ami, the president of the advocacy group J-Street, which pushes for a two-state solution, said that he believes Blinken’s trip is well-timed, and sends an important message about American involvement.

    He said the administration should try to articulate both privately to the new Israeli government as well as publicly the things that the US would find unacceptable, such as “plans for what amounts to de facto annexation of territory on the West Bank.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Lethal Israeli raid marks deadliest day in over a year | CNN

    Lethal Israeli raid marks deadliest day in over a year | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians and wounded several others in the West Bank city of Jenin on Thursday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, prompting the Palestinian Authority to suspend its security coordination with Israel.

    Hours after the Jenin raid, a tenth Palestinian was killed in what Israel Police called a “violent disturbance” near Jerusalem.

    The death toll makes Thursday the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in over a year, according to CNN records. It brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this year to 30, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health figures. That toll includes militants being targeted in Israeli raids, individuals who attacked Israelis, and bystanders, CNN reporting shows.

    Nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed during an Israeli raid of the Jenin refugee camp, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.

    Israeli security forces said they were operating in Jenin Thursday to apprehend a “terror squad belonging to the Islamic Jihad terror organization,” saying in a statement that it killed three “terrorists.”

    “The Islamic Jihad terror operatives were heavily involved in executing and planning multiple major terror attacks, including shooting attacks on IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians,” the joint statement from the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Security Agency and Border Police said.

    The statement said two armed suspects were “neutralized” while fleeing and that a third was neutralized at the scene. Another suspect surrendered, they said.

    Israeli forces reported no injuries on their side, but said they were aware of “claims regarding additional casualties during the exchange of fire” and were investigating.

    The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) said Israeli forces initially prevented medics from entering Jenin camp, making it difficult to reach injured individuals, four of whom were in critical condition.

    The PRC said Israeli forces also fired tear gas canisters towards the Jenin Government Hospital, causing inhalation injuries among children.

    Later on Thursday, a 22-year-old Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli troops in Al-Ram near Jerusalem, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said, making him the tenth Palestinian killed that day.

    Family members of one of the Palestinian people killed during the Israeli raid on January 26, 2023 mourn his death during his funeral procession in Jenin.

    Israel Border Police said they were responding to a “violent disturbance” in the city and that “a terrorist who shot fireworks from a short range at our forces “was neutralized.” The force said in a statement that one of its officers had also fired at and hit a second person who allegedly shot fireworks at them.

    Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh called on the United Nations and international human rights organizations to “intervene urgently to provide protection … and stop the bloodshed of children, youth and women.”

    The Palestinian Authority also announced it will cease security coordination with Israel starting immediately, its Deputy Prime Minister Nabil Abu Rudineh told a news conference in Ramallah in the wake of the raid.

    Palestinians inspect the damage following an Israeli raid in Jenin on January 26, 2023.

    “In light of the repeated aggression against our people and the flouting of the signed agreements, including security ones, we consider that security coordination with the Israeli occupation government no longer exists as of now,” Abu Rudineh said.

    Coordination between Israel and the Palestinians involves a range of civilian and security matters, including sharing of some intelligence for security operations targeting militant groups – seen as key to preventing terror attacks.

    But Palestinian Authority leadership has come under pressure to cut the coordination, especially over the past year which has seen some of the highest levels of violence and death for both Palestinians and Israelis in years.

    The Palestinian Authority previously suspended security coordination for several months in 2020, after Israel announced plans to annex parts of the West Bank as part of former President Donald Trump’s peace plan. The annexation did not proceed and security coordination resumed.

    Last year was the deadliest for both Palestinians in the West Bank and for Israelis in nearly two decades, CNN analysis of official statistics on both sides showed.

    Israel’s top military officer told CNN “fighting terrorism is a complex mission,” in the wake of Thursday’s fatal Israeli raid. Herzi Halevi, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief of staff, was speaking to CNN’s Hadas Gold shortly after the raid, and before he had been fully briefed on it.

    An IDF spokesperson later told CNN the military was responding to intelligence about an imminent attack.

    “We went into Jenin in daylight,” the spokesperson said, underlining that the decision to operate in daylight rather than overnight, as the IDF usually does, shows how “urgent” the mission was.

    When the forces arrived at the targeted building they “came under heavy fire and returned fire.”

    The suspects were barricaded in a house when the IDF arrived, “so in addition the forces used an anti-tank shoulder-fired missile.”

    “We are aware of reports a woman in her 60s, to our sorrow, was killed during the operation. We do not yet know on whom to assign responsibility, who fired and where she was,” the spokesperson added.

    Israel is increasing its defensive posture against Palestinian militant attacks in the wake of the raid, the Ministry of Defense said.

