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2 cases of unidentified new Covid variant found in Israel: report

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Covid
  • The report said that the variant could be a mix of the BA.1 (Omicron) and BA.2 forms.
  • It also said that the cases were found when patients at Ben-Gurion International airport took an RT-PCR test.
  • This week, 6,310 people in Israel tested positive for Covid.

A report says that Israel’s health ministry has confirmed two cases of Covid variants that have not been recognized. The report said that the variant could be a mix of the BA.1 (Omicron) and BA.2 forms. It also said that the cases were found when patients at Ben-Gurion International airport took an RT-PCR test.

The health ministry said that the patients were in their 30s and had fever, headaches, and aches and pains in their muscles.

Professor Salman Zarka, who is in charge of Covid in Israel, said in the report that the linking of two viruses is a usual thing that happens when there are two viruses in the same cell. The scientist said that the two viruses multiply and share genetic material, which leads to the creation of a new virus.

The study said that Omicron infections have been going down in Israel, but BA.2 infections are still going up. A report said that Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with the country’s Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz because of an increase in Covid cases. After the meeting, the report said, the prime minister ordered strict enforcement of the mark policy in closed areas and urged people to get vaccinated three times.

This week, 6,310 people in Israel tested positive for Covid. The report said that 335 of those people are in bad condition and 151 are on a respirator.

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Israeli schoolgirls receives apology from education minister

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Israeli schoolgirls

Israeli schoolgirls from Ethiopia have received an apology from Israel’s education minister. After their teachers made derogatory remarks against them in a WhatsApp group. The school’s head and minister of education have condemned the for racist comments. Israeli schoolgirls from Ethiopia who had their teachers make fun of them in a WhatsApp group while on … Read more

Half a million Israelis joins latest protest against Netanyahu

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Netanyahu

500,000 Israelis protested against proposals by Benjamin Netanyahu. To reform the nation’s court system. With 240,000 in Tel Aviv and 100,000 in Jerusalem. 500,000 Israelis demonstrated against proposals by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to reform the nation’s court system for the ninth week in a row, according to organizers. Just over 9 million people … Read more

Israeli strikes on Syria kill two fighters

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Israel
  • Israeli airstrikes on a weapons stockpile in Syria.
  • Two pro-Iran fighters were killed.
  • Three Syrian soldiers were wounded.

Israeli airstrikes on a weapons stockpile in Syria on Sunday killed two pro-Iran troops and injured three soldiers, according to a war monitor.

“Israeli strikes attacked a weapons storage belonging to pro-Iran troops located between Tartus and Hama provinces,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“Two pro-Iran fighters were killed and three Syrian soldiers were wounded,” he told.

According to SANA, Syria’s national news agency, “at around 7:15 a.m., the Israeli enemy carried out an air attack, firing missiles from the direction of north Lebanon with targets in the Tartus and Hama countryside.”

SANA did not specify the target but said the attack “wounded three soldiers and caused some material losses,” adding that some of the missiles were intercepted by Syrian air defenses.

The Israeli military said it did not comment “on reports in the foreign media”.

Since Syria’s civil conflict began in 2011, Israel has launched hundreds of airstrikes against its northern neighbor, hitting government forces as well as allied Iran-backed forces and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

The Israeli military rarely comments on specific operations against Syria but has consistently vowed to maintain its air war to prevent arch-adversary Iran from cementing its foothold.

According to the Observatory, Israeli airplanes killed three people in a raid on the airport in Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city, on Tuesday.

According to the war monitor, on February 19, an Israeli attack killed 15 people in a Damascus district that contains state security institutions.

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Israel sees one of its largest-ever protests

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Israel
  • Demonstrators went out in record numbers in towns such as Haifa.
  • An estimated 200,000 are taking to the streets in Tel Aviv.
  • Opponents argue that the reforms will erode democracy.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken part in what some are calling the country’s largest protest in history.

Protests have been ongoing for ten weeks against the government’s intentions for a major overhaul of the court system.

Demonstrators went out in record numbers in towns such as Haifa, with an estimated 200,000 taking to the streets in Tel Aviv.

Opponents argue that the reforms will erode democracy.

Yet, Benjamin Netanyahu‘s government claims that the planned adjustments are better for the electorate.

Organizers reported as many as 500,000 pro-democracy protestors took to the streets nationwide on Saturday, in what the Israeli Haaretz daily dubbed “the largest demonstration in the country’s history”.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid told crowds in the southern city of Be’er Sheva that the country was facing “the greatest crisis in its history”.

“A wave of terrorism is hitting us, our economy is crashing, money is escaping the country. Iran just signed yesterday a new agreement with Saudi Arabia. But the only thing this government cares about is crushing Israeli democracy,” he said.

Tamir Guytsabry, a protester in Tel Aviv told: “It’s not a judicial reform. It’s a revolution that [is] making Israel go to full dictatorship and I want Israel to stay a democracy for my kids.”

