Today’s Top Stories
*** Breaking News *** As this roundup was published, early reports broke of what the IDF is saying was “likely an intentional terror attack.”suspected Palestinian car-ramming attack at the entrance to the Neve Daniel settlement, near Jerusalem. Three soldiers were lightly injured and the Palestinian driver was hospitalized.
1. Lebanese banks shut down hundreds of bank accounts linked to Hezbollah. According to AFP, the move will impact affiliated schools, hospitals, media outlets and other charities. Lebanese banks are complying with US sanctions on banks doing business with Hezbollah.
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2. In the middle of his Africa trip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters he plans to visit Kazakhstan, and possibly Azerbaijan too, by the end of this year. The Jerusalem Post explains the significance of those two countries to Israel:
Both are Muslim countries that are strategically very important for Israel. They are Israel’s two largest oil exporters, and Azerbaijan shares a border with Iran.
Perhaps most significantly at this time, Kazakhstan will become one of the five rotating members of the 15-member UN Security Council when it takes up this seat for two years beginning on January 1 2017.
While in Kenya, Netanyahu also sat down for a Q&A with the Daily Nation. No puff piece here. Some of the questions touched on Israel’s relationship with apartheid-era South Africa and Israel’s treatment of African migrants.
Today, Netanyahu arrived in the Rwandan capital of Kigali. Before meeting with President Paul Kagame, the Prime Minister visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where a quarter-million ethnic Tutsis are buried in a mass grave. Around 800,000 Tutsis were massacred by the Rwanda’s majority Hutus in 1994.
Touching message left behind by #Israel PM @netanyahu after touring #Kigali Genocide memorial #NetanyahuInRwanda pic.twitter.com/l7CX14cpsZ
— Richard Kwizera (@Muzungu4) July 6, 2016
3. Palestinians who rescued the Mark family from their over-turned car after a drive-by shooting terror attack are giving inspiration for coexistence and drawing media attention. The Associated Press and New York Times look at the story of Dr. Ali Shroukh and Islam al-Bayed.
4. LA Times Hands Down Flawed Opinion on BDS: Is a boycott really constitutionally protected free speech?
Israel and the Palestinians
• Both the US and UN denounced Israeli plans to build new housing units in eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank, with a State Dept. spokesman using unusually strong language. They building plans were announced following the murders of Hallel Yaffa Ariel and Rabbi Miki Marks by Palestinians.
“If its true, this report would be the latest step in what seems to be the systematic process of land seizures settlement expansions and legalization of outposts that is fundamentally undermining the prospects for a two-state solution. We oppose steps like these which we believe are counterproductive,” Kirby said . . .
“This action risks entrenching a one state reality and raises serious questions about Israel’s intentions,” he said, citing a report released by the Quartet for Mideast Peace which criticized Israeli settlement building.
• A Palestinian woman who tried to stab a soldier at a bus stop near Ariel was shot yesterday. A passing driver caught the attack on a dashcam video. The Times of Israel explains the significance of the footage:
While grainy footage of attacks are often caught on security cameras, the video captured Tuesday is unique in both being clearly visible and seemingly showing the attack from beginning to end.
The attacker, whose identity was not immediately known, received medical treatment at the scene before being taken to a nearby hospital for further treatment, a military spokesperson said.
• PA funds mourning tent for terrorist who stabbed 13-year-old Israeli girl to death.
• The lack of nuance in AFP‘s boiler plate context equates Palestinian terror with Israel’s response to it.
A deadly cycle of violence has rocked the Palestinian territories, Israel and Jerusalem since the start of October last year.
It has cost the lives of at least 214 Palestinians, 34 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese, according to an AFP count.
Around the World
• Is a Jordan-US nuclear cooperation deal in the offing?
• Algeria reportedly canceled a soccer match against Ghana because of Israeli coach Avram Grant.
Commentary/Analysis
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Smadar Perry: The new type of terrorist: The loner from the middle class
– Dror Eydar: Make use of the Bible in diplomacy
– Khaled Abu Toameh: Can the Palestinians hold free and fair elections?
– Reuven Berko: Mutated terrorism
Featured image: CC BY John Ragai with modifications by HonestReporting; Grant via YouTube/CCTV Africa;
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