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Israeli security forces were put on high alert throughout the country Sunday as Palestinians and Israeli Arabs were set to mark Nakba Day — the 74th anniversary of what the Arab world calls the “Nakba” or “catastrophe” surrounding the establishment of Israel.
The Hamas terrorist group on Saturday called for a mass Palestinian turnout at Al-Aqsa Mosque, in the Temple Mount compound. Hamas also warned against Jews visiting the Temple Mount on Sunday, as Nakba Day and the Jewish festival of “Pesach Sheni,” or Second Passover, happen to coincide this year.
Allowing Jews to visit the Temple Mount would be tantamount to “encouraging clashes for which Israel would be held responsible,” the terrorist group warned.
The Hamas warning comes amid ongoing tensions between Palestinians and Israel following the death of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank city of Jenin during clashes between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli forces during an arrest raid.
Nakba Day is inherently volatile and often sees riots in the West Bank and Gaza. Given the recent tensions surrounding the Temple Mount, the situation this year is considered even more precarious.
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A police commando who was seriously hurt during fierce exchanges between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen in the northern West Bank on Friday morning has died of his wounds.
The officer was named as 47-year-old Sgt. Maj. Noam Raz, a 23-year veteran of the elite Yamam counterterror unit.
Raz “fell this morning during a fight with armed terrorists who opened fire on our forces during an operation in the village of Burqin near Jenin. During the battle he was wounded and evacuated by helicopter to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where he was declared dead,” police said.
Military officials said the suspects who were arrested in the Jenin area were responsible for a spate of shooting attacks at Israeli troops in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, MK Ayman Odeh, leader of the predominantly Arab Israeli Joint List party, reportedly tried to pay a hospital visit on Friday to Daoud Zubeidi, who had been critically injured during a clash with Israeli forces in the West Bank last week.
He was reportedly among 13 Palestinian gunmen injured during an arrest operation conducted by Israeli troops near and in the city of Jenin. Zubeidi died on Sunday due to wounds sustained during the exchange.
According to local media, Odeh arrived at the Haifa hospital where Daoud Zubeidi is receiving care. However, it was outside visiting hours and Odeh was denied entry by medical staff.
Odeh’s office told local media that it would not comment on the matter.
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President Isaac Herzog will represent Israel at the funeral of the former President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, which will take place this week in Abu Dhabi.
Herzog is expected to meet with the new president, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan – also known as MBZ.
Sheikh Mohammed was one of the main orchestrators of secret relations between Israel and the UAE 25 years ago as well as being the leader who made the decision to sign a peace agreement as part of the Abraham Accords with Israel.
“History is determined by human beings. It is determined by people who know history but are willing to change it. It is determined by people who prefer the future over the past. Such a leader was Sheikh Khalifa – and his legacy is partnership and peace and brotherhood between peoples,” noted Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.
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Antisemitism is often not taken seriously until it becomes deadly, said Deborah Lipstadt, the Holocaust scholar who was recently confirmed as the US State Department’s Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism.
Lipstadt chose the US Holocaust Memorial Museum for her first talk since her Senate confirmation in March. “Antisemitism does not come from one end of the political spectrum,” she said, adding: “It is ubiquitous and is espoused by people who agree on nothing else or, better put, disagree on everything else.”
In her remarks and later in a conversation with Sara Bloomfield, the museum’s director, Lipstadt said that antisemitism is often not taken seriously until it is too late.
With regards to the conflict in Ukraine, Lipstadt said she was “outraged by this exploitation of the history and suffering of the Holocaust and World War II for a coldblooded war of choice.”
Recommended Reading
- An Al Jazeera Reporter’s Death and the Palestinian Agenda (Yochai Guiski, Algemeiner)
- Abolish Nakba Day (Bassem Eid, Jewish News Syndicate)
- Secret UK Propaganda Campaign Stoked Israel Hatred to Appear Authentic — Documents (Times of Israel)
- Israeli Startup Develops Nasal Spray With Psychedelic Drugs for PTSD Treatment (Simona Shemer, NoCamels)
- Desert From Within Festival Hits Israel’s South – What You Need to Know (Meital Sharabi, Jerusalem Post)
