Israeli police announced that they detained two individuals who were responsible for a car collision with pedestrians in Jerusalem on Monday, resulting in minor injuries to three individuals.
Video from a security camera in Israel showed a car hitting three very religious Jewish people, and at least two were thrown over the car’s front.
Palestinians have been attacking Israeli cities and towns at different times since the country started its war against Hamas on October 7th. Violence has increased a lot in the West Bank during that time.
On Monday, the Palestinian civil defence in Gaza found 210 dead bodies at a hospital in Khan Younis. Israel’s top military intelligence chief also quit because they couldn’t stop the attack on Oct 7. He was the first important person to resign because of it.
The fight has been going on for seven months and has caused trouble in the region, with Israel and the US on one side. Fighting Iran and its friends in the Middle East. Israel and Iran shot at each other this month, making people worry about a big war.
The war started because Hamas and other militants attacked southern Israel on Oct 7. They killed about 1,200 people, most of them were not soldiers, and took about 250 people as hostages. Israel says that there are still about 100 people being held captive by militants and the bodies of over 30 others.
The fighting between Israel and Hamas has caused the deaths of over 34,000 Palestinians, with most of them being children and women, according to local health officials. The large cities in Gaza have been severely damaged and there is a lot of destruction. About 80% of the people living in the area have left for other places because the area is surrounded and under attack.
The US House of Representatives passed a $26 billion aid package on Saturday. It includes about $9 billion to help the people of Gaza, who are in danger of not having enough food, and billions of dollars for Israel. The US Senate might approve the package by Tuesday, and President Joe Biden said he will sign it right away.
Requests to ensure safe passage for missions to Gaza.
The leader of the World Health Organization wants to make sure aid missions can go safely through Gaza. An aid team couldn’t finish their trip to the badly affected northern part of Gaza.
The fighting, restrictions on goods by the Israeli military, and disorder in Gaza are making it harder for aid to reach the people who need it.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the leader of WHO, said that a mission to two hospitals in northern Gaza was not finished because there were long delays at checkpoints and the situation was still dangerous.
“This means that Kamal Adwan didn’t get fuel and medical supplies for the second time in the last week. And partners couldn’t figure out what was needed at Awda to help fix the services,” he said.
He said the team helped four sick people and their helpers leave Kamal Adwan. One of the sick people was a 9-year-old boy with a tumor in his head.
“We are asking for people to follow the international rules about helping others in need, like giving them medical care and aid. We also want the fighting to stop. ”
Israel has blocked off the upper part of Gaza since the start of the ground attack in late October. They told the people to move to the south. Many people stayed there even though many houses were destroyed and there wasn’t enough food and water.
Tag: Jerusalem
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Two individuals detained in connection with vehicle attack in Jerusalem
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From ‘Singapore’ to aiming for ‘Jerusalem’ – Prof Mensah’s mockery of Ofori-Atta
University of Ghana senior lecturer, Prof Kobby Menah, criticizes Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta’s suggestion that the National Cathedral of Ghana could be the ‘new Jerusalem.’
Prof Menah notes that the Akufo-Addo government initially pledged to transform Ghana into a Singapore-like success within its first two years, yet after seven years, the country has not achieved that goal.
He emphasizes that now the finance minister is proposing the idea of a new Jerusalem in Ghana.
“Ghana into Singapore in 18 months didn’t work. Now Ghana will become the ‘new Jerusalem’ … eiii!!! Ghana abre,” the academic wrote in a post he shared on X on Tuesday, December 5, 2023.
What Ofori-Atta said:
Ken Ofori-Atta advocates for a reevaluation of discussions surrounding the National Cathedral, emphasizing its potential to drive economic progress.
During the 2023 Ghana Tourism Investment Summit, he underscores the cathedral’s significance as a robust infrastructure that could significantly boost the country’s tourism sector.
Ofori-Atta envisions the cathedral becoming a pilgrimage site for millions of African Christians, anticipating the possibility of visitors spending an average of $3,000 each.
