Today’s Top Stories
1. Trying to fill a power vacuum and placate angry protesters, Lebanese lawmakers will reportedly appoint army chief Jean Kahwaji as president. Asharq al-Awsat‘s sources refer to this as the Sisi scenario, a reference to Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi, Egypt’s current president and former military chief.
2. An Islamic State affiliate in Gaza claimed responsibility for a failed rocket launch this morning. The terrorists sought to disrupt the first day of school for Israeli students. Although sirens were triggered in the Ashkelon area, classes were not disrupted. The rocket landed somewhere in Gaza. Jerusalem Post coverage.
The attempted attack was claimed by Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, also known as as the Sinai Province of the Islamic State, a group that opposes Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip and that is leading a bloody insurgency against the Egyptian army and security forces in the Sinai.
3. Wow: The New York Times reports that Gazans are faking doctors’ notes to obtain medical permits to leave the strip. Physicians and hospital technicians, and health administrators are all in on the scam:
But a surgeon at Shifa, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said buying fake or exaggerated diagnoses was “becoming a norm,” with lab technicians and hospital administrative staff members serving as “brokers.” The doctor said a colleague had gotten a medical transfer for a hemorrhoid that could have been treated in Gaza in order to go to Germany for a job, and another did similar with an anal fissure.
In fact, he admitted, he also has a scan showing disk problems in his back, in case he cannot otherwise get an exit permit for a coming medical conference.
Related reading: Medical Entry Permits: By the Numbers
Israel and the Palestinians
• An IDF officer was wounded in shootout in Jenin while trying to arrest Bassam al-Saadi, a senior Islamic Jihad figure. According to reports, the officer was likely hit by friendly fire. Details at YNet and Haaretz.
• With Israeli and Egyptian off shore gas fields in the news, it’s easy to overlook that the Palestinians also have one off the coast of Gaza. Danny Rubinstein explains in a nice background article at i24 News why the Marine reservoir was never developed and what its potential is:
The discoveries of large Israeli and Egyptian gas reserves over the past decade significantly reduce the potential of the small Palestinian one. No one needs Palestinian gas.
But if Israel would allow development of Gaza’s Marine field and pipeline transfer of gas to the West Bank and Jordan – it could well be a breakthrough for the Palestinian economy. It would provide a cheap source of energy for power stations in Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan. It would develop industries and generate annual revenues of nearly $ 3 billion in royalties and taxes for the Palestinian government. A small gas field that could supply Palestinian needs for 10-15 years could revolutionize the Palestinian economy.
Unfortunately, as long as Hamas controls Gaza and the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority is at an impasse, the whole idea will remain a pipe dream.
• Must read: Reporter Eric Cortellessa of the Times of Israel was on hand at Friday’s Nabi Saleh clash. As he breaks down what happened, it’s clear the Palestinian goal was to stage an incident for the benefit of the media. If I didn’t know better, I’d think there were more cameras than rocks.
In this snippet, Cortellessa describes the post-clash scene at the home of Ahmed Tamimi, the now-famous boy with the broken arm:
Ten minutes later, almost all of the demonstrators were outside the boy’s home. Someone from the Palestine Red Crescent Society was making calls about two other demonstrators who had been detained. While the boy was lying down, people tried to comfort him and see if he was all right.
The Red Crescent worker then showed the boy pictures he took of the incident. “Good job,” he told the child. He then got up to talk with other activists and journalists about getting to Ramallah and disseminating the photos and video.
“We got them,” he said.
• The Media Line was on hand as Palestinians began moving into Rawabi, the first new Palestinian city in the West Bank.
Around the World
• The revelations just don’t stop. Jeremy Corbyn actively lobbied for convicted terrorist Jawad Botmeh to be elected a governor of the London Metropolitan University. Adloyada writes at Harry’s Place:
Botmeh was one of the two terrorists who were convicted for attempting to blow up Balfour House, just a couple of miles north of where I live, an anti-Israel terror hit against the headquarters of a group of Israel charities and NGOs.
He was sentenced to twenty years.
• The Foreign Ministry, with help from Turkish police, retrieved a 21 year-old Israeli Jewish man planned to enter Syria and join up with Islamic State. Haaretz reports that Jerusalem isn’t treating this as a security incident, but as an undisclosed “personal issue involving the young man.”
• A Kansas City jury found Frazier Glenn Cross (also known as Frazier Glenn Miller) guilty of killing three people at a Jewish community center last year. The jury will now decide on whether Cross should get the death penalty.
• On this day in history, Andrew Exum notes, Col. Muammar Gadaffi seized power in Libya, “setting off fierce transliteration debates that rage to this day.” Indeed, there are 112 ways to spell Gadaffi’s name.
Commentary/Analysis
• Tweet of the day from Seth Frantzman:
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Anat Berko: Training camps for girls in Gaza a form of Palestinian child abuse
– Norman Bailey: Comedy of gas errors
Featured image: CC BY-NC-SA Peter Rukavina via flickr with additions by HonestReporting; ambulance CC BY flickr/Gigi Ibrahim; Corbyn via YouTube/exepress;
For more, see yesterday’s Israel Daily News Stream and join the IDNS on Facebook.
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