Israeli police on Sunday sealed up the East Jerusalem home of a Palestinian who killed seven people and wounded three outside a synagogue.
The move comes as one of several punitive measures to revoke certain rights of attackers’ relatives, approved by Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet overnight.
The security cabinet announced a slew of steps late Saturday, including revoking the rights to social security of “the families of terrorists that support terrorism.”
It also announced that the home of 21-year-old Khayri Alqam, who was shot dead by police following Friday’s attack, “will be sealed immediately ahead of its demolition.”
An AFP correspondent saw Israeli forces Sunday on the terrace of the building after they sealed its entrances, with Palestinians clearing out their belongings.
Israel already demolishes the homes of Palestinians who kill Israelis, although the process necessitates that prior notice be given to families and the chance to appeal the decision.
Dani Shenhar, head of the legal department at Israeli rights group HaMoked, said sealing the home overnight demonstrated the government’s “will of revenge against the families.”
The measure was “done in complete disregard for the rule of law”, he said, and HaMoked intends to protest to the attorney general.
More guns for civilians Israel’s security cabinet said there will also be a discussion Sunday over a bill to revoke Israeli identity cards from the relatives of attackers.
The measures announced are in line with proposals from Netanyahu’s extreme-right political partners which enabled him to return to power at the end of December.
They are likely to apply primarily to Palestinians with Israeli nationality, known as Arab-Israelis, and Palestinians with east Jerusalem residency permits.
Hours after the deadly shooting outside the synagogue in the settlement of Neve Yaacov, a 13-year-old Palestinian boy shot and wounded two Israelis just outside the walled Old City of east Jerusalem.
The boy blamed for the attack in the Silwan neighborhood was shot and wounded at the scene.
No group has claimed responsibility for either of the shootings.
The security cabinet also decided to make it easier to obtain permits to carry firearms.
“When civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” extreme-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told reporters outside a Jerusalem hospital on Saturday.
Israeli forces have been placed on high alert, and the army has announced that it will be reinforcing troop numbers in the West Bank, while calls for restraint have multiplied from abroad.
The Jerusalem attacks came after nine Palestinians were killed in the deadliest raid by Israeli forces in the West Bank in nearly two decades
Police originally put the number of fatalities at eight. Several others were injured, the police said on Twitter.
The attacker went to a synagogue in the illegal settlement of Neve Yaakov at around 8:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) and opened fire, according to police.
The security situation in Israel and Palestine has worsened sharply in the past few days.
A spokesperson for the Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, said Friday’s attack was in retaliation for an Israeli army raid on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday.
Nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were killed and 20 others injured in an Israeli raid in Jenin.
The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Israeli forces of deliberately firing tear gas inside a hospital’s pediatric ward, leaving children choking – a claim denied by an Israeli army spokesperson who added that gas may have drifted into the clinic through a window.
The bloodiest day in the West Bank in years erupted during a raid on the crowded refugee camp in the northern city of Jenin, where gunshots rang through the streets and smoke billowed from burning street barricades.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the death toll from the clashes rose to “nine martyrs” including a woman, and that 20 people were wounded before the Israeli forces withdrew midmorning.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Reuters: “This operation is a response to the crime conducted by the occupation in Jenin and a natural response to the occupation’s criminal actions,” though he stopped short of claiming the attack.
World condemns attack The United States quickly condemned the attack.
“This is absolutely horrific,” State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.
“We condemn this apparent terrorist attack in the strongest terms. Our commitment to Israel’s security remains ironclad, and we are in direct touch with our Israeli partners.”
“We stand with the Israeli people in solidarity,” he said.
Patel told reporters at a news briefing that U.S. officials were in touch with their Israeli counterparts and that he did not expect changes to Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s vist to Israel next week.
U.S. President Joe Biden directed his national security team to offer support to their Israeli counterparts.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also condemned the attack.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack,” his spokesman said. “It is particularly abhorrent that the attack occurred at a place of worship, and on the very day we commemorated International Holocaust Remembrance Day.”
However, he urged the sides to exercise the “utmost restraint.” Guterres is “deeply worried” by the current escalation of violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also condemned Friday’s synagogue attack on the outskirts of East Jerusalem, state news agency (WAM) reported citing a foreign ministry statement.
Britain’s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, also condemned the attack. “To attack worshippers at a synagogue on Holocaust Memorial Day, and during Shabbat, is horrific. We stand with our Israeli friends,” he said in a statement on Twitter.
Türkiye also condemned the attack and called on all sides to take steps to prevent any further violence.
‘Immediate measures’ The surging violence comes a month after a new government, led by veteran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, took power.
Netanyahu and his extreme-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the scene on Friday, as crowds chanted “death to Arabs,” Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists at the scene said.
Speaking on television after visiting the scene, Netanyahu said his Security Cabinet would soon announce “immediate measures” in response and urged Israelis not to “take the law into their own hands.”
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who was on a family visit to the U.S., has cut short his trip and is returning to Israel, his office told AFP.
“The attack against civilians this Friday evening was horrific,” Gallant said in a statement, vowing to “operate decisively and forcefully against terror and will reach anyone involved in the attack.”
A 13-year-old boy opened fire and wounded two people in east Jerusalem on Saturday, officials said, only hours after a gunman had killed seven outside a synagogue in the deadliest attack in the city since 2008.
The shooting in the Palestinian neighborhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem, near the historic Old City, wounded a father and son, ages 47 and 23, paramedics said. Both were fully conscious and in moderate to serious condition in the hospital, the medics added.
Police said they shot and overpowered the 13-year-old attacker, wounding him. He was taken to a hospital, they said, and there was no further word on his condition. Video showed police escorting a wounded young man, wearing nothing but underwear, away from the scene and onto a stretcher.
Authorities taped off the street and emergency vehicles and security forces swarmed the area as helicopters whirled overhead.
Saturday’s events – just a day before U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was set to arrive in the region – raised the possibility of even greater conflagration in one of the bloodiest months in Israel and the occupied West Bank in several years.
On Friday, a gunman killed at least seven people, including a 70-year-old woman, in a Jewish settlement in east Jerusalem, an area captured by Israel in 1967 and later annexed in a move not internationally recognized.
The Israeli army said it had deployed another battalion to the West Bank on Saturday, adding hundreds more troops to a presence already on heightened alert in the occupied territory.
Prime Minister Benjamin said he would convene his Security Cabinet on Saturday night, after the end of the sabbath, to discuss a further response to the attack near the synagogue. Security forces launched a crackdown early Saturday, fanning out into the neighborhood of the 21-year-old gunman, who was shot and killed at the scene. Police arrested 42 of his family members and neighbors for questioning in the At-Tur neighborhood in east Jerusalem.
