Live updates (closed)
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
The Times of Israel liveblogged Sunday’s events as they happened.
Armed police raid reported in east London
British media are reporting an armed police operation taking place in east London. Scotland Yard declines to comment on the reports of the raid, or say whether the operation is linked to Monday’s deadly terror attacks in London Bridge.
Footage from Sky News and social media show a police cordon around an apartment building in Barking, a suburb in east London.
Authorities have said officers shot dead all three attackers in Monday night’s attack, which left seven people dead, but that the investigation is continuing.
— Agencies
Spain says one Spaniard among the dozens of wounded in London
Spain’s Foreign Ministry says that one Spaniard is among the dozens wounded in the London attacks.
A ministry spokesperson tells The Associated Press that the Spanish man has been taken to a hospital where he is being treated for wounds described as not serious. The spokesperson speaks anonymously in line with ministry policy.
Spain’s King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy have expressed their condolences for the victims of the attacks.
The Spanish Royal Family wrote on Twitter: “The British people will overcome this barbarism and senselessness. We are united today in pain and in our tireless defense of freedom.”
— AP
Manchester Police vow tighter security at Ariana Grande benefit concert
Manchester Police say security will be increased for the highly anticipated Ariana Grande benefit concert later Sunday.
The One Love Manchester event will take place as planned but with extra protection.
Assistant Chief Constable Garry Shewan says Sunday there will be additional security checks and everyone will be searched at the Manchester event. Armed police will also attend.
Grande was performing when a bomber attacked her Manchester Arena concert on May 22, killing 22 people. She will be joined at Sunday’s benefit by Katy Perry, Coldplay, Justin Bieber and others.
Grande has been meeting with some attack victims being treated in Manchester hospitals in recent days.
— AP
Iran condemns London attacks as ‘alarming signal’ for the world
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman is condemning the “terrorist attacks” in London and expresses sympathy for the families of the victims.
State TV is reporting that Bahram Ghasemi says an increasing number of extremist attacks is “an alarming signal for the global community.”
He condemns terrorism in “all shapes and aspects regardless of purpose and motive.”
— AP
Sephardic Jews to convene global summit in Mexico
RIO DE JANEIRO — Sephardic Jews from more than 20 countries will gather at a biennial summit in Mexico City.
Coordinated by the Latin American Sephardic Federation, the Cumbre Erensya summit will bring together delegates from the Americas, Europe and Australia on June 5-7. Former meetings took place in Spain, Turkey and Bulgaria.
“Erensya 2017 will look at the Jewish presence in Mexico during colonial times and the emergence of its institutional life until the present day. It also will allow the exchange of relevant experiences in the Sephardic world,” reports the Enlance Judio news website.
Erensya, or heritage in Ladino, is the name of the initiative led by the Madrid-based Sefarad-Israel Center to establish a bridge between Spain and the Sephardic Diaspora.
The event includes visits to Mexico’s oldest synagogues and other Jewish sites. Some mayors of Spanish cities also will attend in order to witness how their country’s language, traditions, customs and mentality have been passed on to new generations.
Mexico is home to some 50,000 Jews, Latin America’s third-largest Jewish community after Argentina and Brazil.
— JTA
Pope Francis prays for London attack victims
Pope Francis offers prayers for the victims of the London attacks during a traditional Sunday blessing following Mass that marks the Pentecost holiday.
Francis invokes prayers that the Holy Spirit “grants peace to the whole world and heal the wounds of war and of terrorism, which also last night, in London, struck innocent victims.”
The pope asks for prayers for the victims and their family members caught up in the attack in London Bridge Saturday, which left seven dead and almost 50 wounded.
Pentecost concludes the Easter season.
Pope Francis, bottom right, is driven through the crowd as his image is projected on a giant screen, in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, June 4, 2017. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
— AP
London attack left many tourists stranded
The attack in London Bridge, a busy area filled with hotels and restaurants, left many visitors and tourists stranded after police cordoned off a large area near the crime scene. Many spent the night in improvised sleeping spaces, from the floors of hotel bars or restaurants to chairs of conference rooms.
Sue and Jason Dunt and a second couple, Richard and Michelle Orme, were out enjoying a post-matinee dinner on London’s Embankment on Saturday. They tried to make it back to their hotel but were stymied by the police cordon thrown up around the attack site, and eventually found shelter in another hotel’s conference room.
