PA frees Palestinians arrested for attending Sukkot event
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Palestinian Authority security forces released four Palestinians arrested Thursday for attending a holiday event at Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi’s sukkah in Gush Etzion. The prisoners were released after Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, coordinator of government activities in the territories, intervened.
Before their release, many in Israel spoke out on the prisoners’ behalf.
A senior official in Palestinian Authority security services told Israel Hayom the arrests were in line with Palestinian Authority law, which classifies meetings with settlers as fraternizing with the enemy. The law exists to prevent them from being exposed to incitement, he said.
Addressing the issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “I call on the international community to work to help free these innocent Palestinians whose imprisonment is yet further proof of the Palestinian refusal to make peace.”
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Israeli civilian killed along Egypt border fence
(JNS.org) An Israeli civilian was killed in a shooting incident along Israel’s border fence with Egypt Tuesday afternoon.
The civilian, who was carrying out maintenance work for the Defense Ministry, was airlifted from the scene but was later pronounced dead upon arriving at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Israel Defense Forces said it was investigating the shooting. The source of the gunfire was not immediately clear.
The Egyptian military has been carrying out large-scale operations against Islamic State-affiliated terrorist groups in the Sinai Peninsula recently. On Sunday, the Egyptians killed an estimated 70 terrorists in operations in northern Sinai.
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Palestinians, Jordanians warn against opposition to UNESCO vote
(JNS.org) The Palestinian Authority and Jordan are warning members of UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee against opposing a planned resolution on Jerusalem set for a vote on Wednesday.
The 21-member state World Heritage Committee is considering a resolution that solely refers to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem by its Muslim name, Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which ignores any Jewish or Christian ties to the site. Temple Mount was home to the First and Second Jewish Temples. The resolution is similar to one passed by the 56-member UNESCO Executive Committee Oct. 13.
On Monday, the Palestinian and Jordanian delegations asked World Heritage Committee members to submit their positions before Wednesday’s meeting after learning “a few member states are still hesitant whether they can commit to our agreement… or not.
“Otherwise, the delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the delegation of Palestine would, according to the rules of procedure, be obliged to consider other options,” they stated.
The move by the Palestinians and Jordanians comes as several member states of UNESCO, such as Brazil, Italy and Mexico, have expressed regret over the Oct. 13 resolution. However, Brazil, Italy and Mexico are not World Heritage Committee members and will not vote on Wednesday.
“The Palestinians and the Arab states understand that after Mexico and Italy, there might be more unpleasant surprises,” said Israeli Ambassador to UNESCO Carmel Shama-Hacohen.
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70 Islamic State operatives killed in Egyptian airstrikes in Sinai
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A massive onslaught of Egyptian airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula on Sunday killed at least 70 Islamic State operatives and wounded 70 others, news outlets reported.
The Egyptian Air Force launched the strikes against the Islamic State in Rafiah and Sheikh Zawid a day after armed Islamists killed Brig. Gen. Adel Ragai, commander of the Egyptian Army’s 9th Armored Division, outside his Cairo home.
The airstrikes are the largest Egyptian military action in the Sinai in years.
The attack on Ragai bore the hallmarks of how the militant Islamic group fights security forces in the Sinai Peninsula. It was not immediately clear why Ragai was targeted, but terrorists have killed army and police officers in the past.
The Egyptian cabinet denounced the ISIS attack in a statement, quoting Prime Minister Sherif Ismail saying such violence only strengthens the resolve of security forces to defeat the terrorists.
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Israel hits target in Gaza, Hamas terrorist killed in tunnel collapse
(JNS.org) The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck a target in the Gaza Strip following the launch of a rocket from the territory early Monday morning.
The rocket fired from Gaza did not hit Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported. In response, the air force struck a Hamas military post in Gaza.
Earlier in October, Palestinian terrorists fired a rocket at southern Israel that narrowly missed residential areas in Sderot. The IAF also hit several Hamas targets in response.
Meanwhile, a Hamas terrorist was killed in a tunnel collapse, according to a statement released by the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing. It was the second Hamas tunnel fatality so far this week.
Since Operation Protective Edge in 2014, a number of new tunnels have been discovered by the IDF that originated from the Gaza Strip.
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Italian PM blasts ‘outrageous’ UNESCO Jerusalem resolution
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke over the weekend with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who harshly criticized the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) decision last week to deny any link between the Jewish people and Jerusalem.
Renzi said that “to say that the Jewish people have no connection to Jerusalem is like saying that the sun creates darkness.” He called the move “outrageous.”
In an interview with a local Italian radio station Friday, Renzi called these types of anti-Israel resolutions “unacceptable and wrong.”
Renzi told the radio station Italy’s decision to abstain from the vote on the resolution was not motivated by anti-Semitism, but rather a desire to vote in line with the rest of Europe. He said he would have preferred it if Italy had voted against the resolution.
“We cannot continue with these resolutions attacking Israel,” Renzi said, adding that he would vote against other EU member nations in the future.
