Shots fired toward West Bank settlement; no injuries reported

Fresh fires sparked by flaming objects flown from Gaza

Fresh fires broke out Sunday in communities near the Gaza Strip as a result of flaming airborne devices launched from the Palestinian enclave.

Firefighters extinguished the fire near Kibbutz Kissufim and were working to put out a pair of blazes near the farming communities of Be’eri and Nir Am.

Earlier in the day, a suspicious balloon landed in the yard of a home in the southern city of Sderot, police said. Police said officers arrived at the house and closed off the area following a report from a Sderot resident who saw the balloon land. Police sappers were called to the scene to inspect the suspicious object.

Sunday’s fires came a day after flaming objects flown from Gaza started 26 blazes in southern Israel.

Palestinian media reported that Israeli military aircraft fired warning shots on Saturday near a group of Palestinians in Gaza launching incendiary devices toward Israel. There were no reported injuries as a result of the warning shots east of Gaza City.

— Alexander Fulbright

Egypt raises military pensions amid austerity measures

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has raised pensions for military personnel and salaries for civil servants by 15 percent amid a wave of price hikes linked to austerity measures.

The raises will take effect on July 1. Sissi, a retired general, has raised military pensions several times in recent years.

In recent days the government has raised the price of fuel, drinking water and electricity as part of a reform program tied to a three-year, $12 billion bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund, which Egypt secured in 2016.

The tough measures have hit poor and middle-class Egyptians especially hard. Sissi has urged Egyptians to be patient as the reforms take effect.

— AP

German migrant rescue charity fires back at Italy’s Salvini

German charity Mission Lifeline, whose rescue ship with almost 240 African migrants aboard has been denied entry by Italy, fires back at Rome’s far-right interior minister Matteo Salvini.

After Salvini wrote on Facebook about the non-government organization’s cargo of “human flesh,” the NGO responds: “Dear Matteo Salvini, we have no meat on board, but humans.”

“We cordially invite you to convince yourself that it is people we have saved from drowning. Come here, you are welcome!” says the charity’s reply.

The Lifeline rescue vessel remains in limbo west of Malta, with 239 people aboard, including 14 women and four infants, who were rescued near the Libyan coast, said the group.

They had received food and water from Malta, and medical supplies and blankets provided by two other German rescue ships, the Sea-Eye and Sea-Watch, said Mission Lifeline spokesman Axel Steier.

Salvini two weeks ago turned back another rescue vessel, the Aquarius of French group SOS Mediterranee, which eventually docked in Spain.

The move sparked protests from France and other EU countries and deepened ruptures in the bloc on the flashpoint issue of immigration.

— AFP

Court orders Tel Aviv municipality to allow gender-segregated Chabad event in Rabin Sqaure

The Tel Aviv District court order the municipality to allow a gender-segregated event organized by a Chabad-affiliated organization to take place in Rabin Square despite the city’s initial objection.

Judge Kobi Vardi chided the Tel Aviv municipality for barring the event and rejected the requests of a number of gender equality organizations that sought to join the debate on the city’s behalf.

“Keep your claims for more important cases. This is the custom of the community (holding the event) and we have to respect that,” Vardi writes.

The representatives of the messianic Chabad branch known as True and Complete Redemption Association who were planning the event said the gender divider would be 165 feet long, but that the separation would be voluntary.

The court rules that because attendees still have the option to sit where they please, there was no legal basis to ban the event.

Top PA official: Trump administration sees us as terrorists

Senior Palestinian Authority official Saeb Erekat fires back at the Trump administration after senior White House adviser Jared Kushner chided the PA leadership as “scared” in an interview to the East Jerusalem-based Al Quds newspaper.

“This whole administration is biased in favor of Israel,” Erekat tells Channel 10. “Their peace plan will fail. They want to impose facts, but that will not work for them.”

