博客

More than a decade after a fatal shooting that split Israeli society and roiled the country’s political landscape, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has issued a full pardon to former Israeli soldier Elor Azaria, overturning his 2017 manslaughter conviction and wiping clean his criminal record. The announcement, first reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Saturday, comes amid deep divisions over the decision, which directly contradicts official advice from Israel’s top military leadership.

The incident that sparked this long-running debate dates back to 2016, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. Azaria, then a young Israeli soldier, shot 21-year-old Palestinian Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the head moments after al-Sharif had already been wounded by Israeli fire during a reported stabbing attack in the Tal Rumeida neighborhood. A Palestinian photographer working for Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem captured the killing on video, turning the case into an international incident that sparked mass outrage across the occupied Palestinian territories and deep polarization within Israel.

At the time of the shooting, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs labeled the killing an “extrajudicial execution”, while the Israeli military openly acknowledged that Azaria had violated the service’s official code of ethics. In his 2017 military court trial, Azaria was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 18 months in military prison, a term that was later reduced to 14 months by then-military chief Gadi Eisenkot. He ultimately served just nine months of the shortened sentence before being released in May 2018.

From the moment of Azaria’s arrest, the case became a lightning rod for Israeli right-wing politics. Mass demonstrations were organized demanding his release, and sitting politicians quickly joined the calls for clemency. Just three months after the Hebron incident, then-Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, who had openly condemned Azaria’s actions, resigned from his post, citing a breakdown of trust in then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the controversy. Avigdor Liberman, a public supporter of Azaria, was appointed to replace Yaalon, and began pushing for a presidential pardon almost immediately, an effort that former President Reuven Rivlin rejected.

In justifying his decision to grant the pardon this year, Herzog framed the move around the spirit of Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement and one of its most sacred holy days. In an official statement released Saturday, the president’s office noted that Azaria had already “bore the consequences of his actions” for many years, and that the former soldier had expressed remorse for the harm resulting from the shooting. “This decision was made out of a belief in the importance of repair, reconciliation, and the ability to move forward,” the statement read.

However, the move runs directly counter to the explicit recommendation of current Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir, who sent a formal letter to Herzog opposing the pardon. Zamir argued that Azaria has never shown public remorse for the killing of al-Sharif. That objection was echoed by Yaalon, now one of Netanyahu’s most prominent political critics, who condemned the pardon as “a disgrace” on social media platform X. Yaalon also accused Herzog of aligning with political attacks on Eisenkot, who is currently leading public opinion polls ahead of Israel’s scheduled October general election. Pointing to Azaria’s own words from the trial, Yaalon noted that the former soldier never claimed he shot al-Sharif out of fear for his life, saying instead that the Palestinian “deserved to die”.

Defense Minister Israel Katz, who submitted the official pardon request to Herzog, praised the president’s decision as “a correct, humane, and fitting decision”. Katz argued that the pardon sends a clear message to active-duty Israeli soldiers and their families: “We do not abandon soldiers and do not leave them behind.” Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who participated in public protests for Azaria a decade ago, said he was “thrilled” by the ruling, claiming that if the current far-right government’s updated rules of engagement had been in place in 2016, Azaria would never have faced conviction at all.

Azaria himself reacted to the pardon with open celebration, telling Channel 14 News that it had been “a blessed week”. “Thank God we have reached this moment,” he said, adding that, “It is important that no fighter goes through what I went through.” He also publicly thanked his family, Katz, and Herzog for the outcome.

The pardon has renewed longstanding concerns over impunity for Israeli security forces operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, highlighted in a recent report from B’Tselem. The group documented that between October 2023 and June 2026 alone, Israeli forces killed 1,087 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, including 242 children and 21 women. B’Tselem described current Israeli policy in Palestinian territories as “a sweeping Israeli assault that is systematically and at an accelerating pace dismantling the foundations of Palestinian existence”, noting that Israeli soldiers, police, and settlers are granted “broad impunity” for violence against Palestinians. Data from the group shows that between 2016 and 2024, just 22.7 percent of formal complaints against Israeli soldiers resulted in investigations, and only 0.9 percent ended in criminal indictments.

