Israeli rally calls on gov't to stop occupation of Palestinian lands

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, June 1 (Xinhua) -- About 300 Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to call on the government to withdraw from the Palestinian lands that it has occupied for decades.

The demonstrators marched from the Ministry of Defense to Jabotinski House, the headquarters of the ruling Likud party, carrying placards saying "two states -- Palestine along Israel" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies."

A few right-wingers demonstrated in front of them in a spontaneous counter-demonstration, calling for keeping "the State of Israel to Israelis".

Dov Khanin, member of socialist Hadash party, which organized the rally, said Israel's occupation of the Palestinian lands is " dangerous, malign and expensive."

"The immense sum of money invested in building and securing the settlements and constructing apartheid walls, means less to welfare and education," Khanin said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration is currently make a lot of efforts, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, to help renew the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The U.S. diplomat visited the Middle East for the fourth time last month since he assumed into office in February.

Although Israeli officials have recently expressed their desire to resume the peace talks and their support of the two-state solution, many demonstrators said they have little trust in the government's announcements.

"Over the years, Israel did everything to prove that it isn't interested in peace," said Ma'ayan Dak, a leader of Coalition of Women for Peace and an organizer of the rally.

Dak said the ongoing Israeli control over the West Bank involves "many financial interests of companies which are involved in the construction of the settlements, building separation walls, operating the checkpoints, so Israel have no incentive to cease the occupation."

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 War. It withdrew its army from Gaza under the 2005 disengagement Plan but still keeps a tight blockade against it.

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Erdogan in US, CIA chief John Brennan in Israel for sinful Syria plans

Source : islamicinvitationturkey.com

The director of the US spy agency CIA has visited the occupied Palestinian territories to discuss the situation in Syria with Israeli officials.

An unnamed Israeli official said John Brennan arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday and went straight into a meeting with Israeli Minister for Military Affairs Moshe Yaalon.

The Tel Aviv regime has not provided any details about the meeting.

Brennan’s visit comes two days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the crisis in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

During the meeting, Putin warned against any moves that would further destabilize the situation in Syria and said, “In this crucial period it is especially important to avoid any moves that can shake the situation.”

The Russian president made the comments days after the Israeli military launched airstrikes on two research centers near Damascus following heavy losses inflicted upon al-Qaeda-affiliated groups by the Syrian army.

Turmoil has gripped Syria for over two years, and many people, including large numbers of Syrian soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the foreign- sponsored militancy.

Western powers and their regional allies including the Israeli regime, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are partners in supporting the militant groups in Syria.

Israeli drone shot down due to malfunction

Source : http://old.mehrnews.com

TEHRAN, May 12 (MNA) – Yedioth Ahronoth writes Israeli Air Force has shot down one of its Unmanned Aerial Vehicles over sea due to engine malfunction.

An Air Force Shoval-type drone engaged in routine activity was shot down over the sea due to an engine malfunction on Saturday. IAF helicopters searched for its remains in the sea between Tel Aviv and Netanya.

Shoval is one of Israel's largest and most advanced drones. The IAF has launched an investigation to discover out the reason for the malfunction. It was also decided to ground all Shoval UAVs.

The IDF stressed this is not the first time the IAF downs a drone in a controlled manner.

Israel: “Reconciliation With Turkey Enabled Us To Strike Syria”

Source : International Middle East Media Center

Senior Israeli military and security officials stated that the reconciliation with Turkey, and the progressing relations between Ankara and Tel Aviv, enabled Israel, over the last few days, to carry out several air strikes against Syrian targets.

Israeli Yedioth Aharonoth quoted Israeli officials stating that the apology made by Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for the death of nine Turkish activists on board the MV Marmara solidarity ship, on May 31 2010, allowed Israel to operate freely in the north without fearing a confrontation with Ankara.

The officials said that the reconciliation and good relations with Turkey would eventually lead to a future regional cooperation “against Iran and terrorist groups in the region”.

They also said that the current relations with Turkey also granted Israel an enormous international support regarding air strikes carried out, last Sunday and Thursday, against Syrian targets, especially U.S. and British support.

Meanwhile, Israeli media sources reported that Tel Aviv and Ankara are about to sign an agreement for financial compensation for the victims of the Israeli attack on MV Marara.