“They see us as terrorists, and Kushner himself said that they (the Trump administration) wants to replace Abu Mazen (PA President Mahmoud Abbas) and Erekat. It is unacceptable, we are the elected leadership of the Palestinian people,” Erekat adds.

The PLO secretary general says that the US peace team has adopted the positions of “Liberman, Bennett and Netanyahu,” and again declared that the Palestinians would not meet with the “biased” Americans.

Pro Assad commander: Drone targeted by Israel had been operating in southern Syria

A commander for the regional alliance supporting the Assad regime in Syria says that the drone targeted by an Israeli Patriot missile earlier today had been conducting operations in southern Syria.

The unnamed commander cited by Reuters said the unmanned aircraft had been operating in the Quneitra province bordering the Golan Heights, suggesting that it had not been surveilling the Jewish state.

AJC condemns Presbyterian Church’s reaffirmed support for BDS

The American Jewish Committee condemns a recent slate of pro-Palestinian and pro-BDS resolutions passed by the Presbyterian Church (USA).

“The Church remains obsessively critical of Israel in its national utterances,” says AJC’s director of Interreligious and Intergroup Relations Rabbi Noam Marans.

“For many years and in myriad ways, the PCUSA has gone beyond legitimate criticism of Israel and embraced demonization of the Jewish state.”

Among the ten measures passed by the Presbyterian Church on Friday was one vote opposing anti-BDS legislation at the state and federal level and another referring to Israel as an apartheid state.

On the other hand, Marans says “there was a glimmer of hope for future Presbyterian-Jewish relations.”

The AJC says that a particularly egregious overture that called for curtailing dialogue with Israel supporters was replaced by one that called for interfaith dialogue.

Iran minister: Nuclear deal collapse would be ‘very dangerous’ for Tehran

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif warns that failure to save the nuclear deal after the exit of the United States would be “very dangerous” for Tehran.

The United States announced in May that it was withdrawing from the 2015 nuclear deal and reimposing sanctions that would hit international businesses working in the Islamic Republic.

The other parties to the deal — Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia — have vowed to stay in the accord but appear powerless to stop their companies pulling out of Iran for fear of US penalties.

“Failure of the JCPOA (nuclear deal) would be very dangerous for us,” Zarif tells members of the Iran Chamber of Commerce, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

IRNA has not said if he amplified on the dangers posed to Iran.

“This is certainly not the (Iranian political) system’s choice,” adds Zarif, one of the architects of the nuclear pact.

— AFP

Israel said to target Hamas positions in central Gaza

The Israeli military targets a Hamas position east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media.

The reports did not mention whether the Israeli fire was in response to incendiary kites being flown by Gazans from the coastal enclave.

The army does not immediately confirm the reports.

— Judah Ari Gross

In blow to chairman Gabbay, court orders Labor party to cancel convention

In a blow to chairman Avi Gabbay, the Labor party is being forced to cancel a convention planned for this evening following a court ruling that voting on a controversial motion proposed by the party chairman may be invalid.

The Central District Court rules the convention must be postponed until after a hearing tomorrow over a petition against Gabby’s proposal to increase the convention delegates by some 25 percent and cancel elections for the internal party body.

Gabbay had hoped for the convention to accept his proposal to allow all candidates to automatically become delegates, increasing the total number from 4,000 to 5,259 in a move that would likely have boosted his support within the decision \-making body.

Backed by high-level opposition to the move from former party chairman Amir Peretz and veteran MK Eitan Cabel, several party activists petitioned the court, claiming the move was against the party’s constitution.

“Unfortunately, vested interests chose to purposefully mislead the court and to burden hundreds of people in order to increase divisiveness over the good of the party and the country,” the party said in response.

— Raoul Wootliff

Israel Air Force strikes motorbike used by incendiary balloon launchers

The Israeli military confirms that one of its aircrafts carried out an airstrike in the southern Gaza Strip, which the army says was in response to a group of Palestinians who were launching incendiary balloons into southern Israel.

