Israel News for 1-2-2025
News Update
The IDF announced that 891 soldiers have been killed since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, including that day. The number includes 65 soldiers killed in operational accidents and several dozen in traffic accidents and by suicide.
The US has provided Israel with military aid totaling approximately $22 billion since October 7 2023, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The High Court of Justice unanimously upheld a law that expands National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s authority over police operations but struck down, in a narrow 5-4 decision, a key provision allowing him to delineate general policy on police investigations, ruling it unconstitutional. Ben-Gvir sharply criticized the ruling, accusing the court of overstepping its authority. Justice Minister Yariv Levin also condemned the ruling, describing it as undemocratic, and called for judicial reform: “In what other country can judges, who appoint themselves, strike down a law passed by parliament in three readings by a single-vote margin? Only in Israel is democracy being replaced by the rule of a handful of judges.”
The Palestinian Authority officially announced its decision to suspend Al Jazeera’s broadcasts and freeze the network’s operations in PA-controlled territories. The PA accused the channel of violating Palestinian laws by broadcasting “provocative content” characterized by “deception, incitement to rebellion, sabotage and interference in internal Palestinian affairs.” Hamas condemned the PA’s decision, calling it “a blatant violation of press freedom” and accusing the PA of silencing dissent. [Can’t make this stuff up!]
