IDF on high alert across Judea and Samaria
(JNS.org) The Israel Defense Forces has declared a high alert in Judea and Samaria after riots broke out in the area over the weekend. The IDF is concerned that Palestinian violence may escalate to include the use of Molotov cocktails and potential stabbing and shooting attacks, Israel Hayom reported.
The riots followed the killing of three wanted Palestinian terrorists in the Jenin refugee camp on the 10th anniversary of the death of Hamas cofounder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
Sunday afternoon saw Palestinians and Jewish residents clash near the outpost of Ramat Migron, throwing stones at each other, according to military officials. Several hours later, dozens of Palestinians began throwing stones and hurling Molotov cocktails at security forces stationed near Rachel’s Tomb, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. A similar riot was noted in the nearby al-Aida Palestinian refugee camp.
Israeli security forces operating in the Jenin Palestinian refugee camp on Saturday had killed Hamza Abu al-Hija, a Hamas terrorist defined by Israeli defense officials as a “ticking time bomb.” Two other Palestinian gunmen were killed in the operation and seven others were wounded. Two Israeli policemen were lightly wounded.
A joint military, Shin Bet security agency, and police counterterrorism SWAT team raided the refugee camp seeking to arrest al-Hija, who was believed to have been in the final stages of planning a major terror attack. He opened fire on the troops, who returned fire and killed him.
According to a senior officer with the Israel Defense Forces Judea and Samaria Division, security forces had credible intelligence suggesting al-Hija, 22, was planning an imminent shooting attack against Israeli security forces and civilians residing in the area.
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Israeli-German group to build rail lines in northern Israel
(JNS.org) Israel’s National Transport Infrastructure Company announced Sunday that an Israeli-German group has beaten a French-Spanish-Israeli group for the tender to construct almost 60 miles of railroad tracks in northern Israel.
The winning bid was submitted by the German company DB BahnBau and a number of Israeli construction companies. The project will cost $230 million. The tender covers infrastructure work on the Jezreel Valley rail line between Haifa and Beit Shean (42 miles, with five train stations) and the Acre-Carmiel line (14 miles, with two train stations and the line to be electrified and double-tracked).
A new rail line in the center of the country connecting Kfar Saba with Herzliya (11 miles) is also being constructed, according to Israel Hayom.
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Report: U.S. may free Pollard to try to save Israeli-Palestinian talks
(JNS.org) In order to break a deadlock in the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict negotiations, U.S. officials are reportedly not ruling out a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under which Israel would agree to accept Secretary of State John Kerry’s framework peace proposal and free Israeli Arab terrorists from jail in exchange for the U.S. releasing imprisoned Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.
The officials said it is unknown whether or not U.S. President Barack Obama would agree to that proposal, Israel Radio reported. Pollard, now in his 29th year in federal prison, is the only person in U.S. history to receive a life sentence in jail for spying for an American ally (Israel).
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Loyola University students launch petition to veto Israel divestment bill
(JNS.org) Pro-Israel students at Chicago’s Loyola University are mobilizing a response to the Students for Justice in Palestine-sponsored Israel divestment resolution passed by the school’s student government this week.
The resolution, which passed 26-0 with two abstentions March 18, urges the university administration “to withdraw investments from eight corporations complicit in Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, including Caterpillar, SodaStream, Veolia, and Hewlett-Packard.”
Drawing on the support from the Jewish United Fund’s Israel Education Center and Metro Chicago Hillel, pro-Israel Loyola students launched a petition that urges the student government president to veto the divestment resolution.
University officials, meanwhile, said in a statement that the student government resolution “is not the position of Loyola University Chicago and we will not adopt this proposal.”
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U.S., U.K. call on United Nations to investigate Iran arms shipment
(JNS.org) The United Nations ambassadors from the United States and the United Kingdom called on the U.N. to launch an investigation into an Iranian boat carrying Syrian-made weapons that was headed for terrorist groups in Gaza before Israel seized the boat earlier this month.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador to the U.N. Rosemary DiCarlo asked the U.N. Security Council committee that monitors Iran sanctions to establish the probe.
“The committee should be prepared to impose real consequences [on Iran], such as possible sanctions designations on those responsible,” DiCarlo said, the Associated Press reported.
British U.N. envoy Mark Lyall Grant echoed the U.S. position.
“This is not the first time that we have seen reports of potential arms transfers to Gaza involving Iran,” Lyall Grant said.
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