Israel

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Israel was plunged into mourning Saturday, January 11,  after confirmation that its former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had died at age 85. Comatose for 8 years after a stroke, the former soldier turned statesman finally lost his last battle for life after his health had taken a downturn, his son Gilad announced.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Israeli police were investigating on Wednesday, August 21, a fire bomb attack on a a Roman Catholic monastery, which also involved anti-Christian graffiti.

By BosNewsLife News Center with reporting from the United States and Israel NEWTOWN/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife)-- Christian mourners in Newtown, Connecticut, saw their prayers interrupted when they were evacuated at a Roman Catholic church as a bomb threat was reported by officials during services at the church, about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the site of Friday's school shooting where 20 children were killed.

By BosNewsLife News Center in Budapest BUDAPEST, HUNGARY (BosNewsLife)-- BosNewsLife's November 25-December 2 news week began with a massive explosion as at least five people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a church inside the Jaji military barracks in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state.

By BosNewsLife Africa Service CAIRO, EGYPT (BosNewsLife)-- Time was running out Thursday, November 22, for an abducted Christian Eritrean man in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula after his kidnappers told him to pay $25,000 or face “organ harvesting” and be killed, he and Christian rights activists said.

By George Whitten, BosNewsLife Senior Middle East Correspondent reporting from Israel and BosNewsLife's Stefan J. Bos JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- A tense ceasefire began late Wednesday between the ruling militant Hamas group in the Gaza Strip and Israel following weeklong fighting, but Christians in Israel urged prayers amid fears of an all-out war.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service BETHLEHEM/JERUSALEM (BosNewsLife)-- A European Parliament member has condemned the reported closure of the Arabic First Baptist Church in Bethlehem by the Palestinian Authority.

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Iran delayed the execution of Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani which was due Tuesday, February 28, apparently amid international pressure, an online Israeli news network reported.  

By BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERURSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- A leader of Israel's Christian minority has been stabbed to death by a man dressed as Santa Claus, prompting the arrest of six locals in connection with the murder, church and police officials said Saturday, January 7.

>Released soldier gives first ever TV interview after release >Ghalit says he missed family, hopes deal will boost peace >Hamas supporters demand more kidnappings By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent BosNewsLife with BosNewsLife Middle East Service JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (BosNewsLife)-- Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit was released Tuesday, October 18, after he was held over five years captive by militant group Hamas. Over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were to be released in exchange, 477 of them on the same day.