Gaza rockets strike several houses in Sderot
(JNS.org) A barrage of 13 rockets from Gaza pounded Israel’s southern communities on Thursday, July 3. Overnight and in the early morning hours, six rockets hit the city of Sderot alone, with three of those rockets hitting houses in the city. No injuries were reported, but the blasts caused extensive property damage.
In response, the Israeli Air Force bombed 15 targets in Gaza. In the morning hours, the Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted two rockets headed for the city of Netivot, Israel Hayom reported.
At around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, the early warning alarm sounded in Sderot, followed by a salvo of three rockets. One of the rockets penetrated the wall of the second story of a building. On the first floor of the same building, a day care teacher and five infants in her care scrambled to the nearest protected area, narrowly evading tragedy.
More than 30 Gaza rockets were fired at Israel over a 24-hour period from Wednesday to Thursday. The majority of the rockets were fired Wednesday afternoon.
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IDF continues search for kidnappers
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is continuing its search for the two Hamas terrorists, Marwan Qawasmeh and Amer Abu Aisheh, whom the Jewish state says are behind the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli teens. Israel’s defense establishment believes the two terrorists are hiding in the West Bank.
Israeli soldiers arrested 42 Palestinians in the West Bank on Tuesday night, July 1, with 40 of them Hamas members. The IDF then shut down six Hamas civil service centers on Wednesday, July 2, Israel Hayom reported. Since the beginning of the army’s “Operation Brother’s Keeper” two weeks ago, 463 Palestinians have been arrested in the West Bank.
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Palestinians among the highest supporters of terrorism in Muslim world
(JNS.org) Palestinians were among the highest supporters of suicide bombing as well as terror groups—al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and Hamas—in the Muslim world, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center on concerns about Islamic extremism in the Middle East.
At the same time, while support for al-Qaeda is relatively low in the Middle East and has high negative ratings, the Palestinian territories—the West Bank and Gaza—had the highest favorable rating of al-Qaeda at 25 percent, compared to only 2 percent in Lebanon, 5 percent in Turkey, 11 percent in Jordan, and 15 percent in Egypt.
Similarly, the Palestinian territories had higher-than-average favorable ratings of Hezbollah, at 32 percent, and the Gaza-based terror group Hamas, at 35 percent, compared to other countries in the survey. Nevertheless, unfavorable Palestinian opinion of Hamas has grown from 33 percent in 2007 to 53 percent today.
Overall, the unfavorable views of all of the terror groups have increased significantly over the past seven years. But the Palestinian territories also had the second-highest support for suicide bombings, 46 percent, in the survey. That figure, however, has declined from a high of 70 percent in 2007.
Meanwhile, the survey found that concern for Islamic extremism has increased in the Middle East, especially among Lebanese Christians, at 95 percent, and Israeli Jews, at 87 percent.
The survey was conducted among 14,244 respondents in 14 countries with significant Muslim populations in April and May.
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Knesset speaker: Albania relationship proof of warm Jewish-Muslim ties
(JNS.org) Albania is proof that warm Jewish-Muslim ties are possible, Israeli Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein (Likud) said during a meeting with Albanian Parliament Speaker Illir Meta on Wednesday.
“Albania is a Muslim country that shows things can be different,” said Edelstein, the Jerusalem Post reported.
While most of Albania’s small Jewish community has immigrated to Israel, the country has a history of warm relations with the Jewish people. During the Holocaust, Albania protected its Jewish community and took in other Jews seeking refuge, and it was one of the few European countries whose Jewish population increased after the war.
“Israel is an advanced country and there is great potential for commerce between us, for investments and for your expertise in technology,” said Meta, who is making his first trip to Israel. “I wrote in your guest book that I am proud to represent Albania in the Knesset, because we saved as many Jews as we could during the Holocaust.”
Traditionally one of Europe’s poorest countries, Albania is currently beginning succession talks with the European Union and opening up its economy. In late June, Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati met with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman to discuss bilateral cooperation.
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World Cup praise for Columbia’s Jewish coach
(JNS.org) Argentine soccer coach Jose Pekerman, who is Jewish, has been praised for leading Colombia’s national team to a major 2-0 victory over Uruguay at the World Cup, which sent the team to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time.
Pekerman began playing soccer with a Jewish Maccabi club in Argentina’s Entre Rios Province. He coached Argentina’s national club in the 2006 World Cup. Currently, he lives in the Jewish neighborhood of Villa Crespo in Buenos Aires.
Coaching Colombia’s World Cup team, Pekerman got the country to qualify in second place in South America behind Argentina, which prompted Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos to offer Pekerman Colombian citizenship, reported Reuters. After Columbia’s win over Uruguay, the Twitter hashtag #PekermanPresidente (Pekerman for president) gained popularity in Colombia.
“In the World Cup, every match is a battle,” Pekerman said in June. “We hope to keep growing. We have many young players in our squad and this will be really good for them to gain experience.”
Colombia faces tournament host Brazil in its next World Cup match on July 4.
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