Egypt says it assassinated Islamic State leader in Sinai

Aid official arrested for transferring millions to Hamas

The Shin Bet security agency says it has arrested an employee of Christian relief group World Vision for funneling tens of millions of dollars to the Hamas terror group since 2010.

Mohammad Halabi, indicted today, was detained some six weeks ago at the Erez Crossing into the Gaza Strip.

According to the agency, Halabi, 38, a resident of Gaza, was recruited by the terror group in 2004 and tasked with infiltrating the World Vision organization. Halabi was appointed to an administrative position by the aid relief group, and transferred US and European donations earmarked for humanitarian relief to the terror group.

The funds were used to pay the salaries of Hamas employees, including bonuses for those who fought Israel in the 2014 Gaza war. The Shin Bet agency says these funds — estimated at 60% of the money designated for Gaza — were also used to build attack tunnels.

On June 28, World Vision posted the following statement on its website: “World Vision stands by Mohammad who is a widely respected and well regarded humanitarian, field manager and trusted colleague of over a decade. He has displayed compassionate leadership on behalf of the children and communities of Gaza through difficult and challenging times, and has always worked diligently and professionally in fulfilling his duties.”

Ex-president Katsav won’t be released on parole — report

A parole board rejects a request by jailed ex-president Moshe Katsav to reduce his prison sentence by one-third on good behavior, Channel 10 reports.

The TV report says the board will reconsider his early release after he undergoes six months of rehabilitation in prison.

Former president Moshe Katsav walks out of the Supreme Court in Jerusalem in November 2011. (Kobi Gideon/Flash90)

This is the second parole request by Katsav that has been denied. He is currently in the fifth year of his seven-year sentence on rape charges.

Foreign Ministry official says World Vision ‘negligent’

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson slams the World Vision aid organization on Twitter for failing to notice that a Palestinian manager was transferring millions to Hamas for its military programs.

“How negligent can you be?!” asks Emmanuel Nahshon.

World vision int. financed "unwittingly " Hamas terror tunnels . How negligent can you be?! Money for kids used for terror

— Emmanuel Nahshon (@EmmanuelNahshon) August 4, 2016

Woman killed in London a US citizen; Israeli hurt

The woman killed in a stabbing spree in London overnight Wednesday-Thursday is a US citizen.

The Foreign Ministry confirms an Israeli is among the injured, but offers no further details.

British police say there is no evidence the teenage stabber was radicalized.

London stabbing: woman killed was US citizen; injured from Israel, US, Britain, Australia. Police rule out terrorism. #CBC

— Derek Stoffel (@DerekStoffelCBC) August 4, 2016

UK police believe stabbing not terror, attacker mentally ill

British police say a man who stabbed six people in London’s Russell Square was a Norwegian of Somali origin, but they have found no signs of radicalization.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley says the investigation “increasingly points to mental health issues” as lying behind the rampage.

He says one person was killed in the attack, an American woman.

The five injured people are British, American, Israeli and Australian. None has life-threatening injuries.

— AP

Police at London’s Russell Square early Thursday, August 4, 2016 after a stabbing spree left one woman dead and at least six people injured. (Twitter screen capture)

Iran executes 20 Sunni ‘terrorists’ in single day

Iran says Thursday it had hanged 20 “terrorist” Sunni prisoners, in one of the Islamic republic’s biggest mass executions in recent years.

The men, who were hanged on Tuesday, were accused of carrying out a string of attacks against civilians and religious leaders in Iran’s western Kurdish region, state media reports.

Iran’s intelligence ministry earlier issued a statement detailing 24 armed attacks between 2009 and 2011, including bombings and robberies, allegedly committed by the group.

It said the extremists were responsible for the deaths of 21 people in three western provinces during that time.

“102 members and followers of the… terrorist group were identified… some of whom were killed in armed clashes with police forces and some were arrested. Some of those arrested were sentenced to death while some received prison terms,” it added.

— AFP

Confirmed: Kastav denied parole, will remain in prison

A statement from the Israeli courts’ media office confirms the parole board has decided that ex-president Katsav will remain in prison.

