Tag Archives: Gaza

Thousands of Israeli nationalists have staged a protest outside the parliament building in Jerusalem, urging the government not to demolish a West Bank settlement outpost. The demonstration came a month after a Palestinian gunman fired on a car filled with seminary students at the Homesh outpost, near the West Bank …

Two rockets fired from Gaza early Saturday fell into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Tel Aviv, prompting Israeli retaliatory fire on Hamas positions. No injuries have so far been reported from both sides. Hamas and Israel exchanged indirect messages through Egypt to prevent the situation from deteriorating. Hamas …

The head of the EU mission to the West Bank and Gaza Strip issued an impassioned appeal to Israel on Monday to halt the eviction of Palestinians from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem to make way for Jewish settlers. Sven Kuhn von Burgsorff led a high-powered EU delegation on …

Palestinians held municipal elections in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday amid increasing frustrations with President Mahmoud Abbas, 86, after he cancelled promised parliamentary and presidential elections earlier this year.  Some 400,000 Palestinians were eligible to vote in the election for representatives in 154 village councils in the West Bank, where …

Israel gave initial approval on Wednesday for thousands of new settlement homes that would cement occupied West Bank lands within its municipal boundaries around Jerusalem, drawing a Palestinian demand that Washington intervene. Most world powers deem the Israeli settlements illegal for taking in territory where Palestinians seek statehood. The Jerusalem …

Showing support for Hamas in Britain could be punished with 14 years in prison if the government succeeds in banning the group as a “terrorist organization,” the UK’s Home Office said Friday. Home Secretary Priti Patel will push for the change in parliament next week, seeking to bring Britain into …

Israel has faced growing calls to release five Palestinians who have been on hunger strike for weeks to protest a controversial policy of holding them indefinitely without charge, including one who has been fasting for 120 days and is in severe condition. Israel says the policy, known as “administrative detention,” …

The Palestinian prime minister has warned Israel that its refusal to accept a two-state solution to the century-old conflict would perpetuate a system of “apartheid” and eventually result in a one-state reality in which Israel loses its Jewish character. The Israeli government sworn in last June consists of parties from …

Israel said Wednesday it has begun testing a massive inflatable missile detection system designed to hover at high altitudes and detect long-range threats. Israel already boasts an array of sophisticated missile defenses, which were used successfully during the 11-day Gaza war this year. The High Availability Aerostat System resembles a …

Israel announced on Tuesday that it approved registration as West Bank residents for some 4,000 Palestinians who have been living for years in the Israeli-occupied territory without official status. The decision affects 2,800 former inhabitants of the Gaza Strip who left the enclave after the Hamas movement seized it in …

Israel will remain opposed to Washington’s plan to reopen a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem that has traditionally been a base for diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians, even if political conditions change, an Israeli cabinet minister said on Tuesday. The consulate was subsumed into the U.S. Embassy that was moved to …

For a platform with at least 2.91 billion “friends,” Facebook has been creating a lot of enemies of late, even among its own ranks. Just this week, former Facebook employee and whistleblower Frances Haugen testified before members of the US Senate, delivering a scathing overview of how the world’s largest …

The UN agency helping Palestinian refugees is facing an “existential” budget crisis and appealing for urgent funding of $120 million to keep essential education, health care and other services running, the agency’s chief said. “We keep struggling, running after cash,” Philippe Lazzarini said. “The financial situation is a real existential …

Israel has continued to destroy structures in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Tor Wennesland, UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, told the Security Council on Wednesday. The council heard how Israel has since July demolished and seized Palestinian-owned structures across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.  Wennesland …

A new poll has found that nearly 80 percent of Palestinians want President Mahmoud Abbas to resign, reflecting widespread anger over the death of an activist in security forces’ custody and a crackdown on protests over the summer. The survey released Tuesday found support for Abbas’ Hamas rivals remained high …

Palestinian artist Abeer Jebril’s dark-coloured work present ballerinas chained in barbed wire, dancing on rocks, or dealing with barricades to reflect what she calls the “ticking bomb” actuality of ladies in Gaza. She hopes her portraits will carry consideration to the social and political issues girls face in Gaza, house …

The humble spoon has taken its place alongside traditional flags and banners as a Palestinian resistance symbol, after prisoners were said to have carried out one of Israel’s most spectacular jail breaks with the utensil. When the six Palestinian militants escaped through a tunnel on Sept. 6 from the high …

Hopes rose on Monday of progress in the Palestinian peace process after landmark new talks between the leaders of Egypt and Israel. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh for discussions that focused on Palestinian-Israeli relations. It …

“What in the world is Lil Uzi Vert doing at an Arab wedding?” wrote one user on Twitter this week after footage of the American rapper dancing at the nuptials of a Palestinian couple went viral online. While it’s not exactly certain how or why the “Xo Tour Llif3” hitmaker …

Egypt is to close the Rafah crossing on its border with the Gaza Strip until further notice on Monday, Egyptian security sources said. Hamas, the Palestinian faction that controls Gaza, said it had been informed by Egypt of the decision to shut the crossing in both directions, without giving details. …

Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip on Saturday in response to incendiary balloons launched from the Palestinian enclave, Israel’s military said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the strike that targeted what the military said was a rocket launching site and a compound …

Israel demolished the tent dwellings of at least 63 Bedouin in a village in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said, in an area designated by the Israeli military as a firing zone. Palestinians and rights groups accuse Israel of trying to forcibly clear out the Bedouin …

A spokesman for the Egyptian Armed Forces has said that they are aware of the challenges facing the region and are prepared to deal with them. “It is not wise, in light of our capabilities and high deterrence power, to test the reaction of the Egyptian Armed Forces,” added Gharib …

The United Nations on Thursday accused Israel of flagrantly violating international law by expanding settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, saying settlements are illegal and urging the country’s new government to halt their enlargement immediately. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN Mideast envoy Tor Wennesland reported on implementation …

Israel allowed a limited resumption of commercial exports from the Gaza Strip on Monday in what it called a “conditional” measure one month after a truce halted 11 days of fighting with the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers. Gaza border officials said the easing of Israeli restrictions would last two to …

The Palestinian Authority (PA) cancelled a deal on Friday to receive soon-to-expire COVID-19 vaccines from Israel after an initial Israeli shipment showed an expiration date sooner than had been agreed, the PA health minister said. Israel and the PA announced a vaccine swap deal earlier on Friday that would have …

Violent speech directed against Arabs and Palestinians on social media increased 15-fold during the recent hostilities in Gaza, a report has found.  Between May 6 and May 21 when clashes with Israel were most severe, hate speech against Palestinians rose dramatically in comparison with the same period in 2020, according …

Israeli far-right nationalists began a flag-waving march through East Jerusalem on Tuesday that risks reigniting tensions with Palestinians and poses an early challenge for Israel’s new government. Last month, Israeli-Palestinian tensions and violence in contested Jerusalem helped trigger 11 days of cross-border fighting between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas militant …

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during a clash in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The violence erupted at a protest against Israeli settlements near the city of Nablus, witnesses said. The Israeli military called it “a violent riot with hundreds of …

Israeli officials said on Tuesday they would allow a right-wing march in Jerusalem’s Old City to go ahead next week under certain conditions, a day after police barred the event’s route fearing it would rekindle conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza. Several right-wing Israeli groups had planned a …

Israeli police detained two prominent Palestinian activists on Sunday who have become the faces of a campaign to halt Palestinian evictions from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Footage on social media on Sunday showed Muna El-Kurd, 23, whose family faces eviction from their home in Sheikh Jarrah after …

An Israeli military spokesman said Monday that the army was carrying out a security sweep operation at the border fence with Lebanon and that it was still ongoing. The military are searching for two people who might have infiltrated from Lebanon: Al-Arabiya news reported. Source: Arab News

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was heading to the United States for a one-day visit on Thursday to discuss ongoing efforts to revive the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel opposes. He was to meet his counterpart Lloyd Austin, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan “for …

Pakistan has taken “serious exception” to an Israeli far-right politician’s use of an image of a hospital in the capital city Islamabad, claiming it was a Hamas headquarters and “the largest medical complex in Gaza,” foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said. “We have seen the statement by Israel’s former …

Israel has summoned the Filipino Ambassador in Tel Aviv over the Philippines’ vote backing the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) probe into violations committed during the latest conflict in Gaza. In a statement on Sunday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Philippines Ambassador Macairog Alberto was summoned for “clarification” regarding …

Instagram announced on Monday that the platform would be making changes to the way it displays content after receiving accusations of censoring Palestine-related content during the latest wave of violence in Gaza. The “stories” feature on Instagram was built according to an algorithm that favors original content as opposed to …

A senior Israeli government minister took part in talks in Cairo on Sunday for the first time in 13 years, amid a high-level diplomatic push to bring permanent peace to Gaza. Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi met Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry as part of Egypt’s efforts to revive the Middle …

An Israeli court Wednesday postponed a hearing in a case that could see two Palestinian families expelled from their homes in occupied east Jerusalem’s Silwan district so Jewish settlers can move in, their lawyer said. The delayed hearing on the dispute comes less than three weeks after a similar case …

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Egypt on Wednesday on the next leg of a diplomatic mission aimed at shoring up a cease-fire that ended an 11-day war between Israel and the Hamas. Blinken was scheduled to hold talks with Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Foreign Minister Sameh …

Facebook was slammed on Sunday with a coordinated social media campaign launched by pro-Palestine activists in an attempt to push down the Facebook app’s ranking on Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play. The campaign was launched in solidarity with Palestinians and in response to Facebook’s censorship of content supporting …

An Israeli defense official said Monday aid to rebuild the conflict-battered Gaza Strip must bypass its Islamist rulers Hamas, and instead flow through an international “mechanism” to reach people directly. Israel has enforced a blockade on impoverished Gaza since 2007, when Hamas seized control of the crowded enclave.Israel argues the …

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken began a Middle East visit in Israel on Tuesday, hoping to bolster its ceasefire with Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants and help speed humanitarian aid to the devastated Palestinian enclave. In tandem with Blinken’s mission, Israeli authorities said they were allowing fuel, medicine and food …

Singer Dua Lipa is blasting an organization that paid for a full-page ad in The New York Times that called her antisemitic for her support of Palestinians, saying it used her name “shamelessly” to “advance their ugly campaign with falsehoods and blatant misrepresentations.” In the rambling ad which appeared in …

A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas held into a third day on Sunday as mediators spoke to all sides about extending the period of calm after the worst outbreak of fighting in years. Egyptian mediators have been shuttling between Israel and the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas, to …