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Emergency numbers in israel – tourist guide 2023.

ISRAELI POLICE | AMBULANCE | FIREFIGHTERS | HOW TO CALL 911 IN ISRAEL | LOW-COST MEDICAL CLINIC | EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES IN JERUSALEM | HOSPITALS | MUNICIPALITY AND CITY INFORMATION | DIALING CODES | CITY PHONES | BUS SCHEDULES & FARES | TRAIN SCHEDULES & FARES | DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS INFORMATION | FOREIGN EMBASSIES IN ISRAEL | CONSULATES

How safe is traveling to Israel?

Travel in Israel is safe despite what media is constantly covering in southern Israel and Gaza. The situation in the south of the country is not affecting tourists moving around in the country as conflict areas aren’t areas where most people live. They certainly aren’t the areas that travelers visit. The main tourist areas – Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, the Negev, Dead Sea and Galilee, remain as safe as always .

Crime rates are low. Tourists don’t have to worry about street crime.

Never the less you can never be too careful when visiting a foreign country. Stay vigilant at all times and save your emergency numbers for your peace of mind.

How to call 911 in Israel?

911 is the emergency number in United States as well as in a number of other countries. You can dial 911 while in Israel. You will automatically be redirect to a local number .

Calls to 911 are free of charge.

Some situations when you’d want to call 911:

• Crimes in progress
• Life-threatening situations
• Traffic accidents
• Hazardous chemical spills
• Fire/smoke detector or carbon monoxide alarms that are sounding
• Explosive devices
• Elevator rescues
• Fuel spills
• Smoke in the building
• Aircraft emergencies
• Cliff rescues
• Beach or water-related emergency

911 calls are usually answered within 60 seconds.

What will happen if I call 112 in Israel?

112 is the European emergency number. This number is dialed free of charge from fixed and mobile phones everywhere in the EU. It will get you straight through to the emergency services – police, ambulance, fire brigade. EU tourists may intuitively dial 112 in an emergency.

On GSM phones, the number  112  is guaranteed to connect to emergency services, no matter what country you’re in. As with  911 in many countries 112 is programed to forward the caller to a local emergency number.

So if you are a traveler from Europe who dialed 112 or 911 don’t worry both calls will be forwarded to a local emergency and your phone will display “Emergency Call” on screen.

Local Emergency Numbers in Israel

Dedicated emergency number for tourists in israel.

Tourists in Tel-Aviv can call the tourist police at 03-5165382 if an emergency arises. The tourist police office is located on the corner of Geula and Herbert Samuel Streets, in Tel Aviv.

110  (non-emergency)

[email protected]

https://www.gov.il/en/departments

https://www.facebook.com/israelpolice

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqGqEABdf5Q0wlxEnc6RH5w

[email protected]

https://www.mdais.org/en/

https://www.facebook.com/mdaonline

https://www.youtube.com/mdaisrael

In an emergency you can call the ambulance 101 to request an ambulance or to find out about the nearest casualty department.

Terem is an urgent care center that offers a range of services under one roof, including x-rays and laboratory tests on site. Many of the doctors and staff speak English.

Terem Talpiot Phone: 1-599-520-520 Address: 6 Yanovsky St, Talpio

Low-Cost Medical & Dental Clinic in the Old City Open to Tourists

Phone: +972-2-627-1958 Address: Greek Orthodox Patriarchate Road, Christian Quarter, Old City Opening hours: Mon – Thurs: 9:00am – 2:00pm; Fri: 09:00am – 2:00pm (general doctor only); Sat: 9:00am – 1:00pm; Sun: closed

Emergency Medical Services in Jerusalem

Terem City Entrance Phone: +972-2-509-3333 Address: 80 Yirmeyahu St, Romema

Terem Katamon  Phone: +972-2-561-2139 Address: 4 Gedud Haivri St, Katamon

Terem Bikur Holim Hospital Phone: 1-599-520-520 extension 2 Address: 74 Hanvi’im Street

Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem Phone: +972-2-677-7111

Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus Phone: +972-2-584-4111

Sharei Zedek Hospital Phone: +972-2-666-6666

Bikkur Cholim Hospital Phone: +972-2-646-4444

Fire Service

https://www.gov.il/en/departments/firefighting_and_rescue_israel/govil-landing-page

https://www.facebook.com/IsraelFireServices

https://www.youtube.com/user/IsraelFireServices

Electric Company

[email protected]

http://www.iec.co.il/

https://www.facebook.com/israelelectric

https://www.youtube.com/user/israelelectric

*Open 8:00 am – 7 p.m.

Municipality and City information

*Dialing number in general is 106 but for some cities it varies between 106-109. Complete list of hotline numbers in Israel can be found in this list .

Phone repair      166 Phone service     199 Time                       1455 Wake-up call     1475

Other Useful Information?

City Information Service – 106 or (02) 531-46-004.

Tourist Information Office in Jerusalem – (02) 625-88-44, (02) 629-60-41, (02) 628-03-82.

Information service – 146.

Inquiries about telephone numbers – 144 (free of charge from a pay phone).

Customs Help Desk – (02) 971-55-11.

Meteorological Service -(02) 966-88-55 (Jerusalem).

Information desk of the airport. Ben-Gurion – (03) 972-33-44, in Russian – (03) 972-33-66.

Information about the movement of intercity buses – (02) 694-88-88 (Jerusalem).

Information about the movement of city buses – (02) 530-47-04 (Jerusalem).

Reference transport company “United Typs” – (02) 691-62-56.

Dialing Codes

Jerusalem – 02

Tel Aviv and Yafo – 03

Haifa-Akko – 04

Galilee, Golan Heights and Nazareth – 06

The coast south of Tel Aviv, Eilat and the Negev desert area – 08

Coast north of Tel Aviv – 09

City Phones

For example the cost of a call to Russia from a telephone box varies from 0.80 usd to 1.20 usd depending on the time of day. Calls from 20:00 to 08:00 are cheaper.

Small shops also have pay phones that work with coins. Per minute rate.

It is also worthwhile to first familiarize yourself with the rates of local telephone operators and choose the most favorable one, since the rates can vary greatly.

A call from a hotel is much more expensive than from a public pay phone.

Other Services

Again from outside Jerusalem, you must dial the city prefix (02) before any 7-digit phone number. 

From outside Israel, you dial only the (2) – without the zero – between the country code and the phone number.

Inside the city you do not need to dial the (02) prefix unless you are calling from a cellular phone.

Reverse search name for phone number in Israel

https://441il.com/reverse_lookup/phone_number/israel.html

Public Transportation in Israel

• For schedules and fares of buses in Israel , please visit:  http://www.egged.co.il/eng/  
• For train schedules and fares , please visit:  http://www.rail.co.il/EN/Pages/Homepage.aspx
• For information about all domestic and international flights , please visit:   http://www.iaa.gov.il/Rashat/en-US/Rashot

Foreign Embassies in Israel

How can you call 911 without service?

If you have no network signal, call 911 for help. This emergency call will transmit to the closest network tower to you, giving rescuers an idea of where you are located. No signal is emitted from your phone. But if your phone is turned off or dead then no signal is emitted from your phone.

How to set up emergency phone numbers on your cell

In case of emergency you sure would like to let specifics of your medical history known and notify your trusted contacts about the situation you found yourself in. Luckily, smartphones allow you to create a medical ID or In Case of Emergency (ICE) contact with your health information and emergency contact of choice.

Set up emergency contact on an iPhone

The iPhone has a Medical ID option that will inform others of your medical history and emergency contact information.

