UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Friday that an attack that killed two Israeli police officers in Jerusalem could ignite more violence and said all sides must avoid escalation. Three attackers opened fire near the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, killing the officers, and the police immediately shot them dead in one of … Read more
Two Israeli police officers shot when Arab assailants opened fire in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday have died from their wounds, authorities said. Police confirmed the deaths, with the three Arab Israeli attackers also shot dead by security forces after fleeing to an ultra-sensitive holy site in Jerusalem’s Old City. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said … Read more
Three assailants opened fire on Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday before fleeing to a nearby highly sensitive holy site and being killed by security forces, police said. Three people were wounded in the attack, two of them critically, police said. The incident was among the most serious in recent years in Jerusalem … Read more
Three assailants opened fire on Israeli police in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday before fleeing to a nearby highly sensitive holy site and being killed by security forces, police said. A number of people were wounded in the attack, police said. The attackers had fled to the site known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif … Read more
Israeli ministers have frozen a plan to allow for the construction of thousands of Palestinian homes in a West Bank city, a statement said Thursday, a move that followed Israeli settlers’ objections. Israel’s security cabinet took the decision in a meeting Wednesday, the statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, despite ministers having previously … Read more
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace envoy said Thursday Israel would supply the Palestinians with millions of cubic metres of water annually, as Washington seeks to build confidence for fresh negotiations. Jason Greenblatt hailed an “important step forward” in a wider regional water deal, as Israel announced it would provide more than 32 million … Read more
International pressure on the Palestinian Authority to halt payments to the families of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including those convicted of attacks, could trigger political crisis, rights groups say. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is caught between pressure from US President Donald Trump’s administration and a potential backlash from Palestinians, most of whom view their … Read more
A Palestinian man was shot dead during clashes with the Israeli army in the northern West Bank Jenin refugee camp early Wednesday, Palestinian medical and security sources said. Two other Palestinians were also wounded in the incident, one of them seriously, the sources said. The Israeli army said that soldiers shot toward “attackers” after “Palestinian … Read more
The Gaza Strip may already be “unlivable”, a United Nations official warned Tuesday, after a decade of Hamas rule and a crippling Israeli blockade. Robert Piper, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the Palestinian territories, told AFP in an interview to mark a new report on living conditions in Gaza all the “indicators are going … Read more
Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz made a rare appearance by a high-ranking Israeli official in the occupied West Bank on Monday to sign an agreement on electricity with the Palestinian Authority. Steinitz attended the ceremony in Jalamah near the northern West Bank city of Jenin alongside Palestinian prime minister Rami Hamdallah. They announced a boost in … Read more
Power supplies haven taken a fresh hit in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, with authorities Saturday accusing the rival Palestinian Authority of blocking fuel payments to Egypt from going through banks. The electricity authority said two of the three generators at Gaza’s only power plant were offline because “the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah stopped all the … Read more
Israel will lift a two-year-old ban preventing politicians visiting a Jerusalem holy site for five days later this month, following a legal challenge, the government said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu imposed the ban in October 2015, instructing police to bar ministers and lawmakers from visiting the site known to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif and Jews … Read more
A senior Palestinian official on Wednesday blasted US President Donald Trump’s United Nations envoy, accusing her of carrying out a “crusade” against the Palestinian people. Hanan Ashrawi, an senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said Nikki Haley was leading a “one-woman crusade … against Palestine and the Palestinian people individually and collectively.” “Through an … Read more
Gaza’s rulers Hamas said they had begun building a new buffer zone along the southern border with Egypt on Wednesday, as the Islamist movement seeks to improve ties with Cairo. The 100-metre wide “safe area”, stretching 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) along the border between the Palestinian enclave and Egypt, will be equipped with surveillance cameras … Read more
Hamas on Tuesday accused the Palestinian Authority and Israel of refusing to grant documents to Gazans in need of permission to seek medical treatment outside the blockaded coastal enclave. The accusation came with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas allegedly seeking to pressure his rivals Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, through a series … Read more
The Gaza Strip’s sole power station has been fired up again, the energy authority in the Palestinian enclave said Thursday, after fuel supplies from Egypt helped to ease an energy crisis. The announcement came after Egypt delivered a million litres of fuel to the station on Wednesday, three days after Israel began cutting electricity supplies … Read more
Israel’s defence minister on Thursday accused Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas of trying to spark a fresh conflict between the Jewish state and Abbas’s longtime rivals Hamas. Avigdor Lieberman said Abbas, head of the secular Fatah movement that rules the occupied West Bank, was trying to increase tensions by cutting payments for electricity and other services … Read more
A Palestinian attempted to stab Israeli soldiers in the occupied West Bank Tuesday before being shot dead, the army said. A military statement said that the incident occurred near Qalandia, north of Jerusalem. “An assailant armed with a knife attempted to stab (Israeli) forces operating on a road,” it said. “Forces fired towards the attacker.” … Read more
Following the declaration of Gulf and Arab states to boycott Qatar, which broke out two weeks ago, and the decision to take measures against the emirate, the Palestinians decided to be neutral to avoid more losses of aligning to one side against the other. However, Palestinian observers expressed deep concern over the consequences of the … Read more
The Islamic State group on Saturday claimed responsibility for the fatal stabbing of an Israeli policewoman outside Jerusalem’s Old City. It was reported to be the first time the Islamic State group has claimed an attack in Israel. The jihadist group, in an online statement, said three IS fighters had targeted “a gathering of Jews” … Read more