This, he believes, could result in substantial economic benefits for Ghana.
The finance minister said, “As we look at something like the Cathedral that has economic benefits beyond what we see…In Africa, we have some 600 million people who are Christians so imagine Ghana as the new Jerusalem and these 600 million people floating through with $3,000 to spend, it is a very different reality.”
In the midst of ongoing debates and controversies surrounding the cathedral project, Ofori-Atta called for a more constructive approach.
He suggested a careful assessment of the cathedral’s capacity to actively contribute to Ghana’s economic advancement, urging the government to consider its potential impact thoughtfully.
The finance minister reiterated the government’s commitment to revitalizing the tourism and arts sector, recognizing its substantial economic potential for fostering growth and generating employment opportunities.
View the post below:
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Gaza’s evacuation situation incredibly difficult
The situation of getting people out of Gaza is very tricky.
The Israeli military made maps of Gaza, dividing it into 2,400 blocks. This has caused confusion for the people living there about where they should go.
The map has been shared on the internet, on X (formerly Twitter), and on leaflets with QR codes. However, this supposes that you have a functioning smartphone to use.
They wanted to encourage people to go to al-Muwasi by the sea. I talked to some people and they said there are no services available, so now people are being sent to other places.
It’s really hard for me to understand the orders in Jerusalem, and I can imagine it’s even harder for people in Gaza.
These people don’t have a car and have been forced to leave their homes. They also have family members with them, which makes it difficult to travel quickly to a place that may not be safe.
The US is telling Israel to stop hurting and killing Palestinian people. That’s why it’s in this plan that it says will save lives.
It seems too hard and relies too much on working smartphones to be a good solution in the chaos of Gaza under attack. -
‘Nothing will stop us’ from eliminating Hamas – Netanyahu tells US
Israel’s leader Benjamin Netanyahu talked to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken when he visited Tel Aviv today, and then gave a statement.
He talked about the dangerous attack in Jerusalem today, which Hamas said its members did. Netanyahu said that Hamas is trying to kill us everywhere.
I told him: We promised to get rid of Hamas. We will not be stopped no matter what.
Netanyahu told Blinken that Israel will keep fighting until it meets three goals: freeing all hostages, getting rid of Hamas, and making sure Gaza doesn’t pose a threat again. -
3 people killed, 16 injured in a shooting in Jerusalem – Israeli police
Jerusalem has increased security after a shooting that killed three people and injured 16 others. This was announced by Israeli police.
Three people are seriously hurt and the others have different types of injuries, including shock. This is what a police representative said.
The police said that two men in their 30s from the Zur Baher neighborhood in East Jerusalem, who had guns, carried out the attack around 07:40 in the morning.
The people who were attacking shot at innocent people who were waiting for buses and shuttles. They used a type of rifle called an M-16 and a handgun to do it.
Two off-duty Israeli soldiers and a civilian stopped the two terrorists before the police arrived.
The police said they have made the city safer by adding more patrols, setting up roadblocks, and checking people they think might be involved in the attack.
Officials are starting to look into the attack, said the spokesperson. -
Shooting in Jerusalem claims three lives just hours after Gaza ceasefire was reinstated
Three people have been killed in Jerusalem after two attackers shot at a bus stop. At least six others got hurt, and some of them are in really bad condition.
The day after two young boys from Palestine were shot and killed during a military operation by Israel in Jenin, a statement was released.
Israel has decided to continue to stop fighting in Gaza for another week. International negotiators are working to free more hostages.
On Wednesday, 12 Israeli and four Thai people who were taken by Hamas came back to Israel.
In return, 30 Palestinian women and young boys were let go from Israeli prisons.
On 7 October, Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people. They also took about 240 people as hostages.
Since then, the health ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, said over 14,800 people have been killed in Israel’s campaign to fight back, including around 6,000 children.
More update on this story soon…
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Police officer in Jerusalem stabbed after man shot and killed
This morning, while we were working outside our hotel in Jerusalem, we heard a series of close gunshots, and quickly went inside.