“We were wandering the streets until three in the morning,” says Richard, a 40-year-old retail worker.
“There were people sleeping in the sofas in the reception and the restaurant. It was really good of them,” he adds.
— AP
Star-studded lineup for Ariana Grande’s return to Manchester stage
NEW YORK — Ariana Grande is scheduled to return to the stage Sunday in Manchester, England, for a concert to raise money for victims of a suicide bombing that struck at the end of her last show nearly two weeks ago.
She won’t be alone.
A star-studded lineup including Justin Bieber, Coldplay, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Marcus Mumford and Take That is scheduled to perform at the “One Love Manchester” concert at the city’s Old Trafford cricket ground. The show will be broadcast across the globe and proceeds will go to an emergency fund set up by the city of Manchester and the British Red Cross.
The May 22 attack at Grande’s Manchester concert killed 22 and wounded dozens more. The pop singer visited young fans injured in the attack at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital on Friday.
In this photo taken on Friday, June 2, 2017 provided by the Manchester Evening News, victim of the Manchester concert blast Lily Harrison hugs singer Ariana Grande during her visit to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, in Manchester, England. (Manchester Evening News via AP)
Sunday’s concert comes one day after attackers targeted the heart of London, killing seven people.
“We will not quit or operate in fear. We won’t let this divide us. We won’t let hate win,” Grande wrote in a statement when she announced the benefit concert last week. “Our response to this violence must be to come closer together, to help each other, to love more, to sing louder and to live more kindly and generously than we did before.”
Other performers will include Pharrell Williams, Usher, the Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams and Niall Horan.
— AP
Gulf states, Turkey condemn London attacks
Arab Gulf countries and Turkey are condemning the attack in London that left six people dead and more than 40 others injured.
The United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait issue separate statements condemning such attacks and expressing their support for the British government.
The Saudi Embassy in the UK calls on its citizens in London to exercise caution in crowded areas and follow police instructions.
In Turkey, the foreign ministry expresses its “deep sadness.” The ministry says that as “Turkey and the Turkish people, who have been subjected to similar attacks many times, we understand and share the pain of the people of the United Kingdom.”
The ministry emphasizes Turkey’s readiness to support the UK in its fight against extremism
— AP
British minister: No more perpetrators at large after attacks
Britain’s interior minister says the country’s terrorism threat level will not be raised because police believe there are no perpetrators still on the loose.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd says “we don’t believe there are additional elements” at large.
The level was raised to “critical” for several days after the March 22 concert bombing in Manchester, as police raced to track down the attacker’s possible accomplices.
It now stands at “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely.
Three men were shot dead by police on Saturday, minutes after a van mowed into pedestrians on London Bridge and multiple people were stabbed around nearby Borough Market. Police say seven people were killed and 48 hospitalized.
Rudd tells ITV television that more must be done to fight the “onslaught of jihadi propaganda that is radicalizing people online.”
— AP
Trump tweets on London attacks: ‘Stop being politically correct’
US President Donald Trump says Sunday the attack in London showed it was time to “stop being politically correct,” warning the threat will only grow worse otherwise.
“We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don’t get smart it will only get worse,” Trump says in a tweet.
In a series of early morning tweets, Trump also pours scorn on London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s attempt to reassure the public after three assailants smash a van into pedestrians on London Bridge on Saturday then attack with knives.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'” he says in one tweet.
In another tweet, Trump derides gun control advocates.
“Do you notice we are not having a gun debate right now? That’s because they used knives and a truck!”
— AFP
UK chief rabbi calls for commitment to peace, tolerance following attack
British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis calls on Britons to remain committed to the values of peace and tolerance in the wake of a terror attack in London that left at least 7 people dead.
“In the wake of yet another attack, of more loss of life and of more families devastated by terror, every one of us will once again feel the now too familiar sense of horror and helplessness,” Mirvis says in a statement that is posted on his Facebook page.
“After Westminster and Manchester we stood together defiant. Yet it seems the terrorists believe that where they have previously failed to poison our communities, with their destructive ideology of hatred and prejudice, they can succeed with still more bloodshed and murder. But we must not let them.
