Jerusalem affairs minister Zev Elkin announced that he is running in the October 30th race for Jerusalem mayor Thursday afternoon.
“I am ready to give up my post as a senior minister and member of the security cabinet for Jerusalem because Jerusalem is a supremely important challenge”, Elkin said.
Elkin had been waiting for weeks to obtain the support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who leads the Likud party and is in charge of the party’s budget for the municipal races.
Elkin will face off against current deputy mayor Moshe Lion, former deputy mayor Ofer Berkovich and former city officials Avi Salman and Yossi Hazilio.
BRUSSELS – The US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal opens the way to raising pressure on Tehran to stop its military support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and leave the country, a Syrian opposition leader said on Thursday.
Nasr Hariri of the Syrian Negotiation Commission (SNC) spoke in the EU political hub Brussels as Assad declared separately that US forces should leave Syria because people in the Middle East were tired of foreign invasions.
Hariri pushed back against Assad’s comments, stressing that Russia and Iran had been fighting on behalf of Assad in the Syrian war, helping him retake considerable territory from rebels and Islamic groups. Hariri said there were now up to 100,000 Iranian or Iran-affiliated fighters in the country.
“The role of Iran is getting bigger and bigger, at the expense of our people,” Hariri said. “So we are supporting any international mechanism that could limit the influence of Iran in the region in general, and in our country in particular.”
“We cannot separate one from another, the (Iranian) nuclear program from Tehran’s missile program and Iran’s malign behavior in our region,” he said.
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said talks with North Korea in New York have been very positive and he is expecting the delegation from Pyongyang to travel to Washington on Friday to deliver a letter to him from leader Kim Jong Un.
“I look forward to seeing what’s in the letter,” Trump said as he left Joint Base Andrews for a trip to Houston. Asked if a deal was taking shape, Trump said: “I think it will be very positive. … The meetings have been very positive.”
WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he will grant a full pardon to conservative commentator Dinesh D’souza, who was sentenced in 2014 to five years of probation for federal campaign law violations.
“Will be giving a Full Pardon to Dinesh D’Souza today. He was treated very unfairly by our government!” Trump said on Twitter.
D’Souza, 53, admitted in May 2014 that he illegally reimbursed two “straw donors” who donated $10,000 each to the unsuccessful 2012 US Senate campaign in New York of Wendy Long, a Republican he had known since attending Dartmouth College in the early 1980s.
“I notified the prime minister that I’ve decided to run for mayor,” Elkin, who also holds heads the Environmental Protection Ministry, said in a statement. “I’m prepared to step down from the post of a senior minister and a member of the security cabinet because Jerusalem is a challenge of the highest national priority.”
Elkin made it clear last month that he intended to run for mayor, but he was waiting to hear from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud municipal committee. Sources close to him accused ministers Arye Dery and Avigdor Lieberman of exerting pressure on Netanyahu not to approve his candidacy in order to prevent harm to their candidate, Moshe Leon. In the end, Elkin announced his candidacy without receiving the prime minister’s blessing.
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Given the candidates who are currently on the starting line, Elkin has a good chance to shuffle the cards and become a leading candidate. The other candidates are Moshe Leon, who is supported by Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu, and hopes to get the support of the Haredi community; Ofer Berkowitz, chairman of the Awakening movement, which hopes to receive the support of the secular and religious camp; and Yossi Deitch, who hopes to become a Haredi consensus candidate. Elkin builds on Likud’s large branches, the movement’s apparatus, the religious-national public, political alliances with both the ultra-Orthodox and the secular, and his image as a shrewd politician with excellent connections to the central government.
Elkin, who is not a resident of Jerusalem, told Haaretz two weeks ago that he believes this fact will not stand in his way.
“I do not think I’m not a Jerusalemite in the real sense of the word,” he said, “unlike the one you’re talking about, where a few months before the elections, Moshe Leon came from a completely different place, Jerusalem is the center of my life from the day I immigrated to Israel, I am a member of the Hebrew University, which is one of the anchor institutions of Jerusalem.
“When I go out with my wife to a restaurant in Jerusalem, I have a subscription to the Jerusalem Zoo, and I live elsewhere, in Gush Etzion, which is part of Greater Jerusalem, and there I pay my municipal taxes, but the entire fabric of my life is centered around Jerusalem.”
In the interview, Elkin refused to reveal his position on the closure of businesses on the Sabbath in the capital, but said he was a “great follower of the status quo.”
He added: “There are very sensitive conflicts of interest between the various groups in Israeli society, and it is very important for me to respect the status quo, because I believe that any attempt to change it by force is dangerous to the State of Israel, if only for one simple reason — because of the demographic process I was talking about … we are in a situation where, today, if the majority of tomorrow becomes a minority, the status quo is very important.”
About a month ago, Elkin and coalition chairman David Amsalem were considering running for mayor, and senior Likud officials said the two would not face each other but would ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Likud municipal committee to elect one of them as the party’s candidate in the city.
Senior officials said that outgoing mayor Nir Barkat is a Likud member and there is no reason why the party should not appoint a candidate on its behalf. The same officials added that there is no reason why candidate Moshe Leon, who won the support of a part of the Likud branch in Jerusalem in the previous elections for mayor, will receive the party’s support in the upcoming elections.
In March, Barkat announced that he would not run for a third term as mayor. Barkat will continue to serve as mayor until the October elections and will then run for the Likud list. Barkat has expressed several times in the past, saying that he sees himself as a candidate for the Likud leadership and for prime minister.
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman met with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu, in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the tensions between Israel and the Iranian forces in Syria.
“The state of Israel appreciates Russia‘s understanding of our security concerns, particularly regarding the situation at our northern border,” Lieberman wrote on Twitter after the meeting. “We’ll continue our dialogue with Russia on every matter at hand.”
According to the ministry of defense, the meeting with Shoigu took place in Moscow and lasted over an hour and a half. The meeting dealt with matters of security between the two countries, particularly regarding the situation in Syria and Israel’s attempt to prevent Iranian consolidation in there.
Syrian President Bashar Assad wants to recapture parts of Syria along the Israeli border, while Israel is concerned that this would allow Hezbollah and other Iranian troops to reestablish themselves in the area. According to reports from Moscow, Moscow wants to arrange an agreement in which Russian military police will be stationed In Syria near the Israeli border and Iranian troops will be pulled back from the area.
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“In the latest Israeli attacks, dozens of Syrians were killed and injured – but not a single Iranian was hurt,” Assad said in an interview to RT in Damascus Thursday morning, rejecting claims that there is an Iranian military residence in the region. “We have no Iranian soldiers here, and we never have. There are only officers who work together with the Syrian military.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Monday that only Syrian government troops should have a presence on the country’s southern border. This was perceived as a hint that Russia was inclined to accept Israel’s demand – distancing the Iranian forces and allied Shi’ite militias from the Israel-Syria border.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Monday that “there is no room for any Iranian military presence in any part of Syria.”
Last November, Russia and the United States, in coordination with Jordan, forged an agreement to decrease the possibility of friction in southern Syria, after the Assad regime defeated rebel groups in the center of the country. Israel sought to keep the Iranians and Shi’ite militias at least 60 kilometers (37 miles) from the Israeli border in the Golan Heights.
The superpowers, however, did not comply with the demand; the agreement stipulated that the Iranians and militias would remain about five kilometers from the lines of contact between the regime and the rebels, around five to 20 kilometers from the Israeli border.
On Sunday, Haaretz reported that Israeli political and military officials believe Russia is willing to discuss a significant distancing of Iranian forces and allied Shi’ite militias from the Israel-Syria border, according to Israeli officials.
The change in Russia’s position has become clearer since Israel’s May 10 military clash with Iran in Syria and amid Moscow’s concerns that further Israeli moves would threaten the stability of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.
Approximately 500 Palestinians held in administrative detention in Israel are expected to go on hunger strike next week.
Palestinian Authority Prisoner Affairs Minister Issa Karaka told “Palestine Voice” radio station on Thursday that the hunger strike will take place in an organized and gradual manner, and will constitute an escalation in the ongoing administrative detainees’ protest which has so far involved boycotting Israeli courts.
Karaka said that prisoners are working to pressure Israel to end its policy of administrative detention, with Palestinian prisoners recently warning Israel of possible protests.
Earlier this month, an Israeli guard working at Eshel Prison was hospitalized after a Hamas prisoner poured boiling water from a kettle over him. During an inspection of the prisoner’s cell, the perpetrator managed to boil water in an electric kettle and subsequently poured its contents over the guard’s face and neck.
The prisoner, who is a resident of East Jerusalem and sentenced in 2014 to 30 years imprisonment for attempted murder, was arrested and dealt with by prison authorities.
Antonio K’Tori of P.S. 15, the Jackie Robinson School, Queens, NY, had a very “questionable” history of employment and leadership since 2005. Yet, despite open anti-Semitic remarks, sexual advances to staff, guilty verdicts within a New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) legal hearing, and ties to a teacher sitting in jail, after a conviction of sexually abusing four little girls, K’Tori was on the job for years, until March. The NYCDOE quietly removed K’Tori, not for anti-Semitism, but for using his administrative time to make additional income from a private business.
Shocked? Surprised? Why Should Jews Care?
All Jews, and non-Jews should care for multiple reasons. Could you imagine that remark made to and/or about another group by another administrator? What is the hiring and firing practice within this school? Does this “policy” exist in other public schools? Is it just teachers affected, or other staff and programs, such as occupational and physical therapists?
Regardless of your religious observance or political party preference, YOUR tax dollars are paying for this. Private day school and homeschooling families pay federal, state, city, county and sales taxes, depending on where they live.
What Can Be Done?
According to a recent finding by reporter Susan Edelman, published in the New York Post on May 19, 2018, after extensive research, based on the New York State law, educators with tenure can not be brought up on disciplinary charges more than three years after their alleged misconduct. Thus, administrators like Antonio K’Tori has an advantage in two ways. He can bring “bogus charges” into the NYCDOE “kangaroo court” and have teachers like Lawrence Brenner fired, telling Brenner that his teaching will “hurt his little black children.” Educators like Brenner can and have filed lawsuits in Federal and New York State Federal Courts, only to be left with suits long enough to protect principals, and/or settlements that cost the public huge amounts of settlement money with confidentiality clauses that benefit the NYCDOE.
The loophole helps explain why principals have kept their six-figure NYCDOE jobs despite multiple sex-harassment complaints and millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded settlements paid to accusers. “It’s a terrible burden on the teachers who are complaining, and a terrible burden on taxpayers, because we have to pay large amounts to settle these cases — and then the salaries of the principals in perpetuity,” said education advocate Leonie Haimson.
Was Lawrence Brenner the teacher K’Tori described in termination papers? Since his firing, no one in any of Brenner’s employment situations had these complaints and expressed such anti-Semitic and Racist hate. Brenner is described as a devoted family man who was a victim of a bad circumstance. Brenner had the unfortunate situation of being assigned to a learning environment that tested its ability be fair. Brenner was teaching under a questionable administrator and district superintendent, a bias evaluation system and multiple public school policies that were not followed, investigated and executed accurately.
History
Lawrence Brenner, recalled several remarks made by Principal Antonio K’Tori. Brenner cites three remarks, involving three Jewish teachers who have since left the NYCDOE. When one asked to leave an hour early on erev Rosh Hashanah, K’Tori reportedly remarked, “Why do you need all these days off for Jewish holidays?” Another incident occurred around Christmas and Chanukah, when the teacher saw a decorated tree paid for with school funds. They asked, “Where is the menorah?” And the response was, “If you want one, go buy it yourself.” As previously aforementioned, it has been documented in the press that K’Tori told several staff members that white instructors were “hurting his little black children,” including Brenner.
K’Tori has Issues a decade before. He was found guilty in 2005 after a removal from his position and an arbitration hearing for deviating from the Standard Operating Procedures Manual in the procurement of goods or services in six incidents and insubordination for refusing to revise his performance review in a timely manner.