Protests over judicial reforms have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to the streets.

Protests against Israeli government's judicial overhaul, in Tel Aviv

The reforms aim to give the elected government substantial influence over the selection of judges and limit the Supreme Court’s authority to rule against the administration or strike down legislation.

The topic has produced deep divisions in Israeli society, with reservists, the backbone of Israel’s military, threatening to refuse to serve as a form of protest.

In an unprecedented action, dozens of reserve jet pilots from an elite Israeli Air Force squadron announced on Monday that they would not report for training. They eventually changed their minds and agreed to meet with their leaders and hold talks.

Protesters blocked roadways and attempted to prevent Mr Netanyahu from leaving the country on Thursday. He later left for Rome.

The government has stayed steadfast in the face of the controversy, stating that political opponents are fueling the protests.

Opponents argue that the planned reforms, which are currently being debated in parliament, will politicize the judiciary and lead to an authoritarian regime.

Mr. Netanyahu claims that the reforms are intended to prevent the courts from exceeding their authority and that the Israeli public supported them in the past election.

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Saudi Arabia wants security assurances from United State

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Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia is looking for security guarantees from the US. In exchange for normalizing relations with Israel. Which could change the Middle East’s political landscape. Saudi Arabia is relying on the United States for security assurances and assistance with its civilian nuclear program in exchange for normalizing relations with Israel. This situation sets the stage … Read more

Saudi Arabia seeks security assurances from US

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Saudi Arabia
  • Israel and Saudi Arabia have maintained unofficial contacts but do not have official diplomatic relations.
  • Biden has emphasized the necessity of restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel.
  • It’s unclear what the conditions of any agreement may look like if it comes to fruition.

Saudi Arabia is looking to the US for security guarantees and assistance with its civilian nuclear program as a condition for normalizing relations with Israel, setting up a critical decision that could reshape the political situation in the Middle East.

The talks are still going on, and it’s unclear what the conditions of any agreement may look like if it comes to fruition.

Several members of Congress, who have called on the Biden administration to downgrade Washington’s ties with Riyadh, are expected to oppose increased security guarantees for Saudi Arabia.

Yet, President Joseph Biden has emphasized the necessity of restoring relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel, as has Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who believes that improving relations between the two countries can assist increase security in the Middle East. For several years, Israel and Saudi Arabia have maintained unofficial contacts but do not have official diplomatic relations.

‘Better for everybody’

“The better the relations between Israel and their Arab neighbors, the better for everybody,” Biden said Friday at the end of a speech about the economy.

Israel has already established diplomatic relations with several Arab countries, including Morocco, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates. The Abraham Accords were a defining success of the Trump administration, and Biden has promised to build on them, especially while Iran’s nuclear program proceeds.

A spokeswoman for the US National Security Council declined to corroborate the Wall Street Journal’s story that Saudi Arabia was seeking security guarantees from the US.

Instead, John Kirby, the NSC’s strategic communications coordinator, highlighted Biden’s accomplishments on his summer visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia.

Diplomacy prevails

“The President’s trip to the region accomplished a lot,” said Kirby, citing an agreement on contested Red Sea islands and a recent announcement by Oman it would allow Israeli overflights.

“We’re going to keep that diplomacy going,” he said.

A request for comment was not returned by the State Department. The Israeli Embassy in Washington was unavailable for comment.

The ramifications of an agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia mediated by the US could be far-reaching. That would cast uncertainty on the future of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, which has recently seen increasing violence under Israel’s right-wing administration.

Normalizing relations, according to US officials, would also offer heft to a regional counterweight to Iran, which has progressed its nuclear enrichment over the last year.

Although the Saudi-led OPEC+ oil cartel suddenly declared it would cut output last year, Biden promised Saudi Arabia would face “consequences,” but the Biden administration has no plans to punish, let alone significantly realign its posture towards, the oil-rich Middle Eastern monarchy.

On Friday, Saudi Arabia and Iran declared the resumption of diplomatic relations after seven years of animosity, in a pact between regional archrivals that could have far-reaching consequences for the Middle East.

Under an agreement negotiated by China, Riyadh, and Tehran plan to reopen their embassies, according to a joint statement issued by Saudi Arabia and Iran on Friday.

Kirby stated that Saudi officials had kept the White House updated on the progress of the talks. But, he downplayed Beijing’s role in mediating the accord, stating that the road plan for resuming relations includes meetings in Iraq and Oman.

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Mass protests against reforms blocks roads and airport in Israel

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Israel

Demonstrators in Israel have blocked roadways. They attempted to stop Netanyahu from leaving the country. Due to judicial reforms, which have sparked divisions in Israeli society. After widespread protests against divisive judicial reforms, demonstrators in Israel have blocked roadways and made an attempt to stop the prime minister from leaving the country. Ben Gurion airport’s … Read more

US opposes Israel’s far-right minister’s request for a Palestinian town to be “erased”

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US
  • US State Department spokesperson urged the Israeli PM to repudiate remarks.
  • During an attack on Nablus last week, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians.
  • Israeli Foreign minister made his comments just days after Israeli settlers attacked Huwara.

