Palestinians: 10 shot and wounded in Hebron protest
“IDF says troops are using non-lethal means to disperse rioters throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at forces”The Times of Israel is liveblogging Tuesday’s events as they unfold.
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Palestinians: 10 shot and wounded in Hebron protest
At least 10 Palestinians have been shot and wounded by Israeli security forces during a protest in the West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reports, citing the head of a local hospital.
The protest is being held over Israel’s refusal to return the bodies of Palestinians killed while carrying out recent attacks.
Ma’an says IDF troops are using rubber and live bullets to disperse the protesters.
An IDF spokeswoman says in response that “hundreds of Palestinians are currently rioting in Hebron, throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at IDF troops in the area.”
She adds: “Israeli forces are still trying to disperse the crowd using non-lethal means, including rubber bullets and tear gas. However, the demonstration is still ongoing.”
— Judah Ari Gross
Jerusalem terror victim to be buried tomorrow
Richard Lakin, the US-born Israeli who earlier today succumbed to wounds from an October 13 terror attack in Jerusalem, will be buried tomorrow.
His funeral will take place at 11 a.m. at the Eretz HaHaim cemetery in Beit Shemesh.
Salah defiant after court nixes appeal
The head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, Raed Salah, takes a defiant stance following the rejection of his appeal against an 11-month conviction for incitement to violence.
“Jerusalem is under occupation and we will not give up our veneration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” he says, according to the Walla news website.
“The US Secretary of State John Kerry gives legitimacy to the Zionist occupation of the mosque. When the court says we have no right to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque and talks of incitement, we say that we will continue to defend Al-Aqsa in our own way, [and] we will win.”
Electric Corp faces fines over slow response to power cuts
The government’s Electricity Authority says it is exploring the option of fining the Electric Corporation over the ongoing power outages at thousands of Israeli homes, more than two days after fierce storms caused damage to infrastructure.
The authority says no decision has yet been made, Channel 10 reports.
Arab group slams court decision to jail Islamic Movement leader
The Higher Arab Monitoring Committee slams a Jerusalem court’s decision to reject an appeal by the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement against a 2007 conviction for incitement.
The rejection of Raed Salah’s appeal is a move “against the entire Arab population,” says Mohammed Barakeh, the head of the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee and a former Hadash MK.
“Salah was sentenced over a legitimate political statement in defense of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,” Barakeh says, according to the Walla website. “This decision is not only against Salah, but against the entire Arab population as it challenges [Israeli] actions on the Temple Mount.”
Richard Lakin’s son: He was killed by the hatred he always fought
The son of Richard Lakin blames online incitement for the death of his father, who succumbed earlier today to injuries sustained in a Jerusalem terror attack two weeks ago.
“It cannot be that the world’s most powerful social network, whose influence is probably greater than that of heads of state… allows terrorists to call for the murder of innocent Jews,” Micha Lakin tells Channel 2 television, in a likely reference to Facebook. “He died as a result of the same incitement and hatred he fought against his entire life.”
Richard Lakin was named as lead plaintiff in aclass-action lawsuit against Facebook accusing the social media platform of ignoring widespread Palestinian posts calling for violence against Jews.
The 76-year-old former American school principal was shot in the head and stabbed in the chest in the October 13 attack on a Jerusalem bus.
“From the start we understood that his chances of coming out of this were low,” Micha Lakin says.
“Dad believed in coexistence and before immigrating to Israel in the 1980s he worked in the United States to promote dialogue and equality. He was a social activist and marched alongside Martin Luther King to protest against racism.”
Report: Dozens wounded as Hebron clashes escalate
Dozens of Palestinians have been wounded in clashes with security forces in the Hebron area, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reports, quoting medics at the scene.
The Palestinians are marching to protest Israel’s refusal to return the bodies of 11 Palestinians killed while carrying attacks on Israelis, Ma’an says.
Islamic Movement head loses appeal, will serve jail time
The head of the Islamic Movement’s northern branch, Sheikh Raed Salah, loses his appeal in Jerusalem District Court against a 2007 conviction for incitement, and will serve an 11-month jail sentence.
Detained Arab teens ‘wanted to stab a religious Jew’
Two Arab Israeli teenagers arrested earlier this month tell investigators they planned to stab a religious Jewish man in retaliation for what they perceive as Israeli aggression on the Temple Mount, the Shin Bet security service says.
The two 16-year-olds were arrested in the northern Israeli city of Migdal Ha’emek on suspicion of planning to carry out a stabbing attack.
They also admit that they were inspired by the numerous stabbing attacks carried out against Israeli civilians, police and soldiers.
“This incident again proves that young men and women who choose to carry out violent actions are influenced by the violent atmosphere, the inciting messages they receive through social networks and indeed the recent terror attacks,” the Shin Bet says in a statement.
The Northern District Court is indicting the two teenagers for attempted murder, being in possession of a knife and intent to commit a felony.
— Judah Ari Gross
France to host Syria crisis meeting with allies
France is hosting a meeting on the Syria crisis with Western and Arab allies later today, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says.
The “working dinner” at the French foreign ministry will include “the main partners engaged with France in dealing with the Syrian crisis: Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Germany, the United States, Italy and Britain,” Fabius says in a statement.
— AFP
Court halts demolition of terrorist’s home
The High Court freezes the demolition by Israel of the home belonging to the family of the terrorist who carried out a car-ramming attack in Jerusalem two weeks ago, the Ynet news website says.
Alaa Abu Jamal, an East Jerusalem resident and employee of the Bezeq phone company, killed one person and wounded another in the October 13 attack on Malchei Yisrael Street. He was subdued by security forces, but not killed.
Jamal’s wife, who lives in the house in the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood with their three children, petitioned the court on the grounds that she and the children are not culpable in the attack.
13:58
Hundreds of Palestinians riot in Hebron area
Around 500 Palestinians are rioting in two different locations in the Hebron area of the West Bank, the Walla news website reports.
Around 200 people are throwing stones in the village of Beit Anun, east of the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, the report says. IDF and Border Police forces are using riot dispersal measures, including firing rubber bullets.
In addition, some 300 Palestinians are throwing stones in the city of Hebron, where IDF and Border Police forces are also employing riot dispersal measures.
13:58
Bomb scare briefly shuts down Tel Aviv street
Police in Tel Aviv briefly close Bograshov Street in the center of the city following reports of a “suspicious object” in a trashcan, spokeswoman Luba Samri says.
A pedestrian calls the police after finding a number of bottles filled with an unknown liquid and what appeared to be a gas canister in the trashcan on the corner of Bograshov and Ben Yehuda streets.
A police bomb disposal unit finds that the object was not, in fact, an explosive, Samri says.
— Judah Ari Gross
Iran nuke sanctions to end within 2 months, Rouhani says
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he expects the sanctions on his country over its nuclear program to be lifted by the end of the year, Reuters reports, citing Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency.
“According to our plans, the oppressive sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran will be lifted by the end of 2015,” IRNA quotes Rouhani as saying at a welcoming ceremony for Spain’s new ambassador to the Islamic Republic.