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Tag: Israel

  • Israel-Gaza: Ceasefire holds overnight after days of violence

    A ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants was held overnight, following three days of violence.

    Isolated weapons fire from both sides in the minutes before and just after the Sunday night deadline failed to derail the Egypt-brokered truce.

    At least 44 people have died in the most serious flare-up since an 11-day conflict in May 2021.

    US and United Nations leaders urged both sides to continue to observe the ceasefire.

    In a statement, US President Joe Biden praised the truce and called on all parties “to fully implement [it] and to ensure fuel and humanitarian supplies are flowing into Gaza”.

    He also urged reports of civilian casualties to be investigated in a timely manner.

    The ceasefire was mediated by Egypt – which has acted as an intermediary between Israel and Gaza in the past – over the course of Sunday.

    But as it came into effect late on Sunday, the Israeli military confirmed it was striking Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) targets in Gaza in response to rockets fired just before. Israeli media also reported some isolated rocket fire from Gaza minutes after the deadline.

    But no further violence was reported as the night wore on.

    The latest violence began with Israeli attacks on sites in the Gaza Strip, which its military said were in response to threats from a militant group. It followed days of tensions after Israel arrested a senior PIJ member in the occupied West Bank.

    By Sunday evening, the Palestinian health ministry said that 15 children had been confirmed among the 44 deaths recorded in the latest violence. Gaza’s health ministry has blamed “Israeli aggression” for the deaths of Palestinians and for the more than 300 people wounded.

    Israel accused PIJ militants of accidentally causing at least some of the deaths inside Gaza – claiming on Saturday that the group fired a stray rocket killing multiple children in Jabalia.

    Concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza, where health officials warned that hospitals only had enough fuel to run generators for another two days, led to the ceasefire deal being agreed upon.

    “We appreciate the Egyptian efforts that had been exerted to end the Israeli aggression against our people,” PIJ spokesman Tareq Selmi said.

    Israel said that it “maintains the right to respond strongly” if the ceasefire is violated.

    The latest conflict closely follows Israel’s arrest of Bassem Saadi, reported to be the head of PIJ in the West Bank, a week ago.

    He was held in the Jenin area as part of an ongoing series of arrest operations after a wave of attacks by Israeli Arabs and Palestinians that left 17 Israelis and two Ukrainians dead. Two of the attackers came from the Jenin district.

    Large crowds gathered on Sunday for the funerals of those killed in strikes on Rafah, in the south of the territory, including senior PIJ commander Khaled Mansour – the second top militant to have died. Demonstrations in support of Gaza have also been held in the West Bank city of Nablus.

    PIJ, which is one of the strongest militant groups operating in Gaza, is backed by Iran and has its headquarters in the Syrian capital Damascus.

    It has been responsible for many attacks, including rocket fire and shootings against Israel.

    In November 2019, Israel and PIJ fought a five-day conflict following the killing by Israel of a PIJ commander who Israel said had been planning an imminent attack. The violence left 34 Palestinians dead and 111 injured, while 63 Israelis needed medical treatment.

    Israel said 25 of the Palestinians killed were militants, including those hit preparing to launch rockets.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Gaza: Palestinian militants hit back after Israeli airstrike kills senior commander

    Sirens have been heard in southern and central Israel, with people in Tel Aviv also saying they could hear booms.

    At least 12 people have died, including a senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), as a result of Israeli airstrikes, officials have said.

    A blast was heard in Gaza City on Friday and smoke was seen coming from the seventh floor of a tall building.

    The PIJ said it had responded by firing more than 100 rockets toward Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv.

    TV stations appeared to show a number of missiles being shot down by air defense systems, with no reports of casualties.

    The Palestinian Health Ministry said that 84 people were wounded, with a senior Islamic Jihad commander, a 23-year-old woman, and a five-year-old girl among the dead.

    The strike comes after days of tensions following the arrest of a senior militant in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

    Israel had closed roads around Gaza earlier this week and sent reinforcements to the border, in anticipation of retaliation.

