Weeks of negotiations conclude with what will be the most rightwing and anti-Arab government in country’s history
Benjamin Netanyahu has informed Israel’s president that he has succeeded in forming a coalition, paving the way for the swearing in of the most rightwing and anti-Arab government in the country’s history.
“I have managed [to form a government],” Netanyahu said on Twitter, minutes before a midnight deadline set by the Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.
Continue reading...French-Palestinian human rights lawyer had been held in prison without charge since March
France has denounced Israel’s expulsion of a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer, Salah Hamouri, who had been held in prison without charge since March accused of security offences against the state and ties to a banned militant group.
“We condemn the Israeli authorities’ decision, [which is] against the law,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Paris had “clearly communicated its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory”.
Continue reading...Unilever sold business in June to local licensee but Ben & Jerry’s tried to block sale, saying it did not want to sell products in occupied West Bank
Unilever said on Thursday that its litigation with the independent board of Ben & Jerry’s over the sale of its Israeli ice cream business has “been resolved”.
The company did not provide details of how the litigation had been resolved.
Continue reading...Surge in violence either side of the ‘green line’ has led people to wonder if a third intifada is on the cards
Late on Sunday night, like almost every other night in Jenin, the fighting started. The Israeli army said it entered the occupied West Bank city to arrest three suspected Palestinian terrorists and militants responded by throwing firebombs and opening fire.
According to two members of her family, 16-year-old Jana Zakaran ventured up to the roof of her home when gunfire erupted nearby to bring her cat inside to safety. When Zakaran’s father went to look for her, he found her dead in a pool of blood, the cat by her side.
Continue reading...Network files formal request against Israel over shooting of Palestinian-American journalist in West Bank
Al Jazeera television network has filed a formal request to the international criminal court against Israeli forces over the killing of the veteran Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Abu Akleh was shot in the head during an Israeli raid in a refugee camp on the outskirts of the occupied West Bank city of Jenin in May, while wearing a helmet and flak jacket that clearly indicated she was a member of the press. Several investigations by human rights organisations, as well as international news outlets and the UN, have concluded that Abu Akleh, 51, was shot by an Israeli soldier. Her colleague Ali al-Samoudi survived after being shot in the shoulder.
Continue reading...Film offers most detailed account yet of journalist’s killing by Israeli army, including video of moments surrounding shooting
A new documentary about the Israeli army’s killing of the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is likely to increase pressure on the Biden administration to ensure that the FBI is permitted to fully investigate her death after Israel said it would not cooperate.
The documentary, Faultlines, by Abu Akleh’s employer, Al Jazeera, is the most detailed account yet of events during an Israeli raid on the West Bank city of Jenin in May.
Continue reading...Salah Hamouri expected to be deported after decision on grounds of ‘breach of allegiance’ to state
Israel has stripped a prominent Palestinian-French human rights lawyer of his Jerusalem residency and is expected to deport him to France, a legal first that sets a dangerous precedent for other Palestinians with dual nationality in the contested city.
Salah Hamouri, 37, had his Jerusalem residency revoked in October 2021 on the grounds of a “breach of allegiance” to the Israeli state, based on secret evidence. Israel alleges he is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel’s western allies.
Continue reading...Pair urge president to withdraw military support to Netanyahu’s coalition government if Palestinians are expelled or land annexed
Two former senior US diplomats have made a highly unusual call for the Biden administration to cut weapons supplies to Israel if the incoming far-right government uses them to annex Palestinian land, expel Arabs or finally kill off the diminishing possibility of a Palestinian state.
Daniel Kurtzer, a former US ambassador to Israel under George W Bush, and Aaron David Miller, a US Middle East peace negotiator during several administrations, have called for what they described as an “unprecedented and controversial” break from America’s largely unconditional military and diplomatic support for Israel if “the most extreme government in the history of the state” pursues the stated aims of some of its members.
Continue reading...Farha, debut film of Jordanian film-maker, depicts Zionist atrocities against Palestinians during Nakba conflict
A Netflix film depicting Zionist forces murdering a Palestinian family during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation has been condemned by Israeli officials as “creating a false narrative”.
Farha, the debut of the Jordanian film-maker Darin Sallam, has been shown at several film festivals around the world since its release last year, and is Jordan’s Oscars entry for 2023. It is due to begin streaming to a global audience on the online entertainment service on Thursday.
Continue reading...Democrat set to succeed Nancy Pelosi maintains ties to Aipac and others but could be challenged by critics in his own caucus
Hakeem Jeffries might be about to make history but some critics fear that on one issue, at least, he will be on the wrong side of it.
The progressive New York congressman widely expected to lead the Democrats in the US House of Representatives will be the first person of color to head either party in the chamber. Jeffries’ election as House minority leader in the new Congress in January would also see the baton pass to a new generation of Democratic leaders as the speaker, Nancy Pelosi, 82, steps aside.
Continue reading...Gourmet Fadi Kattan wants to give the UK capital an authentic taste of his homeland’s cuisine with a new restaurant venture
Akub, also known as gundelia, is an unruly plant that blossoms across the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East after the winter rains. Some believe that the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head during the crucifixion was made from this long-lasting, sweet-smelling thistle.
It is foraged everywhere, from the Kurdish highlands and Cyprus to the Sinai peninsula, for its earthy, tender stems and delicate-tasting flower buds, but is most highly prized in Palestinian cuisine. Each spring, people defy the Israeli authorities – who say the plant is in danger of overcollection – to bring as many bags of prickly akub as they can carry back to their kitchens to throw into meat stews or fry with eggs and lemon.
Continue reading...Though neither Israel nor Palestine are playing in the tournament, the latter has featured prominently in Qatar
One video shows an Egyptian football fan smiling serenely as an Israeli broadcaster introduces him live on air. Then he leans into the microphone with a message: “Viva Palestine.”
Another clip from the streets of Doha this week shows a group of Lebanese men walking away from a live interview with a reporter they have just learned is Israeli. One shouts over his shoulder: “There is no Israel. It’s Palestine.”
Continue reading...Hady Amr, held in high regard by Israeli and Palestinian diplomats, appointed to Washington-based role
Joe Biden has appointed a new special representative for Palestinian affairs, a significant upgrade in relations with Ramallah despite the fact the American diplomatic mission in Jerusalem, closed by Donald Trump in 2019, is yet to reopen.
The White House informed Congress on Tuesday that it had promoted Hady Amr, previously the deputy assistant secretary of state for Israeli-Palestinian affairs, to the newly created, Washington-based role, Axios and the Times of Israel reported.
Continue reading...Initial findings show explosions were result of nails and explosive devices left in bags at two sites, say police
A teenage boy has died and 22 people have been injured in two blasts targeting rush-hour commuters in Jerusalem, attacks that hark back to the violence of the second intifada, or Palestinian uprising.
The first explosion occurred shortly after 7am local time on Wednesday near a bus stop packed with civilians on the western outskirts of the divided city. The second blast, half an hour later near a busy junction in the Ramot settlement, north of Jerusalem, injured another five people. The child who died from his injuries in hospital was named as dual Israeli-Canadian citizen, Aryeh Schupak, 15.
Continue reading...Several more were injured as flames burst through top floor of four-storey building in Jabalia refugee camp
At least 21 people have been killed and several others injured after a fire broke out during a party in the northern Gaza Strip, in one of the deadliest recent incidents outside the violence stemming from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
It took firefighters more than an hour to gain control of the massive flames that burst through the top floor of a four-storey residential building in the densely populated Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza Strip.
Continue reading...Authorities shoot 18-year-old dead after knife and car attack in territory occupied by Israel
A Palestinian man killed two Israeli people and wounded four others in an attack at a settlement in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday before he was shot and killed by Israeli security personnel, Israeli paramedics and Palestinian officials said.
The Magen David Adom paramedic service said the two were killed in the settlement of Ariel. The four wounded were taken to hospital in a serious condition.
Continue reading...Defence minister calls investigation into Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing by Israeli army ‘interference in internal affairs’
Israel has said it will not cooperate with an FBI investigation into the killing of the Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli army.
Israel’s defence minister, Benny Gantz, denounced the inquiry as “interference in Israel’s internal affairs” and said he “made it clear to the American representatives that we stand behind the IDF [Israel defence forces] soldiers, that we will not cooperate with any external investigation”.
Continue reading...Final polls suggest deadlock, but if rightwing alliance keeps slowly gaining, scandal-plagued former PM may scrape in
With polls too close to call the day before Israel holds its fifth election in four years, even minute shifts in voter turnout could make or break the longtime prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comeback attempt, for which he has allied with rightwing extremists.
Israeli politicians were busy making their final campaign pitches on Monday, after Friday’s final pre-election polls suggested that neither Netanyahu’s rightwing religious bloc, nor the opposing centre-left bloc, would win enough seats to form a government.
Continue reading...Four Israelis and one Palestinian injured in gun attack in Hebron, say Israel's emergency services and army
A gun attack in the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron wounded five people on Saturday, including four Israelis and one Palestinian, and the assailant was shot dead, Israel’s emergency services and the army have said.
Extreme-right Israeli lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir, whose Religious Zionism alliance is eyeing major gains in elections on Tuesday, has claimed that his Hebron home was the target.
Continue reading...21 people also wounded in one of deadliest operations this year by Israeli forces in West Bank
Five Palestinians have been killed and 21 wounded in a huge raid by Israeli forces in Nablus, one of the deadliest operations so far during a year of mounting violence in the occupied West Bank.
Snipers, soldiers with shoulder-launched missiles and members of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency attacked the old city in the early hours of Tuesday, the Israeli military said, blowing up what it said was a bomb lab and killing one of the leaders of an increasingly popular Palestinian militant group in a gunfight.
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