    On Friday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had launched air strikes targeting an “underground rocket manufacturing site belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization in Maghazi in the central Gaza Strip.”

    “This strike will significantly impede Hamas’ intensification and armament efforts,” it added in a statement posted on the force’s official Telegram channel.

    It said the strikes were in response to the launching of three rockets from the Gaza Strip on Thursday. One of the rockets had been intercepted, one had fallen in an open area and another had fallen inside the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israel’s rightward shift leaves its new Arab allies in an awkward spot | CNN

    Israel’s rightward shift leaves its new Arab allies in an awkward spot | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in today’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, CNN’s three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


    Abu Dhabi, UAE
    CNN
     — 

    It was a rare embrace between one of Israel’s most controversial politicians and an Arab ambassador. Itamar Ben Gvir and the United Arab Emirates’ Ambassador to Israel Mohamed Al Khaja clutched each other’s hands in a warm greeting in Tel Aviv in early December.

    “Birds of a feather flock together,” wrote a columnist in Israel’s left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, arguing that the Abraham Accords, which saw Israel gain recognition from four Arab states including the UAE in 2020, did little to moderate Israel’s position on the Palestinians. Ben Gvir, he said, was “a superstar in the UAE.”

    Israel on Thursday swore in what is likely to be the most right-wing government in its history, led by six-time Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ben Gvir, an extremist who has been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism, became national security minister. Bezalel Smotrich, who supports abolishing the Palestinian Authority and annexing the West Bank, became finance minister.

    Both politicians were invited to national day celebrations in December hosted by the UAE and Bahrain, which were among the nations that normalized relations with Israel, along with Morocco and Sudan in 2020.

    “The Emirates are here to show that unity equals prosperity,” Al Khaja was cited by the Times of Israel as saying at his country’s national day celebration, where he was photographed with Ben Gvir. “We will continue to use diplomacy to deepen connections through friendship and mutual respect.”

    The public embrace of figures that are hated in the Arab world – and are divisive within Israel itself – is a rare gesture on the part of Arab states that have normalized relations with Israel.

    Egypt and Jordan, who recognized Israel in 1979 and 1994 respectively, have had what observers have called a “cold peace” with Israel.

    In his phone call to congratulate Netanyahu on returning as prime minister, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi “emphasized the need to avoid any measures that would lead to tension and complicate the regional situation.” Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned in a CNN interview last month that his nation was “prepared” for conflict should the situation change at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque, of which he is the custodian.

    The rightward direction of Israeli politics puts Israel’s new Arab partners in an awkward position regarding the Palestinian cause, which remains a central issue among Arab publics.

    “It is awkward not just for us (in the UAE), but for everybody, in America, and all over the place,” Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a political science professor in the UAE, told CNN. “It is a dilemma, but the way to deal with it is just to wait and see.”

    An opinion poll by The Washington Institute for Near East Policy in July 2022 showed that support for the Abraham Accords had dropped in Gulf countries to a minority view, including the UAE and Bahrain, where more than 70% of the public views the agreement negatively. The data however also showed that around 40% of people in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain support maintaining business and sporting ties with Israel.

    The normalizing states appear to be cognizant of that. On Friday, all four Arab states continued the tradition of supporting the Palestinians at the United Nations by voting at the General Assembly to seek the International Criminal Court’s opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. Netanyahu called the vote “despicable.”

    But Israeli media has reported that behind the scenes, the Emiratis have also been sending messages of concern to Netanyahu about the inclusion of extremists in his government. Ahead of the Israeli elections, UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed warned Netanyahu against including Ben Gvir and Smotrich in his government, the Times of Israel reported, citing a senior official. Axios, which first reported the news, said Netanyahu didn’t respond.

    The move would be a rare case of one of Israel’s Arab partners showing a preference for the country’s domestic politics.

    The UAE foreign ministry didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.

    Israeli analyst Zvi Bar’el wrote in Haaretz that the December move to embrace Ben Gvir may have been linked to Abu Dhabi’s desire to steer Israeli policy, adding that it made the UAE “the Arab country with the greatest influence on the new Israeli government.”

    The effectiveness of the UAE’s diplomacy within Israel remains to be seen. So far, Israel’s extremist minister seems unrestrained.

    Less than a week since he was sworn in, Ben Gvir made a controversial visit to the al-Aqsa mosque compound escorted by Israeli police on Tuesday. The mosque, which lies in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, is in an area known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. It is the third holiest site for Muslims and the holiest for Jews, who know it as the Temple Mount. Under current arrangements, non-Muslims aren’t allowed to pray there and Ben Gvir wants to change that.

    The UAE “strongly” condemned Ben Gvir’s visit without naming the minister, and called for the need to respect Jordan’s custodianship of the holy site. It later joined China in calling for an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council on the matter.