  • Israel makes direct commercial flight to Morocco

    An Israeli aircraft is making the first direct commercial flight between Israel and Morocco.

    This follows the two countries’ recent agreement to upgrade their diplomatic relationship.

    The plane is emblazoned with the word “peace” in Arabic, Hebrew and English.

    It is carrying a high-level Israeli delegation that will have further talks on the details of diplomatic accord.

    The deal was brokered by Washington, and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and Middle East envoy Jared Kushner is accompanying the Israeli team.

    The agreement was part of a series of deals in which Arab countries have moved to normalise their ties with Israel.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Morocco normalizes relations with Israel under US brokered deal

    A big day for Morocco.

    Donald Trump announced on twitter the US had recognized Morocco’s sovereignty over the disputed Western Sahara region.

    The announcement is part of a deal, which makes Morocco the latest Arab league country to agree to normalize relations with Israel.

    With US help, the kingdom becomes the fourth state to normalize relations with Israel since August.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel celebrated the announcement at a prearranged, televised Hanukkah lighting ceremony at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.

    “I think that this is the foundation on which we can now build. This peace will resume liaison offices quickly between Israel and Morocco and work as rapidly as possible to establish full diplomatic relations. We’ll also institute direct flights between Morocco and Israel and Israel and Morocco giving this bridge of peace an even more solid foundation. This will be a very warm peace. Peace as never. The light of peace on this Hanukah day has never shown brighter than today in the Middle East.” Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel:

    Netanyahu had been accompanied by David M. Friedman, the American ambassador to Israel.

    On the subject of the Western Sahara, Morocco has always maintained the region is part of its territory although the African Union recognizes it as an independent state.

    The disputed region which is a former Spanish colony, was annexed by Morocco in 1975. It has since then been the subject of a long-running territorial dispute between Morocco and its indigenous Saharawi people, which is led by the pro-independence Polisario Front.

    Source: africanews.com

  • Pompeo touts Israel to Sudan historic flight

    The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is on his way to Sudan from Israel, has touted the direct flight as a signal of a change in relationship between the two countries.

    Sudan under ousted leader Omar al-Bashir maintained a hardline policy towards Israel which has thawed since a transitional government came into power last year.

    Sudan has been pushing to be removed from the list of countries that the US considers state sponsors of terrorism.

    Mr Pompeo is expected to meet senior Sudanese officials including Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok.

    The meeting will discuss support for the civilian-led government and “deepening the Sudan-Israel relationship”, according to a statement from the state department.

    An official from the department told news agency Reuters that “it’s possible that more history will be made,” in regard to whether Sudan might join the UAE as the third Arab country to normalise relations with Israel.

    On 19 August, Sudan announced it had sacked its foreign ministry spokesman after he called the UAE decision “a brave and bold step”.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Israel gets first Ethiopia-born minister, in Pnina Tamano-Shata

    Israel is set to get its first Ethiopia-born minister, with the nomination of a female MP brought there in a secret operation in the 1980s.

    Pnina Tamano-Shata has been chosen by incoming deputy prime minister Benny Gantz, who is forming a unity government with PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

    The new government is expected to be sworn in on Sunday after a delay over ministerial appointments.

    Israel’s Ethiopian-Jewish community often complains of discrimination.

    Incidents of police using force against Israelis of Ethiopian origin – including fatal shootings – have led to street protests and clashes in recent years.

    The 140,000-strong community is among the poorest in the country and suffers from high rates of unemployment.

    However, many second-generation Ethiopian-Israelis have become successful across society, achieving notable positions in the military, judiciary and politics.

    Pnina Tamano-Shata, who belongs to Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party, has been named as immigration minister.

    The 39-year-old came to Israel at the age of three as part of a dramatic evacuation of Ethiopian Jews from Sudan nicknamed Operation Moses.

    She, her five brothers and her father were among almost 7,000 Ethiopian Jews airlifted out of the country by Israel between November 1984 and January 1985. Her mother followed several years later.