Katsav attorney says it’s a ‘sad day,’ vows to appeal

Katsav’s attorney says he plans to appeal the decision by the parole board.

It’s a “very hard day, a very sad day,” Tzion Amir says. He brands the decision “a victory for the inflammatory voices” of those who campaigned against Katsav’s release, including several female MKs who he says have intervened.

Parole board observes ‘seeds’ of repentance in Katsav

In its decision, the parole board concedes that it has observed “seeds” of repentance in Katsav, who has throughout his incarceration professed his innocence.

A prison evaluation presented to the board says that “our impression was that there are initial signs of understanding of his personality flaws, which led him to take advantage of others, harm them, and use his power while serving in a role of power and authority. In our view, this marks a change — even if minimal — from our earlier assessments.”

The prison evaluation quotes Katsav as saying: “I no longer want to prove my innocence, I have no strength to wage a campaign… I’m not waging a campaign… I’m tired, I have no strength for anything.”

The parole board writes that based on the evaluation and Katsav’s testimony, “those first seeds [of change] were seen” by members of the board.

“However, in the opinion of the parole board, the prisoner’s process [of repentance] has not been completed and he still needs to refine and deepen this [awareness],” the decision says.

In light of this perceived change, the parole board gives Katsav six months to undergo rehabilitation in prison. After that period, the board will reconsider his release, it says.

The decision also notes that while the board members were initially divided on the issue, after hours of debate, the decision was approved unanimously.

Death penalty in fatal attack on Jordan intelligence office

An assailant who killed five people in a June shooting attack on a branch of Jordan’s intelligence agency was sentenced to death Thursday, a defense lawyer says.

Jordan’s government portrayed the shooting at the time as a “terrorist attack,” one of several violent incidents in the pro-Western kingdom over the past year linked to Islamic militants.

Jordan is part of a US-led military coalition against Islamic State extremists who control large areas in neighboring Iraq and Syria. At home, Jordan has clamped down on suspected extremists, including jailing those who support IS on social media.

Thursday’s sentence is handed down by Jordan’s state security court. Defendant Mahmoud Masharfeh, 22, displayed no emotion when he heard the decision, says Abdel Hakim al-Asseri, a defense lawyer.

Al-Asseri represented another defendant, who was sentenced to a year in prison for selling a weapon to Masharfeh. The lawyer says his client “sold the weapon, but his intention was not terrorism or the harm the country, just to sell the weapon as any normal guy who is selling his weapon.”

The attack took place in the morning of June 6, the first day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. It targeted a local intelligence agency branch near the Palestinian refugee camp of Baqaa, close to the capital of Amman.

The assailant walked into the building, opened fire and killed five staff members, including guards. He fled, but was arrested several hours later at a mosque in a different town.

Jordan’s government clamped a news blackout on the case.

— AP

Ex-rabbi accused of sex crimes hired to teach tantric sex course

A New Age institute defends its decision to employ Marc Gafni, a former rabbi accused of sexual misconduct, as a “wisdom teacher.”

The Institute for Integral Evolutionary Tantra recently announced that Gafni would teach a year-long course on New Age tantric sex.

The Institute is affiliated with the Center for Integral Wisdom, a think tank founded by Gafni.

“Dr. Marc Gafni is under attack from certain quarters of the religious and spirituality worlds. Based on our careful review of extensive documentary evidence, numerous professional evaluations, and our collective experiences with Dr. Gafni, we fully trust that the claims of sexual harassment and abuse are false, and that other claims against him are maliciously exaggerated,” the institute says in a public statement.

Gafni has been advised by his attorneys not to comment on the issue, the institute says.

Gafni has been accused of sexual misconduct toward women, including a minor, both in Israel and the United States. The leader of an Israel-based prayer and study community before his ouster in 2006, Gafni has previously acknowledged improper behavior, attributing it to a “sickness” that he vowed to treat. He has denied accusations that he committed criminal offenses.

The course Gafni will be teaching, Outrageous Eros Training Programs, will help students “Learn how the sexual is the ultimate wisdom teacher,” according to the website.

— JTA

Marc Gafni (Shawn Jones)

Gay Syrian refugee found beheaded in Turkey — rights group

A Turkish gay rights organization says a gay Syrian refugee has been found decapitated in Istanbul.