    “However unhappy they (Bahrain and the UAE) might be towards the emergence of Israel’s most right-wing government, it’s clear that they’ve chosen to air these concerns privately, and have stopped short of letting them stand in the way of what they see as an important strategic relationship,” Elham Fakhro, a research fellow at the Centre for Gulf Studies at the University of Exeter, England, told CNN.

    But the UAE has said earlier that the more friendly ties with the Arab world weren’t a green light for Israel to expand its territory. In June 2020, Yousef Al Otaiba, the UAE ambassador to the United States, warned Israel that its relations with Arab nations would suffer if there is any “illegal seizure of Palestinian land.”

    Abdullah, the professor from the UAE, said that Abu Dhabi may have some leverage over Israel that it may use privately at times, but added that ultimately “everybody knows that nobody today has any leverage over Israel. Even America.”

    Still, the UAE-Israel relationship is not everlasting, he said. “This relationship is going to be dictated by the UAE… When it doesn’t serve the interest of the UAE… it can collapse at any time.”

    With additional reporting by Nadeen Ebrahim

    Turkey’s ruling party mulls bringing elections ‘slightly’ forward

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party is considering a “slight change” on the date of elections scheduled for mid-June, Reuters cited AK Party spokesman Omer Celik as saying on Monday. Since the date of the elections corresponds with the summer holiday season, the party is evaluating bringing it “slightly forward,” he said.

    • Background: Turkey’s parliamentary and presidential elections are scheduled to be held on June 18, and Erdogan previously said elections would be held in June. The date change would not amount to snap elections, Celik said.
    • Why it matters: The elections are set to take place as Turkey faces soaring inflation and an economic downturn that could hurt Erdogan’s prospects for re-election. But the government has of late tried to win back voter support through populist moves including wage hikes, retirement benefits, social aid, energy and agriculture support.

    Amnesty condemns Iran for upholding protester death sentence

    Amnesty International on Monday condemned the Iranian supreme court’s decision to uphold the death sentence of protester Mohammad Boroughani, who according to Iranian state media is accused of stabbing a security guard during a protest.

    • Background: Boroughani will be executed under the “moharebeh law,” or waging war against God, the state-aligned Tasnim news agency said. Prior to the supreme court’s confirmation of the sentence, he was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court during a group trial in Tehran presided by notorious judge Abolghasem Salavati, Amnesty said.
    • Why it matters: The protester is among 26 others identified by Amnesty last month as being at risk of execution in connection to the country’s nationwide protests. Iran has already carried out two protest-related executions over the past months of unrest. CNN has verified that at least 43 detainees are facing execution. The situation has drawn strong criticism from several European countries, including Germany, France and Britain.

    Iran’s judiciary indicts two French nationals and a Belgian for espionage

    Iran has indicted two French nationals and a Belgian for espionage and working against the country’s national security, Reuters reported, citing the semi-official Student News Network on Tuesday. The agency did not give the names of the three or say where or when they were indicted.

    • Background: Belgium’s justice minister said last month that Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele had been sentenced to 28 years in prison in Iran for what he called a “fabricated series of crimes.” Iranian media aired a video in October in which two French citizens appeared to confess to spying. The video sparked outrage in France, which said the detainees were “state hostages.”
    • Why it matters: A total of seven French citizens are being held in Iran, France’s foreign minister said in November. Iran has accused foreign adversaries of fomenting the wave of unrest that erupted three months ago. The protests mark one of the boldest challenges to the country’s leadership since its 1979 Islamic Revolution and have drawn in Iranians from all walks of life.

    Regional: #HalaRonaldo (Hello, Ronaldo)

    Soccer fans in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states are celebrating the arrival of famed Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo in Riyadh, who touched down in the kingdom on Tuesday ahead of his unveiling ceremony with the Al Nassr Football Club.

    Twitter was flooded with images of Ronaldo wearing the club’s yellow and blue colors, smiling on large billboards in the Saudi capital. Memes showed “sheikh Ronaldo” dressed in Arab attire, and another showed him wearing a jersey with the “Just do it” slogan for his sponsor Nike crossed out and replaced with “inshallah” – God-willing in Arabic.

    A magazine in Saudi Arabia even put out ads for a full-time “Ronaldo correspondent,” Esquire magazine reported.

    “Welcome to the greatest player in the world,” tweeted one Saudi user, sharing a video of a framed photograph of Ronaldo holding his Al Nassr jersey.

    “The streets of Riyadh welcome Ronaldo,” tweeted one Kuwaiti social media influencer, saying Saudis are lucky their country has become home to such a high-status player.