The army says the airstrike hit a motorbike that was being used by the balloon-launchers.

No injuries have been reported.

The IDF disputes earlier Palestinian media reports that it targeted an observation post outside the Bureij refugee camp.

— Judah Ari Gross

Pro-Palestinian Holocaust survivor Felicia Langer dies at 87

Felicia Langer, an Israeli-German Holocaust survivor who won both plaudits and attacks for her activism and legal work in defense of Palestinians, has died in Germany at the age of 87.

She rose to prominence in the 1960s and 70s defending Palestinian detainees from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, also authoring several books highly critical of Israeli forces.

The left-wing activist — who drew much scorn for calling Israel an “apartheid” state — in 1990 emigrated to Germany, where she became a citizen in 2008.

— AFP

2 Arab Israeli students killed after car slams into cement mixer in northern West Bank

Two Arab Israeli students are killed in a car crash near the northern West Bank city of Jenin and another passenger in the car is seriously injured.

Their vehicle was traveling to the Arab-American University in Jenin and struck a cement mixer at a high speed, killing the two immediately.

Eurovision song contest to be held in Tel Aviv, not Jerusalem — report

The Eurovision song contest will take place next year at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds, a senior Finance Ministry official tells the Haaretz daily.

The site is the only one in Israel that meets all of the Eurovision’s production requirements, the official says.

The Kan Public Broadcaster is currently negotiating the production budget for the event, which is expected to cost between $16 and $22 million.

A tender will soon be published to host the event, but Haaretz says the Jerusalem municipality is not even expected to compete in the auctioning.

Hod Hasharon native Netta Barzilai’s victory in this year’s contest meant that Israel would host next year’s competition. Since the win last month, Culture Minister Miri Regev has vowed that the event would be hosted in Israel’s capital Jerusalem or would not take place in Israel at all.

Israeli drone reportedly conducts additional strike in response to Palestinians launching incendiary balloons

An Israeli drone conducts another strike in response to a group of Palestinians who have launched incendiary balloons into southern Israel from east of Bureij in the central Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian media.

No injuries are reported.

The Israeli military does not immediately confirm the strike.

— Judah Ari Gross

PM eulogizes Krauthammer as one of Israel’s greatest supporters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu eulogizes Charles Krauthammer during Sunday’s cabinet meeting, saying the conservative commentator was “among the greatest supporters that State of Israel has ever had.”

“He defended Israel in a way that I difficult to describe – methodically, with great creativity and with very great daring. He did not care what was written about him and what was said about him,” says Netanyahu.

“Remember Charles Krauthammer. I will never forget him. The State of Israel and the Jewish people owe him extraordinary gratitude. They will remember him.”

French delegation detained in Turkey during election

A French delegation of Communist party members, including a senator, has been arrested in Turkey while trying to observe parliamentary and presidential polls there, the party announces.

“Turkish authorities want to snuff out any criticism of the massive fraud underway,” a Communist Party statement says, adding that senator Christine Prunaud was among those detained.

The state-run Turkish news agency Anadolu reports that around 10 Europeans faced legal action, including three French citizens, three Germans and four Italians, allegedly for acting as election observers without accreditation in the mainly Kurdish southeast.

Turkey’s main opposition party, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), expressed alarm over the number of complaints of voting violations in the southeast.

Turks are voting in twin legislative and parliamentary elections which are seen as the toughest test President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has undergone at the ballot box.

Tens of thousands of Turkish citizens are responding to calls from the opposition to monitor the polls for a clean election and a delegation of observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is also in place.

— AFP

Airstrikes kill five in southern Syria — monitor

A wave of airstrikes on rebel towns in southern Syria have killed at least five civilians and put a hospital temporarily out of service, a monitor says.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights blames the bombing raids on regime ally Russia.

“Five civilians including two women were killed on Sunday in Russian strikes on the towns of Al-Herak, Al-Sura, and Alma,” says Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based monitor.

