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Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir once again breached Al Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday, as Israel held its annual celebrations marking the capture of East Jerusalem in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
Mr Ben-Gvir entered the site amid an escalation in Israel's war against Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, where nearly 54,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed since October 2023.
Claiming he was at the site to mark Jerusalem Day, Mr Ben-Gvir said he "prayed for victory in the war, for the return of all our captives and for the success of the newly appointed Shin Bet chief, Maj Gen David Zini". His words came in a post on X, accompanied by a video of himself with Al Aqsa Mosque in the background. "Happy Jerusalem Day," he added.
Photos circulated on Palestinian social media channels showed a smiling Mr Ben-Gvir flanked by religious Jewish families, with some people draped in Israel flags, and a large security detail.
Any Israeli political or non-Muslim religious practice at Al Aqsa Mosque compound is deeply inflammatory for Muslims. It is the third holiest site in Islam.
The Department of Islamic Endowments in Jerusalem said 1,427 Israeli settlers stormed Al Aqsa in the morning in groups, under the protection and escort of national police, with more expected in the afternoon.
Extremist Israelis attacked Palestinian residents, activists and journalists at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City ahead of the provocative flag march through the Muslim Quarter for Jerusalem Day.
The National saw elderly women being pushed over, men being hit as they protected women and children, racist graffiti being scrawled on shops and pictures of Al Aqsa Mosque being torn down. There were chants of “death to Mohammed”.
The area inside Damascus Gate, the busiest commercial area in the Old City, was entirely closed. Businesses there have been targeted in previous years.
Jordan, the custodian of Al Aqsa Mosque compound, condemned Mr Ben-Gvir's presence at the site.
"The practices of this extremist minister and his continued incursions into the blessed Al Aqsa Mosque ... do not negate the fact that East Jerusalem is an occupied city over which Israel has no sovereignty," the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.
The complex is administered by an Islamic trust funded and controlled by Jordan in a security arrangement with Israel after the two nation signed the peace treaty in 1994. Under the arrangement, Jews are not allowed to pray in the compound, but can do so at the nearby Western Wall.
Hamas, which started the war in Gaza with an attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and about 240 taken hostage, condemned Mr Ben-Gvir, calling his actions "a blatant violation of the sanctity and status of Al Aqsa Mosque in the eyes of the entire Islamic nation".
It also "represents a desperate attempt by the occupation to implement the complete Judaisation of the mosque", Hamas said.
Mr Ben-Gvir later addressed thousands of people gathered outside the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem for the start of the flag march, where he called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to allow food or fuel into Gaza.
Thousands of people streamed through the Damascus Gate, chanting and waving Israeli flags, as they headed towards the Western Wall, where the march ends.
Israeli police said officers had been posted across Jerusalem, "securing tens of thousands of participants" and handling "numerous cases of suspects involved in public disturbances".
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Who has been sanctioned?
Daniella Weiss and Nachala
Described as 'the grandmother of the settler movement', she has encouraged the expansion of settlements for decades. The 79 year old leads radical settler movement Nachala, whose aim is for Israel to annex Gaza and the occupied West Bank, where it helps settlers built outposts.
Harel Libi & Libi Construction and Infrastructure
Libi has been involved in threatening and perpetuating acts of aggression and violence against Palestinians. His firm has provided logistical and financial support for the establishment of illegal outposts.
Zohar Sabah
Runs a settler outpost named Zohar’s Farm and has previously faced charges of violence against Palestinians. He was indicted by Israel’s State Attorney’s Office in September for allegedly participating in a violent attack against Palestinians and activists in the West Bank village of Muarrajat.
Coco’s Farm and Neria’s Farm
These are illegal outposts in the West Bank, which are at the vanguard of the settler movement. According to the UK, they are associated with people who have been involved in enabling, inciting, promoting or providing support for activities that amount to “serious abuse”.
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What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
The struggle is on for active managers
David Einhorn closed out 2018 with his biggest annual loss ever for the 22-year-old Greenlight Capital.
The firm’s main hedge fund fell 9 per cent in December, extending this year’s decline to 34 percent, according to an investor update viewed by Bloomberg.
Greenlight posted some of the industry’s best returns in its early years, but has stumbled since losing more than 20 per cent in 2015.
Other value-investing managers have also struggled, as a decade of historically low interest rates and the rise of passive investing and quant trading pushed growth stocks past their inexpensive brethren. Three Bays Capital and SPO Partners & Co., which sought to make wagers on undervalued stocks, closed in 2018. Mr Einhorn has repeatedly expressed his frustration with the poor performance this year, while remaining steadfast in his commitment to value investing.
Greenlight, which posted gains only in May and October, underperformed both the broader market and its peers in 2018. The S&P 500 Index dropped 4.4 per cent, including dividends, while the HFRX Global Hedge Fund Index, an early indicator of industry performance, fell 7 per cent through December. 28.
At the start of the year, Greenlight managed $6.3 billion in assets, according to a regulatory filing. By May, the firm was down to $5.5bn.
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