The United States has condemned a key Israeli minister for suggesting a Palestinian hamlet that had been attacked by settlers needs to be “wiped out”, calling his words “repugnant”.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price also encouraged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “publicly and explicitly” repudiate remarks made by his Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich against the West Bank town of Huwara.

“These comments were irresponsible. They were repugnant. They were disgusting,” Price told reporters on Wednesday. “And just as we condemn Palestinian incitement to violence, we condemn these provocative remarks that also amount to incitement to violence.”

Smotrich, a far-right Israeli lawmaker who also manages civil administration in the occupied West Bank, made his comments just days after Israeli settlers attacked Huwara and set fire to hundreds of cars and homes.

“I think the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the state of Israel should do it,” Smotrich was quoted as saying by Israeli media outlets on Wednesday.

One Palestinian was killed in the settlers’ raid on Huwara, near Nablus, which occurred during a period of increased violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

During an attack on Nablus last week, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians.

A Palestinian shooter killed two Israeli settlers on Sunday, while an Israeli-American motorist was killed earlier this week in a shooting attack in Jericho, deep inside the West Bank.

Price reiterated Washington’s desire for “equal measures of accountability for terrorist attacks whatever of the background of the perpetrators or the victims” on Wednesday.

Increasingly Critical

Israeli authorities had only arrested eight suspects out of hundreds who took part in the Huwara riot and had released all of them by Tuesday.

Washington has become increasingly critical of Netanyahu’s far-right government’s policies, especially the construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territory.

Palestinian rights activists, on the other hand, have been pushing for tangible action from US President Joe Biden’s administration to deter further Israeli violations.

Israel receives at least $3.8 billion in American aid per year while being accused by top human rights organizations such as Amnesty International of implementing an apartheid system.

On Thursday, the advocacy group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) petitioned the State Department to put a visa suspension on Smotrich.

“The Biden Administration should not allow senior government officials inciting atrocities against Palestinian civilians to spread their violent and hateful rhetoric in the United States,” Sarah Leah Whitson, DAWN’s executive director, said in a statement.

“The ‘exceptional’ nature of the US-Israel relationship should have its limits, and banning Smotrich would send an important signal that the US will not tolerate such dangerous, reckless incitement to violence.”

Democracy for the Arab World Now

On Thursday, the advocacy group Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) petitioned the State Department to put a visa suspension on Smotrich.

J Street, a Jewish-American organization that identifies itself as pro-Israel and pro-peace, called on Biden earlier this week to set “clear redlines and practical consequences” for Israeli government policies.

“Only then can the Biden Administration truly hope to halt the escalation of violence and terror, advance US interests, defend Israeli and Palestinian rights and lives, and help secure Israel’s future as a democracy,” J Street said in a statement on Monday.

Biden, a self-proclaimed Zionist, has repeatedly affirmed his “ironclad” commitment to Israel, dismissing calls for imposing conditions on US aid to the country.

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Israel police crack down on protests against judicial reforms

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Israel

Israeli protesters are obstructing roads and railroads. As a form of protest against judicial reforms. Which they believe will harm democracy and undermine judicial independence. In a “day of disruption,” Israelis are obstructing roads and railroads as a form of protest against divisive judicial reforms. In Tel Aviv, police detained a protester while kneeling on … Read more

Rampage against Palestinians after gunman kills Israeli-American

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Israeli
  • The victim was killed during an automobile attack.
  • That attack came after a Palestinian shot dead two settlers.
  • Assailants opened fire on Israeli vehicles three times before setting fire to their own vehicles.

As retaliatory violence escalates, an Israeli-American has been shot and murdered in the occupied West Bank.

The victim was killed during an automobile attack on a highway near Jericho.

The shooting occurred after Israeli settlers raided Palestinian towns in the West Bank on Sunday night, resulting in the destruction of hundreds of cars and residences.

That attack came after a Palestinian shot dead two settlers from an adjacent community on Sunday.

The Israeli-American man slain near Jericho was brought to a hospital in Jerusalem by paramedics, but he was subsequently pronounced dead.

US Ambassador Tom Nides tweeted: “Sadly, I can confirm that a US citizen was killed in one of the terror attacks in the West Bank tonight. I pray for his family.”

 

 

According to the Israeli Defense Forces, assailants opened fire on Israeli vehicles three times before setting fire to their own vehicles.

The attackers exchanged fire with police before fleeing, according to the IDF.

No Palestinian organizations immediately claimed responsibility.

The Islamic organization Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip but is less visible in the West Bank, claimed responsibility for the strike, saying it was a logical response to Israeli attacks.

