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☆ Israeli police attack worshippers in Jerusalem's Al Aqsa
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] Israeli border policemen set up a fence near Al-Aqsa compound also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, while tension arises during clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City, April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, April 5 (Reuters) - Israeli police attacked dozens of worshippers in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound before dawn on Wednesday, witnesses said, in what Israeli police said was a response to rioting. It said in a statement that Israeli forces were preventing its medics from reaching the mosque. Friction at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, has set off violence in recent years. Videos circulating on social media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed fireworks going off and police beating people inside the mosque.

☆ Israeli raid at Al-Aqsa mosque risks igniting violence, Arab League says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Israeli security forces take position at the Al-Aqsa compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, while tension arises during clashes with Palestinians in Jerusalem's Old City, April 5, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar AwadCAIRO, April 5 (Reuters) - The Arab League on Wednesday strongly condemned an Israeli police raid on Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, saying it put regional stability at risk. In a statement issued after an emergency meeting on the incident, the League condemned what it called "crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against defenceless Muslim worshippers" in the mosque. The pre-dawn raid risked "igniting a spiral of violence that threatens security and stability in the region and the world", it added. Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit had earlier condemned the raid in a separate statement.

☆ Canadian PM urges Israel to change its approach after raid, clashes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ammar AwadOTTAWA, April 5 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday criticised the Israeli government's "inflamed rhetoric" and urged it to change its approach to the Palestinians amid an upsurge in violence. He also condemned the rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from Gaza. "We're extremely concerned with the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government, we're concerned about the judicial reforms ... we're concerned by the violence around the al-Aqsa mosque," Trudeau said. "We absolutely, unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks from militants in Gaza. We need to see a de-escalation of violence," Trudeau added.

☆ Israeli police shoot man dead near Muslim holy site
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Israeli police stand guard near a security incident scene near Al-Aqsa compound also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City, April 1, 2023. The incident overnight at the edge of the Al Aqsa Mosque complex, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, came at a high point of Muslim attendance for the holy month of Ramadan. The sacred site, known to Muslims as The Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, remained relatively quiet on Saturday. The slain man was identified as Mohammad Khaled al-Osaib, 26, a resident of Bedouin town Hura in south Israel. Writing by Dan Williams Editing by Chris Reese and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israeli turmoil alarms business leaders: There's 'fear over what happens next'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Jason Gewirtz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The uncertainty in Israel's political situation extends deep into the business sector. This month, ratings service Fitch warned that the courts controversy "could weaken Israel's credit profile." Weingarten's big fear is an irreparable divide in Israel, a country where a great degree of unity was once seen as a given. Such a drop would make the prime minister push his right-wing coalition partners into a deal that's more aligned with the country's citizens at large. Women dressed as handmaidens from "The Handmaid's Tale" attend a demonstration after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the defense minister and his nationalist coalition government presses on with its judicial overhaul, in Jerusalem on March 27, 2023.

Some Arabs said they hoped the crisis would lead to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's political demise. Others expressed hope of more far-reaching consequences for Israel, which fought numerous wars with Arab adversaries after its establishment in 1948 and occupies land the Palestinians seek for a state. The sentiment was echoed by Mohammad Abdullatif in Syria, from which Israel captured the Golan Heights in a 1967 war. Gaza political analyst Talal Okal said the crisis had brought a sense of relief among Palestinians. "But there is also a fear, they may carry out military adventures or wars to escape the internal crisis."

JERUSALEM, March 24 (Reuters) - Tens of thousands of Muslim worshippers flocked to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan for noon prayers, which passed peacefully amid tight security imposed after months of escalating tension and violence. "I cannot describe to you how happy I am to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque. I'm 50 years old and they only recently removed the security ban that had prevented me from coming here," said Nasser Abu Saleh, a resident of the West Bank city of Hebron. The Muslim Waqf, custodians who manage the site which houses the Al-Aqsa Mosque, said around 100,000 people had visited for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan. [1/5] Palestinians make their way through an Israeli checkpoint to attend the first Friday prayers of Ramadan in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque, in Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 24, 2023.

