Nine Nepalese injured in Hamas attack in Israel
Kathmandu (PTI): At least nine Nepalese nationals were injured in the terrorist attack by the Hamas militant group in Israel on Saturday, the Nepal government said as it condemned the unprecedented assault and vowed solidarity with Tel Aviv.
The Nepali government has strongly condemned the "loss of precious human life" in the attack that also "injured many more", said a statement issued Nepali Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"At this critical hour, we convey our solidarity with the government of Israel," the statement said.
When the Islamist group Hamas launched an attack in Israel, nine Nepalese were injured, two of them seriously, according to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official.
"We have been informed that a farm where 14 Nepalese were working was also under attack, nine of the Nepalese have been reported injured while two of them are in serious condition," the ministry said.
"The Government of Nepal extends heartfelt condolences and deepest sympathies to the people and the government of Israel as well as the victims of this cruel attack and their families," reads the statement, adding that Nepal "wishes for the speedy recovery of the injured".
"The Embassy of Nepal in Israel is in close communication with the Nepalese living in the areas under attack."
"The Embassy of Nepal in Israel is also in contact and coordination with the Israeli authorities for the safety, security and rescue of the Nepalese as well as the medical treatment of the injured," the statement issued by the ministry here said.
Hamas militants captured an underground shelter near the farm where the attack took place, Nepal's Ambassador to Israel, Kanta Rizal, told CNN. The embassy is in touch with some Nepalis inside the shelter, Rizal said.
The embassy has no information about any Nepalis taken hostage and moved elsewhere, the ambassador added.
Hamas militants fired more than 2,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, according to the Israeli military, while Hamas fighters entered southern Israel by land, sea and air, using paragliders. Hamas says it captured several Israeli soldiers near the border.
The surprise attack has killed 70 people and injured more than 600 in Israel. In the Gaza Strip side, more than 195 deaths and about 1,500 wounded have been reported in Israel's counterattack, media reports said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared "war" and asserted that his country would extract an "unprecedented price" from its enemy.
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Bondi Beach shooting suspect conducted firearms training with his father, Australian police say
Melbourne (AP): A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, Australian police documents released on Monday allege.
The men recorded a video about their justification for the meticulously planned attack, according to a police statement of facts that was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital where he has been treated for an abdominal injury.
Officers wounded Akram at the scene of the Dec. 14 shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
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The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities.
The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.
Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as “viable” IEDs.
Authorities have charged Akram with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.
The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia's worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.
The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.
The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.
Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.
Police said a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father "reciting their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.”
The men are seen in the video “condemning the acts of Zionists” while they also “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to the Islamic State,” police said.
Video shot in October shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on grassland surrounded by trees, police said.
“There is evidence that the Accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” police allege.