“The crimes conducted by the occupation and the herds of settlers will not be met but with stabbing, shooting, and car-ramming,” a spokesman said in a statement.

During a summit in Jordan, Israeli and Palestinian officials promised to de-escalate tensions.

Videos posted hours after the summit finished on Sunday showed a large throng of Israeli settlers setting fires and throwing stones in the town of Hawara, about 4 miles (6 kilometers) south of Nablus.

Sameh Aqtash, 37, died after being shot in the stomach during a settlers’ attack in Zaatara on Sunday night, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

This area of the West Bank is completely under Israeli authority, and Palestinians have been critical of Israeli security personnel for failing to safeguard them.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he held the Israeli government totally responsible for what he called “the terrorist crimes carried out by Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces”.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, asked for calm and urged settlers to allow the Israeli military and security agencies to focus on finding the gunman who killed the two Israelis.

“I ask that when blood is boiling and the spirit is hot, don’t take the law into your hands,” he said in a video statement.

Settlers had called for a march to Hawara to “seek revenge” for the murderous attack on Hillel and Yagel Yaniv, who lived in Har Bracha, 1.2 miles south of Nablus.

A Palestinian guy struck the brothers’ car and then shot them both many times as they drove through Hawara.

So far, no Palestinian terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the shooting, but the gunman was reportedly wearing a shirt with the logo of the Nablus-based Lions’ Den.

Members of the group were targeted in an Israeli raid in Nablus last Wednesday, which murdered 11 Palestinians, including several civilians – the worst such operation in the West Bank since 2005.

Israeli soldiers have been conducting waves of search, arrest, and intelligence-gathering operations in Nablus and the adjoining city of Jenin, claiming that they are attempting to halt a string of deadly Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

More than 60 Palestinians, both terrorists, and civilians, have been slain by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year. On the Israeli side, 14 individuals have been murdered in attacks, all of whom were civilians with the exception of a paramilitary police officer.

More than 600,000 Jews live in 140 settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war.

Most of the international community considers the settlements illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.

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After Israelis killed settlers rampage in West Bank villages

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West Bank

Israeli settlers stormed Palestinian villages after two settlers were killed. Leading to clashes near Nablus. Settlers in the Nablus region have set 30 homes and 15 vehicles on fire. When two settlers were killed by a Palestinian shooter, Israeli settlers stormed Palestinian villages in the northern part of the occupied West Bank. Overnight fighting near … Read more

Two Israelis killed in the occupied West Bank

by
Israelis
  • A Palestinian shooter killed two Israelis in their car.
  • The latest deaths occurred during negotiations in Jordan.
  • The attackers made no quick claim of responsibility.

West Bank: In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian shooter killed two Israelis in their car, inciting rioting in which a Palestinian man was shot dead and Israeli settlers set fire to homes in Palestinian towns.

The latest deaths occurred during negotiations in Jordan to confront the escalating violence in the occupied area, and just days after Israeli soldiers carried out their deadliest operation on the occupied West Bank in over 20 years, killing 11 Palestinians in the city of Nablus.

The attack on the two settlers, brothers in their twenties from a settlement approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) away, took place on the major road in Hawara, just south of Nablus, on Sunday.

“Two Israeli civilians were killed in a Palestinian terror incident,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated in a joint statement on Sunday.

The attackers made no quick claim of responsibility.

Israeli media reported skirmishes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers near Hawara late on Sunday. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israelis “set fire to several Palestinian-owned houses” in villages around Nablus.

The attack on the two settlers, brothers in their twenties from a settlement approximately 8 kilometers (5 miles) away, took place on the major road in Hawara, just south of Nablus, on Sunday.

“Two Israeli civilians were killed in a Palestinian terror attack,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stated in a joint statement on Sunday. The attackers made no quick claim of responsibility.

Israeli media reported skirmishes between Palestinians and Israeli settlers near Hawara late on Sunday. According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israelis “set fire to several Palestinian-owned houses” in villages around Nablus.

According to the Palestinian health ministry, a settler shot and killed a 37-year-old Palestinian in Zaatara village near Nablus.

The Israeli army did not immediately respond, but it did say it had evacuated scores of Palestinians from their homes in Hawara due to fire danger.

According to Ghassan Daghlas, the person in charge of anti-settlement operations, several Palestinian homes and 15 automobiles were set on fire.

“forceful condemnation” was delivered by Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

“Taking the law into one’s own hands, rioting, and committing violence against innocents  – this is not our way,” Herzog added.

According to the Palestinian Red Cross, 98 persons were treated, the majority of them were injured by tear gas, while Israeli emergency services recorded three Israelis injured after being hit by stones.

In a video published by his office, Netanyahu urged calm.

“I ask — even when the blood is boiling — not to take the law into one’s hands,” Netanyahu said, calling for the security forces to “be allowed to carry out their work”.

The Palestinian Authority’s office accused Israel of “protecting terrorist acts perpetrated by settlers” in the occupied West Bank.

