Sudan accuses Israel for Iranian arms factory blast in Khartoum

Sudanese minister says 4 military planes appearing to approach from the east attacked Khartoum munitions plant

Officials in Jerusalem refuse to comment on Israel’s possible involvement.

 

Four military planes attacked an arms factory in Khartoum where there was a huge fire overnight, a Sudanese minister said on Wednesday, blaming Israel for the air strike.

Sudan explosion

Fire engulfs Yarmouk ammunition factory in Khartoum October 24, 2012. – Photo: Reuters

Sudan, which analysts say is used as an arms smuggling route to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip via neighboring Egypt, has blamed Israel for such strikes in the past but Israel has always either refused to comment or said it neither admitted nor denied involvement. Continue Reading »

Ceasefire Begins with False-Start: Mortar Fired into Southern Israel

Just hours after a cease fire by Gaza terror groups was supposed to come into effect, a mortar shell fell in southern Israel.

By David Lev

 

A mortar shell fell in an area of the Eshkol Regional Council Thursday morning, hours after a cease fire by Gaza terror groups was supposed to come into effect. Southern Israel remained on high alert Thursday after some 80 rockets were fired on Wednesday, with residents spending the night in bomb shelters.

The rocket fell in an open area. No injuries or damage were reported.

Schools were open in the western Negev Thursday morning, although residents were told to remain on alert and in the proximity of protected areas and bomb shelters, just in case. Continue Reading »

Turkey rejected an Israeli call to discuss Syria, reports Ankara

According to Turkish reports, Ankara rejected Foreign Ministry’s invitation ‘to set differences aside,’ begin dialogue about Mideast developments.

Jerusalem denies extending such overtures

By Attila Somfalvi

 

Ankara has rejected an invitation extended by Israel‘s Foreign Ministry to hold talks on the crisis in Syria, news media in Turkey reported Monday.

Erdogan and Morsi in Ankara - AP - Sept. 30, 2012

Erdogan and Morsi in Ankara – Photo: AP

According to the reports, Deputy Director General of the Foreign Ministry Pinhas Avivi told Turkish journalists in Jerusalem that Israel and Turkey should put their discord aside to discuss the escalating violence in Syria, which he warned could affect both countries. Continue Reading »

Once Again Jimmy Carter Condemns Israel

On Monday in Jerusalem, former US President Jimmy Carter condemned Israel, saying the prospects for peace with the Palestinians are fading.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter condemned Israel on Monday, saying the prospects for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are fading into a crisis.

Former US Pres Jimmy Carter

Former US Pres Jimmy Carter – Reuters

Carter told a news conference in Jerusalem on Monday said the Israeli-PA peace process has reached a crisis point and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was not interested in pursuing a two-state solution.

Carter arrived here this week with other members of “The Elders” –  group of former world leaders who are in the region to visit Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Egypt.  Continue Reading »

Will Tel Aviv win title of ‘Most Innovative City’?

In a competition testing forward thinking, The Wall Street Journal nominates the city that never sleeps as the Most Innovative City.

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Tel Aviv is one of three cities nominated for the title of “Most Innovative City” in a competition run by the Wall Street Journal. The other cities nominated, selected in an online vote, are New York City and Medellin, Colombia.

Tel Aviv - Photo: REUTERS/NIR ELIAS

Tel Aviv – Photo: REUTERS/NIR ELIAS

The competition tests a city’s capacity to adapt and re-imagine itself and the municipality’s ability of forward thinking.

Other cities that competed for the title but did not make the final voting round include Chicago, Vancouver, Seattle, Sao Paolo, Singapore and London.

Continue Reading »

Watch clip of Israeli commandoes seizing Gaza-bound boat

YouTube clip shows Saturday’s IDF soldiers’ takeover of vessel carrying pro-Palestinian activists

Ynet

 

A video posted on YouTube shows how armed and masked Israeli commandoes seized control on Saturday morning of the Finnish-flagged “Estelle” ship, which was headed to Gaza.

On Sunday the remand of the three Israeli activists who took part in the pro-Palestinian sail was extended.

Yonatan Shapira, Reut Mor and Elazar Elhanan are suspected of incitement, of knowingly aiding an enemy and of violating a legal order.

Judge Orit Hadad of the Ashkelon Magistrate’s Court defined the three as “peace activists,” but extended their remand nonetheless. Continue Reading »

Israel Air Force Strikes Gaza Twice, Kills 2 Hamas Terrorists

Israel’s Air Force strikes twice, eliminating 2 Hamas terrorists & hitting a targeted terrorist cell that fired on IDF soldiers Monday morning.

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

 

The Air Force struck at terrorists twice Monday morning, eliminating two Hamas terrorists and hitting a targeted terrorist cell that fired on soldiers Monday morning. Two other terrorists were wounded in the aerial counterterrorist operation in northern Gaza.

The IAF also targeted a terrorist cell that fired a mortar shell towards soldiers at the Gaza security fence at dawn Monday, an IDF spokeswoman told Arutz Sheva, wounding three terrorists. The soldiers were not injured. Continue Reading »

US expats in Israel can vote via ‘snail-mail’

American citizens residing in Israel can exercise their right to vote using old fashioned Post Office

By Shahar Chai

 

American citizens living in Israel will be able vote in US presidential elections using the post, sending their ballots in sealed envelopes.

