File photo
Israeli police on Wednesday forcibly dispersed a demonstration by Coptic Christians in the courtyards of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem’s Old City, according to eyewitnesses.
“Israeli police arrested a monk -- and beat several others -- during a demonstration held by Coptic Christians to protest the Israeli authorities’ refusal to allow them to renovate the Al-Sultan Monastery,” one witness, preferring anonymity, told Anadolu Agency.
The Deir al-Sultan is a Coptic Christian monastery located on the roof of the Holy Sepulcher.
In a statement, Jerusalem’s Christian National Assembly denounced the “barbaric attack by [Israeli] occupation forces on Coptic monks in the church’s courtyard”.
The statement quoted assembly head Dimitri Daliani as saying: “This attack… comes within the context of the ongoing persecution of non-Jews in the occupied city of Jerusalem”.
According to Daliani, the Israeli authorities recently sent a group of archeologists to “work inside” the monastery.
"The occupation authorities are trying to engage themselves in the affairs of the churches and impose control over the monasteries surrounding the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,” he asserted.
Local Muslim and Christian clerics complain that the Israeli authorities impose tight restrictions on the restoration of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites.
A delegation from Egypt’s intelligence service arrived in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday to continue talks with Hamas leaders on inter-Palestinian reconciliation and truce with Israel.The delegation crossed into Gaza via the Erez crossing, an official working at the crossing said on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on speaking to media.The Egyptian delegation has been holding a shuttle diplomacy between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Israel for several days, during which they are meeting with officials of Hamas, Fatah and the Israeli government.The talks are taking part with a view to reaching a truce between Hamas and Israel in one side and achieving Palestinian reconciliation between the Palestinian rivals.Wednesday's visit is the third by the Egyptian delegation to the Gaza Strip within a week.On October 3, a Hamas delegation concluded a four-day visit to Cairo where they held talks with Egyptian officials on truce and Palestinian reconciliation.The Palestinian rift between Fatah and Hamas has prevailed since the latter won the overwhelming majority in the 2006 parliamentary elections and seized control of Gaza after deadly infighting a year later.Israel is now ‘big brother’: US envoy
Egypt resumes shuttle diplomacy between Hamas, Israel
Israel is now a “big brother” for the Jewish people around the world, U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on Wednesday.“We in the diaspora need to give Israel a break,” Israeli daily Haaretz quoted Friedman as saying at the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America held in Tel Aviv.“Israel is no longer the little brother; Israel is the big brother now. It has the biggest Jewish community,” he added.The U.S. envoy went on to describe himself as a “security hawk and an unapologetic right-wing defender of Israel”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to address the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America on Wednesday.A staunch backer of Israel, Friedman has made frequent statements in support of Israel’s longstanding policy of Jewish settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.Israel resumes fuel shipments to GazaIsrael Aerospace wins $777 mln India contract for missile defence
Israel is now ‘big brother’: US envoy
Israel allowed the entry of fuel shipments, including Qatar-funded fuel, into the blockaded Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to a Palestinian official.“Qatar-funded fuel trucks began to enter Gaza today,” the official, who works on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom crossing, said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.He said four trucks of Qatar-funded fuel are scheduled to be allowed into the Palestinian territory on Wednesday.“Six other fuel trucks will cross into the strip today,” he added.On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman allowed fuel shipments into Gaza upon recommendations from security agencies, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation.Ten days ago, Lieberman ordered a halt to fuel shipments into Gaza, citing violence along border with the Gaza Strip.Earlier this month, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that an agreement with Qatar was reached in recent weeks to finance the purchase of fuel for Gaza’s power plant.Since 2007, when Palestinian group Hamas seized the Gaza Strip from rival faction Fatah, the coastal enclave has groaned under an Israeli blockade that has deprived its two million inhabitants of many basic commodities.Israel Aerospace wins $777 mln India contract for missile defencePalestinian martyred by Israeli gunfire in West Bank
Israel resumes fuel shipments to Gaza