    The celebrations quickly faded for some, however, when a video showing Ronaldo mistakenly refer to his new home as “South Africa” on Tuesday went viral. “So, for me it’s not the end of my career to come in South Africa. This is why I wanna change. And to be honest I don’t really worry about what the people say,” the soccer star said at a press conference in Riyadh on Tuesday.

    Some joked that Ronaldo accepted a large sum to play in Saudi Arabia only to get the country’s name wrong.

    Al Nassr FC announced on December 30 that the footballer was joining their team, tweeting a photo of Ronaldo in its jersey. The 37-year-old was a free agent and immediately available due to his high-profile break-up with Manchester United last month.

    By Nadeen Ebrahim

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as leader of Israel’s likely most right-wing government ever | CNN

    Benjamin Netanyahu sworn in as leader of Israel’s likely most right-wing government ever | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday completed a dramatic return as Israel’s prime minister, after being sworn in as the leader of what is likely to be the country’s most right-wing government in history.

    Netanyahu and his government were sworn in on Thursday for his sixth term as prime minister, 18 months after he was ousted from power.

    He returns with the support of several far-right figures once consigned to the fringes of Israeli politics, after cobbling together a coalition shortly before last week’s deadline.

    Members of Netanyahu’s Likud party will fill some of the most important cabinet positions, including foreign minister, defense minister and justice minister.

    But a number of politicians from the far right of Israel’s political spectrum were set to be appointed to ministerial posts, despite controversy over their positions during the run-up to November’s election, which was won by a Netanyahu-led bloc of ultra-nationalist and ultra-religious parties.

    Itamar Ben Gvir, an extremist who has been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism, will take on a newly expanded public security role, renamed national security minister, overseeing police in Israel plus some police activity in the occupied West Bank.

    Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionism party, has been named minister of finance, and has also been given power to appoint the head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), an Israeli military unit which among its duties handles border crossings and permits for Palestinians.

    During his campaign, Smotrich had proposed a series of drastic legal reforms, seen by many critics as a clear way to undercut judicial independence. This includes dropping the ability to charge a public servant with fraud and breach of trust – a charge Netanyahu faces in his ongoing corruption trial.

    Netanyahu has pleaded not guilty and called that trial a “witch hunt” and an “attempted coup,” and has called for changes to Israel’s judiciary system.

    Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi party Shas, will serve as interior minister and minister of health.

    As the new ministers were preparing to be sworn in at the Knesset, the country’s parliament, around 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside to protest Netanyahu’s return to office, the Jerusalem Police spokesperson said.

    The rightward shift in the Israeli government has raised eyebrows abroad and at home. On Wednesday, over 100 retired Israeli ambassadors and foreign ministry officials expressed concerns about Israel’s incoming government in a signed letter to Netanyahu.

    The ex-diplomats, including former ambassadors to France, India, and Turkey, expressed “profound concern at the serious damage to Israel’s foreign relations, its international standing and its core interests abroad emanating from what will apparently be the policy of the incoming Government.”

    The letter pointed to “statements made by potential senior office-holders in the Government and the Knesset,” reports of policy changes in the West Bank, and “some possible extreme and discriminatory laws” as a point of concern.

    US Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides congratulated Netanyahu on Thursday, writing on Twitter: “Here’s to the rock solid US-Israel relationship and unbreakable ties.” Nides is married to Virginia Moseley, CNN US Executive Vice President for Editorial.

    A National Security Council spokesperson noted Netanyahu has “repeatedly said he will set the policy of his government” as he enters a coalition with far-right parties.

    “As we have made clear, we do not support policies that endanger the viability of a two-state solution or contradict our mutual interests and values,” the spokesperson said.

    Biden administration officials have largely avoided addressing the ultra-right components of the new Israeli government. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that the US “will engage with and judge our partners in Israel on the basis of the policies they pursue, not the personalities that happen to form the government.”

    Netanyahu’s slim November victory came in the fifth Israeli election in less than four years, amid a period of protracted political chaos during which he has remained a dominant figure.

    In his address to the Knesset on Thursday, Netanyahu said that of the three major tasks assigned to his government, the first will be to “thwart Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.” The second priority would be to develop the country’s infrastructure, including the launching of a bullet train and the third would be to sign more peace agreements with Arab nations “in order to end the Israeli-Arab conflict.”

    Netanyahu was already Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having previously held the post from 2009 to 2021 and before that for one term in the late 1990s.

    Israel also got its first openly gay speaker of parliament on Thursday. Amir Ohana, a former minister of justice and public security, is a member of the Knesset representing Netanyahu’s Likud party.

    Some ultra-Orthodox lawmakers who had refused to attend his swearing-in at the Knesset seven years ago were among those who voted for him on Thursday.

    Ahead of the parliamentary vote on the new government, outgoing Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted: “We pass on to you a state in excellent condition. Try not to ruin it, we’ll be right back. The handover files are ready.”

