1 june 2019
IDF says unclear who carried out launches; Golan Regional Council says one rocket was intercepted in open area, which army denies
Two rockets were fired Saturday from Syria towards the Golan Heights, causing no casualties, the Israel Defense Forces said.
A military spokeswoman said that the details were still being looked into and that it remained unclear who had fired the rockets and where they had landed.
According to Golan Regional Council, "at 20:46, a report was received from the IDF Spokesperson's Office about two launches from Syria towards Mount Hermon."
The council said that, "one rocket landed in Syrian territory and the other was intercepted in an open area. We are in constant contact with the army and all the security forces. There are no special instructions for civilians."
The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that there had been no interception. The Hermon site said that the matter was being handled by the IDF.
Israel says that arch-foe Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, both of whom are fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian war, are trying to turn Syria into a new front against Israel.
In recent years, Israel has carried out multiple strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria.
On Monday, the IDF said it attacked a Syrian anti-aircraft position that had fired on one of its warplanes, and Syrian state media said a soldier had been killed in the incident.
Two rockets were fired Saturday from Syria towards the Golan Heights, causing no casualties, the Israel Defense Forces said.
A military spokeswoman said that the details were still being looked into and that it remained unclear who had fired the rockets and where they had landed.
According to Golan Regional Council, "at 20:46, a report was received from the IDF Spokesperson's Office about two launches from Syria towards Mount Hermon."
The council said that, "one rocket landed in Syrian territory and the other was intercepted in an open area. We are in constant contact with the army and all the security forces. There are no special instructions for civilians."
The IDF Spokesperson's Office said that there had been no interception. The Hermon site said that the matter was being handled by the IDF.
Israel says that arch-foe Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah, both of whom are fighting on the side of President Bashar Assad in the Syrian war, are trying to turn Syria into a new front against Israel.
In recent years, Israel has carried out multiple strikes against Iranian and Hezbollah targets in Syria.
On Monday, the IDF said it attacked a Syrian anti-aircraft position that had fired on one of its warplanes, and Syrian state media said a soldier had been killed in the incident.
a general view of participants at the 14th Islamic summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, June 1, 2019
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has urged member countries to take "appropriate measures" against countries that move their embassies to Jerusalem al-Quds.
The OIC summit in Mecca, in its final statement Saturday, condemned US recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the "capital" of Israel as well as any position that supports prolonging occupation of Palestinian territories.
Saudi Arabia tried to hijack the summit's agenda for its Iran-bashing campaign, creating sharp differences among OIC member-states on a gamut of issues.
But the final statement left out the kingdom's political grandstanding, instead stressing support for a future Palestinian state.
It also rejected any deal or plan that prolongs Israeli occupation and undermines the right of return for Palestinian refugees, in an implicit rejection of a US plan touted by President Donald Trump as "the deal of the century".
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the special privy among the Arab states to Washington's plan which is reportedly riding roughshod on Palestine's core issues, including its statehood and return of refugees.
A meeting next month in Bahrain aimed at rallying Arab economic support for the US plan is being boycotted by the Palestinians, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE are attending amid growing ties with Israel.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman used the summit's opening to attack Iran over recent mysterious blasts which he described as "terrorist acts" that targeted oil tankers off the UAE coast of Fujairah.
Iran has called for the clarification of the exact dimensions of the incident the vigilance of regional states "in the face of any adventurism by foreign elements", and warned against "plots by ill-wishers to disrupt regional security".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had his own message for OIC leaders ahead of the summit, urging them to stay focused on the rights of Palestinians.
In a letter published online Friday, Rouhani said Muslim leaders should not let the importance of Palestinian statehood be "marginalized" in the face of the Trump administration's forthcoming plan.
Rouhani also noted in the letter he was not invited to the Islamic summit, but expressed Iran's readiness to work with all Muslim leaders to confront the White House's "deal of the century".
Iran had a representative present at the 57-nation OIC summit. On Friday, it regretted "Saudi Arabia's abuse of its privilege as the host" of the OIC "to sow division between Islamic and regional countries".
In its final statement, the OIC refused to accept any proposal for peaceful settlement that did not accord with Palestinians' legitimate inalienable rights.
It also underlined the need to protect the right of return for Palestinian refugees under UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
The group further opposed Israel's illegal measures aimed at changing facts in the occupied Palestinian territories and undermining the so-called two-state solution.
Israel's claim to Syria's Golan
Elsewhere in its statement, the OIC rejected any decision to change the legal and demographic status of Syria's Golan Heights, especially the recent US move to recognize Israeli "sovereignty" over the occupied territory.