In a sharp escalation of political tensions ahead of nationwide pro-Imran Khan demonstrations planned for next week, Pakistan’s ruling administration has detained the former prime minister’s outspoken sister, Aleema Khanum, in a move that has drawn immediate condemnation from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. The arrest, carried out Sunday afternoon in the eastern metropolis of Lahore, has been labeled an “illegal detention” by PTI officials, who explicitly tie the action to efforts to suppress the upcoming 27 September protest movement.

The detention order issued by Lahore’s deputy commissioner lays out the government’s formal justification, alleging that Khanum has organized and mobilized Imran Khan’s supporters across both public gatherings and social media platforms. The order further claims her activities are intended to stir unrest, create disruptions to public law and order, and spread anti-government sentiment through critical slogans. Under the terms of the order, Khanum will remain in custody for 30 days at Lahore’s high-security Kot Lakhpat jail, a location confirmed by a local police official contacted by the BBC.

In the immediate hours following the arrest, Khanum’s family reported they were cut off from her, with no information about her location or condition. Her son, Shahrez Khan, took to the social platform X to issue a public demand for transparency. “We demand the government immediately disclose her whereabouts and ensure her safe return,” he wrote in his post.

Political observers and PTI supporters universally connect the timing of Khanum’s arrest to the mass protest mobilization scheduled for 27 September, when thousands of demonstrators plan to march from across Pakistan to the capital city of Islamabad to demand Imran Khan’s release from prison. In preparation for the demonstration, the incumbent government has already deployed large shipping containers to block key streets across Islamabad, positioning the barriers to secure government buildings and block access to central parts of the capital. Local Pakistani media has quoted Interior Ministry officials as saying the protests threaten national stability, and the government will use all available measures to prevent the demonstrations from proceeding.

This latest political crackdown comes amid a years-long legal and political campaign against Imran Khan, the 71-year-old former cricket star who rose to national power before being ousted from office in 2022. Khan has remained in state custody since 2023, when he was handed an initial three-year prison conviction over charges that he failed to declare income earned from selling state gifts he received during his time in prime minister. Since that first conviction, he has faced more than 100 additional criminal charges, ranging from corruption and unlawful land deals to allegations of leaking state secrets. Khan and his supporters have consistently decried every one of these charges as politically motivated, engineered to remove him from the Pakistani political landscape.

Last year, a special court handed Khan a 14-year prison sentence in a separate land corruption case, the longest penalty he has received to date. While incarcerated, his physical health has steadily declined, a situation that has drawn growing concern from his supporters. Just last month, Khan was transported from prison to a civilian hospital for urgent medical examinations amid reports of worsening health issues.

Khanum has long been one of the most visible public faces of the campaign to support Imran Khan since his imprisonment, regularly speaking to media outlets and addressing crowds of his supporters to condemn his detention. Her arrest marks the most high-profile crackdown on PTI leadership ahead of the 27 September protests, signaling the government’s intention to disrupt the protest movement before it can gather momentum.

A major escalation in Yemen’s years-long conflict has laid bare the gap between security cooperation and operational capability between Washington and Riyadh, as multiple sources confirm the two allies have no unified counterstrategy to reverse recent Houthi gains on the strategically critical Red Sea coast. Multiple anonymous U.S. officials confirmed to CNN that even with expanded American intelligence and targeting support provided to Saudi forces, Riyadh has failed to dislodge Houthi fighters from the recently seized island, a position that puts critical commercial shipping lanes at risk.