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Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement to reduce bloodshed

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Israel
  • Israeli and Palestinian officials said that they will work closely to prevent “future bloodshed.”
  • Israel had pledged to suspend discussing setting up any new settlement units.
  • The joint statement came at the end of a conference attended by American, Egyptian, and Jordanian officials.

Israel and Palestine: During meetings in Jordan, Israeli and Palestinian officials promised to put steps in place to de-escalate the escalating violence.

In a joint statement at the end of the conference in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba on Sunday, Israeli and Palestinian officials said that they will work closely to prevent “future bloodshed” and that they “reaffirmed the necessity of committing to de-escalation on the ground”.

Israel had pledged to suspend “discussing setting up any new settlement units for four months and stop approving any new settlements for six months”, a joint statement said.

The Palestinian and Israeli parties “reaffirmed the need to commit to de-escalation on the ground and to prevent further violence” following “thorough and candid discussions,” it said.

The joint statement came at the end of a conference attended by American, Egyptian, and Jordanian officials, who were concerned about an escalation of violence in the run-up to Ramadan, which begins in late March.

According to the statement, Israel and the Palestinian Authority emphasized their “joint readiness and commitment to work immediately to stop unilateral measures” for three to six months.

Jordan, Egypt, and the United States saw “these understandings as major progress towards re-establishing and deepening relations between the two sides,” according to the statement.

According to White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the meeting constituted a “starting point” for the US.

“There is much work to do over the coming weeks and months to build a stable and prosperous future for Israelis and Palestinians alike,” Sullivan said of the Aqaba meeting. “Implementation will be critical.”

The two parties have agreed to meet again next month in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Hamas movement, which governs the constrained Gaza Strip, has attacked the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank. According to a group official, the meeting was “worthless” and would not change anything.

The conference has previously been defended by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s ruling Fatah movement.

“The decision to take part in the Aqaba meeting despite the pain and massacres being endured by the Palestinian people comes from a desire to bring an end to the bloodshed,” it said on Twitter.

Israel’s Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, who is also in charge of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, swiftly stated that he would not comply with any deal to halt settlement expansion.

“I have no idea what they spoke about or not in Jordan,” Smotrich wrote on Twitter. “But one thing I do know: there will not be a freeze on the building and development in settlements, not even for one day (it is under my authority).”

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Nearly 160,000 protest against Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul

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Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul

Over 160,000 people protested against the Israeli government’s plans. To weaken the legal system. With 130,000 taking part in rallies across the nation. Over 160,000 people protested in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against the Israeli government’s plans to weaken the nation’s legal system. That would then rank among the largest individual protests against the … Read more

Jordan will host Palestinian-Israeli talks as the conflict escalates

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Jordan
  • Jordan to hold a “political-security” meeting between Israel and Palestine.
  • The political-security meeting is part of stepped-up ongoing efforts by Jordan.
  • The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 62 Palestinian adults and children since the beginning of this year.

Jordan will on Sunday host a “political-security” meeting between Israel and the Palestinians to attempt and restore peace to the occupied Palestinian territories amid fatal violence, a Jordanian government official said.

Representatives from the United States and Egypt will also attend the meeting in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba.

It aims at “building trust” between Israel and the Palestinians.

The talks will take place after 11 Palestinians were killed and over 80 were injured in a fire battle on Wednesday when Israeli troops raided the West Bank city of Nablus, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War.

The death toll was the greatest since the end of the second Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in 2005, the year the UN began counting casualties.

Intensifying unrest this year has raised international concern, following the worst violence in the West Bank since UN records began in 2022.

“The political-security meeting is part of stepped-up ongoing efforts by Jordan in coordination with the Palestinian Authority and other parties to end unilateral measures (by Israel) and a security breakdown that could fuel more violence,” the Jordanian government official said.

The negotiations aim to achieve “security and economic measures to alleviate the hardships of the Palestinian people,” according to the official.

Jordan, like Egypt, is bound by an agreement with Israel.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has claimed the lives of 62 Palestinian adults and children since the beginning of this year.

According to calculations based on official sources from both sides, nine Israeli civilians, including three children, a police officer, and one Ukrainian civilian, were murdered during the same period.

Wednesday’s raid was the latest in a series of deadly Israeli military operations in the West Bank. Israel is led by a new coalition government that is widely regarded as the most right-wing in the country’s history.

The negotiations aim to achieve “security and economic measures to alleviate the hardships of the Palestinian people,” according to the official.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who assumed office in January,

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was re-elected in December, visited Amman in January for a rare meeting with King Abdullah II.

Jordan’s support for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians to end the decades-long conflict was also underlined by Abdullah.

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Oman joins Saudi in opening its airspace for Israeli carriers

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Oman

Oman has officially opened its airspace to all airlines. That comply with its rules for civil aviation. Allowing Israeli airlines to fly over it. Oman, a country in the Persian Gulf, has officially opened its airspace to all airlines that comply with its rules for civil aviation, allowing Israeli airlines to fly over it. Eli … Read more

After rocket assaults, Israel targets Gaza with airstrikes

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Israel

Israel launched airstrikes against alleged weapons storage and manufacturing facilities in Gaza. After a rocket firing from the coastal enclave. Resulting in 11 deaths and 500 injuries. Israel said it began airstrikes against alleged weapons storage and manufacturing facilities in Gaza, after a rocket firing from the coastal enclave on Thursday. In a statement, the … Read more

Israel launches airstrikes on Gaza after rocket attacks

by
Israel
  • Israel targeted weapons manufacturing and storage sites in Gaza.
  • The bombings came after at least 11 Palestinians were killed in Nablus.
  • The occupied West Bank has been shaken by a series of violent Israeli military incursions.

Israel launched airstrikes targeting alleged weapons manufacturing and storage sites in Gaza on Thursday, following a rocket attack from the coastal enclave, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.

In a statement, the IDF said “fighter jets struck a weapons manufacturing site” in central Gaza owned by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza.

“In parallel, a military compound belonging to the Hamas Terrorist Organization in the northern Gaza Strip which also was used as a naval weapons storage warehouse was struck,” the statement said.

Earlier Thursday, the IDF said five rockets fired from Gaza toward Israeli territory, including the cities of Ashkelon and Sderot, were intercepted and another rocket fell in an open area

The bombings came after at least 11 Palestinians were killed in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday during a rare daytime raid by the Israeli military, which also injured more than 100 people. According to the organization, one of those killed in the Nablus raid was a Hamas member.

IDF raids into the West Bank are typically performed at night; the last time the military launched a daylight operation, they said it was due to an imminent threat.

‘Violent and deadly’

In the past year, the occupied West Bank has been shaken by a series of violent Israeli military incursions, as tensions between Israel and the Palestinian territories remain high in a region riven by death.

An Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin in January resulted in the worst day for Palestinians in almost a year, with at least ten Palestinians killed on the day and one dying later of his wounds. The next day, at least seven civilians were killed in a shooting near a synagogue in Jerusalem, which Israel described as one of its worst terror acts in recent years.

This comes as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu leads the country’s most far-right and religious cabinet in its history.

Netanyahu previously stated that Israelis can become “hung up” on peace talks with the Palestinians, but he has chosen a different approach.

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Protests erupt across Israel as Netanyahu’s government introduces bills to weaken courts

by
Israel
  • Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet introduced a contentious judiciary overhaul law.
  • The reforms also aim to overhaul the way judges are chosen.
  • Demonstrators in Jerusalem transformed the streets into a sea of Israeli flags.

Protesters stopped roadways in cities around Israel on Monday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s cabinet introduced a contentious judiciary overhaul law.

Demonstrators in Jerusalem transformed the streets around the Supreme Court and Knesset into a sea of Israeli flags, which organizers were handing out even before the event started.

A few dozen women wearing in long red robes and white head coverings, like handmaids in Margaret Atwood’s novel “The Handmaid’s Tale,” were among the protestors, as were drummers, horn-blowers, and at least one juggler carrying an Israeli flagpole on his nose.

The Jerusalem protest was clearly less than the one a week before in the same place, yet it still appeared to number in the tens of thousands.

After weeks of protests and appeals from Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and the US to delay the law and negotiate, the judicial overhaul bill is scheduled for the first of three readings in parliament, the Knesset, on Monday.

Significant changes

Netanyahu’s coalition is seeking the most sweeping overhaul of the Israeli legal system since the country’s founding. The most significant changes would allow a simple majority in the Knesset to overturn Supreme Court rulings.

The reforms also aim to overhaul the way judges are chosen and to abolish the independent legal consultants who advise government ministries and whose opinions are binding.

US President Joe Biden has expressed concerns over the reforms, saying: “The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary. Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”

On Sunday, Netanyahu defended the judicial reform.

“Israel is a democracy and will remain a democracy, with majority rule and proper safeguards of civil liberties,” he said during an address to the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

“All democracies should respect the will of other free peoples, just as we respect their democratic decisions.

“There’s been a lot of rhetoric that is frankly reckless and dangerous, including calls for bloodshed in the streets and calls for a civil war. It isn’t going to happen. There’s not going to be a civil war,” the Prime Minister added.

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Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan sparks protests

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Benjamin Netanyahu

Netanyahu’s judicial reform plan has sparked protests. And calls for civil war. But US President Joe Biden has expressed concerns over the reforms. As the administration of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced a contentious judicial reform plan on Monday, demonstrators shut down streets in cities all throughout Israel. Israeli flags, which the event’s organizers were … Read more

Senior Israeli ambassador is expelled from the African Union summit, as the dispute intensifies

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Israeli
  • The dispute erupted over a disagreement on Israel’s accreditation to the union.
  • Photos uploaded on social media showed AU security personnel confronting the diplomat.
  • Israel blamed the event on South Africa and Algeria.