After that, we noticed a hurt man being taken to an ambulance at the petrol station close by.
We are still learning more information, but it appears that the man who was hurt is a police officer and he was stabbed.
The person who was believed to have attacked someone was shot and killed by the police near St George’s Cathedral. This happened not very far from where the incident began, after the person ran down the road.
We don’t know for sure who he is, but according to local reporters, he was from the Mount of Olives area in East Jerusalem.
There were a lot of security guards after the attack. They came in cars and on horses, but now the streets are peaceful again.
Things like this happen often in Jerusalem, but it is happening more frequently now because of the ongoing war. -
Jerusalem and Israel-wide air raid sirens – IDF
The Israel Defense Forces is warning people in Jerusalem and all over Israel that there are air raid sirens sounding because rockets are being fired from Gaza.
There have been at least three loud booms in Jerusalem.
We still don’t know if these are rockets that are landing or if the Israeli defense is stopping them. -
Netanyahu declares plans to arm Israelis after Jerusalem attack
Analysts caution that Netanyahu’s action could fuel the violence that has seen 32 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces this month.
In response to the rising violence in the occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to make it simpler for Israelis to obtain firearms. This move is viewed as “collective punishment” and may lead to increased violence.
After calling a meeting of his security cabinet, which was populated by hardline politicians, in response to two shootings, including one in occupied East Jerusalem, Netanyahu announced the measure late on Saturday.
In the Friday shooting outside the East Jerusalem synagogue, seven people died.
The weekend shootings took place towards the end of a month of growing confrontation and follow an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed nine Palestinians and exchanges of fire between Israel and Gaza.
In all, Israeli forces have killed 32 Palestinians this month.
Israel had not carried out a raid on the scale of its operation in Jenin in years, but it is part of intensified military incursions by the Israeli army into the occupied West Bank, which killed at least 200 Palestinians in the past year.
On Saturday, Netanyahu promised to expedite gun permits for Israeli citizens and to step up efforts to collect “illegal weapons”. He added that the homes of the suspected assailants would also be sealed immediately ahead of demolition “in order to exact an additional price from those who support terrorism”.
His office later said social security benefits for the families of attackers will also be cancelled.
In addition, it promised new steps to “strengthen” illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank but gave no details.
‘Breach of human rights’
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Netanyahu’s plans to approve more gun permits for Israeli citizens come as Israeli police were also encouraging those with existing licenses to carry their guns.
“While Netanyahu is urging Israelis not to take the law into their own hands, he’s also putting more weapons into those very same hands,” said Bays, who went on to describe the measures against the Palestinian families as “collective punishment” and “a clear breach of human rights”.
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said arming civilians in Israel could further escalate violence.
“They are trying to further arm already armed people in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” Bishara said.
“More violence and more suffering will only play to the hands of the most extreme of the extremes [groups] in Israel and potentially in Palestine.”
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said an additional battalion had been sent to the occupied West Bank for reinforcement.
Analysts in Israel said Netanyahu was under pressure from hardliners in his cabinet, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The government in Israel is the most right-wing in Israeli history.
Ben-Gvir, who had pushed for more gun permits, said on Saturday that he would also push for the death penalty against “terrorists”.
“Itamar Ben-Gvir has a reputation of being a fireman and now Netanyahu is giving him a full container of oil,” said Akiva Eldar, a contributor to the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz.
“I am afraid that Netanyahu’s hands are tied. Between two evils, he has to decide which side he takes, and I am afraid that there is no responsible adult in his cabinet that can stop him,” Eldar told Al Jazeera.
The latest measures on Saturday were announced as tens of thousands of protesters also gathered in the city of Tel Aviv to protest separate plans by Netanyahu’s government, which took office in December, to overhaul the country’s judicial system and weaken the Israeli Supreme Court.
The marchers also held a moment of silence in memory of the Jerusalem shooting victims.
The increasing violence has meanwhile raised questions about a third Palestinian uprising.
