fbpx

Media Summary

Israeli victims of Turkey terror attack return home

[ssba]

The Times reports that the bodies of three Israelis killed in a terror attack in the Turkish city of Istanbul were yesterday transported back home. 60-year-old Simha Dimri, 40-year-old Yonatan Suher and 69-year-old Avraham Goldman were all on an organised culinary tour when the bomber struck in a major shopping area on Saturday. An Iranian was also killed while the injured included five other Israelis, who were also transported back to Israel. The Guardian and the online edition of the Daily Mail report that Israel yesterday upgraded its travel advice and warned Israelis against travelling to Turkey.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph, Independent, Metro, Independent i and the online editions of the Daily Mail and Daily Express all report that Turkey has identified the terrorist who carried out the weekend attack as a member of ISIS. Israeli authorities do not believe that Israeli tourists were specifically targeted.

The Times, Independent, Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian and Daily Mail all report that a fire broke out at the West Bank home of a witness to a deadly arson attack last July, which killed three members of a family in the Palestinian village of Duma. Ibrahim Dawabshe, who is also a relative of those killed, escaped any injury in the weekend fire. However, Israeli authorities do not believe that the blaze was caused by Jewish Israeli extremists, unlike the original arson last year.

The Independent and online edition of the Daily Mail both preview Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s address to the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) later today. All of the Presidential candidates, apart from Bernie Sanders will speak at the gathering today. However, Trump’s speech is expected to garner most attention. The articles explain that Trump’s views on Israel remain unclear. He has been quoted saying he would be “neutral” as president on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also told ABC recently that there is “nobody more pro-Israel” than himself.

In Iran, the Telegraph and online edition of the Daily Mail both report that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has said that the United States remains the enemy of Iran and is deterring big foreign companies from doing business with the country.

In Syria, the Times and online edition of the Telegraph say that President Assad’s troops and Hezbollah fighters are poised to retake the city of Palmyra from ISIS, with the help of continuing Russian air strikes, despite Moscow’s announcement last week that it was withdrawing its forces from Syria. Meanwhile, the Guardian online reports that the Syrian opposition will assess its’ participation in peace talks in Geneva by the end of the week, with scant progress having been made.

And in Egypt, the Guardian online reports that the ISIS-affiliate Sinai Province terror group yesterday killed at least 13 Egyptian policemen in a mortar attack in Arish, located in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Israel Hayom is the return of the bodies of the three Israelis killed in Istanbul over the weekend. Haaretz highlights that the suicide bomber was an ISIS member, while Israel Hayom’s poignant headline is simply “Their last journey.” Israel Radio news says that Turkey’s President Erdogan sent a letter of condolence to Israel’s President Reuven Rivlin, while the Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Dore Gold praised the Turkish authorities for their assistance following the attack.

Yediot Ahronot covers in depth the fire which erupted at the home of Ibrahim Dawabshe. It includes comments from the Mayor of Duma who suggested that the blaze was the work of Jewish Israeli extremists, which the report says that Israeli police believe is not the case.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot and Maariv also cover the funeral of former-Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who died last week. Although no media were permitted to attend the ceremony, in accordance with the family’s wishes, Dagan was reportedly buried with full military honours.