In a statement Thursday, Kaos GL says the severely mutilated body of Muhammed Wisam Sankari was discovered on July 25, two days after he left his house, and that he was only identified by his housemates by his clothing.

Kaos GL says Sankari had been kidnapped and raped by a group of men in Istanbul in a previous attack and was trying to leave Turkey for another country believing his life was in danger.

He had arrived in Istanbul a year ago, the rights group says, without providing any further information.

Homosexuality is legal in Turkey but rights groups say hate crimes against the LGBT community are common.

— AP

Turkey issues arrest warrant for US-based cleric

Turkey’s state-run news agency says a court has issued a formal warrant for the arrest of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen.

Anadolu Agency says the Istanbul-based court issued the warrant Thursday, accusing Gulen of “ordering the July 15 coup attempt.”

The Turkish government says Gulen, who lives in self-imposed exile in Pennsylvania, masterminded the failed coup attempt by renegade officers in Turkey’s military and wants him extradited to Turkey.

The country has designated his movement as a terror organization.

Gulen has denied any involvement in the coup attempt.

— AP

Turkish cleric and opponent to the Erdogan regime Fethullah Gülen addresses at his residence in Saylorsburg, Pennsylvania on July 18, 2016 allegations by the Turkish government about his involvement in the attempted July 15 coup. (AFP/Thomas URBAIN)

Israeli hurt in London is 18-year-old on pre-army trip

The Israeli hurt in the London stabbing spree is an 18-year-old on a trip with her grandfather ahead of her enlistment in the Israel Defense Forces, the Ynet news website reports.

“On the way back from the hotel, I heard screams and saw two men running toward me,” Yuval Labkovsky says. “I was afraid that it was a terror attack and was sure the two men were running away from the incident. I approached the first and felt a pain in my hand. I thought I was just hit, but it turned out he was the stabber. The second man, who was chasing him, was the man who tried, and later succeeded, to catch him.”

“I saw a woman lying on the floor, covered in blood. Her husband supported her. Suddenly I realized I was also bleeding,” she added.

Labkovsky describes her injuries as relatively mild and has been released from the hospital. Hours later, she and her grandfather resumed their touring of the city.

“I’m not afraid in Israel, so I have no reason to start being afraid in London,” she says.

Labkovsky is set to be drafted into the army in five days, the report says.

US says German rapper who joined IS not killed after all

A German rapper who became an Islamic State jihadist apparently survived an October airstrike in Syria that the US military previously claimed had killed him, the Pentagon acknowledges.

Denis Cuspert, also known by his artist name Deso Dogg, used to rap in Berlin and became one of the most famous Western fighters for the IS extremist group.

He appeared in numerous IS propaganda videos, including one that US officials said pictured him showing a man’s severed head.

The Pentagon last year declared Cuspert dead following an October 16 strike near the jihadists’ stronghold of Raqa.

“At the time, our assessment was the strike was successful. It now appears that assessment was incorrect and Denis Cuspert survived the airstrike,” Pentagon spokesman Major Adrian Rankine-Galloway says in a statement sent to AFP on Thursday.

— AFP

Minister believes World Vision ‘turned a blind eye’

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan weighs in on the indictment of a senior World Vision aid worker accused of funneling millions to Hamas.

“I imagine that in the World Vision organization, which is very anti-Israeli, they turned a blind eye,” he tells Army Radio.

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan arrives at the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem on July 31, 2016. (Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool/Flash90)

Aid drop reaches 75,000 Syrians on Jordan border

Aid agencies say they have delivered a month’s worth of food and supplies to more than 75,000 Syrians stuck on Jordan’s sealed border, using cranes to lift bags from the Jordanian side over an earthen barrier along the frontier.

The World Food Program says on Thursday that 650 metric tons of goods were sent to two desert camps this week.

It says the operation was unprecedented because of the use of cranes and Jordanian army drones monitoring the distribution.

The one-off shipment is meant to ease harsh conditions in the camps, housing mostly women and children.

