Click refresh to see new updates during the day
Israel responded to yesterday’s firing of 5 mortar shells by bombing a smuggling tunnel.
(the above is a new boilerplate I will be using to save time).
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
4:16PM: Today’s Gilad Shalit impending release story is brought to you by Ha’aretz.
Hamas senior official Khaled Meshal is planning to finalize a prisoner swap deal for the release of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit on a rare visit to Cairo this weekend, top Palestinian sources told the Saudi daily Al-Watan on Friday.
Hamas spokesman Taher A-Nunu confirmed that Meshal was traveling to Cairo on Saturday for a round of talks with Egyptian officials, attended by the organization’s top-brass from Gaza and Damascus.
According to the Al-Watan report, Meshal intends to use the visit to approve the clauses of the prisoner swap deal and sign off onto a final draft.
No other sources could confirm the report.
But of course.
1:12PM: Hundreds of palestinians are about to be deported for “security related” reasons.
By the UAE.
The silence from so-called Human Rights organizations is deafening, presumably because Israel is not involved.
9:48AM: Wrap your head around this one.
Pop music icon Madonna, who took Israel by storm earlier this week with two back-to-back concerts in Tel Aviv, wrapped up her tour with a visit Thursday night to the Safed tomb of a kabbalistic great.
Rabbi Isaac Luri – or the Ari – was one of the founders of kabbalism, a tradition Madonna has embraced over the last few years.
Pilgrims flock year round to his grave and the neighboring ritual bath at the foot of the ancient northern city.
Madonna was accompanied in her visit by Rabbi Michael Berg, her own rabbi’s brother, as well as her partner Jesus.
8:15AM: Today’s Darwin Award candidate:
An Egyptian soldier accidentally shot himself while on duty near the barbed-wire fence with Israel on Wednesday, Egyptian security sources said.
The shooting took place in the Al-Contella area of the Sinai desert. The sources added that the soldier, Salah Ad-Dasouki, 21, years old), heard a sound, causing him to take an alert stance. The source said the soldier slipped on a stone and shot himself in the left leg. He was taken to a hospital in Al-Arish.
8:05AM: Yesterday, the Jerusalem Post revealed that Holocaust denier David Irving is a Transformer. Today, it’s Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s turn.
7:55AM: Batshit crazy cleric flashback.
Spit? I guess it could be worse.
7:32AM: Venezuelan President Hugo “to hell” Chavez yesterday verbally attacked Israel during his visit to Syria, calling us “a country that annihilates people and is hostile to peace.”
In comments carried by Venezuelan state television, he also accused Israel of being part of imperialist efforts to divide the Middle East.
“The entire world knows it. Why was the state of Israel created? … To divide. To impede the unity of the Arab world. To assure the presence of the North American empire in all these lands,” he said.
Rabbi Isaac Luri – or the Ari – was one of the founders of kabbalism, a tradition Madonna has embraced over the last few years.
Pilgrims flock year round to his grave and the neighboring ritual bath at the foot of the ancient northern city.
 |
Advertisement |
Madonna was accompanied in her visit by Rabbi Michael Berg, her own rabbi’s brother, as well as her partner Jesus.
