Israeli military admits shooting a 16-year-old Palestinian girl
Daoud’s death at a checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp: Israeli soldiers and border police say the incident is under review
“Overnight, an IDF soldier was killed as a result of being critically injured by a shooting attack at the Shu’afat checkpoint,” the army said in the statement. The soldier was declared dead when she was taken to the hospital for further treatment. We express our heartfelt condolences to the family.”
According to a Border Police spokesperson “a suspect arrived at the Shuafat crossing and fired at the security forces, in addition, a shot was fired from a passing vehicle. Border Guard forces are searching for the suspects.”
A male in serious condition and another female in mild condition have been taken to a hospital by Israeli emergency services.
The shooting happened at a checkpoint of the normally quiet area near the Shuafat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem, an area considered occupied by most of the international community.
The commanders of the Israel Defense Forces and its units regret the harm that uninvolved civilians, who are in a combat environment, and those in close proximity to armed terrorists, will suffer.
According to the Palestinian Authority, the youngest person was 14 years old and he was shot near the fence between Israel and the West Bank.
When asked for comment about Daoud’s death, the Israel Defense Forces said “during IDF routine operational activity, IDF soldiers spotted a suspect who hurled Molotov cocktails at them adjacent to the city of Qalqilya. The soldiers responded to the live fire. A hit has been identified. The incident is under review.”
Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad praised the suspected attack, and some Palestinians celebrated it in the Gaza Strip. A group of Israeli settlers threw stones at a Palestinian village in the West Bank after the ramming of a car.
Last year, as the Israeli military intensified its arrest raids following a string of deadly Palestinian attacks within Israel, at least 150 Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. It was the most deaths in more than a decade and a half. According to Israeli statistics, 30 people were killed in attacks on Israelis last year.
The IDF said forces were in the Jenin refugee camp to arrest a man who was involved in terrorist activities and planning shooting attacks against soldiers in the area.
The occupied West Bank, especially the areas of Jenin and Nablus, is in an increasingly volatile and dangerous situation, as near daily clashes take place between the Israeli military and Palestinians.
Israel has been regularly raiding cities and villages in the occupied West Bank, saying it is targeting militants and their weapon caches before they have the chance to cross into Israel and carry out attacks. The operation, dubbed “Breaking the Wave” by the IDF, was launched after a series of attacks on Israelis. At least 20 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in attacks targeting civilians and soldiers in Israel and the West Bank so far this year.
There is a climate of fear and hatred being created in the occupied West Bank by the mounting violence. It is crucial to reduce tensions immediately to open the space for vital initiatives that are aimed at establishing a viable political horizon.
JERUSALEM — Two blasts went off near bus stops in Jerusalem at the height of morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing a Canadian-Israeli teenager and injuring at least 18, in what police said were suspected attacks by Palestinians.
The teenager who was killed in the blast was identified as Aryeh Shechopek, according to a notice announcing his death. Shechopek was also a Canadian citizen, according to Canada’s Ambassador to Israel Lisa Stadelbauer. There was conflicting information about Shechopek’s age.
Hours before the violence took place, the father of the young man said that an Israeli citizen was taken to the hospital after a car accident. Tensions could be raised by that incident.
Netanyahu is expected to return to power as the head of the most right-wing government in Israel’s history, with coalition talks taking place after national elections.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, an extremist lawmaker who has called for the death penalty for Palestinian attackers and who is set to become the minister in charge of police under Netanyahu, said the attack meant Israel needed to take a tougher stance on Palestinian violence.
“We must exact a price from terror,” he said at the scene of the first explosion. To restore deterrence, we need to return to being in control of Israel.
Police, who were searching for the suspected attackers, said their initial findings showed that shrapnel-laden explosive devices were placed at the two sites. The twin blasts occurred amid the buzz of rush hour traffic and police briefly closed part of a main highway leading out of the city, where the first explosion went off. There was a video that showed the aftermath of the initial blast. A bus in Ramot was hit by a projectile.
“It was a crazy explosion,” Yosef Haim Gabay, a medic who was at the scene when the first blast occurred, told Israeli Army Radio. “I saw people with wounds bleeding all over the place.”
Since the end of the Palestinian uprising more than two decades ago, bombing attacks by Palestinians have become rare.
The Islamic militant group Hamas praised the perpetrators of the attacks, but stopped short of saying they were responsible.
Israel said that in response to the blasts, it was closing two West Bank crossings to Palestinians near the West Bank city of Jenin, a militant stronghold.
The Palestinians are trying to get all three areas for a future independent state. Israel’s Defense Forces say that the attack killed a 16-year-old girl
It was really bad. The father told the Israeli newspaper YNet that it was inhumane. They took him out in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do anything about it.