“We will not be cowed or intimidated nor will we allow our commitment to the values of peace and tolerance to be diminished. In the face of every attack, however devastating, we must continue to cleave ever closer to these values because ultimately they are what will defeat the evil of terror,” he says.
— JTA
Five Palestinians suspected of planning to attack Temple Mount visitors
The Shin Bet and Jerusalem Police arrest five Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem on suspicion of planning to attack security forces and visitors at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Shin Bet says Sunday.
The arrests took place over the past month, and center around one Old City residents identified by the Shin Bet as Mahmoud Abed al-Wahhab Said Abed al-Latif, who is believed to be the recruiter and mastermind of the cell.
The Jerusalem Prosecutor’s Office has filed terrorism indictments against the five men.
Netanyahu meeting with Togo’s president said canceled after bodyguards scuffle
Israeli diplomatic reporters say a physical altercation between the bodyguards of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and those of Togo President Faure Gnassingbé led to a cancellation of the meeting between the two leaders at the ECOWAS summit in Monrovia, Liberia.
The altercation includes “shoving” and “punches,” Channel 10 reporter Moav Vardi says on Twitter.
According to Vardi, Gnassingbé arrived at the meeting with his bodyguards, but these were stopped at the door to the meeting room by Netanyahu’s security detail, where the Israelis reportedly demanded that the Togo security personnel identify themselves.
When he sees his bodyguards prevented from entering, Gnassingbé reportedly walks out, canceling the meeting.
Jerusalem Mayor Barkat to London’s Khan: ‘We stand by your side’
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat sends his condolences to London’s Mayor Sadiq Khan declaring the capital’s solidarity with terror-struck London.
“On behalf of all of the residents of Jerusalem, I am writing to express our deepest condolences to the residents of London. We stand by your side during this difficult time,” the letter reads.
“An attack in London is an attack against the values of freedom and democracy around the world,” Barkat says. “Jerusalem stands with London — today and always.”
PM meeting with Togo’s president rescheduled after bodyguards scuffle
The Prime Minister’s Office says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbé at the ECOWAS summit in Monrovia, Liberia, is rescheduled for later today after it was reportedly canceled in the wake of a scuffle between the two leaders’ bodyguards.
— Raphael Ahren
Heavy rocket and artillery fire shake Syria’s Daraa
BEIRUT — Syrian activists say fresh fighting has broken out in the southern city of Daraa between the rebels and pro-government forces.
Local opposition activist Ahmad al-Masalmeh says pro-government forces pounded the divided city with airstrikes and artillery fire on Sunday, one day after rebels attacked government positions.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says at least three different parts of the city have come under rocket and missile attack by government forces, and that rebels are returning fire.
Syrian military media distributes footage showing its planes and artillery striking built up areas.
Daraa is understood to lie within four “de-escalation” zones around Syria, where Russia, Turkey, and Iran have guaranteed cease-fires between the warring parties. The precise boundaries of the zones are unclear.
— AP
Policeman hurt in Mea Shearim scuffle over attacks on soldiers
Residents of the ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood throw stones and other items at police officers who enter the neighborhood Sunday to investigate a previous attack that targeted a uniformed IDF soldier.
One officer is lightly hurt from a stone hitting him in the head.
Police say residents set dumpsters on fire and attempted to block the roads.
The latest incident follows Friday’s arrest of 16 Haredi men in the neighborhood who were allegedly caught attacking an undercover cop dressed as a soldier.
London mayor: ‘More important things to do’ than respond to Trump
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has “more important things to do” than respond to an “ill-informed” tweet sent by US President Donald Trump after the London terror attack, his office says Sunday.
“The Mayor is busy working… to coordinate the response to this horrific and cowardly terrorist attack,” says Khan’s spokesman. “He has more important things to do than respond to Donald Trump’s ill-informed tweet that deliberately takes out of context his remarks urging Londoners not to be alarmed when they saw more police — including armed officers — on the streets.”
Trump poured scorn on Khan earlier Sunday.
“At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'” he said in one tweet.
— AFP
Bnei Brak man held for calling for ‘terror attack’ at Tel Aviv pride parade
Police arrest a 20-year-old man from the Tel Aviv suburb of Bnei Brak after he allegedly posted a call online to carry out a terror attack at Tel Aviv’s upcoming gay pride march.