He was also found guilty of insubordination for ignoring the lottery process by trying to recruit students to the school, refusing to sign a letter telling parents their children were admitted by mistake and for returning to the schoolgrounds after being told not to.
His punishment was removal to another school.
Antonio K’Tori had been the principal of PS15 in Springfield Gardens for years. He was named in a lawsuit in 2014 for making advances to teacher Shante Penniston and threatened her when she did not respond to them. He told he had all the power because he was a man. He started making advances to her when she started teaching at the school in 2012.
K’Tori was the supervisor of teacher Simon Watts, a former fourth-grade teacher of PS 15, who is currently serving a 35-year prison sentence for convictions for three counts of second-degree course of sexual conduct against a child, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of forcible touching and five counts of endangering the welfare of a child. These incidents took place between 2007-2010. Meanwhile, last month, one of several 8- and 9-year-old girls allegedly molested by teacher Simon Watts at PS 15 between 2007 and 2009 won a $16 million jury award against the city. Parents blamed the DOE and K’tori for “negligent supervision.” Watts is serving a 35-year prison term. The city is appealing the verdict.
His immediate supervisor was superindent Lenon Murray, himself the plaintiff in several lawsuits. Why was Lenon Murray able to keep his positions as both a principal and superintendent in District 29 for many years, despite rumors of multiple scandals and complaints from staff, students and parents to the NYCDOE investigation offices and to both the teachers and supervisors unions? Murray himself made unwanted sexual advances to staff who were promised a safe and supportive work environment? He was finally arrested for groping a subordinate co-worker after four years of “sexual solicitations and talk on an almost daily basis,” according to reports.
Under his leadership, principals in several schools warmed Jewish staff members of possible negative ramifications, including poor year-end evaluations leading to possible terminations as witnessed in staff meetings and notes.
The Next Steps
We must demand the following:
Oversight in the hiring and firing practices for Jewish staff. While some deserve to be fired, many qualified staff are not hired or are terminated unfairly for being Jewish.
We need a more cost-effective and accountable, transparent evaluation system.
We must demand more disciplinary action of staff who have connections with anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist lessons, remarks and materials shared in a classroom environment.
Hold unions accountable for having the knowledge and doing nothing with it. Silence is as good as supporting it.
Contact your elected officials and candidates and tell them your disgust.
It might be too late for Lawrence Brenner, but his students were the biggest losers.
Education is a nonpartisan issue that needs bipartisan support.
Cindy Grosz can be reached at @cindyscorners@gmail.com.
Let me join the chorus of grateful Israelis in thanking American president Donald J. Trump for moving his embassy to our ancient and eternal capital Jerusalem. May the American President and his nation bask in the glory of being among those who bless G-d’s children.
His actions, coupled with the actions of another world leader confirm that the most important work we Jews do is in the Land of Israel.
Neither Lord Arthur Balfour or President Trump acted in a vacuum. For the 30 years before the Foreign Minister of Britain endorsed the idea of a Jewish State, over 100,000 Jews began to rebuild the Land. For 2,000 years, nothing more than tumbleweed grew there. Once we returned the Land turned green. Fruits sprouted in abundance. Flowers dotted every landscape. Even types of wheat, unknown for thousands of years, were rediscovered in the reborn soil.
Balfour simply recognized reality. After benefiting from the hi-tech innovations of Israeli leader Chaim Weizman, and using intelligence gathered by NILI agents which made possible Edmund Allenby’s conquest of Israel, he understood that the structure we created had to stand.
Today, Jerusalem is rebuilt in so many ways. It’s the first city on earth to be covered in wi-fi. It is one of the top 10 hi-tech growth centers. The largest Israeli hi-tech exit, Mobileye, took place in Jerusalem. The finishing touches are being put on a hi-speed railway shuttling people from Tel Aviv to the capital city in less than half an hour.
Jerusalem rivals any European center in style, culture, and commerce.
When you see the transformation of Jerusalem in the last 25 years you can only come to one conclusion: nobody loves Jerusalem like the Jewish People.
That is what President Trump said in his December 6 speech: Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. This is nothing more, or less, than a recognition of reality.
He couldn’t have done this if the most populous city wasn’t Jerusalem, there wasn’t a huge economy, government presence, or universities flourishing. He definitely wouldn’t have done it if we ever gave parts of her away.
In moving his embassy, we didn’t make President Trump’s job easy, but we certainly made it possible. The same can be said for Lord Balfour.
The reality they acted on was built by the Jews who toiled in the land.
That’s what being a citizen of Israel means. You create the reality all the powers in this world react to.
It’s the reality Europe accepts as they buy more and more Israeli products and make larger investments in our hi-tech companies. It’s the reality Saudi Arabia and the Sunni Arab world has understood as they all form de facto alliances with us. Even Asia has joined the party with China, India, and Japan all sending their leaders to our shores, cutting free trade deals and purchasing billions in hi-tech and agricultural projects with no concern over European or Muslim response.
Everyone living in Israel makes this difference. Decades from now, when more realities are built, and the entire world is reeling in awe of what we in Israel toiled to create, the question will stand:
What was your role in this?
Do yourself a favor and check out your local Nefesh B’ Nefesh office and ask some questions. Take an hour a week out to do the research on how you can continue your career, maintain your lifestyle, expand your horizons, and live in Israel.
Camels
It has been reported recently that people in Saudi Arabia are injecting their camels with botox and giving them plastic surgery.
It’s no wonder why they are so quick to allow movies and concerts.
Every week you can expect me, David Ben Horin, to be writing this column, Thank God for Israel. Writing and fighting to give my every morsel of wisdom to the good people who love my beloved country. Even to the not so good people who should love my country, it’s never too late to see the light. Check out http://www.succeedinisrael.com.
MADRID – Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane is leaving the European champions after two years in charge, he told a news conference on Thursday.
Zidane claimed an unprecedented third consecutive Champions League title when Real beat Liverpool 3-1 on Saturday, capping a remarkable period in his first job in senior club management.
