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Israel Warns Hamas Against Attacks During Jewish Holidays

Israeli security forces at the site of a stabbing attack at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on September 6 (EPA)
Israeli security forces at the site of a stabbing attack at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on September 6 (EPA)
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Israel Warns Hamas Against Attacks During Jewish Holidays

Israeli security forces at the site of a stabbing attack at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on September 6 (EPA)
Israeli security forces at the site of a stabbing attack at the Jaffa Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem on September 6 (EPA)

Senior Israeli security officials warned Hamas through mediators that any escalation in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip during the Jewish holidays next week would be met with force.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the security services in Israel are preparing to confront and thwart attack operations estimated at approximately 200 warnings per day.

Security concerns prompted officials to warn Hamas against attempts to attack or launch rockets.

Israel said it would hold Hamas responsible for any attacks from Gaza or the West Bank during Jewish holidays and respond to any attacks forcefully and with a possible military operation.

However, Israel is preparing for an expected escalation that may become a multi-front confrontation during next week's Jewish holidays.

Israeli media said that the security establishment decided to raise the state of high alert during the holidays, increasing the number of warnings of Palestinian attacks.

Kan channel confirmed that the security apparatus decided to increase the army's activity in the West Bank on the eve of the Jewish holidays and is preparing for an escalation in several arenas.

Israeli security officials believe the escalation will begin in the West Bank and may spread to Gaza and Lebanon.

The Israeli army is training for a multi-front confrontation scenario that could include a confrontation with Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday warned groups "not to test" Israel during the upcoming Jewish holiday season and vowed a "crushing" response if they launch attacks.

"We are in a complex security period in all the areas, especially in [the West Bank] and surrounding Jerusalem," Gallant said during an assessment with senior military and defense officials.

"To make sure that the citizens of Israel will get through the holiday season safely, the defense establishment is being widely deployed, in intelligence, in the protection of the roads and settlements, and operations to foil operatives and those who send them," he said.

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Arab World

Sudanese Military Plane Crashes and Kills All Crew Members in Port Sudan

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)
This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)
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Sudanese Military Plane Crashes and Kills All Crew Members in Port Sudan

This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)
This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo)

A Sudanese military aircraft crashed while attempting to land in the east of the country and killed all the crew members on board in the latest plane crash in the war-torn African nation, military officials said.

The Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane experienced technical failure while attempting to land Tuesday in the Osman Digna Air Base in the coastal city of Port Sudan, two officials said Wednesday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to brief the media, did not disclose how many personnel were on board, The AP news reported.

Among the dead was military pilot Omran Mirghani, according to his uncle, prominent Sudanese journalist Osman Mirghani, who mourned his nephew's death on social media.

The military didn’t comment on the crash.

Plane crashes are not uncommon in Sudan, which has a poor aviation safety record. In February, at least 46 people, including women and children, were killed when a military aircraft crashed in a densely populated area in Omdurman, the sister city of the capital, Khartoum.

The crash came as the miliary has suffered multiple setbacks in its war against a notorious Rapid Support Forces. The miliary lost el-Fasher, its last stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur in October, and earlier this week was forced to pull out from the country’s largest oil processing facility in the central region of Kordofan.

The RSF has been accused of committing atrocities in el-Fasher including summary executions, rape and other crimes, according to the United Nations and international rights groups.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Wednesday that war crimes and “potentially” crimes against humanity were committed in the city, which the RSF seized in late October.

“We are talking about very serious atrocity crimes ... war crimes for sure (and) potentially also crimes against humanity,” he told journalists in Geneva. “We have an extremely serious situation.”

Türk warned atrocities also could happen in the central region of Kordofan where the RSF has intensified its attacks in recent months.

“We cannot allow a repeat of this absolutely horrific situation in Kordofan,” he said, calling for a ceasefire in the country.

The war in Sudan began in April 2023 over a power struggle between the miliary and the RSF. The conflict has killed over 40,000 people, a figure rights groups consider a significant undercount.

The fighting has wrecked urban areas and has been marked by atrocities, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings, that amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, especially in the western region of Darfur, according to the United Nations and international rights groups.

The war has also created the world’s worst humanitarian crisis and pushed parts of the country into famine.

Arab World

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development
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Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Arab Parliament: Protecting Human Rights Is Key to Achieving Sustainable Development

Speaker of the Arab Parliament Mohammed Al-Yamahi affirmed that protecting and promoting human rights constitutes a fundamental pillar for achieving sustainable development in its comprehensive sense, and represents an essential requirement for the progress, stability, and cohesion of societies, SPA reported.

In a statement issued Wednesday to mark Human Rights Day, observed annually on December 10, Al-Yamahi commended the efforts of Arab states to support and promote human rights, entrench the principles of justice and equality, and adopt best practices in line with regional and international developments.

He emphasized that the Arab Parliament places human rights at the forefront of its priorities through supporting legislation that safeguards fundamental rights and freedoms, and through its commitment to cooperation with national, regional, and international human rights institutions, to enhance protection mechanisms and promote a culture of respect for human rights across the Arab world.

Arab World

Israel Approves Nearly 800 Housing Units in Three West Bank Settlements 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
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Israel Approves Nearly 800 Housing Units in Three West Bank Settlements 

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel's Parliament, also attended by Argentine President Javier Milei (not pictured), in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. (Reuters) 

Israel has given final approval for 764 housing units to be built in three settlements in the occupied West Bank, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday.

The ultra-nationalist Smotrich, who opposes the creation of a Palestinian state, said that since the beginning of his term in late 2022, some 51,370 housing units have been approved by the government's Higher Planning Council in the West Bank, territory Palestinians seek for a future state.

"We continue the revolution," Smotrich said in a statement, adding the latest approval of housing units "is part of a clear strategic process of strengthening the settlements and ensuring continuity of life, security, and growth ... and genuine concern for the future of the State of Israel."

The units will be spread out between Hashmonaim, just over the Green Line in central Israel, and Givat Zeev and Beitar Illit near Jerusalem.

Most world powers deem Israel's settlements - on land it captured in a 1967 war - as illegal and numerous UN Security Council resolutions have called on Israel to halt all settlement activity.

"For us, all the settlements are illegal...and they are contrary to all the resolutions of international legitimacy," Wasel Abu Yousef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's Executive Committee, told Reuters.

Israel says settlements are critical to its security and cites biblical, historical and political connections to the territory.

Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians have been on the rise. At least 264 attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians were reported in October, the biggest monthly total since UN officials began tracking such incidents in 2006, according to a UN report.