The Facebook post read in Hebrew: “Who’s coming with me to carry out a terror attack at the pride march?”
Police have opened investigation into the incident.
European cooperation vital, Macron tells May after attack
PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron stresses the importance of European cooperation in the fight against extremist violence during a phone call Sunday with his British counterpart Theresa May following the London attack.
Macron “reiterated the importance” of “European cooperation in the fight against terrorism” during the conversation, a statement from his office says.
Macron also expresses France’s support to Britain and says it was vital to fight propaganda on social networks.
Four French nationals are among the 48 people injured by three men who mowed down pedestrians with a van on London Bridge late Saturday before attacking revelers in a popular nightlife hub with knives. Seven people died in the attack.
“In the face of this new tragedy, France is more than ever at Britain’s side,” Macron wrote in an earlier Tweet.
— AFP
‘Wonder Woman’ becomes box office force with $100.5m debut
“Wonder Woman” soars to a $100.5 million box office debut in North American theaters, making the Gal Gadot-starring, Patty Jenkins-directed superhero film the biggest opening ever for a movie directed by a woman.
According to studio estimates Sunday, the well-reviewed “Wonder Woman” surpasses industry expectations with one of the summer’s biggest debuts. Starring the Israeli Gadot as the Amazonian warrior, “Wonder Woman” is the rare female-led film in an overwhelmingly male superhero landscape.
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows Gal Gadot in a scene from ‘Wonder Woman.’ (Clay Enos/Warner Bros. Entertainment via AP)
It proves a hit with moviegoers, earning an A CinemaScore and, while skewing somewhat female, draws a fairly evenly split audience. Warner Bros. said 52 percent of the audience is female and 48% male.
— AP
Hamas leader heads to Egypt for rare talks with officials
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A Hamas official says the group’s newly elected leader has traveled to Cairo for talks with Egyptian security officials.
The official says the rare delegation to Egypt, which has had tense relations with the Hamas in recent years, is led by Yehiya Sinwar. It is the first visit by a Hamas delegation to neighboring Egypt since January.
The delegation left from the Rafah border crossing, which was opened Thursday for the group to cross. The border is mostly closed for the 2 million residents of Gaza, part of an Israeli and Egyptian blockade.
The Hamas official says the talks will focus on relations with Egypt, the difficult living conditions in Gaza and Palestinian political issues. He speaks on condition of anonymity because Hamas has not yet announced the visit.
— AP
South Jerusalem preschool defaced with ‘vengeance’ graffiti in Arabic, Hebrew
Parents at a preschool in southern Jerusalem report finding graffiti scrawled on the inside of the kindergarten this morning that read “vengeance” in Hebrew and Arabic.
The preschool is located in the Armon Hanatsiv neighborhood, a short distance from the Palestinian village of Sur Baher.
Police launch an investigation.
Bernie Sanders, in video to left-wing Meretz party, says ‘occupation must end’
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Jewish former candidate for US president, says “the occupation must end” in a video message to the Israeli left-wing opposition Meretz Party.
The five-minute video is set to be screened at a conference on Sunday marking the end of the Six Day War in 1967 and “50 years of Occupation.”
In opening the video, Sanders calls Meretz, which currently has 5 seats in Israel’s 120-seat Knesset, “Israel’s most prominent political organization.” He adds that the party stands “for many of the same values that progressives are fighting for here in the United States and throughout the world.”
“We are now in the 50th year of Israel’s occupation, an occupation which denies basic Palestinian rights while failing to deliver Israel real security,” says Sanders, an independent politician.
“I know so many of you agree with me when I say: this occupation must end. Peace, real peace, means security not only for every Israeli, but for every Palestinian. It means supporting self-determination, civil rights and economic well-being for both peoples.”
— JTA
Massachusetts Democratic Party fails to pass resolution calling settlements ‘obstacles to peace’
An effort to amend the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s platform with language that calls Israel’s settlements in the West Bank “obstacles to peace” is ruled out of order at the state’s convention, ending a months-long effort to push through the controversial resolution.