The leader of the Druze community told YNet they were talking about the body’s return to the family. Palestinian abductors have been involved in attempting to get concessions from Israel. Lapid said the militants would “pay a heavy price” if the body was not returned.
The army said in a statement that Palestinian attackers opened fire on forces escorting worshippers to a shrine in Nablus. The troops fired back and the Palestinian Health Ministry said a 16-year-old was killed in the incident.
The Palestinians seek all three areas for a future independent state. Jerusalem has been annexed in a way that does not meet international standards and is considered to be the capital of Israel.
According to the statement from the Israel Defense Forces, it was found that the girl who was killed was struck by a stray bullet that was meant to hit the armed men on the roof.
She was found on the floor with a face full of blood, after her father went to look for her.
The Israeli Defense Minister said he wanted to express Sorrow for her death if it was true that she was not involved in terrorism.
Violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza: Insights from UNICEF and the United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict
A general strike was declared in Jenin on Monday following Jana’s killing, WAFA said, adding that “hundreds of people” took to the streets to protest “ongoing Israeli aggression”.
In a statement on Monday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh called on the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, “to investigate the crimes of the occupation and put Israel on the blacklist.” Gamba is currently on a visit to the West Bank and Gaza.
The raid brings the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces to 61 this year, the Palestinian health ministry said. The number includes people shot as they attacked Israelis, people being targeted in raids, people clashing with Israeli forces during raids, and bystanders.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health said a 16-year old boy died after being shot by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
The 16-year-old had two bullets come from the back. The first exited from his chest and the second from his abdomen.
Psychological torture in the West Bank: How I grew up in Palestine, and how I learned to live in a place where Israel never opened its borders
As I conducted a series of focus groups with doctors, nurses, patients and medical faculty members and students, it became clear that it was impossible for me to measure the extent of the damage caused by Israel’s lockdown. The constant buzzing sound of Israeli military drones in Nablus was called a form of psychological torture by many people. How can I put a figure on it? For one focus group, a public health faculty member arrived 90 minutes late, explaining that the road she tried to take to enter the city was blocked by a checkpoint, so she had to go a different way, recounting the experience as casually as someone might describe mistakenly putting on two mismatched socks. When events like these are normalized, what do they say about a population?
I feel as if I have a duty to convey the reality of the situation for Palestinians not only as a researcher but as someone whose family hails from the West Bank. I was born in Nablus to a woman from a nearby village and a man from a Palestinian town that was enveloped by Israel upon its establishment in 1948. I was raised in the United States, where my father taught political science and journalism. He inspired me to follow in his footsteps as a professor. I am a scholar of public health, and not a political scientist as my dad was. The two subjects can’t be seperated: Health is political. But in Nablus, I was reminded of just how deep that connection is.
That context has remained, for the most part, much the same for the past 50 years, with periods punctuated by slightly more freedom for Palestinians and other periods that featured heavy restriction and violence. I visited my family in the West Bank whenever I could as a child, and I did that for most of my life. I remember the long checkpoint lines when hostile Israeli soldiers looked through our documents. I remember the curfews imposed by Israel, where we spent nights using candles and lanterns. I remember having to switch taxis halfway through the trip to the West Bank because Palestinian taxis weren’t allowed to pick us up. Now I and others of Palestinian descent, regardless of citizenship or country of residence, aren’t even allowed to use that airport without special Israeli permission. Instead, because Israel bombed the last Palestinian airport and won’t allow construction of a new one, we travel in and out of the West Bank through Jordan. A few people have recently been able to leave the airport in southern Israel.
Five Palestinians were killed and many more were injured in a raid by Israeli military forces on the old city of Nablus last night. I knew what was happening when I was in bed.
I left the city after many calls with a taxi company that claimed it could get me out of the city. My time there had an end date unlike the Palestinians who had to live under these conditions every day. I have to examine and analyze my data.
This week, Israel would take new steps to strengthen the settlements after public Palestinian celebrations over the attack. It gave no further details.
The visit came after the recent bloodshed between Palestinians and Israelis. It was the deadliest day for Palestinians in the West Bank in more than two years on Thursday, and then a synagogue shooting in Jerusalem on Friday, which Israel deems to be its worst terror attacks in recent years.
Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet, comprised of hard-line politicians, approved the measures in the wake of a pair of shootings that left seven people dead outside of a Jerusalem synagogue.
There was no immediate response from Washington. The Biden administration does not agree with the idea of building settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, which the Palestinians want for a future state. The topic is likely to be high on the agenda as Blinken arrives Monday for talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
In addition, Netanyahu could come under pressure from members of his government, a collection of religious and ultranationalist politicians, to take even tougher action. It is possible that steps could lead to more violence and even drag the Hamas militant group into Gaza.
