Gaza terrorists fire four rockets at Israel
(JNS.org) Israeli Air Force jets struck five targets in the Gaza Strip on Thursday night in response to rocket fire from Gaza, Israel Hayom reported.
Terrorists in the Gaza Strip fired four rockets into southern Israel earlier Thursday, prompting sirens to go off in the Shaar Hanegev region and Sderot. The rockets caused no injuries or damage.
Israel holds the Islamist terrorist group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, responsible for all rocket fire emanating from the coastal enclave.
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Bipartisan bill in House seeks to bolster sanctions against Hezbollah
(JNS.org) A bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives members have introduced a new resolution to strengthen sanctions against the Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Titled the “Hezbollah International Financial Prevention Act,” the legislation seeks to impose “severe new sanctions” on Hezbollah’s fundraising channels as well as “restrict its ability to use funds” that finance its international terror network. It was introduced by U.S. Reps. Mark Meadows (R-NC), Brad Schneider (D-IL), Ed Royce (R-CA), and Eliot Engel (D-NY).
According to Meadows, Hezbollah is currently using global finance networks to fund its terror activities.
“Right now, Hezbollah uses its global financial connections to launder money and help fund terrorist activities. This bill will help stifle that financial network and give the United States more tools to crack down on Hezbollah’s global terrorist activities,” he said.
Engel said, “Hezbollah’s actions in Syria—directed by their patrons in Iran—have helped keep the [Bashar] Assad regime in power. They must be held responsible for their destructive actions in Syria and the threat that they continue to pose to our ally, Israel.”
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29 U.S. Senators urge Obama administration to deny visa to Iran’s new U.N. envoy
(JNS.org) Twenty-nine U.S. Senators have written a letter to the Obama administration urging the denial of a visa to Hamid Aboutalebi, Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations, over Aboutalebi’s ties to the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis.
The recently appointed Aboutalebi was part of an extremist student group that stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, taking 52 U.S. diplomats hostage for 444 days.
“It’s a disgrace if the United States government accepts Aboutalebi’s visa as Iranian Ambassador to the U.N.,” former American hostage Barry Rosen told Fox News.
The State Department expressed concern about Iran’s appointment, but stopped short of saying it will deny the visa.
“We’re taking a close look at the case now, and we’ve raised our serious concerns about this possible nomination with the government of Iran,” State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf said, The Associated Press reported.
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Shimon Peres sets up Chinese social media account ahead of China trip
(JNS.org) Israeli President Shimon Peres is setting up his social media page on China’s equivalent of Facebook, called Sina Weibo, ahead of the first Israeli presidential trip to China in more than a decade.
Peres, who already has a popular following on Western social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, is seeking to reach out to the estimated 300 million users on Chinese social media.
The Israeli president is scheduled to leave for China on Monday for a three-day trip. He is expected to be received with all the typical pomp and circumstance of a head of state, including a formal state dinner with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Peres is also expected to meet with leading Chinese businesses in the media, technology, high-tech, and innovation sectors, to discuss closer economic ties with Israel, reported Israel Hayom.
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Discounted tickets for Israel’s Rolling Stones concert sell out in 27 seconds
(Israel Hayom/Exclusive to JNS.org) A bloc of discounted tickets for June’s Rolling Stones concert in Tel Aviv sold out in less than half a minute after going on sale Thursday morning.
The “Lucky Dip” tickets, which were gone in 27 seconds, were sold without revealing to which seats they correspond, giving people a chance to purchase both regular and potentially VIP tickets at a lower price. Ticket buyers will only find out what seats they have when they arrive at the show.
VIP tickets for what will be the first, and likely the last, Rolling Stones concert in Israel retail for about $288 dollars, while regular tickets cost about $200.
And undisclosed number of Lucky Dip tickets sold for about $100.
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Israel formally cancels fourth round of Palestinian terrorist prisoner release
(JNS.org) Israel has formally canceled the fourth round of the Palestinian terrorist prisoner release, said the Jewish state’s top peace negotiator, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni.
According to a statement by Livni, the Palestinians’ decision to join 15 international conventions violated the terms of the prisoner release that was signed in July 2013, The Associated Pressreported. Livni said the deal was contingent on the Palestinians refraining from unilateral moves.
The news comes following a reported all-night discussion on Wednesday between Livni, her Palestinian counterpart Saed Erekat, and U.S. Special Envoy Martin Indyk, which yielded no results.
Israel had delayed the fourth round of the release, which was originally scheduled for March 29, over concerns that the Palestinians would not extend peace talks beyond their late-April deadline.
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Israeli Catholic leaders: Christians, secular Muslims suffer from extremist attacks
(JNS.org) Christians, along with secular Muslims and others, are suffering at the hands of extremists in the Middle East, according to Catholic leaders in Israel.
In a communique issued by the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries in the Holy Land, Catholic leaders said that the repeated references by people in the West to the persecution of Christians may “play into the hands of extremists” whose “aim is to sow prejudice and hatred, setting peoples and religions against one another.”
“There is no doubt that the recent upheavals in the Middle East, initially called the Arab Spring, have opened the way for extremist groups and forces that, in the name of a political interpretation of Islam, are wreaking havoc in many countries, particularly in Iraq, Egypt and Syria,” the communique said.
“There is no doubt that many of these extremists consider Christians as infidels, as enemies, as agents of hostile foreign powers or simply as an easy target for extortion,” it added.
But the Catholic leaders pointed out that Christians are not the only victims of such extremism, with secular Muslims and others being targeted as well.
“Secular Muslims, all those defined as ‘heretic,’ ‘schismatic’ or simply ‘non-conformist’ are being attacked and murdered in the prevailing chaos,” said the communique.
The Catholic leaders also said Christians and Muslims need to stand together and rely on each other because “the outside world will not make any real move to protect us.”
“Together, we must seek out all those who dream as we do of a society in which Muslims and Christians and Jews are equal citizens, living side by side, building together a society in which new generations can live and prosper,” the leaders said.
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