Syria is directly involved in terrorism and will not be granted immunity by Israel, the deputy defense minister said yesterday, but stopped short of claiming formal responsibility for the killing of a Hamas leader in Damascus.
Israeli security sources have acknowledged Israel was responsible for the killing of Izz Eldine Subhi Sheik Khalil in a car bombing on Sunday. Hamas and Syria blamed Israel for the attack, and the group vowed to take revenge.
Security at Israeli diplomatic missions abroad is being increased in response to the Hamas threats, Israeli government officials said.
Deputy Defense Minister Zeev Boim said the issue was not who killed Khalil, but rather Syria's deep involvement in terrorism.
"Syria is responsible for directing terrorism against us and therefore it is not immune from our operations to prevent terrorism," Boim told Israel Radio.
"This is a central thing that needs to be said ... anyone who hurts Israel, anyone who takes part in terrorism that leads to murder and death ... of Israelis, he'll pay for it, and it doesn't matter if he operates in Israel or abroad," he added.
Boim described Syria as a "central intersection" of terrorism and Syrian President Bashar Assad as the "traffic officer" directing the operations and harboring the groups.
Hamas' threats, Boim said, should not be taken lightly, "but we have to very aware and not take our eyes off the special place Syria holds in the chain of terrorism, regionally and globally."
Meanwhile, Israeli troops hunting militants raided a West Bank hospital on yesterday, and Palestinian witnesses reported exchanges of fire in the area.
In the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians were killed by army fire, including two militants and a civilian who stood at the gate of the school when he was hit.
In the West Bank raid, dozens of Israeli armored vehicle entered the town of Jenin and the adjacent refugee camp by the same name before dawn yesterday. Witnesses said soldiers took over several buildings, including a school and a government office, and exchanged fire with gunmen.
Three Palestinians were wounded, hospital officials said.
After dawn, troops entered the private al-Arazi Hospital, the army said, confirming Palestinian witness reports. Yehiyeh Alan, who lives near the hospital, said he saw a firefight outside the hospital.
In other operations, the army imposed curfews on two refugee camps adjacent to the West Bank city of Nablus and sealed off all exits, witnesses said.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers fired machine guns toward the Khan Younis refugee camp, Palestinian security officials said. A 55-year-old civilian was killed as he stood at the gate of a local school, the officials said.
Also in Gaza, killed two armed Palestinians near the Jebaliya refugee camp, the army said. The militants, who were carrying explosives, were crawling in a no-go zone near the border fence with Israel when soldiers opened fire, the army said.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
INFLUTENTIAL THEORIST: Habermas was particularly critical of the ‘limited interest’ shown by German politicians in ‘shaping a politically effective Europe Jurgen Habermas, whose work on communication, rationality and sociology made him one of the world’s most influential philosophers and a key intellectual figure in his native Germany, has died. He was 96. Habermas’ publisher, Suhrkamp, said he died on Saturday in Starnberg, near Munich. Habermas frequently weighed in on political matters over several decades. His extensive writing crossed the boundaries of academic and philosophical disciplines, providing a vision of modern society and social interaction. His best-known works included the two-volume Theory of Communicative Action. Habermas, who was 15 at the time of Nazi Germany’s defeat, later recalled the dawn of
RSS