From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Israel bans Norwegian doctor, co-author of Lancet letter, from Gaza
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Norwegian doctor who was among the authors of a letter slamming Israel published in The Lancet was banned permanently from the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli government said the ban on Dr. Mads Gilbert was for security reasons, according to an email from the Norwegian embassy in Tel Aviv to The Local, a Norwegian daily.
Gilbert, 67, told The Local he believes he is being excluded because he has made critical comments against Israel.
The doctor said he has spent over 30 years working in international conflict areas, especially Gaza, The Local reported. He spent more than a month this summer working at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital helping to treat some of the thousands injured in Israel’s operation in Gaza.
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From PressTV
Lieberman says Israel will not limit settlements
The Israeli foreign minister says Tel Aviv will never limit construction of settlements in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) despite international condemnation of the expansionist policy.
Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday that Israelis will not “accept any limitation on building” in areas of East al-Quds.
He made the remarks during a news conference with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Lieberman also stated that Israel would never accept construction in East al-Quds as “settlement building.”
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From PressTV
Use live fire against Palestinians: Israel to troops
The Israeli military has authorized its troops to open live fire on Palestinian protesters using firecrackers as the Tel Aviv regime continues its brutal crackdown on Palestinians.
The instruction was published in the form of an opinion by Colonel Doron Ben-Barakin, a senior military adviser, in the military magazine Bamahane, Haaretz reported on Saturday.
Israeli forces could use live fire against Palestinian demonstrators if they feel their lives are threatened by the firecrackers, the daily said, adding that the protesters should be arrested if their firecrackers are aimed at a fortified guard post.
The move is the latest in a string of brutal actions by Israeli forces to crush Palestinian protests.
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From PressTV
Syrian army advances toward Dumayr
The Syrian army has moved further to retake control of the city of al-Dumayr, near the capital, Damascus, from the foreign-backed militants.
The strategic city is located about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the Syrian capital and gives access to the international road linking Damascus to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
The Saturday advance by the Syrian forces has raised hopes for breaking the siege on Dumayr.
Syrian forces, backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah fighters, also made gains in the Damascus suburb of East Ghouta.
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Iraqi forces have recaptured the refinery town of Baiji and broken the siege of the giant oil refinery nearby, say officials in Baghdad – in the most important success for the Iraqi government since Isis seized a third of Iraq in June.
From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Mervyn Smith, South African Jewish leader, dies
(JTA) — Mervyn Smith, president of the South African Jewish Congress and a major anti-apartheid activist in the Jewish community, has died.
Smith died Saturday after a long illness. He was 77.
“If there was a Jewish organization, I belonged to it – with my heart and soul,” Smith said frequently, according to the South African Jewish Congress.
Smith also was a vice president of the World Jewish Congress and an honorary life vice president of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. He served as the board’s national chairman.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Netanyahu accuses Abbas of incitement in Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of incitement as the P.A.’s official media called for a day of rage in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu pointed out the call at the beginning of the weekly Cabinet meeting on Sunday.
On Thursday, Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordan’s King Abdullah II agreed after meeting in Amman to de-escalate the situation on the Temple Mount and make it clear that the status quo will be upheld.
“Abu Mazen must halt the incitement that leads to acts of violence,” Netanyahu said Sunday, using Abbas’ nom de guerre. “This is one of the roots of the inflamed moods that are fueled by Islamist extremist propaganda and propaganda by the Palestinian Authority.”
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
ISIS beheads American aid worker, an Iraq war veteran
(JTA) — The Islamic State jihadist group beheaded an American hostage.
In a video posted online Sunday morning on jihadist and social networking sites, the group also known as ISIS and ISIL said it beheaded American aid worker Peter Kassig, who went by the name Abdul-Rahman Kassig after converting to Islam.
Kassig, 26, of Indianapolis, was abducted in October 2013 in Syria. He founded a Turkey-based nonprofit group that assists refugees on both sides of the Syria-Turkey border.
Kassig served in the U.S. Army during the Iraq war and was honorably discharged in 2007 over a medical ailment.
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From PressTV
Reconstruction of Gaza may take 20 years: Group
The reconstruction of the besieged Gaza Strip, which was massively demolished in a recent 50-day Israeli war, will take at least 20 years, a monitoring group says.
“Given the pace at which construction materials are currently entering Gaza, it will be at least 20 years” to rebuild the coastal enclave, Alaa Radwan, head of the Popular Committee for Monitoring the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, said on Saturday.
Based on a UN-proposed plan, some 40 truckloads of cement, iron and gravel have been approved to be sent to Gaza. The coastal territory, however, is estimated to need about 6,000 tons of cement a day.
International donors have pledged USD 5.4 billion for the rebuilding of Gaza. Palestinian experts, however, have said in a recent report that the reconstruction of Gaza would cost around USD 7.7 billion.
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From the Jewish Daily Forward
Princeton Professors Open New Front in Campus Battle Over Israel
Should Hillel Take Sides Against 60 Tenured Faculty?
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