The organization called for Israel's complete withdrawal from the Golan and its return to the 1967 borders in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
Back in March, Trump signed a controversial decree recognizing Israeli “sovereignty” over the occupied Golan in a move which is in obvious contravention of international law.
Islamophobia concerns
Additionally, the OIC expressed concerns about growing Islamophobia across the world.
Islamophobia, "as a contemporary form of racism and religious discrimination, continues to grow in many parts of the world, as evident by the increase in incidents of religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, and hatred and violence against Muslims," it said.
The OIC also condemned the inhumane situation of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, demanding a halt to violence against the minority group.
Myanmar's government has the responsibility to protect its citizens, it noted.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has urged member countries to take "appropriate measures" against countries that move their embassies to Jerusalem al-Quds.
The OIC summit in Mecca, in its final statement Saturday, condemned US recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as the "capital" of Israel as well as any position that supports prolonging occupation of Palestinian territories.
Saudi Arabia tried to hijack the summit's agenda for its Iran-bashing campaign, creating sharp differences among OIC member-states on a gamut of issues.
But the final statement left out the kingdom's political grandstanding, instead stressing support for a future Palestinian state.
It also rejected any deal or plan that prolongs Israeli occupation and undermines the right of return for Palestinian refugees, in an implicit rejection of a US plan touted by President Donald Trump as "the deal of the century".
Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the special privy among the Arab states to Washington's plan which is reportedly riding roughshod on Palestine's core issues, including its statehood and return of refugees.
A meeting next month in Bahrain aimed at rallying Arab economic support for the US plan is being boycotted by the Palestinians, but Saudi Arabia and the UAE are attending amid growing ties with Israel.
Saudi Arabia's King Salman used the summit's opening to attack Iran over recent mysterious blasts which he described as "terrorist acts" that targeted oil tankers off the UAE coast of Fujairah.
Iran has called for the clarification of the exact dimensions of the incident the vigilance of regional states "in the face of any adventurism by foreign elements", and warned against "plots by ill-wishers to disrupt regional security".
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani had his own message for OIC leaders ahead of the summit, urging them to stay focused on the rights of Palestinians.
In a letter published online Friday, Rouhani said Muslim leaders should not let the importance of Palestinian statehood be "marginalized" in the face of the Trump administration's forthcoming plan.
Rouhani also noted in the letter he was not invited to the Islamic summit, but expressed Iran's readiness to work with all Muslim leaders to confront the White House's "deal of the century".
Iran had a representative present at the 57-nation OIC summit. On Friday, it regretted "Saudi Arabia's abuse of its privilege as the host" of the OIC "to sow division between Islamic and regional countries".
In its final statement, the OIC refused to accept any proposal for peaceful settlement that did not accord with Palestinians' legitimate inalienable rights.
It also underlined the need to protect the right of return for Palestinian refugees under UN General Assembly Resolution 194.
The group further opposed Israel's illegal measures aimed at changing facts in the occupied Palestinian territories and undermining the so-called two-state solution.
Israel's claim to Syria's Golan
Elsewhere in its statement, the OIC rejected any decision to change the legal and demographic status of Syria's Golan Heights, especially the recent US move to recognize Israeli "sovereignty" over the occupied territory.
The organization called for Israel's complete withdrawal from the Golan and its return to the 1967 borders in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
Back in March, Trump signed a controversial decree recognizing Israeli “sovereignty” over the occupied Golan in a move which is in obvious contravention of international law.
Islamophobia concerns
Additionally, the OIC expressed concerns about growing Islamophobia across the world.
Islamophobia, "as a contemporary form of racism and religious discrimination, continues to grow in many parts of the world, as evident by the increase in incidents of religious intolerance, negative stereotyping, and hatred and violence against Muslims," it said.
The OIC also condemned the inhumane situation of Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims, demanding a halt to violence against the minority group.
Myanmar's government has the responsibility to protect its citizens, it noted.
Protesters, including Lebanese nationals and Palestinian refugees, wave Palestinian and Lebanese flags during a demonstration in the medieval Beaufort Castle, known in Arabic as al-Shaqif Citadel, near Arnoun, Lebanon, May 15, 2018
US President Donald Trump's "the deal of the century" wants Palestinian refugees to be naturalized and settled in several countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
As the world marked the International Quds Day on Friday, political leaders warned of mysterious aspects of the much-touted US plan and its ramifications for the future of Palestinians.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said one definite prospect is that the plan seeks to do away with the issue of returning 6 million refugees to their homeland.
