Adiv Sterman is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they unfolded.
Danish prosecutors say a 16-year-old girl who was arrested in January was planning bomb attacks against a Jewish school in Copenhagen and another school in Denmark.
Prosecutors present the preliminary charges against her and a 24-year-old man suspected of being her accomplice in a court hearing in Holbaek, northwest of the Danish capital.
Prosecutor Kristian Kirk tells The Associated Press after the hearing that the suspects obtained chemicals and tried to produce explosives with the intent to commit terror attacks against the two schools.
He says police thwarted their plans by arresting them. He declines to give other details.
The suspects, who were not identified, deny the charges. The court extends their pre-trial detention until March 30.
— AP
Israel Police say they found 4,000 rounds of ammunition in the car of a 29-year-old Palestinian in the West Bank.
The Palestinian, a resident of the West Bank village of al-Rehia near Hebron, was arrested on Monday and taken to a security facility for questioning.
The death toll from clashes between Tunisian forces and extremist attackers near the Libyan border has risen to 55, including 36 attackers, Tunisian Prime Minister Habid Essid says.
Essid says seven civilians and 12 members of Tunisia’s security forces also died, and 17 others were injured.
“The attack that happened yesterday showed that our military and security forces were ready,” he tells a press conference. “We won a battle, but we haven’t yet won the war on terror, and that war continues.”
Tunisian soldiers drive a light gun car during clashes with militants in the southern town of Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border, March 7, 2016. (AFP/FATHI NASRI)
No group immediately claimed responsibility for Monday’s attack in the city of Ben Guerdane, but websites affiliated with the Islamic State group say IS fighters were handed a tough blow by Tunisian security forces. One website published more than 30 pictures showing militants’ bodies as well as weapons and munitions seized.
Essid says that about 50 gunmen — most of them Tunisians — took part to the attack. Only four out of the 36 attackers killed have been formerly identified. Essid does not give more details about the attackers’ background but says some came from Libya.
— AP
Joint (Arab) List MK Yousef Jabarin reacts to the publication of a Pew study which found that 79% of Jewish Israeli citizens believe Jews should get preferential treatment over Arab citizens, and 48% said they were in favor of expelling Arabs from country.
“The results of the survey should make anyone who holds shared life between Jews and Arabs in Israel dear lose sleep,” he says. “The transfer of civilians, for whatever reason, is a crime against humanity, and I’m disturbed to see that half of the Jewish respondents support such a move.”
“I call on all the country’s leaders to come to their senses and change their discourse toward Arab citizens – from a discourse of incitement, hatred and division to a respectful dialogue that promotes coexistence between Jews and Arabs and refers to Arab citizens as citizens with equal rights and equal status.”
The poll, with 5,601 in-person interviews of Israeli adults, conducted between October 2014 and May 2015 and published earlier today, also found that Israeli Jews increasingly believe the West Bank settlements help, rather than hurt, Israel’s security – and most (61%) believe Israel was given by God to the Jewish people.
After Donald Trump on Saturday urged his supporters to raise their right hand and vow to support him, drawing comparisons to a Nazi rally amid allegations by critics that a vote for him is tantamount to a vote for Hitler, the Republican front-runner says he was unaware of the comparison.
“I don’t know about the Hitler comparison, I hadn’t heard that,” Trump says. “But it’s a terrible comparison.”
People raise their arms as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump ask them to pledge that they will vote for him during a campaign rally at the CFE Arena on the campus of the University of Central Florida on March 5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. ( Joe Raedle/Getty Images/AFP)
Speaking before an Arab audience in this country governed by sheikhs, US Vice President Joe Biden offers his views on the “petty, venal and mean” politics in America ahead of the November presidential election.
Biden, a Democrat, blames gerrymandered congressional districts “where the Lord Almighty could not defeat a Republican” for pushing the GOP toward increasingly more conservative candidates.
Today, Biden tells young Emiratis gathered in Dubai, that means the party offers candidates who say they are going to “waterboard people … and indiscriminately carpet-bomb,” an oblique reference to leading Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Joe Biden, the U.S. Vice President shakes hands with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces at the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Monday, March 7, 2016. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili)
“If Ronald Reagan were alive today, he could no more get the nomination of the Republican Party than I can get the nomination,” Biden says. “I’m not joking. So what you see is this movement to the extreme in the Republican Party.”
— AP
Former president Shimon Peres and supermodel Naomi Campbell salute women trailblazers at an event held at the Peres Center for Peace on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
“Women are the future,” Peres says. “There are women pilots, and we can learn a lot from them, they are strong, have courage, have precision, and are brave. A place without women is a place without a future. A world without women is a world without a future. I believe that women can teach us the difference between power and strength. Men know how to express themselves through power, but women have even more strength.”