The earlier Friday attack, which occurred as residents were observing the Jewish sabbath, came a day after an Israeli military raid killed nine Palestinians in the West Bank, including an elderly woman.
Thursday’s raid, deadliest single incursion in the West Bank since 2002, followed a particularly bloody month that saw at least 30 Palestinians – militants and civilians – killed in in confrontations with Israelis in the West Bank.
The Foreign Ministry condemned the recent armed attack on a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday.
The ministry expressed concern about the recent surge of tensions and violence, calling on all sides to take necessary steps to prevent further escalation.
The ministry also called for restraint and extended condolences to the families of the victims and the Israeli government and people, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.
Seven people were killed and 10 others were injured after a gunman opened fire on a synagogue in occupied East Jerusalem on Friday.
The perpetrator went to a synagogue in the illegal Israeli settlement of Neve Yaakov at around 8:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. GMT) and opened fire, according to police.
The officers had shot at the assailant at the scene and “neutralized” him. Police later confirmed that he had been killed
An Israeli prosecutor has charged two soldiers for attempting to bomb a Palestinian home in the occupied West Bank, in a rare indictment over an offense against Palestinians.
Prosecutors charged the two soldiers with making an explosive device, aggravated intentional assault, intentional harm to property and impeaching the investigation, the Israeli army announced late Thursday. The court ordered the soldiers to remain in detention until a hearing next month. They were arrested on Nov. 28.
The indictment said the two defendants acted out of revenge for the abduction of the body of an Israeli schoolboy in the flashpoint West Bank city of Jenin on Nov. 22.
The seizure of the boy’s body spread alarm among Israel’s Druze community. As anger rose, videos circulated on social media of Druze men threatening to take revenge against Palestinians.
Amid the standoff over Fero’s body, the two defendants – reportedly Druze soldiers – conspired with another soldier to assemble an explosive device, the military said on Thursday. The soldiers identified a Palestinian home near the West Bank city of Bethlehem as their target and lobbed stones at it. A few days later, they threw the explosive into the crowded house “with the intent of starting a fire in the home,” the military added.
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The military said the attack caused no casualties. It said it opened an investigation into the incident following a complaint from the Palestinian homeowner.
The military said it would issue an indictment against the third soldier in the coming days. The three soldiers were not named. The military did not comment on the penalties they could face.
Such a swift military prosecution is highly unusual and underscored the seriousness of the case. Rights groups long have alleged that Israeli military investigations into the killings of Palestinians reflect a pattern of impunity. Earlier this month, Israeli soldiers accused of harming Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip over the last five years have been indicted in less than 1% of the 1,260 complaints against them.
Critics have repeatedly accused Israeli forces of using excessive firepower in the West Bank as violence in the occupied territory reaches its highest level in years. The Israeli military has conducted near-daily raids into Palestinian cities and towns, killing more than 150 Palestinians. The Israeli army says most of the Palestinians killed have been militants. But stone-throwing youths protesting the incursions have also been killed.
Meanwhile, Palestinian attacks using knives, bombs and shootings have killed 29 Israelis in 2022, both soldiers and civilians, Israel’s Foreign Ministry reported.
Most of the Palestinians were killed during Israeli military raids and fighting in the northern West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus. On Friday, the Israeli military said it entered Nablus to arrest Ahmed Massari, a wanted 19-year-old Palestinian militant from the Lion’s Den group, a new militant group led by young fighters from the city.
Palestinians shot at Israeli soldiers and hurled stones and explosive devices at Israeli vehicles, and the Israeli military unleashed tear gas and live fire. The streets were ablaze with gunfire and burning tires.
The Palestinian Health Ministry later reported that eight Palestinians were wounded by flying shrapnel from bullets
Israel’s military says it has filed “severe indictments” against two soldiers who threw an improvised explosive at a Palestinian house in the occupied West Bank in retaliation for the kidnapping of the body of an Israeli teenager last month.
Palestinian fighters had (Watch Video Here) seized the body of an Israeli Druze high schooler from a hospital in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin where he had been taken after a car accident. The body was later returned. The Druze are an Arab religious minority in Israel whose members are conscripted into the armed forces.
“The defendants and an additional soldier assembled an improvised explosive and threw it into a crowded house,” the military said on Thursday. “The act was committed with the intent of starting a fire in the home as a form of revenge for the kidnapping of the body of a young Israeli in Jenin.”
No one in the house was wounded, according to residents.
The third soldier will also be indicted in the coming days, the military said. (Watch Video Here)
The trial and conviction of Israeli soldiers for crimes committed against Palestinians is a rare occurrence as Israeli soldiers very seldom face prosecution.
According to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, data for the 2019-20 period showed that only 2 percent of complaints filed by Palestinians against Israeli forces for abuse lead to prosecutions.
On the opposite end, almost all of the cases and trials of Palestinians in Israeli military courts – 99.74 percent – end in a conviction. (Watch Video Here)
There has been an intensification of violence in the West Bank since March, with the United Nations labelling 2022 as the deadliest year for Palestinians in the territory since 2006.
Israel intensified the military raids it has long conducted in the West Bank, leading to dozens of killings and hundreds of arrests, after a series of attacks by Palestinians.
Israel also regularly withholds the bodies of Palestinians who die in Israeli prisons, with the intention of using them as bargaining chips during negotiations (Watch Video Here) with armed groups. Palestinians held protests earlier this week in the West Bank calling for the bodies of loved ones to be released.
The Turkish Foreign Ministry on Saturday said it strongly condemns the “summary executions” and the recent escalation of violence and civilian casualties in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
“We call on the Israeli authorities to take the necessary measures to prevent further escalation of tension and loss of lives in the region,” read a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement.
“We wish Allah’s mercy upon our Palestinian brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the incidents and extend our condolences to the State of Palestine and its people,” it added.
The statement comes amid uproar over a viral social media video that showed an Israeli soldier shooting a Palestinian man at point-blank range during a scuffle.
The European Union has also called for an investigation into the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.
In a statement on Twitter, the EU said Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians in the past three days “in what appears to be an excessive use of lethal force.”
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It said 140 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in 2022, making it the “deadliest year since 2006.”
On Friday, a video went viral on social media showing an Israeli soldier in Huwara town, south of Nablus city, while having a scuffle with a Palestinian who tried to escape from him, but the Israeli soldier shot him at point-blank, leaving him badly injured. The Palestinian was later pronounced dead.
Tension has been running high across the West Bank in recent weeks amid repeated Israeli raids to detain what they say “wanted Palestinians” or to demolish Palestinian homes. The raids spark clashes with Palestinians, causing several fatalities.
