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Hamas Claims Responsibility for Jerusalem Terror Attack in Which Three Killed, Six Wounded
Israeli officials work at the scene of a Palestinian terrorist attack in Jerusalem, Nov. 30, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Hamas claimed responsibility for the murder of three Israelis on Thursday morning by Palestinian terrorists as they waited at a bus station in Jerusalem.
The terrorists approached the bus stop at the entrance of Israel’s capital city around 7:40 am local time and opened fire at the civilians, killing three people and wounding six others. Police said two off-duty soldiers and an armed civilian in the area fired back, killing the attackers.
The terrorists were reportedly armed with an M-16 assault rifle and a handgun. A police search of their vehicle found hundreds of rounds of ammunition of ammunition.
The victims were 73-year-old Rabbi Elimelech Wasserman, a judge in the rabbinical court in Ashdod; a 67-year-old school principal from Beit Shemesh named Hanna Ifergan; and 24-year-old Livia Dickman from Har Nof.
Of the injured, two were listed in serious condition, three in moderate condition, and one in good condition, according to Israeli emergency services.
Hamas, the Palestinian terror group that rules Gaza, said in a statement that the two perpetrators — brothers Murad (38) and Ibrahim (30) Nemer, from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sur Baher — were “jihad-waging martyrs,” adding that the terrorist attack was in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
“The heroes of our people are mobilizing to avenge the blood of the martyrs,” added Hamas, which called for an “escalation of resistance.” The terror organization launched the current war with Israel with its Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israeli communities.
Hamas also said the attack came in response to the killing of two children in the West Bank on Wednesday. Two kids, aged 8 and 15, as well as two senior terror commanders, were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin. Hamas claimed the 15-year-old as one of its members.
According to Israel’s Shin Bet security agency, the Nemer brothers were members of Hamas who were previously jailed for terror activity. Murad was jailed between 2010 and 2020 for planning terror attacks linked to Gaza, and Ibrahim was jailed in 2014 for undisclosed terror activity.
Political reaction to the attack was swift.
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been a public opponent of the recent ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal between Israel and Hamas, said Thursday’s attack was a violation of the temporary truce.
“With one hand Hamas signs a ceasefire, with the other it sends terrorists to murder Jews in Jerusalem,” he said. “This is not a ceasefire but rather a continuation of the conception of containment [of terror attacks] and concession that brought us murdered people, which gives [Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar hope that he can exit this conflict with the upper hand.”
Speaking at the scene of the attack, Ben-Gvir praised his policy of arming more civilians and called on the government to increase its attacks on Hamas, saying, “We have to speak to Hamas only through intentions, only through the war.”
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich echoed this call, tweeting, “We are at war on all fronts… We will pursue and destroy them with God’s help everywhere.”
War Cabinet Minister Benny Gantz, a former chief of staff of the army, also spoke about the attack on social media: “This attack is further proof of our commitment to continue the fight with strength and determination against the murderous terrorism that threatens our citizens. In Jerusalem, Gaza, Judea and Samaria, and everywhere,”
His statement appeared to be in response to international pressure on Israel not to continue its campaign against Hamas once the ceasefire ends.
Newly minted US Ambassador to Israel Jack Lew shared on X/Twitter that “we unequivocally condemn such brutal violence.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was visiting Israel, said Thursday’s shooting was a reminder “of the threat from terrorism that Israel and Israelis face every single day… My heart goes out to the victims of this attack.”
In a separate incident on Thursday, two Israeli reservist soldiers were lightly injured in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the northern west Bank, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said. Other soldiers at the scene shot and killed the driver.
The post Hamas Claims Responsibility for Jerusalem Terror Attack in Which Three Killed, Six Wounded first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
Iran and the United States have agreed to continue nuclear talks next week, both sides said on Saturday, though Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi voiced “extreme cautious” about the success of the negotiations to resolve a decades-long standoff.
US President Donald Trump has signaled confidence in clinching a new pact with the Islamic Republic that would block Tehran’s path to a nuclear bomb.
Araqchi and Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held a third round of the talks in Muscat through Omani mediators for around six hours, a week after a second round in Rome that both sides described as constructive.
“The negotiations are extremely serious and technical… there are still differences, both on major issues and on details,” Araqchi told Iranian state TV.
“There is seriousness and determination on both sides… However, our optimism about success of the talks remains extremely cautious.”
A senior US administration official described the talks as positive and productive, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe “soon.”
“There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal,” the official added.
Earlier Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi had said talks would continue next week, with another “high-level meeting” provisionally scheduled for May 3. Araqchi said Oman would announce the venue.
Ahead of the lead negotiators’ meeting, expert-level indirect talks took place in Muscat to design a framework for a potential nuclear deal.
“The presence of experts was beneficial … we will return to our capitals for further reviews to see how disagreements can be reduced,” Araqchi said.
An Iranian official, briefed about the talks, told Reuters earlier that the expert-level negotiations were “difficult, complicated and serious.”
