Weekly roundup of world briefs

Police arrest Palestinian with an axe, suicide note in Samaria

(JNS) — A 22-year-old resident of Al-Bireh was arrested on Sunday night after police found an axe in his vehicle, along with a suicide note stating his intention of carrying out a terror attack, police said in a statement.

The suspect had been pulled over at Tapuah Junction, just east of Ariel in Judea and Samaria, during a police patrol to “prevent friction and maintain public order,” according to police.

An initial investigation found that the suspect had been driving around for an hour looking for solitary Israelis, with a view to attacking them, police said.

Samaria sub-district head Asst. Cmdr. Haim Sergerof praised the officers that made the arrest, saying that their awareness had apparently prevented “a big terror attack.”

The IDF together with the Border Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) conducted multiple counter-terror raids in Judea and Samaria overnight Sunday, resulting in the arrest of nine suspects overnight.

Raids occurred in the Palestinian towns of Betunia, Iktaba and Tulkarm, the military said. “Gunshots were fired at the forces and shots were heard in the town of Al-Yamin during the counter-terrorism activity in the area,” the IDF said. There were no Israeli casualties reported.

US to remove Kahana Chai (Kach) from its Foreign Terror Organizations list

(JNS) — The United States is preparing to remove the Jewish far-right movement Kahana Chai (Kach) from its Foreign Terrorist Organization list along with four other groups, the Associated Press reported on Monday.

All of the groups to be removed from the list, including a Gaza-based jihadist organization, are “believed to be defunct,” the report said. Kahane Chai has not been linked to a terrorist attack since 2005, the State Department said according to the report.

However, “Although the groups are inactive, the decision is politically sensitive for the Biden administration and the countries in which the organizations operated,” the report stated.

The other four groups are Basque Fatherland and Liberty; Aum Shinrikyo, a Japanest group which carried out a deadly sarin gas attack in Tokyo in 1995; Mujahidin Shura Council in the Environs of Jerusalem, an umbrella group of several Gaza-based jihadist organizations; and Gama’a al-Islamiyya, an Egyptian Islamist movement that attempted to topple the Egyptian government in the 1990s through hundreds of deadly terror attacks.

The State Department informed Congress that the five groups will be removed in the coming week.

U.S. law states that an administrative review of terror designations is required every five years.

“Revoking FTO designations ensures our terrorism sanctions remain current and credible and does not reflect any change in policy towards the past activities of any of these the organizations,” the State Department said in a statement.

Appearance on the FTO list results in significant sanctions, such as asset freezes, travel bans and a ban on U.S. citizens materially assisting the organization in question, according to the Associated Press.

The groups will however remain on the U.S. list of Specially Designated Global Terrorist entities, keeping sanctions on any property and assets linked to the groups within American jurisdictions.

Israeli soldier thwarts car-jacking near Bet El; Palestinian suspect neutralized

(JNS) —An armed Palestinian was shot by Israeli forces on Friday after hurling a rock at and attempting to force his way into a civilian vehicle on a road near Bet El, according to the Israeli military.

After failing to enter the car, the suspect attempted to flee the scene but was pursued by a passing soldier who had witnessed the attack. In a video released by the IDF, the suspect can be seen approaching the soldier wielding what appears to be a large rock. The soldier then opens fire at the assailant’s lower body, neutralizing him.

“The suspect was found to have a knife and bottle of acid in his possession,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement.

The suspect was evacuated to the hospital for treatment, according to the IDF.

This morning, a suspect hurled a brick at an Israeli civilian vehicle & attempted to break into it near Bet El.

Our soldiers neutralized the suspect, who was then taken to a hospital for treatment.

The suspect was found to have a knife & bottle of acid in his possession.

Also on Friday, the Israel Police foiled an attempted terrorist attack in the country’s Sharon district.

According to a police statement, a Palestinian resident of Tulkarm entered Israel illegally, armed with a knife and a written will stating his intention to carry out an attack.

The suspect was arrested next to Route 444. Officers from Taibe Police Station together with municipal police had responded to reports of a suspicious individual wandering in the area with a rock in his hand, police said.

Herzog visits UAE to pay respects following death of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

(JNS) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog flew to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday to convey his condolences to the new UAE president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to his family and the Emirati people on the death of the country’s former ruler, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Sheikh Khalifa was the half-brother of Mohammed, often known as MBZ, who served as the UAE’s crown prince.

Sheikh Khalifa, a pro-Western modernizer who had aligned the Gulf Arab state closer to the United States and its allies, died on Friday at age 73, according to Reuters.

“The Ministry of Presidential Affairs announced the death of Khalifa, who was also ruler of the UAE’s richest emirate, Abu Dhabi, but gave no details,” said the report.

Khalifa has rarely been seen in public since suffering a stroke in 2014, according to the report.

“The UAE has lost its righteous son and leader of the ’empowerment phase’ and guardian of its blessed journey,” Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed said on Twitter, praising Khalifa’s wisdom and generosity.

Under Khalifa’s term as president, the UAE and Israel normalized relations in the historic Abraham Accords, which were signed in Washington on Sept. 15, 2020.

