Official: Israeli Fire Killed UN Peacekeeper in January

An Israeli security official says the Israeli military was responsible for the death of a Spanish U.N. peacekeeper during an outbreak of violence between Israel and Hezbollah militants on the tense Israel-Lebanon border in January.

The official said on Tuesday that Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo was accidentally killed by Israeli artillery following a Hezbollah attack that killed two Israeli soldiers.

The official says Israel did not intend to harm U.N. forces. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to talk to reporters.

After the incident, Spain's U.N. ambassador blamed Israel and the U.N. Security Council condemned the killing. A U.N. diplomat said Israel apologized to Spain, but Israel had not publicly admitted responsibility.

Israel's military presented its investigation of the incident to the Spanish army.

Israeli Premier: Nuclear Deal Will 'Pave the Way' for Iran

Israel's prime minister criticized the deal expected to emerge from nuclear talks in Switzerland on Tuesday, saying it will "pave the way" for Iran to have the ability to build an atomic bomb in little time.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced his criticism at a ceremony welcoming the incoming members of Israel's new parliament. Netanyahu has been a vocal critic of the negotiations between Iran and six world powers, led by the U.S., saying the expected deal would fail to keep the Islamic Republic's suspect nuclear intentions in check.

Accusing Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapon, Netanyahu said the emerging deal would leave intact much of Iran's nuclear infrastructure, including underground research facilities, a plutonium reactor and advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium.

"Iran's breakout time to have the tools to make a nuclear weapon won't be years, as was said in the beginning," he said. "In our estimate, it will be reduced to perhaps a year, most likely much less than that."

After six days of marathon talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, Iran and the world powers were expected to issue a general statement later Tuesday agreeing to continue the negotiations in hopes of reaching a final deal by the end of June.

Netanyahu's criticism has raised tensions with the United States, Israel's closest and most important ally. Earlier this month, he infuriated the White House by giving a speech to the U.S. Congress railing against the expected deal.

Netanyahu tried to play down the tensions, saying that Israel values its alliance with the U.S. and that "even close relatives" sometimes have disagreements.

Netanyahu Calls Iran Agreement a Threat to Israel's Survival

Eyewitness: Gaza Strip

Israel Arrests Female Palestinian Lawmaker

Israel has arrested a Palestinian lawmaker from a left-wing militant group for disobeying an Israeli order restricting her movement in the West Bank.

The Israeli military says it arrested Khalida Jarrar, a senior political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, early Thursday in the West Bank city of Ramallah due to "substantial concerns about the safety and security of the region."

Her husband, Ghassan Jarrar, says she was arrested from their Ramallah home. She had long flaunted the Israeli ban.

Last year, the military confined her movement to the city of Jericho and its surroundings. The army said the restraining order was based on her "incitement and involvement in terror."

The military says it is questioning her but has not yet decided whether to press charges.

Gaza Man Feels Duped After Selling Banksy Mural for $175

Gaza man 'duped' into selling Banksy work

A man in Gaza says he has been duped into selling a valuable work by British graffiti artist Banksy for less than £120 to a local artist.

The street artist is believed to have sneaked into Gaza earlier this year, leaving behind four murals, including one drawn on a metal door that depicted the Greek goddess Niobe cowering against the rubble of a destroyed house. The painting, titled Bomb Damage, was drawn on a door, the last remaining part of a two-storey house belonging to the Dardouna family in northern Gaza.

Unaware of the work’s value, Rabie Dardouna, 33, said on Tuesday that he was tricked into selling the door to an eager local artist for just 700 shekels, or about £118. Banksy’s works have been valued as high as hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The now empty doorway on the rubble of a building destroyed in last summer’s Israel-Hamas war. Photograph: Adel Hana/AP

“I did not know that it was this valuable. I heard it can be sold for millions,” Dardouna said. “Now I want the door back.”

The Gaza artist who bought the door, Belal Khaled, said he did not mean to trick anyone. He said he just wanted to protect the painting and had no intention of profiting.

“I bought the painting to protect its artistic value and preserve it from damage,” Khaled told the Associated Press. “Another reason is to display it in other places as well. I don’t have any monetary interest in this.”

He said he has been in touch with Banksy’s representatives, hoping to get clearance to showcase the mural in Gaza art exhibitions.

Palestinians walk past a mural of a playful kitten, thought to be painted by Banksy. Photograph: Suhaib Salem/Reuters

On Facebook Palestinian activists and journalists have accused the buyer of tricking the Dardouna family while others have defended him for buying it legally. Khaled agreed to show reporters the mural on condition that its location not be revealed.

The Dardouna home was one of 18,000 destroyed in the 50-day war between Israel and Gaza’s Hamas rulers last summer. Banksy is a critic of Israel and he has created works in Gaza and the West Bank meant to draw attention to the plight of the Palestinians.

Other Banksy works spotted in Gaza were a mural of a kitten and of children swinging from a military watchtower.

A Palestinian child walks past a mural of children using an Israeli army watch tower as a swing ride, said to have been painted by Banksy. Photograph: Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

Banksy’s publicist, Jo Brooks, said at the time that the artist entered Gaza through a tunnel from Egypt, though such a route is extremely difficult and dangerous.

On a previous visit to the region he drew a painting of a girl pulled upward by balloons on Israel’s West Bank separation barrier.