The Frenchman took over a divided dressing room after the sacking of Rafael Benitez in January, 2016 and immediately set about uniting the squad.
He claimed the first of his hat-trick of European triumphs two years ago when Real defeated local rivals Atletico Madrid on penalties in the final. A year later he led Real to their first European Cup and La Liga double in 59 years.
Real finished three points ahead of Barcelona as they won their first league title since 2012 before crushing Juventus 4-1 in the Champions League final to become the first side to win the competition in its current format in back-to-back seasons.
Zidane won nine major honors as Real coach and the 45-year-old’s crowning glory came last Saturday as he joined an elite group of managers including Bob Paisley and Carlo Ancelotti by lifting the European Cup for the third time as coach.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview on Thursday that the only way to stop Israeli air strikes is by improving the country’s air defenses. “We are doing that,” he said.
In a televised interview to RT in Damascus, Assad denied Iranian troops are in Syria, saying there are only Iranian officers who are working with the Syrian army.
Assad, echoing Russia from earlier in the week, said the United States must exit the war-torn country. “The Americans should leave, somehow they are going to leave,” he said.
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of him as “Animal Assad,” the Syrian leader said: “What you say is what you are.”
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Assad said he would recover areas of Syria held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and that U.S. forces should learn the lesson of Iraq and leave the country.
Assad also said the government had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the SDF, a Kurdish dominated militia alliance that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where U.S. forces are stationed.
“This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to … liberating those areas by force,” he said, adding “the Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave.”
Trump said in April he wanted to withdraw American troops from Syria relatively soon, but also voiced a desire to leave a “strong and lasting footprint”.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on April 30 the United States and its allies would not want to pull troops out of Syria before diplomats win the peace.
BEIRUT – President Bashar al-Assad said he would recover areas of Syria held by the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and that US forces should learn the lesson of Iraq and leave the country.
In an interview with Russia Today, Assad also said the government had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the SDF, a Kurdish dominated militia alliance that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where US forces are stationed.
“This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to… liberating those areas by force,” he said, adding “the Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave.”
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s description of him as “Animal Assad,” the Syrian leader said: “What you say is what you are.”
BEIRUT – Syrian President Bashar Assad said an Israeli security cabinet minister only threatened his regime earlier this month because Israel was hysterical and panicking over the defeat of ISIS and the Nusra Front.
“Israelis have been assassinating, killing, occupying for decades now. But usually they do all this without threatening,” said Assad in an interview with Russia Today published Thursday.
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz suggested on May 7 that Assad may find himself in Israel’s sights should Syria allow Iran to attack Israel from its territory.
“Now why do they threaten in this way? This is panic, this is a kind of hysterical feeling, because they are losing their dear ones: Al Nusra and ISIS. That’s why Israel is panicking recently.”
Assad claimed that “the first target of mercenaries in Syria” was the regime’s air defense systems, describing it as “proof that Israel was in direct link with those terrorists in Syria.”
The Syrian leader also said Iran’s presence in Syria was limited to officers who were assisting the Syrian army. Apparently referring to the May 10 attack by Israel, Assad said “we had tens of Syrian martyrs and wounded soldiers, not a single Iranian” casualty.
Asked if there was anything Syria could do to stop Israeli air strikes, Assad said: “The only option is to improve our air defense, this is the only thing we can do, and we are doing that.”
He said that Syria’s air defenses were now much stronger than before thanks to Russia.
Israel, which is deeply alarmed by Tehran’s influence in Syria, earlier this month said it destroyed dozens of Iranian military sites in Syria, after Iranian forces fired rockets at Israeli-held territory for the first time.
Iran-backed militias including Lebanon’s Hezbollah have played a big role in support of Assad during the conflict. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also deployed in the country.
Assad also said that the United States should learn the lesson of Iraq and withdraw from Syria, and promised to recover areas of the country held by US-backed militias through negotiations or force.
The government, Assad said, had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish dominated militia alliance that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where US forces are stationed.
“This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to … liberating those areas by force. We don’t have any other options, with the Americans or without the Americans,” he said. “The Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave.”
“They came to Iraq with no legal basis, and look what happened to them. They have to learn the lesson. Iraq is no exception, and Syria is no exception. People will not accept foreigners in this region anymore,” he said.
Responding to US President Donald Trump’s description of him as “Animal Assad,” the Syrian leader said: “What you say is what you are.” Trump called Assad an animal after a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near Damascus in April.
Assad reiterated the government’s denial that it carried out the attack in the eastern Ghouta town of Douma, saying that the government did not have chemical weapons and it would not have been in its interest to carry out such a strike.
The Douma attack triggered missile strikes on Syria by the United States, Britain and France which they said targeted Assad’s chemical weapons program.
US, British and French forces pound Syria with air strikes early on Saturday in response to a poison gas attack, April 14, 2018(Reuters)
Assad has recovered swathes of Syrian territory with military backing from Russia and Iran and is now militarily unassailable in the conflict that began in 2011.
Large areas however remain outside his control at the borders with Iraq, Turkey and Jordan.
These include the SDF-held parts of the north and east, and chunks of territory held by rebel forces in the northwest and southwest.
GENEVA – The International Committee of the Red Cross is sending two teams of war surgeons to Gaza and setting up a surgical unit in the enclave’s main hospital to treat heavy casualties from clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
Since protests on the Gaza-Israel border began on March 30, Israeli troops have killed 115 Palestinians and wounded more than 13,000 people, including 3,600 by live ammunition, Robert Mardini, ICRC’s director for the Near and Middle East, said.
This week also saw the most intense flare-up of hostilities between Palestinian militants and Israel since the 2014 Gaza war.
“The recent demonstrations and violence that took place along the Gaza border since the end of March have triggered a health crisis of unprecedented magnitude in this part of the world,” Mardini told a news conference in Geneva.
The ICRC will set up a 50-bed surgical unit at al-Shifa hospital, Gaza’s largest.
