Latest news with #IsraeliPolice
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Police Arrest 13-Year-Old, Accuse Him of Carrying Out Tasks for Iran
Israeli police arrested a 13-year-old, accusing him of taking money to carry out tasks for Iran. A statement from the police and the domestic security agency Shin Bet Tuesday said the teen had been contacted on the messaging app Telegram by "Iranian elements," without elaborating. Police say the teen, a resident of Tel Aviv, was asked to take pictures of Israel's missile defense system Iron Dome, a task he did not carry out. They also accuse him of spraying graffiti at the behest of his Telegram contact. The teen was released on house arrest after being questioned, police said. Over recent months, Israel has arrested several people in connection with what it says are attempts by Iran and others to pay Israelis to spy on facilities and officials.
Arab News
03-06-2025
- General
- Arab News
Jordan condemns Israeli settler incursion into Al-Aqsa, reaffirms responsibility for mosque
LONDON: The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by extremist Israeli settlers, describing the action as provocative. On Monday and Tuesday, hundreds of Israeli settlers entered the compound in the Old City, which is part of occupied East Jerusalem. The ministry described the setters' behavior as 'inflammatory acts that aim to impose new temporal and spatial divisions at the mosque.' Settlers regularly tour the site under the protection of Israeli police and are often accompanied by government officials and far-right ministers. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah said that the settlers' incursion 'would not be possible without the protection and facilitation of the Israeli police,' demanding that the Israeli authorities 'halt their irresponsible and dangerous practices.' On Tuesday, some settlers performed Talmudic rituals in Al-Aqsa compound known as 'epic prostration,' in which the worshipper bows low to the ground in a display of humility and reverence, the Petra news agency reported. Qudah emphasized that the 144-dunam area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims. He highlighted that the Jerusalem Endowments Council, which operates under Jordan's Ministry of Endowments and Islamic Affairs, is the only legal authority responsible for managing and regulating Al-Aqsa's affairs, Petra added.
Japan Times
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Far-right Israelis confront Palestinians, other Israelis in chaotic march
A large rally in Jerusalem marking Israel's capture of the city's east in a 1967 war descended into chaos on Monday as far-right Israeli Jews confronted and assaulted Palestinians, fellow Israelis and journalists, witnesses said. The annual "Flag March" drew tens of thousands of people, chanting, dancing and waving Israeli flags after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a longtime flash point of Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Violence broke out in the walled Old City of East Jerusalem shortly after midday, a witness said, when young marchers began harassing the few Palestinian shopkeepers who had yet to shutter their stores ahead of the rally. The marchers, mostly young Israelis who live in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then began to target Israeli left-wing activists and journalists observing the rally. The demonstrators shouted nationalistic slogans and called for violence against Palestinians, chanting, "Death to Arabs.' A Palestinian woman and journalists were spat on by a group of young settlers, and nearby Israeli police did not intervene, the witness said. Police officials did not respond to a request for comment. No arrests were reported as of late afternoon. A police officer at the scene said young Israeli marchers could not be arrested because they were under the age of 18. Moshe, a 35-year-old Israeli settler from the West Bank and supporter of the current right-wing government, walked through a Palestinian neighborhood of the Old City with a rifle slung over his shoulder and his daughter on his shoulders. It was a "very happy day' because all of Jerusalem was "under the government of Israel,' he said, declining to give his last name. Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan, a former armed forces deputy commander, called images of violence in the Old City "shocking.' He said in a statement, "This is not what loving Jerusalem looks like. This is what hatred, racism and bullying look like." "We will keep Jerusalem united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a Cabinet meeting held in East Jerusalem earlier on Monday. A spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency based in the West Bank condemned the march and Ben Gvir's visit to Al-Aqsa. Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, "repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and provocative acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region," the spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement. Clashes flared throughout the day as left-wing Israeli activists intervened to escort Palestinians away from young far-right Israeli Jews threatening passersby, witnesses said. Journalists covering the rally were repeatedly harassed and in some instances assaulted, the witness said. Earlier, Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the walled Old City, known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Arabs as the Noble Sanctuary — the third holiest site in Islam. Ben Gvir said in a video filmed at the elevated compound that the site was being flooded by Jews. "Today, thank God, it is already possible to pray on the Temple Mount,' he said. Under a decades-old arrangement, the compound is administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust. Jews, who regard the compound as the site of two ancient temples, are allowed to visit but not pray there. Ben Gvir, whose visit was condemned by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, has along with others on the far right in Israel long pushed for Jewish prayer rights at the site. This year's Flag March again coincided with the war in Gaza, now in its 20th month, and escalating Israeli military operations against Palestinian militants in the West Bank, where settler attacks targeting Palestinian residents have been on the rise. The march frequently stokes tension as ultranationalist Jews stream into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem's walled Old City en route to the Western Wall, one of Judaism's most sacred sites, which abuts the mosque compound. The 2021 rally led to a brief war between Israel and Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas. The current war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israeli communities. Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state that would include the West Bank and Gaza. Most countries consider East Jerusalem to be occupied territory and do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over it. Israel deems Jerusalem as its eternal, indivisible capital. In 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump recognized all of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, congratulated Israel on what he called the reunification of the city 58 years ago. Naomi Hirschler, 39, an Israeli hairdresser from Jerusalem, walking past shuttered Palestinian-owned stores in the Old City, said she attends the rally every year. "It's something you can't explain. You feel it. It's happiness from inside,' she said, adding that she was "very happy that we have Jerusalem for us.'
Al Arabiya
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Far-right Israelis confront Palestinians, other Israelis in chaotic Jerusalem march
A large rally in Jerusalem marking Israel's capture of the city's east in the 1967 war descended into chaos on Monday as far-right Israeli Jews confronted and assaulted Palestinians, fellow Israelis and journalists, witnesses said. The annual 'Flag March' drew tens of thousands of people, chanting, dancing and waving Israeli flags after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a longtime flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian tensions. Violence broke out in the walled Old City of East Jerusalem shortly after midday, a Reuters witness said, when young marchers began harassing the few Palestinian shopkeepers who had yet to shutter their stores ahead of the rally. The marchers, mostly young Israelis who live in settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, then began to target Israeli left-wing activists and journalists observing the rally. The demonstrators shouted nationalistic slogans and called for violence against Palestinians, chanting: 'Death to Arabs.' A Palestinian woman and journalists were spat on by a group of young settlers, and nearby Israeli police did not intervene, the Reuters witness said. Police officials did not respond to a request for comment. No arrests were reported as of late afternoon. A police officer at the scene said young Israeli marchers could not be arrested because they were under the age of 18. Moshe, a 35-year-old Israeli settler from the West Bank and supporter of the current right-wing government, walked through a Palestinian neighborhood of the Old City with a rifle slung over his shoulder and his daughter on his shoulders. It was a 'very happy day' because all of Jerusalem was 'under the government of Israel,' he said, declining to give his last name. Left-wing opposition leader Yair Golan, a former armed forces deputy commander, called images of violence in the Old City 'shocking.' He said in a statement: 'This is not what loving Jerusalem looks like. This is what hatred, racism and bullying look like.' 'We will keep Jerusalem united, whole, and under Israeli sovereignty,' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting held in East Jerusalem earlier on Monday. A spokesperson for the Palestinian presidency based in the West Bank condemned the march and Ben Gvir's visit to Al-Aqsa. Israel's ongoing war in Gaza, 'repeated incursions into the Al-Aqsa mosque compound and provocative acts such as raising the Israeli flag in occupied Jerusalem threaten the stability of the entire region,' the spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said in a statement. Clashes flared throughout the day as left-wing Israeli activists intervened to escort Palestinians away from young far-right Israeli Jews threatening passersby, witnesses said. Journalists covering the rally were repeatedly harassed and in some instances assaulted, the Reuters witness said. Security minister in mosque compound Earlier, Ben Gvir visited the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the walled Old City, known to Jews as Temple Mount and to Arabs as the Noble Sanctuary - the third holiest site in Islam. Ben Gvir said in a video filmed at the elevated compound that the site was being flooded by Jews. 