Basem Naim of Hamas, the group that rules the Gaza Strip, told Al Jazeera that they were ready to respond to further Israeli raids. He said the group was committed to defending its people and families, as well as Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.
“We are not planning or initiating any escalation or any violence campaigns. We are also ready, at the same time, to respond [to attacks] as usual,” he said.
Naim said Hamas would seek its people’s freedom with all available means, including diplomatic, political and armed means.
The Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank also upheld its decision to halt security coordination with Israel to protest the deadly raid in Jenin.
After a meeting headed by President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, the Palestinian Authority called on the international community and the United States to force Israel to halt its raids in the West Bank.
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Israel elections: Netanyahu planning a comeback with the help of the far right – partial results
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the verge of a dramatic comeback after preliminary results showed he was on track to win a parliamentary majority with the help of the far right.
With 84% of general election votes counted, Mr Netanyahu’s bloc is on track to win 65 of 120 seats.
“We are close to a big victory,” he told jubilant supporters in Jerusalem.
However, he will be dependent on the support of the ultra-nationalist Religious Zionism party.
Its leaders, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, have gained notoriety for using anti-Arab rhetoric and advocating the deportation of “disloyal” Arab politicians or civilians.
Mr Ben-Gvir was a follower of the late, explicitly racist, ultra-nationalist Meir Kahane, whose organisation was banned in Israel and designated as a terrorist group by the United States. Mr Ben-Gvir himself has been convicted of incitement to racism and supporting a terrorist organisation.
Last month, Mr Ben-Gvir hit the headlines when he was filmed pulling out a gun after being targeted with a stone thrown by Palestinians while visiting a predominantly Arab area of occupied East Jerusalem, and calling for police to shoot the culprits.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mr Ben Gvir promised to “work for all of Israel, even those who hate me”.
Mr Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, appeared at his Likud party’s election night venue at 03:00 local time (01:00 GMT) on Wednesday to thunderous applause.
“We have won a huge vote of confidence from the people of Israel,” he told his cheering supporters.
Hours earlier, when exit polls predicted that Mr Netanyahu’s bloc would win 61 or 62 seats, the room had been a scene of celebration as people jumped up and down, waved flags, and chanted his nickname, Bibi. One man repeatedly blew a shofar, or ram’s horn, a ritual instrument used by some Jewish people at times of special significance.
At his party’s camp in Tel Aviv however, current Prime Minister Yair Lapid told his supporters that “nothing” was yet decided and his center-left Yesh Atid party would wait for the final results.
Mr Netanyahu, 73, is one of Israel’s most controversial political figures, loathed by many on the centre and left but adored by Likud’s grassroots supporters.
He is a firm supporter of Israel’s settlement-building in the West Bank, occupied since the 1967 Middle East war. Settlements there are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict – a formula supported by most of the international community, including the Biden administration in the US.
Mr Netanyahu is also currently on trial for alleged bribery, fraud, and breach of trust – charges he fiercely denies. His possible partners in a Likud-led coalition government have said they would reform the law, in a move that would bring a halt to his trial.
According to the partial results, Likud stands to be the biggest party, with 31 seats, commanding a majority with the support of nationalist and religious parties.
Yesh Atid, which led the coalition which brought down Mr Netanyahu in elections last year, is projected to win 24 seats.
Religious Zionism appears to have won 14 seats, which would make it the third-largest party.
“It will be better now,” said Religious Zionism supporter, Julian, at the party’s venue in Jerusalem.
“When [Religious Zionism politician Itamar Ben-Gvir] will be a minister of public security, it will be even better – he’ll bring back security to the people of Israel. That’s very important.”
However, political scientist Gayil Talshir, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, warned that if the exit polls “reflect the real results, Israel is on its way to becoming Orban’s Hungary”, recently branded an “electoral autocracy” by the EU.
If Mr Netanyahu can secure a majority, it will stave off the prospect of a sixth election in just four years after analysts predicted deadlock.