“Our priority now clearly is to help gunshot wound victims. Imagine, 1,350 people with complex cases who will need three to five operations each, a total of 4,000 surgeries, half of which will be carried out by ICRC teams,” he said.
“I think such a caseload would overwhelm the hospital in Geneva.”
The six-month surge of medical expertise, drugs and equipment will speed the long road to recovery and relieve an overwhelmed health care system, he said.
“The last eight weeks definitely the first priority has been to save lives and save limbs. Post-operative needs today are massive in Gaza,” Dr. Gabriel Salazar Arbelaez, ICRC health coordinator in Israel, West Bank and the Gaza Strip, told reporters via Skype.
Guislain Defurne, head of the ICRC’s sub-delegation in Gaza, said many people will end up permanently disabled.
Mardini also said the economy of Gaza, which is blockaded by Israel and its other neighbor Egypt, was “suffocating,” with high unemployment, electricity limited to two hours a day, and untreated sewage flowing into the sea. “Gaza is a sinking ship,” he said.
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during a visit to Pyongyang on Thursday, Russian news agencies reported citing a delegation source.
Lavrov traveled to North Korea on Thursday and was due to hold talks with counterpart Ri Yong Ho about the situation on the Korean peninsula.
Lavrov’s trip is taking place ahead of a possible summit between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leader next month.
GENEVA – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Thursday it was sending two surgical teams to Gaza and setting up a surgical unit in the enclave’s main hospital to treat heavy casualties from clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians.
“This infusion of medical expertise and material will expedite the long road to recovery and relieve a stressed and overburdened health care system,” said Robert Mardini, ICRC’s director for the Near and Middle East, adding that 13,000 people had been wounded since protests began on March 30.
MOSCOW – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to Russia and passed on best wishes from President Vladimir Putin, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.
Lavrov who traveled to Pyongyang on Thursday told Kim that Moscow supported peace and progress on the Korean peninsula and highly valued a declaration signed by Pyongyang and Seoul.
ANKARA – Turkey’s ambassador to Washington is returning to the United States after being recalled for consultations two weeks ago over a US decision to move its Israeli Embassy to contested Jerusalem, an official in the Turkish foreign ministry said on Thursday.
Serdar Kilic was recalled to Ankara amid a dispute with Israel and Washington over the killing of dozens of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces on the Gaza border earlier this month.
Turkey has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel’s response to the Gaza protests and of the US Embassy move, also recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv and calling for an emergency meeting of Islamic nations.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who will travel to Washington on June 4, said on Wednesday that Kilic would return to make preparations for the visit.
Cavusoglu will meet with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit, where the two will discuss a roadmap for northern Syria’s Manbij, which Turkey wants cleansed of the US-backed Syrian Kurdish YPG militia Ankara considers a terrorist organization.
MOSCOW – Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Thursday discussed a de-escalation zone in southern Syria with Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, TASS news agency said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday the withdrawal of all non-Syrian forces from Syria’s southern border with Israel should happen as soon as possible.
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview on Thursday that the only way to stop Israeli air strikes is by improving the country’s air defenses. “We are doing that,” he said.
In a televised interview to RT in Damascus, Assad denied Iranian troops are in Syria, saying there are only Iranian officers who are working with the Syrian army.
Assad, echoing Russia from earlier in the week, said the United States must exit the war-torn country. “The Americans should leave, somehow they are going to leave,” he said.
Responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s description of him as “Animal Assad,” the Syrian leader said: “What you say is what you are.”
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Assad said he would recover areas of Syria held by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and that U.S. forces should learn the lesson of Iraq and leave the country.
Assad also said the government had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the SDF, a Kurdish dominated militia alliance that controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where U.S. forces are stationed.
“This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to … liberating those areas by force,” he said, adding “the Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave.”
Trump said in April he wanted to withdraw American troops from Syria relatively soon, but also voiced a desire to leave a “strong and lasting footprint”.
U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on April 30 the United States and its allies would not want to pull troops out of Syria before diplomats win the peace.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Mossad and the military to prepare for an attack on Iran in 2011, a former spy chief has revealed. Tamir Pardo, the Mossad’s chief at the time, also disclosed on the Israeli investigative television show Uvda that after receiving the order he checked with top officials to see whether it was legal.
According to the show, Netanyahu told Pardo and then chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz to prepare the military to be able to launch an attack on Iran within 15 days of being given the order to do so.
The interview with journalist Ilana Day is to be broadcast on Thursday.
Dayan wanted to know whether Pardo, who had assumed the post that year, really believed the attack would take place. “It’s not the sort of thing that you do just for practice,” the former Mossad chief replied, adding that there could be two reasons to order preparation for an attack — either to actually attack, or to send a signal to someone. “It’s possible the United States would find out about the order one way or another and would be impelled to take action.
“So, if the prime minister tells you to start the countdown, you understand he’s not playing games,” Pardo said.
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Following Netanyahu’s order, the former Mossad chief began to look into whether the prime minister actually had the power to give such an order, which would likely lead to a war with Iran. Israeli law required the cabinet — or at least the security cabinet — to approve a decision to go to war.
“As far as you’re concerned, an attack in Iran is tantamount to deciding to go to war?” Dayan asked him, to which Pardo answered: “Absolutely.” The Mossad chief says he then consulted with former heads of Mossad, legal advisers and everyone else he could think of “to understand who is authorized to give the order to go to war.”
Netanyahu became aware of his inquiries at some stage, Pardo said.
He elaborated on why he felt it necessary to take these steps: If he gets an order from the prime minister, he’s supposed to carry it out; he has to be sure – especially if things go south – that it was legal.
Ultimately, facing resistance from both the head of Mossad and the army chief of staff, Netanyahu pulled back, but Pardo revealed that before that, he’d even considered the possibility of handing in his resignation. “When the political echelon gives an order, you have two options. You can carry it out or quit,” he told Dayan. “I’m glad I didn’t have to reach the point of making that decision, not that I didn’t think about it,” said Pardo who served as head of the Israeli intelligence agency from 2011 to 2016.