    With additional reporting by Kareem El Damanhoury

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israel deports French-Palestinian lawyer, accusing him of ‘terrorist activity’ in case Israeli group calls ‘gross violation of basic rights’ | CNN

    Israel deports French-Palestinian lawyer, accusing him of ‘terrorist activity’ in case Israeli group calls ‘gross violation of basic rights’ | CNN

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    Israel deported a French-Palestinian lawyer it accused of organizing, inciting and planning “terrorist attacks” to France early Sunday morning, Israeli authorities said, in a case that an Israeli human rights organization called a “gross violation of basic rights.”

    Salah Hamouri’s Israeli residency was revoked two weeks ago based on accusations by Israel he was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), according to Israel’s interior ministry. The PFLP is designated by the European Union and the United States as a terrorist organization.

    “During his life he organized, incited and planned to carry out terrorist attacks himself and for the organization against citizens and prominent figures in Israel,” a statement from the interior ministry said.

    In a voice message posted on the Instagram account of the official Palestinian civil society campaign for Hamouri on Sunday, Hamouri said he was being “forcibly deported and uprooted from my homeland.”

    “I leave you today from prison to exile. But rest assured that I will always remain the person you know. Always loyal to you and to your freedom,” Hamouri said in the message.

    Hamouri, who had been in an Israeli prison since March on administrative detention without formal charges, has denied involvement in terrorist organizations, and human rights groups have condemned Israel’s actions.

    “Deporting a Palestinian from their homeland for breach of allegiance to the state of Israel is a dangerous precedent and a gross violation of basic rights,” human rights organization HaMoked said in a statement on Sunday.

    The Israel-based organization called Hamouri’s deportation a “gross violation of basic rights.”

    France’s Foreign Ministry said the deportation was “against the law.”

    The ministry said France has been working “to ensure that Mr. Salah Hamouri’s rights are respected, that he benefits from all means of recourse and that he can lead a normal life in Jerusalem, where he was born, resides and wishes to live.”

    The statement from the foreign ministry expressed France’s “opposition to the expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory under the Fourth Geneva Convention.” Israel disputes that east Jerusalem, which it captured in 1967, is occupied territory.

    Hamouri had been held previously by Israeli authorities. He has always maintained his innocence of Israeli accusations against him.

    In 2005 he was tried and convicted of working on a plan to assassinate Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, founder of the Shas ultra-orthodox political party.

    He was released in 2011 as part of an exchange of 1,027 Palestinian and other Arab prisoners held by Israel as part of a deal to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas in 2006.

    He had been living and working as a lawyer in Jerusalem since then, including doing work as a human-rights lawyer for Adameer, an organization that helps Palestinian prisoners. Adameer was outlawed by Israel earlier this year in a move condemned by UN officials.

    Hamouri was born in east Jerusalem, although he also holds French citizenship.

    Leah Tsemel, Hamouri’s lawyer, told CNN on Sunday that Hamouri’s case is a “test bullet” for the interior ministry to deny residency of east Jerusalem residents.

    “We will have to address the issue in principle in a petition to the Supreme Court soon regarding the unconstitutionality of denying residency to a person that was born in Jerusalem under occupation and does not have a duty of loyalty, the violation of which is the reason for denying his residency,” Zemel told CNN.

    HaMoked previously appealed the decision to revoke Hamouri’s residency and requested an injunction to prevent his deportation until its case challenging the legality of the law is heard, but the Supreme Court rejected both pleas.

    HaMoked said it will be able to file a new petition to the High Court once the new Israeli government takes power in the coming weeks.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Al Jazeera to submit Shireen Abu Akleh case to ICC, network says | CNN Business

    Al Jazeera to submit Shireen Abu Akleh case to ICC, network says | CNN Business

    [ad_1]


    Jerusalem
    CNN
     — 

    Al Jazeera said Tuesday it will submit a case to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot in the head while covering an Israeli raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank in May.

    “Al Jazeera’s legal team has conducted a full and detailed investigation into the case and unearthed new evidence based on several eyewitness accounts, the examination of multiple items of video footage, and forensic evidence pertaining to the case,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.

    The network claims new evidence and video show the Palestinian-American journalist and her colleagues were directly fired at in a “deliberate killing” by what Al Jazeera called Israeli occupation forces, a claim which Israel has repeatedly denied.

    Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid Tuesday repeated a long-standing rejection that any outside authority would investigate Israel Defense Forces troops.

    “No one will investigate IDF soldiers and no one will preach to us about morals in warfare, certainly not Al Jazeera,” Lapid said.

    The IDF referred CNN questions about the ICC case to the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which declined to comment.

