Israel

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday in Tel Aviv, angered by what they say has been an inept government response to the economic hits they have taken during the coronavirus crisis. In keeping with restrictions on public gatherings, police limited the number of people allowed into Tel Aviv’s Rabin square …

Hundreds of people gathered in the occupied West Bank on Friday for the funeral of a Palestinian man shot by Israeli soldiers a day earlier. Israel’s army said troops opened fire after the Palestinian and another man started throwing fire bombs at a guard post near the town of Nablus. …

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said on Thursday protests over the economic slowdown could soon turn violent as restrictions to contain the coronavirus are reimposed and state assistance for the jobless lags. Alarmed by a new spike in COVID-19 cases, conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week ordered a slew …

Palestinian leaders hope Democrat Joe Biden will tone down Washington’s pro-Israel policies if he becomes U.S. president, and Palestinian-Americans have been pressing his campaign for a change, sources familiar with the efforts said. So far, their efforts have had little impact, the sources said. U.S. President Donald Trump has recognised …

An Israeli official flagged a possible security risk on Monday following a U.S. move to allow American providers to sell clearer satellite images of Israel and the Palestinian territories. Under a 1997 U.S. regulation known as the Kyl-Bingaman Amendment, satellite images of Israel and the Palestinian territories used in services …

Israel’s defence minister said on Sunday it is not “necessarily” behind every mysterious incident in Iran, after a fire at the Natanz nuclear site prompted some Iranian officials to say it was the result of cyber sabotage. Israel, widely believed to be the region’s only nuclear power, has pledged never …

Israel’s annexation of the West Bank could push it down a path that challenges its Jewish and democratic character. The agreement establishing the current Israeli coalition government has set July 1 as the target date to begin consideration of the annexation in the West Bank. As this self-imposed deadline approaches, there …

Two male staff members of the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the Middle East have been placed on leave after an initial inquiry found they had engaged in sexual misconduct, a U.N. spokesman said. The United Nations’ internal investigations office launched the inquiry after a video circulated on social media appearing …

Two Israeli defense contractors said on Friday they were partnering with Abu Dhabi-based Group 42 to develop technologies that will help fight the new coronavirus. Israel has no diplomatic relations with Gulf Arab countries, but common concerns over Iran’s regional influence have led to a limited thaw in ties. Last …

The Vatican, in a highly unusual move, summoned both the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to express the Holy See’s concern about Israel’s moves to extend its sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank. A Vatican statement on Wednesday said meetings with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson cautioned Israel on Wednesday against annexation in the occupied West Bank, saying it would violate international law and harm its drive to improve relations with the Arab world. Israeli leaders decided in May that a cabinet debate on annexing parts of the West Bank, under …

The Israeli government faces calls from campaigners to declare sovereignty over ancient Jewish ruins on land in the occupied West Bank that Israel does not plan to annex under U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace blueprint. The annexation plan, which the government is due to start discussing as of Wednesday, envisages …

A U.N. rights investigator urged the European Union on Friday to consider measures to prevent or punish any Israeli annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank, a few days after over 1,000 European lawmakers made a similar call. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres added his voice to the matter …

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that Israel and the United Arab Emirates would cooperate in the fight against the coronavirus – a possible boost to Israeli efforts to normalise relations with Gulf Arab countries. Netanyahu said a formal announcement on working together with the UAE on confronting the …

U.S. officials will gather this week to discuss whether to give Israel a green light for its plan to annex Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s target date of July 1 approaches. A senior administration official said on Monday that the U.S. ambassador …

Jordan’s King Abdulllah warned on Tuesday that Israel’s planned move to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank next month would threaten stability in the Middle East. In a video conference with U.S. congressional leaders and committees, Abdullah “warned that any unilateral Israeli measure to annex lands in the West …

The United Arab Emirates can work with Israel on some areas, including fighting the new coronavirus and on technology, while still having political differences with the state, a senior official said on Tuesday. Addressing a conference of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) advocacy group, minister of state for foreign affairs …

Construction is under way on a major new ring road for Jerusalem that Israeli officials say will benefit all of its residents, but critics of the project say is another obstacle to Palestinian hopes to make East Jerusalem the capital of a future state. The bypass, called The American Road, …

Israel cannot expect to normalise relations with the Arab world if it annexes land in the occupied West Bank, a United Arab Emirates envoy wrote in Israel’s top newspaper on Friday. Some Israeli officials have dismissed the notion that applying sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the …

The European Human Rights Court (EHCR) ruled on Thursday that a French criminal conviction against activists involved in a campaign to boycott products imported from Israel had no sufficient grounds and violated their freedom of expression. France’s highest appeals’ court in 2015 upheld rulings that convicted campaigners on the basis …

Israel must face consequences if it annexes land in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Tuesday, pointing to possible European sanctions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to extend sovereignty to Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley in the West Bank, territory Israel took …

More than a week after Israeli police shot dead an unarmed and autistic Palestinian in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday called the killing a tragedy and offered his condolences to the family. Iyad al-Halaq, 32, was killed during a police chase in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 30. …

Thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to extend sovereignty over parts of the occupied West Bank, de-facto annexation of land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Protesting in face masks and keeping their distance from each other under new coronavirus restrictions, the demonstrators …

Israel’s intention to annex parts of the occupied West Bank is being challenged by Jewish settlers who might have been expected to cheer the plan promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu under a U.S. peace blueprint. A month before the proposed expansion of Israeli jurisdiction is due to be discussed …

Half of Israelis support annexing parts of the occupied West Bank, although they are divided over whether to take the step without U.S. support, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday. Some 25 percent of Israelis surveyed by the Israel Democracy Institute think-tank said they want their government to apply sovereignty …

Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz said on Monday he ordered the military to step up preparations for Israel’s pending annexation of parts of the West Bank, a plan that could stoke Palestinian violence. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to begin cabinet discussions on July 1 on extending Israeli sovereignty …

A senior United Arab Emirates official said on Monday that any unilateral move by Israel to annex parts of the occupied West Bank would be a serious setback for the Middle East peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said cabinet discussions would begin on July 1 on his …

By James M. Dorsey   Israel knew the drill even before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo boarded his flight to Tel Aviv earlier this month four days after the death of his father. It was Mr. Pompeo’s first and only overseas trip since March. Echoing a US warning two …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   I’ve been planning to write about Youssef El Sherif’s Al-Nihaya (The End) since the holy month of Ramadan began but found it difficult to research and preferred to wait till the end before passing judgement on it. It is Egypt’s first ever sci-fi TV …

The Israeli cabinet limited on Sunday the involvement of the Shin Bet security service in the cellphone-tracking of people infected by the coronavirus, saying the measure would be a last resort where epidemiological investigation proves insufficient. Circumventing parliament in March, as the coronavirus spread, the cabinet approved emergency regulations that …

The corruption trial of Benjamin Netanyahu opens on Sunday in a Jerusalem court, where he will become the first serving Israeli prime minister to face criminal prosecution, in a case he calls a political witch-hunt. Netanyahu is required to appear for the session in Jerusalem District Court, a week after …

Iran’s Supreme Leader on Friday denounced Israel as a “tumor” to be eliminated and hailed Tehran’s supply of arms to Palestinians, drawing swift condemnation from the United States and European Union. Opposition to Israel is a core belief for Shi’ite-led Iran, which backs Palestinian and Lebanese Islamic militant groups opposed …

An Israeli court rejected on Wednesday a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be absent from the opening of his corruption trial next week, saying he must abide by the practice of hearing the charges in person. Netanyahu had asked Jerusalem District Court to be excused from his May …

China’s ambassador to Israel was found dead in his home in a Tel Aviv suburb on Sunday, an Israeli police spokesman said. He did not comment on the cause of death of ambassador Du Wei, who was 57 years old and became ambassador to Israel in February, according to the …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented his new unity government to parliament on Sunday, ending more than a year of political deadlock but still facing a trial starting in a week for alleged corruption. His power-sharing agreement with former election rival, centrist Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, opens the …

Virtual reality tours have replaced flag-waving rallies as Palestinians facing coronavirus restrictions create digital spaces to lament the loss of their physical homeland in 1948. Cellphone apps and Zoom video chats are among the other online tools being used to mark the Nakba, or “Catastrophe”, when Palestinians were forced from …

Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Wednesday that Israel is now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites. Israel has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. It sees the presence of Hezbollah and its ally Iran there as a strategic …

Palestinian leaders on Friday vowed to defy a new Israeli military order which they fear could lead to the confiscation of money destined for prisoners, their relatives and the families of those killed in unrest. Israel has long sought to end the payments, made by the Palestinian Authority to around …

Syrian air defences thwarted an Israeli missile attack on a research centre and a military base in the northern province of Aleppo state media said on Monday in the fifth such strikes in two weeks on suspected Iranian targets. The Syrian army said in a statement that Israel hit military …

Israel’s military has decided to end the drafting of soldiers as dancers in its entertainment troupes after a video of two male conscripts gyrating on stage prompted criticism that their performance was unbecoming. Most Israelis are conscripted into the armed forces when they turn 18 for a period of two …

Israel’s Supreme Court began a two-day hearing on Sunday to determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been indicted for corruption, will be allowed to form a new government. A ruling against Netanyahu would likely trigger a snap election, the fourth since April 2019, as the country grapples with …

Israeli helicopters fired several rockets from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on targets inside southern Syria, Syrian state media reported on Friday, the latest in what intelligence sources say is an increase of strikes against Iranian-backed militias. Opposition sources in the area said several militia posts near Quneitra were targeted in …

Germany has banned all Iran-backed Hezbollah activity on its soil and designated it a terrorist organisation, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday. Police also conducted early morning raids on mosque associations in four cities across Germany. Security officials believe up to 1,050 people in Germany are part of Hezbollah’s extremist …

Israeli air strikes near the Syrian capital early Monday killed three civilians, state media said. “Three civilians were martyred and four others wounded, including a child, because shrapnel from Israeli missiles fell on houses” in the suburbs of Damascus, the official SANA news agency reported. Syrian air defences had downed …