CNN
 — 

Israeli police say at least seven folks have been killed and three have been injured in a capturing close to a synagogue in Jerusalem on Friday amid excessive tensions in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Friday’s shooter was additionally later killed by police forces, in line with police, in what police chief Yaakov Shabtai described as “one of the worst terror attacks in the past few years.”

“As a result of the shooting attack, the death of 7 civilians was determined and 3 others were injured with additional degrees of injury,” police stated.

Five of the capturing victims have been pronounced useless at the scene, Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency rescue service stated: 4 males and a lady. Five folks have been transported to hospitals, the place one other man and lady have been declared useless.

The attack occurred round 8:15 p.m. native time, close to a synagogue on Neve Yaakov Street, in line with a police assertion.

Shabtai stated the gunman “started shooting at anyone that was in his way. He got in his car and started a killing spree with a pistol at short range.” He then fled the scene in a automobile and was killed after a shootout with police forces, police stated.

Police recognized the gunman as a 21-year-old resident of East Jerusalem, saying in an announcement that he appeared to have acted alone. East Jerusalem is a predominantly Palestinian space of the town, which was captured by Israel in 1967.

The incident comes sooner or later after the deadliest day for Palestinians within the West Bank in over a yr, in line with CNN information. On Thursday, Israeli forces killed 9 Palestinians and wounded a number of others within the West Bank metropolis of Jenin, in line with the Palestinian Ministry of Health. A tenth Palestinian was killed that day in what Israel Police known as a “violent disturbance” close to Jerusalem.

Israel’s controversial National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited the scene of the attack on Friday night, telling individuals who have been chanting angrily that “it cannot continue like this.”

“I can tell you, [the people chanting] you are right. The burden is on us. It cannot continue like this,” Ben Gvir, who additionally leads the far-right Jewish Power occasion, stated.

Some folks on the scene have been chanting help for Ben Gvir, saying “You are our voice, we support you.”

CNN’s Hadas Gold and staff, who have been additionally at the scene of Friday evening’s capturing, heard what gave the impression of celebratory gunfire and automobile horns honking from the close by predominantly Palestinian neighborhood of Beit Hanina.

The United States State Department on Friday condemned the “apparent terrorist attack” in Jerusalem “in the strongest terms.”

“This is absolutely horrific,” stated State Department Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel. “Our thoughts, prayers and condolences go out to those killed and injured in this heinous act of violence.”

Patel stated the US is “still gathering information” however that the US authorities is “in direct touch with our Israeli partners.”

Patel stated no change to the schedule of Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s upcoming journey to Egypt, Israel and the West Bank was anticipated.

The European Union, France and the UK additionally condemned the capturing.

“I am appalled by reports of the terrible attack in Neve Yaakov tonight. Attacking worshippers at a synagogue on Erev Shabat is a particularly horrific act of terrorism. The UK stands with Israel,” Neil Wigan, the British ambassador in Israel wrote on Twitter.

The EU ambassador to Israel, Dimiter Tzantchev, additionally condemned the “senseless violence,” saying in his tweet, “Terror is never the answer.”

And the French embassy in Israel tweeted that the incident was “all the more despicable as it was committed on this day of international remembrance of the Holocaust.”

Jerusalem
CNN
 — 

Israel’s far-right nationwide safety minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday visited the Jerusalem compound often called the Temple Mount by Jews and the Haram al-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by Muslims, in a transfer that drew worldwide condemnation.

Videos printed on Israeli media confirmed Ben Gvir strolling via the compound surrounded by Israeli police.

Tensions are excessive over the flashpoint complicated, which is the holiest site in Judaism and the third holiest in Islam. It accommodates the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the site of the destroyed first and second Jewish Temples. Only Muslims are allowed to wish on the complicated underneath a decades-old settlement; Ben Gvir believes that Jews ought to have the proper to wish there, too.

Palestinians instantly objected to the go to.

“We strongly condemn extremist Ben Gvir’s storming of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and we consider it an unprecedented provocation and a serious threat,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry stated in a press release. “We hold (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu responsible for its consequences on the conflict and the region.”

Ben Gvir entered the compound on Tuesday however not the Al-Aqsa Mosque constructing itself. The lawmaker’s go to was his first since he was sworn in final week as nationwide safety minister, in what is ready to be probably the most right-wing authorities in Israel’s historical past. It is led by Netanyahu, who has returned for his sixth time period as prime minister on the head of a coalition that features a number of extremist events.