☆ Israeli protests target Netanyahu, visiting Pentagon chief at airport
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Dedi Hayoun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Despite a heavy police deployment, convoys of cars flying the Israeli national flag streamed towards the concourses of Ben Gurion Airport, near Tel Aviv. Some local media said Netanyahu and his retinue had come in the early morning in order to evade highway closures. Others speculated he might reach Ben Gurion - usually a 30-minute drive from Jerusalem - by army helicopter instead. Netanyahu's spokespeople did not immediately comment on the whereabouts of the prime minister, who was due to leave for a two-day visit to Rome in the afternoon - after a hastily organised welcome of Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin at the airport. But he postponed, and relocated meetings to a venue near Ben Gurion, given concerns that the demonstrations could make it difficult to reach the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv.

☆ Two Israels face off as justice overhaul deepens the divide
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

For them, weakening the Supreme Court would undermine the bedrock of Israel's democracy and could set the country on the path to becoming a corrupt and religiously coercive state. In 2020, the Supreme Court struck down a law that had retroactively legalised homes built by settlers on land owned by Palestinians, like Amona. Settlers driven by ideology see themselves as pioneers redeeming land that was promised by God and many feel betrayed by Supreme Court rulings against settlements. The Supreme Court did not respond to a request for comment. "The Supreme Court has challenged parliament time and again, playing politics, not nicely."

[1/5] Israeli troops aim their weapons as they clash with Palestinians during a raid in Jericho in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, March 1, 2023. The head of a pro-settler party in Netanyahu's nationalist-religious coalition, Smotrich made the comments at a conference on Wednesday amid a spate of deadly Palestinian attacks and Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank. Asked about a weekend settler rampage through the Palestinian village of Huwara, which an Israeli general on Tuesday described as a "pogrom," Smotrich said: "I think that Huwara needs to be erased". Israeli forces killed one Palestinian and arrested six in the West Bank. One Palestinian was killed and scores were hurt as dozens of houses and cars were torched in what one Israeli commander described as a "pogrom".

☆ Israel sees 'difficult days ahead' after West Bank attacks, riot
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HAWARA, West Bank, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Israel on Monday deployed extra troops in the occupied West Bank after a Palestinian gunman shot dead two Israelis and a Palestinian was killed when Jewish settlers rampaged through a village, setting fire to houses and cars. "We expect difficult days ahead of us," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said as he toured the largely empty streets of the village of Hawara with a heavy security detail. In fresh violence on Monday, the Israeli military said Palestinians carried out a series of drive-by shootings on a highway outside the West Bank town of Jericho before fleeing. [1/5] Israeli settlers stand next to an Israeli member of the military, in the aftermath of an incident where a Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli settlers, near Hawara in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 27, 2023. The Israeli army said it was still hunting down the Palestinian gunman and would send two extra battalions to the area to thwart fresh attacks and prevent rioting.

☆ New Israel law allows stripping residency of Palestinians convicted of terrorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Israel calls stipends for militants and their families a "pay for slay" policy that encourages violence. Palestinians hail the prisoners as heroes in a struggle against decades of occupation and deserving of support. Under the new law, Palestinians from East Jerusalem who directly or through their families receive stipends from the Palestinian Authority after having been jailed in Israel for security offences, can be deported to the Palestinian territories. It could also apply to some members of Israel's Arab minority, many of whom identify as or with the Palestinians. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the law as "the ugliest form of racism."

☆ Jerusalem Christians say they feel growing harassment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Ammar Awad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Feb 13 (Reuters) - For several weeks, members of the small Christian community in Jerusalem's Old City say they have felt under pressure from what they say is growing harassment and intimidation from violent Jewish ultranationalists. The church stands at the place where Christ is held to have taken the cross after being condemned to death by crucifixion. "In the past two months, I would say, since the beginning of the new government, attacks like this are becoming very, very usual," said Miran Krikorian, a restaurant owner in the Old City. Israeli police say they have stepped up patrols around Christian sites in Jerusalem as churches report abuse by Jews following the swearing-in of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right government. The cramped warren of alleyways that makes up the Old City surrounds some of the holiest sites for Jews, Christians and Muslims, and the local communities have long developed ways of living together.