The West Bank has suffered spiraling violence this year, with near-daily Israeli army raids leading to scores of deaths, of Palestinian fighters and also civilians, while Jewish settlers have been increasingly targeted by at times deadly Palestinian violence.
Ties between Türkiye and Israel froze over after the death of 10 civilians in an Israeli raid on a Turkish flotilla carrying aid for the Gaza Strip in 2010. The two countries once again expelled their ambassadors in 2018 after another bitter falling out and relations since remained tense. In recent months, however, the two countries have been working on a rapprochement.
Despite the recent rapprochement, Turkish officials continue to criticize Israel’s policies targeting Palestinians, including the illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Known for its unbreakable solidarity with Palestinians, Türkiye has been voicing support for the Palestinian cause in the international realm for decades. Turkish authorities emphasize that the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in the Middle East is through a fair and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue within the framework of international law and United Nations resolutions.
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Carlo Ancelotti’s team successfully added to their four cups from 2014 to 2018, and their triumph meant European teams have won the past 10 editions of the tournament.
Former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies secured a clear victory and a majority in parliament following elections two days ago, Israel’s electoral commission said Thursday.
Results released by the electoral commission said that with 99% of votes counted, Netanyahu and his far-right allies had secured a majority.
With 32 seats for Netanyahu’s Likud party, 18 for ultra-Orthodox parties and 14 for a far-right alliance called Religious Zionism, the right-wing bloc won a total of 64 seats, while caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s centrist bloc won 51 seats.
The commission added that the official and final results would be presented to Israel’s president on Wednesday.
Lapid called his rival Netanyahu to congratulate him on Thursday, and told “his entire office to prepare an organized transition of power,” a statement released by his office said.
Lapid’s concession sets the former premier up to form what may be the most right-wing government in Israeli history, while also spelling the end of an unprecedented period of political deadlock.
The electoral commission results also showed the small left-wing Meretz party dropping below the 3.25% threshold needed to secure a minimum of four seats and falling out of the Knesset.
The 73-year-old Netanyahu secured his comeback after 14 months in opposition. He remains on trial over corruption allegations, which he denies, with the case returning to court on Monday.
Netanyahu has already begun talks with coalition partners on the make-up of a new government, Israeli media reported, but there was no immediate confirmation from his Likud party.
President Isaac Herzog will next week give Netanyahu 42 days to form a government.
Netanyahu, who has served as premier for longer than anyone in Israel’s 74-history, will then be tasked with sharing out cabinet posts with his coalition partners.
That will likely mean prominent roles for the co-leaders of far-right Religious Zionism, which has doubled its representation since the last parliament.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a firebrand known for anti-Arab rhetoric and incendiary calls for Israel to annex the entire West Bank, has said he wants to be public security minister, a post that would put him in charge of the police.
In recent days, Ben-Gvir has called repeatedly for the security services to use more force in countering Palestinian opposition against Israel’s occupation.
“It’s time we go back to being masters of our country,” Ben-Gvir said on election night.
Religious Zionism’s Bezalel Smotrich has said he wants to be defense minister.
The U.S. State Department expressed veiled concern over the prospect of far-right ministers in a future coalition government, while Britain demanded all politicians “refrain from inflammatory language” and respect minorities.
The vote was held Tuesday against a backdrop of soaring violence across Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
At least 34 Palestinians and three Israelis have been killed in the territories since the start of October.
In the latest bloodshed Thursday, an assailant stabbed an Israeli officer in Jerusalem’s Old City before being shot dead, police said.
Three Palestinians were also killed in confrontations with Israeli forces in the West Bank, one near Jerusalem and two during an Israeli raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry said.
While many candidates cited security as a concern, none pledged to revive moribund peace talks with the Palestinians.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the projected results highlighted “growing extremism and racism in Israeli society”.
A key factor seen as boosting Netanyahu was the split among Arab parties, who ran as three separate factions instead of the joint list that saw them win a record number of seats in March 2020.
Separately, not all the factions reached the threshold for representation in parliament, meaning their votes were wasted.
Sami Abou Shahadeh, the head of the Balad party that rejects any cooperation with Israeli governments, defended his party’s decision to run independently, even though it was set to be shut out of parliament. “We may be losing our representation in the Knesset but we won the love of our people,” he said.
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This was disclosed by the Police Public Relations Officer, Bauchi State Command, Ahmed Wakil, a Superintendent of Police, in a terse Whatsapp message on Sunday.
Australia on Tuesday overturned a decision made by the previous administration to recognize West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, stating that Israel and the Palestinians should negotiate a peace agreement to determine the city’s status.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said Australia “will always be a steadfast friend of Israel” and was committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestine coexist in peace within internationally recognized borders.
The government “recommits Australia to international efforts in the responsible pursuit of progress towards a just and enduring two-state solution,” she said in a statement.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry voiced “deep disappointment” with the decision and said it would summon the Australian ambassador.
“Jerusalem has been the capital of the Jewish people for 3,000 years and will continue to be the State of Israel’s eternal and united capital, regardless of this-or-that decision,” the ministry said in a statement.
Previous Prime Minister Scott Morrison had reversed decades of Middle East policy in December 2018 by saying Australia recognized West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but would not move its embassy there immediately.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump had recognized Jerusalem as the capital a year earlier, without elaborating on the boundaries of a city whose eastern sector – the location of major Jewish, Christian and Muslim holy sites – Palestinians want for their future capital.
Wong told reporters Morrison’s 2018 decision “put Australia out of step with the majority of the international community,” and was met with concern by Muslim-majority neighbor Indonesia.
“I regret that Mr. Morrison’s decision to play politics resulted in Australia’s shifting position and the distress these shifts have caused to many people in the Australian community who care deeply about this issue,” she said.
Morrison had flagged moving the embassy from Tel Aviv in 2018 just days before a by-election in a Sydney electorate with a strong Jewish representation, which his Liberal party nonetheless lost.
The Guardian first reported a change to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website to remove language describing West Jerusalem as the capital on Monday.
Wong said the decision was made by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet on Tuesday.
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, a centrist lagging behind his conservative predecessor Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a Nov. 1 election, accused Canberra of being misled by a media report about Jerusalem.
“We can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally,” he said on Twitter.
Wong earlier told reporters the department website had been updated “ahead of government processes.”
Morrison’s Liberal-led coalition lost a national election in May, returning a Labor government for the first time in nine years.
Six Palestinian detainees were sentenced on Sunday to an additional five years in prison for a 2021 escape through a tunnel from a maximum-security jail facility in northern Israel.