Ben Gvir, the chief of the far-right Jewish Power (Otzma Yehudit) celebration, has beforehand been convicted for supporting terrorism and inciting anti-Arab racism. As nationwide safety minister, he oversees police in Israel in addition to some police exercise within the occupied West Bank.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that runs Gaza, warned that Ben Gvir’s go to can be a “precursor for the ignition of the region” and will probably be “pouring fuel over fire.”

“The Israeli government of which I am a member will not surrender to a vile murdering organization,” Ben Gvir responded in a tweet. “The Temple Mount is open to everyone and if Hamas thinks that if it threatens me it will deter me, let them understand that times have changed. There is a government in Jerusalem!”

Under the so-called established order settlement courting again to Ottoman rule of Jerusalem, solely Muslims are allowed to wish contained in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, and non-Muslims are allowed to go to the complicated solely at sure occasions. Israel and different states agreed to keep up established order entry to those holy websites after Israel captured them within the 1967 struggle.

Some spiritual nationalist Jewish teams have been demanding entry to the Temple Mount space for Jewish prayer. There have been a number of situations of Jewish guests conducting prayers on the compound, sparking outrage from Muslim authorities and compelled removals by Israeli police.

Visits by Israeli political figures have traditionally preceded durations of violence between Israel and Palestinians. The conservative Israeli opposition chief Ariel Sharon’s go to to the complicated in September 2000 contributed to the beginning of the Second Intifada, a yearslong Palestinian rebellion towards Israel.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid criticized Netanyahu over the go to, calling him “weak” for entrusting the “most irresponsible man in the Middle East to the most explosive place in the Middle East.”

In a tweet, Lapid known as the go to a “provocation that will lead to violence that will endanger human life and cost human lives,” and stated that it’s time for Netanyahu to inform Ben Gvir, “you don’t go up to the Temple Mount because people will die.”

The go to additionally drew a refrain of worldwide criticism.

The UAE “strongly condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by an Israeli minister under the protection of Israeli forces,” in a press release with out mentioning Ben Gvir by title.

The Gulf nation has been trying to keep up its assist for the Palestinians whereas balancing its newly shaped partnership with Israel. The nation has issued previous condemnations, notably over occasions that elevate rigidity over the holy websites in Jerusalem.

Egypt’s international ministry “warned of the negative repercussions of such measures on security and stability” and known as “on all parties to exercise restraint and responsibility and refrain from any measures that would inflame the situation.”

Jordan condemned Ben Gvir’s go to within the “strongest” phrases, calling it “a flagrant and unacceptable violation of international law, and of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its sanctities.”

Jordan’s monarchy has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s holy websites since 1924 and sees itself because the guarantor of the spiritual rights of Muslims and Christians within the metropolis.

The 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation additionally issued a press release holding Israel accountable for the repercussions of “aggression” towards Palestinian folks.

A US embassy spokesperson stated: “Ambassador (Tom) Nides has been very clear in conversations with the Israeli government on the issue of preserving the status quo in Jerusalem’s holy sites. Actions that prevent that are unacceptable.”

The British consulate in Jerusalem stated in a press release on Facebook that it was “concerned” by Ben Gvir’s go to and stated it “remains committed to the status quo.”

In a tweet in regards to the site Tuesday night, Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, warned towards “actions that could increase tensions.”

The chief of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah stated the go to is not going to solely trigger unrest in Palestinian territories “but may ignite the entire region.” In a televised speech Tuesday, Hassan Nasrallah additionally said Hezbollah doesn’t concern Israel’s new right-wing authorities. “It’s composed of freaks and crazy people,” he stated.

Netanyahu insisted Tuesday that his authorities was not looking for to alter the foundations on the site. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed to strictly maintaining the status quo, without changes, on the Temple Mount,” a press release from his workplace stated.

“We will not be dictated to by Hamas. Under the status quo, ministers have gone up to the Temple Mount in recent years, including Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan; therefore, the claim that a change has been made in the status quo is without foundation.”

Editor’s Note: A model of this story first appeared in CNN’s Meanwhile within the Middle East publication, a three-times-a-week look contained in the area’s largest tales. Sign up here.

Abu Dhabi, UAE
CNN
 — 

A weeping Iranian lady is seen kneeling by her useless brother’s coffin as she slashes through her hair with a pair of scissors. Her kin wail for justice as she tosses strands onto the coffin.

They have been grieving for 36-year-old Javad Heydari, who was fatally shot final week at one of many anti-government protests which have gripped Iran.

