The Times of Israel is liveblogging Monday’s events as they happen.
Palestinian reports: 6 wounded, car set on fire in settler attack on West Bank village of Burqa
Six people have been hurt in clashes in an alleged settler attack on the Palestinian village of Burqa, near Ramallah, according to Palestinian reports.
Video posted on X, formerly Twitter, shows a car on fire that was allegedly ignited by settlers during the raid.
Palestinian official news agency Wafa reports that medics at the Palestine Medical Complex are treating six people with bullet wounds who were shot during the alleged attack by settlers.
Wafa quotes local official Sayel Kanaan as saying that settlers attacked the village from both the north and the west, setting fire to a sheep barn and attempting to ignite a house in the Palestinian village.
The official charges that Israeli troops stormed the village to provide cover for the settlers, and prevented Palestinian security forces from accessing the area.
תושבים פלסטינים מתמודדים והודפים תקיפת מתנחלים בכפר בורקה, מזרחית לרמאללה. במהלך העימות הפלסטינים שרפו את אחד הרכבים של המתנחלים. pic.twitter.com/59YA7e1gXj
— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) April 21, 2024
The reports come amid a spike in settler violence in the West Bank over the past week after the body of 14-year-old Benjamin Achimeir was found last weekend after he had gone missing. Security forces said the Israeli teen had been murdered in a terror attack.
Following the discovery of Achimeir’s body, Jewish settlers entered the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, and set houses and cars ablaze. Palestinian medics said one man was killed and 25 others were injured in the rampage.
Violent incidents continued throughout the week with another two Palestinians killed in a confrontation with settlers on Monday evening. Palestinian authorities and the IDF said the two victims had been shot by settlers.
Columbia Hillel rejects a call from Orthodox rabbi to stay away from campus due anti-Israel activity
The Hillel center for Jewish life at Columbia University rejects a call from the rabbi serving Orthodox students for Jewish students to stay away from campus due to a recent surge in anti-Israel activity.
Columbia Hillel says in a statement that it does not believe Jewish students should leave the campus and that it would remain open to serve the community.
At the same time, the Hillel makes clear that it expects the university and New York City to do more to protect Jewish students.
“We call on the university administration to act immediately in restoring calm to campus. The city must ensure that students can walk up and down Broadway and Amsterdam without fear of harassment,” Columbia Hillel says.
EU ministers to mull widening Iran sanctions, declaring IRGC as a terror group
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – European Union foreign ministers will meet in Luxembourg tomorrow to discuss expanding sanctions on Iran and bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses.
The EU already has multiple sanctions programs against Iran – for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights abuses and supplying drones to Russia.
The ministers will seek agreement on how much further to go in sanctioning Iran, following Tehran’s missile and drone attack on Israel the weekend before last.
EU leaders agreed last week they would impose further sanctions against Iran, with many calling to widen the drone-related sanctions regime to cover missiles and transfers to Iranian proxy forces in the Middle East, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
EU countries are also debating whether to impose fresh sanctions related to missile production, according to diplomats, while some are also pushing for the EU to find a way to designate Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guards force as a terrorist organization.
While the ministers will also discuss the war in Sudan, most of their focus will be on the conflicts raging on the 27-member bloc’s eastern and southern doorsteps – in Ukraine and the Middle East crisis sparked by Hamas’s October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
Biden blasts ‘alarming surge of antisemitism’ amid anti-Israel protests at Columbia
US President Joe Biden blasts recent anti-Israel protests that have been taking place at Columbia University in a statement marking the upcoming Passover holiday.
“Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses or anywhere in our country,” the president says. “The ancient story of persecution against Jews in the Haggadah also reminds us that we must speak out against the alarming surge of antisemitism – in our schools, communities, and online. Silence is complicity.”
Biden also acknowledges the hardship families of the Israeli hostages are enduring, as they prepare to mark the Jewish holiday of Passover, which is meant to celebrate freedom, and asserts his administration is working “around the clock” to bring their loved ones home.
“As Jews mark Passover with storytelling, songs and rituals, they will also read from the Haggadah how, in every generation, they have been targeted by those who would seek to destroy them. This year, those words carry deeper resonance and pain in the wake of Hamas’ unspeakable evil on October 7th – the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Biden says in a statement wishing Jews a happy Passover, which begins Monday night.
“Jews around the world are still coping with the trauma of that day and its aftermath,” he acknowledges.
“My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad,” he says, adding that he’s working to secure an “immediate and prolonged ceasefire” as part of a hostage deal that would see a surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“We will continue to work toward a two-state solution that provides equal security, prosperity and enduring peace for Israelis and Palestinians. And we are leading international efforts to ensure Israel can defend itself against Iran and its proxies, including by directing the US military to help defend Israel against Iran’s unprecedented attacks last weekend,” Biden says.
????President Biden weighs in on the situation at Columbia:
"Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country." pic.twitter.com/6OixoR1e6Z
— Herbie Ziskend (@HerbieZiskend46) April 21, 2024
Jewish alumni to Columbia president: ‘If you can’t stop the masked mobs, have the NYPD do it’
The Columbia Jewish Alumni Association expresses “urgency and profound concern regarding the safety of Jewish students,” amid days of unrest and anti-Israel action at the New York City university.
“Jewish students are openly threatened and harassed and the administration’s response thus far has been grossly inadequate,” the alumni association writes in a letter to Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik.
The group calls on the president to address threats to Jewish students on campus, which has seen large anti-Israel protests since war erupted in Gaza on October 7, when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 253.
“Now, more than ever, is the time to demonstrate true leadership: enforce the university rules with regard to protests and harassment and restore order and safety on campus. If you cannot stop the masked mobs, please have the NYPD do it,” the letter continues.
The group also mentions a letter Columbia’s Rabbi Elie Beuchler sent to Jewish students urging them to stay away from campus until it is deemed safe again.