    “For me, this is a landmark and the closing of a circle,” Ms Tamano-Shata told Israeli newspaper Maariv. “From that three-year-old girl who immigrated to Israel without a mother on a cross-desert foot journey, through growing up in Israel and the struggles I led and am still leading for the community, integration, the acceptance of the other, and against discrimination and racism.”

    In the early 1980s some 16,000 Ethiopian Jews walked by foot from their homes in northern Ethiopia to get to Sudan and onward to Israel. They – as well as non-Jewish citizens – were barred from leaving Ethiopia, so they made the journey in secret. About 1,500 died on the way or in refugee camps in Sudan.

    Sudan – a Muslim-majority country and part of the Arab world – was at war with Israel at the time, and the evacuation was carried out clandestinely. The first operations to bring Ethiopian Jews to Israel were carried out by the Mossad, Israel’s secret service, in a series of daring actions from 1980.

    Source: bbc.com

  • Israel signs deal to lease drones to Greece for border defence

    Israel said it will lease drones to Greece to defend its borders, in the first military deal between the two countries which includes an option to buy the system.

    The Israeli Defence Ministry said on Wednesday that the agreement with the Hellenic Ministry of National Defence was signed digitally due to the coronavirus crisis.

    Under the deal, Israel’s Defence Ministry will lease the Heron unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system, made by state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries for three years.

    The Heron system, which is used by Israel’s military and in naval forces around the world, is equipped with both day and night activity platforms, maritime patrol radars and satellite communications.

    It will be used by Greece primarily for border defence, the Israeli ministry said in a statement, adding that security relations between Israel and Greece were expanding.

    “We hope to sign additional agreements with Greece as well as other European partners, assisting them in addressing security challenges in times of the corona pandemic and beyond,” Yair Kulas, head of the Israel’s International Defence Cooperation Directorate, said.

    Source: english.ahram.org.eg

  • Israel’s coronavirus cases top 11,800, 117 dead

    The number of Coronavirus cases in Israel has topped 11,800, with 117 deaths, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

    In the last 24 hours, one person died and 282 people tested positive for COVID-19, raising the total number of cases to 11,868, including 181 who are in critical condition.

    As many as 9,459 tests were administered during the said period.

    Meanwhile, at least 2,000 patients have recovered from the virus so far.

    The government has taken a number of steps to stem the spread of the virus, including closing all educational institutions and banning gatherings of more than 10 in open or closed public areas.

    All businesses except supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and banks remain shut since March 15.

    Tel Aviv also banned the entry of foreign citizens except those with Israeli residency.

    Since appearing in China last December, the virus has spread to at least 185 countries and regions, according to figures compiled by U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

    More than 1.92 million cases have been reported worldwide with an excess of 119,700 deaths and over 457,500 recoveries.

    Source: www.aa.com.tr

  • Israel announces two-week quarantine for all everyone entering the country

    Israel will impose a two-week quarantine on all travellers entering the country, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday, toughening already significant travel restrictions.

    “After a day of difficult discussions, we have taken a decision: all those coming to Israel from abroad will be placed in isolation for 14 days,” Netanyahu said in a video broadcast on his Twitter account.

    “This is a difficult decision but it is essential to maintaining public health, which takes precedence over everything,” he added, according to a statement.

    He noted that the measure would be implemented for two weeks and promised steps to support the Israeli economy.

    Israel had already imposed major restrictions on travellers arriving from several countries.

    On Wednesday, the Jewish state had barred entry to almost all non-residents arriving from France, Germany, Spain, Austria and Switzerland, declaring that arrivals from those nations could only enter if they could prove they had a place to stay in quarantine.

    Those measures had come on top of restrictions previously imposed on arrivals from mainland China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Macau, South Korea, Japan and Italy.

    But restrictions had not until now extended to travellers from the United States, which last year contributed nearly 890,000 tourist arrivals to Israel — more than double that of France, in second place.

    Israel has so far recorded 50 cases of the illness.

    The Palestinian Authority, which on Thursday declared a 30-day state of emergency in parts of the West Bank it administers, has reported 25 cases.

    The latest measures come a month ahead of the Passover festival, which usually sees tens of thousands of Jews head to Israel to celebrate.

    Since the novel coronavirus first emerged in late December, 113,255 cases have been recorded in 101 countries and territories, killing 3,964 people, according to an AFP toll based on official sources on Monday around 1700 GMT.

    Source: AFP

  • Israel committed to strengthening relationship with Ghana – Ambassador

    The Government of Israel has renewed its technical co-operation with Ghana with a focus on recycling water bodies destroyed by the illegal activities of the people in the rural areas.

    Madam Shani Cooper-Zubiba, Israeli Ambassador to Ghana, made this known to the Ghana News Agency, when she paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, Mrs Cecilia Abena Dapaah, in Accra.

    Read: Stonebwoy made Global Ambassador for Sanitation

    She expressed optimism that the recycling of water bodies would impact positively on the lives of the people and expressed her gratitude to Ghana for shared commitment in various sectors, including agriculture, education and trade.

    She said Ghana has been exemplary case and we hope to increase the level support so that we can share in the social and economic success story of each country.

    The Israeli Ambassador took the opportunity to officially invite the Sanitation Minister for the Germany-Israel Exhibition to be held in November this year.

    Read: Sanitation Minister tours Ayawaso East and North Municipality

    Mrs Dapaah said Ghana would continue to work with Israel to further strengthen the existing relations between the two countries and sustain the vision of Ghana Beyond Aid.

    She cited Israeli officials working in Offinso in the Ashanti Region, who through their development agency, have helped to deepen relations.

     

    Source: ghananewsagency.org

  • Israel election result too close to call

    Exit polls following Israel’s second general election in five months suggest the result is too close to call.

    The centrist Blue and White alliance of former military chief Benny Gantz is projected to win between 32 and 34 seats, and PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party 30 to 33 seats.

    Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman may end up being kingmaker.

    Mr Netanyahu called the snap vote after failing to form a governing coalition in the wake of an election in April.

    Negotiations on the formation of a new coalition are expected to start as soon as the preliminary results come on Wednesday morning.

    Speaking to supporters early on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu said: “We’ve all been through a difficult election campaign.

    “We are still waiting for the actual results but one thing is clear. The state of Israel is at a historical point, we faced great opportunities and great challenges.”

    Read:Israel names street after Ghanaian Major General

    Mr Gantz sounded more optimistic when he spoke to supporters a little earlier.

    “Of course we’ll wait for the real results, but it seems we have accomplished our mission,” he said.

    “The unity and reconciliation is ahead of us.”

    What are the exit polls saying? A revised exit poll released by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan early on Wednesday projected that Blue and White would win 32 seats and Likud 31 in the 120-seat Knesset.

    In third place was the Israeli Arab Joint List with 13 seats; followed by Mr Lieberman’s secular nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party with nine; the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties with nine and eight respectively; the right-wing Yamina party with seven, and the left-wing Labour-Gesher and Democratic Union alliances with six and five respectively.

    Read:Israelis vote in second general election in five months

    Channel 12 News put Blue and White and Likud level on 32 seats, while an updated poll Channel 13 News predicted that Blue and White would win 32 seats and Likud 30.

    There was a muted response at Likud’s election night headquarters in Tel Aviv as the exit polls were released.

    Hundreds of chairs for party supporters remained empty, as activists were kept outside the hall and leaders digested the numbers.

    Likud’s foreign affairs director noted that Israeli exit polls had got things wrong in the past. Last time, they underestimated the number of votes for Likud and also for some of the religious parties allied to Mr Netanyahu.

    “There is no point starting to work out a coalition based on these numbers as they will change,” Eli Hazan said.

    But Blue and White was “cautiously optimistic” that Israel would get new leadership, spokeswoman Melody Sucharewicz told the Times of Israel.

    Source: bbc.com