For months, U.S. intelligence agencies have warned that the Iran-aligned movement would seek to close off an additional key waterway for global trade, mirroring actions Tehran took earlier this year. Despite a decade of Saudi assurances that it had successfully trained Yemeni government forces loyal to Riyadh to counter Houthi advances, U.S. officials remain convinced that Saudi-led forces lack the capacity to reverse the group’s territorial gains.

The CNN disclosure follows a surprising early end to U.S. President Donald Trump’s weekend retreat at Camp David, where he cut his stay short Saturday to return to the White House. While the White House attributed the schedule shift to incoming severe weather in rural Maryland, the sudden departure aligned exactly with a major military escalation by the Houthi movement against Saudi Arabia.

Early Saturday morning, the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen confirmed that the Iran-backed group launched a ballistic missile targeting Riyadh. Local Saudi media reported that authorities issued an uncommon early-morning public alert ordering residents to take shelter indoors. First responders were called to extinguish a blaze at a fuel storage depot near King Khalid International Airport, where an Aramco-branded tanker caught fire following the attack.

Coalition spokesperson Major General Turki al-Maliki confirmed that Riyadh’s air defenses intercepted the missile over the capital, adding that additional incoming attacks targeting Taif, Baish, Farasan and the Red Sea coastal city of Yanbu were also intercepted before reaching their intended destinations. Houthi spokesperson Yahya Saree immediately claimed responsibility for the coordinated strikes, framing the attacks as retaliation for what he called “criminal attacks by the Saudi enemy on the Yemeni capital Sanaa.”

In response to the heightened risk of wider conflict, the U.S. State Department and multiple American diplomatic missions across the region issued urgent security warnings for U.S. citizens in the area. The alerts highlighted “the potential for unforeseen escalation” and noted that “Iranian-supported Houthis have engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks targeting civilian airports.”

Weekend’s coordinated missile attacks are part of a wider, accelerated Houthi offensive aimed at seizing full control of Yemen’s entire Red Sea coastline and the Bab al-Mandeb strait, one of the world’s most vital chokepoints for global oil and commercial shipping. The rapid advance has exposed critical gaps in Saudi military capabilities: regional defense sources confirm the kingdom is currently facing critical shortages of air defense interceptors needed to protect critical domestic infrastructure, and has already requested urgent air defense support from Paris, London, Islamabad and Cairo.

Recent defense agreements Riyadh signed with Ankara and Islamabad have failed to deliver immediate tangible military support. While Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the Houthi attacks and pledged to uphold the trilateral security pact with Saudi Arabia, he also warned Riyadh against becoming entangled in the broader standoff between Iran and the United States. For its part, Pakistan only stated it would take action “when the time comes,” offering no immediate commitment of support.

Despite the rapidly deteriorating security situation for Saudi Arabia, the Trump administration has repeatedly ruled out direct U.S. military involvement in the expanding conflict. Administration officials have made clear that the U.S. red line rules out direct American kinetic strikes against Houthi targets, limiting U.S. engagement to intelligence sharing and the provision of targeting data. That said, the State Department recently approved a $24.3 billion sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, framed as a measure to “deter current and future threats” to the kingdom.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly held two phone calls with Trump last week to formally request U.S. military strikes against Houthi positions, but all requests for direct American intervention were rejected. Trump has repeatedly stated his goal to keep U.S. forces out of the Yemen conflict, telling reporters recently: “The Houthis called us and they don’t want to fight with us… It’s just one country they’re not too happy with, and we’ll get that straightened out.”

This deliberate hands-off approach from Washington has sparked deep alarm among other U.S. Gulf cooperation partners, who view the expanding Houthi offensive as a dangerous new escalation of broader regional proxy tensions between Iran and Western-aligned states. As Houthi advances worsen an already severe global energy crisis and force Saudi Arabia to reduce crude oil exports, Riyadh is confronting an increasingly grim reality: amid reports that Washington is negotiating its own separate ceasefire with the Houthis through backchannel talks in Oman, the kingdom is left to manage a rapidly expanding conflict largely on its own.