It would mark a remarkable turnaround for Mr Netanyahu, whose political future was widely written off after Mr Lapid formed an unlikely alliance of ideologically diverse parties to take power in June 2021, with the uniting aim of making it impossible for Mr Netanyahu to form a government.
At the time, Mr Netanyahu vowed to bring it down as quickly as possible and one year later the coalition government concluded it could not survive and collapsed after resignations meant it no longer had a majority.
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Israel elections: Benjamin Netanyahu set for dramatic comeback, exit polls say
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on course for victory in the country’s general election, exit polls say.
The projections give his right-wing bloc a slim majority of seats over his centre-left opponents led by current Prime Minister Yair Lapid.
Such a result would mark a dramatic comeback for Mr Netanyahu, toppled last year after 12 straight years in power.
“We are close to a big victory,” he told jubilant supporters in Jerusalem.
The election was widely seen as a vote for or against Mr Netanyahu’s return.
The exit polls suggest Mr Netanyahu’s bloc will command 61 or 62 seats in the 120-seat knesset (parliament). Initial results are expected in the coming hours.
Mr Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, appeared at his Likud party’s election night venue at 03:00 (01:00 GMT) to thunderous applause.
“We have won a huge vote of confidence from the people of Israel,” he told his cheering supporters.
Since the exit polls were announced hours earlier when voting ended, the room had been a scene of celebration as people jumped up and down, waved flags and chanted Netanyahu’s nickname, Bibi. One man repeatedly blew a shofar, or ram’s horn, a ritual instrument used by some Jewish people at times of special significance.
At his party’s camp in Tel Aviv however, Prime Minister Lapid told his supporters that “nothing” was yet decided and his centre-left Yesh Atid party would wait for the final results.
Mr Netanyahu is forecast to replace Yair Lapid, who toppled him just over a year ago
Mr Netanyahu, 73, is one of Israel’s most controversial political figures, loathed by many on the centre and left but adored by Likud’s grassroots supporters.
He is a firm supporter of Israel’s settlement-building in the West Bank, occupied since the 1967 Middle East war. Settlements there are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
He opposes the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict – a formula supported by most of the international community, including the Biden administration in the US.
Mr Netanyahu is also currently on trial for alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust – charges he fiercely denies. His possible partners in a Likud-led coalition government have said they would reform the law, in a move which would bring a halt to his trial.
According to the exit polls, Likud stands to be the biggest party, with 30-31 seats, commanding a majority with the support of nationalist and religious parties.
Yesh Atid, which led the coalition which brought down Mr Netanyahu in elections last year, is forecast to win 22-24 seats.
Likud’s ultra-nationalist ally Religious Zionism appears to have won 14 seats, which would make it the third largest party. Its leaders have gained notoriety for using anti-Arab rhetoric and advocating the deportation of “disloyal” politicians or civilians.
“It will be better now,” said Religious Zionism supporter, Julian, at the party’s venue in Jerusalem.
“When [Religious Zionism politician Itamar Ben-Gvir] will be minister of public security, it will be even better – he’ll bring back security to the people of Israel. That’s very important.”
However, political scientist Gayil Talshir, from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, warned that if the exit polls “reflect the real results, Israel is on its way to become Orban’s Hungary”, recently branded an “electoral autocracy” by the EU.
If the polls are confirmed, it will stave off the prospect of a sixth election in just four years after analysts predicted deadlock.
It would mark a remarkable turnaround for Mr Netanyahu, whose political future was widely written off after Mr Lapid formed an unlikely alliance of ideologically diverse parties to take power in June 2021, with the uniting aim of making it impossible for Mr Netanyahu to form a government.
At the time, Mr Netanyahu vowed to bring it down as quickly as possible and one year later the coalition government concluded it could not survive and collapsed after resignations meant it no longer had a majority.
Source: BBC -
Palestinians: Tempers high over probable UK Jerusalem embassy move
The UK’s plan to relocate its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been labeled as a “blatant violation of international law” by the Palestinians.
