UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – Earlier in the day, the Israeli military confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had carried out two strikes in Syria and «eliminated» a member of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.
Israeli government revokes press cards of Al Jazeera journalists, head of elite Israeli unit resigns, deaths in car explosion in Israel… The Figaro takes stock of the Israel-Hamas war this Thursday, September 12.
Israel: Four dead in car explosion in Ramla
Four people were killed in a car explosion on Thursday. “apparently of criminal origin” in Ramla, central Israel, according to Assaf Harofe Hospital and Israeli police. Assaf Harofe Medical Center near Ramla said in a statement “the death of four injured”after police announced an investigation into “the explosion (of a) car (…) apparently due to a settling of scores between Arab criminals”. According to the hospital, “six other people are still hospitalized, one of whom is in critical condition”The police initially reported 12 people injured.
Ramla, south of Tel Aviv, is a mixed Jewish-Arab city. The rise in crime among Israel’s Arab minority has worried authorities in recent years. According to experts, Arab gangs have accumulated large quantities of weapons over the past two decades and are involved in activities such as drug, arms and human trafficking, prostitution, extortion and money laundering.
“They tell us it’s a settling of scores, but an explosion in the city centre in broad daylight in a crowded place is crazy! My children were there an hour before.”Judith Touati, a mother of seven who lives in the city, told AFP.
Israeli army confirms carrying out two strikes in Syria and ‘eliminating’ a Hezbollah member
The Israeli army confirmed in a statement on Thursday that it had carried out two strikes in Syria and “eliminated” a member of the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah. “The Israeli army eliminated Ahmad Al-Jabr, a Hezbollah terrorist (…) in Syria, in the Quneitra area”the army said in a rare claim of operation in Syria, adding that it also carried out a strike in another area in southern Syria.
Journalists ‘attacked and harassed’ by Israeli army in West Bank, UN experts say
Journalists in the occupied West Bank are “attacked and harassed” by Israeli forces, according to two UN experts who denounce this violence, including recently live ammunition being fired on reporters and their vehicles. “We strongly denounce the attacks and harassment of journalists in the illegally occupied West Bank, which are nothing more than crude attempts by the Israeli military to prevent independent reporting on possible war crimes.”write the two experts in a statement, who are mandated by the Human Rights Council but do not speak on behalf of the UN.
Irene Khan, Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, and Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories, highlighted at least three incidents in September, in Jenin and Tulkarem, “where Israeli security forces fired live ammunition at journalists or their vehicles while they were covering military operations and civilian casualties”At least four journalists were injured, although several of them were wearing clearly marked press jackets, the statement noted.
Government withdraws press cards from Al Jazeera journalists
The Israeli government announced on Thursday, September 12, that it was revoking the press cards of several journalists from the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, four months after banning its broadcast and closing its bureau in Israel. The Government Press Office (GPO) “revokes press cards of Al Jazeera journalists working in Israel”said a statement from the organization. Al Jazeera is a “media that disseminates false content, including incitement to hatred against Israelis and Jews, and which constitutes a threat to IDF soldiers”adds the GPO.
Contacted by AFP, Walid al-Omari, head of Al Jazeera’s bureau for Israel and the Palestinian Territories, said he had not been officially notified of the decision announced by the GPO. “We will see when that will be the case”he said. According to him, 14 Al Jazeera employees, all Israeli nationals, currently hold GPO cards. GPO accreditation is not mandatory to work as a journalist in Israel, but without it, it is virtually impossible to gain access to parliament.
Head of Israeli elite unit resigns
The head of an elite Israeli military intelligence unit announced his resignation on Thursday, September 12, following his department’s failure to prevent the Hamas attack on October 7. “The commander of Unit 8200, Brigadier General Yossi Sariel, informed his superiors of his intention to resign.”the army announced in a statement.
This unit is responsible for decoding and analyzing information obtained by the intelligence service. Accused of the failure of October 7, the Israeli army intelligence service (Aman) has experienced an unprecedented crisis and its commander, General Aaron Haliva, was the first senior officer of the Israeli army to resign, in April 2024.
In June, Kan public television revealed the existence of a September 19 report by Unit 8200 that detailed training by elite units of the Palestinian Islamist movement for raids on military positions and kibbutzim in southern Israel, less than three weeks before Hamas launched its bloody attack.
The Hamas attack resulted in the deaths of 1,205 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed on October 7, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures. At least 41,118 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli retaliatory military campaign that has devastated the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas government’s health ministry for the territory.
The CRIF will organize a ceremony in support of the hostages on October 7
The Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) will organize a ceremony in Paris on October 7 to support the hostages captured by Hamas during its attack in Israel a year ago, the CRIF announced in a press release on Thursday. The ceremony, scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Dôme de Paris, in the 15th arrondissement, will focus on the broadcast of videos and photos of hostages. The president of the CRIF Yonathan Arfi will speak in the presence of several personalities, including elected officials and intellectuals, according to the CRIF.
During this ceremony “We will pay tribute to the victims of October 7, their families and their loved ones”the statement said. Of the 251 people taken hostage on October 7, 2023, 97 are still being held in Gaza, including 33 declared dead by the Israeli army. In addition, a “United rally in solidarity with Israel” will be organized on Sunday, October 6 at 3 p.m. in Paris, at the initiative of the Jewish National Fund (KKL) “with all Zionist institutions, community organizations and citizen collectives”.
In Madrid, a meeting with Josep Borrell to promote the two-state solution
Representatives from Arab and European countries, including the head of European Union diplomacy Josep Borrell, are meeting in Madrid on Friday to try to advance the so-called two-state solution, one Palestinian, the other Israeli, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
This meeting, entitled “For the implementation of the two States”, will bring together members of the Arab-Islamic Contact Group for Gaza and representatives of European chancelleries, as well as Josep Borrel, returning from a regional tour of the Middle East, specified the presidency of the Spanish government, without further details on the participants.
