Israel and the United States concluded talks in Washington on advancing peace with the Palestinians, without agreeing on one of the thorniest issues — Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories. The US delegation, led by President Donald Trump’s special representative Jason Greenblatt, reiterated the president’s “concerns regarding settlement activity,” a joint statement read of the … Read more
More and more Gazans are falling ill from their drinking water, highlighting the humanitarian issues facing the Palestinian enclave that the UN says could become uninhabitable by 2020. The situation has already reached crisis point in the war-scarred, underdeveloped and blockaded territory, says Monther Shoblak, general manager of the strip’s water utility. “More than 97 … Read more
The Jerusalem Marathon winds its way through one of the most historic — and contentious — cities on earth. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism all have holy sites within its hallowed walls. Enmity between Israelis and Palestinians is too often the norm, not the exception. Sometimes the tension is palpable. One group of runners aims to … Read more
Israeli authorities said Tuesday they have arrested a Palestinian employee in Gaza of Turkey’s international aid agency TIKA on accusations of diverting its project funds to Hamas. It was the third such arrest in recent months by Israel, with a UN worker and the Gaza head of Christian charity World Vision having previously been accused … Read more
An Australian government probe has found no evidence taxpayer money was misused by the World Vision NGO in the Gaza Strip, after Israel alleged millions of dollars were diverted to Hamas. In August 2016, Israel accused World Vision’s Gaza head Mohammed al-Halabi of siphoning off millions of dollars per year to the Islamist group which … Read more
Secretive British street artist Banksy’s hotel next to Israel’s separation wall welcomed its first guests on Monday, two weeks after its surprise launch. The Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem is only four metres (yards) from the controversial wall which cuts through the occupied West Bank, and all the rooms face it. The nine rooms, which Banksy … Read more
Secretive British street artist Banksy’s hotel next to Israel’s controversial separation wall was due to welcome its first customers Monday, two weeks after its surprise launch. The Walled-Off Hotel in Bethlehem is only four metres (yards) from the controversial wall which cuts through the occupied West Bank, and all the rooms face it. The nine … Read more
A Hamas military court on Sunday sentenced two Palestinians to death for drug smuggling in the Gaza Strip, in the first punishment of its kind in the enclave. “The Gaza military court announced the death penalty for two civilians from Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, for selling narcotics,” the Hamas-controlled interior ministry said in … Read more
A rocket fired by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip slammed into southern Israel on Saturday, prompting retaliatory Israeli tank fire, sources on both sides said. The Israeli army said the rocket hit an open area. “No casualties have been reported.” Palestinian security officials said the Israeli tank fire targeted an observation post of Gaza’s Hamas … Read more
A female Palestinian attempted to ram a car into security forces at a tense junction in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and was shot and wounded, Israel’s military said. No injuries were reported on the Israeli side following the incident at the Gush Etzion Junction south of Jerusalem. The Palestinian’s condition was not yet … Read more
Israeli police on Monday killed a Palestinian who attacked and wounded two border guards with a knife near an entrance to the old city of Jerusalem, police said. The attacker, who was a resident of occupied East Jerusalem, entered a border guard post and wounded the two before being shot dead. One of the guards … Read more
In the heart of the Gaza Strip’s Shati refugee camp, machines buzz as Mohammed Abu Shanab’s employees sew small, round pieces of cloth: Jewish skullcaps for export to Israel. It may seem an unlikely product to be made in the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas and hit by three wars with Israel since … Read more
A new Israeli law banning entry to foreigners who support boycotting the country came under fire Tuesday from human rights groups and the opposition, who called it “thought control” harmful to Israel’s international standing. The approval of the law late Monday was defended by government ministers and supporters as a necessary response to the movement … Read more
A Palestinian was killed Sunday night in an exchange of fire with Israeli troops in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Israeli army said. The man, who was wanted and whose name was not given, opened fire at soldiers who came to arrest him at his home, where two weapons were later found, an … Read more
A report severely criticising Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership in the 2014 Gaza war may weaken the self-styled “Mr Security”, analysts say. The state inquiry published Tuesday attacked Netanyahu’s governing style throughout the war in which 68 Israeli soldiers died, prompting opposition figures to demand his resignation. Netanyahu lashed out at the report, accusing … Read more
An Israeli state inquiry accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top army brass Tuesday of being unprepared for the strategic threat of tunnels used by Hamas militants during the 2014 Gaza war. The findings of the two-year inquiry sparked a frenzy among Israel’s political establishment prior to their official release Tuesday, with critics of Netanyahu … Read more
Palestinian local elections scheduled for May will take place in the West Bank only and not in Gaza, the government announced Tuesday, scuppering hopes of the first vote in both territories in a decade. The Palestinian Authority, run by president Mahmud Abbas’s Fatah party, sits in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, while the Islamist … Read more
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on the defensive ahead of a report Tuesday expected to criticise him and military leaders for insufficiently preparing for attack tunnels in the 2014 Gaza war. The findings of a two-year inquiry by state comptroller Yosef Shapira are widely expected to fault Netanyahu, then-defence minister Moshe Yaalon and former … Read more
An Israeli Jew was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Monday for stabbing another Jew he thought was an Arab in a racially motivated revenge attack, a court said. The Haifa District Court ruling said Shlomo Haim Pinto, a 32-year-old resident of Kiryat Ata in northern Israel, had on October 13, 2015 set out … Read more
Israeli aircraft hit targets in the Gaza Strip on Monday, hours after a rocket fired from the Palestinian territory slammed into southern Israel. “Three bombs were dropped by the air force on a Hamas military base east of Nusseirat refugee camp,” south of Gaza city, a Palestinian security source said. The planes also made two … Read more