The attack never took place, in large part due to the resistance of Pardo and Gantz. Their predecessors, Meir Dagan and Gabi Ashkenazi, had also opposed a similar order to prepare for an attack on Iran, given in 2010 by Netanyahu and the defense minister at the time, Ehud Barak.
In 2012 Uvda revealed that in 2010 Netanyahu had ordered the defense establishment to move to “P-plus” alert status, which means, bracing for possible attack – but Dagan and Ashkenazi suspected that Netanyahu was trying to circumvent the decision-making system and opposed that too. According to Uvda, Dagan told Netanyahu and Barak: “You could be making an illegal decision to go to war. Only the cabinet has that power.”
The Israeli air force struck targets in Gaza in response to rocket barrages fired toward southern Israeli communities Tuesday, also bombing a tunnel which led from Gaza into Egypt and then into Israeli territory.
The first barrage consisted of 28 mortars, with one shell falling in the yard of a kindergarten in an Israeli community close to the border with Gaza. The attacks continued throughout the day triggering dozens of rocket sirens in southern Israel and wounding five Israelis, one of them suffering moderate injuries. Earlier on Sunday and Monday, the Israeli army had killed four militants with strikes on the strip.
8:22 A.M.: Senior Hamas official says Gaza ceasefire reached to end violence, AFP reports
House hit by rockets in the Eshkol region, May 30, 2018 Eliyahu Hershkovitz
7:22 A.M.: Solider hit by shrapnel in moderate condition (Haaretz)
7:09 A.M.: Eshkol regional council: Direct hit on home in the Eshkol region, no casualties
At least two rockets fired from Gaza exploded in the Eshkol region overnight, the regional council spokesperson said. One hit a house in the area directly. There were no casualties. (Almog Ben Zikri)
1:09 A.M. Israeli army confirms carrying out strikes on 25 Hamas targets in Gaza Strip (Haaretz)
12:48 A.M. Rocket explodes in southern Israeli town, no casualties reported. Israel strikes targets in Gaza Strip (Yaniv Kubovich)
Earlier, Israel struck positions in Gaza, Palestinian reports said.
11:18 P.M. Reports: Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have reached cease-fire in Gaza; Israeli official denies
Reprehensible – mortars fired from Gaza at a kindergarten and community in Israel! Hamas has failed – all it can offer is terror. Palestinians in Gaza need real leaders to work on Gaza’s real problems with its water, its economy and so much more.
— Jason D. Greenblatt (@jdgreenblatt45) May 29, 2018
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Reports in Arab media say Israel, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad have reached understandings to restore the ceasefire in Gaza that was reached in 2014. The reports are quoting a Hamas spokesman as saying that he group will be abide by the deal if Israel does.
The deal was reportedly reached by Egyptian mediation.
An Israeli official denied the reports. (Jack Khoury)
10:27 P.M. Sirens go off in Israeli communities near Gaza border
10:26 P.M. U.S. calls for emergency Security Council session over Gaza rockets
The United States has called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council over the firing of rockets at Israel from the Gaza Strip. A statement released by the U.S. mission to the UN said it wishes to “discuss the latest attacks on Israel out of the Gaza Strip by Hamas and other militants.”
“The Security Council should be outraged and respond to this latest bout of violence directed at innocent Israeli civilians, and the Palestinian leadership needs to be held accountable for what they’re allowing to happen in Gaza,” it said.
A picture taken from Gaza City on May 29, 2018, shows a smoke billowing in the background following an Israeli air strike on the Palestinian enclave.THOMAS COEX/AFP
The statement said the U.S. expects the session to take place on Wednesday afternoon. (Haaretz) Read full story
9:35 P.M. Analysis: Israel-Gaza flare-up worst since 2014 – but war could still be avoided
“Things could still get totally out of control and degenerate into an unwanted and unplanned war, just as in the summer of 2014. But there still appear to be ways out the parties can take to avoid a collision course.” (Amos Harel) Read full story
9:33 P.M. U.S. National Security Council ‘closely monitoring’ situation
The U.S. National Security Council’s spokesperson called on those launching the projectiles to cease their attacks. “We are aware of numerous mortar attacks on Israel today and are closely monitoring the situation,” read a statement. |”We call on those launching the attacks to cease this destructive violence. We fully support Israel’s right to self-defense and to take action to prevent such provocations.” (Noa Landau)
9:24 P.M. Israel’s UN ambassador requests condemnation
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon has written to the UN Security Council and the secretary general with a request that they condemn the rocket fire from Gaza.
“For weeks we have warned that the violent riots along the security fence with Gaza, that included IEDs and the firing of weapons at our security forces, were not spontaneous protests, but rather part of a coordinated violent attack against the State of Israel,” he wrote. “The shells and rockets fired at our citizens leave no doubt to the true intentions of those who incited, encourage, and even paid for those ongoing riots.”