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Birthright has contributed over $1 billion to Israeli economy, study finds
(JNS.org) Birthright Israel, the nonprofit educational organization that sponsors free 10-day trips to Israel for young Jewish adults, has contributed roughly $1.1 billion to the Israeli economy since it began, a new study by the firm Ernst & Young shows.
The report found that Birthright directly contributed about $840 million to the Israeli economy through hotel stays, flights and tour group hires, while it indirectly contributed roughly $325 million through other expenses like food, souvenirs and trip extensions.
Additionally, the study found that Birthright participants make up 12 percent of the total number of tourists from June to August and December to January, twice the annual average for overall tourism during those off-peak times.
Since 2000, Birthright has provided no-cost trips to more than a half million Jewish young adults aged 18-26.
“This new report validates the success of our program and reinforces one of our main goals: to have participants return to Israel and foster relationships with its people throughout their lifetime,” Birthright Israel CEO Gidi Mark said in a statement.
Birthright will “have an even greater impact on Israel in the near future as participants decide to work at Israeli companies or start businesses of their own in Israel,” Mark added.
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Israel finalizing deal for three nuclear subs from Germany
(JNS.org) The Israeli Navy is reportedly close to finalizing a deal to buy three nuclear-capable submarines from Germany for $1.3 billion.
The purchase of the submarines is expected be finalized next month in Berlin and will upgrade Israel’s existing nearly 20-year-old submarine fleet, Maariv reported.
“The new submarines are said to be more advanced, longer and equipped with better accessories,” the report said.
The Israeli Navy’s Dolphin-class submarines provide the Jewish state with second-strike nuclear capabilities, experts say. They have the ability to travel long distances from Israel’s territorial waters and can reportedly carry long-range cruise missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.
Israel has already purchased five nuclear-capable Dolphin-class submarines from Germany with a sixth sub due for delivery in 2017.
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Lawmakers from 17 countries denounce UNESCO resolution
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) Lawmakers from 17 countries signed a declaration Thursday against last week’s UNESCO resolution and called for international recognition of Jerusalem as the undivided and eternal capital of Israel.
The UNESCO resolution rejects any Jewish link to the Temple Mount and Western Wall in Jerusalem.
In the declaration, 19 MPs representing the 17 countries, said that “the U.N. resolution is disconnected from reality and is incorrect. We will work toward the international recognition of Jerusalem, as the undivided, eternal capital of the state of Israel.”
The parliamentarians presented the declaration to Deputy Minister Michael Oren, who delivered it to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Oren called the UNESCO resolution “unacceptable.” He said it “must be fought against every way possible. The signing of the declaration by MPs from all over the world against UNESCO is one of the steps we will take against this atrocious decision. We will continue to emphasize the eternal connection between the Jewish people and our eternal capital for ever and ever, which nobody in the world, and certainly not UNESCO, can break.”
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Israeli security officials thwart major terror plot, four arrested
(JNS.org) Israeli security officials averted a large-scale attack by Gaza-based terrorists planning to kidnap and kill an IDF solider.
Mahmoud Yusuf Hasin Abu Taha, a resident of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, was arrested as he attempted to enter Israeli territory at the Erez Crossing Sept. 21, officials said Thursday.
“During his investigation, it was learned that he led a terrorist cell guided by Islamic jihad in the Gaza Strip, and had been planning to carry out a large-scale terrorist attack at a wedding hall in the south and to abduct and murder an IDF soldier for bargaining purposes,” security officials reported.
Abu Taha was part of the Islamic jihad organization and had recruited three other Palestinian men living in Southern Israel to assist in carrying out his attack, the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) said in a statement. The three were also arrested along with Abu Taha.
“This grave case underscores – again – the efforts of Gaza Strip-based terrorists to carry out murderous attacks in Israel, in addition to their activities in the Strip,” Shin Bet stated. “The case also reiterates the manner in which terrorists will exploit humanitarian and economic permits to enter Israel, as well as the risk posed by Palestinians present in Israel illegally.”
Separately, an Israeli-Arab couple from the town of Sakhnin at Ben-Gurion Airport were arrested following their return from Iraq, where they took their three children and had joined the Islamic State, security officials said.
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Evidence found Jerusalem’s ‘Third Wall’ breached 2,000 years ago
(JNS.org) Archaeologists have discovered evidence the Romans had breached Jerusalem’s so-called “Third Wall” at the end of the Second Temple period in 70 C.E., the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced.
Remains of a tower protruding from the so-called “Third Wall” that surrounded Jerusalem was found along with many ballista and sling stones that the Romans had fired from catapults as Jewish guards defended the wall, the excavation found.
The discovery was made last winter in the Russian Compound in the city center where construction was underway to build the new Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design campus.
“This is a fascinating testimony of the intensive bombardment by the Roman army, led by Titus, on their way to conquering the city and destroying the Second Temple,” IAA excavation directors Dr. Rina Avner and Kfir Arbib said. “The bombardment was intended to attack the sentries guarding the wall and provide cover for the Roman forces so they could approach the wall with battering rams and thereby breach the city’s defenses.”
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