Switzerland's controversial ban on face coverings in public spaces, commonly referred to as the "burqa ban," will be implemented starting January 1, 2025, the government announced on Wednesday according to Reuters.

The measure, which narrowly passed in a 2021 referendum, was spearheaded by the same political group that successfully campaigned for Switzerland's 2009 ban on new minarets. The Federal Council said in a statement that violations of the new law would result in fines of up to 1,000 Swiss francs ($1,144).

The ban includes several exemptions, including air travel and diplomatic premises. Religious sites, including places of worship and other sacred locations, are also exempt from the prohibition, according to government officials.

The legislation permits face coverings for health and safety purposes, traditional customs, and weather-related conditions. Additional exceptions include artistic performances, entertainment events, and advertising activities.

The government also outlined provisions for face coverings during demonstrations, stating that if such coverings are necessary for personal protection while exercising freedom of expression and assembly, they may be permitted. However, this requires prior approval from relevant authorities and must not compromise public order.

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Israeli police downgraded a homicide charge on Friday against a Jewish settler suspected of killing a Palestinian in what the United States has described as a "terror attack."

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A new remand request filed by police, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz and shared with Reuters, showed Yehiel Indore was accused of "deliberate or depraved-indifference homicide" in the Aug. 4 shooting of 19-year-old Qusai Maatan.

Video: Mourners bid farewell to Palestinian killed by Jewish settlers in West Bank / Credit: Reuters

Police detained two settlers in last Friday's incident near Burqa village and said an investigation of the case was ongoing, though there has been no formal indictment.

But unlike in previous remand requests in the case, he was no longer accused of acting out of "racist motivation" – an addendum which, under Israeli law, gives courts latitude to impose harsher punishment in the event of a conviction. He will remain in custody for the next few days while he is hospitalized for wounds sustained during the clash with the Palestinians.

Another suspect who was with him during the incident, Elisha Yered, was released Friday to house arrest.

Washington, whose traditionally close ties with Israel have become strained, has described the incident as a "terror attack by Israeli extremist settlers".

Remand requests are made to keep suspects in custody while police investigations proceed. A legal source said the amended police allegations would not necessarily bar more serious charges in an indictment if one is pursued.

Palestinians said the suspects were part of a group of some 150 to 200 settlers who threw rocks, torched cars, and, when confronted by villagers, shot dead Maatan and wounded several others.

A defense lawyer said the settlers – including Indore, who remains in hospital due to a head injury he says was caused by a rock thrown at him – acted in self-defense.

On Thursday, a military court ordered a Palestinian father and three of his sons who were detained over the settler raid to be released on bail.

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Elisha Yered, who was arrested over the weekend following the deadly clash in the Palestinian town of Burqa, was interviewed about a month and a half ago by Israel Hayom and explained his extremist views. 

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The 22-year-old, who did not serve in the IDF,  has been arrested several times on suspicion of carrying out violent acts. He has long lamented that the security forces are not doing enough to protect the residents of the Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria. 

Video: Mourners bid farewell to Palestinian killed by Jewish settlers in West Bank / Credit: Reuters

When confronted with the claim by some military officials that he has been staging provocations that only make things worse, he told Israel Hayom, "This is just a depraved statement," adding, "I have heard it over and over again; it is very easy to blame the victim and accuse us of inflaming tensions. Even if we do inflame, then yes, this is how we do it; the IDF just have to put up with it, it should go on the offensive against the Palestinian village." 

Q: What do you think about the attack on Turmus Ayya [a town near Ramallah where settlers set homes and cars ablaze recently]?

"You have to look at it as part of the overall reality. Under the command of the current GOC Central Command, there are pushovers and leftists, and there is also a government that is too reluctant and doesn't do much.  Yes, that also needs to be said. There is a security reality here where people feel that they have been forsaken, and this leads people to commit acts. The only culprit for what is happening here in the field is the defense establishment. If this is the body that is supposed to provide security, then Israel has gone haywire.  An increasing number of people have been passively and actively supporting actions like those of Turmus Ayya. If you ask me - this is really not the ideal." 

Q:  Do you support the violence in Turmus Ayya? 

"Whoever does such things does it because they feel that they have been left to their own devices. On the one hand, he may risk being condemned and violating the law, but on the other hand, his life and that of his children are at stake. It is preferable to have those family members protected alive than to have them praised following their death." 

Q: But do these attacks on Turmus Ayya have to do with the recent attack, whose perpetrator came from Nablus [referring to an attack carried out just before the interview was carried out over a month ago]? 

"This village is a village defined by murder, where an accessory to a terrorist was elected as mayor. Secondly, in war, you don't fight against individuals – you fight against an enemy, and against an enemy, there is also collective punishment." 

Q: If everyone does collective punishment, this will turn Israel into Lebanon. 

"True, it's bad. The military is tasked with defense, but it doesn't do the defense, so yes – Jews have to defend themselves on their own. Sometimes people decide to attack and sometimes they decide to deter with less pleasant and less nice methods." 

The full interview with Yered will be published this weekend. 

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Afghan women will be allowed to work, attend school, leave their homes without male guardians, and wear hijabs (rather than burqas) under the Taliban's renewed regime in Afghanistan, the organization said Sunday as its forces entered the capital, Kabul.

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The statement comes after reports that Taliban insurgents have been forcing women working in banking jobs to leave.

In early July, as Taliban insurgents were seizing territory from government forces across Afghanistan, fighters from the group walked into the offices of Azizi Bank in the southern city of Kandahar and ordered nine women working there to leave.

The gunmen escorted them to their homes and told them not to return to their jobs. Instead, they explained that male relatives could take their place, according to three of the women involved and the bank's manager.

"It's really strange to not be allowed to get to work, but now this is what it is," Noor Khatera, a 43-year-old woman who had worked in the accounts department of the bank told Reuters.

"I taught myself English and even learned how to operate a computer, but now I will have to look for a place where I can just work with more women around."

The incident is an early sign that some of the rights won by Afghan women over the 20 years since the hardline Islamist movement was toppled could be reversed.

The Taliban have steadily overrun the country since US troops began withdrawing in May and the insurgents entered the capital on Sunday.

When they last ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, women could not work, girls were not allowed to attend school and women had to cover their face and be accompanied by a male relative if they wanted to venture out of their homes.

Women who broke the rules sometimes suffered humiliation and public beatings by the Taliban's religious police under the group's strict interpretation of Islamic law.

During hitherto fruitless talks over a political settlement in recent years, Taliban leaders made assurances to the West that women would enjoy equal rights in accordance with what was granted by Islam, including the ability to work and be educated.

Two days after the episode at Azizi Bank, a similar scene played out at a branch of another Afghan lender, Bank Milli, in the western city of Herat, according to two female cashiers who witnessed it.

Three Taliban fighters carrying guns entered the branch, admonishing female employees for showing their faces in public. Women there quit, sending male relatives in their place.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid did not respond to a request for comment about the two incidents. Spokespeople for the two banks did not respond to requests for comment.

On the broader question of whether women would be allowed to work in banks in areas it controls, Mujahid added that no decision had yet been made.

"After the establishment of the Islamic system, it will be decided according to the law, and God willing, there will be no problems," he said.

The United States and others Western powers fear that the Taliban will roll back many of the freedoms won by women.

Gains made in women's right have been touted as one of the biggest accomplishments during the 20 years that U.-led forces have been deployed in Afghanistan, although they have mostly been made in urban centers.

Afghan women working in fields including journalism, healthcare and law enforcement have been killed in a wave of attacks since peace talks began last year between the Taliban and the US-backed Afghan government.

The government blames most targeted killings on the Taliban, who deny carrying out assassinations.

"The Taliban will regress freedom at all levels and that is what we are fighting against," an Afghan government spokesperson said.

"Women and children are suffering the most and our forces are trying to save democracy. The world should understand and help us."

Scores of educated Afghan women took to social media to appeal for help and express their frustration.

"With every city collapsing, human bodies collapse, dreams collapse, history and future collapse, art and culture collapse, life and beauty collapse, our world collapses," Rada Akbar wrote on Twitter. "Someone please stop this."

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Swiss voters were projected to approve by a slim majority a far-right proposal to ban facial coverings in a binding referendum on Sunday viewed as a test of attitudes toward Muslims.

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Projections for local broadcaster SRF, based on partial results, showed the measure passing 51% to 49%, with a two-point margin for error.

The proposal under the Swiss system of direct democracy does not mention Islam directly and also aims to stop violent street protesters from wearing masks, yet local politicians, media, and campaigners have dubbed it the burqa ban.

Opinion polls had suggested that the measure, which the government has said went too far, could pass, and the ban would become law.

"In Switzerland, our tradition is that you show your face. That is a sign of our basic freedoms," Walter Wobmann, chairman of the referendum committee and a member of parliament for the Swiss People's Party, had said before the vote.

He called facial covering "a symbol for this extreme, political Islam which has become increasingly prominent in Europe and which has no place in Switzerland."

The proposal predates the coronavirus pandemic – which has required all adults to wear masks in many settings to prevent the spread of infection – and gathered the necessary support in 2017 to trigger a referendum.

The proposal compounded Switzerland's tense relationship with Islam after citizens voted in 2009 to ban building any new minarets. Two cantons already have local bans on face coverings.

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