• Go to the health app on your phone
• Select Medical ID
• Edit so that it provides any medical and emergency contact information
• Select the option to show when your screen is locked

Set up emergency contact on an Android

Androids also have a built-in emergency contact information option.

• Go to your settings and search “Emergency information”
• Select the option to edit and enter your emergency contact information

Set up ICE info on any smartphone

Another way to make your In Case of Emergency number accessible is by making it your lock screen background.

• Go to the notes section of your phone
• Write down your emergency numbers
• Screenshot the note and save it as your screensaver

Label contacts

Lastly, if you don’t have a smartphone that has these capabilities, be sure you are labeling contacts correctly. Create a contact named “ICE” and put in your emergency contact’s info. It’s also helpful to label your emergency contacts with their relation to you . For example, use the contact name, “ my husband ” or “ my wife .” This way, if you are in an emergency situation and someone finds your phone, they will know who they are calling.

For general informaion regarding COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, please visit the Ministry of Health’s  official website.  

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One tourist killed, five injured in Tel Aviv attack

TEL AVIV, April 7 (Reuters) - An Italian tourist was killed and five other tourists were wounded in a Tel Aviv car ramming attack on Friday, Israeli and Italian officials said.

An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.

A police officer who was nearby arrived at the scene to find several people wounded and an overturned car near a popular Tel Aviv promenade. The officer "neutralized" the driver when he tried to pull a gun, police said.

The car had veered off the street near a popular bike and walking path along the beach. Reuters video from shortly after the incident showed a white car upside down on the grass of a park. Police cordoned off the area that was brimming with emergency responders.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed on Twitter that the man killed was Italian.

[1/4] Israeli officials work at the scene of a shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Nir Elias Acquire Licensing Rights

It was the second deadly attack on Friday, after two Israeli sisters were killed when their car was shot up in the occupied West Bank.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the U.S. "strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks...The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police "to mobilize all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to mobilize additional forces to confront the terror attacks," his office said.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said all the victims in the Tel Aviv attack were tourists.

The police said four reserve companies of border police would be called up in the coming days.

Reporting by Rami Amichay, Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Diane Craft

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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One Tourist Killed, Five Injured in Tel Aviv Attack

Israeli officials work at the scene of a shooting attack in Tel Aviv, Israel April 7, 2023. REUTERS/Nir Elias Reuters

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - An Italian tourist was killed and five other tourists were wounded in a Tel Aviv car ramming attack on Friday, Israeli and Italian officials said.

An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Israeli Arab from the town of Kafr Qassem.

A police officer who was nearby arrived at the scene to find several people wounded and an overturned car near a popular Tel Aviv promenade. The officer "neutralized" the driver when he tried to pull a gun, police said.

The car had veered off the street near a popular bike and walking path along the beach. Reuters video from shortly after the incident showed a white car upside down on the grass of a park. Police cordoned off the area that was brimming with emergency responders.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed on Twitter that the man killed was Italian.

It was the second deadly attack on Friday, after two Israeli sisters were killed when their car was shot up in the occupied West Bank.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the U.S. "strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks...The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy, and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed police "to mobilize all reserve border police units and has directed the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to mobilize additional forces to confront the terror attacks," his office said.

Israel's Magen David Adom ambulance service said all the victims in the Tel Aviv attack were tourists.

The police said four reserve companies of border police would be called up in the coming days.

(Reporting by Rami Amichay, Ari Rabinovitch, Dan Williams; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and Diane Craft)

Copyright 2023 Thomson Reuters .

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Tags: United States , Israel , Italy , Middle East , Europe

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1 tourist killed, 5 wounded in Tel Aviv attack following airstrikes, West Bank violence

Israeli jets hit targets in lebanon, gaza on friday after rocket fire amid rising tensions.

Tensions soar in Gaza during holy time

Social sharing.

An Italian tourist was killed and five people were wounded in a car ramming in Tel Aviv on Friday that came hours after two Israeli sisters were killed in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank.

The attacks, after a night of cross-border strikes in Gaza and Lebanon, added to an atmosphere of heightened Israeli-Palestinian tensions following Israeli police raids in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque earlier this week.

The tensions threatened to spiral into a wider conflict overnight as Israel responded to a barrage of rockets by hitting targets linked to the Islamist militant group Hamas in Gaza and southern Lebanon, but the fighting entered a lull on Friday.

However, the two attacks underlined how volatile the situation remains after successive nights of trouble that have drawn worldwide alarm and calls for calm.

Driver in car attack killed by police

In the latest attack, a car plowed into a group on a street near a popular bike and walking path on a Tel Aviv promenade. The driver was shot dead by a nearby police officer when he tried to pull a gun, police said.

An Israeli security source identified the assailant as an Arab citizen of Israel from the town of Kafr Qassem.

Reuters video from shortly after the incident showed a white car upside down on the grass of a park. Police cordoned off the area that was brimming with emergency responders.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the victims were all foreign tourists and Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani confirmed that an Italian had been killed and other Italians may have been among the wounded.

• Why Al-Aqsa mosque is so important to Muslims and Jews — and the site of renewed violence

"Our enemies are putting us to the test again," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following a visit to the site of the attack with Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

As soldiers hunted for the gunman, Netanyahu ordered border police reserves and additional military forces to be mobilized to confront the wave of attacks.

A U.S. State Department spokesperson said on Friday that the U.S. "strongly condemns today's terrorist attacks."

"The three horrific attacks today, in which three were killed and at least eight others wounded, affected citizens of Israel, Italy and the United Kingdom. The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable," the spokesperson said.

Ongoing tensions over religious sites

No claim of responsibility was made for either of Friday's attacks, but Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the blockaded Gaza Strip, praised them and linked them to the tensions around Al-Aqsa mosque.

Friday prayers passed without major incident and apart from some stone-throwing, police said the situation had been quiet.

Calls for peace after clashes at Al-Aqsa Mosque

However, twice this week Israeli police have raided the mosque, where hundreds of thousands of worshippers have been praying during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, to dislodge groups they said had barricaded themselves with the aim of causing trouble.

Footage of officers beating worshippers who confronted them aroused concern, even among Israel's allies, and prompted condemnation across the Arab world.

The site in Jerusalem's Old City, holy to both Muslims and Jews, who know it as Temple Mount, has been a longstanding flashpoint, notably over the issue of Jewish visitors defying a ban on non-Muslim prayer in the mosque compound.

• At least 11 Palestinians killed, dozens injured in Israeli raid in West Bank

Even before the flare-up of the past few days, the West Bank has seen a surge of confrontations in the past several months, with frequent military raids and escalating settler violence amid a spate of attacks by Palestinians.

Since the beginning of the year, at least 18 Israelis and foreigners have been killed in attacks in Israel, around Jerusalem and in the West Bank. In the same period, Israeli forces have killed more than 80 Palestinians, most of them fighters in militant groups but some of them civilians.

Airstrikes in Lebanon, Gaza

The attacks in Israel and the occupied West Bank came against the backdrop of heightened tensions after Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian militant targets in both Lebanon and Gaza.

Israeli jets hit sites in Lebanon and Gaza earlier on Friday, in retaliation for rocket attacks that Israel blamed on Hamas, as tensions following police raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem this week threatened to spiral out of control.

Ground-shaking blasts rocked different areas of Gaza. Israel said its jets hit targets including tunnels and weapons manufacturing sites of Hamas, which controls the blockaded southern coastal strip.

As daybreak neared, the military said it had also struck Hamas targets in southern Lebanon, where residents around the area of the Rashidiyeh refugee camp reported three loud blasts.

