Mortar shell lands in Israel from Syria for second consecutive day
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) For the second consecutive day, a mortar shell fired from Syria exploded within Israeli territory in the Golan Heights on Tuesday.
Army Radio reported that the shell struck a minefield in the Tel Fares area around 8 a.m. No injuries or damage were reported. Israeli defense officials believe the shell was not fired at an Israeli target, but rather spilled over from the ongoing civil war in Syria.
On Monday, two mortar shells fired from Syria exploded in the southern Golan Heights. Israel has filed a complaint with the United Nations peacekeeping force in the region. Monday’s incident was also classified as unintentional spillover from Syria.
Tensions along the border between Israel and Syria have mounted recently, after Israel reportedly bombed arms shipments in Damascus twice in recent days.
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Israel and Turkey reach draft agreement to restore relations
(JNS.org) Israeli and Turkish officials during a meeting on Monday reached a draft agreement to end the countries’ three-year diplomatic dispute.
Turkey broke off relations with Israel following the May 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, when Israeli soldiers boarded the Mavi Marmara vessel as it attempted to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. The incident resulted in the death of nine Turkish militants who had attacked the Israelis.
Monday’s Israel-Turkey meeting “was conducted in a good and positive manner” and the two sides “expect to come to an agreement in the near future,” said a statement released by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.
“The delegations reached an agreed draft, but further clarifications are required on certain subjects,” the prime minister’s office added.
The diplomatic standoff between Israel and Turkey ended when Netanyahu, encouraged by U.S. President Barack Obama, called Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the end of Obama’s recent visit to Israel and apologized for the deaths of the flotilla militants. Since then, the countries have discussed compensation for the militants’ families.
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Hamas rejects latest Arab League peace proposal
(JNS.org) The Palestinian terrorist group Hamas has rejected a revised peace initiative by the Arab League.
First proposed in 2002, the Arab League’s peace initiative calls for Israel to completely withdraw to the pre-1967 lines, which includes Gaza, the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, as well as a “just” solution to the Palestinian refugee situation, in exchange for normalized relations with the Arab world.
The proposal, which was reportedly modified during a recent meeting between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Arab League leaders, includes the possibility of “land swaps” between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The so-called new Arab initiative is rejected by our people, by our nation and no one can accept it,” said Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of Hamas, Al-Jazeera reported.
“The initiative contains numerous dangers to our people in the occupied land of 1967, 1948 and to our people in exile,” Haniyeh said.
Hamas refuses to recognize the state of Israel, including its internationally recognized pre-1967 borders.
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Middle East Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter
(JNS.org) The Middle East’s Orthodox Christians, who are facing growing persecution and uncertainty over their future, celebrated the Easter holiday on Sunday.
In Egypt, Pope Tawadros II held his first Easter Mass as pope at the historic St. Mark’s Church in central Cairo. The very same church was the site of an unprecedented attack by Muslim extremists and rioters early last month.
Pope Tawadros, after the attack, slammed Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi for his failure to protect the church. Egypt’s Coptic Christian population, who make up about 10 percent of the country’s 90 million people, has come under increasing persecution since the 2011 “Arab Spring” revolution.
In Jerusalem, more than 10,000 people on Saturday attended the Holy Fire ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to Orthodox Christian tradition, the Holy Fire is a miracle of spontaneous fire that occurs every year inside of the church on the day preceding Easter. The Holy Fire is then quickly transported to other Orthodox communities across the world.
“The Holy Fire gives us confidence as Christians,” Maha Nacacche, a woman from Nazareth in northern Israel, told Global Post. “But it’s hard to feel confident every day. As Christians in the Holy Land, we feel that our people are struggling to survive.”
While Israel has seen a small boost in its Christian population, which rose to 158,000 in 2012, Christians in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas such as Bethlehem—the birthplace of Jesus—has shrunk to a third of the town’s residents, down from 75 percent only a few decades ago.
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Preceding provided by JNS.org