Furthermore, senior Israeli Foreign Ministry officials held a meeting, Monday, in an attempt to determine the amount of the proposed financial compensation.

The Israeli paper further reported that the meeting was described as positive, and that both parties managed to reach a draft agreement, but added that “there are other related issues that need to be addressed before the final deal is sealed.”

An Israeli official said that Israel estimates the compensation amount to reach five or six million USD, and in return, Turkey vows to void all lawsuits filed against Israeli military officials, and soldiers, involved in the attack and the death of the nine Turkish solidarity activists.

In addition, Turkey reportedly promised to approve an amendment that allows the Turkish government to prevent Turkish citizens from suing Israel or its soldiers in the future.

Israel establishes DNA database of illegal African migrants: report

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, May 2 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli police have been collecting the DNA of detained African migrants for over a year, the Ha'aretz daily reported Thursday.

The compilation of the DNA database began in January 2012, and there are now samples from 606 Africans, chiefly Sudanese and Eritrean nationals  who infiltrated into Israel from its border with Egypt and are being detained at a desert holding facility, said the report.

The Israeli police have noted the growing involvement of migrants in crimes -- a 61-percent rise in criminal files opened against Sudanese and Eritrean nationals between 2011 and 2012, according to official figures cited in the report.

An estimated 60,000 African labor migrants and asylum-seekers currently live in Israel, mostly in southern Tel Aviv and the Red Sea port of Eilat.

A new high-tech 240-km-long border fence and a government directive that enables the police to detain them for up to three years without trial have led to a dramatic drop in their numbers - - from thousands every year to less than a dozen over the past year.

As far as is known, the Israeli police have not solved any crime involving Africans via the existing DNA database, Ha'aretz said.

Human rights groups have slammed the police, saying that the decision to arbitrarily investigate the illegal migrants is " discriminatory" and "damaging" to individuals forced to provide DNA sample

Israeli, U.S. defense chiefs conclude arms deal amid growing unrest in Mideast

Source : Xinhuanet

JERUSALEM, April 22 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli and U.S. defense chiefs on Monday announced 10 billion U.S. dollars' sale of U.S. arms aimed at ensuring the Jewish state's military superiority in the Middle East amid the region's growing unrest.

Reiterating his country's unshakeable commitment to Israel's security, U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said the deal included the supply of anti-radiation missiles and advanced radars for fighter jets, KC-135 refueling aircraft and V-22 Osprey troop and cargo transport planes.

"We took another significant step in the U.S.-Israel defense relationship," Hagel said at a joint news conference with Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon in Tel Aviv, adding that the new arms would ensure Israel's capability to preserve its air superiority in the coming decades.

The V-22, which to date has not been sold to any foreign country, will provide the Israeli Air Force with long-range, high- speed capabilities "to deal with a number of threats and contingencies," Hagel said.

The Pentagon chief arrived in Israel on Sunday on the first leg of his week-long Middle East tour that includes stops in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

It is also Hagel's first official visit to the country since entering his post earlier this year, and Iran's nuclear program topped the agenda of his meetings with Israeli leaders, as well as Syria's civil war and other regional issues.

In remarks to reporters on his flight from Washington overnight Sunday, Hagel said the arms sale to Israel was "a clear message" to Iran, which poses "a threat, a real threat."

He underscored that Israel's right to exercise its right to self-defense against Iran's nuclear drive, echoing comments made by U.S. President Barack Obama, who said during his visit here last month that Israel has the right "to defend itself, by itself. "

"In dealing with Iran, every option must be on the table," said Hagel, who in the past stated that he saw "no viable, feasible" military option against Tehran.

Asked whether Israel should strike Iran's nuclear facilities on its own, Hagel said that Israel is a sovereign nation and "every sovereign nation has a right to defend itself."

Ya'alon, for his part, said that while Israel prefers a diplomatic solution to the Iranian issue, its strategy regarding Iran is that its military nuclear project "must be stopped."

"We believe that the military option (to curb Iran's nuclear program) should be a means of last resort... But without a credible military option, there is no chance that the Iran regime will stop it" on its own," said Ya'alon.

Turning to the ongoing civil war in Syria, Ya'alon said that Israel has drawn "very clear red lines" to the administration of President Bashar Assad, the first of which is that it won't allow the delivery of advanced weapons to "rogue elements" like Lebanese Shi'ite militia Hezbollah and global jihadists who have joined the Syrian insurgency.

