JERUSLAEM: The Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday was vandalized with graffiti condemning Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza, triggering widespread condemnation from religious leaders and politicians.
“There is a holocaust in Gaza,” was graffitied in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray.
A similar message was also scrawled on the wall of the Great Synagogue, elsewhere in the city.
Israeli police said a 27-year-old suspect had been arrested and would appear in court later on Monday, with the police requesting that his detention be extended.
The incident sparked immediate outrage in Israel, with the Western Wall’s Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitch calling it a “desecration.”
“A holy place is not a place to express protests... The police must investigate this action, track down the criminals responsible for the desecration and bring them to justice,” Rabinovitch said in a statement.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir — who oversees the country’s law enforcement agencies — said he was shocked and vowed that the police would act “with lightning speed.”
Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also weighed in, saying the perpetrators “forgot what it means to be Jewish.”
Sharp condemnation also came from the opposition.
Former defense minister Benny Gantz, now an opposition leader, called it “a crime against the entire Jewish people.”
The Western Wall lies in the heart of the Old City of Jerusalem, which Israeli forces captured during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Western Wall in Jerusalem vandalized with anti-war message
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Western Wall in Jerusalem vandalized with anti-war message
- There is a holocaust in Gaza,” was graffitied in Hebrew on the southern portion of the wall, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray
- A similar message was also scrawled on the wall of the Great Synagogue, elsewhere in the city
Rubio pushes for New Year’s humanitarian truce in Sudan
- “Ninety-nine percent of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible,” Rubio said
- “And we think that the new year and the upcoming holidays are a great opportunity”
WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the new year offered a chance for a humanitarian truce in war-ravaged Sudan as he urged outside countries to exert leverage.
“Ninety-nine percent of our focus is this humanitarian truce and achieving that as soon as possible,” Rubio told a news conference.
“And we think that the new year and the upcoming holidays are a great opportunity for both sides to agree to that, and we’re really pushing very hard on that regard,” he said.
Sudan has been devastated since the army and rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) went to war in April 2023, with tens of thousands of people killed, millions displaced and widespread abuses and hunger.
Rubio said both sides have violated commitments as he voiced alarm at new reports of humanitarian convoys being struck.
“What’s happening there is horrifying. It’s atrocious,” he said.
“One day the story of what’s actually happened there is going to be known, and everyone involved is going to look bad.”
“Someone is allowing it to be shipped in, and someone is actually shipping it. So we’ve had the right and appropriate conversations with all sides of this conflict,” he said.
“We’re hopeful that we can make some progress on this, but we know that in order to make progress on this, it will require outside actors to use their leverage,” Rubio concluded.
