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Israel Breaking: Israeli Soldier Stabbed in Tel Aviv Train Station

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday that Arab residents of northern Israel should not remain Israeli citizens if an agreement is reached on a Palestinian state.

Referring to a cluster of mainly-Arab towns near the boundary with the West Bank, Lieberman said:

The people in the Triangle must understand that if there is an agreement, they will not be citizens of the State of Israel.

You can’t benefit from the National Insurance Institute, convalescence and unemployment pay while raving and inciting against the state. I think that today this is clear — they must be on the other side of the border.

Lieberman made the comments amid clashes and a general strike in some towns following the killing of an Israel Arab in Kafr Kanna by Israeli police on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister said residents should not be forcibly “transferred”, but that a future Palestinian state should include the approximately 300,000 Israeli Arabs living in the Triangle: “They will stay in their homes, on their land, [but] we will move the border, and the Palestinian Authority will take control.”

Lieberman repeated his plan for swapping the Arab-majority Israeli territory for Israeli Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank.

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AVIGDOR LIBERMANRIOTSKAFR KANNA
Amid violent protests following a police killing of an Arab man in northern Israel, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman said Monday that Arab residents of northern Israel should not remain citizens of Israel if an agreement is reached on a Palestinian state.

“The people in the Triangle must understand that if there is an agreement, they will not be citizens of the State of Israel,” he said, referring to the cluster of Arab towns in northern Israel abutting the Green Line. “You can’t benefit from the National Insurance Institute, convalescence and unemployment pay while raving and inciting against the state. I think that today this is clear — they must be on the other side of the border.”

Liberman clarified that he did not mean that residents should be forcibly “transferred,” but that a future Palestinian state should include the approximately 300,000 Israeli Arabs living in the Triangle.

“They will stay in their homes, on their land, [but] we will move the border, and the Palestinian Authority will take control of the Triangle.”

Liberman was reiterating his plan for swapping Israeli territory with an Arab majority for West Bank settlement blocs in a future deal with the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, protests in northern Israel continued Monday morning. About 2,000 people, many waving Palestinian flags, gathered in the town of Sakhnin, just north of Kafr Kanna.

“It is our right to express anger at the conduct of the police,” a participating student said.


Gazan Fishermen Wounded & Missing After Israeli Artillery Attack

Two Gazan fishermen were wounded and four others are missing after they were targeted by Israeli naval artillery shelling early Monday morning.

The Israeli Navy claimed that at least one of the boats was engaged in smuggling operations:

The navy identified a fishing boat which had left the Gaza shore and went down towards Egypt.The forces followed the boat and identified it heading back towards Gaza, fully loaded.

The statement said the target was destroyed, but had no information regarding the status of the 4 missing fishermen.

The two fishermen who were wounded were pulled out of the water near Rafah by Hamas officials.


Pipe Bomb Thrown At Bus Stop in East Jerusalem

A pipe bomb was thrown at a bus stop near Mount Scopus in East Jerusalem on Monday morning.

No injuries were reported.

On Sunday, there was unrest in East Jerusalem after police arrested two Palestinian teenagers in the predominantly-Arab at-Tur neighborhood for allegedly throwing Molotov cocktails. The Jerusalem Light Rail was attacked last night in the Beit Hanina area.

Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz called on police to put a stop to the unrest, and asked local leaders to condemn acts of violence.

Following the weekend’s killing of an Israel Arab in northern Israel, several clashes were reported.

On a highway near the Arab Triangle, Israeli Arabs allegedly dragged a man out of his car moments before setting it on fire. Police found the man, an hour after he escaped his attackers, and he was treated for moderate injuries.

As police forces were deployed en masse to the predominantly-Arab Wadi Ara and Nazareth areas, tire fires and clashes between police and local residents were reported in Turan, Shfaram, and Fordis.

Seven Palestinians living in the West Bank were arrested overnight. Five are allegedly members of Palestinian militant groups, including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Two explosive devices were discovered and detonated by police in Bat Yam, south of Tel Aviv, late Sunday. The explosives were reportedly hidden near a building close to the city center. Several arrests were reportedly made in the incident.

Hamas Detains Suspect for Friday’s Bombing of Fatah Targets in Gaza

Hamas has reportedly detained at least one suspect over Friday’s bombings of the homes and cars of leaders of the Fatah Party in Gaza.

Hamas continued to deny responsibility for the attacks, but officials of Fatah — which lost to Hamas in a power struggle in 2007 — are maintaining their accusations.

The incidents, in which no one was hurt, threaten to unsettle the Palestinian unity government announced in June.

Fatah cancelled ceremonies in Gaza for the 10th anniversary of the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.