Two Lebanese security sources said the strike hit a small structure on farmland near the area from which the rockets had been launched earlier. The strike appeared to have left a large crater in farmland in the south, according to Reuters witnesses.

A member of Lebanon's Civil Defence at the scene on Friday morning said there were no casualties.

Rocket attacks

The Israeli airstrikes came in response to rocket attacks from Lebanon toward northern Israeli areas, which Israeli officials blamed on Hamas.

The military said 34 rockets were launched from Lebanon, 25 of which were intercepted by air defence systems. It was the biggest such attack since 2006, when Israel fought a war with the heavily armed Hezbollah movement.

The airstrikes came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was meeting with his security cabinet to discuss the rocket fire. He vowed an "aggressive response."

"We will strike our enemies and they will pay a price for every act of aggression," he said, noting that Israelis remain united in the face of external threats despite their political differences.

Fears of wider conflict

The unusually large salvo of rockets raised fears of a wider conflagration; Hezbollah holds sway over much of southern Lebanon. 

In a briefing with reporters, Lt. Col. Richard Hecht, an Israeli military spokesperson, said the army drew a clear connection between the Lebanese rocket fire and the recent unrest in Jerusalem.

"It's a Palestinian-oriented event," he said, adding that either the Hamas or Islamic Jihad militant groups, which are based in Gaza but also operate in Lebanon, could be involved.

But he said the army believed that Hezbollah and the Lebanese government were aware of what happened and also held responsibility. He declined to say how Israel might respond, saying there were "all sorts of scenarios."

No faction in Lebanon claimed responsibility for the salvo of rockets.

A Lebanese security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media, said the country's security forces believed the rockets were launched by a Lebanon-based Palestinian militant group, not by Hezbollah militants. The official said there were no casualties on the Lebanese side.

A spokesperson for Hezbollah did not respond to a request for comment. Both Israel and Hezbollah have avoided an all-out conflict since a 34-day war in 2006 ended with a draw.

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Tensions have simmered along the Lebanese border as Israel appears to have ratcheted up its shadow war against Iranian-linked targets in Syria, another close ally of Iran, Israel's archenemy in the region.

Suspected Israeli airstrikes in Syria in recent weeks have killed two Iranian military advisers and temporarily put the country's two largest airports out of service. Hecht said Thursday's rocket fire was not believed to be connected to events in Syria.

With files from The Associated Press

Related Stories

• Why the Al-Aqsa site is so important to Muslims and Jews — and the site of renewed violence
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Middle East

An israeli police raid on the al-aqsa mosque triggers a spate of violence.

Willem Marx

Israeli police gather next to an overturned car at the site of an attack Friday in Tel Aviv in which an Italian tourist was killed and several other people were injured. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Israeli police gather next to an overturned car at the site of an attack Friday in Tel Aviv in which an Italian tourist was killed and several other people were injured.

Raids by Israeli police on the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most holy Muslim site in Jerusalem, have triggered a spike in violence that continued to spiral in recent days, drawing several regional actors into a deadly back-and-forth.

Police said they were working to clear men who had barricaded themselves inside the compound midweek, flinging fireworks and rocks, while social media videos of the incursions showed Israeli officers in riot gear chasing and using clubs to beat Palestinians inside the mosque. Palestinians gathered there overnight after a fringe fundamentalist Jewish group published calls to hold a Passover goat sacrifice at the sacred compound, where ancient Jewish temples stood thousands of years ago.

Those images of physical violence (Warning: Graphic violence is depicted in the linked video) in turn sparked dozens of missiles fired from southern Lebanon and the Gaza Strip against Israeli targets, Israeli retaliatory airstrikes on both territories, and a subsequent pair of attacks Friday on civilians in the occupied West Bank and Tel Aviv, which have left two British-Israeli settlers and an Italian tourist dead. The militant group Hamas has not claimed responsibility for either Friday attack, but instead praised them as valid retaliation for the prior behavior of Israeli police.

Here's why Netanyahu's court overhaul, now on hold, brought Israel to the brink

On Saturday, Israel announced it would extend a closure on Palestinians entering Israel from the West Bank, and would also suspend special entry permits for Palestinians in Gaza to visit Israel for Ramadan prayers and for work.

The escalating conflict in Israel and the occupied territories has played out against a backdrop of religious celebrations — Ramadan for Muslims, Passover for Jews and Easter for Christians — that has served to exacerbate hostilities and inflame existing tensions between separate communities.

At a moment of maximum political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has faced weeks of unrelenting criticism for his coalition government's plans to weaken the country's judiciary , protesters are continuing their weekly rally but have agreed to cancel a march against the proposed legislation. One protest leader told NPR the decision had been taken because it was an "intensive time" for national police forces.

Despite airstrikes and drive-by shooting, Israeli-Palestinian flare-up hasn't spiraled

On Friday, two British-Israeli sisters were shot to death in a car as they travelled through the occupied West Bank. Their mother survived but was hospitalized after being severely wounded.

Later in the day, a Palestinian Israeli citizen from a village close to Tel Aviv rammed his car into ranks of tourists walking along the city's boardwalk, leaving several injured and an Italian man dead. Israeli police killed the driver after they said he reached for an object that looked like a gun — but that they later acknowledged was not a gun. His family deny that he intended to carry out any kind of assault.

Israeli medics say 2 are killed in an attack in the West Bank

The behavior of Israeli police around the Al-Aqsa Mosque earlier this week had been reminiscent of other incidents that have previously sparked wider conflagrations in the region. In the eyes of many Palestinians, such raids symbolize Israel's growing expansion and intensifying occupation of predominantly Palestinian areas, with a hardline Jewish nationalist now serving as Israel's security minister.

Netanyahu has also announced his government was calling up reserve forces for the country's largely paramilitary border force starting Sunday, in order to confront what he termed "terror attacks."

NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv contributed reporting.

• Al-Aqsa Mosque

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Israeli government calls up reservists after car attack in Tel Aviv

Police to deploy extra battalions in city centres as Benjamin Netanyahu also directs army to mobilise additional forces

Israel began calling up police and army reservists on Saturday after separate attacks killed three people, including an Italian tourist and two British-Israeli sisters, in Tel Aviv and the West Bank.

Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, with Israel bombarding Gaza and Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants .

The Italian was killed and seven other tourists wounded when an Israeli Arab drove a car into pedestrians on the Tel Aviv seafront on Friday evening before being shot dead, police and emergency services said.

The Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, named the dead man as Alessandro Parini, 35. Police identified the driver as a 45-year-old from the Arab town of Kafr Kassem in central Israel. “The terrorist was neutralised,” a spokesperson said.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules Gaza , said the attack was a “natural and legitimate response” to Israel’s “aggression” at al-Aqsa mosque.

Earlier on Friday, two British-Israeli sisters , 16 and 20, were killed and their mother seriously wounded when their car was fired on in the Jordan valley in the occupied West Bank. The Israel army said it had launched a hunt for the perpetrators.

After the Tel Aviv attack, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , instructed the police to “mobilise all reserve border police units” and directed the army to “mobilise additional forces”, his office said.

Police said four reserve battalions of border police would be deployed in city centres from Sunday, in addition to units already deployed in the Jerusalem region and in the central city of Lod, which has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops came under fire in a drive-by shooting in the northern town of Yabad overnight, the army said on Saturday.

Friday’s attacks came after Israel launched airstrikes and an artillery bombardment before dawn in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon .

It was the heaviest rocket fire from Lebanon since Israel fought a 34-day war with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in 2006 and the first time Israel has confirmed an attack on Lebanese territory since April last year.

Israel “struck targets, including terror infrastructures, belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon”, the army said.

The Lebanese army said it had found and dismantled a multiple rocket launcher, still loaded with six primed rockets, in an olive grove in the Marjayoun area near the border.

The Israeli army said it had hit two tunnels and “two weapon manufacturing sites” in Gaza in response to the “security violations of Hamas”.

It said air defences had intercepted 25 rockets from Lebanon on Thursday, while five had hit Israeli territory. Israel “will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon”, it said.

The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), which patrols the area along the border, urged restraint, noting: “Both sides have said they do not want a war.”

On Friday evening, the Israeli army said it had shot down a drone that had entered Israel’s airspace from Lebanon.

On Wednesday, Israeli riot police stormed the prayer hall of al-Aqsa mosque in a pre-dawn raid, aiming to dislodge “law-breaking youths and masked agitators” they said had barricaded themselves inside.

Ramadan coincided with the Jewish Passover holiday this year, raising tensions with the tens of thousands of Palestinians who pray at al-Aqsa mosque during the Muslim fasting month.

The Palestinians fear that Netanyahu’s government may change longstanding rules that allow Jews to visit but not pray in the mosque compound, despite his repeated denials.

The upsurge of violence drew condemnation from the US and the European Union. “The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable,” said the US state department spokesperson Vedant Patel, while the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said Brussels “expresses its total condemnation of these acts of violence”.

A Qatari official said Doha was mediating between Israel and the Palestinians. Qatar, which has acted as a broker in previous understandings between Israel and Hamas, “is working to deescalate the situation on all sides”, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

• Benjamin Netanyahu
• Palestinian territories
• Middle East and north Africa

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Families of Hostages Start a March From Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

About 100 people plan to march to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office to pressure him to do whatever it takes to bring their loved ones home, setting up camp each night along the way.

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Families of Hostages Held by Hamas March From Tel Aviv to Jerusalem

About 100 people who are family members and friends of the hostages held by hamas, began a five-day march to prime minister benjamin netanyahu’s office in jerusalem..

I always worry. I’m always in pain and I can’t sit at home anymore. I have to do something. And this march is what I am going to do with all the families of the hostages and this entire country.

By Adam Sella

reporting from Tel Aviv

• Nov. 14, 2023

For 10 days, Noam Alon, 24, has camped in front of the central military headquarters in Tel Aviv, aiming to pressure the Israeli government to do more to bring back his girlfriend of a year and a half, Inbar Heiman, and the more than 200 other hostages currently held in Gaza.

But with no news on when and whether the captives will be released, Mr. Alon has grown impatient with the Israeli government and is moving on from the spot where he and some 30 others have been sleeping. “We won’t sit silent,” he said.

On Tuesday, Mr. Alon joined members of the families of about 50 hostages and supporters — a total of about 100 people — who plan to march for five days from Tel Aviv, on the Mediterranean coast, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office in Jerusalem, setting up camp each night along the way.

Carrying water bottles and sleeping bags, the group marched off from a square across from the military headquarters, chanting “Bring them home now!”

Mr. Alon, like many others at the march, wants Mr. Netanyahu and his cabinet to do everything they can to secure the release of those abducted by Hamas and other armed Palestinian groups in the Oct. 7 attack that the Israeli government says killed 1,200 people.

“We think the Israeli government should pay any price,” Mr. Alon said, whether that entails a prisoner exchange, a cease-fire or fuel delivery. The hostages’ lives are in the government’s hands, he said. Mr. Netanyahu, who has made clear that Israel’s goal is to eradicate Hamas, has maintained that a cease-fire would be contingent on the release of hostages.

In late October, Israeli forces rescued one hostage, and four others were released by Hamas about a week earlier. But, despite negotiation efforts led by the United States and Qatar, there have been no further breakthroughs on a hostage release deal. Families of the hostages have organized rallies over the past two weeks that have drawn thousands to the military headquarters.

Despite the outpouring of public support, those with family members and friends held captive in Gaza are feeling frustrated.

“I’m tired of sitting around,” said Yuval Haran, 36, from Be’eri, a kibbutz near the border with Gaza that was heavily attacked on Oct. 7. He has seven family members being held hostage in Gaza and was an organizer of the march. “I want to start walking to where the decisions are made.”

The marchers, who range in age from their 20s to their 70s, will walk about 10 miles a day along main highways, sleeping each night in campsites on the side of the road. They are filling one lane of the highway, with police escorts, support staff and vans carrying gear taking up another.

Shelly Shem Tov, 51, whose son Omer, 21, was abducted from the Nova festival , joined the march to try to galvanize popular support and pressure Mr. Netanyahu. She also sees leaving her comfort zone, by marching on foot to Jerusalem, as an opportunity to identify on a personal level with her son, who is in “a place I can’t even imagine,” she said.

On Monday, Hamas released a video of a hostage who the group claims was killed by an Israeli airstrike, raising concerns among the families that Israel’s military operations in Gaza are threatening hostages’ lives.

In July, protesters against Mr. Netanyahu’s judicial overhaul organized a similar five-day march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The families of the hostages have described the march as apolitical, but Avi Gur Arye, 73, who joined as a supporter, said that it would be a boon if the movement also contributes to a change in government, which he said is “dividing and unraveling the fabric of this country” after the war.

Mr. Alon said that he wants to be optimistic that the marchers won’t need to walk all the way. He said he hoped that during the march, “Everyone will tell us, ‘Stop walking. They are here.’”

Our Coverage of the Israel-Hamas War

Al-Shifa Hospital: Israel is trying to produce evidence  for its claim that Hamas has been using tunnels under Gaza’s largest hospital  as a command center. Palestinian officials and doctors at Al-Shifa have denied Israel’s accusations.

Israel’s Military Strategy: Israel is making progress in Gaza, but it has not vanquished Hamas or freed most of the hostages. Is the Israeli strategy working ?

A Psychological Chasm: In a conflict marked by complete incomprehension on both sides, the ability of Israelis and Palestinians to see each other as human has been lost .

A Secret Back Channel: For years, an Israeli peace activist and a Hamas official shuttled messages between Gaza and Israel. Then Oct. 7 happened .

The Conflict’s   Global  Reach

American Colleges: Students for Justice in Palestine, a national college group, has fueled activism and has been blocked on some campuses . Critics have accused the group of intimidation and antisemitism.

Social Media: As the war floods social media with violent content and false information, some people have accused platforms like TikTok and Facebook of promoting biased posts. But the sites’ role in spreading hate online is becoming hard to assess .

Elon Musk: The tech billionaire faced blowback after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory online. The White House denounced him,  and several major advertisers halted marketing on X , which he purchased in 2022.

Taking the Side of Peace: As Sally Abed, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, and Alon-Lee Green, a Jewish Israeli, traveled across America, they were struck by the polarization of the discourse surrounding the war. They are calling for a different approach .

Israel calls up army, police reservists after deadly attacks in Tel Aviv and West Bank

Israel began calling up police and army reservists Saturday after separate attacks killed three people, including an Italian tourist, in Tel Aviv and the occupied West Bank.

Issued on: 07/04/2023 - 22:23 Modified: 07/04/2023 - 22:25

Despite appeals for restraint, violence has surged since Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Jerusalem 's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque on Wednesday, with Israel bombarding both Gaza and Lebanon in response to rocket fire by Palestinian militants.