“If it’s even possible to put this violent genie back into the bottle, even for a little while, this would require the reinforcement and proper deployment of forces … and carefully managing the crisis without being guided by the widespread calls for revenge,” wrote Amos Harel, the defense affairs commentator for the Haaretz newspaper.
Israelis are moving to strengthen settlements after shooting attacks: The Friday night shooting in a synagogue kills seven Israelis and wounds
Friday’s shooting, outside a synagogue in east Jerusalem on the Jewish Sabbath, left seven Israelis dead and three wounded before the gunman was killed by police. It was the biggest attack on Israelis in a long time.
The names of four of the victims were published. They included 14-year-old Asher Natan; Eli Mizrahi, 48, and his wife Natali, 45; and Rafael Ben Eliyahu, 56. Funerals for some victims were scheduled Saturday night.
The charged atmosphere and the fact that mourners lit candles near a synagogue made for an assault on an Israeli TV crew that came to the area.
Natali Mizrahi’s aunt said that her niece had been celebrating the Sabbath with her husband and father when they heard gunfire outside.
“While eating, she and her husband wanted to help and went out of the house to treat the wounded; they shot both of them,” Sakovich said in a statement released by Hadassah Hospital, where Natali Mizrahi worked serving food to patients.
In response to the shooting, Israeli police beefed up activities throughout east Jerusalem and said they had arrested 42 people, including family members, who were connected to the shooter.
Police said two people with licensed weapons shot and injured the 13-year-old attacker. Police took the wounded teen to a hospital and seized his gun.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/29/1152383010/israel-is-moving-to-strengthen-settlements-after-shooting-attacks
Israel’s firebrand minister of national security has never waived, nor will it ever again… and the Israeli-Israel conflict continues apace after Friday night’s shooting
It is believed that Blinken will be in Israel on Monday. The Biden administration condemned Friday night’s shooting and has called for calm on all sides, but given few details on how it expects to promote these goals.
Palestinians in east Jerusalem can work and travel throughout Israel but they are not allowed to vote in national elections because of subpar public services.
Israel’s new firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has presented himself as an enforcer of law and order and grabbed headlines for his promises to take even stronger action against the Palestinians.
Speaking to reporters at a hospital where victims were being treated, Ben-Gvir said he wanted the home of the gunman in Friday’s attack to be sealed off immediately as a punitive measure and lashed out at Israel’s attorney general for delaying his order.
The attorney general’s office is one of the offices that the new government says has too much power in Israel’s justice system.
The issue was divisive and helped fuel weekly protests by Israelis who said the proposed changes would weaken the Supreme Court and undermine democracy.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in the central city of Tel Aviv Saturday evening for a new protest. Some raised banners describing Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir as “a threat to world peace.”
The Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, meanwhile, upheld its decision to halt security coordination with Israel to protest the deadly raid in Jenin.
The Palestinian Authority called for the international community and the United States to exert force on Israel to end its raids in the West Bank.
“In the context of this attack and escalating violence, it’s important that the government and people of Israel know America’s commitment to their security remains ironclad. That commitment is backed up by nearly 75 years of U.S. support. America’s commitment has never waivered, and never will.”
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. Here, you can sign up.
A shocking 48 hours of violence – bloody even by the standards of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – followed immediately by a fortunately timed flying visit from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, focused the eyes of the world on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week.
Sitting down for an exclusive interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, he signaled clearly that it is extremely unlikely Israel and the Palestinians will make any measurable progress toward a long-term peace anytime soon.
Netanyahu has never been ardent in his support of a two-state solution and has repeatedly used different definitions of what that would mean. In recent years he has decided that he will be open to a Palestinian state if it has no military or security power, an arrangement that would be completely different than those of modern states.
Netanyahu said in Jerusalem that he was willing to give them all the powers they needed to govern themselves, but none of the powers that could threaten us.
He did provide some new details about his conversations with President Biden on the matter, explaining he once told Biden, “[A]ny final agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would have Israel controlling security – overriding security responsibility in the area west of the Jordan.
I said that you cannot divide who controls the airspace. Near the Jordan River and the Mediterranean. You have to cross the road. The plane needs to cross it in two minutes. So what if Israel Controls it for one minute, and then the Palestinians for the next? It is not workable.
You are right, I said. But – I don’t know what you’d call it, but it gives them the opportunity to control their lives, to elect their officials, to run their economy, to run their institutions, to have their flag and to have their parliament, but we have to have overriding security control.”
