Weekly roundup of world briefs

Shooting in downtown Tel Aviv leaves 2 dead, at least 4 in serious condition

By Ron Kampeas

This is a developing story.

(JTA) — At least one gunman shot people at different locations along a downtown Tel Aviv street on Thursday night, leaving what Israeli emergency responders said were at least two people dead and four injured in critical condition.

Police said they were in pursuit of at least one gunman, and called on people to stay indoors and stay away from windows. Witnesses described policemen running through the city streets, guns drawn.

A spokesman for Magen David Adom, Israel’s main responder, said at least 16 people were evacuated to hospitals; it was not clear if this number included those who were declared dead.

Media reports claim the attack occurred on a busy section of Dizengoff Street, where bars and restaurants are concentrated.

The two casualties died from their wounds at the Sourasky Medical Center hospital. Ron Huldai, Tel Aviv’s mayor, said the attack apparently had terrorist motives.

Terrorists, some identified with the Islamic State group, killed 11 people within Israel’s 1967 lines over the course of a week last month.

The attacks come at the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim holiday when tensions are often heightened around prayer spaces in Jerusalem. Israeli police and Muslim worshippers clashed for weeks around the same time last year.

Zelensky: Ukraine will look more like ‘big Israel’ than Europe in the wake of Russia’s war

By Ron Kampeas

(JTA) — Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s Jewish president, said his country will look more like Israel, a democracy on constant military alert, than like their more relaxed European neighbors, given the prospect of long-term tensions with Russia.

“We will become a ‘big Israel’ with its own face,” Zelensky said Tuesday at a briefing for Ukrainian media, Haaretz reported. “We will not be surprised if we have representatives of the armed forces or the national guard in cinemas, supermarkets, and people with weapons. I am confident that the question of security will be issue number one for the next ten years. I am sure of it.”

Armed soldiers are ubiquitous in Israel, where there is a mandatory draft for men and women and where men may do weeks of reserve duty every year into their 40s.

Zelensky clarified that he was not anticipating an autocracy. “An authoritarian state would lose to Russia,” he said. “People know what they are fighting for.”

Russia’s war against Ukraine, in its fifth week, has drawn into battle civilians who have been rapidly trained in the use of rifles and other means of combat.

“Ukraine will definitely not be what we wanted it to be from the beginning. It is impossible,” Zelensky said. “Absolutely liberal, European – it will not be like that. It will definitely come from the strength of every house, every building, every person.”

US general says he is against removing Iran’s Quds Force from terror list

(JNS) — U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that he is against removing Iran’s Quds Force, part of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.

“I believe the IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organization, and I do not support them being delisted,” he told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Biden administration has been considering the move in the wake of Iranian demands that it do so in exchange for re-entering a new nuclear deal.

Ongoing talks in Vienna with world powers have been on pause since mid-March, though many expect a final text to be ready soon.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley: “So in my personal opinion, I believe the IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organization and I do not support them being delisted from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.” 

Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, other groups, threaten violence during Ramadan

(JNS) — Amid the current escalation of terror attacks in Israel during the month of Ramadan continues, officials in Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad threaten a large-scale and imminent explosion of violence.

According to a report by the Middle East Media Research Institute, they say this explosion will take place on all fronts — in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and “the 1948 territories.”

The officials also reiterated that Ramadan is the month of jihad, martyrdom and great conquests in Islam.

Hamas official Khaled Mashal said the coming period would be difficult for Israel. PIJ official Ahmad Al-Mudallal said Israel’s fears regarding Ramadan are being realized.

An article posted on the Hamas website on March 30 stated: “The leader of the Hamas movement abroad, Khaled Mashaal, said that the coming month of Ramadan will be difficult and will hold surprises because the enemy is trying to enforce quiet in exchange for nothing while continuing its raids and attacks.”

An April 1, Hamas announcement on the website, marking Ramadan, stated: “We congratulate our people and our nation on the occasion of the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan and express a wish for the days of Ramadan to be days of good deeds, deployment on the battlefront [ribat] and resistance to expel the occupation and defend Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa [mosque].”

Republican senators push bill to cut federal funding to Amnesty International

(JNS) — Republican Sens. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) on Thursday introduced a bill that aims to prevent assistance from the federal government to go to Amnesty International.