Yoni Levitan – Photo: Ofer Amram

Yoni Levitan, who has been residing in Israel for three and a half years, will vote the “long distance” way for the first time, said that “Obama had four years to improve the situation but failed to do so.”

“Israel is not my only consideration” he added, “At the end of the day I’ll vote for someone beneficial to the US. Continue Reading »

After slain Lebanese official’s funeral, protesters try to storm PM’s office

Lebanon opposition leader Saad Hariri urges his supporters to pull back as heavy gunfire erupts in Beirut, with security forces using tear gas & firing into the air.

 

Heavy gunfire erupted in central Beirut on Sunday after protesters tried to storm the offices of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, demanding that he quit over the assassination of a top intelligence official.

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags

Lebanese protestes wave Syrian revolutionary flags, national flags and Islamic flags as they gather in Martyrs’ Square at funeral for the country’s intelligence chief, Brig. Gen. Wissam Hassan. – Photo by AP

Witnesses said at least two people had fainted, apparently as a result of tear gas fired by security forces after protesters breached an outer barrier around the prime minister’s offices. Continue Reading »

European Parliament to Vote on Israeli Medical Imports

European Parliament is to vote on whether to allow Israeli medical imports, or continue to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign lobby & to boycott.

By Chana Ya’ar

 

Europeans are to vote this week on whether to allow Israeli medical imports, or continue to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign lobby.

The vote by the European Parliament in Strasbourg is on the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance  (ACAA) of industrial products between Israel and the EU. If approved, Israel will export to Europe thousands of euros’ worth of life-saving medications at a much lower price, due to the ability of generic pharmaceutical firm Teva to produce them. Continue Reading »

Fatah wins West Bank elections, but not by a landslide

Palestinians in the West Bank vote for mayors & local councils for 1st time since 2006

Just under 55% voted & renegades won more council seats than those officially endorsed by Fatah.

By The Associated Press and Israel Hayom Staff

 

Palestinians voted for local councils in dozens of towns in the West Bank on Saturday, but Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah movement did not get the sweeping endorsement they hoped for — even though archrival Hamas boycotted the vote.

Maysoun Qawasmi, a candidate in the Palestinian municipal elections and leading the women-only list, casts her ballot in Hebron on Saturday.

Continue Reading »

The Sunday Times: Dagan faces threat from Iranian assassination squad

The Sunday Times: Mossad has sent enough agents to Minsk “not only to defend the hospital but the entire city.”

By JPOST.COM STAFF

 

Former Mossad chief and Yesh Sikuy director Meir Dagan is facing the threat of assassination by an Iranian hit squad as he recovers from a liver transplant in Belarus, The Sunday Times reported.

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. - Photo: REUTERS

Meir Dagan with PM Binyamin Netanyahu. – Photo: REUTERS

After Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko revealed last week that Meir Dagan was recovering in a hospital in Minsk, Israeli officials immediately increased his protection, The Times reported. It added that sources indicated Iran, or its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah, would try to kill him.

Continue Reading »

‘We were tasered’ say Estelle activist

Pro-Palestinian activist accused IDF soldiers of using stun guns as they seized Gaza-bound vessel

Roee Idan

 

Activists who were detained aboard the Estelle, a Gaza-bound ship that was seized but the Israel Navy on Saturday, accused the soldiers of using taser guns to overpower them, Ynet learned Sunday.

Pro-Palestinian Israeli activist Yonatan Shapira, who was detained by the military, told his mother, Dr. Zvia Shapira, that soldiers used stun guns to subdue the activists.

The IDF said Saturday that the vessel was seized without the use of force.

Shapira called his mother from the Ashdod Police station, where he and Israeli activists Elik Yehezkel and Reut Mor were taken after they were detained. Continue Reading »

IDF Reports: No Humanitarian Aid on Estelle Ship

The IDF has confirmed that the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza had no humanitarian aid on board.

By Elad Benari

 

The IDF has confirmed that there was no humanitarian aid whatsoever on the Estelle, the boat which sought to break Israel’s naval blockade on Gaza.

The Estelle

The Estelle – IDF Spokesman

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli troops boarded the boat, which was carrying 17 passengers, among them five parliamentarians from Europe and a former Canadian lawmaker. The IDF said the boarding was carried out only after “numerous calls to the passengers onboard” which went unanswered. Continue Reading »

Massive natn’l exercise to simulate 7,000 deaths in devastating ‘earthquake’

“Turning Point 6” set to begin Sunday nation-wide, will last for 4 days & drill emergency teams, schools & citizens on how to act during a devastating earthquake

According to scenario, 170,000 people will become homeless.

By Lilach Shoval

 

The ground will “shake” this coming Sunday morning, at least in theory: The Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces Homefront Command are making the final preparations for a massive country-wide drill simulating a large-scale, devastating earthquake.

The training exercise, titled Turning Point 6, is scheduled to conclude on Thursday.

Soldiers from the IDF Homefront Command training for the “earthquake” they will face during Turning Point 6 next week.

Continue Reading »