The raids on Al-Herak hit near a hospital, damaging it and forcing its medical staff to shut it down at least temporarily, he said.

— AFP

New Jewish Agency head Herzog says government ministers damaging relations with Diaspora

Freshly elected Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog criticized government ministers for damaging Israel’s ties with Diaspora Jewry.

“The relations between Israel and the Diaspora have been severely damaged in recent years. Everything must be done to fix them,” the outgoing opposition chairman tells the Ynet news site.

After being asked whether the current government is working to ruin its relationship with Jews abroad, Herzog says that is not the case; however, he points out that when ministers have claimed that members of the Reform movement are not Jews, “it causes terrible damage in the hearts of millions of people overseas.”

Controversial enlistment bill to come to vote next week, PM announces

A controversial bill that seeks to settle once and for all the issue of IDF enlistment by ultra-Orthodox Israelis is slated to come up for its first vote in the Knesset plenum as early as next week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces.

The contentious legislation is the product of a Defense Ministry committee report published earlier this month. The ministry called the framework “a durable, realistic and relevant arrangement” for ultra-Orthodox conscription.

The proposal sets minimum yearly targets for ultra-Orthodox conscription that, if not met, would result in financial sanctions on the yeshivas, or seminaries, where they study.

The ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism have announced that they will oppose the legislation in its current form.

Erdogan leads Turkey presidential elections with 20% vote counted

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is leading tightly-contested presidential elections with almost 60 percent of the vote, state media says, in results based on a 22% vote count.

Erdogan has 59.12%, with his nearest rival Muharrem Ince of the secular Republican People’s Party (CHP) earning 26.53%. Erdogan needs over 50% to retain the presidency in the first round, but these are still early results and the outcome could yet change drastically.

— AFP

Three Palestinians injured in day’s third reported Israeli airstrike in Gaza

Three Palestinians are injured in an Israeli airstrike east of Gaza City, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.

The IDF says it is looking into the Palestinian reports.

It is not immediately clear what prompted the reported Israeli strike.

— Judah Ari Gross

Bennett congratulates Herzog on new post as head of Jewish Agency; PM still silent

Education Minister Naftali Bennett congratulates Isaac Herzog on his appointment to head the Jewish Agency.

“Bougie is talented, ethical and most importantly a mensch,” Bennett tweets, referring to the outgoing opposition chairman by his nickname.

The task that he — together with us — is facing is enormous: the preservation of Diaspora Jewry and their connection to the State of Israel.”

“Good luck!” he concludes.

Still to congratulate Herzog on the appointment is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who lobbied for Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz to win the post.

Military sparks panic in Tel Aviv after triggering siren in unannounced exercise

The Israeli military sparks a panic in central Tel Aviv after it triggers sirens in its headquarters, as part of an unannounced exercise.

Police stress that this was a drill, after receiving numerous phone calls from concerned residents.

The army says the exercise will continue into the late evening and people in the area can expect to see increased troop movements.

— Judah Ari Gross

IDF confirms it conducted airstrike in northern Gaza targeting incendiary balloon launchers

The IDF confirms that one of its aircraft conducted an airstrike in the northern Gaza Strip targeting a group of Palestinians preparing to launch incendiary balloons at southern Israel.

Earlier, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry reported that three people had been injured in the Israeli strike.

The army refuses to comment on the reported injuries, saying only that it is aware of the reports.

The military says the target of the strike was a cart being used by the cell.

— Judah Ari Gross

IDF fingers Hamas for near constant incendiary balloon launching

The Israeli army accuses the Hamas terror group of directing the ongoing, nearly constant airborne arson attacks from the Gaza Strip, identifying key figures suspected of being responsible for the project and sharing a video showing incendiary balloons being prepared in a Hamas position.

“Hamas is leading this phenomenon of explosive and incendiary kites, it is behind the launching of them and it will bear the responsibility of this terrorist activity,” the army says.

