Weekly roundup of world briefs
By Andrew Lapin
(JTA) Israeli paramedics said that at least two worshipers had been killed and at least 213 were injured in a bleacher collapse incident at a synagogue in the Judean Israeli settlement of Givat Zeev on Sunday.
The prayer gathering was held to mark the beginning of the Shavuot holiday. “Hundreds” of haredi Orthodox Jews were congregated at the synagogue in the Israeli settlement northwest of Jerusalem, which was still under construction, a Magen David Adom spokesperson told Israeli media.. For access to this article please sign in or subscribe.
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Following the stabbing, a number of police officers chased Alloun. The policeman now under investigation shot him several times, killing him. Following the incident, it was alleged that Alloun had presented no immediate threat to the lives of those in the area when he was shot. In film footage from the scene, onlookers can be heard urging the officer to shoot Alloun.
The police misconduct unit opened a probe into the case but closed it without questioning the officer after it was determined that he had acted in accordance with standing procedure.
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Israeli police standing near the body of Fadi Yaloon, a Palestinian who allegedly stabbed a 15-year-old, outside Jerusalem’s Old City early Sunday morning, October 4, 2015. (Flash90)
A police officer who was commended six years ago for his shooting of a Palestinian terrorist was recently questioned about the incident on suspicion of negligent manslaughter.
The officer was questioned under caution two weeks ago by the Police Internal Investigations Department at the order of the attorney general, the Kan public broadcaster reported Thursday.
In the wake of the report, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana spoke with the officer, telling him that he “deserves a medal,” the station said.
The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas is in place and working for the moment, but tensions within Jewish-Arab mixed cities inside Israel have not disappeared yet.
Israeli officers blindfold a Palestinian citizen of Israel during violent confrontations in Lydd, central Israel. (Oren Ziv)
In a surprise campaign on Monday, Israeli authorities launched “Operation Law and Order,” in which thousands of national police officers, Border Police members, and army reservists arrested hundreds of Palestinian citizens of Israel accused of participating in this month’s mass wave of protests.
In their announcement to the press, the Israeli police claimed that they were looking for “the rioters, the criminals, and everyone who was involved in the events, in order to prosecute them” and to “settle the score” with those who took part. In the two weeks prior, the police had already arrested more than 1,550 people and filed about 150 indictments, some against more than one defendant.