8:35 P.M. European Union condemns rocket fire from Gaza
The spokesperson for the European External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic service, has issued a statement on the rocket fire. “The rocket and mortar fire by Palestinian militants from Gaza towards Israel must stop immediately,” reads the statement. “Indiscriminate attacks against civilians are completely unacceptable under any circumstances. A de-escalation of this dangerous situation is urgently needed to ensure that civilians’ lives are protected.” (Noa Landau) Read full story
8:25 P.M. Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim mortar, rocket fire in joint statement
“The resistance forces are conducting this campaign against the Zionist enemy according to the interests of the Palestinian people and according to the existing balance of power, and will not allow Israel to dictate new formulas that allow the Palestinian people to suffer harm and bloodshed without a response,” the statement read in part. “If Israel continues to harm our people, then all the options will be possible from the point of view of the resistance organizations.” (Jack Khoury)
8:00 P.M. Rocket fired from Gaza hits site providing power to enclave
A rocket fired from Gaza at Israel struck a building key to supplying power to the southern part of the enclave. (Almog Ben Zikri)
7:50 P.M. Rocket sirens go off in multiple Israeli communities near Gaza border; two projectiles land in unpopulated areas
7:36 P.M. Opposition chief Herzog urges UN secretary general to condemn mortar and rocket fire
MK Isaac Herzog, head of the opposition in the Knesset, has appealed to the UN’s secretary general with a demand for a “public condemnation by the UN of aggressive terrorist activities of the Hamas organization and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip against Israeli citizens in the Gaza border communities.” (Noa Landau)
7:08 P.M. MK Zahalka says Israel engineering military conflict
MK Jamal Zahalka (Joint List) said the Israeli government was responsible for the escalation. “The Israeli government is being pushed into a corner by the non-violent demonstrations in Gaza and is initiating a military confrontation to stop them,” he said. (Jonathan Lis)
6:53 P.M. IDF warns of false rumors circulating on social media outlets
Netanyahu tweet about ’57 missiles’Twitter
The military has urged people to refrain from disseminating false rumors on social media outlets that are claiming Israel has decided to launch a full-scale military operation. The IDF said the rumors were false. (Yaniv Kubovich)
6:36 P.M. President Rivlin: Israel is determined to protect borders
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin called the escalation “an open campaign by terrorist groups with Iranian backing, whose goal is ongoing damage to Israel’s security. We are determined to protect our borders, daily life and our citizens’ lives, and to destroy those who wish us harm.” (Haaretz)
6:30 P.M. MK Ahmad Tibi says Israel to blame for escalation
MK Ahmad Tibi (Joint List) said the Israeli government is responsible for the escalation in Gaza. “The vast majority of those killed and injured in Gaza in recent weeks were Palestinian civilians, and therefore the Israeli government bears responsibility for the escalation,” he said.
Tibi also called for an immediate cessation of the escalation in Gaza and for the international community to intervene and end the blockade of the Gaza Strip. “The siege is the root of all evil and is what is driving the tension, friction and confrontation,” he said. (Haaretz)
6:14 P.M. Israeli military shells observation post in the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian reports say
6:08 P.M. Gabbay: Netanyahu government is keeping Hamas alive
Avi Gabbay, chairman of Israel’s Labor Party, wrote on Facebook that the Israeli government is instrumental in Hamas’s continued survival. “Since the last round, Protective Edge, our government has not made any move to prevent” further escalation, Gabbay said. He added that the lack of a peace process “and the fact that there is no leadership that has succeeded in creating regional alliances to fight terror simply keep Hamas alive.”
5:45 P.M. Israel Navy stops Palestinian flotilla attempting to sail From Gaza
The Israel Navy stopped a flotilla of Palestinian activists who set sail from Gaza Tuesday to protest years of a naval blockade by Israel and Egypt on the Gaza Strip.
Iron Dome air defence system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming rockets and artillery shells, fires from southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, May 29th, 2018MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP
The navy prevented the flotilla from crossing the blockade line – six nautical miles off the coast. Navy ships also stopped one of the boats, with some 17 Palestinians aboard, after it crossed out of the area where allowed fishing boats are allowed and violated the blockade, the military said. Read full story
5:29 P.M. Israel instructs diplomats to ‘demand strong condemnation’ of Gaza attacks
The Foreign Ministry sent a special cable to all Israeli diplomats instructing them to “demand a strong condemnation of the terror attacks from Gaza against Israeli civilians.” The cable says Israel holds “Hamas responsible.” (Noa Landau) Read full story
5:25 P.M. Cleared for publication: Three of the wounded Israelis are soldiers
Three of the wounded by mortar fragments in an open area near the Gaza border were soldiers, the Israel Defense Foreces said. One suffered moderate wounds and two were lightly injured.
5: 02 P.M. Jason Greenblatt criticizes Hamas on Twitter
Jason Greenblatt, the American special envoy to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, tweeted condemning the attacks to Israel from the Gaza strip. “Reprehensible – mortars fired from Gaza at a kindergarten and community in Israel!,” he wrote, adding “Hamas has failed – all it can offer is terror. Palestinians in Gaza need real leaders to work on Gaza’s real problems with its water, its economy and so much more.” Read full story
5:00 P.M. Three Israelis wounded by mortar shrapnel fragments
Three people were lightly wounded by mortar shell fragments in an open area near the Gaza border, including one who suffered head injuries. The total number of Israelis injured in the flare-up with militants in the Gaza Strip is thus up to five. In the border town of Sderot, a man suffered bruises while running to a shelter. Two others suffered from shock. Earlier, one person was wounded by mortar shrapnel.
4:50 P.M. Netanyahu to hold security briefing
Netanyahu to hold security briefing with Defense chief Avigdor Lieberman, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman and senior security officials in Jerusalem. (Noa Landau)
4:31 P.M. Israeli man wounded by mortar fire from Gaza
An Israeli man sustained light injuries after he was hit by shrapnel from mortar fire launched from Gaza.
4:30 P.M. France declares that it is ‘unconditionally committed to Israel’s security’ and condemns firing of mortar shells into populated areas of Israel
In response to the firing of mortar shells into populated areas of Israel on Tuesday, the French embassy in Tel Aviv released a statement from the French Foreign Ministry saying: “France roundly condemns the firing at a civilian population, which fortunately has not claimed victims. France is unconditionally committed to Israel’s security. France condemns the renewed violence, which is inconsistent with a peaceable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A renewal of a credible diplomatic process requires all of the sides to forgo the use of violence.” Read full story
4:26 P.M. Sirens sound 50 times in Israeli communities
Rocket sirens went off 50 times since the morning in Israeli communities bordering the Gaza Strip since the morning.
4:17 P.M. IDF tells residents of Gaza border communities to remain within 15 seconds of shelters
4:15 P.M. Defense Minister LIeberman says Israel has no intention to let the situation pass
Speaking about the situation, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: “Today at midday, we massively and powerfully attacked terrorist infrastructure, including an additional tunnel, across the Gaza Strip. Hamas and Islamic Jihad have already paid a heavy price and the bill has just been presented to them. We have no intention to let it pass,” he said, indicating that Israel would not take Tuesday incidents lightly.