'Today, thank God, it is already possible to pray on the Temple Mount,' he said. Under a decades-old arrangement, the compound is administered by a Jordanian Islamic trust. Jews, who regard the compound as the site of two ancient temples, are allowed to visit but not pray there. Ben Gvir, whose visit was condemned by the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, has along with others on the far right in Israel long pushed for Jewish prayer rights at the site. This year's Flag March again coincided with the war in Gaza, now in its 20th month, and escalating Israeli military operations against Palestinian militants in the West Bank, where settler attacks targeting Palestinian residents have been on the rise. The march frequently stokes tension as ultranationalist Jews stream into Palestinian areas of Jerusalem's walled Old City en route to the Western Wall, one of Judaism's most sacred sites, which abuts the mosque compound. The 2021 rally led to a brief war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas. The current war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas' October 2023 attack on southern Israeli communities. Israel captured East Jerusalem, including the Old City, from Jordan in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state that would include the West Bank and Gaza. Most countries consider East Jerusalem to be occupied territory and do not recognize Israeli sovereignty over it. Israel deems Jerusalem as its eternal, indivisible capital. In 2017, US President Donald Trump recognized all of Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. On Sunday, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, congratulated Israel on what he called the reunification of the city 58 years ago. Naomi Hirschler, 39, an Israeli hairdresser from Jerusalem, walking past shuttered Palestinian-owned stores in the Old City, said she attends the rally every year. 'It's something you can't explain. You feel it. It's happiness from inside,' she said, adding that she was 'very happy that we have Jerusalem for us.'
The Independent
26-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Palestinians in Jerusalem brace for annual march by nationalist Israelis
Palestinian shopkeepers closed up early and police lined the narrow alleys of Jerusalem 's Old City Monday, as Arab residents braced for an annual march that often becomes a rowdy and sometimes violent procession of ultranationalist Jews. The march commemorating Jerusalem Day — which marks Israel's capture of east Jerusalem, including the Old City and its holy sites sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims, in the 1967 Mideast war — was set for later in the day. The event is threatening to inflame tensions that are already rife in the restive city amid nearly 600 days of war in Gaza. Jerusalem lies at the heart of the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, who each see the city as a key part of their national and religious identity. It is one of the most intractable issues of the conflict and often emerges as a flashpoint. Last year's procession, which came during the first year of the war in Gaza, saw young ultranationalist Israelis attack a Palestinian journalist in the Old City and call for violence against Palestinians. Four years ago, the march helped set off an 11-day war in Gaza. Tour buses carrying young ultranationalist Jews lined up near entrances to the Old City, bringing hundreds from outside Jerusalem, including settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Dozens of people inside the Old City could be heard chanting 'Death to Arabs.' Police said they would maintain order and urged the public to refrain from taunting and violence. Increased Jewish visits to a flashpoint holy site Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the country's police force, visited a flashpoint hilltop compound holy to Jews and Muslims, where the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock are located today. Perceived encroachments by Jews on the site have set off widespread violence on a number of occasions going back decades. 'We are marking a holiday for Jerusalem,' Ben-Gvir said Monday at the site, accompanied by other lawmakers and a rabbi. 'There are truly many Jews flooding the Temple Mount. How nice to see that.' Beyadenu, an activist group that encourages Jewish visits to the site, said dozens of people had ascended to the holy compound Monday draped in the Israeli flag, and had prayed there. Since Israel captured the site in 1967, a tenuous understanding between Israeli and Muslim religious authorities at the compound has allowed Jews — who revere the site as the Temple Mount, the location of the biblical temples — to visit but not pray there. Ben-Gvir says he is changing that status quo. Palestinians already say it has long been eroding because of an increase in Jewish visits to the site. 'Today, thank God, it is possible to pray on the Temple Mount,' Ben-Gvir said at the site, according to a statement from his office. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in the past there has been no change to the status quo. Police said that Monday's march would not enter the site. Israel considers all of Jerusalem to be its eternal, undivided capital. Its annexation of east Jerusalem is not internationally recognized. Palestinians want an independent state with east Jerusalem as its capital. For many in Israel, Jerusalem Day is a joyous occasion that marks a moment of redemption in their country's history, when access to the key Jewish holy site of the Western Wall was restored and the city was unified. But over recent years, the Jerusalem Day march in the city has become dominated by young nationalist and religious Israelis and on some occasions has descended into violence. ___
