Palestine

With President Trump’s Middle East peace envoys looking on, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday accused the Trump administration of abdicating its commitment to a peace settlement and an independent Palestinian state. Abbas, the leader on whom three U.S. presidents have hung hopes for successful negotiations, all but wrote …

Israeli warplanes have bombed areas in the southern part of the besieged Gaza Strip amid escalating tensions in region. The Israeli military said the regime’s fighter jets hit alleged targets belonging to the Hamas resistance movement in Gaza early Monday morning, without elaborating further. Palestinian security sources said several missiles …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   In my infinite absentmindedness, I missed a migration and refugee studies lecture last Monday. This was unforgiveable for someone like me, as a Palestinian, but it had its advantages. The brief lull in my schedule gave me the opportunity to read a book I’d …

Israel bombed 18 targets in Gaza overnight, killing two Palestinian teens, after an explosion wounded four of its soldiers on the border with the Palestinian enclave. The flare-up started with a bomb blast near the security fence on the southern Israel-Gaza border that wounded four Israeli troops at around 4 …

US President Donald Trump has declined to give a timeline for releasing Washington’s plan for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, saying that neither party was committed to the process. US President Donald Trump has declined to give a timeline for releasing Washington’s plan for peace between the Israelis …

Palestine will continue to seek a full membership in the United Nations despite the US veto which seems even more inevitable under the current administration, Nabil Shaath, the foreign affairs adviser of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told Sputnik. “I have just returned from Japan. Japan’s membership was vetoed five times by the …

Energy, trade and investment efforts will be high on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda when he goes on a three-nation tour to West Asia and the Gulf starting on Saturday. When Modi reaches Ramallah from Jordan’s capital Amman, he will become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Palestine. …

by Munshi Zubaer Haque While Israel continues to maintain a tough blockade on Gaza Strip in defiance of international law, there have been repeated notes of caution sounded from various quarters about an impending humanitarian collapse in this densely populated Palestinian enclave on the Mediterranean coast. Ironically, even Israeli President …

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres has emphasized that the so-called two-state solution is the sole way out of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, warning that the “negative trends” unfolding in the region could endanger the bid. “There is no Plan B. A two-state solution is the only way to achieve …

A number of recent reports have appeared to confirm one of the worst-kept secrets in the Middle East. In coordination with Egyptian authorities, Israel has for months been conducting clandestine airstrikes against jihadist groups operating in northern Sinai. The Israelis used unmarked drones, helicopters and jets to launch at least 100 strikes …

Turkey has slammed the US decision to put the leader of the Palestinian Islamic resistance movement, Hamas, on its so-called terror blacklist, saying it could undermine the peace process in the Middle East. “We are concerned that this decision of the US administration, which disregards the realities on the ground, …

Palestinians have reacted to Donald Trump’s recognition of Occupied Jerusalem as Israel’s capital with street protests, but one couple have come up with an idea of their own, in the naming of their triplets. Nidal and Islam Al Saiqli from Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip decided to name the …

Israeli forces have shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in the occupied West Bank in a village north of Ramallah. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Layth Abu Naeem was shot in the head at close range by Israeli troops who had entered his village of al-Mugheir. He died en …

By Mohamed Mohamed It is regrettable that the most basic human needs of millions of Palestinian refugees are now being used as a weapon in the Trump administration’s political assault on Palestinians. On January 16, the administration decided to withhold $65 million of a planned $125 million in US funding for the …

In pointed public remarks, Jordan’s King Abdullah II told Vice President Pence on Sunday that he had repeatedly warned Washington about the risks of recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and that he hoped the United States would now “reach out” and find the right way to move forward. At a …

By Munshi Zubaer Haque In a first among the permanent members of UN Security Council, US President Donald J. Trump gave his recognition of Israel’s claim to sovereignty over the holy city of Jerusalem recently on a speech that sparked global outrage across national governments and triggered mass protests among …

Muslim parliamentarians have condemned US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s capital as a threat to the global peace and a violation of the Palestinian nation’s rights. “We consider this measure as a threat to the international peace and security and an all-out violation of the unalienable …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said his “solid assessment” is that the American Embassy will be moved to Jerusalem in the coming year, but President Trump said otherwise later in the day. “By the end of the year?” Trump told Reuters in an exclusive interview. “We’re talking about different scenarios. …

The head of the U.N. agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees appealed on Wednesday for world donations after the United States withheld about half its planned funding for the organization, a move he said risks instability in the region. Washington said on Tuesday it would provide $60 million to …

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appears to have confirmed reports that the Trump administration has earmarked Abu Dis, a town adjacent to Jerusalem, as the capital of a future Palestinian state, during a speech to the PLO Central Council. “Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the state of Palestine,” Abbas …

A car bomb has targeted an official with the Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas in southwestern Lebanon, injuring him. The explosive went off in the Bustan al-Kabir neighborhood in the east of the city of Sidon on Sunday, Lebanon24 news website reported. It said early reports indicated that the target …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin trod carefully on Sunday around a threatened U.S. aid cut to Palestinians, stopping short of backing a funding halt as he repeated calls for a U.N. agency that helps Palestinian refugees to be dismantled. Netanyahu’s public comments appeared to reflect a desire to show support for …

Israel on Sunday identified 20 activist groups from around the world whose members will be banned from entering the country over their calls to boycott the Jewish state, stepping up its fight against a movement it views as a serious threat. Israel last year enacted a law that would ban any …

Arab states will soon embark on a diplomatic drive to persuade the United Nations to recognise a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital on territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war, Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. Six Arab foreign ministers met in Amman on Saturday to …

US Vice-President Mike Pence’s trip to Israel has been postponed, amid Palestinian protests against the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. But why does the move remain popular with evangelical Christians in the US? The Reverend Johnnie Moore, a 34-year-old evangelical Christian, is closer than most to President …

UNITED NATIONS: US President Donald Trump said in tweets on Tuesday that the United States may withhold future aid payments to Palestinians, accusing them of being “no longer willing to talk peace” with Israel. Trump said that Washington gives Palestinians “HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no …

Energized by American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the country’s right-wing government has accelerated plans that imperil a two-state solution, solidifying Israel’s power and control over Jerusalem. In an all-night session, the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, enacted a law early Tuesday making it much more difficult to negotiate Jerusalem as …

Israel indicted a 16-year-old Palestinian girl on Monday on charges including assault for punching an Israeli soldier in the face two weeks ago, an incident which made her into a hero for Palestinians and was seen as humiliating by right-wing Israelis. Palestinian teen Ahed Tamimi (R) enters a military courtroom …

Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza and the occupied West Bank for the fourth Friday in a row in protests against U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinian health officials said at least 50 protesters had been wounded by live fire, mostly along …

By Ghassan Michel Rubeiz Washington DC   On December 6 President Donald Trump appeased his Evangelical constituency by unilaterally proclaiming Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, where the US embassy should relocate. Palestinians consider this proclamation as a denial of their rights to East Jerusalem as capital of their own future state. The …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   I was attending a lecture once by an Egyptian science fiction writer, quite a distinguished engineer in fact, and he gave a hilarious example. He talked about an Egyptian boy that had grown up in America and had come back to Egypt, as it …

The word Crusade is associated with the European Christians of Middle Ages. The declared purpose of the European  Crusades was to reclaim Jerusalem from Muslims. Currently, a Judeo-Christian Crusade is underway to consolidate the territorial claims of Israel, a state instituted by the European Jews with the support of the …

Palestinian protesters, some festively dressed as Santa Claus, have clashed with Israeli security forces in Bethlehem, a day before the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the West Bank city revered as the birthplace of Jesus. Holding Palestinian flags, the demonstrators, who gathered at Israeli military tower to protest against US President …

More than 120 countries defied President Donald Trump on Thursday and voted in favor of a United Nations General Assembly resolution calling for the United States to drop its recent recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Trump had threatened to cut off financial aid to countries that voted in favor. …

The curly haired Palestinian teenager is seen walking up to two Israeli soldiers standing near the entrance of her house, and she can be heard telling them to leave. She then pushes and kicks both soldiers who casually fend off the blows. Then she slaps one soldier hard in the …

Prior to an emergency UN General Assembly session on Jerusalem al-Quds, the United States and Israel have resorted to pressure tactics and lobbying efforts in an attempt to prevent the world body from adopting a resolution critical of Washington’s policy shift on the occupied city. Arab and Muslim states have …

ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey is launching an initiative at the United Nations to annul a decision by the United States to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday. Palestinian protestors shout slogans and hold a Palestinian flag during a demonsration after Friday prayers in Jerusalem’s Old …

China called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, Xinhua state media reported Thursday. “China understands the Islamic countries’ concern about the status of Jerusalem,” a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said, adding that China “calls for a …

By Mohamed Mohamed* December 13, 2017   The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently announced a plan to repeal government regulations which ensure that internet service providers (ISPs) treat all data equally. This principle is known as “net neutrality,” and is intended to prevent ISPs from blocking or slowing down certain content, …

Palestinian officials are reportedly pushing for a UN Security Council resolution that rejects US President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital.” The measure, which would strongly condemn Washington’s decision and demand its reversal, would almost certainly face a US veto, diplomats said Wednesday. According to senior …

The Trump declaration recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and relocating the U.S. embassy there is as historically significant to Israel’s control of Jerusalem as the Balfour Declaration was to recognizing the rights of the Jewish people in Palestine. But according to new revelations, the announcement could be part of a …

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) convenes an urgent summit in Istanbul on Washington’s contentious declaration on Jerusalem al-Quds, with the Turkish foreign minister urging Muslim nations to respond by pressing the world for the recognition of the city as the capital of a Palestinian state. Representatives from 57 OIC members are …

The Coptic Christian pope has canceled a meeting with the US vice president in Cairo, in protest against America’s move to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinian leader Abbas also snubbed Mike Pence. In a statement released on Saturday, the Coptic Church said it “excused itself from hosting Mike Pence” when …

The recognition by US President Donald Trump of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has triggered more than just criticism from America’s allies. Here in Bahrain, at the annual Manama Dialogue security conference, there is an almost universal concern that the announcement will be a gift to the region’s twin adversaries – …