US-funded Palestinian NGOs introduced children to convicted terrorists
USAID-funded Palestinian NGOs introduced children to released convicted terrorists, Jerusalem-based NGO Monitor wrote in a report released Thursday.
Israel
Israel says Gaza AP building housed Hamas anti-Iron Dome tech unit
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN and US Gilad Erdan has told Associated Press President Gary Pruitt that the building in which the news agency had its Gaza bureau was destroyed in Israeli strikes last month because that edifice housed a tech unit from which Hamas was working to jam the IDF’s Iron Dome defense system, the Jerusalem Post reports. Following an advanced warning from the IDF, the building was evacuated before it was bombed during May’s 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
Satellite images show activity at Iran site exposed in Mossad-seized nuke files
Satellite images taken last year appear to show concealment activity at an Iranian facility previously identified as a site where Tehran was accused of manufacturing a key component for its nuclear program.
11 fighters said killed in alleged Israeli strikes in Syria
At least 11 people were reportedly killed overnight Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes in Syria.
Biden to depart for jam-packed first foreign trip, including Putin meeting
Joe Biden will fight what he calls a “defining” battle for democracy on his first foreign presidential trip, meeting top US allies in Europe ahead of a tricky summit with Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Alleged Israeli airstrike targets Syria from Lebanese airspace
An alleged Israeli airstrike targeted Syrian territory from Lebanese airspace on Tuesday night, according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.
UN nuclear watchdog head: Iran has failed to answer questions about uranium discovered at three sites
International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi announced Monday that the Iranian government has failed to answer questions about the discovery of uranium particles at three sites that may have been connected to Iran’s nuclear program, the Times of Israel reports. Grossi called on Iran to provide the required information without further delay.
Knesset to meet on setting date for vote on new government, likely June 14
Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin will on Monday bring to the Knesset Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid’s statement that he can form a government, setting in motion the process of holding a vote of confidence in the new, eight-party coalition that would oust the current transition government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken: Iran may cut nuclear breakout time to weeks if it keeps breaching deal
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Monday that the “breakout time” Iran needs to assemble an atomic bomb could be reduced to just weeks, if Tehran keeps violating the 2015 accord limiting its nuclear program.
UK health chief: Indian strain ‘around 40%’ more infectious than British variant
Britain’s health secretary on Sunday said a coronavirus variant first detected in India was roughly 40 percent more transmissible than the so-called UK strain blamed for a severe COVID-19 outbreak over the winter.
David Dushman, Last Surviving Liberator of Auschwitz Dies At 98
David Dushman, the last surviving soldier who participated in the liberation of the notorious Nazi death camp at Auschwitz in January 1945, has died. He was 98.
State Department Shuns Term ‘Abraham Accords’
The Biden State Department discourages employees from referring to the historic peace agreements signed by Israel and its Arab neighbors by its official name, the Abraham Accords, according to one source with direct knowledge of the Biden administration’s internal decision-making process and emails reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. The name has also been erased from a wide array of official State Department communications as the new administration presses officials to refer to the Trump-era deals as “normalization agreements.”
Netanyahu Vows to Bring Down Lapid-Bennett Government ‘Very Quickly’
A belligerent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised on Sunday that he will act swiftly to bring down the “change coalition” led by Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid and Yamina leader Naftali Bennett, which is widely expected to be voted into government within days, ending Netanyahu’s remarkable 12-year reign as the head of Israeli government.
Israel kicks off COVID-19 vaccine campaign for 600,000 children aged 12-15
Some 600,000 Israelis aged 12-15 are eligible to receive a vaccine against the coronavirus from Sunday.
In first, Israeli F-35s train in Italy — with Iran in their sights
Six Israeli F-35 stealth fighters landed in Italy last week to take part in a two-week air exercise in Italy with its air force, alongside those of the United States and United Kingdom, in the largest and farthest drill that the aircraft have taken part in to date, the military said Sunday.
Jihadists kill at least 160 killed in deadliest Burkina Faso attack since 2015
Suspected jihadists massacred at least 160 civilians, including around 20 children, in a village in Burkina Faso’s volatile north, the deadliest attack since Islamist violence erupted in the West African country in 2015, local officials said Sunday.
Top IDF general says last month’s Gaza battle was only ‘first stage’ of campaign
The head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command on Thursday indicated he anticipated fighting would again break out in the Gaza Strip, saying that the conflict last month was only the “first stage” of a wider campaign.
Israeli scientists increase life expectancy of mice, research may eventually translate to humans
Israeli scientists have been able to increase the life expectancy of mice by 23%, and believe this outcome could one day be translatable to humans, the Times of Israel reports. The peer-reviewed research was a collaboration between international scientists, including Prof. Rafael de Cabo from the US National Institutes of Health, and has been published in the journal Nature Communications.
Largest ship in Iranian navy catches fire and sinks
The largest ship in the Iranian navy caught fire and later sank Wednesday in the Gulf of Oman under unclear circumstances, semiofficial news agencies reported.
Isaac Herzog elected Israel’s 11th president, with 87 votes of Knesset’s 120
Isaac Herzog, the chairman of the Jewish Agency and former head of the Labor party, was elected Wednesday as Israel’s eleventh president.