Israel

10 July 2023; MEMO: Israeli President Isaac Herzog yesterday condemned the recent attacks against Christians as a "true disgrace".

"I utterly condemn violence, in all its forms, directed by a small and extreme group, towards the holy places of the Christian faith, and against Christian clergy in Israel," stated Herzog.

11 July 2023; MEMO: Scores of Israeli protesters stormed the Knesset yesterday ahead of a vote on the judicial overhaul package, local media reported.

Members of the Knesset Guard forcibly removed the protesters who tried to block the entry of MKs to the Knesset plenum.

Scenes caught on camera showed the guards picking up and dragging several demonstrators sitting on the floor and moving them away from the plenum.

JERUSALEM, July 9 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet on Sunday decided that Israel would work to prevent the collapse of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority (PA), but did not offer any concrete steps to do so.

Israel has been stepping up military operations against armed groups in the occupied West Bank, where the PA has limited autonomy.

The volatility has laid bare the weakness of the PA in the face of hundreds of Palestinian militants and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

06 July 2023; MEMO: The Israeli Knesset yesterday advanced a bill to strip the Bar Association of most of its powers and hand them to a government-appointed body.

Kan quoted official sources as saying that the draft law would replace the Bar Association with a new political body, the head of which would be appointed by the country's justice minister.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel’s anti-government protest movement gained new momentum on Saturday night as tens of thousands of people spilled into the streets of cities across the country to oppose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious plan to overhaul the judicial system.

The grassroots movement has staged protests for over six months since Netanyahu’s government unveiled the overhaul plan. But in recent weeks, the protests had shown signs of weakening.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s army announced Friday that it has disciplined five officers, but would not file criminal charges for their actions during Israel’s 2021 war in the Gaza Strip — a conflict in which human rights advocates say Israel committed war crimes.

The soldiers, who received army reprimands for their actions, did not obey standard procedures when striking Gaza, the army statement said. It did not say when the incidents took place, what occurred or whether they involved civilian deaths.

05 July 2023; MEMO: Israel is advancing plans with Greece and Cyprus to build the world's longest undersea electric cable which will connect European and Gulf countries through Jordan and Egypt. The project was approved by the Israeli national planning and building council yesterday. It will see the construction of a 150-kilometre (93-mile) cable to distribute renewable energy efficiently.

05 July 2023; MEMO: Tel Aviv's Police Commander said, on Wednesday, he was quitting the force, citing political intervention by members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right cabinet who he said wanted excessive force used against anti-government protesters, Anadolu Agency reports.

JERUSALEM, Jul 5 (NNN-MA’AN) – An Israeli officer was killed, in an exchange of fire with Palestinian militants in the Jenin area, in the occupied West Bank yesterday, amid Israel’s large-scale raid on the occupied territory.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed in a statement that, one of its troops was killed by gunfire in the Jenin refugee camp. “A non-commissioned officer in combat service was killed by live fire during the operation against terrorist infrastructure in the Jenin Camp,” the statement read.

JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank (AP) — Israel withdrew troops from a West Bank militant stronghold Wednesday but warned that its most intense military operation in the occupied territory in nearly two decades was not a one-off. Twelve Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in the two-day raid.

Residents of the Jenin refugee camp emerged from their homes to find alleys lined by piles of rubble and flattened or scorched cars. Shopkeepers and bulldozers started clearing the debris. Thousands who had fled the fighting began returning.