Jordan says it won’t reopen the border it closed after a June 21 attack by Islamic State extremists. The international community hasn’t found an alternative to what once were regular aid deliveries from Jordan.

— AP

Danish Muslim group denies offering French jihadist burial

A Danish Muslim organization on Thursday denies media reports that it had offered to bury one of the jihadists who murdered a French priest, after the group was slammed by politicians.

Jyllands-Posten, one of Denmark’s main newspapers, on Wednesday reported that the Danish Islamic Burial Fund was willing to bury 19-year-old jihadist Adel Kermiche in Denmark after Muslim leaders in France had refused to do so.

“His remarks were not on behalf of the fund,” the head of the Danish group, Bashir Ahmad Nazmi, tells AFP in an email, referring to the interview with deputy chairman Kasem Said Ahmad, whom Danish media had referred to as the group’s chairman.

The Muslim cemetery outside Copenhagen was only “for Muslims in Denmark,” the fund says in a short statement.

The interview had prompted a storm of criticism from Danish politicians and commentators.

A spokeswoman for the opposition Social Democrats says the idea of burying Kermiche in Denmark was “absurd”, while her counterpart from the anti-immigration Danish People’s Party labelled it “embarrassing for Denmark.”

A Danish imam, Waseem Hussain, tells Jyllands-Posten that he agreed with French Muslims’ decision to refuse to bury the 19-year-old jihadist.

Kermiche was shot dead by French police on July 26 after he and another assailant attacked a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvroy in northern France, murdering priest Jacques Hamel and seriously injuring another hostage.

— AFP

Normandy church attackers pledge allegiance to Islamic State (Screen capture: Youtube)

Ryan reaffirms support for Trump after endorsement snub

House Speaker Paul Ryan is reaffirming his support for Donald Trump in his first comments since the Republican nominee declined to endorse the speaker in his upcoming GOP primary.

Ryan brushed off Trump’s stance, telling a radio interviewer in Green Bay, Wisconsin, that the only endorsement he cares about is from voters in his congressional district.

But he also says that Trump “has had a pretty strange run since the convention. You would think we should be focusing on Hillary Clinton and all of her deficiencies.”

Ryan says it’s “distressing” that that’s not what the conversation is about.

Ryan makes his comments on the “Jerry Bader Show” on WTAQ radio in Wisconsin.

— AP

In this image from video provided by House Television, House Speaker Paul Ryan gavels the House into session Wednesday night, June 22, 2016, in Washington. (House Television via AP)

Kerry defends $400m paid to Iran, denies it was ransom

Secretary of State John Kerry says a $400 million cash payment sent to Iran when a nuclear deal was reached and four Americans were released was not a ransom payment.

Kerry says the payment was part of a separately negotiated claim by the Iranian government dating to the early 1980s.

Kerry says the cash, along with $1.3 billion in interest, was part of a dispute involving a military equipment sale to the since-deposed shah of Iran. Several Americans held in Iranian prisons were released as part of a swap at the same time.

Kerry also says he is unaware of any video showing the arrival of a pallet of cash in Iran, which Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump cited at a rally on Wednesday.

Kerry is traveling in Argentina.

— AP

Kaine laments ‘profound distance’ between cops, communities

Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine says “a profound distance” has grown between law enforcement and communities in many parts of America, and that distance is dangerous.

Kaine speaks Thursday at National Urban League’s “Save our Cities” conference in Baltimore. He says the nation needs to invest more in training to deescalate heated situations involving police so that they don’t turn violent. He says Hillary Clinton has pledged to make that investment.

Kaine also says Clinton understands the need for criminal justice reform and rebuilding trust between police and communities.

The Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns were invited to speak at the conference. Republican Donald Trump’s campaign declined an invitation to speak.

The National Urban League is among the leading national advocacy organizations for African Americans.

— AP

Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine on stage at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, July 27, 2016. (Jessica Kourkounis/Getty Images/AFP)

11-year-old boy grills Pence on Trump’s rhetoric

Mike Pence comes under harsh questioning at a campaign event. His interrogator: an 11-year old.

At a town hall Thursday in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pence, Donald Trump’s running mate, takes a question from a boy who identified himself as 11-year old Matthew.