Campbell noted at the event that she had “overcame many obstacles in my life, but never threw up my hands and gave up.”
Shimon Peres and Naomi Campbell at the Peres Center for Peace in honor of International Women’s Day (Courtesy Rafi Delouya)
“I was blessed with wonderful people who work with me and accompanied me along the way, and my mother, who is my anchor, and who showed me that, even a single parent can be a wonderful mother. I think that you must have courage and love what you do, you must be one hundred percent committed. The sky is never the limit.”
At the event, several woman are awarded prizes for their contributions to Israeli society, including Ofra Strauss, chair of Strauss Group and Chair of Jasmine, an organization promoting entrepreneurship among Jewish and Arab women business owners; Adina Bar-Shalom, founder of the Haredi College in Jerusalem; Tal Granot- Goldstein, CEO of HOT; Nadia Kanani, director of Hand in Hand, a bilingual school in Jerusalem; Tal Schneider, a leading Israeli political journalist and blogger; Annan Felah, a female trailblazer in the Druze community; Yael Ovadia, executive director of Latet Ahshav, which works to develop entrepreneurship and small businesses by women; Iris Beck-Codner, Group EVP, Global Marketing and Communications at Teva Pharmaceuticals.
A 42-year-old Palestinian resident of the West Bank village of Nabi Salih is arrested on suspicion that she threatened a Border Police officer on Facebook.
Also, the suspect is suspected of assaulting a soldier in August 2015.
The Palestinian is taken in for questioning at a security facility.
Knesset House Committee chairman MK David Bitan of the Likud party announces that the Knesset will mark Men’s Day in the middle of May.
“International Women’s Day is one of the most important days you can mark,” says Bitan, adding that “we must promote gender equality and reduce gaps on the matter, but also on the way we must not forget about the men.”
The kidnapped son of a liberal governor assassinated by his bodyguard is found, senior officials say, just over a week after his father’s killer was hanged.
Shahbaz Taseer was kidnapped by Islamist gunmen, reportedly the Taliban, from the city of Lahore in August 2011, months after his father Salmaan was killed for opposing the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.
Aitzaz Goraya, head of the Counter-Terrorism Department of southwestern Balochistan province tells AFP: “Yes, we have recovered him.”
“Acting on a tip off, intelligence forces and police went to a compound in the Kuchlak district some 25 kilometres north of Quetta,” Goraya adds.
“We surrounded the compound and we raided it. We didn’t find anyone. A single person was there and he told us my name is Shahbaz and my father’s name is Salmaan Taseer.”
Goraya describes Taseer, who is in his early thirties, as being in “feeble” health.
— AFP
The head of the IDF’s Central Command officially reprimands the battalion commander of two soldiers who abandoned their weapons during a stabbing attack in the West Bank last week, the army says.
The two soldiers were stabbed and lightly injured in the attack, which took place near the northern West Bank Har Bracha settlement. During the incident, they left their rifles near a guard booth, prompting fears that the weapons had been stolen by the assailants.
Gen. Roni Numa accepted the recommendation of Col. Guy Hazut, who leads the Kfir Brigade, to punish the soldiers’ commanding officer, the IDF says.
Earlier this week, Hazut dismissed the soldiers’ platoon commander and sergeant from their positions. Their company commander was officially reprimanded and suspended from command positions for one year, as punishment for the incident.
— Judah Ari Gross
The Zika virus, suspected of causing brain damage in babies and a neurological ailment in adults, has now also been linked to the paralyzing disorder myelitis, French researchers say.
A 15-year-old girl diagnosed with acute myelitis in January had high levels of Zika in her cerebrospinal fluid, blood and urine, says Annie Lannuzel of the University Hospital Center Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe.
“This is the first published case to offer proof of a link” between myelitis and the virus sweeping Latin America and the Caribbean, she tells AFP.
The case had been described in a report published in The Lancet medical journal.
“The presence of Zika virus in the cerebrospinal fluid of our patient with acute myelitis suggests that this virus might be neurotropic” — something that attacks the nervous system, Lannuzel and a team write in the case report.
Zika usually causes mild symptoms in adults, with a low fever, headaches and joint pain, but the virus’ quick spread has raised alarm due to an observed association with more serious health conditions.
Health ministry personnel fumigate against the Aedes aegypti mosquito, carrier of the Zika virus, in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on February 1, 2016. (AFP Photo/Orlando Sierra)
Myelitis is an inflammation of the spinal cord which can affect limb movement and cause paralysis.
In the reported case, a teenaged girl was admitted to the Pointe-a-Pitre hospital with partial paralysis, limb weakness, and intense pain.
Nine days after the symptoms began, doctors found high levels of Zika virus in her blood, spinal fluid and urine, said a statement from France’s Inserm medical research institute.
Other potential causes of myelitis were ruled out, including shingles, chicken pox and herpes virus.
The girl’s condition has since improved and she is now out of danger, says the statement.
“My message is that Zika does not only affect pregnant women, and is not necessarily benign,” says Lannuzel.
— AFP
A Jewish man, 35, is stabbed by another man and is seriously wounded in Petah Tikvah.
The man suffers wounds to his upper body and is rushed to the Beilinson Medical Center in the city.
The scene of a stabbing in Petah Tikvah on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 (United Hatzalah)
The stabber is shot, apparently by police, who are probing the possibility that the stabbing was terrorist attack.
According to some reports, the stabber is killed.
הסכין בה המחבל בפתח תקווה דקר חסיד ברסלב, שסירב לקבל והעניק את זה למחבל במתנה – בגרונו pic.twitter.com/XOLDe2RIYn
— אלי שלזינגר (@leizersh) March 8, 2016
The assailant in a Petah Tikvah stabbing is pronounced dead after he is shot by security forces at the scene.
The assailant is apparently a Palestinian from the West Bank.
An ultra-Orthodox man in his forties is seriously injured in the attack. He is rushed to the Beilinson Medical Center in the city for emergency treatment.
One person is reportedly injured in a shooting attack near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.
More details to follow.
A man riding a motorcycle opens fire at a group of Border Police officers at Salah Al-Din Street, near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.
One person is reported severely injured in the shooting attack.
The incident is ongoing, as security forces continue to fire back at the motorcycle rider in an attempt to subdue the attacker.
Two policemen are reported severely wounded in a Jerusalem shooting attack, with bullet wounds to the head.
A Palestinian riding a motorcycle opened fire at a group of Border Police officers at Salah Al-Din Street, near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate.
The gunman has been reported shot and badly wounded. Security forces are searching to ensure there are no other attackers.
Police say the Palestinian motorcycle rider who fired shots at police officers in Jerusalem first severely wounded one, then fled the scene. Police and Border Patrol officers then chased after the shooter. During the chase, the shooter opened fire again and wounded another policeman.
Security forces managed to fire back at the Palestinian gunman. A rifle was found at the scene, police say.
“When I arrived at the scene shots could still be heard,” Dvir Adani, a volunteer medic with United Hatzalah’s ambulance unit in Jerusalem who was among the first to arrive at the scene of the shooting, says.
“We treated two wounded individuals, one of whom was unconscious. The wounded are currently being taken from the scene to hospital. Large police forces and security forces are working in the field currently and at this time we are working with them at the scene and we are conducting searches in case there are other injured individuals in the area.”
The two injured officers are rushed to the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem in the city.
The assailant in a Petah Tikvah stabbing was stabbed to death with his own knife by the victim of his attack, it emerges from witnesses at the scene.
Earlier reports said the assailant was shot by security forces.
The man who was the victim of the stabbing attack suffered wounds to his upper body and was rushed to the Beilinson Medical Center in the city.
US Vice President Joe Biden lands at Ben-Gurion airport for his diplomatic visit to Israel.
One of the policeman who was injured today in a shooting attack at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem is reported to be in life-threatening condition, says a spokesperson for the Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem, where the policeman, 49, is receiving treatment.
The second policeman injured in the attack, aged 31, is in stable condition and is conscious.
Six people were injured at the Jaffa port, south of Tel Aviv, all of them in serious condition. The attacker was reported to have been “neutralized.”
The attack is the third of the day following a stabbing in Petah Tikva and a shooting in Jerusalem.
Three of the injured individuals are taken to nearby hospitals. The others receive treatment at the scene.
Police are searching for an assailant who stabbed 6 people in several different locations in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv.
The assailant is said to have stabbed two people at the Jaffa Port, another two near the city’s Kikar Hasha’on, and two more near the Dolphinarium on border with Tel Aviv, according to initial reports.
Three of the people injured in a Jaffa stabbing spree are said to be in serious condition, according to Channel 2.
Three more are lightly injured.
It is still unclear whether the stabber was arrested or not, as police are still searching the area.
Police shoot assailant who stabbed 8 people, killing one and injuring several others, in different locations in Jaffa, south of Tel Aviv.
The assailant is said to have stabbed two people at the Jaffa Port, another two near the city’s Kikar Hasha’on, and two more near the Dolphinarium on the border with Tel Aviv, according to initial reports.
