Bahrain Uncovers Cyber Network to Destabilize Its Security

Bahrain Uncovers Cyber Network to Destabilize Its Security
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Bahrain Uncovers Cyber Network to Destabilize Its Security

Bahrain Uncovers Cyber Network to Destabilize Its Security

Bahraini authorities said Monday they have tracked a network of destabilizing electronic accounts operated in several countries and targeting its security.

It said the accounts are run from Qatar, Iran, Iraq, and a number of European countries.

The network, run by wanted fugitives, is implementing a “systematic plan” to harm Bahrain’s image and its people.

It was established by Yousuf al-Muhafaza and Hassan Abdulnaby, who reside in Germany and Australia.

Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa ordered concerned security bodies to follow up the case and put an end to it.

“We are fully convinced that our vivacious national fabric is our first line of defense for the cohesion of our internal front, thanks to its steadfast ability to repel all forms of violence and extremism and thwart any attempts to provoke strife by staying away from the misuse of social media,” the King said.

He stressed that social media should be used for the good of the country and its people and must be a tool for construction, not destruction.

“We have directed in this regard the competent security services to put a strict end to this misuse since there is no place among us for those who break the law.”

Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa stressed Monday that he will deal firmly with all what stirs sedition and strife.

He strongly condemned the misguided attempts by some websites and electronic accounts in social media to incite sedition via accounts and tweets aimed at undermining the firmness of the social fabric.

He said these acts are plotted by enemies inside and abroad, praising the efforts exerted by the cohesive Bahraini society in thwarting these biased schemes.

Prince Khalifa also stressed that the ministry of interior is intensively handling and intensifying monitoring and follow-up and resolute and deterrent measures that ensure limiting e-accounts that are harmful to Bahraini social security and prevent them from continuing to achieve their malicious targets.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.