The Italian was killed and seven other tourists wounded when an Israeli Arab ploughed a car into pedestrians on the Tel Aviv seafront on Friday evening and flipped over before being shot dead, police and emergency services said.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni named the dead man as Alessandro Parini, 36.

Police identified the driver as a 45-year-old from the Arab town of Kfar Kassem in central Israel.

"The terrorist was neutralised," a spokesman told AFP.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas , which rules Gaza, said the attack was a "natural and legitimate response" to Israel's "aggression" in the Al-Aqsa mosque.

Earlier Friday, two British-Israeli sisters aged 16 and 20 were killed, and their mother seriously wounded when their car was fired on in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank. 

The army said it had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators.

Following the Tel Aviv attack, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the police to "mobilise all reserve border police units" and directed the army to "mobilise additional forces", his office said.

Police said four reserve battalions of border police would be deployed in city centres from Sunday, in addition to units already deployed in the Jerusalem region and in the central city of Lod, which has a mixed population of Jews and Arabs.

In the West Bank, Israeli troops came under fire in a drive-by shooting in the northern town of Yabad overnight, the army said on Saturday.

One hit was identified among the assailants, an army statement said.

Cross-border strikes 

Friday's attacks came after Israel launched air strikes and an artillery bombardment before dawn in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and Lebanon.

It was the heaviest rocket fire from Lebanon since Israel fought a 34-day war with Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in 2006 and the first time Israel has confirmed an attack on Lebanese territory since April 2022. 

Israel "struck targets, including terror infrastructures, belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon", the army said. 

The Lebanese army said it had found and dismantled a multiple rocket launcher in an olive grove in the Marjayoun area near the border, still loaded with six primed rockets.

In Gaza, the Israeli army said it had hit two tunnels and "two weapon manufacturing sites" in response to the "security violations of Hamas".

It said air defences had intercepted 25 rockets from Lebanon on Thursday, while five had hit Israeli territory.

Israel "will not allow the Hamas terrorist organisation to operate from within Lebanon", it said.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which patrols the area along the border, urged restraint, noting: "Both sides have said they do not want a war."

On Friday evening, the army said it had shot down a drone that had entered Israel's airspace from Lebanon. 

Mosque raid 

On Wednesday, Israeli riot police stormed the prayer hall of Al-Aqsa mosque in a pre-dawn raid, aiming to dislodge "law-breaking youths and masked agitators" they said had barricaded themselves inside.

Ramadan coincided with the Jewish Passover holiday this year raising tensions with the tens of thousands of Palestinians who pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque during the Muslim fasting month.

The Palestinians fear Netanyahu’s hard-right government may change longstanding rules that allow Jews to visit but not pray in the mosque compound, despite his repeated denials.

The upsurge of violence drew condemnation from the European Union and the United States . 

"The targeting of innocent civilians of any nationality is unconscionable," said State Department spokesman Vedant Patel.

"The European Union expresses its total condemnation of these acts of violence," said its foreign policy chief Josep Borrell.

A Qatari official said Doha was mediating between Israel and the Palestinians.

Qatar -- which has acted as a broker in previous understandings between Israel and Hamas -- "is working to deescalate the situation on all sides," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Israel-Gaza latest: Hostage talks 'making progress', Netanyahu says - as details of possible truce emerge

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is hoping for "good news soon" on talks to release hostages from Gaza, after the leader of Hamas said a truce agreement was "close". Elsewhere, two journalists were reportedly killed in Lebanon, amid growing fears for reporters.

Tuesday 21 November 2023 16:38, UK

• Israel-Hamas war

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• Truce agreement 'close' - with women and children to be exchanged
• New frontline and journalists 'killed in Lebanon' - today so far
• 'I could not rescue her': Father 'sorry' he couldn't stop kidnap
• Dominic Waghorn analysis : Hostage deal close - but one last 'sticking point' is standing in way
• The war explained: Five ways Israel could deal with Hamas tunnels | A short history of this conflict | Why is Qatar involved in hostage negotiations?
• Updates from Alistair Bunkall and Dominic Waghorn in Israel
• Live reporting by Jess Sharp  

By Sean Bell , military analyst

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has embarked on a series of meetings with the Israeli war cabinet, the security cabinet and parliament this evening to "consider developments" - an important step in the process of securing Israel's agreement for the terms of any hostage release proposal.  

If some of the hostages are to be released, any deal is likely to include not only specifics of an exchange, but also the length of time that any truce will be respected, and if aid can also flow to address the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza during any pause in hostilities.

Any agreement to release at least some of the hostages will be widely welcomed, but it is also fraught with difficulties. 

Any pause in fighting must be respected for deal to work

First, some form of temporary cessation of hostilities will be required to enable the process and logistics of hostage release.  

That will need to be agreed in advance, communicated to all parties, and then respected.   

Any agreement will also need to consider how to address any "accidental" incident that risks undermining a fragile truce.

Hamas secrecy will slow things down

Second, the role of mediators is crucial to hostage releases, and although the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) does not get involved in negotiations, they do help facilitate hostage releases, and were directly involved in the release of the four hostages to date.  

However, Hamas will be very cautious not to compromise the locations where they are holding the rest of the hostages, so there will be a high degree of secrecy and security associated with the Red Cross mediators and Hamas - and that will take time.

Hamas will also want to "drip feed" the release of hostages so that confidence is gained about the process - and to maximise the length of any truce or operational pause.

Trust is in short supply - and not all hostages will be freed

Finally, there is evidently a significant risk that any temporary cessation of hostilities will be very fragile, and will be heavily dependent on trust - a commodity in short supply in this conflict.  

Each side has blamed the other for atrocities committed to date, and there is a significant risk that any compromise of the security agreement could risk ICRC personnel and also the hostages themselves.

Hopefully, a number of hostages will be released and reunited with their concerned families very soon.  

However, the majority of hostages will likely remain in captivity.

Joe Biden has said a hostage deal is "very, very close" to securing the release of some hostages.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu has summoned his war cabinet, saying he hoped there would be good news soon.

Meetings with his wider security cabinet and the full cabinet are expected later this afternoon.

The details of any deal are not yet known, but reports suggest it could include a multi-day pause in fighting, the release of 50 Israeli hostages, and a pledge from Israel to free Palestinian women and children from prisons in the country.

American forces in Iraq responded with a gunship after their airbase came under attack this morning, US military officials said.

The attack against Ain al Asad base, west of Baghdad, caused minor injuries and damage to infrastructure, an official said.

The US used an AC-130 gunship in self-defence, another official said, which would be the first US response in Iraq to dozens of recent drone and missile attacks linked to militia groups.

Social media accounts linked to Iran-aligned Iraqi militias published a statement in the name of the "Islamic Resistance in Iraq", mourning a member the groups said had been killed "in battle" against US forces. 

US and international forces that make up the global coalition to fight the remnants of Islamic State have been targeted more than 60 times in Iraq and Syria since 17 October, US officials say.

There is no evidence of EU development aid for Palestinians going to Hamas, a European Commission (EC) review has found.

Valdis Dombrovskis, an EC vice president, said there were "no indications of EU money having directly or indirectly benefitted" Hamas.

The review was undertaken following Hamas's attack on Israel on 7 October.

"This review has confirmed that the safeguards in place are effective," European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen added.

"Work is now ongoing on the design of our future support to the Palestinians in view of the changing and still evolving situation."

Jordan has accused Israel of ordering the evacuation of one of its field hospitals in Gaza - and said it will not meet the demand, according to state media.

Prime Minister Bisher al Khasawneh also said Jordan's army was beefing up its presence along the border in view of the developments in Gaza.

