Israel kicks off US Embassy celebration, boosts border force
JERUSALEM — Israel on Sunday kicked off festivities to celebrate the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, even as it bolstered its forces along the Gaza border and in the West Bank in anticipation of mass Palestinian protests of the move.
A day before the embassy’s formal opening, Israel hosted a gala party at its Foreign Ministry with President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, her husband, Jared Kushner, and other American VIPs.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump’s “bold decision” in upending decades of U.S. policy by recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. “It’s the right thing to do,” a smiling Netanyahu told the jubilant crowd.
Trump announced his decision on Jerusalem in December, triggering a joyous reaction from Netanyahu’s nationalist government. The move infuriated the Palestinians, who claim Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas halted ties with the Trump administration and declared it unfit to remain in its role as the sole mediator in peace talks.
The rival Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, has been staging a series of weekly demonstrations against a crippling Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the territory. Those protests are to climax Monday, with tens of thousands of people expected to gather along the Israeli border in an event timed to coincide with the U.S. Embassy move.
Hamas has signaled that large crowds, numbering perhaps in the thousands, might try to break through the border fence to realize the “right of return” to lost homes.
Both the embassy move and the protests have symbolic timing. Trump has said the opening is meant to coincide with the 70th anniversary of Israel’s establishment. The Palestinian protests also mark the date as the anniversary of their “naqba,” or catastrophe, when hundreds of thousands of people fled or were forced from their homes during the war surrounding the event. About twothirds of Gaza’s 2 million people are descendants of Palestinian refugees.
A mass border breach could trigger potentially lethal Israeli force. Forty-two Palestinians have
chief at Combs Mobile Home Park,
1780 E. Grand Ave., in reference to vehicles being damaged, at around
11 p.m. Saturday. Responding officers were reportedly unable to locate a suspect at that time.
“The Hot Springs Police Department was called again about 4 o’clock this morning in reference to a domestic battery where Mr. Rollins had allegedly struck some family members with a pistol,” said Hot Springs police Cpl. Kirk Zaner.
“He was coming up on my property in a motorized wheelchair and he started falling down the hill. He then abandoned his wheelchair, which ended up hitting another trailer, got out of that, and then ran in, that was around 3 a.m.,” said Combs Mobile Home Park resident Crystal Wall.
Once they arrived, officers learned that Rollins had gone to the residence and allegedly struck his father-in-law and niece with a firearm, injuring both. Responding officers located Rollins in the area, but he reportedly fled.
“A foot pursuit ensued and at some point in the pursuit, Rollins (allegedly) threatened to shoot the police officers. Rollins made it back to the trailer but by that point, all of the family members that were inside the trailer made it out,” Zaner said.
Patrol officers set up a perimeter around the trailer and gave Rollins numerous commands to leave the home using a loudspeaker. He reportedly refused despite several attempts to communicate with him, the release said.
The Hot Springs police SWAT team was activated at around 5:30 a.m. and took control of the scene. Residents of nearby trailers were evacuated for their safety, it said.
“At that point, they made several attempts to communicate and threw three ‘hot box’ phones into the trailer,” Zaner said.
According to the release, crisis negotiators also made continuous attempts to contact Rollins, which all failed.
The SWAT team deployed tear gas into the trailer as communication attempts continued without a response from Rollins, the release said.
At 7:30 a.m., SWAT officers entered the residence through the front door and Rollins reportedly fired two shots at them. One bullet reportedly pierced the front door, but the release and Zaner said no officers were hit by gunfire.
“My understanding is they (SWAT officers) did not have a visual on the suspect when they shots were fired. They came from the back of the trailer,” Zaner said.
The SWAT team backed out and continued to put tear gas into the trailer and attempted to communicate with Rollins, according to the release.
After numerous attempts to make contact with Rollins and drive him out with tear gas failed, police contacted Arkansas State Police, which activated its SWAT team and brought additional resources to the scene, according to the release.
Verbal commands, a robot with a camera attached, and additional rounds of tear gas were continuously used until the ASP SWAT team decided to move in on the residence, Zaner said.
A loud explosion could be heard on scene as Arkansas State Police breached the trailer’s front door and the side of the trailer using breaching equipment called a “bearcat.”
“They did make contact with Mr. Rollins and he eventually came out, surrendered, and he is now in custody. No one was injured in this other than the domestic battery victims but they will be OK,” Zaner said.