Israel’s Shin Bet foils Passover terrorist attack in Jerusalem
(JNS.org) Three Palestinians believed to be planning a terrorist attack in Jerusalem were arrested early Tuesday, Israel’s Shin Bet security agency revealed.
The suspects—ages 15, 16, and 23—are all residents of Nablus. There were arrested by a joint military, police, and Shin Bet task force in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber.
The arrests followed intelligence suggesting that the three Palestinians had boasted about planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Jerusalem during the Passover holiday, Israel’s Channel 10 reported. Security forces set up roadblocks around Jerusalem ahead of the raid on the trio’s hideout in Jabel Mukaber. The Shin Bet called the raid “routine.”
Israel’s Channel 2 reported that investigators believe the three Palestinians, who were apparently waiting for a weapons delivery at the time of their arrest, were planning an attack combining firearms and explosives. Israeli security forces are on high alert nationwide during the seven-day Passover holiday, especially in Jerusalem, where Muslim-Jewish tensions on the Temple Mount have made the holy site particularly volatile.
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Hebron rally kicks off celebrations for Six-Day War’s 50th anniversary
(JNS.org) Some 17,000 people attended a rally in Hebron on Monday that kicked off celebrations marking the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War. The war led to Israel gaining control over Hebron and the rest of Judea and Samaria, as well as eastern Jerusalem. A number of Israeli Knesset members and cabinet ministers attended Monday’s event.
During Passover, areas in Hebron that are normally off limits to Jews due to security reasons have been opened. Only Jews were allowed to access the Cave of the Patriarchs holy site on Monday and Tuesday, to reduce potential friction with Muslim worshippers. The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Police bolstered their presence in the area.
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Hamas fighters reportedly join Iran in effort to liberate Mosul
(JNS.org) The Iranian Revolutionary Guards are reportedly seeking to use fighters from the Palestinian terror group Hamas to help liberate the Iraqi city of Mosul, which has been occupied by the Islamic State terror group since June 2014.
According to the Jerusalem Post, which cited a report in the London-based Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamas forces would fight alongside Hezbollah fighters and Shi’a Houthi militias under the leadership of Iranian forces to regain control of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
Iran has extensively used fighters from Shi’a militias and terror groups—such as Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis—in campaigns in Iraq and Syria against Islamic State and other Sunni rebel groups. But Hamas, which formed from the Palestinian branch of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, is a mainly Sunni Muslim terror group. Despite the sectarian differences, Hamas has been closely allied with Iran for years, as both have a mutual enemy in Israel.
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Iran threatens U.S. with legal action over payment to terror victims
(JNS.org) Iran threatened to take legal action in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against the United States government for a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that would allow the families of terror victims to collect compensation from frozen Iranian assets.
“We hold the U.S. administration responsible for preservation of Iranian funds and if they are plundered, we will lodge a complaint with the ICJ for reparation,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said, AFP reported.
In a 6-2 decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a lower court ruling that would enable survivors of Iranian terror attacks and their families to collect compensation from a pool of $2 billion in frozen Iranian assets. The decision affects more than 1,000 Americans from a range of Iranian-sponsored terror attacks, including the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon and the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
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Facebook and Twitter shut down Hamas pages after months of criticism
(JNS.org) Facebook and Twitter have been shutting down pages managed by the Hamas terror group after months of criticism that the social media networks had been enabling incitement to violence against Israelis.
Facebook recently shut down Hamas’s official page, a page titled “Shihab” that is affiliated with the Palestinian terror group and had about 1 million followers, and a number of other violence-supporting Palestinian pages.
Twitter, meanwhile, shut down the Hamas military wing’s official pages in Arabic, English, and Hebrew, as well as the account of Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida, which had 156,000 followers. Hamas has responded by opening new accounts to replace those that were shut down, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
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Israel charges seven suspects over alleged violence against Palestinians
(JNS.org) An Israeli court on Monday charged seven Israelis with committing crimes against Palestinians, including the torching of cars and homes.
The charges—which include weapons possession, assault, and arson—relate to several of the so-called “price tag” attacks carried out by Jewish extremists.
The new charges come a week after an Israeli military court charged Sgt. Elor Azaria, the 20-year-old Israel Defense Forces soldier who shot a neutralized Palestinian terrorist in Hebron last month, with manslaughter.
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