Ashrawi testifies for PA at NY terror trial
By Frank G. Runyeon and Yonah Jermey Bob
The Jerusalem Post, Page 1
Former Palestinian Authority higher education and research minister Hanan Ashrawi testified on behalf of the PA in the first US terrorism trial against the PA.
While highly anticipated due to her status as one of the best-known Palestinians leaders internationally – there had even been a last-minute attempt by the plaintiffs to block her from appearing, as well as an eleventh-hour out-of court deposition – her testimony in Manhattan's federal district court late Tuesday was unexpectedly brief.
The case revolves around several attacks in Jerusalem during the second intifada: a January 22, 2002, assault-rifle attack; suicide bombings on January 27, March 21 and June 19, 2002, and on January 29, 2004; and a large-scale bombing on July 31, 2002.
Most Palestinians want to halt diplomatic relations with US
By Khaled Abu Toameh
The Jerusalem Post, Page 2
A majority of Palestinians support halting security coordination with Israel and contacts with the US, according to a public opinion poll.
The poll published on Tuesday, which as conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Operation covered 1,000 Palestinian respondents and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
The president of the center, Nabil Kukali, said that around 61 percent of respondents expressed support for ending security coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Fatah blames armed gangsters for Nablus-area violence
By Khaled Abu Toameh
The Jerusalem Post, Page 3
Fatah's Office of Information and Culture on Wednesday accused armed gangsters of imposing a reign of terror and intimidation on residents of the Balata refugee camp and the nearby city of Nablus.
The accusation came after several days of armed clashes between Palestinian Authority policemen and gunmen for Balata, the largest refugee camp in the West Bank and a traditional stronghold of Fatah-affiliated armed groups.
"The camp has been hijacked by an armed group that is terrorizing and threatening to kill residents who dare to speak out," the Fatah Office of Information and Culture said. It accused the gunmen of extorting money from wealthy businessmen from Nablus and running a big market for drugs and weapons.
Hamas commander said killed in Egypt airstrike
By Times of Israel staff
The Times of Israel website
Egyptian sources say the country’s military killed a Hamas commander during an airstrike in the Sinai Peninsula, Sky News Arabic on Wednesday.
The Hamas commander’s family members, however, maintained that he had in fact been killed in Libya, apparently after joining a north African jihadist terrorist cell, the Ynet news site reported.
On Tuesday, the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Egypt released a video purporting to show the beheading of eight Bedouin men it accused of working for the Egyptian and Israeli armies.
The video, posted on the group’s Twitter account late on Monday, also showed what it said were victims of Egyptian military operations in the restive Sinai Peninsula, where an insurgency has killed scores of policemen and soldiers.
The jihadist group, known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis before pledging allegiance to the Islamic State group last November, has released footage in the past showing the execution of alleged informants.
In the latest video, masked militants in camouflage behead eight men, some of them in broad daylight at a major thoroughfare in north Sinai.
The men were first made to confess they worked for the armies of Egypt and Israel, which borders the Sinai and has been attacked by fighters from the peninsula several times over the past three years.
The Egyptian military has poured troops and armor into the peninsula to quell the insurgency which picked up after the army toppled Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July 2013.
Despite the unprecedented deployment and repeated airstrikes, the jihadists have continued to stage large-scale attacks every few months.
Simultaneous attacks last month on military and police headquarters in north Sinai killed at least 30 people.
Most of them were soldiers killed when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the army barracks in the provincial capital, El-Arish.
IAI delivers first jet trainer wing to US Air Force
By Yaakov Lappin
The Jerusalem Post, Page 2
Israel Aerospace Industries delivered the first wing it manufactured for the US Air Force's T-38 supersonic jet trainer on Wednesday.
The wing was delivered to Lt. Col. Allen Garrison, a representative of the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA), at IAI's Lahav Division plant. IAI said manufacturing the first wing is a milestone in a challenging industrial process, aimed at upgrading and adjusting the original T-38 platform, which was first developed in the 1950s.