"To realize this goal, America is about to arrange an economic deal and get its money from the miserable Persian Gulf countries," he said in Tehran.
Haaretz said Washington is thought to be pressing Lebanon to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees living in the country.
"In the process, this is seen as defusing the issue of a right of return of refugees to Israel, which has been a major obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the paper said.
According to UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, about 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon.
Other reports have put the figure lower, prompting Lebanese groups to say that the census had been conducted under US pressure designed to underreport the real numbers because that way Lebanon could absorb a modest-sized population.
The Lebanese constitution, however, provides that the country's territory is indivisible and that refugees living there are not to receive citizenship.
The official reason for this is that the absorption of Palestinian refugees would impair their claim to a right of return.
However, the US has sugarcoated the plan with a lifeline to extract Lebanon from its economic crisis, where the country's debt is estimated at more than $85 billion (about 155 percent of GDP), Haaretz said.
According to the Israeli paper, giving Palestinians citizenship is likely to prompt the roughly 1 million Syrian refugees in the country to demand similar status.
However, Lebanon isn't the only country concerned about Washington dictating a solution to the refugee problem.
Jordan is horrified over the prospect that the United States will demand it absorb hundreds of thousands or even a million Palestinian refugees in the country, Haaretz added.
The paper cited investigative journalist Vicky Ward recounting in her new book "Kushner Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption" that the Trump administration's plan sees Jordan providing territory to the Palestinians and receiving Saudi territory in return.
The Saudis, for their part, would get the islands of Sanafir and Tiran from Egypt, it said.
"Land swaps appear to be the magic formula that the Trump administration has adopted, and not just for Jordan," Haaretz said.
According to Ward, it has been suggested that Egypt give up territory along the Sinai coast between Gaza and el-Arish, to which some of the Gaza population would be transferred. In return, Israel would give Egypt territory of equivalent size in the western Negev.
Haaretz, meanwhile, revealed lucrative projects to be funded by European countries, the US and wealthy Arab states, including an underwater tunnel which Israel would allow to be dug between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, the paper said, has been promised a whopping $65 billion to help boost its economy which is currently in shambles.
The plan also says Palestinian refugees in Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries would receive citizenship in exchange for generous assistance to the host countries.
The Israeli paper, however, cast doubt on the viability of the "plan of generous financial compensation and empty tracts of land for new housing".
"The problem is that the Palestinian refugees are the supreme symbols of Palestinian nationhood," it said.
"An American deal that blatantly relies on buying up that symbol for cash, even lots of it, can't be acceptable to the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza," it added.
The Trump administration is set to unveil the economic portion of the so-called “deal of the century” during a conference in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26.
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the event, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have said they will send delegations to the Manama forum and Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said he intends to attend.
US President Donald Trump's "the deal of the century" wants Palestinian refugees to be naturalized and settled in several countries, including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Iraq, Israeli daily Haaretz reports.
As the world marked the International Quds Day on Friday, political leaders warned of mysterious aspects of the much-touted US plan and its ramifications for the future of Palestinians.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said one definite prospect is that the plan seeks to do away with the issue of returning 6 million refugees to their homeland.
"To realize this goal, America is about to arrange an economic deal and get its money from the miserable Persian Gulf countries," he said in Tehran.
Haaretz said Washington is thought to be pressing Lebanon to grant citizenship to Palestinian refugees living in the country.
"In the process, this is seen as defusing the issue of a right of return of refugees to Israel, which has been a major obstacle to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," the paper said.
According to UNRWA, the UN's Palestinian refugee agency, about 450,000 Palestinian refugees live in Lebanon.
Other reports have put the figure lower, prompting Lebanese groups to say that the census had been conducted under US pressure designed to underreport the real numbers because that way Lebanon could absorb a modest-sized population.
The Lebanese constitution, however, provides that the country's territory is indivisible and that refugees living there are not to receive citizenship.
The official reason for this is that the absorption of Palestinian refugees would impair their claim to a right of return.
However, the US has sugarcoated the plan with a lifeline to extract Lebanon from its economic crisis, where the country's debt is estimated at more than $85 billion (about 155 percent of GDP), Haaretz said.
According to the Israeli paper, giving Palestinians citizenship is likely to prompt the roughly 1 million Syrian refugees in the country to demand similar status.
However, Lebanon isn't the only country concerned about Washington dictating a solution to the refugee problem.
Jordan is horrified over the prospect that the United States will demand it absorb hundreds of thousands or even a million Palestinian refugees in the country, Haaretz added.
