Mike Huckabee, centre, and Suleiman Khourieh, left, the Palestinian mayor of the village of Taybeh, tour the Church of St George in Taybeh, the West Bank. AFP
Mike Huckabee, centre, and Suleiman Khourieh, left, the Palestinian mayor of the village of Taybeh, tour the Church of St George in Taybeh, the West Bank. AFP
Mike Huckabee, centre, and Suleiman Khourieh, left, the Palestinian mayor of the village of Taybeh, tour the Church of St George in Taybeh, the West Bank. AFP
Mike Huckabee, centre, and Suleiman Khourieh, left, the Palestinian mayor of the village of Taybeh, tour the Church of St George in Taybeh, the West Bank. AFP

US condemns attack on West Bank church as 'an act of terror'


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US ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has called for the perpetrators of an attack on a Palestinian church in the occupied West Bank to be prosecuted, calling it "an act of terror".

Mr Huckabee said he had visited the Christian town of Taybeh, where clerics said Israeli settlers started a fire near a cemetery and the fifth-century Church of St George on July 8.

"It is an act of terror and it is a crime," Mr Huckabee said. "Those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh – or anywhere – [should] be found and be prosecuted. Not just reprimanded, that’s not enough."

Israel's government has not commented on the incident but has previously denounced such acts. Mr Huckabee said he had asked Israel to "aggressively investigate" the killing of a Palestinian-American beaten by settlers in the West Bank, describing it also as a "criminal and terrorist act".

The ambassador is a staunch supporter of Israeli settlements, considered illegal under international law, and his comments are a rare and pointed public intervention by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

Mr Trump in January rescinded sanctions imposed by the former Biden administration on Israeli settler groups and individuals accused of being involved in violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Settler violence against Palestinians and Palestinian attacks on Israelis in the occupied territory have risen since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023, though hostility has long simmered there.

The UN's highest court said last year that Israel's settlements in territories it captured in the 1967 Middle East war, including the West Bank, are illegal. Israel disputes this, citing biblical and historical ties to the land, as well as security needs.

Know your cyber adversaries

Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.

Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.

Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.

Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.

Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.

Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.

Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.

Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.

Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.

Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.

Ziina users can donate to relief efforts in Beirut

Ziina users will be able to use the app to help relief efforts in Beirut, which has been left reeling after an August blast caused an estimated $15 billion in damage and left thousands homeless. Ziina has partnered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to raise money for the Lebanese capital, co-founder Faisal Toukan says. “As of October 1, the UNHCR has the first certified badge on Ziina and is automatically part of user's top friends' list during this campaign. Users can now donate any amount to the Beirut relief with two clicks. The money raised will go towards rebuilding houses for the families that were impacted by the explosion.”

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Real Betis v Sevilla, 10.45pm (UAE)

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Key findings of Jenkins report
  • Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
  • Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
  • Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
  • Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
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Updated: July 20, 2025, 8:21 AM