Today’s Top Stories
1. A 13-year-old Israeli girl, Hallel Yaffa Ariel, was stabbed to death in her bedroom this morning. The murderer, 17-year-old Palestinian named as Muhammad Taraireh, was shot and killed by responding security guards. YNet reports that Taraireh managed to climb over the security fence surrounding the Kiryat Arba settlement, which is located next to Hebron.
The IDF responded by closing off Taraireh’s nearby village of Bani Naim.
A civilian security guard, Yehoshua Gilboa, was also injured. YNet reports that Gilboa’s wife, Shlomit, is a volunteer paramedic and had the unusual experience of accompanying her husband to the hospital in the ambulance.
Ariel is due to be buried in Hebron at 6:00 PM today.
Related reading: NBC News: “Suspected” Terrorist Murders Israeli Teen
2. Nine Israeli peace activists had to be evacuated from Ramallah by soldiers yesterday evening when Palestinians pelted their cars with rocks and fire bombs. The Israelis were planning to a participate in a meal breaking the daytime fast during the month of Ramadan.
There is a suspicion that the young people knew about the arrival of the Israelis ahead of time and waited to attack them and their cars.
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3. An inquiry into anti-Semitism in the UK Labour Party presented its report (pdf format). More at the BBC and Jewish Chronicle.
Shami Chakrabarti, the chairwoman of Labour’s inquiry into anti-Semitism, said there was “too much clear evidence… of ignorant attitudes“.
Unfortunately, at the very launch of the report, Jeremy Corbyn validated Chakrabarti’s findings, and then some. The Independent explains the party leader’s ill-advised comment:
“Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than our Muslim friends are for those of various self-styled Islamic states or organisations.”
Many listeners equated Mr Corbyn’s comments with a direct comparison between the Israeli government and Isis, which calls itself the “Islamic State”.
The meltdown continued with Corbyn supporters attacking critics like Jewish MP Ruth Smeeth.
Disgusting anti-Semitic abuse directed at Ruth Smeeth MP at launch of, er, Inquiry into Anti-Semitism.
— jenlaitnergerber (@JenGerber79) June 30, 2016
Israel and the Palestinians
• Is this what the beginning of a Palestinian uprising against the PA might look like, or am I having unnecessarily alarmist thoughts?
Two Palestinian security officers killed in Nablus ambush
• An upcoming report on the Mideast peace process being put together by the Quartet (that’s the US, Russia, EU and the UN) is dropping a chapter addressing legal controversies regarding settlements. Israel HaYom explains why this matters:
The report in question is expected to be released by the end of the week. According to the senior official, had the chapter on settlements been included in the report, whose findings are likely to be adopted by the U.N. Security Council, the Palestinians would have been able to use it to pursue legal action against Israel in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
• IDF dismantles three terror cells in the Hebron area.
• Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed the Islamist organization which organized the 2010 Mavi Maramra Gaza flotilla. Erdogan, who was prime minister at the time, said the Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief (IHH) never asked for permission to breach the blockade. More background at the Jerusalem Post and Hurriyet.
Is Erdogan a little disingenuous? He provocatively threatened to send a naval escort with a 2011 Gaza flotilla . . .
• Is Turkey already mediating an Israel-Hamas prisoner swap?
• Was the Istanbul airport terror attack pre-planned, or in response to Israeli-Turkish detente? The Jerusalem Post posed the question to a number of experts.
Around the World
• A mysterious group of jihadis is threatening to target Iranian jets landing at Beirut’s international airport — especially those carrying military equipment for Hezbollah.
• Thanks to Russia, Hezbollah is a full-fledged army.
• Berlin government to ban Hezbollah flags from anti-Israel “Quds Day” march.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Joseph Lieberman, and Giulio Terzi di Sant’Agata: Iran is as belligerent as ever
– Yossi Klein Halevi: Anti-Israel boycott movement an immoral threat to peace
– Jonathan Tobin: Why Palestinians throw rocks
– Jay Rosen: Facebook backs off on the View from Nowhere
Featured image: CC BY-SA Yagan Kiely with modifications by HonestReporting; Mavi Marmara CC BY-SA Free Gaza movement;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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