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Media Summary

Egypt pressures Hamas on flying firebombs

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The Independent reports on protests following the “Nation-State” Bill that is being backed by Israel’s Likud party. While the government have stated that the Bill simply “enshrines into law the country’s existing characteristics” but there have been concerns that it will result in the exclusion of Israel’s Arab minority, the report says. There are also concerns that the Bill could remove Arabic as a national language and that it could permit exclusively Jewish-only communities. The Independent reports that on Saturday “thousands of Israelis took to the street in Tel Aviv” and the President of Israel Reuven Rivlin has also expressed concern that the Bill will “harm Jewish people, Jews throughout the world and the state of Israel”.

The Times reports that Palestinians in Gaza have been using falcons to start wildfires across the border in Israel. While it has been reported that kites, balloons and, on occasion, inflated condoms have been used in recent weeks to cause fires, the Times reports that a dead Kestrel has been found hanging from a tree in southern Israel yesterday. The harness on the bird was fitted with flammable material. It is estimated that 2,500 acres of land have been set alight by “incendiary devices” that have been sent over from the Gaza strip. While a ceasefire was brokered on Saturday by Egypt, the Times reports that it is expected to be “only a matter of time before there is a further escalation of hostilities”.

The Telegraph reports that Syrians have been turned away from the Israeli border by the IDF. Soldiers were using megaphones to tell Syrians: “Go back before something bad happens. If you want us to be able to help you, go back.” It was reported that some were waving white flags. They retreated to the refugee encampment after being warned away by IDF soldiers. The report adds Israel has remained consistent with its policy to provide humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees but not to allow them to enter Israeli land.

In the Israeli media, both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv lead with an incendiary balloon that landed in a kindergarten yesterday. The papers quote Batsheva Baruchi-Hasson, who is running the summer camp programme for five-year-olds at the kindergarten:  “We were sitting in the yard and we saw something fall out of the sky, just a few meters away from the children.” She added: “Just like in the drills that we held, I ushered all the kids into the protected space within 15 seconds.”   Tamar Cohen-Mordechai, whose son is at the kindergarten, said: “We received word about the balloon and we raced over to the kindergarten. I was stunned to find our children calm. The parents were more frightened than the kids.”

Yediot Ahronot prominently declares “the answer to terrorism,” as it reveals that despite the tension in the south, Kibbutz Gvulot yesterday laid the cornerstone for a new neighbourhood expected to absorb eight new families to be accepted as members of the kibbutz.

Israel Hayom also reflects on the growing tension in the south and declares, “Israel runs out of patience, truce now or an operation in Gaza”. Striking a different tone, Haaretz says “kites and balloons are not a casus belli [act that provokes or justifies a war]”.

Yediot Ahronot highlights the pressure from Egypt on Hamas to end, or at least drastically reduce, the launching of flying firebombs.  The paper further reveals: “Hamas leadership overseas informed the Gaza leadership that it could no longer continue to fund the marches of return on the border fence. The cost of the campaign is estimated as having cost a few tens of millions of shekels thus far, and it also includes the money that Hamas gave the families of those killed and the thousands of people injured.”

In the commentary, Maariv concludes: “The situation is so very volatile and fluid that no one in Israeli intelligence—neither in the political echelon nor among the experts—can adequately anticipate whether the two sides are likely to head into war or peace. We might have the answer to that this Friday. If the volume of incendiary kites and balloons diminishes on the weekend, the western Negev might find itself in a renewed state of quiet. But if the fields and woodlands continue to burn, the political echelon, which is beginning to lose its cool, will be forced to order the IDF to launch another operation. A war.”

Kan Radio News reveals that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said publicly for the first time that it was he who persuaded US President Donald Trump to quit the nuclear agreement with Iran. Netanyahu was recorded saying in a meeting with Likud activists that he had persuaded Trump to quit the agreement, and that he was the one who had faced off against the entire world by opposing the nuclear agreement.

Haaretz reports Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, arrive in Israel on Wednesday evening for an official two-day visit.  Orban will meet Netanyahu, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and Chief Rabbi David Lau.  He will also tour the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Museum and then plant a tree in the Grove of Nations.  He is not scheduled to meet any Palestinian figures.

Yediot Ahronot reports on hundreds of Syrians who approached the Israeli border fence in the Quneitra area asking to enter into Israel.  They were met with instructions that were delivered by means of megaphone to stop advancing and to return to their camps. The soldiers called out to them in Arabic: “You are nearing the border with Israel. If you want us to help you, move back.”  Israel has explicitly said that not a single Syrian refugee would be allowed into Israeli territory.  However, Israel continues to offer humanitarian aid to the refugees, sending into Syria food, water, medicine, blankets, tents and clothing.