4:10 P.M. Iron Dome carried out more than 25 interceptions
During the course of the day, the army reported more than 25 interceptions by Iron Dome, adding that the system’s “capacity to deal with mortar shells is not hermetic, despite the successes.”
“From our standpoint, Hamas is responsible for what happens in the strip. Just as it permitted quiet, now it is permitting noise. It was in fact Islamic Jihad that fired but Hamas bears responsibility,” the army said.
3:48 P.M. Rocket sirens sound in southern Israeli communities
3:27 P.M. Israel strikes Gaza 30 times; target includes ‘terror tunnel’
The IDF said it launched 30 missiles on seven targets in the Gaza Strip, including what it described as a “terror tunnel” reaching 900 meters into Israeli territory. Some of the rockets fired from Gaza toward Israel are Iranian-made, the IDF said. The military called this the worst incident since the Israel-Gaza war of 2014.
According to the IDF, the tunnel was discovered 10 days ago and is two kilometers long. It originates in the Gaza Strip, extends into Egyptian territory for a kilometer and then winds back into Israeli territory for 900 meters. The army added that the tunnel was used both for smuggling and terror activities. (Yaniv Kubovich) Read full story
3:14 P.M. Israel intercepts rockets as second barrage launched from Gaza
The IDF intercepted several rockets from Gaza, the second such barrage launched toward Israel in hours. Parts of a rocket fell in the yard of a school in Sderot, the community’s city hall said. No casualties were reported. (Yaniv Kubovich, Almog Ben-Zikri)
2:53 P.M. Rocket sirens blare again across Israeli south; Iron Dome triggered
Numerous rocket sirens sounded in the southern Israeli communities of Sderot, Hof Ashkelon, Shaar Hanegev and Eshkol. The IDF activated Iron Dome missile defense systems. (Yaniv Kubovich)
1:36 P.M. Israel strikes Islamic Jihad target in Gaza City, report says
The Israeli military carried out strikes on an Islamic Jihad facility in Gaza and attacked targets in Khan Younis, Dir al-Balah and Al-Nasirat. (Jack Khoury)
12:52 P.M. Israel Air Force strikes Gaza
The Israeli air force struck targets in Gaza in retaliation for the rocket barrage. The IDF said it is carrying out an operation in the Strip and that explosions could be heard in the vicinity. (Yaniv Kubovich)
12:39 P.M. Hamas says Israel striking central Gaza
According to reports in Khan Yunis, Israeli warplanes fired at least 10 missiles on Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza. (Jack Khoury)
12:27 P.M. Egypt in talks with Israel, Hamas, Islamic Jihad to avoid Gaza conflict
A Palestinian official in Gaza told Haaretz that Egypt is in touch with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Israel in an effort to head off a deterioration of the situation into a wider conflict. The talks with Islamic Jihad are being conducted at a high level and include the group’s leadership abroad, the source said. According to assessments in Gaza, if Israel’s response does not result in fatalities in Gaza, all of the parties to the conflict will act with restraint. (Jack Khoury)
12:20 P.M. Netanyahu tweets, deletes that ’57 missiles’ fired toward Israel
“Let the world know: Palestinian terrorists in the Gaza Strip continue to attack Israel. Share the truth!,” Netanyahu tweeted, despite the fact that 28 mortar shells – not 57 missiles – were fired from Gaza. Less than an hour later, the prime minister deleted the tweet. (Haaretz)
11:50 A.M. Netanyahu vows ‘forceful’ response to Gaza barrage
“The Israeli army will respond with great force to these attacks. Israel will exact a heavy price from anyone who tries to harm it and we view Hamas as having responsibility to prevent these attacks against us,” Netanyahu said at a conference in the Galilee.
Netanyahu also discussed Iran’s presence on Syria’s border with Israel. “We are not making do with an Iranian withdrawal from just southern Syria,” Netanyahu said. “The Iranian missiles have a range that endangers us even if they are in other areas. Iran needs to leave all of Syria. We have not agreed to less than that.” (Noa Shpigel, Noa Landau)
10:52 A.M.Lieberman, senior defense officials hold security meeting
Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot and other senior defense officials met at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv Tuesday for an urgently convened meeting to consider the latest developments on the Gaza border. (Yaniv Kubovich)
Yaron Blum, Israel’s coordinator of efforts to free two Israeli captives in Gaza, told Knesset members that there will be no further exchange of prisoners like the one that enabled the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Schalit in 2011, Israel’s Kan news reported Wednesday.
From Israel’s perspective, the only potential deal would entail an easing of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip in exchange for the remains of two IDF soldiers held by Hamas, Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, and two captured Israeli citizens Abera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed.
Blum was appointed in 2017 to serve as the coordinator of efforts to retreive the remains of the fallen soldiers and return the Israelis held by Hamas in Gaza.
Blum served for two decades in the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), where he held several top management and command positions, including as a member of the small team that worked to free Schalit. He left the agency in 2011.
The IDF Home Front Command instructed the residents of the south to go back to normal starting 6 p.m. after security precautions were imposed following a barrage of rocket fire from Gaza Tuesday, according to a IDF statement Wednesday evening.
This canceled previous instructions prohibiting gathering of over 500 people in open spaces and of 1000 people in closed venues, and the requirement of military approval for farmers to work in their fields.
WASHINGTON – The White House said on Wednesday that negotiations at the demilitarized zone along the border between North and South Korea for a potential summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un are going well and it expects the historic meeting to take place on June 12.
“The US delegation led by Ambassador Sung Kim met with North Korean officials today as well and their talks will continue. So far the readouts from these meetings have been positive and we’ll continue to move forward in them,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said at a regularly scheduled briefing.
“We’re going to continue to shoot for the June 12th and expect to do that,” she said, referring to the original date scheduled for the summit.
SEOUL – South Korean prosecutors raided Korean Air Lines’ headquarters over suspected embezzlement and breach of trust by members of its owning family, Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday.
A Korean Air spokesman said an investigative team was at the headquarters. A prosecution spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
