Israeli military jails commander over shooting of Palestinian motorist

Israeli military jails commander over shooting of Palestinian motorist
Israeli security forces argue with Palestinian protesters following a demonstration against the expropriation of Palestinian land by Israel in the village of Qaryut, south of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank on September 15, 2023. (AFP/File)
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Updated 19 September 2023
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Israeli military jails commander over shooting of Palestinian motorist

Israeli military jails commander over shooting of Palestinian motorist

JERUSALEM: Israel on Tuesday sentenced an army commander in the occupied West Bank to 10 days in military prison after an investigation into his shooting last week of a Palestinian motorist who was found to be innocent.

The Israeli military said that security forces stationed at the Israeli settlement of Rimonim, east of Jerusalem, had received reports of gunshots in the area and, sometime later, spotted a Palestinian vehicle fleeing the scene that they believed to be behind the shooting.

The forces opened fire at the Palestinian man’s car, the military said, hitting and wounding the driver. The army arrested him and took him to a hospital for treatment before releasing him the next day.

An Israeli military investigation determined the army’s shooting was the result of mistaken identity. “This is a serious incident in which the force acted contrary to procedures,” the army said, announcing that the force’s commander had been sentenced to 10 days in military prison.

Palestinian media identified the driver as 22-year-old Mazen Samrat from a village near the Palestinian city of Jericho.

Rights groups and other critics have accused Israeli soldiers and police officers of being too quick to pull the trigger, particularly in response to a recent surge in attacks by Palestinians that have killed 31 people so far this year.

They have noted that Israeli military investigations into accusations of crimes committed against Palestinians rarely lead to prosecutions in the West Bank, which Israel captured along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast war.

According to Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, of the 248 investigations into cases of harm inflicted on Palestinians opened by the Israeli military in the West Bank between 2017 and 2021, only 11 indictments were issued. There were over 1,200 complaints of wrongdoing by Israeli forces during that period, meaning that officers prosecuted 0.87 percent of the time, Yesh Din reported.

Penalties for Israeli soldiers raise a host of thorny political issues in the country, which has compulsory military service for most Jewish men. Right-wing lawmakers responded angrily to the sentencing of the commander on Tuesday. “Wake me up and tell me it’s a bad dream,” Tally Gotliv, a lawmaker with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, adding that the commander was “punished for being a hero.”

The Israeli military said that all army divisions would take a “learning break” to review lessons from the incident in an effort to prevent its recurrence.


Lebanon risks being ‘ostracized’ if presidential vacuum lingers -French envoy

Lebanon risks being ‘ostracized’ if presidential vacuum lingers -French envoy
Updated 26 September 2023
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Lebanon risks being ‘ostracized’ if presidential vacuum lingers -French envoy

Lebanon risks being ‘ostracized’ if presidential vacuum lingers -French envoy
  • Le Drian told Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour that he was planning to host a series of “consultations” among political actors
  • “I hope that the actors are aware that a way out must be found; otherwise, they will be ostracized by the international community,” Le Drian said

BEIRUT: Lebanon risks being “ostracized” by the international community if its nearly year-long presidential vacuum drags on further, France’s special envoy Jean-Yves Le Drian told a local Lebanese newspaper in an interview published on Tuesday.
Lebanon has been without a president since the term of former head of state Michel Aoun ended last October. The current parliament, one of the country’s most deeply divided, has failed 12 times to elect a successor, with the last session in June.
Le Drian told Lebanese daily L’Orient-Le Jour that he was planning to host a series of “consultations” among political actors and that he hoped Speaker of Parliament Nabih would then begin convening parliament “for consecutive and open sessions.”
“I hope that the actors are aware that a way out must be found; otherwise, they will be ostracized by the international community. No one will want to see them anymore, and it will be unnecessary to seek support here or there,” Le Drian said.
The failure to elect a president has deepened sectarian tensions in Lebanon, already mired in one of the world’s worst economic crises and facing unprecedented political paralysis, with its cabinet only partially empowered.
Lebanon has failed to enact reforms required to gain access to $3 billion in funding from the International Monetary Fund. The IMF has blamed “vested interests” for the lack of progress.
Donor countries have stepped in to help fund various public services but have grown increasingly frustrated with Lebanon’s requests for more funding.
Le Drian on Tuesday said five key countries — the United States, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Egypt — who had been coordinating on policies to help Lebanon out of its political impasse were beginning to reconsider assistance.
“The five are wondering how long they will continue to help Lebanon,” he said.
The five had already discussed possible measures against politicians and groups who were obstructing the election of a president.


Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank

Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank
Updated 26 September 2023
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Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank

Saudi delegation visits Israel-occupied West Bank
  • The delegation led by the kingdom’s non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef Al-Sudairi, arrived overland from Jordan
  • Sudairi is then due to meet Palestinian present Mahmud Abbas

Jericho: Saudi Arabia, which is in US-brokered talks with Israel to normalize relations, on Tuesday sent a delegation to the occupied West Bank for the first time in three decades.
The delegation led by the kingdom’s non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories, Nayef Al-Sudairi, arrived overland from Jordan, acting Jericho governor Yusra Sweiti said.
It is the first such Saudi delegation to travel to the West Bank since the landmark Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.
Sudairi, the Saudi envoy to Jordan, was last month appointed non-resident ambassador to the Palestinian territories and consul general for Jerusalem.
He will be received by the top Palestinian diplomat, Riyad Al-Maliki, the foreign ministry in Ramallah said.
Sudairi is then due to meet Palestinian present Mahmud Abbas.
Sudairi’s visit to Ramallah comes as Washington has been leading talks between Israel and Saudi Arabia on a potential normalization of relations between the two countries, a move seen as a game-changer for the region.


Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM

Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM
Updated 26 September 2023
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Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM

Japan proposes initiative to resume nuclear talks: Iran FM
  • Under US President Joe Biden’s administration, negotiations resumed with the objective of re-entering the agreement

DUBAI: Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said Japan has proposed an initiative to resume negotiations to revive the nuclear deal that was signed in 2015 by Tehran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the US.

According to Kyodo News, Abdollahian said any initiative from Japan that aligns with “Iran’s interests” would be viewed positively, adding: “We support the constructive role of Japan in reviving the nuclear deal.”

He told the Japanese news agency that he received a proposal from the Japanese government when he visited Tokyo last month and met with Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and former Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa.

Abdollahian said delays in the negotiations’ progress were caused by “excessive demands” by the US, Britain, France and Germany, as well as “interference” by other countries in Iran’s domestic issues, specifically with regard to protests over the death last year of Iranian woman Mahsa Amini.

Under the 2015 deal, Iran agreed to eliminate its stockpile of medium-enriched uranium, cut its stockpile of low-enriched uranium by 98 percent, and reduce by about two-thirds the number of its gas centrifuges for 13 years. It also agreed to enrich uranium only up to 3.67 percent for the next 15 years.

But in 2018, then-President Donald Trump withdrew the US from the deal, saying it did not address “Iran’s ballistic missile program and its proxy warfare in the region.”

Under US President Joe Biden’s administration, negotiations resumed with the objective of re-entering the agreement.

Most recently, on Sept. 20 Kishida and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met in New York to discuss security issues, bilateral relations and the nuclear deal.

Kishida said Japan has been consistent in its support of the deal and urged Iran to take constructive measures.


Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria

Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria
Updated 26 September 2023
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Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria

Legal fight opens for Australian children to leave Syria
  • Save the Children is asking the court to bring the 11 women and 20 children from Al-Roj camp in Syria before the court in Australia

Sydney: More than 30 Australian women and children living in “appalling conditions” in a Syrian detention camp launched court action Tuesday to compel Canberra to bring them home.
Their case opened at the High Court in Melbourne, nearly a year after Australia repatriated the last group of four women and 13 children — the wives, sons and daughters of vanquished Daesh group fighters — from Syria.
“The situation of the remaining persons detained is stark and dire,” said Peter Morrissey, counsel for the charity Save the Children, which is acting on their behalf.
“Save the Children Australia represents women and children charged with no crime, detained in piteous and appalling conditions,” he told the court.
“Their health, safety, and dignity are seriously compromised by any standard. Their detention in the camps has endured for several years.”
Save the Children is asking the court for a writ of habeas corpus (or unlawful detention) requiring the government to bring the 11 women and 20 children from Al-Roj camp in Syria before the court in Australia.
“Despite countless opportunities to repatriate these families, the Australian government has ultimately failed in its duty to bring all of its citizens home to safety,” said Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler.
“We desperately hope these children and their mothers will be imminently repatriated home to safety. It is unfathomable that the Australian government has abandoned its citizens,” he said in a statement.
Repatriations of Australian women and children from Syrian camps are a politically contentious issue in a country long known for its hard-line approach to immigration.
The Australian women and children have lived in the Al-Hol and Al-Roj detention camps in Kurdish-controlled northeastern Syria since the 2019 collapse of Daesh.


Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy
Updated 26 September 2023
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Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

Lebanon forces arrest suspect over shooting at US embassy

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s security forces on Monday said they had arrested a man suspected of firing 15 bullets at the American embassy building in Beirut last week.

A source named the suspect as 26-year-old Lebanon national Muhammad Mahdi Hussein Khalil, who works for a delivery company. The source added that Khalil had previously been convicted of opening fire on a Lebanese public security center.

According to the source, Khalil confessed to shooting at the embassy compound in the Aukar suburb of Beirut, and that the weapon used in the attack had been seized.

Surveillance cameras showed a lone man dressed in black firing a Kalashnikov rifle before fleeing the scene on a motorcycle.

“The shooter carried out his act after previous disputes between him and embassy security over food deliveries,” the source told Arab News.

There were no injuries caused by the shooting late on Wednesday.