The six, already serving life terms for anti-Israeli attacks, escaped on Sept. 6 last year from Gilbao prison through a tunnel dug under a sink.
Hailed as “heroes” by the Palestinians, their escape triggered a massive manhunt by army reinforcements and drones before their capture two weeks later.
Apart from the extra prison sentences, the court also slapped the six prisoners with a fine of 5,000 shekels (nearly $160), the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)-run Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs said in a statement.
“My client told the court he did not regret the escape because he had nothing to lose,” one of the prisoners’ lawyer, Raslan Mahajana, told reporters.
Five of the detainees are members of the Islamic Jihad group, while the sixth is a member of the Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The jailbreak has brought Israel’s prison service under fire and prompted the government to launch an investigation.
Israeli police assaulted Palestinian mourners in the funeral procession of slain Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on Friday in occupied East Jerusalem.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu Agency (AA) that the Israeli police attacked the funeral procession as it started from the French hospital in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.
They added that the Israeli police surrounded the mourners and used stun grenades and batons to assault the pallbearers carrying Abu Akleh’s casket.
The Israeli police allowed a few Palestinians to accompany her casket to Jerusalem’s Old City, where she will be buried at the Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery.
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Veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was covering Israeli military raids near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank when she was shot dead on Wednesday. Palestinian officials and the Doha-based network say she was targeted by Israeli forces.
Abu Akleh’s death has drawn widespread condemnation. Video footage from the moments after she was shot showed Abu Akleh, 51, wearing a blue vest marked “Press”.
At least two of her colleagues who were with her said that they had come under Israeli sniper fire and that they were not close to militants.
Israel, which has voiced regret at Abu Akleh’s death has proposed a joint investigation with the Palestinians, asking them to provide the bullet for examination.
The Palestinians have rejected the Israeli request. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday said Israel was fully responsible and called for an international investigation
Israeli riot police on Friday pushed and beat pallbearers at the funeral for slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, causing them to briefly drop the casket in a shocking start to a procession that turned into perhaps the largest display of Palestinian nationalism in Jerusalem in a generation.
The scenes of Israeli violence were likely to add to the sense of grief and outrage across the Arab world that has followed the death of Abu Akleh, who witnesses say was killed by Israeli troops Wednesday during a raid in the occupied West Bank. They also illustrated the deep sensitivities over East Jerusalem – which is claimed by both Israel and Palestine and has sparked repeated rounds of violence.
Abu Akleh, 51, was a household name across the Arab world, synonymous with Al Jazeera’s coverage of life under Israeli occupation, which is well into its sixth decade with no end in sight. A 25-year veteran of the satellite channel, she was revered by Palestinians as a local hero.
Thousands of people, many waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Palestine! Palestine!” attended the funeral. It was believed to be the largest Palestinian funeral in Jerusalem since Faisal Husseini, a Palestinian leader and scion of a prominent family, died in 2001.
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Ahead of the burial, a large crowd gathered to escort her casket from an East Jerusalem hospital to a Catholic church in the nearby Old City. Many of the mourners held Palestinian flags, and the crowd began shouting, “We sacrifice our soul and blood for you, Shireen.”
Shortly after, Israel police attacked, pushing and clubbing mourners. As the helmeted riot police approached, they hit pallbearers, causing one man to lose control of the casket as it dropped toward the ground. Police ripped Palestinian flags out of people’s hands and fired stun grenades to disperse the crowd.
Abu Akleh’s brother, Tony, said the scenes “prove that Shireen’s reports and honest words … had a powerful impact.”
Al Jazeera correspondent Givara Budeiri said the police crackdown was like killing Abu Akleh again. “It seems her voice isn’t silent,” she said during a report by the broadcaster.
East Jerusalem, home to the city’s most important Jewish, Muslim and Christian holy sites, was captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. It claims all of the city as its eternal capital and has annexed the eastern sector in a move that is not internationally recognized.
Palestine claims East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state. Israel routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood. The conflicting claims to East Jerusalem often spill over into violence, helping fuel an 11-day war between Israel and Gaza militants last year and more recently sparking weeks of unrest at the city’s most sensitive holy site.
Outside of prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Israel rarely allows large Palestinian gatherings in East Jerusalem and routinely clamps down on any displays of support for Palestinian statehood.
Police claimed the crowd at the hospital was chanting “nationalist incitement,” ignored calls to stop and threw stones at them. “The policemen were forced to act,” police said. They issued a video in which a commander outside the hospital warns the crowd that police will come in if they don’t stop their incitement and “nationalist songs.”
An Israeli official said the details of the funeral had been coordinated with the family ahead of time to ensure it would run smoothly, but that “masses began gathering around the hearse of Shireen Abu Akleh and chaos ensued,” preventing the procession from going along its intended route. The official speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier this week, Abu Akleh’s brother said the original arrangement was to move the casket in a hearse from the hospital to the church, and that after the service, it would be carried through the streets to the cemetery. It was not immediately clear why those plans had changed and pallbearers emerged from the hospital carrying the casket.
Al Jazeera said in a statement that the police action “violates all international norms and rights.”
“Israeli occupation forces attacked those mourning the late Shireen Abu Akhleh after storming the French hospital in Jerusalem, where they severely beat the pallbearers,” it said. The network added that it remains committed to covering the news and will not be deterred.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki called the images “deeply disturbing.”
The focus should be “marking the memory of a remarkable journalist who lost her life,” Psaki said. “We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession,” she added.
During a Rose Garden event, U.S. President Joe Biden was asked whether he condemns the Israeli police actions at the funeral, and he replied: “I don’t know all the details, but I know it has to be investigated.”
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “was deeply disturbed by the confrontations between Israeli security forces and Palestinians gathered at St. Joseph Hospital, and the behavior of some police present at the scene,” according to a statement from his deputy spokesperson, Farhan Haq.
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Israeli police later escorted the casket in a black van, ripping Palestinian flags off the vehicle as it made its way to the church.
“We die for Palestine to live!” crowds chanted. “Our beloved home!”
Later, they sang the Palestinian national anthem and chanted “Palestine, Palestine!” before her body was buried in a cemetery outside the Old City.
Her grave was decorated with a Palestinian flag and flowers. The Palestinian Ambassador to the U.K. Husam Zomlot, and Al Jazeera’s bureau chief, Walid Al-Omari, placed flowers on the grave.
Salah Zuheika, a 70-year-old Palestinian, called Abu Akleh “the daughter of Jerusalem,” and said the huge crowds were a “reward” for her love of the city.
“We already miss her, but what had happened today in the city will not be forgotten,” he said.
