News in Brief

The U.S. Treasury said yesterday it has imposed sanctions against Islamic National Bank and Al-Aqsa Television, both in Gaza, for their ties to Hamas. The Treasury said the sanctions prohibit Americans from transactions with the designated entities and seek to freeze any assets they may have under U.S. jurisdiction. It said the bank was providing financial services to Hamas members and that the TV station serves as a Hamas media outlet that airs programs "designed to recruit children to become Hamas armed fighters and suicide bombers." (Reuters)

Three IDF soldiers were injured yesterday in clashes with Palestinians in Hebron, after they accidentally entered the Arab part of the city during a physical training exercise. The soldiers from the Shimshon battalion, stationed near Hebron, left their base led by their sports instructor for a physical training exercise. Eyewitnesses said the soldiers accidentally entered the Arab part and asked a Palestinian for directions to Kiryat Arba. The Palestinian apparently pointed them toward western Hebron, where they were reportedly attacked by dozens of Palestinians. One of the soldiers, who was armed, fled, eyewitnesses said. Three soldiers - two lightly injured and one light-to-moderately injured - were taken to hospital. (Chaim Levinson)

Hungarian Prime Minister Gordon Bajnai was looking into reports that two Israeli Air Force reconnaissance jets flew across Hungary and Bulgaria yesterday, his office confirmed. The flights reportedly approached Budapest's Ferihegy Airport twice but did not land. The incident was reported in the daily Magyar Nemzet, which also printed photographs of what looked like two Israeli reconnaissance planes, together with a civilian craft, in Hungary's airspace. Israeli planes have been training in Europe for a long time, some in international airspace. The IDF said the flights were approved by international aviation authorities. (Amos Harel and Danna Harman)

The state yesterday appealed to the Supreme Court yesterday over what it viewed as lenient sentences for Daniel Zanko and Suleiman Hiadra in connection to a plot by television personality Dudu Topaz last year against entertainment industry executives. In February, the Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Zanko for his role as middleman in assaults on the Reshet deputy CEO Shira Margalit and entertainment agent Boaz Ben-Zion to three years in prison, 18 months probation, compensation of NIS 20,000 to each victim, and a NIS 3,000 fine. Hiadra, who was convicted of committing the actual assault, received a sentence of 33 months in prison, 18 months probation, a NIS 3,000 fine and NIS 5,000 in victim compensation. (Ofra Edelman)

A Polish court has convicted three men of the theft of the notorious "Arbeit Macht Frei" sign from the Auschwitz memorial site last December. The men were given prison sentences ranging from six months to two-and-a-half years. The court in Krakow said yesterday that the men confessed to the theft, which meant the case did not have to go to trial. Two other Polish nationals remain in custody over the theft. (News Agencies)