The process included the creation of three-dimensional models for designing and manufacturing the plane's wings. DCMA advisers assisted the IAI engineers in creating the new wings.
Israel Navy, Shin Bet intercept boat on way to Gaza with arms-building material
By Yaakov Lappin
The Jerusalem Post, Page 3
The Israel Navy and the Shin Bet (Israel Intelligence Agency) jointly intercepted a boat traveling from Sinai to the Gaza Strip, carrying material for the production of rockets and mortars, security officials announced on Wednesday.
The boat, carrying fiberglass resin and three Gazan residents, was intercepted by the navy on January 19. During questioning, the three suspects on board told the Shin Bet that their smuggling attempt was aimed at assisting Hamas's military wing, the Izzading Kassam Brigade, by providing it with raw material for building rockets and mortar shells.
Greece plans military exercises with Israel, Egypt
By AFP
The Times of Israel website
Greece plans joint military exercises with Israel, Cyprus and Egypt, Greek Defense Minister Panos Kammenos said Wednesday, amid continuing tensions between Cyprus and Turkey over oil exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
Kammenos, visiting close ally Cyprus, said the two countries, along with Israel and “possibly” Egypt would begin joint exercises within the coming months aimed at improving regional security.
Cyprus has suspended UN-led peace talks with Turkey, which invaded the island in 1974 and still occupies its northern third, saying Ankara persists in trying to hamper the country’s energy search.
Nicosia has licensed exploratory drilling in its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and is unhappy that Ankara is determined to search for oil and gas in the same area.
Kammenos criticized as a “clear provocation” Turkey’s sending of a survey ship to the waters where the drilling is taking place.
“We want peace,” Kammenos told reporters during an official visit, “but we are also ready to respond to any attempt against the national sovereignty or territorial integrity of the broader defense area of Greece and Cyprus, if necessary.”
Kammenos said Cyprus and Greece, which he called “pillars of stability and security,” would upgrade cooperation in the light of the island’s energy search within its exclusive economic zone.
At the same time, Athens would proceed with delineating its offshore boundaries for its own exploration.
Fighting in Syria approaches Israeli border
By AFP
The Times of Israel website
BEIRUT – Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Syrian regime forces have advanced to the edge of the Israeli Golan Heights as part of a joint offensive against rebels in southern Syria, a monitoring group said Wednesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said forces loyal to President Bashar Assad joined Hezbollah fighters at the intersection of Daraa, Quneitra and Damascus provinces, close to the Israeli’s border with Syria.
On January 18, six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general were killed in an Israeli strike in Quneitra.
The Lebanese militant group and the Syrian army launched an offensive on Sunday to reclaim swaths of territory held by the rebels, who include jihadists, the Observatory said.
They took the village of Deir al-Adass, which had been controlled by rebels since January 2014, in clashes Tuesday that killed 20 rebels, it added.
“It’s Hezbollah that is leading the attack on the southern front,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television channel broadcast live images Wednesday from Deir al-Adass with the sound of fighting clearly audible in the background.
The channel said the group’s advances in the area were the most significant since the rebels entered it.
Syria’s state SANA news agency reported “advances as part of a vast operation by the army and armed groups.”
A Syrian security source said the joint assault close to the armistice line on the Golan Heights was aimed at putting a stop to rebel attacks on the Damascus region.
US signals it won't oppose Russia-Egypt nuclear deal
By Ariel Ben Solomon
The Jerusalem Post, Page 8
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday that his country would help build "a whole new nuclear power industry" in Egypt, Russian media reported.
"We discussed today the possibility of cooperation in nuclear power engineering," said Putin, RT news reported. "If final decisions are made, they will relate not only to the construction of a nuclear power plant but also to the creation of a whole new nuclear power industry in Egypt."
Russia would also aid in providing staff and scientific research, added Putin.
The two leader signed "a memorandum of understanding to build the first nuclear plant in [the northern city of] El-Dabba, said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi , who pointed out that it would be used to meet the country's electricity needs.