Navy Fires warning shots As Gazans Try To Sail Burning Tires On Rafts Toward Israel

Following months of kite and balloon terrorism, Gazans appear to have weaponized another tool as they equipped dozens of burning tires with floatation devices and set them afloat in the sea in an attempt to reach Israel’s maritime border.

The Israeli Navy fired warning shots towards Palestinians at a beach in the northern Gaza Strip Monday evening (10th), as thousands demonstrated near the coastal border with Israel, and some attempted to sail rafts with burning tires towards Israel’s shoreline.

At least 2,000 Palestinians gathered at Gaza’s northern beaches to demonstrate, according to local reports.  Protesters burned tires and hurled rocks at Israeli troops near the border, and several threw a bomb at the soldiers, the army said.

Earlier several dozen boats took part in a protest flotilla trying to break Israel’s naval blockade off the Gaza coast, in what has become a common occurrence in recent weeks.  The Navy fired warning shots toward the boats and they moved back, according to the army.

Organizers have said the flotillas are part of the “March of Return” protests along Israel’s border, and are meant to highlight the importance of lifting the blockade on the Strip.

Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza since Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction, violently seized the territory from the internationally-backed Palestinian Authority in 2007.  It says the blockade is in place in order to prevent weapons and other military equipment from entering the Strip.

On Saturday (8th), IDF forces identified four Palestinians who were trying to breach the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip.  The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit later said the soldiers had arrested the suspects, who were armed with knives and axes, and transferred them for questioning.

(reuters.com; ynetnews.com)

 

Bolton Warns ICC Not To Go After Israel, Confirms Closure Of PLO’s DC Office

The United States on Monday (10th) warned the International Criminal Court against prosecution of US or Israeli officials for war crimes in the Middle East.

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton called The Hague-based rights body “unaccountable” and “outright dangerous” to the United States, Israel and other allies, and said any probe of US service members would be “an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation.”

In remarks to the conservative Federalist Society in Washington, Bolton said: “If the court comes after us, Israel, or other US allies, we will not sit quietly…The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court.”

Bolton added, that “While the court welcomes the membership of the so-called state of Palestine, it has threatened Israel, a liberal, democratic nation, with investigation into actions in the West Bank to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks.”

Bolton said the State department’s decision to close the Palestinian Liberation Organization office in Washington reflected “congressional concern with Palestinian attempts to prompt an ICC investigation of Israel.

“The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to take steps to begin direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel,” he added.  “The United States supports a direct an robust process, and we will not allow the ICC or any other organization to constrain Israel’s right to self-defense,” said Bolton.

(timesofisrael.com)

 

Linda Sarsour: Muslims Should Not Humanize Israelis

Left-wing activist Linda Sarsour said that American Muslims should not humanize Israelis during an Islamic conference, the Algemeiner reported.

Addressing the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) convention in Houston, Texas, Sarsour accused American Muslims who were not sufficiently active in supporting the Palestinian Arab cause of being complicit in the occupation of Palestinians, and in the murder of Palestinian protesters.”

Sarsour warned against normalization or friendly relations with Israelis.  “If you’re on the side of the oppressor, or you are defending the oppressor, or you’re actually trying to humanize the oppressor, then that is a problem sisters and brothers, and we have to be able to say: that is not the position of the Muslim American community.”   

Sarsour, who was propelled into the national spotlight as a leader of the Women’s March following the election of US President Donald Trump, has been criticized for expressing support for anti-Semites and terrorists who murdered Israelis.

In April 2017, Sarsour shared a stage with convicted murderer Rasmea Odeh, lauding the PFLP terrorist who murdered two Israelis before illegally immigrating to the US.  She compares Zionist Jews to neo-Nazis and praises stone-throwing Arab terrorists who target Israeli Jews.

(algemeiner.com; israelnn.com)

 

US Officials: Assad Approved Use Of Chemical Weapons in Idlib

Syrian President Bashar Assad has approved the use of chlorine gas in an offensive against the country’s last major rebel stronghold, US officials said, suggesting another possible retaliatory strike as thousands try to escape the region in what could be a decisive battle in the 7-year-old civil war.

According to sources, President Trump threatened to conduct a massive attack against Assad if he carries out a massacre in Idlib, the northwestern province that has become the last refuge for more than three million people and as many as 70,000 opposition fighters that the regime considers to be terrorists.

In the last couple of days, more than 5,400 people have escaped their homes in Idlib and became refugees.  According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, in the last 72 hours, 1,000 Russian and Syrian air and ground strikes took place in the region.

Half of the residents living in Idlib are already displaced from other regions of Syria.

One 20-year-old from the area said, “We are preparing what we can  – improvised masks that we can put on our children’s faces in case we are attacked with chemical weapons.”

Russia renewed its attacks on Idlib last week after a 22-day break, during which the Syrian army continued to bomb the area.

(afp.com; ynetnews.com)

 

Tired Of Looking For Parking, Israeli Entrepreneurs Develop Foldable Car

Like many other world cities, Tel Aviv is notorious for the scarcity of its parking spots.  You make a ten-minute drive to the city only to find there is no parking space in sight and end up searching for another 30 minutes at best, or parking a long distance away.  Fed up with the experience, two Israeli entrepreneurs – mechanical engineer Asaf Formoza and nano-physicist Udi Meridor – founded City Transformer Ltd. in 2014.

Based in Kfar Netter, a village in central Israel, City Transformer developed an ultra-light electrical vehicle capable of folding its chassis at a push of a button, to a width of just over 3 feet, similar to that of a large motorcycle.  When folded up, five Transformer vehicles can fit into a single parking space.

The City Transformer still in the prototype stage will hold two people and weighs 880 pounds.  It will be able to go up to 56 miles per hour in its regular state, following regulatory approval, Formoza said.

The vehicle is scheduled to hit the market in about two years.  Pre-ordering it will begin in the next two to three months.

City Transformer Ltd. has about 10 employees and has raised 1 million euros to date.

Foldable cars were already imagined in the 1940s but today’s mind and materials can make them a real possibility.

(israel21c.org)