Palestinian officials said Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will propose to the U.N. Security Council to set a deadline for an Israeli withdraw to the pre-1967 borders, to pave the way for a Palestinian State as part his “day after” plan following the current conflict in the Gaza Strip.
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder arrived in Ferguson to lead the investigation into the shooting. It was revealed that Darren Wilson, the police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun. Meanwhile, Community elders and the clergy were credited with helping to bring “a different dynamic” to protests in this St. Louis suburb, police said as fewer arrests took place.
Israeli and Palestinian delegations restarted indirect talks in Cairo over the weekend, however Israeli officials were skeptical a truce could be reached by Monday’s midnight deadline. Over the weekend, Hamas threatened a “war of attrition” if its demands were not met. Meanwhile, Israel threatened “harsh strikes” if Hamas broke the ceasefire with any type of fire against the Jewish state and Israeli officials said “quiet and security’ will be restored ‘one way or another.’
As photos of heavily armed police officers in full combat gear squared off against protesters in the small suburban town of Ferguson, Missouri, America got a sobering wake up call of the militarization of its local police forces. Since 2006, U.S. police departments have acquired 93,763 machine guns, 432 mine-resistant trucks, over 500 aircraft and hundreds of thousands of ammunition magazines, all provided by the U.S. military with the help of Congress.
Egypt presented a proposed cease-fire to Israel and Hamas aimed at ending the month-long war, Palestinian officials said early Wednesday after negotiators huddled for a second day of Egyptian-mediated talks aimed at ending the crisis and bringing relief to the embattled Gaza Strip.
An Egyptian court on Saturday dissolved the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, dealing a crippling blow in the campaign to crush Egypt’s oldest Islamist movement.
As Operation Protective Edge enters its fifth week, Israel and Hamas have agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a 72-hour ceasefire beginning Tuesday morning.
As the conflict in Gaza entered its third week, pro-and-anti Israel rallies took place throughout the world. Since the beginning of the war, a surge in anti-Jewish hate crimes has taken place especially in Europe, leading to fears among Jewish communities that Europe is no longer a safe haven for its population.
After U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry failed in bringing a ceasefire to the region, U.S. President Barack Obama called and urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu to agree to a ceasefire late Sunday night as Operation Protective Edge enters its 21st day. Since the beginning of the operation, 2,538 rockets have been fired into Israel. The death toll in Gaza move above 1,000, while the Israel Defense Forces have lost 43 soldiers.
An Egyptian convert to Christianity recently released to appeal his disputed conviction for “inciting sectarian violence” was imprisoned again on charges of “defaming Islam,” according to Morning Star News.
Israel accepted a Egyptian proposed ceasefire that went into effect at 9 AM, while Hamas’ armed wing rejected the offer completely saying it was “surrender.” If the ceasefire does not hold, Israel vowed to respond in force. Over the seven days of Operation Protective Edge, Israel has struck over 1,500 terrorist related targets in the Gaza Strip.
Four bombs exploded at three metro stations in Cairo during Wednesday’s morning rush hour. The explosions wounded at least five people, Egyptian officials said.
A Christian in southern Egypt has been sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison and fined the equivalent of $840 on charges of blasphemy and contempt of Islam for simply “liking” a Facebook page, according to International Christian Concern.
On Saturday, an Egyptian Court sentenced to death Mohamed Badie, a Muslim Brotherhood leader, along with more than 180 others, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Wednesday a judge in Egypt’s Minya Criminal Court sentenced the first Egyptian to legally challenge his official religious status to five years in prison and a fine, according to Morning Star News.
Hundreds of Coptic Christian women in Egypt have been kidnapped and forced to convert to the Islamic religion of their abductors, according to Christian Today.
Twelve Islamists were sentenced to death by an Egyptian judge on Wednesday for the murder of Gen. Nabil Farrag, a senior police official.
An Egyptian appeals court has upheld the blasphemy conviction of a Coptic Christian living in exile, sentencing her to six months in prison and overturning an earlier ruling that only imposed a fine, according to Yahoo News.
Egyptian Christians have welcomed the election of President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in the hopes that the former field marshal will protect them from Islamic extremism, according to Barnabas Aid.
A mob of Islamists burned down several Christian-owned shops in southern Egypt near Luxor, according to Jewish and Israel News.