Images like these have galvanized women internationally to hitch Iranian women protesting the dying of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. She died in hospital on September 16, three days after being pulled off the streets of Tehran by morality police and brought to a “re-education center” for classes in modesty.

From the Middle East, Europe and across the United States, women across the globe have proven solidarity with Iranian women’s plight in rallies and demonstrations. Some have additionally minimize or shaved their hair in public or whereas being filmed.

Now in their twelfth day, protests have swept through greater than 40 Iranian cities, together with the capital Tehran. Iranian safety forces have been cracking down on protesters, with a whole lot arrested and not less than 41 killed, in keeping with state media. Some human rights organizations say the dying toll is as excessive as 76. CNN can’t independently confirm these figures.

So, why are women cutting their hair?

For many Iranian women, cutting off hair – an indication of magnificence that’s decreed to be hidden within the Islamic Republic – is a poignant type of protest.

“We want to show them that we don’t care about their standards, their definition of beauty or what they think that we should look like,” stated 36-year-old Faezeh Afshan, an Iranian chemical engineer dwelling in Bologna, Italy, who was filmed shaving off her hair. “It is to show that we are angry.”

Afshan attributes the apply of cutting off hair to historic cultural practices. “In our literature, cutting the hair is a symbol of mourning, and sometimes a symbol of protesting,” she advised CNN. “If we can cut our hair to show that we are angry… we will do it.”

The apply is cited in Shahnameh, a 1,000-year-old Persian epic and a cultural mainstay in Iran written by Ferdowsi. Made of practically 60,000 verses, the poem tells the tales of the kings of Persia and is without doubt one of the most vital works of literature within the Persian language. In a couple of occasion via the epic work, hair is plucked in an act of mourning.

“Women cutting their hair is an ancient Persian tradition… when the fury is stronger than the power of the oppressor,” tweeted Wales-based author and translator Shara Atashi. “The moment we have been waiting for has come. Politics fueled by poetry.”

In the Shahnameh, after the hero Siyavash is killed, his spouse Farangis and the women accompanying her minimize their hair to protest injustice, Atashi advised CNN.

The characters portrayed within the poem “are in everyday use as symbols and archetypes,” she stated, including that the poem has helped form the identities of Iranians, Afghans and Tajiks for 1,000 years.

“But there is haircutting in the poetry of Hafez and Khaqani too, always about mourning and protests against injustice,” she stated, referring to different Persian poets.

The apply can also be widespread in different historic cultures. The Epic of Gilgamesh, a 3,500-year-old poem from historic Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) covers themes of grief and despair, the place cutting or pulling out one’s hair is used to specific anguish. The poem is taken into account to be one of many world’s oldest works of literature and is claimed to have influenced neighboring cultures.

Shima Babaei, an Iranian activist residing in Belgium who stated she was arrested by Iran’s infamous morality police in 2018 for publicly eradicating her hijab as an indication of protest, advised CNN that hair cutting had “historical meaning” for Iranians. Women who lose a direct relative would generally minimize their hair as an indication of mourning and anger, she stated.

“For us, Mahsa was our sister,” she stated. “And so, in this way, we are protesting.”

Cutting hair, stated Atashi, “is itself a ceremony of mourning to better expose the depth of suffering at the loss of a loved one.” And in in the present day’s context, she provides, it’s a signal of “protest against the killing of our people.”

Saudi king names MBS as prime minister

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz has named his son Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (often known as MBS) as the dominion’s prime minister and one other son Prince Khalid as protection minister, in keeping with Saudi state media.

Turkey summons German envoy after politician likens Erdogan to ‘sewer rat’

Turkey’s overseas ministry summoned the German ambassador to Ankara on Tuesday to protest feedback made by a senior German politician who likened President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to a “little sewer rat,” Reuters reported. “We condemn in the strongest terms the insulting statements made by Wolfgang Kubicki, the vice-speaker of the German Federal Parliament, about our president in a speech during the Lower Saxony state election campaign,” Turkish overseas ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgic stated in a press release.

At least 4 Palestinians killed, dozens wounded in considered one of this yr’s deadliest Israeli West Bank raids

At least four Palestinian men have been killed and 50 wounded throughout an Israeli navy raid in Jenin Wednesday morning, Palestinian officers stated, making it one of many deadliest Israeli raids within the occupied West Bank this yr, which has already seen over 100 Palestinians killed by Israeli troopers. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated the raid was associated to an assault in Tel Aviv in April which left three individuals useless, and that the suspects Wednesday fought again with explosives and gunfire.