☆ Palestinian teenager dreamt of being a chef before attack, teachers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Henriette Chacar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Although he grew up in Silwan, a cauldron of Palestinian-Israeli tensions near Jerusalem's Old City, Aleiwat had not shown an interest in politics, teachers, relatives, and children from his area told Reuters. They described a popular teenager with a strong personality, a passion for football and an ambition to be a chef. The Jan. 28 attack in Silwan is part of a recent surge of violence in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. After the Jan. 28 attack, Israeli forces took control of Aleiwat's family home and the government ordered it sealed. Abbasi and other relatives said Aleiwat's family had for years feared their home would be demolished because it was built without the required Israeli permissions.

☆ Deadly attack in synagogue outside Jerusalem
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Dave Lucas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

People look on as Israeli security forces work at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaacov which lies on occupied land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war, January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

☆ Seven dead in synagogue attack outside Jerusalem, Israeli officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/7] Israeli forces work next to a covered body at the scene of a shooting attack in Neve Yaacov which lies on occupied land that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war January 27, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Seven people were killed and 10 were injured in a synagogue shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Friday, Israel's foreign ministry said. The incident comes a day after the deadliest raid in the West Bank in years, and falls on the Jewish Sabbath. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad also praised but did not claim the attack. Reporting by Henriette Chacar in Jaffa and Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza; Editing by Mark Porter and Leslie AdlerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Palestinian killed by Israeli in West Bank, Palestinians say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Family members of a Palestinian man, who was killed by Israeli forces after an attempted stabbing, react, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, January 21, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Jan 21 (Reuters) - A Palestinian man was killed by an Israeli on Saturday in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials said, and the Israeli military said the Palestinian had earlier tried to stab Jewish residents. The Palestinian was trying to commit a stabbing attack against the residents, a statement from the Israeli military said. Violence in the West Bank has surged over the past year, following stepped-up raids by Israel in response to a spate of Palestinian street attacks in its cities. At least 18 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since Jan. 1.

☆ U.N. asks World Court to give opinion on Israel's occupation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Michelle Nichols | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Ammar AwadUNITED NATIONS, Dec 30 (Reuters) - The 193-member United Nations General Assembly on Friday asked the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an opinion on the legal consequences of Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem - areas the Palestinians want for a state - in a 1967 war. The Hague-based ICJ, also known as the World Court, is the top U.N. court dealing with disputes between states. The request for a court opinion on Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories was made in a resolution adopted by the General Assembly with 87 votes in favor. Any decision from a judicial body which receives its mandate from the morally bankrupt and politicized U.N. is completely illegitimate," Israel's U.N.

☆ Jerusalem chef gives tourists a Palestinian taste of life in the Old City
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] A depiction of the Dome of the Rock rests on a tower of zaatar at a spice stall in a market, Jerusalem's Old City, December 11, 2022. REUTERS/Ammar AwadJERUSALEM, Dec 21 (Reuters) - Palestinian chef Izzeldin Bukhari begins the tours he offers to the Old City of Jerusalem with breakfast at Abu Shukri's hummus restaurant which he says serves the perfect balance of chickpeas, tahina and lemon juice. For Palestinians living in the complex and often tense political environment of East Jerusalem, which includes the walled Old City and its holy sites of three major religions, food is a major part of their cultural identity. "It gives me a way to talk about Palestine and the culture of Palestine through the food," said Bukhari. A lesson on food becomes a lesson about a city which has changed hands, like recipes, over generations.