The paper cited investigative journalist Vicky Ward recounting in her new book "Kushner Inc.: Greed. Ambition. Corruption" that the Trump administration's plan sees Jordan providing territory to the Palestinians and receiving Saudi territory in return.
The Saudis, for their part, would get the islands of Sanafir and Tiran from Egypt, it said.
"Land swaps appear to be the magic formula that the Trump administration has adopted, and not just for Jordan," Haaretz said.
According to Ward, it has been suggested that Egypt give up territory along the Sinai coast between Gaza and el-Arish, to which some of the Gaza population would be transferred. In return, Israel would give Egypt territory of equivalent size in the western Negev.
Haaretz, meanwhile, revealed lucrative projects to be funded by European countries, the US and wealthy Arab states, including an underwater tunnel which Israel would allow to be dug between Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Egypt, the paper said, has been promised a whopping $65 billion to help boost its economy which is currently in shambles.
The plan also says Palestinian refugees in Syria, Iraq and other Arab countries would receive citizenship in exchange for generous assistance to the host countries.
The Israeli paper, however, cast doubt on the viability of the "plan of generous financial compensation and empty tracts of land for new housing".
"The problem is that the Palestinian refugees are the supreme symbols of Palestinian nationhood," it said.
"An American deal that blatantly relies on buying up that symbol for cash, even lots of it, can't be acceptable to the Palestinian leaders in the West Bank and Gaza," it added.
The Trump administration is set to unveil the economic portion of the so-called “deal of the century” during a conference in Manama, Bahrain, on June 25-26.
All Palestinian factions have boycotted the event, accusing Washington of offering financial rewards for accepting the Israeli occupation.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have said they will send delegations to the Manama forum and Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said he intends to attend.
30 may 2019
With a prospect of an unprecedented second election campaign in the same year looming, the prime minister attempts to play down the political turmoil by turning the public's attention to foreign policy; Trump says he feels 'very badly' Netanyahu failed to form government
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says U.S. President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has gifted him an official State Department map, updated to incorporate the long-disputed Golan Heights as part of Israel.
Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem on Thursday, Netanyahu addressed a nation rattled by the prospect of an unprecedented second election campaign in the same year, after the newly re-elected Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition.
In a bid to play down the political chaos and focus public attention on his foreign policy prowess - in particular his close friendship with Trump - Netanyahu whipped out Kushner's map, on which President Trump had scribbled, "Nice."
"This map had not been updated since the Six Day War," said Netanyahu, referring to the 1967 Middle East war, after which Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. "Well, it has been updated, it just got an update. ... That is to say, there are very important developments here."
He pointed to a note scribbled on the map, which he called President Trump's personal handiwork. "Here is the signature of Trump, and he writes 'nice.' I say, 'very nice!'"
Kushner met with Netanyahu earlier on Thursday to push the Trump administration's long-awaited plan for Mideast peace, just as Israel was thrust into the political tumult. Kushner and U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt stopped in Israel as part of a Middle East tour to rally support for the administration's upcoming economic conference in Bahrain, which the White House bills as the first portion of its peace plan.
The U.S. is hoping to draw Arab states with deep pockets to participate in the workshop, which envisions large-scale infrastructure work and investment in the Palestinian territories.
In brief joint remarks, Kushner touted American-Israeli cooperation, saying, "it's never been stronger and we're very excited about all the potential that lies ahead for Israel ... and for the whole region."
Netanyahu attempted to play down concerns that the Israeli parliament's dramatic dissolution would further postpone the U.S. peace plan rollout. "You know, we had a little event last night," he said. "That's not going to stop us."
At the White House, President Trump, a close ally of Netanyahu, weighed in expressing dismay at the prime minister's failure to form a governing coalition. Calling Netanyahu a "great guy," Trump said he feels "very badly" that the country has to face another election because there is "enough turmoil" in the region.
Trump signs 'nice' on fake map of Israel gifted to Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump has autographed a map of the occupied territories which falsely recognizes Syria's Golan Heights as part of Israel, and gifted it to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who had received the State Department map from Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as a gift, showed it off in a televised interview on Thursday night.
During the show-off, he told the viewers that the new map marked the occupied Golan Heights as part of Israel, and that Trump had written the word "nice" on it.
"Jared Kushner brought me the updated map that includes the Golan Heights within Israeli sovereignty -- here is the signature of President Trump and he writes here 'Nice,'" Netanyahu said.
On the map, a hand-drawn arrow in black ink points from the word "Nice" to the Golan. Running along the side of the map in the same black ink is the US president's spiky signature.
Back in April, Netanyahu announced he planned to name "a new community on the Golan Heights" after Trump in gratitude for his recognition of Israel's claim of "sovereignty" over the strategic plateau.