While at the UN, UK PM Liz Truss reportedly informed her Israeli colleague, Yair Lapid, of the review.
Such a move would be highly controversial. The opening of the US embassy in Jerusalem in 2018 was met with outrage across the Arab world.
Mr Lapid tweeted his thanks to Ms Truss for “positively considering” it.
He described Ms Truss as his “good friend”, writing in Hebrew after the pair met on the fringes of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Downing Street has not given any indication of timing but has confirmed that a review is underway.
British officials said they would not speculate on the outcome, adding that Ms Truss was aware of the sensitivity and importance of the location of the British embassy in Israel.
The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the decades-old Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Israel sees the entire city as its eternal, undivided capital while Palestinians claim the eastern part as the capital of their hoped-for future state.
East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, were captured by Israel from Jordan and Egypt in the 1967 Middle East war and have since been viewed internationally as occupied Palestinian territory.
On Twitter, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, wrote that it was “extremely unfortunate” that Ms Truss had used her first appearance at the UN as prime minister to “commit to potentially breaking international law”.
He said any embassy move would be “a blatant violation” of “the UK’s historic responsibilities”, undermining the two-state solution of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
“Such promise is immoral, illegal and irresponsible!” he said.
It is extremely unfortunate that Prime Minister @trussliz uses her first appearance at the UN to commit to potentially breaking international law by promising a “review” of the location of the British embassy to Israel 1/3 https://t.co/qgC1QnIUhi
— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) September 22, 2022
Up until now, the UK – like most other countries – has kept its embassy in Tel Aviv, rather than in bitterly contested Jerusalem, holding that it should only move to the holy city after a final peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.
Britain has a consulate in East Jerusalem.
Ms Truss reportedly raised the idea of relocating the embassy during the recent Conservative leadership campaign.
When US President Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel’s capital – fulfilling a campaign promise – it brought international condemnation. It also led to a flare-up in violence in which dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.
At the time, the British PM, Theresa May, criticised the US action.
The only countries to have since followed Mr Trump’s example by moving their embassies from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem have been Honduras, Guatemala and Kosovo.
While US President Joe Biden has renewed Washington’s commitment to a two-state solution, he has not gone back on the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
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Western Wall: Several injured in Jerusalem shooting By Matt Murphy
 At least eight people have been injured after a gunman opened fire on a bus near the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City, Israeli officials say.
The suspect opened fire as the pilgrims were returning from prayers at the holy site. Two people, including a pregnant woman, are in a critical condition.
The gunman fled but is now said to have turned himself in.
The Western Wall is one of the holiest sites in Judaism. Thousands travel to pray there every year.
Israeli emergency services said the gunman targeted a bus near King David’s Tomb and a car park near the Western Wall.
The driver, Daniel Kanievsky, told local media his bus was full at the time of the shooting.
“We opened the ramp for someone on a wheelchair, and then the shooting started. Everyone got down on the floor, screaming. I tried to escape, but the bus couldn’t drive with the ramp open,” he said.
Video on social media showed heavily armed police at the scene and local media reported that worshippers had been briefly prevented from leaving the Western Wall compound.
The pregnant woman was shot in the stomach. She had an emergency Caesarean operation, with the baby reported to be in a serious, but stable, condition.
A man with gunshot wounds to the head and neck also remains critical.
Media reports say four of the injured were members of the same family visiting Israel from New York.
The gunman is said to be a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem.
In a statement, Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid pledged that anyone involved in the attack would “pay a price for any harm to our civilians”.
The attack comes a week after 47 people were killed in the Gaza Strip over three days as Israeli forces targeted leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and militants fired more than 1,000 rockets into Israel.
The militant group says it lost 12 fighters. Gaza’s health ministry said the others were civilians, including at least 17 children.
Israeli officials have said many civilians were killed by PIJ rockets that failed to clear Gaza. They have promised to investigate civilian deaths caused by Israeli fire.
Several Israelis sustained minor injuries as a result of PIJ rockets, most of which were intercepted by the country’s Iron Dome missile defence system.