    In September, the IDF ​admitted there is a “high possibility” Abu Akleh was “accidentally” shot and killed by Israeli fire aimed at “suspects identified as armed Palestinian gunmen during an exchange of fire.”

    The IDF said at the time the Israeli military did not intend to pursue criminal charges or prosecutions of any of the soldiers involved.

    A CNN investigation published two weeks after Abu Akleh was killed suggested that the fatal shot came from a position where IDF troops are known to have been positioned. The pattern of gunfire on a tree behind where she was standing at the time suggested that the gunfire was targeted rather than indiscriminate, an expert told CNN.

    The CNN investigation unearthed evidence — including two videos of the scene of the shooting — suggesting that there was no active combat, nor any Palestinian militants, near Abu Akleh in the moments leading up to her death.

    She was wearing a flak jacket identifying her as press at the time she was killed.

    Al Jazeera said Tuesday: “The claim by the Israeli authorities that Shireen was killed by mistake in an exchange of fire is completely unfounded. The evidence presented to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) confirms, without any doubt, that there was no firing in the area where Shireen was, other than the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) shooting directly at her.”

    “The IOF inquiry that found there was no suspicion of any crime being committed is entirely undermined by the available evidence which has now been provided to the OTP. The evidence shows that this deliberate killing was part of a wider campaign to target and silence Al Jazeera,” the network added.

    Abu Akleh’s family also submitted an official complaint to the International Criminal Court (ICC) earlier this year to demand justice for her death, Al Jazeera reported.

    CNN has contacted the ICC to confirm if they received the case.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Israeli journalists experience chilly reception at Qatar World Cup | CNN

    Israeli journalists experience chilly reception at Qatar World Cup | CNN

    [ad_1]

    Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.


    Jerusalem and Doha
    CNN
     — 

    When special direct flights were announced from Tel Aviv to Doha for the FIFA World Cup, the scene at Ben Gurion airport was festive – the company chartering the flight brought out a cake festooned with Qatari and Israeli flags.

    But Israeli reporters sent to cover the tournament say they’re experiencing a less than welcoming atmosphere.

    Moav Vardi, chief international correspondent for the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation “KAN,” told CNN he was expecting some hostility from Palestinian and Arab fans – but not the level he has experienced in Qatar.

    Most Arab fans he tries to interview, Vardi says, will just turn away when they discover he is Israeli even if they had been having a friendly conversation beforehand. But a small and vocal minority is engaging in “violent verbal assaults,” Vardi said.

    “You are not welcome here, go away, there is only Palestine, there is no such thing as Israel, Israel does not exist,” Vardi said he’s told almost every day by football fans in Qatar.

    Vardi said the impression he has gotten is that the “hatred and resentment” is not just about the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. Rather “it’s about the very existence of Israel.”

    While he says he hasn’t felt physically threatened, KAN has removed its logo from his microphone, after he was recognized from encounters in Doha that had gone viral on social media.

    Former Israeli football star, and now a commentator Eil Ohana posted a video showing a Qatari police officer driving him in a golf cart. After initially getting a shocked reaction from telling the policeman he is Israeli, he says instead that he was joking and that he is actually from Portugal. The police officer says he would have stopped the cart and kicked him off if the commentator was Israeli. When the commentator asked the driver why, he replied, “I’m Palestinian” and goes on to explain that Arabs cannot fly to Israel.

    Videos have gone viral in Israel and the Arab world showing football fans yelling at Israeli reporters, refusing to speak to them because of where they are from. Other videos show people hoisting Palestinian flags in the background of Israeli reporters’ live shots, taunting the reporters.

    While country flags are generally allowed at matches, clothing or banners with political statements – like LGBTQ rights or those supporting Iranian protesters – have at times led to fans being kicked out of stadiums. But some Arab attendees say the Palestinian cause, which Qatar officially supports, seems to be an exception – in one early match fans held up a giant Palestinian flag with the message “Free Palestine.”

    According to sources briefed on the matter, 8,000 Palestinians and 3,800 Israelis applied for World Cup tickets, although thousands more may have entered Qatar on secondary passports.

    Israel and Qatar have no diplomatic relations – but under the FIFA rules, Israelis must be allowed to attend the tournament and a small, temporary Israeli consular team is in Doha to assist citizens, who have been advised by the Israeli foreign ministry to keep a low profile.

    Omar Barakat, the Palestinian national football team coach, told Reuters in Doha that he was encouraged to take Palestinian flags into matches. He said that he was only allowed by security to take an oversized flag into a stadium on revealing it to be a Palestinian flag. “It’s a political statement, and we’re proud of it,” he said.

    On Wednesday, a football fan wearing a Tunisia shirt invaded the pitch with a Palestinian flag during a match between France and Tunisia. When he was apprehended by security personnel, crowds in the stand could be heard chanting “Palestine! Palestine!”

