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An Israeli infantry soldier was killed on Monday night in an apparent friendly fire incident near Tulkarem in Samaria, the military confirmed in a statement.
An initial probe found that the soldier had left an outpost that he was manning and was mistakenly shot by another member of his unit upon his return.
He was evacuated to Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba in critical condition, where he ultimately succumbed to his wounds.
The deceased soldier was identified as 20-year-old Nathan Fitoussi from Netanya, according to local media.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT)
Preliminary reports had suggested that Fitoussi was shot in a terrorist attack and that a manhunt had been launched in response. However, the IDF quickly clarified the details of the event.
“I’m broken-hearted over the death of Kfir fighter St.-Sgt. Natan Fitoussi who was killed last night in Tulkarem,” said Prime Minister Yair Lapid, adding: “In the name of the Israeli government and all Israel’s citizens, I send warm condolences to his family and friends and strengthen them in these difficult hours. May his memory be a blessing.”
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The Israeli army announced on Monday that it had identified and neutralized a tunnel in the northern Gaza Strip belonging to the Hamas terrorist organization.
The tunnel had two routes leading toward Israeli territory but did not cross the newly-constructed underground sensory barrier.
Today, we exposed a Hamas terrorist tunnel that was dug from Gaza into Israel.
We stopped the tunnel and will continue to stop any threat to Israel—from above and below ground. pic.twitter.com/ZSfjqsZaEK
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) August 15, 2022
“The neutralization of this tunnel joins a long list of covert and open operations that significantly damaged the underground terrorist tunnel program of the Hamas terrorist organization, and we will continue to go after them,” said Brigadier General Nimrod Aloni, outgoing commanding officer of the Gaza Division.
The IDF said that the tunnel routes were initially neutralized during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021, but that a recent attempt to restore an old tunnel route was identified.
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After months of meetings and with a European deadline looming, the Islamic Republic of Iran has reportedly submitted its response to a final draft for a new nuclear deal with western powers.
A signal that the Islamic Republic appears to be treating the matter seriously came when Iran’s Supreme National Security Council reportedly met to formulate its response to the EU proposal. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi reportedly attended the meeting, as did Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bakri Kani, who has been representing Iran at the nuclear talks.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that Iran has been making “unacceptable demands” going beyond the text of the 2015 nuclear deal, which saw Iran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
“They will need to change the dangerous activities that gave rise to these sanctions in the first place,” Price added.
Israel has long opposed the nuclear accord, known as the JCPOA, saying it didn’t go far enough to halt Tehran’s nuclear program and doesn’t address hostile Iranian military activity across the Middle East.
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Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem set a national record by performing 12 liver and kidney transplants in less than 14 days.
The transplants were performed by teams headed by Dr. Abed Khalaileh, an Arab surgeon living in eastern Jerusalem who is an expert in general surgery and head of the hospital’s transplant unit. In fewer than two weeks, the team performed six liver transplants and six kidney transplants.
Some of the patients have already been discharged from the hospital.
The recipients were men and women aged 38 and up. They had suffered from prolonged kidney or liver diseases whose condition deteriorated to the point of needing a donated organ.
According to Hadassah, about 250 Israelis choose to donate their kidneys each year – quadruple the number of donations from a decade ago.
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Israel took gold in the men’s team marathon event at the European Athletics Championships in Munich, an extraordinary success coming 50 years after the massacre of Israeli athletes in the same city.
Recommended Reading
- Israel Is Learning a Better Way to Deal with Gaza (Shany Mor, Foundation for Defense of Democracies/Mosaic)
- Not Just Another Terror Attack (Nadav Shragai, Israel Hayom)
- The Implications for Israel of the Russia-Ukraine War (Efraim Inbar/Jewish News Syndicate, Algemeiner)
- AIPAC Broke Spending Records This Campaign Cycle — So Why Did It Stay Out of Ilhan Omar’s Tight Race? (Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
- Antisemitic Robots? Meet Meta’s New Chatbot, and Some Serious Issues Surrounding It (Dmitriy Shapiro, Jewish News Syndicate)
- 10 Sights You Don’t Want to Miss in the Golan Heights (Diana Bletter, Israel21C)
Featured Image: IDF SPOKESPERSON’S UNIT
