Ryanair threatens not to return to Israel
(JNS) — Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair may not return to Israel even after violence related to the Gaza war subsides, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said on Thursday, accusing Israeli authorities of obstructing the airline’s efforts at holding costs down.
“I think there is a real possibility that we won’t bother going back to Israel … when the current violence recedes,” O’Leary told journalists in Dublin. “Unless the Israelis kind of get their act together and stop messing us around, frankly, we have far more growth elsewhere in Europe.”
The dispute between Europe’s largest low-cost carrier and the Israel Airport Authority is over a commitment to the long-term use of Ben-Gurion International Airport’s newly reopened Terminal 1, which has lower fees and costs.
The airline previously said it would not return to Israel until Oct. 25 at the earliest.
The threat to not return comes amid Israeli negotiations with the Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air to open a hub in Israel next year.
The third major European budget airline, Britain’s EasyJet, has suspended flights to Israel until next spring.
Two wounded in terrorist stabbing at Kibbutz Tzuba hotel
(JTA) — Two men were wounded in a terrorist stabbing at a hotel in Kibbutz Tzuba in the Judean Hills west of Jerusalem on Friday, police and first responders said. Both victims were guests of the hotel.
United Hatzalah said its paramedics provided “initial medical treatment” to the wounded, one of whom suffered “penetrating injuries to his upper torso.”
The Magen David Adom emergency service said its paramedics treated the two victims and evacuated them to Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem, describing them as “a 60-year-old male in serious condition and a 23-year-old male in moderate condition.”
The Israel Police said the assailant, a 42-year-old Arab resident of Shuafat in northeastern Jerusalem who worked at the hotel through a manpower company, was arrested by an off-duty police officer.
“To minimize the risk to remaining civilians, I subdued the terrorist using only physical force, not gunfire,” the officer said. “With the help of some others, we managed to pin him to the ground and put him in handcuffs.”
A police spokesman said three other people were also arrested for suspected involvement.
Witnesses said that the stabbing suspect shouted “Allahu Akbar” and that he “wanted to die.”
Israel hits Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in Lebanon
(JNS) — The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday struck a Hezbollah “strategic weapons” site in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, the military said.
The site was used for “production and storage” of weapons, according to the IDF. Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Zrariyeh in Southern Lebanon’s Sidon District was also struck.
The strikes follow a Sept. 8 strike on several Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, including Radwan Force training compounds. The facilities were used to train operatives and prepare attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, including gunfire drills and other weapons exercises, according to the military.
“The presence of the terrorist infrastructure constitutes a violation of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon,” the IDF said on Thursday. “The IDF will continue to operate to remove any threat posed to the State of Israel.”
IAF downs Houthi missile from Yemen
(JNS) — The Israeli Air Force intercepted a missile launched by Houthi terrorists in Yemen early on Thursday morning, the military said.
The attack triggered air-raid sirens in the southern Negev and Arava regions; no casualties or damage were reported.
The Israel Defense Forces on Thursday afternoon also intercepted a Houthi drone, it stated. According to the IDF, the UAV was downed without triggering sirens. No injuries or damage were reported.
Shortly there after, air-raid sirens sounded again in the Arava and Eilat areas. The IDF said that “a suspicious aerial target was identified,” but added that the incident “had ended.” No further details were provided.
The Magen David Adom emergency medical response group said that it did not receive any reports of casualties or impacts in the latest attack.
Among the assets hit were “military camps in which operatives of the terrorist regime were identified, the Houthis’ Military Public Relations Headquarters and a fuel storage facility,” according to the Israeli military.
Academic detained on suspicion of incitement against Netanyahu
(JNS) — The Israel Police on Thursday asked the Acre Magistrate’s Court to extend by six days the detention of Yolanda Yavor, who was arrested the previous night on suspicion of incitement to violence against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The graduate research assistant at Tel Aviv University allegedly posted a series of inciting remarks on social media. It is unclear which post led to her arrest, but on Sept. 10, Yavor shared a Facebook video of protesters setting the private residence of Nepali Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli on fire, accompanied by the writing in Hebrew, “This is the way.”
A police source told broadcaster Channel 14, “The suspect’s activity has been monitored for some time, and we are aware of all the violent and inciting discourse she publishes. It is important to remember that in the State of Israel there is a fine line separating incitement from freedom of expression, and therefore we waited for a moment when it would be easier to prove to the prosecution that there is indeed a real danger and threat.”
The anonymous source, reportedly connected to the case, continued: “The posts written by the suspect could lead to the murder of public officials, and the public must know that we are working around the clock to identify incitement on social media and bring the suspects to justice.”
