The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they unfold.
Hearings in Netanyahu trial pushed off after judge’s father dies
Hearings scheduled for next week in the ongoing criminal trial of Benjamin Netanyahu have been delayed after the death of the father of one of the presiding judges.
Jerusalem District Court Justice Rivka Friedman-Feldman’s father died on the Sukkot holiday, and therefore the traditional shiva period will not begin until after the holiday ends this weekend. Therefore, the hearings, which were scheduled for next Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, have been canceled, according to a statement from the court.
Anti-government rally in Warsaw draws hundreds of thousands of protesters
An anti-government rally in Warsaw has gathered “hundreds of thousands” people, Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk says, as he addresses the crowds in the capital’s center.
“When I see these hundreds of thousands of smiling faces, I have a good feeling that the breakthrough moment in the history of our homeland is coming,” Tusk tells supporters, ahead of general elections on October 15.
Gaza terrorist group announces resumption of border riots after three-day break
A Gaza group called “Revolutionary Youth,” affiliated with Hamas, announces that it will resume disturbances at the security barrier with Israel today, after a three-day break it had announced Thursday.
The group has been carrying out rallies on the border since mid-September, which have often escalated into clashes with Israeli soldiers. Rioters have launched grenades and incendiary balloons across the security fence and placed explosive devices along the barrier.
In a statement, the group says it intends to “expand the scope of the confrontation and add fuel to the fire, and ignite our eastern borders with flames and the blast of our bombs,” in response to Israel’s alleged “intensified desecration” of the al-Aqsa compound.
The group says it made its decision after a visit by dozens of Jews to the Temple Mount on Sunday, where the al-Aqsa mosque is located, during Sukkot. Palestinian media sources from various factions, including the official Wafa agency, have condemned the visit, claiming that Jews have entered the compound to “perform Talmudic rituals” under the pretext of celebrating Sukkot.
Jews are allegedly “carrying vegetable offerings made of palm fronds, which they intended to sacrifice inside Al-Aqsa,” Wafa writes, appearing to refer to the traditional lulav and etrog.
Rallies on the Gaza border are supposed to resume around 4 p.m., following the afternoon prayer. The “Revolutionary Youth” group also calls on people in the West Bank to join the unrest.
