Likud MK proposes bill to block media from reporting on public figures’ probes

6 Palestinians arrested for waving Hamas flags at Temple Mount

Israeli security forces arrest six Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem suspected of waving Hamas flags during Friday Ramadan prayers at the Temple Mount.

According to police, the suspects — ages 26 to 41 — violated public order when they called for support and solidarity with the Gaza-based terror group.

During overnight raids, security forces seized flags and other materials connected to the incident on the Temple Mount, police say.

The suspects are being questioned by police and will appear later before a court.

Hamas flags seized by security forces in overnight raids in East Jerusalem on May 27, 2018. (Israel Police)

Spain rescues 366 migrants in Mediterranean

Spain’s maritime rescue service says it has rescued 366 migrants attempting the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea this weekend.

The service says that its rescue craft has intercepted 73 migrants traveling in four small boats on Sunday, adding to the 293 migrants it pulled from nine vessels on Saturday.

Driven out by violent conflict and extreme poverty, tens of thousands of migrants attempt to reach Spain and other southern European countries each year by crossing the Mediterranean in smugglers’ boats. Most of the boats are unfit for open water, and thousands drown.

The UN says 636 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far this year. A total of 22,439 migrants reached European shores, with 4,409 arriving in Spain, through the first four months of 2018.

— AP

Illustrative: In this July 25, 2017 file photo, sub-Saharan migrants receive life jackets as they are rescued by aid workers of Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea, about 15 miles north of Sabratha, Libya. (AP Photo/Santi Palacios, File)

Saudi Arabia says 2 soldiers killed in Yemen fighting

Saudi Arabia says that two of its soldiers were killed in fighting against Yemen’s Houthi rebels as the kingdom reported foiling a drone attack on a southern airport.

The official SPA news agency reports that two soldiers from the national guards were killed “during their participation on the southern border” — a reference normally used for the fighting in Yemen against the Iran-backed Houthis.

SPA however has not provided details on when or how the two soldiers were killed but said senior officials took part in their funerals.

A Saudi-led Arab coalition has been fighting in Yemen since March 2015 against the Houthi rebels with the goal of reinstating the internationally recognized government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi.

— AFP

MK says fellow Laborite’s plan to annex settlement blocs ‘a declaration of war against Palestinians’

Labor lawmaker Mickey Rosenthal blasts the proposal of fellow faction member Eitan Cabel to annex the settlement blocs, calling it “a declaration of war against the Palestinians.

Earlier Sunday Cabel clarified the plan on Army Radio, saying he was not calling for annexation of the blocs, rather only applying Israeli sovereignty to them and having the Palestinians in those areas placed under full authority of the PA.

Asked if that meant a separate rule of law for Jews and Arabs, Cabel had responded in the affirmative.

“I heard his clarifications…and I am even more disturbed,” Rosenthal says. “There is a difference between not making a peace agreement and declaring war on the Palestinians.”

Man in custody after swastikas found painted on gravestones

Authorities in southwestern Illinois say a suspect is in custody after swastikas were found spray-painted on several homes and dozens of grave markers at a nearby cemetery.

Edwardsville police announce on Facebook that a 34-year-old man was apprehended on Saturday. Additional information on the suspect was not immediately available.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports employees at Sunset Hill Cemetery in neighboring Glen Carbon found swastikas on 150 to 200 headstones. Cemetery grounds superintendent Mark Johnson says the vandalism was discovered Saturday morning.

Glen Carbon is roughly 15 miles northeast of St. Louis.

Edwardsville police Sgt. Justin Towell says multiple homes in a subdivision were also vandalized. He says the same person may be responsible for both incidents.

Johnson says crews were called to clean the markers ahead of Memorial Day.

— AP

Hate in America: Over 200 headstones spray-painted with swastikas at Illinois cemetery > https://t.co/jQQgCsDzYi pic.twitter.com/d1pttz0jTc

— Oren Segal (@orensegal) May 27, 2018

Third Gazan succumbs to wounds sustained from Israeli attack on Islamic Jihad position

A third Gazan injured in the Israeli attack on an Islamic Jihad military post near the city of Rafah succumbed to his wounds, the spokesman for the Palestinian health ministry in the coastal enclave announces.

Doctors have pronounced the death of 25-year-old Naseem Marwan Al-Amour.

An Israeli tank fired at the Islamic Jihad position in response to an explosive device which had been planted along the Gaza border fence.

Defense Ministry launches construction of underwater barrier to prevent infiltrations from Gaza

The Defense Ministry announces the launch of construction of an underwater barrier along the Gaza Strip border designed to prevent maritime infiltrations from terror groups in the coastal enclave.

The idea for the sea barrier arose after an attempted infiltration by Hamas operatives during the 2014 Gaza war. The assailants managed to swim onto Israeli shores north of the strip before they were targeted by an airstrike.

The project is expected to take a year to complete.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman says the barrier foils an additional strategic capability of Hamas to attack Israelis. “We will continue to defend Israeli citizens with strength and sophistication.”

היום התחלנו בהקמת מכשול ימי יחיד מסוגו בעולם, שיחסום את האפשרות לחדור מעזה לישראל דרך הים. זה סיכול נוסף לחמאס שיאבד עוד יכולת אסטרטגית, שבפיתוחה השקיע סכומי עתק. נמשיך להגן על אזרחי ישראל בעוצמה ובתחכום. pic.twitter.com/XXA0Z7hQl0

— אביגדור ליברמן (@AvigdorLiberman) May 27, 2018

Gabbay says Cabel’s settlement bloc annexation plan not accepted by Labor party

Labor chairman Avi Gabbay distances himself from the proposal of fellow faction member Eitan Cabel, which called on the party to support the annexation of the settlement blocs.

“His position is unacceptable to the party,” Gabbay says in a statement.

Zionist Union chairman Avi Gabbay leads a faction meeting in Knesset on May 7, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Four Russian soldiers killed in Syria by militants

Russia’s defense ministry says four Russian soldiers were killed by militant fire in Syria’s eastern Deir Ezzor province.

“Four Russian servicemen were killed by militant fire in the Syrian Arab Republic,” the defense ministry says in a statement carried by agencies. It adds that five other Russian soldiers were wounded during the incident which took place when “several mobile terrorist groups attacked Syrian government artillery at night.”

— AFP

6 Syria regime, 9 Russia fighters killed in IS attack

At least 26 Syrian regime forces and nine Russian fighters have been killed in an Islamic State group attack earlier this week in Syria’s eastern desert, a monitor says.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the jihadists had targeted a group of Syrian and allied Russian fighters near the town of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province on Wednesday.

“There were 35 pro-government forces killed, including at least nine Russians. Some of those Russian nationals were government troops, but not all of them,” says Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman.

The remaining 26 were all Syrian forces, he tells AFP.

— AFP

Syrian militants dug up graves to find Israelis

A Syria-based Palestinian official says insurgents have excavated graves in a cemetery in a refugee camp in the capital Damascus in search of the remains of three Israeli soldiers who have been missing for decades.

Anwar Raja of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terror group says the bodies of the three Israeli soldiers who have been missing since a 1982 battle in Lebanon were transferred to Syria after the incident.

He says the insurgents’ aim was to find the remains and transfer them to Israel.

Last week, Syrian troops regained control of the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk from members of the Islamic State group after a monthlong battle.

Raja said IS and other insurgents dug up the past years’ graves in search of the remains.

— AP

Spain saves over 500 migrants at sea

Spain’s maritime rescue service says it rescued 532 migrants who were attempting the perilous crossing of the Mediterranean Sea from north Africa this weekend.

Rescue boats intercepted 239 migrants traveling in eight small boats off Spain’s southern coast on Sunday, a day after 293 migrants were pulled from nine vessels.

Three of the boats sank on Sunday right after the migrants were plucked from them due to their “poor state,” the maritime service said in a Twitter message.

Favorable weather in the Strait of Gibraltar appears to have sparked the surge in sea crossings.

Each year, tens of thousands  attempt to reach Spain and other southern European countries by crossing the Mediterranean in smuggler boats.

Most of the vessels are unfit for open water and thousands of migrants drown each year.

— AFP

Egypt arrests prominent activist, latest in wider crackdown

Egyptian security officials say a prominent activist has been detained, the latest in a new wave of arrests since presidential elections earlier this year.

The officials say Hazem Abdel-Azim was taken from his home in a Cairo suburb late Saturday on accusations that include disseminating false news and belonging to an outlawed group.

Abdel-Azim has been known for his harsh criticism of the government since he left President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi’s campaign in the 2014 elections.

The officials spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to media.

Egypt has arrested a number of secular activists since Sissi was re-elected in March in a vote in which he faced no serious challengers.

The latest arrests come amid a wider crackdown on dissent in which thousands of people have been jailed.

— AP

88-year-old woman drowns in Dead Sea

Magen David Adom medics pronounce the death of an 88-year-old woman who drowned while swimming in the Dead Sea.

Medics had attempted to resuscitate the woman after finding her body near the Neve Zohar beach, but she was dead before they could get her to a hospital.

Israeli farmers on Gaza border to file complaint against Hamas at ICC over flaming kites

Israeli farmers along the Gaza border announce that they will file a complaint at the International Court of Justice in the Hague against senior Hamas figures in Gaza over the recent fires set to their fields from incendiary kites.

The complaint will be filed against senior Hamas figures, including Yahya Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh and other senior members of the terror group in response to the PA’s announcement that it would be filing suit against Israel at the ICC for the Jewish state’s lethal response to the Gaza protests.

US officials arrive in North Korea for talks on still-possible Trump-Kim summit

Despite what appeared to have been its cancellation last week, a delegation of US officials have arrived in North Korea to prepare for a possible summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, the Washington Post reports.

Leading the talks from the American side is Sung Kim, the current US ambassador to the Philippines, who was recalled from his post to assist in preparations for the summit, the post reports.

Kim is said to have met with North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son Hui.

The talks are expected to continue through Tuesday.

Netanyahu to head to Europe next week for talks with Merkel and Macron on Iran

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Germany and France next week for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Emmanuel Macron on Iran.

The sit-downs will focus on efforts to curb the Islamic Republic’s entrenchment in Syria and Lebanon as well as the US decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal.

Algerian blogger jailed after interviewing Israeli diplomat appeals 10-year sentence

An Algerian blogger who was jailed after interviewing an Israeli diplomat has appealed his 10-year sentence, his lawyer says, after global rights groups condemned the severity of the punishment.

Merzoug Touati was convicted on Thursday of providing intelligence to “agents of a foreign power” likely to damage Algeria, by a court in Bejaia, east of Algiers.

The 30-year-old blogger submitted his appeal the following day and was feeling “optimistic,” his lawyer Boubakeur Esseddik Hamaili says.

“I have seen my client, he is doing well and is a tower of strength. He proclaims his innocence as he has done nothing but exercise his rights guaranteed by the constitution,” the lawyer adds.

Touati has been in prison since his arrest in January 2017, over an online video interview with an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman and a Facebook post in which he called for protests against a new financial law.

— AFP

Thousands square off in Berlin far-right rally and counter demos

Thousands of demonstrators for and against the far-right face off in mass rival rallies in Berlin, where calls of “We are the people” are being countered with “Go away, Nazis” and techno beats.

Police, who have been out in force to keep the groups apart, say the march organized by the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam Alternative for Germany (AfD) drew over 5,000 supporters while the counter-demonstrators numbered more than 25,000.

The rallies have passed off largely peacefully, although Berlin police say on Twitter that they have had to use pepper spray to stop “demonstrators from trying to break down barriers” at one square.

Elsewhere, two dumpsters have been set alight with fireworks and rolled onto the street, injuring a female demonstrator, they write.

AfD supporters kicked off their march “for the future of Germany” shortly after midday at Berlin’s main train station, before walking to the iconic Brandenburg Gate, with many waving Germany’s black, red and gold flag.

Along the route, their chants of “Merkel must go” and “We are the people” were occasionally drowned out by whistles and jeers from counter-demonstrators in side streets blocked off by police.

— AFP

Police conducting search in Negev for weapon stolen from soldier

Police are currently conducting a search surrounding the Beit Kama Junction in southern Israel after receiving a report that an IDF soldier had his gun stolen.

An investigation into the incident has been opened.

Former Supreme Court president pans bill aimed at stifling state’s top legal body

Former Supreme Court president Miriam Naor criticized legislation aimed at stifling the state’s top legal body, asking if Israelis really wanted to live in a world where “the court lacks the authority to provide relief in the name of governance.”

Speaking at the Bar Association Conference, Naor says that such legislation is not necessary in democratic countries.

After cop filmed slapping Bedouin, ministry mulls legislation aimed at outlawing videoing of officers

Officials from the Public Security Ministry have appealed to the Knesset’s Ministerial Committee for Legislative Affairs requesting that a law be passed making it illegal to film police officers while they are carrying out their duties, the Walla news site reports.

The request by the ministry is submitted just days after a police officer was filmed slapping a Bedouin man during a traffic stop.

“The restriction is not meant to conceal information, but rather to allow operational activity without interference,” one ministry official tells Walla.

Minister urging prison service to prevent security inmates from watching World Cup

Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan urges the Israel Prisons Service to prevent security prisoners from watching the World Cup, which begins next month.

“I have no intention of allowing Hamas terrorists to watch the World Cup while the bodies of our soldiers are held in Gaza together with our kidnapped citizens,” Erdan says at a special Knesset hearing.

Currently, there is no legal option available that would allow prisons to block certain channels. Erdan has asked government officials to look into the possibility of changing existing regulations that would allow prison service to ban the viewing of the soccer tournament.

AG planning to indict Sara Netanyahu for misappropriating public funds — report

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit plans to indict Sara Netanyahu for misuse of public funds at the Prime Minister’s Residence, Channel 10 reports.

Mandelblit is said to have rejected proposed by Netanyahu’s attorneys, in which she would confess to the charges and reimburse the state. In return, the probe would be closed without an indictment.

Report: AG gives PM’s wife till end of week to provide sum of state funds she’s willing to return

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has given Sara Netanyahu’s legal team until the end of the week to provide state prosecutors with the sum of money she is willing to return, in a plea deal to stave off the possible prosecution for misuse of funds at the Prime Minister’s Residence, Hadashot news reports.

State prosecutors were said to have originally recommended that the prime minister’s wife pay NIS 200,000 ($56,128) and confess to the charges, in exchange for no indictment against her.

Netanyahu rejected the offer, reportedly saying that she would rather go to jail than reimburse the state.

Her attorneys were said to have then offered that their client reimburse the state with NIS 50,000 ($14,032), which prosecutors rejected outright.

According to Hadashot news, Mandelblit is fed up with how long efforts to reach a deal have dragged out, and has now handed down an ultimatum to Netanyahu’s legal team in order for his office to decide whether to close the probe against her.

The report appeared to contradict a simultaneous one from Channel 10, which stated that the attorney general has already made up his mind in favor of indicting the prime minister’s wife.

IDF spokesman warns Islamic Jihad against ‘playing with fire’

IDF Spokesman Ronen Manelis publishes an Arabic Facebook post warning Palestinian Islamic Jihad in fire against “playing with fire” after the terror group vowed vengeance for the Israeli strike on one of its military posts in the coastal enclave that left three dead.

The aerial attack came as the army uncovered an IED planted along the Gaza border fence, which it subsequently managed to defuse.

“We hear the threats from the Iranian-supported terrorist organizations in Gaza. He who plays with fire puts himself in danger,” Manelis writes.

Likud MK proposes bill to block media from reporting on probes into public figures

Likud MK Miki Zohar is proposing legislation that would prevent the media from publishing information on investigations into public officials without special permission from the attorney general, Hadashot news reports.

The legislation is said to be a more extreme version of the so-called Recommendations Law, which would bar police from recommending indictment in corruption investigations against public figures.

Included in its clauses is a stipulation that the media cannot publicize the police’s recommendations in probes into the conduct of public figures without the approval of the attorney general.

Zohar’s legislation extends the censure to the entire investigation under the pretext that the politician’s reputation should not be harmed until he or she is proven guilty.