Abu Akleh was a member of the small Palestinian Christian community in the Holy Land. Palestinian Christians and Muslims marched alongside one another Friday in a show of unity.
She was shot in the head during an Israeli military raid in the West Bank town of Jenin. But the circumstances of the shooting remain in dispute.
The Palestinians say army fire killed her, while the Israeli military said Friday that she was killed during an exchange with fire with Palestinian militants. It said it could not determine who was responsible for her death without a ballistic analysis.
“The conclusion of the interim investigation is that it is not possible to determine the source of the fire that hit and killed the reporter,” the military said.
Israel has called for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and for it to hand over the bullet for forensic analysis to determine who fired the fatal round. The PA has refused, saying it will conduct its own investigation and send the results to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which is already investigating possible Israeli war crimes.
Reporters who were with Abu Akleh, including one who was shot and wounded, said there were no clashes or militants in the immediate area. All of them were wearing protective equipment that clearly identified them as reporters.
The PA and Al Jazeera, which has long had a strained relationship with Israel, have accused Israel of deliberately killing Abu Akleh. Israel denies the accusations.
Rights groups say Israel rarely follows through on investigations into the killing of Palestinians by its security forces and hands down lenient punishments on the rare occasions when it does. This case, however, drew heavy scrutiny because Abu Akleh was well-known and also a U.S. citizen.
Palestinians from in and around Jenin have carried out deadly attacks in Israel in recent weeks, and Israel has launched near daily arrest raids in the area, often igniting gunbattles with militants.
Israeli troops pushed into Jenin again early Friday, sparking renewed fighting.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said 13 Palestinians were wounded. The Israeli military said that Palestinians opened fire when its forces went in to arrest suspected militants. Police said a 47-year-old member of a special Israeli commando unit was killed
The Israeli military is increasingly accepting the possibility that one of its soldiers killed veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, with reports emerging that Israel is investigating the likelihood that one of its soldiers shot her during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.
The Palestinian-American Abu Akleh was in Jenin on Wednesday reporting on the raid when she was killed by Israeli forces, according to Al Jazeera, as well as multiple witnesses at the scene, who said that there was no confrontation with Palestinian fighters at the time of the shooting.
The admission that an Israeli soldier could be responsible is evidence that the Israelis are backtracking from their initial position that it was likely that Palestinian fighters in Jenin killed Abu Akleh.
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A video widely disseminated by the Israeli government, including Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, which showed Palestinians firing in Jenin has now been proven to have not been filmed in Abu Akleh’s vicinity when she was killed.
Israel is conducting an investigation into Abu Akleh’s killing, Israeli army sources told the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post newspapers.
According to the Washington Post, a senior Israeli army official on Thursday said that the military was investigating three separate incidents involving its soldiers during the time of Abu Akleh’s killing.
“A soldier with a rifle and a very good aiming system was shooting towards a terrorist with an M16, in very good condition, very clear picture, that was shooting on our troops. What we are checking now is the location of Shireen,” the official told the Washington Post, adding that “this was the most probable [scenario] to be involved in the death of Shireen”.
The official also said that military investigators had taken rifles from Israeli soldiers involved in the fighting to make them available for ballistic testing.
Meanwhile, a senior Israeli military official also told the Wall Street Journal that the army was investigating one incident in which there was a possibility of an Israeli soldier’s bullet being responsible for Abu Akleh’s killing.
The official “acknowledged a bullet could have deflected off the ground or a wall and struck Ms. Abu Akleh”, according to the Wall Street Journal.
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Journalists who were with Abu Akleh, including one who was shot and wounded, said Israeli forces fired upon them even though they were clearly identifiable as reporters.
Israel is also calling for a joint investigation with the Palestinian Authority (PA), which administers parts of the West Bank and cooperates with it on security.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas angrily rejected that proposal, saying “we hold the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for killing her”.
“They cannot hide the truth with this crime,” Abbas said in an address as her body lay in state with a Palestinian flag draped over it in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where the Palestinian Authority has its headquarters.
“They are the ones who committed the crime, and because we do not trust them, we will immediately go to the International Criminal Court,” Abbas said.
The European Union has urged an “independent” probe while the United States demanded the killing be “transparently investigated”, calls echoed by United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said that Abu Akleh had been “assassinated in cold blood” and called on the international community to hold Israeli forces responsible.
Aside from Abu Akleh, another Al Jazeera journalist, Ali al-Samoudi, was also wounded by a bullet to the back at the scene. He is now in a stable condition.
Abu Akleh is to be laid to rest on Friday in her hometown of Jerusalem, after her body was carried in a procession from Jenin to Jerusalem, via Nablus and Ramallah, over the three days since Wednesday
Family, friends and mourners, some who had never met her personally, gathered at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Virgin for Abu Akleh’s funeral.
Bells rang out as a procession walked from the church to Mount Zion Protestant Cemetery, where Abu Akleh would be buried.
Earlier, Israeli forces beat mourners, including those carrying Abu Akleh’s coffin, near St Louis French Hospital, nearly making them drop the body.
Somali journalists have held protests to condemn the killing of Abu Akleh.
Journalists including representatives from the Somali Journalists Syndicate (SJS) and Somali Media Association (SOMA) demonstrated at the Maka al-Mukarama street in the capital Mogadishu.
Thousands of mourners, some hoisting Palestinian flags and chanting “Palestine, Palestine,” have attended the funeral in Jerusalem for veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who witnesses say was shot and killed by Israeli forces earlier this week while covering a military raid in the occupied West Bank.
Police eventually allowed the family to drive the casket to a Catholic church in the Old City, which was packed with mourners, before sealing off the hospital and firing tear gas at scores of protesters.
Thousands of mourners gathered at the cemetery, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Palestine, Palestine.”
UN human rights experts have condemned the killing of Al Jazeera journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, and called for a prompt, transparent, thorough and independent investigation into her death.
“The killing of Abu Akleh is another serious attack on media freedom and freedom of expression, amid the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank,” said experts at the UN human right special procedures said in a statement.
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“We demand a prompt, independent, impartial, effective, thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, in full compliance with the Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions (The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death).
We urge the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and other stakeholders to cooperate with such an investigation,” it added.
The experts said Abu Akleh’s killing was a continuation of increasing attacks on media workers, particularly Palestinian journalists.
Israeli forces killed an Al-Jazeera reporter in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
It said Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known Palestinian reporter for the broadcaster’s Arabic language channel, was shot and died soon afterward. Another Palestinian journalist working for the Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper was wounded but in stable condition.
The Health Ministry said the reporters were hit by Israeli fire. In video footage of the incident, Abu Akleh can be seen wearing a blue flak jacket clearly marked with the word “PRESS.”