Netanyahu claimed he doesn’t “believe in collective punishment,” although most human rights organizations call actions targeting the families of attackers exactly that.
Israeli human rights organization HaMoked has vowed to fight the legislation that will likely face legal challenges.
Netanyahu’s second investment of the year: The state of the art in the country after the Abraham Accords and the emergence of the circle of peace
After the success of the Abraham Accords, Netanyahu told Tapper he wants to expand the countries in what he calls the “circle of peace,” with his top objective being Saudi Arabia.
For years peace with the Palestinians was seen as a precondition to normalized relations between Arab countries and Israel. Netanyahu believes the Abraham Accords changed the game.
After meeting with Abbas in the West Bank, Blinken called for the two sides to de-escalate and stop violence. He warned against Israeli moves including expansion of settlements, legalization of outposts, demolitions, and evictions of Palestinians from their homes, as well as disrupting the status of the holy sites and fomenting violence.
Background: This is IHC’s first investment of the year, and second investment deal with Adani Group after last year’s 7.3 billion dirhams ($2 billion) investment in the group’s companies. A research firm that had accused the conglomerate and Adani themselves of pulling off “the largest con in corporate history,” caught the attention of India’s largest multinational conglomerates. The selloff of the report erased an estimated $70 billion from the market value of Adani Group companies. Adani said it complied with all local laws and had made the necessary regulatory disclosures.
After the reimposition of US sanctions on Iran, the Islamic Republic has disconnected from a key international banking access point called the SWIFT financial messaging service. Russian banks have had limitations imposed on them since Moscow invaded Ukraine last year.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/middleeast/netanyahu-palestinian-sovereignty-mime-intl/index.html
Israeli Airlines canceled Emirates flights from New Zealand after the Covid-19 Pandemic. The turnout in Tunisia’s parliamentary runoff
The turnout in Tunisia’s parliamentary runoff elections on Sunday, Reuters cited the country’s electoral commission as saying. President Kais Saied on Monday blamed the low turnout on hatred among voters of the parliament, calling it “an institution of absurdity and a state within the state.” His critics said the crowd was evidence of public disdain for his agenda and that opposition parties called for his resignation.
The A380 jumbo jet turned back more than a third of its way to New Zealand after going west of Indonesia, according to a flight tracking site.
New Zealand has an biggest city that is soaked with record rain. It was the city’s wettest day on record with an estimated 480mm of rain falling, equal to a full summer’s worth.
There were travel issues due to the rain over the weekend. The airport said more than 2,000 people stayed at the airport Friday due to the flooding. The international terminal was not operational until Sunday.
Emirates resumed the Auckland route, its longest at 14,200 kilometers (8,800 miles), in December after an almost three-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The flight takes between 16 and 17 hours and is one of the longest nonstop routes in the world.
Israeli officials and media say a child and a man in his 20s were killed when a car rammed his vehicle into a group of people at a bus stop.
Police say an off-duty policeman shot and killed the driver. Israeli media said he was from the neighborhood of Issawiyeh in East Jerusalem.
Israeli authorities said the operation had focused on three suspects who planned attacks in the immediate future. The three were taken into custody, according to a statement from the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency.
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.
Last time the military conducted a daytime raid in the West Bank they said it was because of an immediate threat.
The Islamic Jihad armed wing in Gaza called on the enemy to stop committing crimes against the people of the occupied West Bank and warned they were running out of patience.
Shortly after a Palestinian killed two Israelis in the occupied West Bank, Jordan’s government announced that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to de-escalate tensions.
The statement marked a small progress, but still many unanswered questions. As the negotiators were meeting, a Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli brothers in the northern West Bank.
The death penalty is being proposed for Palestinians involved in deadly attacks. The measure was sent to congress for further debate.
On a difficult day in which two Israelis were murdered in a Palestinian terror attack, there is nothing more symbolic that passing the death penalty law.
The finance minister urged the cities of terror and their instigators to be hit with guns and tanks, in a way that would demonstrate that the master of the house has gone crazy.
Over 7,000 new homes were approved by Israel in the wake of the shooting. It wasn’t clear if the order was affected by the freeze.
Top officials and delegations from Egypt, Jordan and the United States attended the meeting to observe the severity of the crisis. It was also a rare high-level meeting between the sides, coming during a time of rising tensions and after the Palestinians cut security coordination with Israel over the violence.
Palestinians that oppose any official engagement with Israel will protest the meeting. It called the shooting on Sunday an “ok” because of the Israeli incursions into the West Bank.
The holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City are often a flash point for violence among the two faiths, so this year both faiths are expected to visit them during the holiest time of the year. Tensions at a key Jerusalem holy site last year led to a war in Palestine with Hamas, which lasted 11 days.