The human-rights organization has been criticized by lawmakers and pro-Israel groups for publishing an antisemitic report in early February accusing Israel of apartheid. Added to that, the director of Amnesty International USA Tom O’Brien said at a Woman’s National Democratic Club lunch last month that Israel “shouldn’t exist as a Jewish state.”

According to a release from Scott’s office, Amnesty International has received more than $2.5 million in federal funding in the past two decades.

“[It] has proven itself to be a sham of a ‘human rights’ organization that perpetuates antisemitic propaganda and refuses to hold the world’s dangerous and genocidal regimes accountable, like Communist China, Iran, Russia and Venezuela,” Scott wrote in the release. “Just last month, the Amnesty International USA director said, ‘we are opposed to the idea that Israel should be preserved as a state for the Jewish people.’ Under no circumstances should American taxpayer dollars subsidize this or any organization that continually acts against U.S. interests and demonizes our great ally, Israel.”

Scott said the bill is intended to send a clear message that the United States will not support the “radical left’s dangerous anti-Israel agenda.”

“Israel is such an important ally to the United States, and an organization that uses its platform to undermine their sovereignty should not be receiving U.S. taxpayer funds,” said Braun in the release.

S. 3999 was referred to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs committees after being introduced on the Senate floor.

Shin Bet agents kill Tel Aviv terrorist in gun battle, ending citywide manhunt

(JNS) — Israeli security forces on Friday morning killed the terrorist responsible for the deadly shooting attack in central Tel Aviv on Thursday evening, ending a city-wide manhunt.

Israel Security Agency, Shin Bet, agents located the terrorist, identified as Ra’ad Hazem, 28, from Jenin, hiding near a mosque in Jaffa.

Upon being confronted, Hazam raised his hands, pretending to surrender, before drawing a handgun, running behind a vehicle and opening fire on the agents, according to Walla. The agents returned fire, killing the terrorist.

Hazem was without clear affiliations to established terrorist factions, had no previous arrests and had entered Israel illegally, according to the Shin Bet.

The terrorist’s father, Fahi Hazem, is a former senior officer in the Palestinian Authority’s security forces, according to Kan News.

Speaking to crowds outside of his home, Hazem said, “You will achieve victory if Allah wills it, in your generation, in the coming years, in the coming days. Your eyes will see the change. You will head out to freedom and gain your independence. Allah, liberate our Al-Aqsa Mosque from the contamination of the occupiers,” according to the report.

Two Israelis, aged 27 and 28, were murdered in the attack on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street. Three severely wounded victims had been stabilized, while doctors were still fighting for the life of a fourth, Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Medical Center said on Friday. Four additional attack victims were classed as being in moderate to light condition, according to the hospital.

“We saw six patients lying on the sidewalk. We immediately began treatment … Two were unconscious and underwent resuscitation, and four others were conscious,” Magen David Adom paramedic Yisrael Weingarten tweeted soon after the attack.

Following the shooting, hundreds of police, Border Police and Israel Defense Forces units swept the streets of central Tel Aviv, with weapons drawn.

The incident brings the death toll from the string of terror attacks that began toward the end of March to 13.

Palestinian terror groups celebrate attack in heart of Tel Aviv

(JNS) — Palestinian terror groups were seen celebrating the attack that has left two people dead and at least a dozen wounded in downtown Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

Hamas said the attack was a “natural and legitimate response to the escalation of the occupation’s crimes against our people, our land, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque.”

The terror group that rules the Gaza Strip added that it would “not allow the continuation of the occupation’s terrorism and crimes, and its attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and to make sacrifices in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa mosque to build their alleged temple, on the so-called Passover holiday.”

The Popular Resistance Committees, which is Gaza’s third-largest terror group, also issued a statement congratulating the “heroic operation” in Tel Aviv.

So far, no organization has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, as in the wake of previous recent attacks, men were seen handing out candy and other sweets in Palestinian-controlled areas to celebrate the attacks on Israelis.

“Masked men distribute sweets in Ramallah to celebrate the Tel Aviv operation,” according to a tweet from the Palestinian Al Asimah News.

Ariel University wins first place in tactical robotics competition

(JNS) — Ariel University won first place on Wednesday in a tactical robotic systems competition, part of a wider event held this week in the southern Israeli town of Yeruham.

Twenty startup companies and other organizations, specializing in robotics and mini-drones, competed in the event, organized by the Israeli Defense Ministry and U.S. Department of Defense, as well as the Merage Institute, which promotes trade as a vehicle for economic growth between Israel and the United States.

The event, the Mobile Standoff Autonomous Indoor Capabilities Challenge, is the first of its kind.

Israeli companies Shield AI and Combat Ready both received second place in the robotic systems competition.

American company GSI won the object tagging competition.

Another U.S. company, EpiSci, which develops next-generation autonomous technologies for defense, aerospace and commercial applications, came first in the navigation competition, while American company Xanconnect won first place in the competition to detect humans indoors.

The competition incorporates robots and civilian drones in an urban setting in a three-story building in Yeruham, where the systems must overcome a range of obstacles and challenges.

“The winners will receive funding for further product development, gain access to American and Israeli government officials, and will be accepted into the Merge Institute in California’s prestigious startup program,” the Israeli Defense Ministry said in a statement.

16 Israeli defense companies display tech at Chile’s defense exhibition

(JNS) — Sixteen leading Israeli defense industries are taking part in the FIDAE 2022 Chilean defense exhibition, Israel’s Ministry of Defense stated on Wednesday.

Israel’s national pavilion there was inaugurated by the International Defense Cooperation Directorate of the Defense Ministry, known by its Hebrew acronym as SIBAT.

“The systems, products and technologies showcased in the exhibition in the Israeli pavilion are among the most advanced in air defense, UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] and cyber [technology],” the Defense Ministry said in a statement.

Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yair Kulas, head of SIBAT, said: “Many countries around the world are affected by the war in Europe that is threatening the existing world order as we know it. Security challenges create increased demand for Israeli technologies and products, as well as new opportunities for cooperation among countries.”

“Israel and Chile have strong and long-standing security relations,” he continued. “The participation of SIBAT and the Israeli defense industries at FIDAE 2022 testifies to the strength and scope of our cooperation. Most of the Israeli systems on display are operational and currently in use by security organizations around the world.”

Israeli defense companies taking part include Elbit Systems, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, ImageSat and others.

Israeli medical team heads to Haiti to treat burn victims

By Abigail Klein Leichman

(Israel21c via JNS) — On Dec. 14, 2021, a fuel tank truck crashed in the Samari neighborhood of Cap-Haïtien in northern Haiti. It then exploded, killing more than 65 people and burning dozens of others when residents rushed to collect the leaking gas, a commodity in severely short supply. Hospitals in Haiti are still overwhelmed with the wounded. This week, expert medical help arrived from Israel — some coming directly from serving in Israel’s field hospital in Ukraine.

Professor Josef Haik, director of Israel’s National Burn Center at Sheba Medical Center, is leading the mission, in cooperation with the US-based Burn Advocates Network.

“Unfortunately, a few months ago they had a big fire disaster and they still have injured patients that we need to treat,” said Haik as he departed on April 3.

“We’re going to do as many surgeries as we can to try and help their wounds. We will [also] bring equipment they are lacking and teach them how to use it and leave it there so they can continue rehabilitating Haiti,” he added.

Haik, who also heads Sheba’s division of plastic surgery and is a professor at Tel Aviv University, has brought his expertise to Haiti before.

In February 2020, on the 10th anniversary of the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010, Haik led an international team of burn surgeons, sponsored by BAN, to set up the first pediatric laser for treating disfiguring burn scars in children at Sacre Coeur Hospital in Milot.

Haik has often undertaken humanitarian medical missions in places such as Romania, Cameroon, Congo and Guatemala.

This article was first published by Israel21c.

Despite spate of violence, Israel to allow Palestinians to visit Temple Mount

(JNS) — Despite a wave of Palestinian Arab violence that has left 11 Israelis dead in recent weeks, Israel plans to allow women and children, as well as men over the age of 40, from the West Bank to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Israeli government said it would relax restrictions if calm prevailed.