The Israeli military said its forces came under attack with heavy gunfire and explosives while operating in Jenin, and that they fired back. The military said it is “investigating the event and looking into the possibility that the journalists were hit by the Palestinian gunmen.”
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Abu Akleh, 51, was born in Jerusalem. She began working for Al Jazeera in 1997 and regularly reported on camera from across the Palestinian territories.
Israel has carried out near-daily raids in the occupied West Bank in recent weeks amid a series of deadly attacks inside Israel, many of them carried out by Palestinians from in and around Jenin. The town, and particularly its refugee camp, has long been known as a militant bastion.
Israelis have long been critical of Al-Jazeera’s coverage, but authorities generally allow its journalists to operate freely. Another Al-Jazeera reporter, Givara Budeiri, was briefly detained last year during a protest in Jerusalem and treated for a broken hand, which her employer blamed on rough treatment by police.
Rejected offer Israel said it had proposed a joint investigation and autopsy with the Palestinian Authority (PA), which refused the offer.
The PA, which administers parts of the occupied West Bank and cooperates with Israel on security matters, condemned what it said was a “shocking crime” committed by Israeli forces.
Samoudi, who was working as her producer, told The Associated Press (AP) they were among a group of seven reporters who went to cover the raid early Wednesday. He said they were all wearing protective gear that clearly marked them as reporters, and they passed by Israeli troops so the soldiers would know that they were there.
He said the first shot missed them, then a second struck him, and a third killed Abu Akleh. He said there were no militants or other civilians in the area – only the reporters and the army. He said the military’s suggestion that they were shot by militants was a “complete lie.”
Shaza Hanaysheh, a journalist with a Palestinian news website who was also among the reporters, gave a similar account in an interview with Al-Jazeera’s Arabic channel, saying there were no clashes or shooting in the immediate area.
She said that when the shots rang out she and Abu Akleh ran toward a tree to take shelter.
“I reached the tree before Shireen. She fell on the ground,” Hanaysheh said. “Every time I extended my hand toward Shireen, the soldiers fired at us.”
Al-Jazeera accuses Israel The Qatar-based network interrupted its broadcast to announce her death. The channel accused Israeli forces of deliberately killing its veteran journalist. In a statement, it said Abu Akleh was “assassinated in cold blood” by Israeli forces.
“We pledge to prosecute the perpetrators legally, no matter how hard they try to cover up their crime, and bring them to justice,” Al-Jazeera vowed.
It termed the killing as a “heinous crime, which intends to only prevent the media from conducting their duty.”
“Al-Jazeera holds the Israeli government and the occupation forces responsible for the killing of Shireen,” it said, going on to call on the international community “to condemn and hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable for their intentional targeting and killing” of the reporter.
The United Nations, the United States and European Union called for a thorough investigation into the death of the veteran Al-Jazeera journalist.
“I strongly condemn the killing of Al Jazeera’s reporter, Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot with live fire this morning while covering an Israeli security forces’ operation in Jenin, in occupied West Bank,” U.N. special envoy for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland said on Twitter.
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“I call for an immediate and thorough investigation and for those responsible to be held accountable. Media workers should never be targeted,” he added.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Tom Nides also called for investigating the reporter’s death.
“I encourage a thorough investigation into the circumstances of her death and the injury of at least one other journalist today in Jenin,” Nides tweeted.
A similar call for investigation was echoed by the U.S. Palestinian Affairs Unit.
“We encourage a thorough investigation into her death and the injury of fellow journalist, Ali Al-Samoudi,” it added.
The EU delegation to the Palestinians said it was “shocked by the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was reporting on ISF incursions in Jenin.”
A Palestinian man and an Israeli guard were killed in separate West Bank incidents following clashes on Friday between Palestinians and Israeli police at Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.
The guard was attacked at the entrance of the Ariel settlement, the army said, adding that they were pursuing the “terrorists”.
The Islamist Hamas movement hailed the killing as a “heroic operation”, with spokesman Hazem Qassem declaring it a response to the “attacks on Al-Aqsa,” the mosque which has been one of the focal points for weeks of violence.
The Palestinian Red Crescent said 42 people had been hurt at the site, which is venerated by Muslims and Jews.
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Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man overnight Friday in the north of the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
The man, in his 20s, was shot in the chest during an Israeli army operation in the town of Azzun, the ministry said in a statement.
– Stones and fireworks – Israeli police released footage that showed young men on the Al-Aqsa compound hurling stones and fireworks in Friday’s early hours. Officers entered the site at dawn.
A police statement said they went in to contain “rioters and lawbreakers”, some of whom were trying to throw stones down towards the Western Wall, the sacred Jewish site below Al-Aqsa.
Police said officers used “riot dispersal means” to contain the unrest and that two people had been arrested, one for throwing stones and the other one for “inciting the mob”.
An AFP journalist said Israeli police fired rubber-coated bullets while a witness said they also used tear gas.
An uneasy calm had been restored at the compound following the unrest that surrounded morning prayers, but tensions remained high.
In the early afternoon, a crowd of Muslim worshippers gathered at Al-Aqsa. Some people waved Palestinian flags and the colours of the Gaza Strip-based Hamas militant group, an AFP journalist said.
– Tensions – Over the past two weeks, nearly 300 Palestinians have been hurt in clashes at the Al-Aqsa compound, Islam’s third-holiest site. It is also Judaism’s holiest place, known to Jews as the Temple Mount.
The site is in east Jerusalem, which Israel captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed, in a move not recognised by most of the international community.
Israel’s incursions into the compound during Ramadan met widespread condemnation and raised fears of inflaming persistent Israeli-Palestinian tensions across Jerusalem.
But Israel has insisted it has been compelled to act against operatives from Islamist groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It says the militants threaten Muslim worshippers at Al-Aqsa and Jews praying at the Western Wall.
In an apparent attempt to ease tensions, Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has stressed that the government is committed to the status quo at the compound, meaning an adherence to long-standing convention that only Muslims are allowed to pray there.
Jews are allowed to visit the Temple Mount.
Muslim leaders have, however, been angered by a recent uptick in such visits. Some voiced fears that Israel was seeking to divide the compound and create a space where Jews may worship. Lapid told journalists that no such plan exists.
– ‘Quds Day’ – The fresh unrest comes as the end of Ramadan nears early next week.
Violence in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem has raised fears of another armed conflict similar to an 11-day war last year between Israel and Hamas, triggered in part by similar unrest at Al-Aqsa.
Since early last week there has been isolated rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel and Israeli reprisals, but no casualties reported on either side.