In a statement, the military says the kites and balloons carrying incendiary devices and explosives were initially launched into Israel as part of a grassroots form of terror, but has since been adopted by Hamas.

“After the phenomenon began as a form of popular terrorism, in recent weeks it has been noticed that Hamas is leading this process as an organized action in which incendiary and explosive kites and balloons are launched from the border of the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory,” the Israel Defense Forces says.

The army says the efforts to launch these incendiary and explosive devices are being directed by Hamas regional commanders. Some of the materials used to make the kites and balloons are also coming from Hamas positions, according to the IDF.

“The preparation of these kites is being done in large numbers and in an organized way by terror operations of the Hamas terror group,” the army says.

— Judah Ari Gross

Army investigating report of shots fired near West Bank settlement

The IDF says it is investigating an initial report of shots fired toward the West Bank settlement of Kibbutz Migdal Oz.

The car from which the shooting is said to have originated has sped away.

Academy that organized fatal hike gets new director; will reopen in 2019

The Bnei Zion pre-military academy, 10 of whose students were killed in a flash flood in April, announces the hiring of a new director.

Shira Etting will replace Yuval Kahan, who police recommended last month be indicted for negligent homicide for allegedly not taking the advice of an Air Force weather forecaster, who warned him the morning of the trip that weather conditions were not suitable for hiking.

Etting is a combat helicopter pilot and a major in the reserves.

She said that the academy will reopen in the fall of 2019 after it takes a year off to regroup from the recent tragedy.

Syria forces impose ‘curfew’ in Raqa fearing instability, IS

Security forces in Syria’s Raqa announce a two-day curfew starting Sunday, citing instability and fears of Islamic State group attacks in the jihadists’ former stronghold.

But they also use the curfew to act against a rival rebel group in the northern city, according to the targeted faction and a war monitor.

IS was kicked out of its de facto Syrian capital in October by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which then set up police units to secure the city.

The Raqa Internal Security Forces say they had received “information that terrorist groups working on behalf of (IS)… have entered Raqa city to carry out attacks against stability and security.”

It therefore decided to put in place “a state of emergency and a curfew in Raqa city starting at 5:00 a.m. (0200 GMT) on Sunday June 24, 2018, until 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday.”

A monitoring group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says 5,000 SDF fighters had been deployed in Raqa and parts of the surrounding province for a huge security operation.

IS lost Raqa after four months of ferocious fighting and bombing by the SDF and the US-led coalition that left the city in ruins.

— AFP

Miri Regev shoots back at new Jewish Agency head Herzog for criticizing ministers

Culture Minister Miri Regev shoots back at the freshly appointed chairman of the Jewish Agency Isaac Herzog after he says that government ministers have damaged Israel’s relationship with Diaspora Jewry.

“Herzog has not yet taken up his post and is already handing out grades to cabinet ministers for their attitude toward Diaspora Jewry,” Regev tweets.

“I remind him that it was his party chairman was the one who claimed that ‘the left forgot what it means to be Jewish,'” she said referring to comments made last year by Labor chairman Avi Gabbay.

“I suggests that Herzog learn his role before criticizing,” Regev concludes.

Earlier Sunday, the outgoing opposition chairman had lamented comments made by government ministers suggesting that members of certain denominations of Judaism “are not Jewish.” Herzog said such comments damage Israel’s relations with Diaspora Jewry.

Abbas congratulates Erdogan on election success

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his “election success,” the Turkish Anadolu Agency reports.

Votes are still being counted, but Erdogan enjoys a majority, with the nearest challenger dozens of percentage points behind.

Saudi air defense system intercepts ballistic missile over Riyadh

Saudi Arabia’s air defense system has intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh, Reuters reports.

The Houthis in Yemen have recently stepped up their airstrikes against Saudi Arabia in response to Riyadh’s own military campaign in Sanaa.