"And we proved it. When they crossed this red line we operated, we acted," said Ya'alon, alluding to Israel's alleged involvement in an airstrike in late January that targeted a convoy on the Syria- Lebanon border carrying anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah.

Regarding Israel's growing concerns about Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons, Ya'alon said that attempts to deliver such weapons into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups would constitute the crossing of a red line that would warrant Israeli military action.

Asked about conflicting assessments by different governments about whether or not the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against insurgents and civilians, Hagel said that intelligence agencies in both Israel and the United States are currently assessing "what happened, what did not happen" and warned that "the use of chemical weapons would be a game ch

Zionist regime to build 346 settler units in WB

Source : Islamic Invitation Turkey

The Zionist regime has approved the construction of 346 new settler units in two settlements in the southern occupied West Bank.

According to AFP quoting a statement released by the Zionist regime war ministry on Sunday, 200 of the units will be built in Tekoa settlements and 146 in Nokdim. The latest Zionist regime plans for settlement expansion on occupied lands came as a recent United Nations report called on Tel Aviv to immediately start withdrawing settlers from the Palestinian territories, saying the settlements displace Palestinians, destroy their crops and property, and subject them to violence consistently and on a daily basis. It also said that the settlements violate the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prevents an occupying power from transferring its own population into occupied territory, which could be equal to war crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Israeli police in manhunt after Tel Aviv terror bombing

Xinhua | English.news.cn

JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A small bomb exploded on a crowded city bus in Israel's central city of Tel Aviv Wednesday noon, wounding at least 15, and the police is searching the area for suspects.

Four who sustained serious wounds were evacuated to the nearby Ichilov Medical Center, said Eli Bean, CEO of the Magen David Adom Emergency Service.

As roadblocks are set up and forensics probe is also underway, police sources declared the event a terror attack, saying two individuals set the bomb in the center of the vehicle and then fled either on foot or in a vehicle. A suspect apprehended by security forces in the vicinity earlier was released.

A city official told Xinhua that "Upon receiving news of the bombing, municipal teams were dispatched to the scene, including welfare, psychologists and social services to assist families of the victims."

Security forces are trying to keep onlookers from thronging the area, due to the possibility of more hidden bombs detonating, and also for the possibility of rocket attacks out of Gaza into the scene of the attack.

An Israeli government official told Xinhua that the prime minister's office is reassessing the operation in Gaza in light of the bombing.

"We are bolstering security in and around the city in order to prevent further attacks," Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld told Xinhua soon after the blast.

Gaza militants on Tuesday evening fired a rocket into an apartment building in the nearby suburb of Rishon L'Tzion, wounding at least one person who did not manage to enter the building's protected room after hearing the warning siren.

Other rockets in recent days hit within and around Tel Aviv.

The bombing took place on the heavily traveled Shaul Hamelech boulevard, not far from the Defense Ministry headquarters and a major shopping center and office complex.

The bombing comes amid international efforts to achieve a cease- fire between Israel and Hamas, and as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in the country for deliberations with top officials.

On Wednesday morning, Hamas renewed rocket fire into Israel, with Israeli army forces pounding militant targets in response in order to quell the steel rain.

Hamas in the Gaza Strip had warned that it would begin a series of suicide bombings in revenge for Israel's military strikes on the Islamist group.

Tel Aviv has been witness to over two dozen similar bombings, particularly in the mid 1990's and in the first few years of the 21st century, which killed nearly 100 and wounded hundreds more. Hamas took responsibility for most of the attacks, including one outside of a dance club along the shore which killed 21 teens.

Hezbollah warns Israel against Iran attack

After numerous Israeli media reports about imminent military attacks on Iran, Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the militant Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, announced that in case of such an attack on Iran, his organization will not hesitate to target Israel with rockets.

Nasrallah: "Hezbollah cannot destroy Israel but we can transform the lives of millions of Zionists in occupied Palestine into a real hell" [payvand.com]

In a speech marking Quds Day and the end of Ramadan, delivered at annual rally in support of Palestinians, Nasrallah pointed out that their rockets are ready and targeted at Israel for such an eventuality...

Source: payvand.com