Israelis were yesterday officially advised to steer clear of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt during the upcoming Jewish festival of Sukkot, the anti-terror bureau said in a statement.
“In light of the upcoming holiday of Sukkot, the anti--terror bureau reiterates its severe travel warning in respect to the Sinai, and recommends against traveling there,” it said, urging all Israelis currently staying to “leave the area immediately” and return to Israel.
Resorts dotted along the Red Sea in the Sinai are a popular holiday destination for Israelis seeking a relatively cheap break in the sun.
However, since the start of the massive uprising in Egypt that toppled former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, security in the peninsula has deteriorated significantly, with Egypt sending troops into the area to try to bring it back under control.
Over the past eight months, militants in the Sinai have blown up a pipeline supplying gas to the Jewish state at least six times, and in August, a group of gunmen infiltrated Israel from the peninsula and carried out a series of deadly shooting attacks that left eight Israelis dead.
Sukkot, which begins at sundown tomorrow, is a week-long holiday when people eat and sleep in makeshift booths in their gardens to remember the tents in which the Bible says the Jewish people lived for 40 years in the desert.
The holiday, which is also known as the Feast of Tabernacles, is one of three pilgrimage festivals when Jews are commanded to visit Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli police yesterday said they arrested a second suspect following an arson attack on a mosque blamed on a pro-settler militant group, known by its slogan “price tag.”
Israel named a special task force to investigate last week’s blaze in the Israeli Arab village of Tuba-Zangariya, amid fears it could exacerbate tensions with Palestinians.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia