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☆ Israeli soldiers struggle to square political views with the realities of war
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Ivana Kottasová | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

Netanyahu’s government is the most right-wing in Israel’s history, rejecting the idea of a Palestinian state and supporting Jewish settlements inside the West Bank. His political views are sometimes difficult to square with the realities of being a soldier, fighting on behalf of a government he doesn’t support. We enter Ramallah, we neutralize the threat.”Some of Netanyahu’s coalition partners are going a step further, proposing to build Jewish settlements in Gaza. The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is already a major fault line within Israeli society and in the country’s diplomatic relationships. The idea of building settlements in Gaza has alarmed Israel’s allies, with the United States’ top diplomat rebuking the plans.

Persons: CNN — Amos Shani Atzmon, Israel, …, ”, Atzmon, “, Benjamin Netanyahu, he’s, “ I’m, Nir Oz, Kfar, Netanyahu, Amos Shani Atzmon, Ivana Kottasová, Emmanuel, Netanyuahu, ” Emmanuel, Israel’s, rebuking, –, Mendel, we’re, Churchill, Roosevelt, There’s, ” Mendel Organizations: CNN, Israel Defence Forces, Hamas, Health Ministry, UN, Court of Justice, West Bank, United, United Nations, Israel, IDF Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Be’eri, Kfar Azza, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, Ramallah, United States, South Africa, An, Long, Europe

☆ Who are Israeli settlers and why are they so controversial?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Abbas Allawati | Abbas Al Lawati | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

On Thursday, the State Department announced the first round of sanctions targeting Israeli settlers accused of perpetrating violence in the West Bank. There are more than 450,000 Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank. Settlers in the West Bank fall under Israeli civilian rule and have their own road and transportation networks, while Palestinian residents fall under Israeli military rule, are forced to go through Israeli military checkpoints, and are largely barred from entering Jewish settlements. And in Area C, which is 60% of the West Bank, Israel retains full security and administrative control. The report rejected the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the West Bank, arguing that the West Bank was never a legitimate part of any Arab state.

Persons: Biden, Israel, Israel’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ronaldo Schemidt, –, Netanyahu Organizations: CNN, State Department, West Bank, White, Israeli, Getty, The West Bank, Oslo Accords, Bank, West, West Bank . Settlers, Palestinian Authority, Israel, Geneva Convention, United Nations Security, Fourth, Fourth Geneva Convention Locations: Israel, Palestinian, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Huwara, Nablus, AFP, West, Jordan, Sinai, Egypt, Syria, Oslo, Hebron, West Bank, Oslo Accords, Ramallah, United States, Fourth Geneva, Judea, Samaria

☆ Fact Check: Video showing armory predates November 2023 attack on Al Shifa hospital
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video showing a room in the occupied West Bank stocked with firearms, army fatigues and other military equipment dates to at least August 2023 and is unrelated to the November attack by the Israeli army on Al Shifa hospital in Gaza. The clip, captioned, “Israel defense forces found a complete ARMORY inside the Al Shifa hospital in Gaza. #Israel #IStandWithIsrael” was shared on Facebook (archived) amid a military blockade by Israeli troops around Shifa before they eventually entered the building on Nov. 15, 2023. The video also circulated on messaging platform X (archived), formerly Twitter, with a caption saying that it shows the Shifa hospital. The video dates to at least August 2023 and was filmed in the West Bank, not Gaza.

Persons: Al, IStandWithIsrael ”, Hanan Amiur, “, ”, Amiur, Read Organizations: West Bank, Facebook, Oslo Accords, ” Reuters, Reuters, Central Unit, IDF, Border Police, Israeli Police, Thomson Locations: Al Shifa, Gaza, Israel, Shifa, Ramallah, Oslo, Gaza’s, Judea, Samaria, Beitunia

☆ Was Peace Ever Possible?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Moderated Emily Bazelon | A Discussion Moderated Emily Bazelon | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +45 min

This was known as the Oslo peace process, named for the city where the secret talks took place. Micha Bar-Am/Magnum Photos Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir of Israel during the the Middle East peace conference in Madrid, 1991. Margalit: All the Israeli leaders who negotiated for peace, starting with Rabin, were in a weak political position. Dajani: With the First Intifada, and then subsequently Madrid and Oslo, Palestinians suddenly see the possibility of agency. But what’s important to understand is that the notion of peace for Rabin, and for most Israelis, is that peace is a lack of violence from the other side.

Persons: Jordan, Israel, Yasir Arafat, Bernard Frye, Arafat, Larry Towell, Abbas, Micha, Yitzhak Shamir, Jerome Delay, Saddam, Hussein, George H.W, Bush, James A, Baker III, Baker, Shamir, Yitzhak Rabin, Rabin, Shimon Peres, —, Margalit, Saddam Hussein, Hosni Mubarak of, King Hussein of Jordan, Bill Clinton, Gary Hershon, Abu Alaa, “, ” Rabin, ” Arafat, ”, Ashrawi, Yehuda, Efraim, Susan Meiselas, Baruch Goldstein, Patrick Baz, Daoud Mizrahi, Gilles Peress, Goldstein, Matti Steinberg, Netanyahu, Bazelon, Clinton, Shikaki, Manal Jamal, didn’t, Dennis Ross, Omar, Camp David, Ehud Barak, Md, Ralph Alswang, Christopher Anderson, Motasm Amir, Barak didn’t, Barak, David, Dajani, Emily, Arafat —, Ross, Mary, Nobody, Arafat didn’t, Hosni Mubarak, Mubarak, El, there’s, There’s, Robert Malley, Hussein Agha, ” Barak, Sharon, It’s, Yarden Romann, Peter van Agtmael, Khan Younis, Yousef Masoud, Khan, Ahmad Hasaballah, Ziv Koren, they’re, Dan, Avishai, Omar Dajani, Taba, Dana El Kurd, Efraim Inbar, ‘ ‘ Rabin, ’ ’, Daniel Kurtzer, Avishai Margalit, George Kennan, Van, Khalil Shikaki, Limor Yehuda, Emily Bazelon, Nabil Ismail, Pascal, Said, Ulf Andersen, Getty, Menahem Kahana, Abdel, Shafi, Maggie Ohayon, Yigal Amir, Yoav Lemmer, Jack Guez, Olmert, Moshe Milner, Ami, Dani Cardona, Awad Awad, Obama, Ben Gershom Organizations: United Nations, West Bank, Associated, Palestine Liberation Organization, U.S, Soviet Union, Palestinian, Madrid didn’t, Bank, White, Agence France, Presse, Getty Images, Oslo Accord, White House, Reuters, Israel’s Labor Party government, Bazelon, Oslo Palestinian, Getty, West, Shin, Gross, . Security, Camp, Camp David Summit, Labor Party, NPR, American, New York Times, Polaris, Labor, United, McGeorge School of Law, University of the, Israel, Camp David, University of Richmond, Arab Center Washington, Jerusalem Institute for Strategy, Security, Shalem College, Bar, Ilan University, Sadat Center, Strategic Studies, Israel’s National Security, Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute for, Princeton, Israel Academy of Sciences, Humanities, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, Palestinian Center, Policy, Research, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, Gaza, Hebrew University, Haifa University, Human, The New York Times Magazine, Mount Locations: Israel, Jordan, Gaza, Egypt, Jerusalem, Zion, Munich, Tunisia, Oslo, American, Oslo Gaza, Palestine, Madrid, Kuwait, United States, Soviet, Lebanon, Syria, Jordanian, America, Washington, U.S, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, U.N, Independence, Palestinian, Sudan, Libya, Yemen, Iraq, Rafah, Hebron, Ibrahimi, West Bank, Judea, Samaria, Yehuda, Camp David, Jenin, Haram, Al Aqsa, Khan, Kfar Aza, Khan Younis, Ahmad, Old, Ireland, Bosnia, Tel Aviv, Iran, Athens, El, Camp, Israeli, Van Leer, Ramallah

☆ Israelis are arming up in the aftermath of Hamas’ attack. Some are worried it is playing to the far right’s vision for the country
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Tara John | Adi Koplewitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

“We saw this in the first days of the war, wherever there were weapons, the scale of the disaster was smaller,” Ben Gvir said in a press release. Critics see it as part of a far-right vision to inflame Israeli-Palestinian relations in the country, especially in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Some in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, such as Ben Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, support annexing the West Bank. When CNN asked Ben Gvir at the Caesarea event last week whether his actions were inciting violence against Palestinians, CNN was kicked out of the ceremony. He adds that arming people like that “is only showing what he (Ben Gvir) is trying to cause, which is chaos.”CNN has reached out to Eliasi for comment.

Persons: Itamar Ben Gvir, ’, “, Ben Gvir, ” Ben Gvir’s, Mariam Barghouti, Ben Gvir’s, , ”, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Bezalel Smotrich, we’re, we’ll, Itamar Ben, Gvir, William Bonnett, Amichay Eliyahu, Ben, Eliyahu, Roy Malkan, ” Malkan, Yoav Eliasi, Ori Givati, Guy Ben, Israel’s Ben, ” Ben, Porat, Liat Eisner, We’re, Eisner, she’s, Netanyahu’s, I’m Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Ministry of National Security, West Bank, Power, New York Times, “, Jewish Power, CNN, Palestinian Ministry of Health, The United Nations, Israeli National Security, Israel Defense Forces, Heritage, ”, ” CNN, Reuters, Survey, Israel’s, Gurion University, ” Protesters, Ben, ” Security Locations: Caesarea, Jerusalem, Israel, Judea, Samaria, Palestinian, East Jerusalem, Abdelathim, Qusra, Nablus, Judaea, ”, Ben Gvir’s, Gaza, Tel Aviv, Swiss

☆ Israel-Hamas War U.S. and Israel Strike Militias Tied to Iran in Reminder of Risks in Mideast
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( Andrés R. Martínez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

“We need to see the following two things,” Mr. Netanyahu told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Gaza has to be demilitarized and Gaza has to be de-radicalized. He said that Israel must maintain security control there “for as long as necessary” and have the ability to enter Gaza at will to deal with perceived threats there. More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gazan health officials. “The massacre of Oct. 7 proved once and for all that in every place that Israel does not have security control, terrorism entrenches itself,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Saturday. Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has been prosecuting the war amid plummeting approval ratings.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, Mr, Netanyahu, NBC’s “, ”, “, ” Mr, Netanyahu’s, Biden, Antony J, Blinken, António Guterres, CNN’s “ Fareed Zakaria, Israel’s, Mahmoud Abbas, forthrightly, Israel —, Abbas, ” Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abu Rudeineh, Wafa Organizations: Israeli Army, Palestinian, Press, Palestinian Authority, Israeli, West Bank, United Nations, “, West Locations: Gaza, Israel, Palestinian, Qatar, Samaria, ”, West Bank, East Jerusalem

☆ Netanyahu says he sees no role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, for now.
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Isabel Kershner | More About Isabel Kershner | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

“We need to see the following two things,” Mr. Netanyahu told NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Gaza has to be demilitarized and Gaza has to be de-radicalized. His remarks appeared to be somewhat at odds with the Biden administration, which last week made it clear that there should be no Israeli “re-occupation” of Gaza. More than 11,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, according to Gazan health officials. “The massacre of Oct. 7 proved once and for all that in every place that Israel does not have security control, terrorism entrenches itself,” Mr. Netanyahu said on Saturday. Mr. Netanyahu, a conservative and Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, has been prosecuting the war amid plummeting approval ratings.

☆ Opinion | Violence by West Bank Settlers Cannot Be Ignored
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-11 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

“I continue to be alarmed about extremist settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank; pouring gasoline on fire is what it’s like,” President Biden recently said. Despite the national preoccupation with Gaza over the past month — or perhaps because of it — the zealots have kept at it. Mr. Smotrich has called for widening Palestinian no-go areas around Israeli settlements, including a ban on Palestinians harvesting olives near the settlements. In that same time, three Israeli soldiers were killed in attacks by Palestinians. Mr. Saleh was shot dead, the seventh Palestinian to be killed by settlers since Oct. 7.

Persons: Biden, “, Netanyahu, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Smotrich, Ben, Bilal Mohammad Saleh, Saleh Organizations: West Bank, ”, Hamas, United Nations Office, Humanitarian Affairs, The Times Locations: Israel, West Bank, Judea, Samaria, Gaza, Palestinian

☆ Hunted by Hamas: reconstructing the attack on Israel’s Kibbutz Be’eri
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

Rescue missionIt was around 4 p.m. when Menachem Klemenson got a four-word WhatsApp message from his brother Elhanan: “Packing, going down south,” it read. As the Klemensons and their nephew drove around extracting families, kibbutz residents jumped out of their hiding places. I am a father.”In the girl’s case, as with the bodies of other kibbutz residents the trio found, they did not know their identities, nor was Reuters able to identify them. “Either you leave the dog or I shoot it,” Menachem recalls his brother Elhanan saying. Politicians and the military had violated a fundamental compact with the residents of Be’eri, said kibbutz secretary Pauker.

Persons: Menachem Klemenson, Elhanan, Itiel Zohar, Menachem, He’d, ” Menachem, “, ”, Itah, ” Itah, ‘, he’d, ” Elhanan, Nephew Itiel, Solvy, Ella Ben Ami, Gazans, Pauker, ” Pauker Organizations: West Bank –, Google, Reuters, ” Reuters, Hamas, IDF Locations: Otniel, Judea, Samaria, Be’eri, Gaza, Vineyard

☆ Israel's defence and finance ministers clash over Palestinian tax payout
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Nov 1 (Reuters) - Israel's defence and finance ministers clashed on Wednesday over whether some West Bank tax revenues should be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, underlining the tensions straining the government as Israeli forces push on with the war in Gaza. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant called for tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinians in parts of the West Bank under direct Israeli control, to be disbursed without delay. "I think it is only appropriate to uphold the decision of the cabinet as decided several days ago," he said. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, whose hardline religious nationalist party has strong support among Jewish settlers in the West Bank responded that Gallant was making a "serious mistake" in demanding the release of the funds. "I do not intend to let the State of Israel finance our enemies in Judea and Samaria who support the terrorism of Hamas and finance the 7/10 terrorists who murdered and massacred us," he said in a statement.

Persons: Yoav Gallant, Gallant, Bezalel Smotrich, Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu, James Mackenzie, Steve Scheer, Sandra Maler Organizations: West Bank, Palestinian, Gaza ., Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, Judea, Samaria

CNN —A Hamas spokesman is reportedly among more than 60 members of the militant organization that Israel arrested in overnight raids across the West Bank, the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territory that is increasingly feeling the impact of the fighting in Gaza. Hassan Yousef, a leading Palestinian political figure who served as the official Hamas spokesperson in the West Bank, was arrested in his home, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, an NGO representing Palestinian detainees. “Occupation forces arrested Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef from his home in Beitunia, as part of a wide-scale arrest campaign in the occupation (sic) West Bank,” the Palestinian Prisoners Club statement reads. Three Palestinians were shot dead in clashes with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health. Israel views the West Bank as “disputed territory,” and contends its settlement policy is legal.

Persons: CNN —, Israel, Hassan Yousef, Sheikh Hassan Yousef, Yousef, Hassan Yousef’s, ”, Mustafa Barghouti, ” Barghouti, “ They’re, they’re, They’re Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Palestinian Prisoners Club, Bank, Palestinian, Israel Defense Forces, Palestinian Prisoners, Palestinian National Initiative, Hamas, Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health Locations: Gaza, Beitunia, Jerusalem, Globe, Judea, Samaria, Israel, Jordan

Family members told CNN that the men were transferred to a nearby hospital and died of their wounds soon after. Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in the West Bank, where Palestinians have been killed in confrontations with both Israeli forces and settlers. “Anyone who challenges us in Judea and Samaria will be met with huge force,” Hagari said, using the Jewish biblical names for the West Bank. Abdulrahman, 12, lost his father seven years ago when he was shot dead by Israeli settlers near Nablus. Aseel Wadi's father and brother were killed by Israeli settlers as they drove to a funeral for Palestinians killed in their West Bank community.

Persons: CNN — Ibrahim Wadi, Ahmad, Hani Odeh, Ibrahim, Odeh, Daniel Hagari, “, ” Hagari, Israel, Abu Raidi, Obaida Abu Srour, Hassan Muhannad, Moath Odesa, Abdulrahman, Rabeea, ” They’ve, Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, Itamar Ben Gvir, Bezalel Smotrich, Joe Biden, Mahmoud Abbas, Ibrahim Wadi, CNN's Becky Anderson, –, Ibrahim’s, Khitam, Aseel, CNN “, We’ve, ” Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Hamas, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Bank, United Nations, IDF, West Bank ., National, Finance, Palestinian Locations: Qusra, Nablus, Israel, Gaza, Qusra's, Qusra’s, Territories, Brig, Judea, Samaria, Odeh, Jordan, West Bank, Palestinian

☆ Analyst: Israel’s costly misunderstanding of Hamas’ true aims
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Peter Bergen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +32 min

Bergen: How does Hamas impact the more secular Palestinian Authority, which controlled Gaza until 2007 before Hamas violently pushed them aside? They don’t have any other aims like Hamas because Hamas is a religious, social, political movement and terror organization at the same time. Yousef Masoud/The New York Times/Redux Smoke rises after Israeli strikes on the seaport of Gaza City on Tuesday, October 10. Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times/Redux Palestinians walk amid the rubble following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City on October 10. Erik Marmor/AP Six-month-old Sama Alwadia is rescued from the rubble in Gaza City on October 9.

Persons: Peter Bergen, ”, CNN — Kobi Michael, Michael, Kobi Michael, Mohammed Deif, Marwan Issa, He’s, he’s, Deif, Israel, They’ve, Israel doesn’t, It’ll, Hatem Ali, Antonio Macías, Macías, Francisco Seco, Fatima Shbair, Mohammed Saber, Eli Albag, Liri, Mohammed Talatene, Sergey Ponomarev, Violeta Santos Moura, Dor Kedmi, Mahmud Hams, Saher, Hatem Moussa, Abraham Cohen, Valentin Ghnassia, Ghnassia, Alexi J . Rosenfeld, Yuri Cortez, Yousef Masoud, Ibrahim Hams, Bashar Taleb, Baz Ratner, Jack Guez, Khan, Abed Rahim Khatib, Yahya Hassouna, Mapal Adam, Abed Zagout, Tamir Kalifa, Agha, Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, Reuters Itzik, Miriam Shafir, Dor Shafir, Savion Kiper, Maya Alleruzzo, Mohammed Salem, CNN Sergey Ponomarev, Mohammed Abed, Eden Guez, Atef Safadi, Ohad, Mohammed Soboh, Said, Noam Elimeleh Rothenberg, Belal Khaled, Samar Abu, Amir Cohen, Ilai Bar Sade, Erik Marmor, Ali Jadallah, Oren Ziv, Ronen Zvulun, Majdi, Ilia Yefimovich, Ramez Mahmoud, Roi Levy, Alleruzzo, Tali Touito, Jalaa Marey, Oded, Khan Younis, Ahmad Hasballah, Mohammed Fayq Abu Mostafa, Tsafrir, Ahmad Gharabli, Mustafa Hassona, Ilan Rosenberg, Eyad Baba, Itai Ron, Hadas Parush, Yasser Arafat’s, David, Bill Clinton Organizations: New, Arizona State University, Apple, Spotify, CNN, Peter Bergen CNN, Tel, for National Security Studies, Palestinian, National Security Council, Ministry of Strategic Affairs, Hamas, Qassam, Israel, West Bank, Palestinian Authority, PLO, Israel Defense Forces, Gaza, Haim, AP, New York Times, Reuters, Getty, Aris Messinis, Mount, Mount Herzl Military, Nova, Anadolu Agency, Nova Festival, Ben Gurion, Shifa, Rockets, Israel's, United Nations, Reuters Police, Reuters Rockets, US Locations: New America, Gaza, Lebanon, Israel, Tel Aviv, Bergen, Iran, Qatar, Egypt, You’re, Palestinian, Jihad, Hamas, Gaza City, Rafah, Kfar Saba, Al, Israeli, Be'eri, Rehovot, AFP, Mount Herzl, Jerusalem, Kibbutz Be'eri, Sderot, Khan Younis, Modiin Maccabim, Kfar Aza, Ashkelon, Mount Herzel, Samar, Samar Abu Elouf, Yassin, Beitar Ilit, Ramat Gan, Kiryat Shmona, Itai, Beit Hanun, Rishon Lezion, Samaria, Saudi Arabia, United States of America

REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta Acquire Licensing RightsRAMALLAH, West Bank, Oct 11 (Reuters) - As Israel declared war on Hamas and pounded Gaza following Saturday's devastating attack by the Islamist movement, violence has risen in the occupied West Bank, risking escalation after more than a year of continuous flare-ups. The Israeli military has said it is prepared for an escalation in the West Bank and its forces have been on high alert, carrying out arrests and thwarting possible attacks. By Wednesday, military checkpoints remained closed and roads in several parts of the West Bank were blocked with mounds of dirt, restricting movement. With uncertainty growing around who will replace the PA's unpopular octogenarian president, Hamas has been making efforts to expand its influence in the West Bank. Violence in the West Bank had already been surging, with stepped up Israeli military raids, settler assaults on Palestinian towns and a spate of Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis.

Persons: Odeh, Raneen, Israel, Daniel Hagari, Fatah, Mohammad Shtayyeh, Mahmoud Abbas, Nick Macfie Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, Palestinian Foreign Ministry, Palestinian Authority, Palestinian, UN, Thomson Locations: Nablus, RAMALLAH, West, Gaza, Qusra, West Bank, Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem, U.S, ISRAEL, Israel, Palestinian, Jerusalem

☆ Opinion | Three Questions Biden Should Ask Netanyahu at Wednesday’s Meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-19 | by ( Thomas L. Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

This is the shortest column I’ve ever written — because it doesn’t take long to get things in focus:President Biden, you are meeting Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, for the first time since he returned to office in December. I hope you won’t proceed without getting satisfactory answers from Netanyahu on three key questions — so we know just what Israel, and just which Bibi, we’re dealing with:1. Do you intend to annex the West Bank, or will you negotiate its future disposition with the Palestinians? Iran, meanwhile, moved in with a diplomatic offensive, patching up its ties with all your Arab neighbors and eating your lunch. Prime Minister, the Saudis are ready to do something hard — normalize relations with Israel.

Persons: Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, He’s, Netanyahu, Bibi, Iran’s, you’re Organizations: West Bank, Trump Locations: Saudi Arabia, United States, Judea, Samaria, ”, Israel, United Nations, Washington, Europe, Iran

☆ Israel PM adviser says road to deal on Saudi ties is 'still long'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

JERUSALEM, July 31 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser on Monday said the road to normalising ties with Saudi Arabia was "still long" while members of his hard-right cabinet ruled out concessions to Palestinians as part of any deal. U.S. President Joe Biden last week dispatched his national security adviser to Riyadh to discuss a possible deal, and on Friday said a rapprochement was "maybe under way". PALESTINIAN CONCESSIONSThe idea of Israel and Saudi Arabia formally cementing ties has been under discussion since the Saudis gave their quiet assent to Gulf neighbours United Arab Emirates and Bahrain establishing ties with Israel in 2020. "We certainly won't agree to such a thing," National Missions Minister Orit Strock told Kan."We are done with withdrawals. Her remarks were echoed by the head of another government member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir who heads the far-right Jewish Power party.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu's, Netanyahu, Joe Biden, Tzachi Hanegbi, Eli Cohen, Minister Orit Strock, Kan, Strock, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Cohen, Maayan Lubell, Ari Rabinovitch, Henriette Chacar, Conor Humphries, Grant McCool Organizations: Monday, U.S, United, Kan, U.S ., Israel, National, Minister, West Bank, Jewish, Army Radio, Authority, Netanyahu's, Thomson Locations: Saudi Arabia, U.S, Riyadh, Israel, Saudi, Gulf, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Judea, Samaria, East Jerusalem, Gaza

They undermine law and order in Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and must stop immediately,” he said at a cabinet meeting on Sunday. These calls hurt the vital interests of the State of Israel and they must stop immediately.”Israeli authorities describe the West Bank as Judea and Samaria. I emphasize – approved.”The recent uptick in violence peaked on Wednesday, when Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian village of Turmusayya in the occupied West Bank, the day after the killing of four Jewish settlers nearby, according to the mayor of the village. ‘Nationalist terrorism’Senior Israeli security officials condemned what they called “nationalist terrorism” by some settlers, after the latest attacks took place on Saturday around the Palestinian village of Umm Safr, north of Ramallah. Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, the head of the European Union's mission to the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, stands inside a destroyed structure in Ramallah on Friday.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Netanyahu, “, ”, ’, Herzi Halevi, Yaakov Shabtai, Umm, Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, Ahmad Gharabli, ” Ghassan Douglas, Mohammad Radee Organizations: Jerusalem CNN, Israeli, West Bank, West, UN, Palestinian, Nationalist, Israeli General Staff, Israel Security Agency, ISA, Israel’s Police, Israel Police, Getty, Palestine TV, CNN, Palestine, Palestinian Foreign Ministry Locations: Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, West, Israel, West Bank, Turmusayya, Jenin, Umm Safr, Ramallah, “, Gaza, AFP

☆ Israel set to approve thousands of building permits in West Bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, June 18 (Reuters) - Israel's nationalist-religious government on Sunday tabled plans to approve thousands of building permits in the occupied West Bank, despite U.S. pressure to halt settlement expansion that Washington sees as an obstacle to peace with Palestinians. "We will continue to develop the settlement of and strengthen the Israeli hold on the territory," said Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also holds a defence portfolio that gives him a leading role in West Bank administration. Palestinians seek to establish an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as their capital. Since entering office in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition has approved the promotion of more than 7,000 new housing units, most deep in the West Bank. In response to Sunday's Israeli decision, the Palestinian Authority - which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the West Bank - said it would boycott a meeting of the Joint Economic Committee with Israel scheduled for Monday.

Persons: Bezalel Smotrich, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Shlomo Ne'eman, Emily Rose, Nidal, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: West Bank, Washington, Planning, West, United, Palestinian Authority, Israel, Hamas, Gush, Gush Etzion Regional Council, Yesha, Thomson Locations: West Bank, Israel, Gaza, East Jerusalem, United States, Palestinian, Judea, Samaria, Jordan, Gush Etzion, Jerusalem

☆ Huwara: The settler attack on this West Bank town was called a 'pogrom' by Israel's military. Videos show soldiers did little to stop it
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Gianluca Mezzofiore Celine Alkhaldi Abeer Salman Nima Elbagir | Gianluca Mezzofiore | Celine Alkhaldi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +22 min

Smoke rises over Huwara after Israeli settlers rampaged through the town, setting fire to homes, businesses and cars. Videos chronolocated at 8:25 p.m. show fire trucks and ambulances being stopped by Israeli soldiers at the roundabout leading to Huwara’s main street. Soon after, they returned with a group of Israeli soldiers in tow, Abdalmenem said. Israeli soldiers are now on permanent patrol of the town, periodically closing roads and forcing shops to shutter, according to residents, who said it is impacting their livelihoods. A man inspects the damage to a restaurant following a reported attack by Israeli settlers in Huwara on March 28.

Persons: ”, Herzi Halevi, “, Bezalel Smotrich, Nawal Dumeidi, Eyal Warshavsky, Hillel Menachem Yaniv, Ya’acov, Hillel, Yagel, Ilia Yefimovich, Kfar Tapuach, FakeReporter, Limor Son, —, Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma, Zvi Sukkot, Gil Cohen, Achiya Schatz, Huwara, Ronen Zvulun, ” Schatz, Hisham K, Abu Shaqra, Ziad Dumaidi, Dumaidi, Hana Abu Saris, Ronaldo Schemidt, ” Dumeidi, Sameh, Abdalmenem, Aqtash, Benjamin Netanyahu, Jaafar Ashtiyeh, won’t, Tzvi, Sukkot’s, Gabòr Friesen, Chris Osieck, ” Dumaidi, What’s Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Israel Defense Forces, IDF, Israel Border Police, Zionism, Magen, Getty, Reuters, Anadolu Agency, Palestine, Palestinian Civil Defense, Red Crescent Society, Israeli, United Nations, Twitter, “ Locations: Huwara, ”, Har Bracha, Nablus, Palestinian, Yitzhar, Samaria, ” Israel, Judea, Tapuach, Jerusalem, AFP, Israel, WhatsApp, “, Dubai, Za’tara, Kfar Tapuach, West

☆ Israeli forces kill Palestinian officer in clashes, WAFA says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Israeli settlers walk past structures that were erected for a new Jewish seminary school, in the settler outpost of Homesh in the Israeli-occupied West Bank May 29, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunJENIN, West Bank, May 29 (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed a Palestinian security officer during clashes in the occupied West Bank flashpoint city of Jenin on Monday, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said. In another part of the West Bank on Monday, Jewish settlers inaugurated a seminary in an area that has been a focus of U.S. scrutiny, drawing Palestinian condemnation. "With God's help ... there will be many more new settlements in northern Samaria," he said, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name. "Statements of condemnation are no longer enough in the face of the (Israeli) extremist right-wing government," said his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh.

☆ Israel says no plan for new settlements in West Bank area evacuated in 2005
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

JERUSALEM, March 22 (Reuters) - Israel sought on Wednesday to calm international concern over its amending of a law that had ordered the 2005 evacuation of settlers from an area of the occupied West Bank, saying it had no intention of building new settlements there. Tuesday's repeal in parliament of elements of the "disengagement law" would in principle allow Israelis to return to the four evacuated settlements in the northern West Bank on condition of approval by the military. That drew protests from the Palestinians, who seek statehood in the West Bank, as well as from Western powers that have been closely watching the impact on long-stalled peace-making of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-right coalition government. Most countries deem the settlements illegal for taking up land which Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war. Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Toby Chopra and Emelia Sithole-MatariseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At remote desert outpost, Israeli settlers triumphant despite Western anger
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Ronen Zvulun | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] An aerial view shows a cluster of mobile homes in Beit Hogla, a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 15, 2023. REUTERS/Ronen ZvulunBEIT HOGLA SETTLEMENT, West Bank, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Between Jericho and the Dead Sea, Israeli settlers rejoice after the government granted their outpost retroactive approval. Drawing Western concern and Palestinian anger, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government authorised nine settler outposts in the occupied West Bank this week, in response to two Palestinian street attacks in which nine Israelis were killed. Israel disputes the illegality of the settlements and cites Biblical and historical ties to the West Bank, which it calls by its Biblical name - Judea and Samaria. More than 450,000 people, or less than 5% of Israel’s population, are Jewish settlers in the West Bank, home to about 3 million Palestinians who exercise limited self-rule there.

☆ Israel's Netanyahu pledges more action against Palestinian attackers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

JERUSALEM, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday promised a stronger Israeli response in dealing with a spate of Palestinian attacks in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, as pressure swelled within his right-wing government to employ more severe tactics. Tensions are also high in the West Bank, where Israeli forces have carried out hundreds of arrests in recent months during near-daily raids that have seen bloody gunbattles with Palestinian militants. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu's far-right national security minister, said however that police had already begun a major enforcement campaign in East Jerusalem that would include measures from handing out traffic tickets to demolishing houses of Palestinian attackers. Speaking in Cairo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinians were facing a "lethal assault," and repeated a pledge to pursue action against Israel before the United Nations and International Criminal Court. Reporting by Ari Rabinovitch Additional reporting by Ali Sawafta Editing by Frances KerryOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Israeli army reinforces in West Bank after synagogue shooting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Maayan Lubell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Friday night's shooting came a day after the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in years and cross-border fire between Israel and Gaza that heightened fears of a spiral in bloodshed. On Saturday, the Israeli ambulance service said two people were hurt in what appeared to be another shooting attack. "Following an IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) situational assessment, it was decided to reinforce the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Division with an additional battalion," the military said. It came days before a planned visit by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel and the West Bank. Violence in the West Bank surged after a spate of lethal attacks in Israel last year.

☆ Israeli military boosting forces in West Bank, spokesperson says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

JERUSALEM, Jan 28 (Reuters) - The Israeli military said on Saturday it was boosting forces in the occupied West Bank, a day after a Palestinian gunman shot seven people dead near a synagogue on the outskirts of Jerusalem. "Following an IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) situational assessment, it was decided to reinforce the Judea and Samaria (West Bank) Division with an additional battalion," the military said. Reporting by Maayan LubellOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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