    For Farah Hamam, a Palestinian-Jordanian football fan, some Arab fans’ refusal to engage with Israeli journalists reflects the Arab world’s frustration with “the continued atrocities taking place” against the Palestinian people. That was the “real sentiment” toward Israel “despite normalization efforts of Arab governments,” she told CNN.

    “For perhaps the first time in history, Arabs around the world are unapologetically showing their lack of patience with Israel,” she said.

    Israel in recent years normalized relations with the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, a move that was seen as a major diplomatic feat for the nation and a way out of its regional isolation.

    Talal Hizami, a Saudi football fan at the World Cup, linked Arab attitudes toward Israelis in Doha to a pushback against Israel’s recognition by those states. “It’s a rejection of the normalization of Israel in the Middle East…. many Arab citizens see this as a betrayal,” he told CNN.

    He said Israeli journalists may have mistakenly assumed that the normalization trend toward Israel in the Arab world “is a reflection of what the people of those nations feel towards them when in reality, many are extremely angered by it.”

    Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), the tournament organizers, didn’t respond to CNN’s requests for comment on the treatment of Israeli reporters or the display of political symbols at the World Cup.

    Reacting to how he says he was treated by Arabs in Doha, Raz Shechnick, a reporter for the Israeli Yediot Ahronoth newspaper, posted a long Twitter thread in Hebrew about his experience, saying “I was always a centrist, liberal and open [with] a will to make peace above all. I always thought the problem was governments, the rulers, ours too. But, in Qatar I came to realize how hatred is present with people on the street. How much they want to wipe us off the face of the earth. To what extent everything related to Israel arouses intense hatred in them.”

    Roy Jankelowitz, a correspondent for the IsraelSport website, said he has not had as many problems in Doha but that he does not “go around walking with a microphone in Hebrew.”

    “As an Israeli, I understand that there may be a problem over here for people to accept that Israelis are here because of the fact that they do not know much about Israel. All they see is what the media, the local Arab media reports to them about Israel,” he told CNN. “All they see is, when they see something in Hebrew they think it is something bad.”

    Jankelowitz said he’s taken the Israeli Foreign Ministry advice to all Israeli attendees to keep a low profile and does not necessarily tell fans he is from Israel unless he feels it is safe to do so.

    “You have to understand that you’re in an Arab country and not everybody likes you,” he said.

    But not all Arabs in Doha agree that the football tournament is an appropriate place to show support for Palestinians. Munser Al Shibly a fan from Libya at the World Cup, told CNN it was “nice” to see fans support Palestinians but added that football should be “separate from politics… even if it’s the Palestinian cause.”

    Vardi, the Israeli KAN reporter, said despite some hostility, he’s also had some fascinating interactions – like after being recognized while watching a match and being told to “go away” by one fan, a different fan from Saudi Arabia sitting near him turned and said, “Oh Israel? Why don’t you get rid of Iran for us please.”

    With additional reporting by Nadeen Ebrahim, Celine Alkhaldi, Zeena Saifi and Mariam Dirar Alqasem.

    Iranian security forces kill anti-government protester celebrating World Cup defeat, rights group says

    A man is reported to have been killed by security forces in northern Iran during public celebrations by anti-government protesters following the national football team’s defeat against the United States on Tuesday.

    • Background: Several videos were posted on social media Tuesday night showing people in cities across Iran, including in the capital Tehran, celebrating inside their homes and residential buildings after the US defeated Iran 1-0 in the World Cup. Demonstrations have rocked Iran for more than two months, sparking a deadly clampdown by authorities.
    • Why it matters: Football has become the latest arena for pro- and anti-regime Iranians to express their views. A source told CNN earlier that the families of Iran’s team had been threatened with imprisonment and torture if players failed to “behave” after they refrained from singing the country’s national anthem in an earlier game. Some Iranian activists had accused the players of whitewashing the government’s crimes.

    US tells Turkey it opposes new military operation in Syria

    United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Turkish counterpart Wednesday that his country strongly opposes a new military operation in Syria and that he was concerned about Turkish airstrikes that threatened US personnel in the region.

    • Background: On Tuesday, the Pentagon said the US has reduced the number of patrols with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against ISIS in Syria as the SDF has said an invasion by Turkey seems “imminent.” It said the US has not redeployed forces in the region and has “no diminished capability” in the region.
    • Why it matters: Turkey has been warning for months about a potential incursion into Syria targeting Kurdish groups it opposes there. Both Russia and the US have stakes in the country. Last week, a Turkish airstrike against a base in northern Syria used by the US-led coalition to defeat ISIS threatened the safety of US personnel working in the area. The US has approximately 900 troops in Syria.