A top Israeli ambassador was barred from attending the African Union’s annual summit in Ethiopia on Saturday, as a disagreement over Israel’s accreditation to the union erupted.

Photos uploaded on social media showed AU security personnel confronting the diplomat during the summit’s opening ceremony, just before she exited the auditorium.

“Israel looks harshly upon the incident in which the deputy director for Africa, Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was removed from the African Union hall despite her status as an accredited observer with entrance badges,” the foreign ministry said.

According to Ebba Kalondo, the spokesperson for the African Union’s commission chairman, the diplomat was removed because she was not the fully accredited Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, as expected.

But Israel blamed the event on South Africa and Algeria, two crucial nations in the 55-country bloc, saying they were holding the AU hostage and were driven by “hate”.

The charge d’affaires at South Africa’s embassy would be called for a reprimand, according to Israel’s Foreign Ministry.

“The attempt to cancel Israel’s observer status has no basis in the organization’s laws,” the ministry said.

South Africa denied the assertion, claiming that the AU had not yet ruled on Israel’s application for observer status.

“Until the AU takes a decision on whether to grant Israel observer status, you cannot have the country sitting and observing,” Clayson Monyela, head of the public diplomacy in South Africa’s department of international relations.

“So, it’s not about South Africa or Algeria, it’s an issue of principle.”

South Africa’s ruling party has always been an outspoken backer of the Palestinian cause.

The Algerian delegation at the meeting did not respond quickly.

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Israel approves legislation to strip the citizenship of Israeli Arab attackers

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Israel
  • Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem will lose their residency status.
  • An overwhelming majority of MPs supported the bill.
  • Critics claim it is racist and violates international law.

Israel has passed legislation that will strip the citizenship of Israeli Arabs convicted of terrorism and receive financial assistance from the Palestinian Authority (PA).

It is also possible that Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem will lose their residency status.

An overwhelming majority of MPs supported the bill, claiming that individuals impacted had betrayed the Israeli state.

Critics claim it is racist and violates international law by depriving people of their citizenship.

The PA’s monthly stipends for Palestinian prisoners who have carried out attacks on Israelis or their families have long been a source of contention.

Israel describes them as a “pay for slay” policy that encourages violence.

It has already acted to freeze bank accounts or seize assets of persons with Israeli citizenship or Jerusalem residence rights who it suspected of receiving financial assistance.

Many Palestinians regard the detainees in Israeli jails as nationalist heroes, and the PA regards the funds provided to them as social welfare.

It was argued in parliament that the new legislation might affect hundreds of convicts.

They could be deported to PA-controlled areas of the occupied West Bank or the Gaza Strip in the end.

After months of growing fatal violence, including Israeli operations on militants in the West Bank and Palestinian street attacks on Israelis, the measure had widespread support in Israel’s parliament.

It was passed by 94 votes to 10, despite severe political divisions, with members of the hard-right government coalition and opposition parties voting in favor.

Ofir Katz, a member of the prime minister’s Likud party in Israel, who headed the joint group that produced the plan, thought it would bring solace to bereaved families.

“I hope that this step we are taking today is the dawn of a new era. I know and feel from the bottom of my heart that such laws are our true mission as elected officials,” he said.

“I say unequivocally, a terrorist who receives money from the Palestinian Authority should fly from here to Gaza, anywhere else.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the law as “the ugliest form of racism.”

Opposition MPs said the bill was discriminatory since it did not apply to Jewish Israelis convicted of attacks on Palestinians or other major crimes.

“For example, Yigal Amir murdered a prime minister – not only was his citizenship not revoked but there was also no proposal,” said Ahmed Tibi, referring to the Israeli Jewish extremist who assassinated the former prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin.

Approximately one-fifth of Israelis are Arab citizens who frequently identify as and with Palestinians.

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US, European nations join to oppose Israeli settlement authorization

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European nations US

The foreign ministers of four European nations joined Washington. The settlements Israel has established are viewed as illegitimate. Israel has built 132 settlements since the 1967 conflict on the territory. On Tuesday, the foreign ministers of four European nations joined Washington in denouncing the Israeli government’s decision to permit the construction of nine Jewish settlers’ … Read more

Israel launches airstrikes on Gaza in pre-dawn raid

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Israel
  • Israel launched air attacks on Gaza on Monday.
  • One person was murdered in a pre-dawn Israeli army operation in Nablus.
  • Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has occupied the West Bank.

According to the army, Israel launched air attacks on Gaza on Monday in response to a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave over the weekend, as unrest in the occupied West Bank remained.

According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, one person was murdered in a pre-dawn Israeli army operation in Nablus, in the northern West Bank, which has seen near-constant violence in recent months.

The army did not respond immediately to the Nablus raid.

