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Israeli army jails soldier after video of him beating Palestinian activist in Hebron goes viral

(JTA) — A video of a prominent Palestinian activist getting thrown to the ground and kicked in Hebron went viral on Twitter on Monday, prompting the Israel Defense Forces to acknowledge the error and jail the soldier.

The video was posted by Lawrence Wright, a New Yorker staff writer on a tour of the West Bank city with activist Issa Amro. The 38-second video shows a soldier grabbing Amro by the neck, throwing him to the ground and kicking him repeatedly.

“I never had a source assaulted in front of me until today when an Israeli soldier who stopped my interview did this with Palestinian peace activist Issa Amro in Hebron,” Wright tweeted. “I can’t stop thinking how dehumanizing the occupation is on the young soldiers charged with enforcing it.”

Amro is an opinion writer for publications including the Jewish Daily Forward and the Guardian. He gives tours of Hebron, the southern West Bank city that is a flashpoint for conflict owing to its large Palestinian population and small population of Israeli settlers, in addition to the Cave of the Patriarchs, the burial place of Abraham, Sarah and other Jewish patriarchs and matriarchs, which both Jews and Muslims regard as holy.

“I was detained and beaten violently by an Israeli soldier in Hebron,” Amro tweeted. “I was showing the famous American writer Lawrence Wright … the Israeli occupation and apartheid in my home town #Hebron.”

I never had a source assaulted in front of me until today when an Israeli soldier who stopped my interview did this with a Palestinian peace activist Issa Amro in Hebron. I can’t stop thinking how dehumanizing the occupation is on the young soldiers charged with enforcing it. pic.twitter.com/Qrsa1UJsfA

— Lawrence Wright (@lawrence_wright) February 13, 2023

The video was shared well over 10,000 times on Twitter, and the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C. sent out a statement from the IDF acknowledging the error and saying that after an inquiry, the IDF had decided to jail the soldier for 10 days and reconsider his military assignment.

In the statement, the IDF claims that Amro cursed the soldier, which Amro and Wright both dispute.

“As the video shows, the soldier did not act as expected and did not follow the IDF code of conduct,” said the statement by IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Richard Hecht. “The IDF will not hesitate, despite provocations, to preserve its ethics and morals.”

After the IDF’s statement, Wright posted multiple longer videos showing extended arguments between Amro and the soldier over a video that Amro, who frequently  documents what he says is misconduct by Israeli soldiers, had taken. “The soldier initiated the encounter. Amro did not curse or interfere only asked that he call the commander. Nothing to justify the attack that followed,” Wright wrote. The extended videos do not show the soldier physically attacking Amro.

In November, Amro was arrested and subsequently ordered by a military court to leave his home for a week after he filmed a soldier threatening protesters in Hebron. The soldier said, “Ben-Gvir is going to bring order to this place,” referring to Itamar Ben-Gvir, the far-right politician then in negotiations to join the government in a leadership position. That soldier was also jailed for 10 days.

Now Israel’s minister of national security with authority over the country’s police and unprecedented oversight in the West Bank, Ben-Gvir, who lives near Hebron, announced his support Monday for the soldier who is being punished over his treatment of Amro.

“I support the soldier who didn’t stay quiet with all my strength,” Ben-Gvir tweeted. “Soldiers need to receive support, not jail time.”


The post Israeli army jails soldier after video of him beating Palestinian activist in Hebron goes viral appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Jailed Iranian Peace Laureate Mohammadi Moved to Hospital in Tehran

A picture of Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi on the wall of the Grand Hotel in central Oslo before the Nobel banquet, in connection with the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize 2023, in Oslo, Norway, Dec. 10, 2023. Photo: NTB/Javad Parsa via REUTERS

Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi has been moved to a hospital in the capital, Tehran, and has been granted a suspension of her sentence on heavy bail, a foundation run by her family said on Sunday.

Mohammadi, 54, won the ‌prize in 2023 while in prison for a campaign to advance women’s rights and abolish the death penalty. She suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Her family had called for her to be transferred from Zanjan, northwest of Tehran, where she was serving her sentence and where she had been initially taken to a hospital, so that she could receive better medical care.

She is now at Tehran Pars Hospital for treatment by her own medical team after being transferred by ambulance, the Narges Mohammadi Foundation said ⁠in a statement.

Mohammadi was sentenced to a new prison term of 7-1/2 ​years, the foundation said in February, weeks ​before the ⁠US and Israel launched their war against Iran. The Nobel committee at the time called on Tehran to free her immediately.

She ⁠had been arrested in ​December after denouncing the death ​of a lawyer, Khosrow Alikordi. A prosecutor told reporters that she had ​made provocative remarks at Alikordi’s memorial ceremony.

The foundation gave no details of the bail arrangements or suspension of her sentence.

“However, a suspension is not enough,” it said. “Narges Mohammadi requires permanent, specialized care. We must ensure she never returns to prison.”

Iran shut down most of the internet in the country in January as authorities suppressed mass protests triggered by economic unease. Rights groups have reported ongoing ⁠executions of ​people involved in the unrest.

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Israel’s Attorney General Calls to Cancel Netanyahu’s Mossad Chief Appointment

Israeli Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara. Photo: Twitter

i24 News –  Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the High Court of Justice on Sunday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to appoint Maj. Gen. Roman Gofman as the next Mossad chief must be canceled.

Baharav-Miara filed her position ahead of a Tuesday hearing on petitions challenging the appointment, telling the court that “substantial flaws” had been found both in the process conducted by the advisory committee and in the conclusions it drew. She said Netanyahu’s decision suffered from “extreme and blatant unreasonableness” and could not stand legally.

At the center of the dispute is the case of Ori Elmakayes, who was a 17-year-old minor when he was activated in 2022 by Division 210, without going through authorized intelligence channels. At the time, the division was commanded by Gofman. Elmakayes was arrested in May 2022 under espionage charges after two officers sent him classified information and told him to post it online as part of an “influence campaign,” despite not being authorized to do so. Gofman initiated this operation. Elmakayes was then held in full detention until July, spending an extended period under electronic monitoring and house arrest before the indictment against him was canceled in late 2023.

Baharav-Miara says Gofman’s involvement in leaking the classified information to the minor, “casts a heavy shadow on Gofman’s integrity and thus on his appointment to head the Mossad.” The attorney general also identified serious procedural failings in the advisory committee’s work. She notes that the majority members signed their opinion before committee chairman and former Supreme Court president Asher Grunis had written his dissent and before two members had reviewed several classified documents significant to the full picture. Grunis concluded that integrity flaws had been found and that it was not appropriate to appoint Gofman as Mossad chief.

The attorney general also says the committee failed to hear directly from Elmakayes or from a relevant senior military intelligence officer, instead relying in part on media interviews.

Netanyahu, who appointed Gofman to head the Mossad starting in early June, for a five-year term, submitted his own response to the court on this past Friday, arguing that the decision fell within his executive authority. The Prime Minister also said that his assessment of the matter was “dozens of times superior” to that of the court, adding that Gofman’s integrity was “found pure,” and describing him as the most qualified candidate.

Other coalition figures responded to the attorney general with sharp criticism, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir accused Baharav-Miara of fighting the state, while Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said her position was “one step too far” and vowed to advance legislation splitting the attorney general’s role in the Knesset’s summer session.

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Kuwait’s Army Says It Has Intercepted Hostile Drones Over Airspace

A drone is seen at an underground site at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on May 28, 2022. Iranian Army/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS

Kuwait’s army said it had detected and dealt with several hostile drones in the country’s airspace at dawn on Sunday, the latest incident following similar cross‑border drone activity linked to the Iran conflict.

On April 25, Kuwait’s army said two drones launched from ​Iraq had targeted ​two northern border posts, causing ​damage.

Its air defenses also dealt with a wave of Iranian drones on April 8 that targeted vital infrastructure.

While hostilities during the conflict have largely been scaled down since a ceasefire came into effect in April, drones have been launched from Iraq towards Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

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