File photo: Israeli soldiers take part in a army drill after the visit of Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Israel
Israel has wrapped up a week-long military drill involving simulated combat scenarios along its borders with Lebanon and Syria, a military spokesman said Friday.
“The Golani Brigade conducted a wide-ranging exercise this week involving combat simulations on the northern front,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a statement.
According to Adraee, the maneuvers -- which ended Thursday evening -- come as part of a series of military drills aimed at bolstering the army’s overall combat-readiness.
The spokesman added that the just-concluded exercise had simulated combat situations involving Lebanon’s Hezbollah group, with which Israel fought a major conflict in 2006.
The Israeli army frequently conducts drills near the borders of Lebanon, Syria and the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Israel’s Supreme Court has asked the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “justify” a longstanding ban on Jewish prayer inside East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.Israeli daily Maariv reported on Friday that the court -- Israel’s highest judicial authority -- had given the government 60 days to provide a reason why Jews were forbidden from praying at the flashpoint holy site.The move reportedly comes in response to a petition lodged with the court by the Israeli Center for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, an NGO that objects to what it describes as “government restrictions on non-Muslims” at the mosque complex.“Israeli police… use their authority to apply explicitly discriminatory policies [against Jewish worshippers] that violate the freedom of worship,” the petition reads.“The ban on non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount [i.e., the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex]… has remained in place for decades,” the NGO adds.It remains unclear whether the court’s request will pave the way for a legal decision allowing Jews to pray at the mosque complex.Since 2003, the Israeli authorities have allowed Jewish settlers to enter Al-Aqsa in increasing numbers while forbidding them from praying inside the site.For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa represents the world's third holiest site after Mecca and Medina. Jews, for their part, refer to the area as the "Temple Mount", claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.Israel occupied East Jerusalem -- in which the Al-Aqsa is located -- during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, annexing the entire city 13 years later in a move never recognized by the international community.In late 2000, a visit to Al-Aqsa by controversial Israeli politician Ariel Sharon sparked a years-long popular uprising against Israel’s decades-long occupation in which thousands of Palestinians lost their lives.100,000 Muslims perform Eid prayers at J'lem's Al-AqsaIsrael reopens Al Aqsa mosque after closure
Israeli gov’t asked to ‘justify’ Aqsa Jewish prayer ban
Turkey on Friday denounced Israel’s approval of the construction of thousands of new settlements in the West Bank."We strongly condemn the approval by the Israel to build over 2,000 additional units in the West Bank, which is under Israeli occupation," said a Foreign Ministry statement."The actions taken in disregard of international law and relevant United Nations Resolutions irreparably damage the peace process," it added.Roughly 600,000 Israelis currently live in more than 100 Jewish-only settlements built throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem since Israel occupied the territories in 1967.The Palestinians want these areas, along with the Gaza Strip, for a future state of Palestine.International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as "occupied territories" and considers all Jewish settlement-building activity on the land to be illegal.
Turkey condemns Israel’s approval of new settlements