JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered a brief freeze in construction on a wind turbine project in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights that set off a rare clash between Druze residents and police.
Netanyahu said late Saturday he agreed to a pause on the project during this week’s Muslim Eid Al-Adha holiday, which is meant to allow time for talks to defuse the crisis. The project is expected to resume next week. A statement from Netanyahu’s office said he made the decision based on advice from security officials.
The Druze oppose the plan, which would install more than two dozen 200-meter tall turbines throughout their land. The landowners said the turbines will harm their agricultural output and that the energy company behind the project didn’t consult with them in good faith, a claim the company denies.
Last week, thousands of residents demonstrated against the project, storming a police station, throwing stones and fireworks, setting tires on fire, vandalizing police cars, blocking roads and even shooting live fire into the air, according to police.
Israel captured the Golan, a strategic plateau overlooking northern Israel, from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war. Israel subsequently annexed the area in a move that was recognized by former US President Donald Trump in 2019. But most of the international community considers the area to be occupied territory.
While Druze leaders still profess allegiance to Syria, relations with Israel are normally good. The Golan is a popular vacation destination for Israelis and is filled with hotels and restaurants, and most residents speak Hebrew fluently. Violent clashes with Israeli authorities are rare.
Israel’s Netanyahu briefly freezes Golan wind turbine project that set off rare clashes
https://arab.news/9eh5c
Israel’s Netanyahu briefly freezes Golan wind turbine project that set off rare clashes
- Druze oppose the project, which would install more than two dozen 200 meter tall turbines throughout their land
- The landowners said the turbines will harm their agricultural output and that the energy company behind the project didn’t consult with them in good faith, a claim the company denies
Syria says detained senior Daesh jihadist in Damascus
- The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers
DAMASCUS: Syrian authorities have arrested a senior Daesh group official in the Damascus region in a joint operation with a US-led international coalition, a security official said on Wednesday.
Taha Al-Zoubi, also known as Abu Omar Tabiya, an Daesh leader in Damascus, was detained with several of his men, General Ahmad Al-Dalati was reported as saying by state news agency SANA.
The arrest came less than two weeks after a December 13 attack killed two US soldiers and a US civilian that Washington said was carried out by a lone Daesh gunman in central Syria’s Palmyra.
“Our specialized units, in cooperation with the General Intelligence Directorate and and International Coalition forces, carried out a precise security operation targeting” an Daesh hideout, Dalati said.
On December 20, a Syria monitor said that five Daesh members were killed in US strikes in retaliation for the December 13 attack.
It was the first such incident since the overthrow of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December last year, and Syrian authorities said the perpetrator was a security forces member who was due to be fired for his “extremist Islamist ideas.”