The news comes after trucks full of medical equipment were driven through the Rafah crossing yesterday to build a Jordanian field hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis.

Jordan's crown prince was in Egypt to oversee the departure of 40 lorries, with enough supplies to erect a 41-bed facility.

Hundreds of thousands of people fled to Khan Younis following Israeli orders to move south of the Wadi Gaza line earlier in the conflict.

Earlier today, three people, including two journalists, were killed in a rocket strike in Lebanon, according to the Lebanese state news agency.

News organisation Al Mayadeen named the journalists as their correspondent Farah Omar and their cameraman Rabih Me'mari.

It said Israel "deliberately targeted" them after they finished a live broadcast from south Lebanon. 

Now the Israel Defence Forces has told Sky News it is reviewing the incident. 

"We are aware of a claim regarding journalists in the area who were killed as a result of IDF fire," it said. 

Troops were operating against a "threat posed from a launching area of ​​the Hezbollah terrorist organisation, in the area of Al-Jabin", it added. 

"This is an area with active hostilities, where exchanges of fire occur. Presence in the area is dangerous. The incident is under review." 

Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group based in Lebanon, is involved in regular clashes with Israel, with both sides firing across the border.

It has long aligned itself with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and has stepped up its attacks since the IDF launched its ground operation in Gaza. 

Qatar is at the "closest point" it has "ever been" to getting a hostage deal agreed between Israel and Hamas, the country's foreign ministry spokesman has said. 

Qatar has been mediating talks between the two sides in an attempt to reach an agreement for weeks. 

You can read more about why the Gulf kingdom is involved here . 

"We are working towards an agreement taking place, and we are now at the closest point we ever have been in reaching and an agreement," Majed Al Ansari said. 

"We are very optimistic, we are very hopeful, but we are also very keen for this mediation to succeed in reaching a humanitarian truce."

Calls have been made for a war crime investigation to be launched after three children and their grandmother were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon. 

The Israel Defence Forces initially released drone footage appearing to indicate it had struck targets in Gaza but the Sky News Data and Forensics team managed to geolocate the footage to Lebanon. 

The clip was taken on the same road from Yarin to Aynata on which the family car had travelled.

Following our repeated requests for information and after multiple exchanges, the IDF then told us that it had hit what it called a "suspicious vehicle" with "several terrorists" inside, but it is now investigating whether some "uninvolved civilians" were also in the vehicle.

Our special correspondent Alex Crawford and her team went on the same journey the family took with their uncle Samir Ayoub. 

You can watch her full report below...

Less than an hour ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said talks on freeing hostages held by Hamas in Gaza are "making progress". 

In another sign a potential deal is making progress, he has announced a series of meetings this evening. 

He will convene the Israeli war cabinet at 6pm (4pm UK time). 

This will be followed by a session of the security cabinet at 7pm (5pm UK time). 

An hour later, at 8pm (6pm UK time), he will hold a government meeting. 

Our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall said the meetings are a sign a deal is "close"

Here's his analysis of the situation: 

All three bodies must approve the deal for it to proceed - although it's hard to think any politicians will oppose it, the far-right coalition minister Itamar Ben Gvir spoke out against some speculated details of a deal earlier today, saying it would be a "disaster" if Palestinian prisoners were released as part of the agreement. 

In particular, he made reference to a 2011 prisoner swap that saw Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit released in return for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners - among them was Yahya Sinwar, now Hamas leader in Gaza.

Having said that, only a technical majority is needed, and it would seem that Netanyahu and his close political allies are now sufficiently satisfied with the deal that they are ready to put it to the wider cabinet and progress. 

Hopes are rising there could be a deal to release some of the hostages held by Hamas in the coming days.  

That will be very reassuring to the families concerned, but will also be a false dawn for the families of those that remain incarcerated.

What a deal will likely deliver

It appears that the focus of the hostage negotiations is women and children - who might get swapped for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.  

There will also be growing international pressure for any foreign nationals held hostage to be released - the US still has around 10 nationals unaccounted for and there are reports that the UK might also have some nationals, who are presumed missing, held captive.

However, there have been no reports yet of any negotiations regarding the military prisoners held by Hamas.  

Their fate must be a growing concern for the Israeli military and the political leadership.

What a pause in the fighting could mean

Once the detailed arrangements have been agreed on, some form of temporary cessation of hostilities will be required to enable the logistics of a hostage exchange to a conducted.  

This might also provide a window of opportunity to address the growing humanitarian crisis, and perhaps ameliorate the hospital crisis in Gaza.

However, international calls for some form of ceasefire might be premature. 

Why this brutal war is unlikely to end soon despite truce talks

Ceasefires are traditionally an agreement to halt hostilities to provide warring factions the opportunity to engage and negotiate to end the conflict. 

Hamas wants hostilities to end as soon as possible - so an extended ceasefire, growing international calls for the conflict to end, and the humanitarian crisis, will all be leveraged by Hamas to stop the war.   

Provided Hamas has "survived" and still holds some hostages when the conflict ends, that will be considered a success for the group.  

In contrast, Israel will not want to take their "foot off Hamas's throat" until ALL the hostages have been released.  

The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, appears determined to "solve the Hamas problem" and although he might feel obliged to provide some small window of opportunity to enable some of the hostages to be released, any so-called "operational pause" is likely to be limited in time and space, before both sides resume this brutal and highly attritional war.

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Secretary Blinken’s Travel to Tel Aviv, Amman, Ramallah, Baghdad, Ankara, Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

November 1, 2023

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to Tel Aviv, Israel; Amman, Jordan; Ramallah; Baghdad, Iraq; Ankara, Türkiye; Tokyo, Japan; Seoul, the Republic of Korea (ROK); and New Delhi, India November 2-10, 2023.

In Israel, Secretary Blinken will reiterate U.S. support for Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorism consistent with international humanitarian law and discuss efforts to safeguard U.S. citizens in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza, work to secure the immediate release of hostages, increase the pace and volume of humanitarian assistance entering Gaza for distribution to Palestinian civilians, and prevent the conflict from spreading.

In Jordan, Ramallah, Iraq, and Türkiye, the Secretary will underscore the importance of protecting civilian lives in Israel and the Gaza Strip and our shared commitment to facilitating the increased, sustained delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, the resumption of essential services, and ensuring that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza.  He will also discuss urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric, reduce regional tensions, and reaffirm the U.S. commitment to working with partners to set the conditions necessary for a durable and sustainable peace in the Middle East, to include the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In Ramallah, Secretary Blinken will also discuss efforts to restore calm and stability in the West Bank.

In Baghdad, Secretary Blinken will reaffirm the importance of the U.S-Iraq strategic partnership as well as discuss the ongoing attacks on U.S. personnel in Iraq and Syria and the importance of pursuing those responsible and preventing further attacks.

In Türkiye, the Secretary will also discuss Euro-Atlantic security, ongoing support for Ukraine, and the need to maintain NATO Alliance unity, including ratifying Sweden’s NATO accession.

Secretary Blinken will then lead U.S. delegations to Tokyo, Seoul, and New Delhi to advance collaborative efforts to support a free and open Indo-Pacific region that is prosperous, secure, connected, and resilient.

