Two arrested in connection to Thursday’s firebomb attack
(JNS.org) Two Palestinian men have been arrested in connection to Thursday’s firebomb attack that injured a girl and her father.
The two men were part of a group of 12 Palestinians that were arrested overnight Thursday, according to the Israeli Shin Bet security agency, the Jerusalem Post reported.
On Thursday, an 11-year-old Israeli girl was severely injured and her father was lightly injured in a Palestinian firebomb attack on a car near the Judea and Samaria neighborhood of Ma’ale Shomron.
The girl, Ayala Shapira, suffered third-degree burns to 30-40 percent of her body despite managing to escape the attacked vehicle.
Reports indicate that Sharpia’s condition slightly improved overnight, but she still remains in serious condition, according to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.
“Tell the family we stand by their side and wish them a fast recovery,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Yossi Dagan, the acting head of the Samaria Region Council on Thursday.
Qatar reportedly suspends Hamas support
(JNS.org) Qatar has suspended ties with Hamas in a bid to pressure the Palestinian terror group to change its policy against Egypt, a report in the Kuwaiti daily Al-Jarida newspaper says.
The report says that Hamas must end its incitement against Egypt as well as end weapons smuggling from Gaza to terrorist groups in the Sinai Peninsula, which the Egyptian military has been fighting for several months.
The move by Qatar comes amid Saudi-brokered reconciliation efforts to end an 18-month standoff over Qatar’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Qatar opposed the overthrow of former Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi in July 2013.
As part of the steps, Qatar recently shut down the Egypt channel of Al-Jazeera, which had been a source of deep tension with the Egyptian government over its pro-Muslim Brotherhood reporting. Reports indicate that Egypt is also in the process of freeing several Al-Jazeera journalists as well.
A summit between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is also reportedly being planned.
IDF deploys 2 Iron Dome batteries in southern Israel
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) The recent security incidents in southern Israel prompted the Israel Defense Forces to deploy two Iron Dome missile defense system batteries in the area on Thursday, as well as to declare heightened alert levels across the sector.
The military confirmed that one Iron Dome battery was deployed near Beersheba, while the second was set up near the city of Netivot.
Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon commented Thursday on the recent security developments in southern Israel, saying, “Hamas is not interested in an escalation in the Gaza Strip, but the organization’s actions will serve as its true test.”
Ya’alon noted that Israel “expects Hamas to restrain any rogue elements. Israel has responded and it will respond to any attack emanating from the Gaza Strip.”
Meanwhile, the military is still investigating Wednesday’s sniper attack against troops securing engineers working on the Israel-Gaza Strip border fence, in which a soldier from the Bedouin Reconnaissance Unit was serious wounded.
The soldier, who sustained a chest wound, was airlifted to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba for treatment. Hospital officials said Thursday that his condition was stable and improving.
Netanyahu confirms Israel’s purchase of 4 warships from Germany
(JNS.org) At a graduation ceremony on Thursday for Israeli Air Force members completing their pilots’ course, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed Israel’s purchase of four Sa’ar-class warships from Germany.
“Today I am pleased to announce that three days ago we added an important component to our defensive force,” Netanyahu said at Hatzerim Airbase. “We purchased four new Sa’ar vessels, this is in addition to the submarines that are being built for the navy. I would like to thank German Chancellor Angela Merkel for her commitment and constant assistance to our security.”
Reports indicate that Israel will use the Sa’ar vessels to help protect its off-shore gas extraction facilities.
Netanyahu told the graduating pilots that they play a “decisive role” in combating terrorism.
“Our counter-terrorist actions are carried out in a wide circle, occasionally far from our borders,” he said. “The air force has a decisive role in implementing this policy on land, sea, and air. Our soldiers attack terrorist organizations and systematically disrupt the supply of war materiel sent to them, mainly by Iran and its proxies.”
Israel returns bodies of Palestinian terrorists who attacked Jerusalem synagogue
(JNS.org) Israel on Thursday returned the bodies of the two Palestinian terrorists who killed four rabbis and a Druze policeman at a synagogue in Jerusalem’s Har Nof neighborhood.
A court order stipulated that the bodies of cousins Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal be transferred to the West Bank for burial, rather than the terrorists’ former eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
In November, the terrorists’ family members had celebrated the attack.
“We responded with shouts of joy when we received the news about their deaths,” Ala’a Abu Jamal told Yedioth Ahronoth regarding his terrorist cousins. “People here distributed candies to guests who visited us, and there was joy for the martyrs.”
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