A pipe bomb detected in Shechem during the night was detonated in a controlled explosion without incident by IDF soldiers.

**100 people took part in a Wednesday protest in Petach Tikvah City Hall calling for an end to discrimination against students of Ethiopian descent.

**Mortar shells landed in a PA-controlled area near Nachal Ohz on Thursday morning.

**Family members in Mitzpei Hila, are marking Gilad Shalit’s 23rd birthday, his fourth in Hamas captivity.

**Peace Now on Thursday petitioned the High Court to halt construction of 15 homes in Kiryat Netafim in Shomron, claiming the construction is illegal and some of planned homes are on private Arab land.

**Three caravan homes in Bnei Adam near Kochav HaShachar in Shomron were removed during the night as part of an agreement between residents and the government vis-à-vis unauthorized outposts.

**83-y/o Avraham Carmel was killed and his wife moderately injured in a MVA on Wednesday. Police report that Mr. Carmel failed to give the right of way prior to entering an intersection near his home community, Moshav Bat Ami in the north, leading to the fatal crash.

**Addressing a Holon audience on Wednesday, DM Ehud Barak stated that while efforts are ongoing to free Gilad Shalit, Israel will not pay “any price” for his release.

**A 12-y/o Shoham boy remains in very serious condition after being struck in a hit-and-run accident in Yahud on Wednesday. He remains in life-threatening condition in Sheba Medical Center. The driver of the vehicle has been apprehended.

**A female Arab running towards an IDF soldier stationed in Chevron on Wednesday was shot and wounded.

**118 ‘unaligned nations’ sent a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency calling upon the international community to prevent Israel and the United States from attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.

**IDF soldiers taking part in counter-terror operations throughout Yehuda and Shomron on Wednesday night arrested 10 suspects.

**German officials do not believe a Shalit deal will be reached before Rosh Hashanah.

**A 17-y/o female was struck by a bus on Jerusalem’s King George Street on Wednesday night, sustaining a serious head injury. She was transported to the trauma unit of Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.

**A bomb exploded near the partition security fence in the Ramallah area during the night. There were no injuries. There was damage to the fence.

**The Union of Local Authorities reports hundreds of security guards are lacking for Sunday’s opening of the nation’s public schools.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)