In a highly provocative move on March 25, the US president signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's "sovereignty" over the Syrian territory on the direction of a number of his advisers, most notably his adviser Kushner.
Damascus strongly condemned the move and called it a "blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria.
The Arab League also denounced the decision, saying, "Trump's recognition does not change the area's status."
Many countries, including Iran, Russia and Turkey, along with the United Nations Security Council, have lambasted Trump's provocative move.
In 1967, Israel waged a full-scale war on Arab territories, during which it occupied a large swathe of Golan and annexed it in 1981, a move never recognized by the international community.
Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.
Israel has also said that it plans to name a proposed train station near the Western Wall of Jerusalem al-Quds after Trump in appreciation of his support for Tel Aviv.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says U.S. President Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner has gifted him an official State Department map, updated to incorporate the long-disputed Golan Heights as part of Israel.
Speaking at a news conference in Jerusalem on Thursday, Netanyahu addressed a nation rattled by the prospect of an unprecedented second election campaign in the same year, after the newly re-elected Netanyahu failed to form a governing coalition.
In a bid to play down the political chaos and focus public attention on his foreign policy prowess - in particular his close friendship with Trump - Netanyahu whipped out Kushner's map, on which President Trump had scribbled, "Nice."
"This map had not been updated since the Six Day War," said Netanyahu, referring to the 1967 Middle East war, after which Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria. "Well, it has been updated, it just got an update. ... That is to say, there are very important developments here."
He pointed to a note scribbled on the map, which he called President Trump's personal handiwork. "Here is the signature of Trump, and he writes 'nice.' I say, 'very nice!'"
Kushner met with Netanyahu earlier on Thursday to push the Trump administration's long-awaited plan for Mideast peace, just as Israel was thrust into the political tumult. Kushner and U.S. special envoy Jason Greenblatt stopped in Israel as part of a Middle East tour to rally support for the administration's upcoming economic conference in Bahrain, which the White House bills as the first portion of its peace plan.
The U.S. is hoping to draw Arab states with deep pockets to participate in the workshop, which envisions large-scale infrastructure work and investment in the Palestinian territories.
In brief joint remarks, Kushner touted American-Israeli cooperation, saying, "it's never been stronger and we're very excited about all the potential that lies ahead for Israel ... and for the whole region."
Netanyahu attempted to play down concerns that the Israeli parliament's dramatic dissolution would further postpone the U.S. peace plan rollout. "You know, we had a little event last night," he said. "That's not going to stop us."
At the White House, President Trump, a close ally of Netanyahu, weighed in expressing dismay at the prime minister's failure to form a governing coalition. Calling Netanyahu a "great guy," Trump said he feels "very badly" that the country has to face another election because there is "enough turmoil" in the region.
Trump signs 'nice' on fake map of Israel gifted to Netanyahu
US President Donald Trump has autographed a map of the occupied territories which falsely recognizes Syria's Golan Heights as part of Israel, and gifted it to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu, who had received the State Department map from Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner as a gift, showed it off in a televised interview on Thursday night.
During the show-off, he told the viewers that the new map marked the occupied Golan Heights as part of Israel, and that Trump had written the word "nice" on it.
"Jared Kushner brought me the updated map that includes the Golan Heights within Israeli sovereignty -- here is the signature of President Trump and he writes here 'Nice,'" Netanyahu said.
On the map, a hand-drawn arrow in black ink points from the word "Nice" to the Golan. Running along the side of the map in the same black ink is the US president's spiky signature.
Back in April, Netanyahu announced he planned to name "a new community on the Golan Heights" after Trump in gratitude for his recognition of Israel's claim of "sovereignty" over the strategic plateau.
In a highly provocative move on March 25, the US president signed a proclamation recognizing Israel's "sovereignty" over the Syrian territory on the direction of a number of his advisers, most notably his adviser Kushner.
Damascus strongly condemned the move and called it a "blatant attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of Syria.
The Arab League also denounced the decision, saying, "Trump's recognition does not change the area's status."
Many countries, including Iran, Russia and Turkey, along with the United Nations Security Council, have lambasted Trump's provocative move.
In 1967, Israel waged a full-scale war on Arab territories, during which it occupied a large swathe of Golan and annexed it in 1981, a move never recognized by the international community.
Syria has repeatedly reaffirmed its sovereignty over the Golan Heights, saying the territory must be completely restored to its control.
Israel has also said that it plans to name a proposed train station near the Western Wall of Jerusalem al-Quds after Trump in appreciation of his support for Tel Aviv.