Matthew says Pence has been “softening up on Mr. Trump’s policies and words” and questions whether that would be his role in a Trump administration. That prompts an outburst of laughter from the crowd and leads Pence to predict that Matthew will be governor of North Carolina someday.

Apparently alluding to controversial comments by Trump, Pence says, “sometimes things don’t always come out like you mean.”

Pence adds that he and Trump “have different styles — you might have noticed that.”

— AP

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence address an audience at a campaign stop at the The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center on July 25, 2016 in Roanoke, Virginia. (Sara D. Davis/Getty Images/AFP)

Israel’s envoy says UN must ensure aid not ‘aiding terrorists’

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations says the international body must ensure that terror groups are not benefiting from global aid.

“An organization which received UN support was caught funding terrorism. The UN must ensure that other organizations supported by the international community are not aiding terrorists,” says Danon. “Instead of building greenhouses, World Vision’s Gaza director funded incubators of terrorism and helped Hamas threaten the citizens of Israel.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon speaking before an emergency session of the Security Council, March 3, 2016. (Courtesy)

In ‘surprise,’ IDF chief awarded Legion of Merit

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford awards IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot with the Legion of Merit for “exceptionally meritorious service,” outside the Pentagon, an army spokesperson says.

The award was a “surprise,” the IDF says.

Dunford presents Eisenkot with the Legion of Merit, commander degree, following an honor guard ceremony outside the Pentagon in Washington, DC.

Eisenkot is in the United States to meet with members of the American military, as well as check on the developments in the completion of a fleet of F-35 fighter jets, which are due to be delivered later this year.

The commander degree is the second highest level of the award, following chief commander.

— Judah Ari Gross

Kerry says Iran payout saved US taxpayers ‘billions of dollars’

Kerry flatly denies any connection between the cash — and an additional $1.3 billion interest payment — and the implementation of the nuclear deal and the prisoner swap that all occurred in rapid succession.

“The United States does not pay ransom and does not negotiate ransoms,” Kerry tells reporters in Buenos Aires. “It is not our policy. This story is not a new story. This was announced by the president of the United States himself at the same time.”

He says the settlement agreement with Iran ultimately saved US taxpayers what could have been billions of dollars in additional interest.

“We believe this agreement … actually saved the American taxpayers potentially billions of dollars,” Kerry says. “There was no benefit to the United States of America to drag this out.”

— AP

Hamas denies any connection to World Vision aid worker

Hamas denies it has any links to Mohammed al-Halabi, who Israel indicted Thursday for funneling tens of millions of dollars to the terror group from the World Vision charity over a period of several years.

Hamas spokesperson Abdul-Latif Al-Qanu says Thursday the Islamist group has neither any “connection nor communication” with al-Halabi, and calls the Shin Bet’s accusations “false.”

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qasem calls the allegations “lies that may be part of the justification of the blockade imposed by the occupation on Gaza.”

— Dov Lieber, AP

Egypt says it killed Islamic State leader in Sinai

The Egyptian army says it killed the leader of the Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula, Reuters reports.

BREAKING: Egyptian military says it has killed the leader of Islamic State in Sinai

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 4, 2016

Prison fears Katsav may try to harm himself

Following the parole board decision earlier today, ex-president Moshe Katsav is subject to close monitoring in prison over fears he may try to harm himself, Channel 10 reports.

Hezbollah says Israeli jets struck weapons convoy

Hezbollah says Israeli planes last night struck four trucks carrying weapons near Maarba, located north of Damascus, Syria, the Lebanese website Mulhak reports on Thursday.

No one is killed in the air strike. There is no confirmation from Israel.

— Dov Lieber

IDF ‘will not comment’ on reports of Hezbollah strike

The IDF “will not comment” on reports that Israeli aircraft carried out a strike in Syria, a spokesperson says.

— Judah Ari Gross

Egypt says 45 IS fighters dead in strikes that killed leader

Egypt’s military says 45 Islamic State fighters are killed in the airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula, in which the jihadist affiliate group leader — Abu Duaa al-Ansari — is slain, according to Reuters.

Arms and ammunition are also destroyed in the raids near Arish, Reuters says.