The only aim of these talks, Araqchi said, was “to build confidence about the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.”
Trump, in an interview with Time magazine published on Friday, said “I think we’re going to make a deal with Iran,” but he repeated a threat of military action against Iran if diplomacy fails.
Shortly after Araqchi and Witkoff began their latest indirect talks on Saturday, Iranian state media reported a massive explosion at the country’s Shahid Rajaee port near the southern city of Bandar Abbas, killing at least four people and injuring hundreds.
MAXIMUM PRESSURE
While both Tehran and Washington have said they are set on pursuing diplomacy, they remain far apart on a dispute that has rumbled on for more than two decades.
Trump, who has restored a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran since February, ditched a 2015 nuclear pact between Iran and six world powers in 2018 during his first term and reimposed crippling sanctions on Iran.
Since 2019, Iran has breached the pact’s nuclear curbs including “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% level that is weapons grade, according to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this week Iran would have to entirely stop enriching uranium under a deal, and import any enriched uranium it needed to fuel its sole functioning atomic energy plant, Bushehr.
Tehran is willing to negotiate some curbs on its nuclear work in return for the lifting of sanctions, according to Iranian officials, but ending its enrichment program or surrendering its enriched uranium stockpile are among “Iran’s red lines that could not be compromised” in the talks.
Moreover, European states have suggested to US negotiators that a comprehensive deal should include limits preventing Iran from acquiring or finalizing the capacity to put a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile, several European diplomats said.
Tehran insists its defense capabilities like its missile program are not negotiable.
An Iranian official with knowledge of the talks said on Friday that Tehran sees its missile program as a bigger obstacle in the talks.
The post Iran Says ‘Extremely Cautious’ on Success of Nuclear Talks with US first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named close confidant Hussein al-Sheikh as his deputy and likely successor on Saturday, the Palestine Liberation Organization said, a step widely seen as needed to assuage international doubts over Palestinian leadership.
Abbas, 89, has headed the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) since the death of veteran leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 but he had for years resisted internal reforms including the naming of a successor.
Sheikh, born in 1960, is a veteran of Fatah, the main PLO faction which was founded by Arafat and is now headed by Abbas. He is widely viewed as a pragmatist with very close ties to Israel.
He was named PLO vice president after the organization’s executive committee approved his nomination by Abbas, the PLO said in a statement.
Reform of the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in the West Bank, has been a priority for the United States and Gulf monarchies hoping the body can play a central role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Pressure to reform has intensified since the start of the war in Gaza, where the PLO’s main Palestinian rival Hamas has battled Israel for more than 18 months, leaving the tiny, crowded territory in ruins.
The United States has promoted the idea of a reformed PA governing in Gaza after the war. Gulf monarchies, which are seen as the most likely source of funding for reconstruction in Gaza after the war, also want major reforms of the body.
CALL FOR HAMAS TO DISARM
Israel’s declared goal in Gaza is the destruction of Hamas but it has also ruled out giving the PA any role in government there. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
Hamas, which follows a militant Islamist ideology, has controlled Gaza since 2007 when it defeated the PA in a brief civil war after winning an election the previous year. It also has a large presence in the West Bank.
At a meeting of the PLO’s Central Council on Wednesday and Thursday that approved the position of vice president without naming an appointee, Abbas made his clearest ever call for Hamas to completely disarm and hand its weapons – and responsibility for governing in Gaza – to the PA.
Widespread corruption, lack of progress towards an independent state and increasing Israeli military incursions in the West Bank have undermined the PA’s popularity among many Palestinians.
The body has been controlled by Fatah since it was formed in the Oslo Accords with Israel in 1993 and it last held parliamentary elections in 2005.
Sheikh, who was imprisoned by Israel for his activities opposing the occupation during the period 1978-89, has worked as the PA’s main contact liaising with the Israeli government under Abbas and been his envoy on visits to world powers.
The post Palestinian Leader Abbas Names Likely Successor in Bid to Reassure World Powers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
i24 News – The third round of talks between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program has concluded on Saturday, US media reported.
The two sides are understood to have discussed the US lifting of sanctions on Iran, with focuses on technical and key topics including uranium enrichment.
On April 12, the US and Iran held indirect talks in Muscat, marking the first official negotiation between the two sides since the US unilaterally withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
The second round of indirect talks took place in Rome, Italy, on April 19.
All parties, including Oman, stated that the first two rounds of talks were friendly and constructive, but Iranian media pointed out that the first two rounds were mainly framework negotiations and had not yet touched upon the core issues of disagreement.
According to media reports, one of the key issues in the expert-level negotiations will be whether Washington will allow Iran to continue uranium enrichment within the framework of its nuclear program. In response, Araghchi made it clear that Iran’s right to uranium enrichment is non-negotiable.
The US, Israel and other Western actors including the United Nation’s nuclear agency reject Iranian claims that its uranium enrichment is strictly civilian in its goals.
The post 3rd Round of Nuclear Talks Between Iran, US Concludes in Oman first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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