Syrian media reports five dead, seven injured in Israeli strike in Hama Governorate

(JNS) — Five people were killed and seven injured on Friday in an Israeli air strike in Hama Governorate in west-central Syria, according to Syrian state media.

Israel launched “bursts of missiles” from over the Mediterranean at 11:20 p.m., triggering air defense systems, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency.

Four members of the Syrian regime’s air defense personnel, including a lieutenant, were among those killed, according to the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a pro-opposition group which aims to document human rights abuses in Syria.

“At least eight” missiles had been launched at weapons depots and “Iranian sites” in the Masyaf area, according to SOHR.

The Alma Center defense research group in Israel noted that the area reportedly targeted hosts Syria’s Scientific Studies and Research Center, known by its French acronym, CERS.

CERS is involved in Hezbollah’s precision missile project and has been attacked before, according to Alma.

The strike is the latest in a series of attacks in Syria attributed to Israel in recent years, the most recent of which occurred on May 11, according to Israeli and Syrian media reports.

SANA reported at the time that Israeli missiles hit a target near the town of Hader in the northern Quneitra countryside at around 3 a.m., while Israel’s Kan News later reported a second strike, which it said had targeted a Syrian military observation post.

There were no reports of casualties in either strike, though SANA reported that the earlier strike caused material damage.

Israel reopens Gaza border crossing; justice minister says move ‘unjustified’

(JNS) — Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced on Saturday that the Erez Border Crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip would reopen on Sunday.

Israel sealed the crossing, as well as the crossings between Israel and the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, on May 3, preventing the flow of some 12,000 Palestinian Gazan workers into Israel. The closures were in response to Hamas’s role in stoking violence in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.

The decision to reopen the crossing was opposed by Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, who said the move was unjustified at this time.

In a tweet, Sa’ar cited the ongoing incitement by Hamas and its leader in Gaza Yahya Sinwar, and said the terror group’s leaders should be “taken out of their comfort zone.”

Israel reopened crossings linking Israel to Judea and Samaria on May 9.

Auschwitz survivor, 98, wins Simon Wiesenthal Prize for Holocaust education

(JNS) — A survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp who became a social-media celebrity thanks to her great-grandson was one of four people to win a Simon Wiesenthal Prize.

Lily Ebert, 98, was born in Hungary in 1923 and deported in 1944 to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where her mother, younger brother and sister were killed. After four months in the camp, Ebert and two of her other sisters were transferred to a labor factory. She was liberated by U.S. troops and eventually moved to the United Kingdom.

Her great-grandson, Dov Forman, created a TikTok account for her several years ago so she could tell young people today about her experiences. Ebert has since garnered more than 1.9 million followers.

Last fall, the British citizen published her memoir Lily’s Promise: How I Survived Auschwitz and Found the Strength to Live, co-written by Forman.

The other winners are Zwi Nigal, who fought in the British army against Nazi Germany; Austrian journalist Karl Pfeifer; and Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, president of Italy’s special committee against intolerance, racism and anti-Semitism.

All four individuals were shortlisted for the award.

The Simon Wiesenthal Prize jury decided to give the prize money to all the nominees as a way to honor their collective life’s achievements, said Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission coordinator on combating anti-Semitism.

Australian state of Victoria seeks to ban swastika, except for ‘religious’ use

(JNS) — The government of Victoria, Australia, introduced a bill into parliament on Wednesday that would ban the public display of Nazi swastikas.

The legislation is expected to pass and would only apply to the Nazi swastika, with exceptions for religious versions of the symbol connected to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, reported Australia’s SBS News.

It will also remain legal to use the symbol for historical, educational and artistic purposes. Swastika memorabilia can also still be sold if the symbol is covered when publicly displayed. The legislation does not cover online use of the hate symbol.

Once passed, Victoria (population 6.6 million) will become the first Australian state or territory to ban the public display of the Nazi swastika. Those violating the law and who do not comply with police orders to remove the swastika could face up to one year in prison and a $22,000 fine, according to SBS News.

According to a report by the Community Security Group, nearly 500 anti-Semitic incidents occurred in Australia in 2021, 30 percent of which took place in Victoria.

The region’s premier, Daniel Andrews, also announced on Wednesday that the Australian state will adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) working definition of anti-Semitism, reported the Australian Jewish publication J-Wire. The announcement was made at an Israel Independence Day event co-hosted by the organizations Zionism Victoria and the Zionist Federation of Australia.

The IHRA definition has already been adopted by Australia’s national government and the Australian state of New South Wales.

IAEA head says Iran won’t disclose nuclear activity at undeclared sites

(JNS) — Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi said Iran was not cooperating fully regarding uranium particles found at older, undeclared sites.

“I am not trying to pass an alarmist message that we are at a dead-end, but the situation does not look very good. Iran has not been forthcoming in the type of information we need from them,” he told European Parliament committees on Tuesday, reported Reuters.

“We are, of course, still hopeful that some agreement is going to be reached within a reasonable time frame, although we have to recognize the fact that the window of opportunity could be closed any anytime,” he said.

Since March, international negotiations in Vienna over reviving the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled, mainly over Iran’s demand that Washington remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations.