Palestine

Israel appeared headed for a unity government on Friday after opposition leader Benny Gantz moved towards an agreement with Prime Minister Benjmain Netanyahu, disappointing voters who had hoped to bring down the right-wing premier. Gantz was elected parliamentary speaker on Thursday with support from Netanyahu’s Likud and allied parties, leaving …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that Israeli Government’s violations against Jerusalem and its holy places step up, as it allows the settlers to storm the Al Aqsa Mosque, but prevents the Palestinian from performing their prayers at the Mosques and …

Qatar announced $150 million in aid to the Gaza Strip over a period of six months, to support United Nations humanitarian programs in the Palestinian territory and efforts to contain the new coronavirus outbreak, the state-run Qatari Committee to Rebuild Gaza said Monday on Twitter. Source: Reuters

The Jewish faithful should refrain from kissing the stones of the Western Wall, the chief rabbi of the Jerusalem site said on Monday, adding to measures that religious authorities have taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Jews pray en masse at the Western Wall and often stuff written …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that , in January, 2019, the Israeli Occupation Authorities opened an apartheid road for settlers to the northeast of the Jerusalem city, called “Apartheid Street”, as it separates Palestinian drivers from Israeli settlers with …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that , the newly elected occupation PM, Netanyahu pledged before his constituents that he intends to develop settlement in the occupied West Bank, and imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, supported by the …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that , the newly elected occupation PM, Netanyahu pledged before his constituents that he intends to develop settlement in the occupied West Bank, and imposing Israeli sovereignty over the Jordan Valley, supported by the …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a 30-day state of emergency on Thursday and Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity was closed following the discovery of seven cases of coronavirus in the traditional birthplace of Jesus. The decree was announced by Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh, who decided to close all schools, …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that developments on the ground showed that many Palestinians were injured during clashes with the Israeli Occupation Soldiers in the West Bank, as they protested against Netanyahu plans to confiscate more lands and construct …

Fifty former European prime ministers and foreign ministers have condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan in an open letter, saying it would create an apartheid-like situation in occupied Palestinian territory. In the letter published by British newspaper The Guardian, the former ministers rejected Trump’s plan for Israelis …

Crowdfunding venture investing platform OurCrowd, one of Israel’s largest investors, said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s former special envoy for the Middle East Jason Greenblatt has joined the company as a partner. Greenblatt, who resigned in September, is an architect of Trump’s “deal of the century” plan that seeks …

Gaza militants on Monday fired rockets toward Israel, which responded with air strikes, in the second day of an escalation that began to ebb after the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced a halt to its attacks. Islamic Jihad has fired 80 rockets toward Israeli communities along the Gaza border …

Israeli fighter jets launched air strikes on suspected Islamic Jihad positions in Syria, the Israeli military said on Monday, after the militant group and Israel exchanged rockets and air strikes around Gaza. An Israeli military statement said its forces had “struck Islamic Jihad terror targets south of Damascus” in addition …

Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have reached an agreement to end a five-month long trade dispute, officials said on Thursday. The dispute, which opened a new front in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, began in September when the PA announced a boycott of Israel calves. The Authority exercises limited self-rule in …

Before sunrise, thousands of Palestinians streamed toward the mosque in Nablus’s Victory Square, swelling the usual crowds of morning worshippers to launch a new front in their protests against Israel and the United States. The scene has been repeated elsewhere in the West Bank, where people have begun turning out …

The  National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that at a time when the American Administration disclosed its ‘Deal of the Century’s’ plan at the White House, which is biased to the Israeli Occupation, and oppresses the Palestine cause and liquidate it. The …

Israel’s prime minister on Sunday hailed what he called efforts by friendly states to stop the International Criminal Court opening an investigation into alleged war crimes against Palestinians. The court’s chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said in December there was enough evidence for an investigation into thousands of killings – but …

The mayor of Tel Aviv ordered the removal on Friday of highway billboards that appeared to call for the surrender at gunpoint of Palestinian leaders for the sake of peace. “Peace is made ONLY with defeated enemies,” said the billboards, which showed photo-shopped images of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and …

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister on Thursday denied media reports of a possible meeting between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid speculation about normalizing ties between Gulf Arab states and Israel. “There is no meeting planned between Saudi Arabia and Israel,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan …

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday said the U.S. government would not furnish any information for a database of companies operating in Israeli-controlled territories that the United Nations’ human rights office released, and said the compilation hurts peace efforts in the Middle East. “The United States has long …

The United Nations’ human rights office on Wednesday named 112 companies it said have business ties to Jewish settlements in the West Bank, angering Israel and prompting a Palestinian threat of legal action against the firms. A long-delayed report issued in Geneva said 94 of the companies were domiciled in …