In Tokyo, the Secretary will participate in the second G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of 2023, where G7 foreign ministers will build on the commitments made by leaders at the G7 Hiroshima Summit.   Secretary Blinken will also thank Japan for its successful G7 presidency.  The Secretary will also have bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko to discuss bilateral priorities, including supporting Ukraine’s economic recovery and energy needs and strengthening our cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The Secretary will then travel to Seoul to meet with President Yoon Suk Yeol, Foreign Minister Park Jin, and National Security Advisor Cho Tae-yong.  The Secretary will discuss ways the United States and the ROK can respond to global challenges, including Russia’s war against Ukraine and Russia’s growing military cooperation with the DPRK, as well as instability in the Middle East.  They will also discuss mutual efforts to support bilateral investment and economic security.

In Tokyo and in Seoul, the Secretary will underscore the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Japan and ROK and reaffirm the importance of robust and sustained trilateral engagement following the historic Camp David Summit in August.

The Secretary will then travel to New Delhi to participate in the 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, joined by Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III.  The delegation will meet with Minister for External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of Defense Rajnath Singh, and other senior Indian officials to discuss both bilateral and global concerns and developments in the Indo-Pacific.

U.S. Department of State

The lessons of 1989: freedom and our future.

NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

One tourist dead and seven injured in car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv

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An Italian man died and seven others were injured in a car-ramming attack in Tel Aviv, Israel , in what police claimed was a ‘terrorist attack’.

The coastal city’s police said a man barreled down the beachside walk in a white Kia car and collided with several pedestrians, including British and Italian tourists.

Footage on social media showed the car veering off the street and onto the promenade before flipping over onto the beach.

Police killed the driver after he allegedly pulled out a gun.

The Israeli authorities identified the victim of the ‘cowardly attack’ as Alessandro Parini, 30, from Rome, the Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

‘I express my firm condemnation of terrorism and condolences to families,’ he tweeted yesterday evening.

MDA Spokesperson Summary of terror attack in Tel Aviv: MDA EMTs and Paramedics have pronounced a 30 year old male deceased, and are evacuating 5 victims struck by a car, including 3 in moderate condition, and 2 in mild condition. All tourists. pic.twitter.com/EqRb3JSL1D — Magen David Adom (@Mdais) April 7, 2023

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressed ‘deep sorrow’ and ‘solidarity to the victim’s family, to the injured, and solidarity with the State of Israel for the cowardly attack that hit him’, her office added.

Five British and Italian tourists were injured. A teenager, 17, suffered moderate wounds and two had light injuries, Magen David Adom, Israel’s national emergency service, said.

Among those injured also included a 74-year-old man.

Lord Tariq Ahmad of Wimbledon said today: ‘I condemn yesterday’s attacks in the West Bank, killing two British-Israeli nationals and injuring one other, and in Tel Aviv where an Italian national was killed and British nationals were injured. My thoughts and prayers are with all those impacted.’

A police spokesman said ‘the terrorist was neutralised, it was a terror attack against civilians, a car ramming attack’.

The assailant was an Arab citizen of Israel, 45, from the northern town of Kafr Qasem, local media claimed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu scrambled police and army reserves following the incident, his office said.

British Ambassador to Israel Neil Wigan said: ‘My thoughts are with those affected by another horrific terror attack last night in Tel Aviv, including one Italian tourist killed.

‘British people are amongst the injured. We are in touch with the hospital and will offer our support.’

It comes after two Israeli sisters – both holding British passports – were shot dead in the easternmost part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday.

Gunmen fired at the victims, in their 20s, before another vehicle rammed into them as they drove through the Jordan Valley.

Their mother, 48, was also seriously injured. The father, driving in a car behind them was unharmed during the incident.

Israeli forces claimed the shooting came from a Palestinian vehicle.

The family moved from London to Efrat, near the Palestinian city of Bethlehem, in 2005, the settlement’s mayor Oded Revivi said.

Both incidents capped off a tense week of violence across Israel and the West Bank, exasperated by an outbreak of fighting along the Israel-Lebanon border.

It was ignited when Israeli police attacked hundreds of worshipers at the Al-Aqṣā Mosque , the third-holiest site in Islam, in occupied east Jerusalem on Wednesday.

Some witnesses alleged the force used rubber-tipped bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. Footage showed police pushing Palestinian worshippers out of the compound to prevent them from praying.

Bakr Owais, 24, told Al Jazeera : ‘The army broke the upper windows of the mosque and began throwing stun grenades at us.

‘They made us lay on the ground and they hand cuffed us one by one and took us all out. They kept swearing at us during this time. It was very barbaric.’

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At least 400 Palestinians were arrested, a dozen sustained wounds and three were taken to hospital, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

The raids, which continued into the morning, outraged Palestinians across the Middle East trying to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The Arab League condemned the attack, with Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit saying per Al Jazeera : ‘The extremist approaches that control the policy of the Israeli government will lead to widespread confrontations with the Palestinians if they are not put to an end.’

Netanyahu said he is trying to calm the situation at the compound.

‘Israel is committed to maintaining freedom of worship, freedom of access to all religions and the status quo and will not allow violent extremists to change that,’ he said.

Israel carried out air raids in southern Lebanon in the early hours of Friday at what officials alleged were positions of the Palestinian group, Hamas.

This was in response to the 34 rockets fired from southern Lebanon the previous day, the Israeli Defence Forces tweeted.

Emergency services in Israel said three people were injured by the four rockets which landed across Israel’s northern border, including a 19-year-old man and a 60-year-old man.

Though, responsibility for the rockets has not been made, with Israeli military officials pointing fingers at branches of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. 

Hamas, a Palestinian militia in Gaza, however, denied any involvement while condemning the violent raids.

Analysts said the episode was the most serious escalation along the Israel-Lebanon border since the 2006 war.

Jerusalem has been a major flash point of violence, being revered by Jews, Muslims and Christians alike.

Israeli police have immense control over security in the city, giving the force power over who can enter the Al-Aqṣā Mosque compound.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected] .

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Tel Aviv police ban World Children’s Day event supporting “children living in the shadow of the war”

November 20 is celebrated as World Children’s Day in many countries to commemorate the  Declaration of the Rights of the Child , adopted by the  UN General Assembly  on November 20, 1959. As children pay a shocking price in lost lives and endless suffering in the current war, 14 civil society organizations united to organize an event in Tel Aviv under the title “The cry of the children living in the shadow of the war.” In the invitation to the event, they wrote:

Children are children Over five million girls and boys live under fire! On Monday 20.11, International Children’s Rights Day, we will all meet to shout the cry of the children, all living in the shadow of the war for over 40 days and nights.

They called for:

* Promote a prisoner and abductee deal immediately, to allow everyone to return to their families. * To act out of the fracture, the collapse and the loss – and to move towards an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, which begins with the cessation of hostilities, as the only way to ensure security for all of us.

By law, such a gathering does not require any license. But on the morning of November 20, officers from the Tel Aviv police called the organizers and demanded that they apply for one. Seeking to avoid confrontation, after previous silent vigils were violently attacked by the police, the organizers quickly filled out the necessary forms. The answer from the police was also quick: the event was forbidden.

The limits of “Jewish democracy”

I have seen the letter that the police sent to the organizers to inform them that they refused the requested license. It starts with complaining that the request arrived late. This is hypocritical, as the event did not require a license, and the request for a license was filled at the insistence of the police themselves.

They proceeded to explain that they could not allow the event to take place, because they did not have enough police forces to guarantee public order. This is a direct response to the line drawn for them by the two recent high court decisions, the one that prevented anti-war demonstrations in Sakhnin and Umm al-Fahm and the one that allowed a limited demonstration in Tel Aviv last Saturday. Unwilling to say that Arab citizens are not allowed to demonstrate while the civil rights of Jews must be upheld, the judges justified their different positions by the availability of the “required” police forces. Now, the police under the extremist state security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who regard any opposition to the war as “treason,” have twisted that logic to prevent a silent vigil in Tel Aviv.