☆ Signs of Salome, said to be nurse to baby Jesus, unearthed in Israel
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Dedi Hayoun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Religious imageries left by visitors are seen in an alcove in the wall of a cave that, according to The Israel Antiquities Authority is the 2000-year-old burial cave of Jesus' midwife, Salome in the Lachish Forest in Israel December 20, 2022. REUTERS/Ammar AwadLACHISH FOREST, Israel Dec 20 (Reuters) - Excavations of a cave reputed to be the burial place of Salome, said in non-canonical scripture to have been nurse to the newborn Jesus, have found more signs it was both an important Jewish tomb and a Christian pilgrimage site, archaelogists say. Stricken in one arm, she cradles the baby, proclaims him "a great king ... born unto Israel," and is cured. The site, about 35 km (22 miles) southwest of Bethlehem, has been known for generations as the Cave of Salome. Earlier excavations located Jewish relics "but the surprise was the adaptation of the cave into a Christian chapel," the IAA said.

☆ Palestinian kills three in West Bank as Israeli politics veer rightward
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Emily Rose | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Members of an emergency response team and Israeli forces work at the scene of an attack, at the Ariel Industrial Zone in the Israeli-occupied West Bank November 15, 2022. Much of the focus is on the West Bank, which Israel - in the face of foreign censure - has peppered with Jewish settlements, deeming the land a biblical birthright and security bulwark. The Religious Zionism party, led by hardline West Bank settlers, placed third in Israel's Nov. 1 election, making it the likely no. "Only an iron fist will cut down terrorism," Religious Zionism co-head Itamar Ben-Gvir tweeted about the Ariel attack, adding that he would demand looser open-fire rules for soldiers. He was licensed to work in the industrial zone and had no known militant affiliations, according to Israeli officials.

☆ Analysis: As Netanyahu returns, concerns grow over far-right ally
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

[1/5] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu, accompanied by wife Sara Netanyahu, addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. "This party is a huge success, no religious party in Israel has ever achieved such a number," he said. With the conflict with the Palestinians surging anew and touching off Jewish-Arab tensions within Israel, Ben-Gvir on Thursday tweeted: "The time has come to impose order here. Contrary to his hawkish image, Netanyahu has often taken a more flexible and pragmatic approach than some of his predecessors. "Netanyahu now has a personal interest in limiting the power of law authorities and the Supreme Court because of his trial," Shapira said.

☆ Israeli far-rightist vows to impose order under new Netanyahu government
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. In the latest violence, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including an Islamic Jihad militant in the occupied West Bank and a Jerusalem man who police said had stabbed an officer. In the West Bank, troops killed an Islamic Jihad militant and a 45-year-old man in a separate incident, medics said. A West Bank settler and former member of Kach, a Jewish militant group on Israeli and U.S. terrorist watchlists, Ben-Gvir wants to become police minister. With Netanyahu still not officially confirmed as prime minister, it was still unclear what position Ben-Gvir might hold in a future government.

☆ Israeli PM Lapid congratulates Netanyahu on election win
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

JERUSALEM, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Israel Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday congratulated Benjamin Netanyahu on his election win as final results confirmed the former premier's triumphant comeback at the head of a solidly right-wing alliance. This time Netanyahu, the dominant Israeli politician of his generation, won a clear parliamentary majority, boosted by ultranationalist and religious parties. Netanyahu still has to be officially tasked by the president with forming a government, a process that could take weeks. [1/3] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu waves as he addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. Since the election, both he and Netanyahu have pledged to serve all citizens.

☆ Benjamin Netanyahu faces balancing act after Israel election comeback
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( James Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he addresses his supporters at his party headquarters during Israel's general election in Jerusalem, November 2, 2022. But most attention has been focused on his alliance with the far-right Religious Zionism party and its co-leader Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement against Arabs and who until recently was advocating expelling Palestinians from Israel. On trial for corruption over bribery and other charges which he denies, Netanyahu looks set to depend on support from Religious Zionism and two smaller religious parties. In return, he may have to hand over ministries that have a direct hand in setting Israel's defence and economic policies. How to square that circle with the fiery rhetoric of his allies will test all his political skills.

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