    ISIS acknowledges the death of its leader, announces his successor

    ISIS affiliate al-Furqan media published an audio message by the jihadist group’s spokesman announcing the death of its leader, who was appointed in March. It didn’t make clear who killed the group commander or where. ISIS announced his successor, who goes by the name Abu al-Husain al-Husaini al-Quraishi. Little is known about him, but the group described him as an “old fighter” without providing further details. Syria’s army took credit for his killing, Reuters cited state media as saying.

    • Background: The deceased leader was appointed by ISIS in March 2022 after US President Joe Biden announced the death of Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in a military operation in the northwest of Syria.
    • Why it matters: Analysts have said that ISIS is in disarray. If the Syrian regime’s claims are true, the killing would a rare occasion where a top ISIS leader has been killed in a non-US-led operation.

    Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Al Kaabi told CNN’s Becky Anderson on Wednesday the country will not let politics affect business after it signed a deal to provide Germany with 2 million tons of LNG annually, starting in 2026.

    This comes amid heightened tensions with Germany, which ramped up its criticism of Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, questioning its human rights record and later opposing the Gulf country’s ban on the rainbow-colored armband.

    Watch the interview here:

    After Tunisia beat France in a stunning 1-0 victory on Wednesday, Morocco on Thursday beat Canada 2-1, becoming the only Arab nation to reach the knockout rounds. Saudi Arabia, which galvanized Arab audiences with its early win against Argentina, was knocked out of the tournament after losing against Mexico on Wednesday.

    • Canadian pop star Justin Bieber launched clean water company Generosity at Qatar’s World Cup, to provide premium alkaline water in refillable fountains across the globe.
    • The pitch invader who waved a rainbow flag on the field during Portugal’s World Cup match with Uruguay on Monday said FIFA president Gianni Infantino came to the Qatari police station to free him in order to “avoid more controversy.”
    • Thursday’s Group E FIFA World Cup match between Costa Rica and Germany saw an all-women refereeing team for the first time in men’s World Cup history. Stephanie Frappart, from France, led the refereeing team, making her the first woman to referee a men’s World Cup match.

    .

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Body of Israeli Druze young man seized by Palestinians in Jenin returned to his family – Israeli military | CNN

    Body of Israeli Druze young man seized by Palestinians in Jenin returned to his family – Israeli military | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    The body of an Israeli Druze young man that was seized by Palestinian gunmen in Jenin has been transferred to his family, the Israeli military said on Thursday, adding that nothing had been given in return.

    “We didn’t negotiate in any way with the gunmen that had the body,” an IDF spokesperson said during a briefing. “We didn’t give anything in return. I think at some point they understood that the consequences for this happening would have been very hard for the Jenin economy.”

    Gunmen had stormed a Jenin hospital and seized the body of Tiran Ferro, who had been in a car accident in the West Bank, authorities on both sides of the conflict said Wednesday. The gunmen were demanding the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli troops, they said.

    Israel closed roads in and out of Jenin on Wednesday after the body was seized, and reopened them on Thursday after it was returned.

    Jenin governor Maj. Gen. Akram Rajoub told CNN that Palestinian Authority security officials had led negotiations with the gunmen who held the body.

    “The PA General Intelligence Service had contacts with one of the kidnappers, which facilitated the body’s return to the General Intelligence Service headquarters in Jenin,” Rajoub said.

    There is a dispute about whether Ferro was alive or dead when gunmen burst into his hospital room in Jenin and took his body.

    Ferro’s father told Israeli media on Wednesday the teenager was alive and taken off life support. But Jenin governor Akram Rajoub told CNN that Ferro was dead when his body was taken.

    Ferro’s father said: “When we were in the hospital, we were standing in front of the intensive care unit. My son was connected to the ventilator and had a heartbeat. I was with my brother and my son, suddenly a gang of 20 masked men entered the room screaming. We stood by and there was nothing we could have done.

    “They kidnapped the body in front of my eyes,” Ferro’s father told reporters on camera.

    But Jenin governor Rajoub told CNN that Ferro was dead when his body was taken.

    The Jenin Brigade, a Palestinian militant group based in the West Bank refugee camp, said Wednesday in a statement obtained by CNN that it was holding the body of Ferro and demanded Israel hand over all the bodies of Palestinians killed by the IDF in Israel’s possession. The group also said it had raised the state of alert among its members in anticipation of Israeli forces storming the Jenin camp.

    Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid vowed Wednesday that “the kidnappers would pay a heavy price” if Tiran’s Ferro’s body was not returned: “Israel has proven in recent months that there is no place and no terrorist that it does not know how to reach.”

    Lapid said Ferro was going to celebrate his 18th birthday on Thursday. He was a member of the Druze minority, community leaders told CNN.

    [ad_2]

    Source link