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Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders held a rally in Gaza late Thursday, with calls to “defend” Jerusalem including Al-Aqsa.
In an annual show of pro-Palestinian rallies known as Quds (Jerusalem) Day, thousands of Iranians took to streets across the Islamic republic on Friday. Flag-waving protesters chanted “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, the state broadcaster IRIB reported.
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made live televised remarks in support of Palestinians and slammed those in the West backing Ukraine against Russia’s invasion.
“They are making so much noise about the situation in Ukraine… (and) are keeping totally silent about the crimes in Palestine,” he said.
Hamas followed with a statement thanking Iran for “standing with Jerusalem and the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque, and for supporting our resisting nation by all means.”
The Al-Aqsa tensions have come against a backdrop of violence since March 22 in Israel and the occupied West Bank.
Twelve Israelis, including an Arab-Israeli police officer, and two Ukrainians were killed in four separate attacks inside Israel. Two of the deadly attacks were carried out in the Tel Aviv area by Palestinians.
A total of 27 Palestinians and three Israeli Arabs have died during the same period, among them perpetrators of attacks and those killed by Israeli security forces in West Bank operations
At least 42 people were injured on Friday in an Israeli police intervention with plastic bullets and sound bombs after dawn prayer in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
Israeli police intervened after Palestinian youths entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque from Bab al-Maghrib, one of the gates to the mosque, and threw stones after performing the dawn prayer.
First aid was given to 42 injured people, and 22 of them were hospitalized, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said in a statement.
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Also, the police reportedly prevented the teams of the Palestine Red Crescent Society from entering the mosque complex.
Israeli police forced out those in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa and closed the doors of the mosque to Muslims coming from outside for the last Friday prayer of Ramadan.
The police withdrew from the mosque around two hours after the raid. They are still deployed outside the Bab al-Maghrib
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Additionally, eyewitnesses said that two people were taken into custody.
Hundreds of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank protest against the Israeli police by chanting and shouting slogans in the alleys of the Old City of Jerusalem, where the Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, according to images shared on social media.
Tensions have been running high across the Palestinian territories since the beginning of April amid repeated Israeli arrest campaigns in the occupied West Bank and daily settler incursions into the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in East Jerusalem.
Israel’s housing policies in East Jerusalem amount to “racial segregation and discrimination” against the Palestinian people and a violation of their human rights, a group of United Nations experts said Thursday.
The experts made their assessment based on reports that Palestinians have been subject to “discriminatory zoning and planning.”
These restrict access to housing, safe drinking water, sanitation and other essential services, including health care and educational facilities. “The discriminatory zoning and planning regime in East Jerusalem, which prioritizes zoning for Israeli settlements and limits housing options for Palestinians, clearly amounts to segregation based on race, color, descent or national or ethnic origin,” the experts said in a statement.
“Racially segregated settlements have had significant and lasting consequences on the standards of living of the Palestinian people,” they noted.
They called attention to the detrimental effect of the measures on Palestinians and Bedouin communities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
They cited a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in March that said Israel’s 55-year occupation of the Palestinian territory constitutes “apartheid.”
6 Palestinians shot dead They expressed alarm about reports that Palestinian protests over the establishment of the “Evyatar” outpost and Israel’s exclusive control over the distribution of public spaces met “disproportionate violence and systematic suppression.”
“We have received reports that protesters have been subjected to indiscriminate and excessive use of force, arbitrary detention, torture and collective punishment,” they said.
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“At least six Palestinians have been shot dead by Israeli security forces or Israel settlers while protesting the establishment of the settlement.”
The U.N. experts urged the international community to independently investigate military conduct and law enforcement operations.
They called for an end to the “occupying power’s ongoing impunity for excessive use of force” against Palestinians in protests, search-and-arrest procedures and at checkpoints.
“Israel, as the internationally recognized occupying power of the Palestinian territory, has significant obligations under international human rights law, which it has repeatedly violated,” the experts said.
They urged the international community to adopt robust accountability measures to end the occupation and enable Palestinian self-determination swiftly.
The U.N. experts said they have officially communicated with the Israeli government to address these allegations and clarify its obligations under international law.
Israeli warplanes struck two sites in the Gaza Strip early Thursday belonging to the military wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
Warplanes targeted two sites in central and southern Gaza, Anadolu Agency (AA) reported.
No casualties or injuries have been reported by the Palestinian Health Ministry.
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The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in a Twitter post said the airstrikes were carried out in response to a rocket attack on Israel’s southern city of Sderot.
“We struck an underground complex in Gaza used to produce rocket engines,” it added.
It noted that the strikes dealt a blow to rocket manufacturing capabilities in Gaza.
Earlier, the IDF said that sirens sounded for the second time in the south of Israel as its Iron Dome air defense system intercepted four rockets fired from Gaza.
Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since last week when Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards and attacked worshippers, injuring hundreds.
Daily settler incursions into the flashpoint site to celebrate the Passover holiday have further inflamed the situation.
Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed the flashpoint compound since Sunday under heavy police protection to celebrate the week-long Jewish Passover holiday. The Israeli police, meanwhile, imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian youths to Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the dawn prayer.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett Wednesday barred far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir from entering Muslim areas of Jerusalem’s Old City and holding a rally.
Ben Gvir had announced he would take part in a rally on Wednesday evening, saying he would march through the Damascus Gate, the main entrance to the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City.
Bennett accepted the recommendation of security chiefs to prevent Ben Gvir from entering the Damascus Gate. “I have no intention of allowing petty politics to endanger human lives,” Bennett said in a statement.
“I will not allow a political provocation by Ben Gvir to endanger IDF (Israeli army) soldiers and Israeli police officers, and render their already heavy task even heavier.”
Israeli police had earlier banned the rally from taking place on the proposed route.
Right-winger Bennett, a key figure in Israel’s settlement movement, leads a fragile coalition government. Earlier this month, Bennett’s coalition lost its one-seat majority of 61 in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament, after a member left in a dispute over the use of leavened bread products in hospitals during Passover. Then on Sunday, the Raam party, drawn from the country’s Arab-Israeli minority and with four members of the Knesset, suspended its support for the coalition following violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque
Israel must stop its raids on Al-Aqsa Mosque and its provocations against the Palestinian people, said the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, in a phone call on Monday with the king of Jordan, adding that Palestine has Qatar’s full support in regaining its legitimate rights.
Sheikh Tamim and Jordan’s King Abdullah II had a phone conversation to discuss the latest incident at Al-Aqsa Mosque as well as the rising tensions in the area, Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported.