In the last section of its letter, the police resorted to lightly disguised threats. It informed the organizers that the occurrence of the event “might, with near certainty, cause serious harm to public security.” This is exactly the excuse that the police used, in many recent events, to violently attack and detain peaceful anti-war protesters all around the country.

I talked with Noa Levi from Hadash, one of the organizers of the Children’s Day protest. She was also one of the organizers of last Saturday’s anti-war demo that the high court forced the Tel Aviv police to allow. She told me about the dynamics they experienced within the police force itself, where violently anti-democratic officers, promoted by the new management under Ben-Gvir, are setting the tone. She pointed to the active role in silencing protest played by Superintendent Meir Swisah, who was widely denounced before the recent war for instigating unlawful violence against demonstrators in the protests against the judicial reform. She shared her impression that some of the professional officers are reeling against the extreme politicization of the police.

Children’s Day detainee: a 14-year-old boy

Meanwhile, the detention of Palestinians within the Green Line (who are formally citizens of Israel) for social media posts continues unabated. The courts, which since October 7 have suspended all regular hearings, are working overtime to keep as many Palestinians as possible in security prisons for extended periods. Nobody knows the full numbers, let alone the details of each case. It is hard to decide which individual case to follow. So, for Children’s Day, I will report today on the detention of a child.

Deiaa Haj Yahia reported today in Haaretz about the detention of a 14-year-old child with learning disabilities from Taibeh (some 35 kilometers northwest of Tel Aviv). According to the report, he was detained by the police for sharing a single post showing, side-by-side, Hamas militants held by the Israeli army and Israeli soldiers held by Hamas. The text on the image said, “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, what will come will be more difficult and cruel.” 

Even though the described post relates symmetrically, visually, and in the text to both sides of the conflict, Haaretz , echoing the police interpretation, added a headline saying the boy “shared a post supporting Hamas.” After spending a night in jail, the child was brought before a judge in Petah Tikva. The police requested to send him to house arrest. The defense lawyer insisted that he should go to school. Finally, he was only restricted from using the internet for a month.

Writing “Good Morning” may lead to prison

Another case that was reported today in Haaretz , by Eden Solomon, tells the story of Haitham Hawashleh, a 38-year-old father of five, who lives in the unrecognized village of Al-Araa near Biʾr as-Sab’e (Be’ersheva ). He used to work as an educator, and these days, he is campaigning to be elected as head of the Al-Kasom Regional Council.

Unlike many other detainees who shared celebratory photos of a breached wall or civilians on a military jeep, on the morning of October 7, Mr. Hawashleh simply wrote Sabah al-Kheir (“Good Morning” in Arabic) at 8:10 a.m. He later claimed that he was sleeping in the desert and didn’t even hear any news.

Despite the complete innocence of his text, he was detained on October 28 on suspicion of “publishing words praising or encouraging acts of terrorism and identifying with a terrorist organization!” In order to add “context,” the police related to another post from October 15, where Hawashleh shared an old holy Islamic text from the “Hadith.” As could be expected, the hadith, which is attributed to the prophet Muhammad said nothing about Israel or Hamas. 

For these two posts, Hawashleh spent 16 days in prison. According to Haaretz :

“On the day of the arrest, Hawashleh was taken to the “townships police station” and the next day his detention was extended. According to his lawyer Shehada Ibn Bari, since Hawashleh was charged with terrorist offenses – his status was that of a security detainee and he was required to stay in a security prison. Since there is no wing for security detainees in the Beer Sheva area, he was taken to the Russian compound in Jerusalem. During the entire period of detention, he was interrogated through phone calls only – when the interrogator was at the townships station and he was in the Russian compound. According to Hawashleh, during the time he was held in detention, he was beaten by the guards, they poured cold water on him, took his glasses from him and he was left in short clothes. “There is no law there to protect me, the guards did whatever they wanted with me, not only was I falsely arrested, but I also went through the worst of all,” he says. According to him, hours after his arrival at the detention center, he was put in a small room without cameras and asked to undress, then for several minutes two guards beat him with “punches and kicks all over his body” until he collapsed. In another case, according to him, he and two other detainees were severely beaten by five guards. “We received murderous beatings,” he says, “we were injured in the head, back, hands and legs. It lasted for more than 20 minutes. They took turns with the blows and, while cursing us, they told us that we were Daesh and Hamas.” … “Hawashleh was released on Sunday, a week ago, without any charges being brought against him. He suffers from pain all over his body and an X-ray that he took later revealed cracks in his ribs and a herniated disc in his neck. “I have trouble breathing and my whole body hurts,” he says. In addition, Hawashleh says that even on a mental level he is having trouble getting back to normal. He feels that his life has changed and now he does not feel safe in his country.”

At Mondoweiss , we understand the power of telling Palestinian stories. For 17 years, we have pushed back when the mainstream media published lies or echoed politicians’ hateful rhetoric. Now, Palestinian voices are more important than ever.

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The Times of Israel

Toddler found wandering alone in the rain on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street

Posted: November 20, 2023 | Last updated: November 20, 2023

A child of around two and a half years of age was found alone on a central Tel Aviv street in the heavy rain on Monday morning.

Shortly after 6 a.m., Magen David Adom received a report about a toddler walking alone on Dizengoff Street. First responders were dispatched to the scene amid concerns of frostbite or other injuries.

In a statement, the organization said that the team found the boy to be in good condition, but that he had been taken to the hospital for a checkup.

MDA medics said that the child was responsive during the examination and “was interested in the ambulance.”

However, he wasn’t able to tell the medics where he lived, and so they were unable to contact his caregivers. Accordingly, a police officer was dispatched to accompany him to the hospital, where he was set to undergo a more thorough examination.

The child was discovered during the first heavy storm of the winter season, which has brought heavy rain and wind to much of the country, including Tel Aviv, as well as fear of flooding across the coastlines.

In a statement on Sunday, the Israel Police warned of “a higher chance of urban flooding,” and urged the public to avoid traveling to high-risk areas.

The post Toddler found wandering alone in the rain on Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Street appeared first on The Times of Israel .

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Israel Police Thwart Attempted Terrorist Stabbing in Tel Aviv

Israel Police revealed Monday that late last month Police in Tel Aviv thwarted an attempted terrorist stabbing attack near the Savidor train station in the north of the city.

Two 14-year-old teenage suspects were arrested with knives in their possession.

The incident took place two weeks ago, when police officers noticed two boys acting suspiciously on Namir Street, near the station. The police officers approached the suspects, searched them, and found the knives.

The two teen wannabe terrorists were identified as Israeli students from the northern Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. They had traveled to Tel Aviv that day, each of them with a knife, intending to stab Israeli soldiers.

This was just one example of the many terrorist activities the police have been forced to deal with throughout Israel since the war in Gaza began on October 7, but it was not the first attempted attack at the Savidor train station this year.

A 35-year-old resident of the Gaza town of Jabalya who had a work permit enabling him to enter and work in Israel, was caught on September 20, 2023 carrying an 11-inch (30 centimeter) butcher’s knife hidden in his bag.

Israel Railway security personnel caught the would-be attacker when the knife was picked up by the X-ray scanner at the entrance to the train station.

One day later, a 60-year-old Gaza resident armed with large knives was caught and arrested at Tel Aviv’s Central Bus Station.

The Gazan’s knives were discovered during a routine search of the suspect’s bag at the entrance to the bus station.

Tazpit Press Service (TPS) contributed to this report.

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