Source: BBC
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Israeli prime minister faces Jerusalem court
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu goes on trial for corruption on Sunday, the first time a serving leader will have done so in the country’s history.
Mr Netanyahu has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust – allegations which he strongly denies.
The 70-year-old has rejected calls by opponents to step down while he fights the cases.
It comes just a week after he was sworn back into office as head of a rare national unity government.
His political rival, Benny Gantz, agreed to share power following three inconclusive elections in under a year.
Mr Netanyahu is expected to attend the opening session of the trial, which is being held at Jerusalem District Court.
The leader of the right-wing Likud party is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, having been in power continuously since 2009. He also served a term in office from 1996-1999.
What is Benjamin Netanyahu accused of?
Mr Netanyahu has been indicted in three cases, known as 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000:
-Case 1,000 – Fraud and breach of trust: he is accused of receiving gifts – mainly cigars and bottles of champagne – from powerful businessmen in exchange for favours
-Case 2,000 – Fraud and breach of trust: Mr Netanyahu is accused of offering to help improve the circulation of Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot in exchange for positive coverage
-Case 4,000 – Bribery, fraud and breach of trust: as PM and minister of communications at the time of the alleged offence, Mr Netanyahu is accused of promoting regulatory decisions favourable to the controlling shareholder in the Bezeq telecom giant, Shaul Elovitch, in exchange for positive coverage by Mr Elovitch’s Walla news site
Mr Netanyahu has strongly denied all the charges against him, branding them a “witch-hunt” by political opponents, and has vowed to clear his name.
How can the prime minister serve and stand trial at the same time?
Such a thing has never happened before in Israel, so there is no precedent.
A former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, stepped down as party leader when he was under investigation for corruption in 2008 but technically remained prime minister until elections the following year – polls which brought Benjamin Netanyahu to power.
According to Israeli law, a prime minister charged with a crime is not required to resign.
Under the power-sharing deal with Benny Gantz, a new role of “alternate prime minister” was created, which means when the two men switch positions in 18 months’ time, Mr Netanyahu will still occupy a prime ministerial office and stay on as Mr Gantz’s deputy.
What does the trial mean for the country?
In short, a serving prime minister occupying the most powerful office in the land simultaneously trying to clear his name and avoid jail-time.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called it “an embarrassment” and “horrible for the spirit of the nation” though it is not expected to affect government policy. Mr Netanyahu is still likely to press ahead with plans to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley – territory in the occupied West Bank – in the coming months, a move certain to infuriate the Palestinians.
Opinion in Israel as to whether he should carry on as prime minister is split: critics say the spectacle of a trial makes Mr Netanyahu’s job untenable, but his supporters – including his party – say he has been democratically elected and should not be forced out.
Even if he is convicted, Mr Netanyahu will not be required to resign unless and until any appeals are exhausted – which could, in theory, be many months or years into the future.
In Ehud Olmert’s case, the former prime minister went on trial in 2009 and after he was convicted only began serving his sentence in 2016 due to the long legal process.
Source:Â bbc.com
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Government imports stone from Jerusalem to sanctify National Cathedral foundation
A Stone has been imported from Jerusalem to lay a foundation for the construction of the Ghana National Cathedral.
Israel’s Ambassador to Ghana, Shani Cooper presented the stone to President Akufo-Addo at the sod-cutting ceremony to pave way for the actual work which is expected to begin on Friday, March 6, 2020, in the heart of Accra.
The stone, according to her, will symbolize the sacredness of the land earmarked for the project as Christians regard Jerusalem to be the most sacred site in the world.
She added that Isreal’s involvement in the construction of the Ghana National Cathedral will strengthen ties between the two countries.
The interdenominational Christian Cathedral, when completed, will have a 5,000 seating capacity with chapels, a baptistery, a music school, an art gallery, and a Bible museum.
It will also serve as a venue for formal state occasions of religious nature such as state funerals, thanksgiving services among others, according to President Akufo-Addo.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com