But in Gaza, it said it had struck “an underground complex containing raw materials used for the manufacturing of rockets”.

The strikes were “in response to the Saturday rocket launch from Gaza into Israel,” the army claimed in a statement.

According to the military, air raid sirens blasted in neighborhoods near the Gaza border following the Israeli strikes.

Following the current round of missile firing, there were no reported deaths in Gaza or Israel.

However, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen a significant surge in bloodshed.

Following the latest killing in Nablus, the violence has claimed the lives of 47 Palestinian adults and children, including militants and civilians, since the beginning of the year.

During the same time period, nine Israeli civilians, including three children, and one Ukrainian civilian were murdered.

In reaction to tragic Palestinian attacks in occupied east Jerusalem, Israel’s security cabinet declared late Saturday that it will legalize nine West Bank Jewish communities.

According to a security cabinet statement, many of the newly authorized communities have existed for years, and some for decades, but have never been recognized as legal by Israel’s government.

Israel has occupied the West Bank

Since the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel has occupied the West Bank.

Around 475,000 Jewish settlers now reside in Palestinian territory, in enclaves that are illegal under international law.

The majority of that population lives in settlements that Israel has unilaterally authorized, although others reside in communities that have not received government approval.

The security cabinet also stated that it expects to launch a fresh phase of settler housing construction in the West Bank, a move that will almost certainly be met with considerable international condemnation.

During a visit to the region last month, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned against further settlement expansion.

The conservative government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also ordered an increased security presence in Israel-annexed east Jerusalem, the site of two recent deadly attacks targeting civilians.

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Israel’s president proposes solution to avoid “constitutional collapse”

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Israel's
  •  Israel’s president appealed to coalition members to postpone initial legislative moves in parliament.
  • Justice Minister Yariv Levin poured cold water on the idea of postponing.
  • The center-left opposition has staged protests and called for statewide protest strikes.

Jerusalem: On Sunday, Israel’s president proposed a compromise plan to avoid a “constitutional breakdown” and even violence over a controversial judiciary overhaul demanded by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right administration.

President Isaac Herzog’s rare prime-time television speech, whose figurehead position is intended to unite an often contentious population, included an appeal to coalition members to postpone initial legislative moves in parliament, which some had hoped to begin this week.

But Justice Minister Yariv Levin poured cold water on the idea of postponing, saying in a statement reacting to Herzog’s address that while he did not oppose dialogue this “should not be linked to progress in the legislation proceedings”.

The center-left opposition has staged protests and called for statewide protest strikes at the Knesset on Monday, accusing Netanyahu of seeking greater influence over the justice system while he is being tried on corruption charges.

Netanyahu, who has denied any wrongdoing in his trial, has stated that the measures are intended to restore the balance between Israeli authorities.

Brink of constitutional and social collapse

“We are on the brink of constitutional and social collapse,” Herzog said. “I feel – we all feel – that we are barely a moment away from a collision – and even from a violent collision.”

The White House, which normally avoids engaging in Israel’s domestic affairs, issued a similar, albeit more veiled, call.

“The genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, on an independent judiciary,” U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement.

“Building consensus for fundamental changes is really important to ensure that the people buy into them so they can be sustained.”

Recent polls suggest relatively little support for the planned judicial changes in their current form.

Herzog asked the administration and opposition to initiate early discussions based on five principles. These would entail establishing a procedure for enacting Israel’s quasi-constitutional core legislation and prohibiting the Supreme Court from interfering with them.

Another concept would clarify the Supreme Court’s authority, which the administration has accused of overreach. Herzog also called for a shake-up of the committee for selecting justices – but differed with the government on the format, noting that “no side should have a built-in majority”.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said Herzog’s plan was worthy, but that “the struggle will not be halted and the protest will not stop” until an agreement is reached.

In a rare joint statement, Israel’s five major banks, Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Israel Discount Bank, Mizrahi-Tefahot, and First International Bank of Israel, expressed support for Herzog’s efforts to establish broad agreements that would help the Israeli economy.

Legal experts, economists, and former security and economic officials, including Netanyahu’s confidants and appointments, have cautioned that his administration’s judicial initiatives could have major diplomatic and economic consequences.

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Second child dies in Jerusalem car ramming attack

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Jerusalem

Israeli police labelled the incident a “ramming terror attack”. And arrested Hussein Qaraqe, a 31-year-old from east Jerusalem. Two additional persons were hurt in the event. A man and a young kid were killed after a car rammed into a crowd of people at a bus stop in Jerusalem on Friday. Israeli police labelled the … Read more

Palestinian dies while in Israeli custody after entering coma

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Israeli prison

Ahmad Abu Ali who had two years left on his 12-year sentence. He died due to medical malpractice on the part of Israeli prison staff. Which the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society blamed on Israel. A Palestinian prisoner who had two years left on his 12-year sentence and had been taken to the hospital after going into … Read more

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