Henna, a reddish-brown dye famously used for physique artwork in lots of components of the Middle East, could also be making its approach to becoming a member of the UNESCO checklist of intangible cultural heritage.

In the method of being nominated by the UAE and the Arab League, henna has lengthy been a part of Middle Eastern, North African and South Asian heritage and identification.

Dating again 1000’s of years, the non permanent dye is used to create elaborate designs primarily on one’s fingers, typically for non secular festivals and celebrations.

Representatives from 16 Arab nations met this month to debate the nomination, in keeping with the Abu Dhabi authorities media workplace, stressing that henna performs an vital position in Arab and Gulf tradition and identification.

UNESCO’s checklist of intangible cultural heritage contains each inherited in addition to fashionable traditions, and is supposed to advertise practices that contribute to “social cohesion” and encourage a shared sense of identification.

The checklist contains practices equivalent to falconry, yoga, and Arabic calligraphy.

By Nadeen Ebrahim

Jerusalem and Gaza
CNN
 — 

The Israeli army launched lethal strikes towards what it stated had been Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza on Friday as tensions proceed to rise between Israel and Palestinian militant teams.

Islamic Jihad stated in an announcement that one in all its senior leaders, Tayseer Al Jabari, had been killed in an Israeli strike. He was a commander within the Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, the group stated, and a member of its Military Council.

The Palestinian well being ministry stated at the least 10 individuals had been killed, together with a 5-year-old lady and a 23-year-old lady. Another 75 had been injured, it stated. Israel insists most of these killed had been militants.

A CNN producer in Gaza noticed medics carrying two our bodies out of a constructing known as the Palestine Tower that had been hit in one of many strikes.

An Israeli military assertion stated the army operation – which it known as ‘Breaking Dawn’ – was concentrating on Islamic Jihad, the smaller of the 2 predominant militant teams in Gaza.

The Israeli military stated the primary focus of its army motion was a pre-emptive air-strike on Al Jabari, and strikes on two anti-tank squads which had been en path to finishing up an assault on Israeli forces.

On a name with reporters Friday night time, a military spokesman stated the 2 squads had been tracked for a number of days earlier than the Air Force carried out its operation, including that Israel had been dealing with an imminent menace for a number of days as the 2 militant items moved very near the fence that separates Gaza from Israel.

A “special situation” has been declared in areas round Gaza, in anticipation of attainable rocket hearth, or different retaliatory assaults, the Israeli military stated.

“The goal of this operation is the elimination of a concrete threat against the citizens of Israel and the civilians living adjacent to the Gaza Strip, as well as the targeting of terrorists and their sponsors,” Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz stated in a joint assertion.

“The Israeli government will not allow terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip to set the agenda in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip and threaten the citizens of the State of Israel. Anyone who tries to harm Israel should know: We will find you,” Lapid stated.

Islamic Jihad has vowed to reply. “All options are open, with all means that the Palestinian resistance has, whether in Gaza or outside,” spokesman Daoud Shehab stated on Al Jazeera. “The battlefield is open … The resistance will respond with all force. We will not say how, but it is inevitable.”

Meanwhile, Gantz approved the call-up of 25,000 reservists on Friday night, signaling Israel’s preparedness for a full-scale escalation.

Those instantly known as up will reinforce the military’s southern command, which incorporates the realm round Gaza, in addition to items working Israel’s aerial protection methods, amongst different deployments, the Defense Ministry stated.

Sirens indicating incoming rocket hearth had been heard within the southern city of Sderot and different villages near Gaza late Friday night. Earlier, sirens sounded in Bat Yam, positioned just some kilometers south of Tel Aviv, and in Yavne, which lies between Tel Aviv and Ashdod. Israeli media reported that many rockets have been intercepted by the Iron Dome aerial protection system, with no reviews of any casualties in Israel.

The Israeli military stated that it continues to strike Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, together with a rocket-launching web site close to the southern Gazan metropolis of Khan Younis. The military additionally stated it’s putting weapons manufacturing services.

Hamas, the militant group which controls Gaza, has condemned the Israeli motion. “The Israeli enemy, who started the escalation against Gaza and committed a new crime, must pay the price and bear full responsibility for it,” spokesman Fawzi Barhoum stated.

Tor Wennesland, the UN’s prime official within the Middle East, stated he was deeply involved by the continuing escalation between the 2 sides.