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, urged Israel on Tuesday not to annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the occupied West Bank, warning of Palestinian protests if it went ahead. Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war. The Palestinian Authority wants to make the area part …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, appearing before the United Nations Security Council, angrily rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace proposal on Tuesday as a gift to Israel and unacceptable to Palestinians. Waving a copy of a map that the U.S. plan envisions for a two-state solution for Israel and …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that US President Donald Trump’s adviser, Jared Kushner recently announced that Israel won’t annex Palestinian lands before the upcoming Knesset elections, thereby, explained the controversy among Likud, the government, and settlers regarding the annexation …

Unilateral Israeli steps to annex West Bank land would endanger U.S. support for such plans, U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said on Sunday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday Israel had begun drawing up maps for annexing land in the West Bank, which Palestinians seek for a …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest periodic boycott report , that the American President, Trump unveiled his ‘Deal of the Century’ to resolve the Palestinian – Israeli conflict, the overwhelming majority of the observers, politicians and the countries concerned to end the conflict …

Israel has escalated a trade war with the Palestinians by stopping their agricultural exports through Jordan, Palestinian Agriculture Minister Riyal al-Attari said on Saturday. Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) opened a new front in their decades-long conflict with a trade dispute that began in October and has escalated over …

A car ran down and injured 12 Israeli soldiers and two other people in Jerusalem early on Thursday before fleeing, Israeli military and medical officials said, in an incident police described as a suspected Palestinian attack. In a separate incident, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian during clashes in the occupied …

Israeli troops shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian who was taking part in a violent protest on Wednesday against U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan, witnesses and medical officials said. Mohammed al-Hadad was the first Palestinian killed in unrest since Trump unveiled his plan last week to accolades from Israel but …

Returning to his fields for the first time in 14 years, Palestinian farmer Naser Abu Isaeed surveyed the toll taken by conflict on formerly productive soil. “I saw an empty area full of holes and dry weeds,” said Abu Isaeed, who once grew fruit on the tracts along Gaza’s volatile …

Tayseer Khaled, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, called on all Palestinian political and societal forces in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and in Gaza Strip, to build national boycott committees in …

An Imposed, Unrealistic Solution Will Not Hold By Martin Indyk*   You’ve got to hand it to the Middle East peace team of U.S. President Donald Trump. It has proposed a comprehensive and creative resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And even though Trump is quick to decry the failed efforts …

A draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Tuesday condemned an Israeli plan to annex its settlements in the West Bank in a rebuke of President Donald Trump’s pro-Israel peace proposal. The draft text, circulated to council members by Tunisia and Indonesia, would seemingly face a U.S. veto, but nonetheless …

The European Union rejected parts of the new U.S. peace plan for the Middle East on Tuesday, saying the plan broke with “internationally agreed parameters”, and any Israeli annexation of Palestinian land would be subject to challenge. President Donald Trump’s plan, announced last week, was warmly welcomed by Israel and …

The National Bureau for defending land and resisting settlements stated in its latest weekly report , that over the last decade, Arabs and international community have done their utmost to help reaching a just and lasting peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israelis under the UNs’ resolutions, international law and …

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation said on Monday it rejects U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. The 57-member organization which held a summit to discuss the plan in Jeddah said it “calls on all member states not to engage with this plan or to cooperate with the U.S. …

The Palestinian Authority has cut all ties with the United States and Israel, including those relating to security, after rejecting a Middle East peace plan presented by U.S. President Donald Trump, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday. Abbas was in Cairo to address the Arab League, which backed the …

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft warned the Palestinians on Friday that bringing their displeasure with the U.S. peace plan to the world body would only “repeat the failed pattern of the last seven decades.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak in the U.N. Security Council in the next …

President Kais Saied of Tunisia, an ally of the United States, said on Thursday that the new U.S. plan for peace between Israel and the Palestinians is the “injustice of the century”. Tunisia is serving a two-year term on the United Nations Security Council and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will …

French President Emmanuel Macron raised doubts on Thursday about the prospect of a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians and cast doubt on whether a peace plan unveiled by the United States this week would succeed. “I believe in two sovereignties,” Macron said when asked by Le Figaro newspaper whether …

BY Stephen Zunes,   Donald Trump’s long-awaited “deal of the century” between Israel and Palestine essentially gives Israel’s far right coalition government everything it wanted. This Middle East “peace” deal allows Israel to annex vast stretches of the Palestinian West Bank (which has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967) …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will speak in the United Nations Security Council in the next two weeks about the U.S. Middle East peace plan, Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour said on Wednesday. Mansour told reporters he hoped the 15-member Security Council, at the same meeting that Abbas would address, would …

Israeli Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said on Wednesday that Israel should move to establish sovereignty over nearly a third of the occupied West Bank following the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan. The remarks by the hawkish Bennett, a partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace plan the “slap of the century” on Tuesday as thousands of Palestinians held protests in Gaza and the West Bank. The Islamist group Hamas said it would confront Trump’s “aggressive” proposals and accused him of talking “nonsense” about …