BEIRUT: An Israeli soldier who was viewed by millions on social media hurling a stun grenade in a village mosque in the West Bank has been reportedly suspended by the Israel Defense Forces.
In an 18-second video that went viral across thousands of social media handles, the IDF soldier was seen asking someone to film him tossing the stun grenade inside Budrus’ Grand Mosque.
The call for Fajr (sunrise) prayer can be heard in the background of the video while the soldier walks toward the mosque’s entrance. He then hurls the grenade that can be heard exploding.

LONDON: Israel has left open the prospect of its reoccupation of the Gaza Strip after the anticipated defeat of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, claiming it will be responsible for finding a civilian administration to take over the Palestinian territory.

The prospect of a return to direct Israeli administration, however, raises a host of questions about what obligations and responsibilities it would have as an occupying power, given Gaza’s unique characteristics in relation to international law.

RAMALLAH: Three Palestinians were killed in an Israeli drone strike early on Friday in the city of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, the head of the Palestinian ambulance service said.
The Israeli army confirmed it had carried out an airstrike, saying it had killed at least five militants during fighting in Jenin, a focus of repeated recent clashes as tensions soar against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
At least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen operating out of Gaza.

SAN FRANCISCO: US President Joe Biden pressed Friday for the immediate release of hostages seized by Hamas in Israel during talks with the leader of Qatar, which has relations with the militants.
Biden, in San Francisco for an Asia-Pacific summit, in a telephone call with Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani “discussed the urgent need for all hostages held by Hamas to be released without further delay,” a White House statement said.

MANAMA: The crown prince of Bahrain on Friday called for a “hostage trade” between Hamas and Israel in order to achieve a break in hostilities that he said could lead to an end to the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
Prince Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa also said that security would not be realized without a two-state solution, in which he described the US as “indispensable” in achieving.