Referencing the killing of a five-year-old lady, Wennesland stated there could possibly be “no justification for any attacks against civilians,” and addressing militants, stated that “the launching of rockets must cease immediately, and I call on all sides to avoid further escalation.”

The UN, together with Egypt, has typically performed a key middleman function between Israel and Palestinian militants in restoring a ceasefire after hostilities have damaged out.

Wennesland stated the UN was “fully engaged with all concerned” to attempt to keep away from an extra deterioration. But he added that “the responsibility is with the parties to avoid this from happening.”

Friday’s strikes come after Israeli forces captured a senior Islamic Jihad commander, Bassam al-Saadi, throughout a raid on Monday night time within the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

During that operation, a 17-year-old Palestinian linked to Islamic Jihad was shot lifeless in an alternate of gunfire with Israeli troopers, in line with the Israeli army. The Palestinian well being ministry stated he had been shot within the head by Israeli forces.

Saadi was one in all two needed terror suspects apprehended in that raid, Israel stated. The Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, stated it was mobilizing its forces throughout the Palestinian territories in response.

Recent months have seen repeated Israeli operations in and round Jenin, after a number of deadly assaults inside Israel had been carried out by Palestinian gunmen from the area. Thirty Palestinians have been killed within the raids because the begin of the yr, in line with the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

President Biden’s trip to the Middle East this week inadvertently underscores the truth that no less than three big guarantees he made earlier than taking workplace have been deserted or stay unfulfilled.

Driving the information: The Iran deal hasn’t been restored, Biden is heading to the nation he vowed to make a “pariah,” and the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem continues to be closed.

1. Restoring the Iran deal

The Iran nuclear deal continues to be in tatters even though restoring it was arguably candidate Biden’s solely first-tier coverage goal towards the area.

Standing alongside appearing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Thursday, Biden pledged to not permit Iran to accumulate a nuclear weapon, whereas noting that he nonetheless hoped to resolve the disaster diplomatically.

• With talks stalled, Iran has continued to speed up its nuclear exercise. Biden’s aides have been insisting for months that the window to salvage the deal is closing. It’s not clear what precisely plan B may entail.
• Biden has taken flak from advocates of the deal for declining to speculate a lot political capital into saving it and for refusing to satisfy Iran’s demand to elevate Donald Trump’s largely symbolic terror designation for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
• Biden mentioned Thursday that the U.S. supply to re-enter the deal was already on the desk, whereas warning Tehran “we’re not going to wait forever.”

2. Making Saudi Arabia a “pariah”

Biden’s Saudi cease stands in stark distinction to his marketing campaign path promise to make the dominion a “pariah” over its human rights abuses, significantly the homicide of Jamal Khashoggi.

Asked at the moment if he’d elevate Khashoggi with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Biden demurred however mentioned his place on the homicide was “so clear” that everybody understood it.

• Biden’s preliminary refusal to have interaction instantly with the crown prince — and the discharge of an intelligence report blaming MBS for Khashoggi’s homicide — seems to have hampered the administration’s efforts to persuade Riyadh to extend its oil output.
• Biden has clearly calculated that it is value making a controversial go to with the intention to reset relations, although many progressives disagree.

3. Opening the consulate in Jerusalem

Biden promised a much more constructive reset in relations with the Palestinians, together with a key dedication to reopen the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem that served because the U.S. diplomatic mission to the Palestinian Authority till Trump closed it in 2019.

• But the leaders of Israel’s fragile coalition (which just lately collapsed) warned the Biden administration that reopening the consulate can be a political bombshell in Israel and assist carry former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to power.

• Biden has taken a variety of steps to revive help to the Palestinians and rebuild a relationship that cratered underneath Trump, however he is left the consulate pledge unfulfilled. The Palestinian management has very low expectations for Biden’s visit to the occupied West Bank tomorrow.

One promise Biden did not make was progress on the Israeli-Palestinian peace course of.

• The course of that preoccupied so a lot of Biden’s predecessors is totally stagnant, due primarily to Israeli politics.
• It hardly featured on Biden’s agenda in Israel and was solely addressed in obscure phrases in Thursday’s “Jerusalem Declaration” on U.S.-Israel relations.

What’s subsequent: After conferences with Israeli leaders on Thursday and Palestinian leaders on Friday, Biden will fly to Saudi Arabia to satisfy the king and crown prince and attend a summit with regional leaders.

What to observe: The Israeli authorities on Thursday authorised the parameters of a deal round two strategic Red Sea islands that can pave the way in which for Saudi Arabia to take steps towards (*3*), Axios’ Barak Ravid scoops.