The move by proponents to amend the party’s platform at the full state convention on Saturday follows a failed attempt last April to have the party adopt a resolution on “peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians” that singles out Israeli settlements in the West Bank without mention of Palestinian violence.
The proposed resolution, submitted by a long-time party activist, states that “Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security,” and cites a July 2016 State Department declaration that opposed settlement activity. It calls on the state’s US Congressional delegation to oppose Israeli settlements in pursuing a negotiated peace.
State party leaders and Jewish communal organizational leaders vehemently opposed the resolution, calling it unbalanced and one-sided. Its supporters, including leaders from Cambridge-based Palestine Advocacy Project, say their resolution was not a radical departure from the positions of past US administrations.
— JTA
Israel, Senegal mend ties after UN settlements spat
Israel and Senegal announce the resumption of diplomatic relations that were frozen after Senegal co-sponsored UN Security Council Resolution 2334 that targeted Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
At the ECOWAS summit of West African leaders in Liberia, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Senegal’s President Macky Sall. The two leaders announce the resumption of full ties after their meeting. Israel will return its ambassador to Senegal, and Senegal will back Israel’s candidacy for observer status at the African Union.
The leaders also agree to advance cooperation in defense and agriculture, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.
Official: Abbas halts monthly stipends for Hamas ex-inmates
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Dozens of Hamas group members once imprisoned by Israel did not receive their support payments this month from the group’s political rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a Gaza-based official says Sunday.
Abbas is under pressure from the US and Israel to halt monthly payments to thousands of current and former prisoners who were held for terror attacks and other actions linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel claims the stipends encourage terrorism, while Palestinians say they are welfare payments.
It is not clear if the missing money transfers mean Abbas has decided to stop the payments to some of the ex-prisoners. A spokesman for his West Bank-based autonomy government was not immediately available for comment Sunday.
In the past, Abbas was reluctant to halt the payments, fearing a popular backlash. Support for prisoners is a Palestinian consensus issue, despite the political split between Hamas, which rules Gaza, and the West Bank-based government of Abbas’s Fatah movement.
— Agencies
In Liberia, Netanyahu meets President Keita of Muslim-majority Mali
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita of Mali on the sidelines of the ECOWAS summit of West African nations in Monrovia, Liberia.
Mali, a Muslim-majority nation, does not have formal diplomatic relations with Israel.
According to the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, Netanyahu and Keita agree to “warm” relations between the two countries.
— Raphael Ahren
US Holocaust museum releases first 2 volumes of encyclopedia of Nazi camps, ghettos
The first two volumes of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s comprehensive record of Nazi-established persecution sites are now available.
The first two volumes of the Museum’s “Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos, 1933-1945,” are now freely accessible in their entirety on its website, the museum announced.
Printed editions of the Encyclopedia will still be offered through the publisher, Indiana University Press.
“The Museum is committed to deepening our understanding of the Holocaust and disseminating the latest research to as broad an audience as possible. Holocaust scholars, legal experts, teachers, students, and — most importantly — survivors and their families will now have this indispensable resource and memorial at their fingertips,” says Wendy Lower, acting director of the Museum’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies.
The volumes are available exactly as they appear in book form but are searchable PDF files.
— JTA
Manchester police release 23-year-old held in Grande concert bombing probe
Police in Manchester, England release a 23-year-old man arrested as part of the investigation into the attack on an Ariana Grande concert that killed 22 people.
Greater Manchester Police say Sunday the man was let go without being charged with a crime.
They say that leaves 11 men in custody for questioning. The men are being held on suspicion of violating the Terrorism Act. They have not been identified or charged.
Seven other suspects detained after the May 22 suicide bombing were released without charges earlier.
The bomb was detonated by 22-year-old Salman Abedi, a Briton of Libyan descent who died in the blast. Police are trying to uncover clues about a suspected network that supported him.
Grande is scheduled to perform a benefit concert in Manchester on Sunday night.
— AP
Canadian among victims of London attack
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says a Canadian is among those killed in the terrorist attack in London.
Trudeau says in a statement Sunday he is heartbroken.
He says Canada strongly condemns the senseless attack and stands united with the British people.
The prime minister says the Canadian government will not provide more details about the citizen killed in Saturday night’s attack out of respect for the family.
— AP
read more: