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ISRAEL AT WAR - DAY 565

Qasr al-Yahud

Franciscan St John the Baptist Chapel on the banks of the Jordan River, January 10, 2021. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)
January 15, 2021, 5:27 am
PODCAST: Where Jesus was baptized on Jordan River, Franciscans hold festive mass
Come with ToI to the Jordan Valley to hear the first mass in 54 years, at a site recently cleared from thousands of landmines left over from the 1967 Six Day War
By ToI Staff
Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives at the LA Premiere of 'Terminator Genisys' at Dolby Theatre on June 28, 2015 in Los Angeles. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
January 11, 2021, 3:52 pm
PODCAST: The Daily Briefing – Arnold Schwarzenegger looks evil in the eye
ToI panel weighs in on US movie star-turned-politician’s stark warning, discusses whether headlines of 800 new settler homes will prod Biden, and charts Israel’s religious right
By ToI Staff
Father Francesco Patton, the Custos of the Holy Land, leads mass on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, at St John the Baptist Chapel on the banks of the Jordan River, January 10, 2021. (COGAT Spokeperson's Office)
January 10, 2021, 10:21 pm
With landmines cleared, church on Jordan River holds 1st mass in 54 years
Baptism of the Lord on January 10 celebrated with 50 priests, guests, and soldiers, at the Franciscan St. John the Baptist Chapel
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A man searches for mines near the site of Qasr al Yahud, the place where Jesus is believed to have been baptized, near the West Bank town of Jericho, on December 9, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
April 12, 2020, 10:44 am
Just in time for Easter: Jordan River baptismal site is mine-free after 53 years
‘It was like walking into a time capsule, with beer still on the shelf, the tables still laid for dinner,’ says head of UK group who oversaw project at Qasr al-Yahud
By Melanie Lidman
A Catholic pilgrim carries a wooden cross along the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem's Old City during the Good Friday procession on April 19, 2019. (Thomas Coex/AFP)
April 11, 2020, 8:48 am
The Last Supper, Cave of Agony & Via Dolorosa: An Easter guide to the Holy City
Before the virus struck, pilgrims would follow in Jesus’ footsteps from the site of his Passover celebration at the Cenacle to his tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre
By Aviva and Shmuel Bar-Am
President Reuven Rivlin speaks during the Climate Conference in Tel Aviv on November 24, 2019. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
November 28, 2019, 12:33 pm
Rivlin meets Jordanians, discusses developing Christian sites to ‘build bridges’
Week after King Abdullah II says relations at all-time low, president sits in London with monarch’s chief religious adviser to discuss pilgrimage sites along Jordan River
By ToI Staff
Ornate and colorful frescoes are mostly intact despite the decades of neglect in the Romanian Monastery, the last church building in the Land of the Monasteries to be cleared of landmines, in a photo released by the Ministry of Defense on June 20, 2019. (courtesy Ministry of Defense)
June 20, 2019, 2:49 pm
Stunning Romanian church is final monastery cleared of mines at Qasr al-Yahud
Six months of work still remaining at Christian pilgrimage site until area is deemed landmine-free
By Melanie Lidman
The IDF Combat Engineering Corps released photos on May 26, 2019, showing the simultaneous detonation of 900 landmines during demining work at the Land of the Monasteries near Jericho. (IDF)
May 27, 2019, 4:21 pm
900 landmines detonated in Qasr al Yahud on the Jordan River
IDF Combat Engineering and NGO Halo Trust are in the process of demining 6,500 landmines from church compounds near Jericho
By Melanie Lidman
A man searches for mines near the site of Qasr al Yahud, the place where Jesus is believed to have been baptized, near the West Bank town of Jericho, on December 9, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
December 10, 2018, 4:28 am
More than 1,500 landmines cleared at Jesus baptism site on Jordan River
After years of negotiation, 22 sappers clear mines from land of first 3 of 7 churches; goal is to clear all 6,500 mines and open area to the public by January 2020
By Melanie Lidman
The ruins of the Kibbutz Ein Gedi beach on January 3, 2017. Sinkholes forced the closure of the beach in 2015. (Melanie Lidman/Times of Israel)
April 15, 2018, 6:50 pm
Israel to pump nearly $120m into Dead Sea communities facing sinkholes
Grant, to be paid over four years, will be earmarked for tourism, transport, agriculture and research. ‘No short- or medium-term engineering solutions,’ says PMO
By Sue Surkes
A sapper working to clear mines from the area around the Qasr al-Yahud Baptism site on the Jordan River, March 2018. (Defense Ministry)
March 20, 2018, 1:39 pm
Israel begins clearing thousands of landmines from Jordan River baptism site
Defense Ministry says there are over 3,000 munitions in Qasr al-Yahud area, including anti-personnel, anti-tank mines and booby-traps
By Melanie Lidman and ToI Staff
Orthodox Christian pilgrims take a dip in the Jordan river as part of a traditional Epiphany baptism ceremony at the site of Qasr el Yahud on January 18, 2018.(Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)
February 13, 2018, 5:20 pm
Israel will soon clear 4,000 landmines at Qasr al-Yahud baptism site
Defense Ministry says de-mining effort on banks of Jordan River, led by international nonprofit HALO Trust, could begin within 6 weeks
By Melanie Lidman
Illustrative: Soldiers at the scene of a car-ramming attack on a highway in the central West Bank on July 10, 2017. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
January 19, 2018, 12:25 pm
Soldier lightly wounded in Jordan Valley attempted car ramming
Vehicle tries to enter Qasr al-Yahud holy site, refuses to stop after being flagged down by IDF troops
By Jacob Magid
Greek Orthodox Christian pilgrims walk by a sign warning of mines as they take part in a traditional Epiphany baptism ceremony, at Qasr el Yahud on January 18, 2011. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
May 16, 2016, 12:20 pm
Jesus’s baptismal site, long sealed off, to be cleared of landmines
Churches at Qasr al-Yahud have languished behind barbed wire for five decades; now a UK anti-mine group plans to rid area of 4,000 explosives, giving pilgrims access
By ToI Staff
Women get baptized in the Jordan River during the Orthodox Easter celebrations on April 11, 2015. (Maxim Dinshtein/Flash90)
July 13, 2015, 9:40 pm
No evidence, but UN says Jesus baptized on Jordan’s side of river, not Israel’s
Citing church tradition, cultural agency says eastern site ‘believed to be’ original baptism location, drawing cheers in Amman; Israel stays mum
By AP
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