Two more people were stabbed in the spree as well.
The assailant is shot and killed by police.
A Police spokesperson says there is no threat of a second attacker in Jaffa.
Nine people were injured in a stabbing spree, and one person was killed.
Police at the scene of a stabbing attack in Jaffa on Tuesday evening, March 3, 2016 (screen capture: Channel 2)
The assailant has been neutralized, police say.
Following a stabbing spree in Jaffa, police announce they will step up their presence in the city and in Tel Aviv, according to Channel 2.
Hamas Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri expresses support for the three serious attacks in Israel today.
“Hamas congratulates the three heroic operations this evening, in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Jaffa, and considers this proof of the failure for all these theories to abort the Intifada, which will continue until the realization of its goals,” Abu Zuhri.
“Hamas celebrates the martyrs that have ascended through these operations, and confirms that their pure blood will, God willing, be the fuel for escalating the Intifada.”
— Dov Lieber
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai says that the stabber in tonight’s spree across Jaffa was not a resident of the mixed Arab-Jewish city.
“We know that the residents of Jaffa condemn this event,” Huldai says, speaking near the Manta Ray restaurant where the stabber was shot and killed by police.
It is the right thing to continue our routines as normal, we cannot stay locked up at our homes.”
He adds that Purim events in Tel Aviv and Jaffa will take place as scheduled, despite the stabbing spree.
Nine people were injured in the stabbing spree, and one person, an American tourist, was killed.
The Jaffa stabber who killed one American tourist and injured nine more people, is identified by police as a 22-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
In video footage from the incident, the stabber can be seen running through a major street and attempting to stab drivers.
He was shot dead by police near the Manta Ray restaurant in Tel Aviv.
A video uploaded to YouTube appears to show a policeman shooting the assailant in a Jaffa stabbing spree event though the attacker seems to be neutralized.
The Jaffa stabber who killed one American tourist and injured nine more people, was identified by police as a 22-year-old Palestinian from the West Bank city of Qalqilya.
He was shot dead by police near the Manta Ray restaurant in Tel Aviv.
Vice President Joe Biden pledges “total, unvarnished commitment” to the security of Israel, having arrived in the country in the midst of a spate of terror attacks.
Biden landed at Ben-Gurion Airport in late afternoon, as Israel reeled from three attacks — in Jerusalem, in Petah Tikva, and in Jaffa, not far from where he held his visit’s first meeting, with former president Shimon Peres.
Speaking after their talks, Peres says Israel was battling terror attacks, and was also battling for peace, and specifically a two-state solution.
Responded Biden: “We have absolutely, total unvarnished commitment to the security of Israel.” He also says he hopes “we can make some progress” during his meetings in Israel and in the West Bank on Wednesday.
A stabbing attack takes place in Netanya, according to unconfirmed reports.
Police Chief Roni Alsheikh says security forces believe the attacks that took place today in Petah Tikva, Jerusalem and Jaffa are not related to one another.
A day before Vice President Joe Biden meets with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, the White House denies that Biden will make a new offer of defense aid to Israel.
“I will be clear about one thing – that Vice President Biden does not intend, and is not carrying with him the next offer in the negotiation over the memorandum of understanding about the United states providing military support to Israel,” says White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “There is a separate channel through which those negotiations continue to take place.”
Talks between the US and Israel over the 10-year defense package known as the Memorandum of Understanding are said to be stalled over the total amount of aid that will be provided to Israel.
J Street says if strongly condemns today’s terror attacks on civilians in Israel.
“These attacks are the latest horrible chapter in the terrible violence that has plagued Israel and the West Bank for months. We feel for those who have to live in fear that they or someone they love may be the victim of random violence at any moment,” the group says in a statement.
“No amount of legitimate frustration or despair can ever justify acts of terror and violence. These attacks against Israelis only deepen the conflict and create new tragedies. They cannot be justified and must not be excused.”
The IDF closes off the West Bank villages of Zawiya and Hajjah, in light of the terror attacks on Tuesday, a spokesperson says.
The Palestinian who attacked a Haredi man in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva came from Zawiya, a small town near Rosh Ha’Ayin.
The army also closed off the Palestinian village of Hajjah, which is located outside of Nablus.
The terrorist who killed an American tourist and wounded nearly a dozen others in Jaffa was from Qalqilya, which has not been closed off by the IDF at this time, the army spokesperson says.
Security forces are operating in East Jerusalem’s Issawiya neighborhood.
Channel 2 says the shooter who carried out an attack in Jerusalem earlier today was a resident of the neighborhood. Two policemen were severly wounded in the shooting attack.