Sheikh Tamim reiterated that his country supports the Palestinian issue and all legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to freely worship and establish their own independent state, the capital of which is East Jerusalem, based on the 1967 borders.
Jordan’s king also spoke by phone Monday with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, according to Jordanian media outlets. Abdullah evaluated the latest developments in the Palestinian arena and their negative repercussions on regional and world peace and security.
The king – who warned that Israel’s unilateral practices in the Palestinian territories would undermine the chances of achieving a two-state solution and comprehensive peace – also completely refused to damage the historical and legal status of Jerusalem. He stressed that all attempts to divide Al-Aqsa Mosque into time and space between Muslims and Jews are condemned and unacceptable. Noting the importance of protecting worshippers in the mosque, King Abdullah II drew attention to the fact that no measures have been taken to ensure that worshippers reach the mosque and are prevented from being provoked, especially during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He also emphasized the need to intensify international efforts to prevent increased tensions in East Jerusalem.
On Sunday, the Jordanian king called on Israel to respect the historical and legal status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to put an end to its illegal and provocative actions.
Also Monday, Jordan summoned the Israeli ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in response to the raids and violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Shura Council on Monday condemned the Israeli attacks on worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem. The advisory council expressed its “condemnation of the Israeli practices of storming the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and attacking Palestinian worshipers,” during a weekly session cited by QNA.
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It called for swift “international action to stop repeated Israeli attacks against the brotherly Palestinian people and the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Tensions have mounted across the Palestinian territories since Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard Friday amid clashes with worshippers, injuring hundreds.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday reiterated Turkey’s determination to defend the rights of Palestinians as the people face oppression by Israeli forces in East Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine.
“Turkey will never accept the oppression of Palestinians in Jerusalem and other regions in Palestine,” Erdoğan said at the parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara.
The president continued by clarifying that Turkey’s political-economic relations with Israel are separate from the country’s commitment to the Jerusalem cause and that Turkey will continue to defend the holy city and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital – a status not recognized internationally. It captured East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital for their future state.
“For Turkey, political and economic ties with Israel as necessitated by global and regional factors are separate from the cause for Jerusalem,” Erdoğan said.
“It is clear that the way to effectively defend the Palestinian cause is to have a reasonable, logical, consistent and balanced relationship with Israel,” he underlined.
In recent days, Erdoğan has been conducting intense diplomatic traffic in order to stop Israel’s attacks on occupied East Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Within this context, Erdoğan spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Emphasizing that the familiar images that emerge every year hurt not only consciences but cause legitimate reactions throughout the entire Islamic world, Erdoğan made clear that Turkey will continue to work towards ensuring peace and tranquility in any case.
Turkey has in the past launched various initiatives within the United Nations and Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) against Israeli actions towards Palestinian and its policies regarding East Jerusalem or its status.
Al-Aqsa is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. The holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims has often been the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions were already heightened amid a recent wave of violence. Clashes at the site last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions this year have been heightened in part by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.
Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed the flashpoint compound since last week under heavy police protection to celebrate the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday.
The Israeli police, meanwhile, imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian youths to Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the dawn prayer.
Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since last week when Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards and attacked worshippers, injuring hundreds.
Daily settler incursions into the flashpoint site to celebrate the Passover holiday have further inflamed the situation. Since 2003, Israel has allowed settlers into the compound almost daily.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
Erdoğan’s comments come amid efforts by Turkey and Israel in recent months to normalize their long-strained ties.
Regional rivals expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs over the Palestinian conflict and other issues.
Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has said it believes a rapprochement with Israel will also help find a solution to the issue but that it would not abandon commitments to Palestinians for better ties with Israel.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan had told Herzog, whom he also met in Ankara last month, that Ankara expected Israeli authorities to be sensitive over Al-Aqsa during Ramadan and stressed the importance of allowing Palestinians to enter Israel.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Wednesday reiterated Turkey’s determination to defend the rights of Palestinians as the people face oppression by Israeli forces in East Jerusalem and other parts of Palestine.
“Turkey will never accept the oppression of Palestinians in Jerusalem and other regions in Palestine,” Erdoğan said at the parliamentary group meeting of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara.
The president continued by clarifying that Turkey’s political-economic relations with Israel are separate from the country’s commitment to the Jerusalem cause and that Turkey will continue to defend the holy city and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel sees all of Jerusalem as its undivided capital – a status not recognized internationally. It captured East Jerusalem, the occupied West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 Six-Day War. Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital for their future state.
“For Turkey, political and economic ties with Israel as necessitated by global and regional factors are separate from the cause for Jerusalem,” Erdoğan said.
“It is clear that the way to effectively defend the Palestinian cause is to have a reasonable, logical, consistent and balanced relationship with Israel,” he underlined.
In recent days, Erdoğan has been conducting intense diplomatic traffic in order to stop Israel’s attacks on occupied East Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Within this context, Erdoğan spoke with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Emphasizing that the familiar images that emerge every year hurt not only consciences but cause legitimate reactions throughout the entire Islamic world, Erdoğan made clear that Turkey will continue to work towards ensuring peace and tranquility in any case.
Turkey has in the past launched various initiatives within the United Nations and Organisation for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) against Israeli actions towards Palestinian and its policies regarding East Jerusalem or its status.
Al-Aqsa is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times. The holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims has often been the epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian unrest, and tensions were already heightened amid a recent wave of violence. Clashes at the site last year helped spark an 11-day war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions this year have been heightened in part by the Islamic holy month of Ramadan coinciding with the Jewish celebration of Passover.
Hundreds of Israeli settlers have stormed the flashpoint compound since last week under heavy police protection to celebrate the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday.
The Israeli police, meanwhile, imposed restrictions on the entry of Palestinian youths to Al-Aqsa Mosque to perform the dawn prayer.
Tension has mounted across the Palestinian territories since last week when Israeli forces raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards and attacked worshippers, injuring hundreds.
Daily settler incursions into the flashpoint site to celebrate the Passover holiday have further inflamed the situation. Since 2003, Israel has allowed settlers into the compound almost daily.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.
Erdoğan’s comments come amid efforts by Turkey and Israel in recent months to normalize their long-strained ties.
Regional rivals expelled ambassadors in 2018 and have often traded barbs over the Palestinian conflict and other issues.
Turkey, which supports a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has said it believes a rapprochement with Israel will also help find a solution to the issue but that it would not abandon commitments to Palestinians for better ties with Israel.
Earlier this month, Erdoğan had told Herzog, whom he also met in Ankara last month, that Ankara expected Israeli authorities to be sensitive over Al-Aqsa during Ramadan and stressed the importance of allowing Palestinians to enter Israel.
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