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☆ Opinion | Words Over Deeds: Why Biden Isn’t Pressuring Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-14 | by ( Aaron David Miller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

One could be forgiven for thinking that President Biden’s tough words on the Israel-Hamas war in his State of the Union address and his MSNBC interview on Saturday was the beginning of a much more critical U.S. policy toward Israel. Nonetheless, far from presaging a major shift in policy, the president’s words and the vice president’s meeting were more likely part of the now familiar passive-aggressive approach the administration has deployed against the most extreme right-wing government in Israel’s history. But he has consistently refused to impose any serious consequences on Israel. The “I’m unhappy with Israel but won’t do much about it” policy is Mr. Biden’s policy — driven by the president’s pro-Israel sensibilities, politics and the policy choices he faces in dealing with the current war. At the same time, Mr. Biden surely knows that there are costs both at home and abroad for allowing Mr. Netanyahu to run roughshod over U.S. interests and values.

Persons: Biden’s, Kamala Harris’s, Benny Gantz, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, Netanyahu, Biden, I’m Organizations: MSNBC, West Bank, Palestinian Locations: Israel, Gaza, presaging

A top Hamas official on Wednesday appeared to raise the stakes for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, saying the militant group was ready to continue fighting and calling on Palestinians to defy Israeli restrictions and march to the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem to pray at the start of Ramadan. That creates the prospect of clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces around the mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam and a longtime flashpoint in relations with Israel. Israel has restricted access to the Aqsa mosque for West Bank Palestinians, and it has severely limited movement within the West Bank since the start of the war in Gaza. Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, declined on Wednesday to comment on Mr. Haniyeh’s call for a march to the mosque, which is part of a 35-acre site that is also holy for Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. “I would just say, as it pertains to Al Aqsa, we continue to urge Israel to facilitate access to Temple Mount for peaceful worshipers during Ramadan, consistent with past practice and that’ll continue to be our position,” Mr. Miller said.

Persons: Ismail Haniyeh, Ramadan, Matthew Miller, Haniyeh’s, “, Al Aqsa, ” Mr, Miller Organizations: West Bank, West Bank Palestinians, State Department Locations: Gaza, Jerusalem, Israel, Islam

☆ Parties to Cease-Fire Talks Offer Mixed Signals
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

The prediction matched that of President Biden, who said that a deal could come as soon as next week. In public, however, Hamas and Israel are sticking with their longstanding positions and not signaling any breakthrough. The two sides have not met face to face, instead negotiating through mediators in Doha, Cairo and Paris. Qatar’s foreign ministry said this week that talks were ongoing and it was too early to speculate about a resolution. Mr. Haniyeh met on Monday with the emir of Qatar and accused Israel of dragging its feet in the talks, according to a Hamas statement.

Persons: Israel, ”, Ismail Haniyeh, Abdel Fattah el, “ God, Biden, Haniyeh, Basem Naim, —, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Nada Rashwan, Adam Sella Organizations: West Bank, West Bank Palestinians, New York Times Locations: Gaza, Egypt, Israel, Qatar, United States, Doha, Cairo, Paris, Jerusalem, Islam

The fighting erupted on Oct. 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack in southern Israel. Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes and a ground offensive that have wrought unprecedented destruction, flattening entire neighborhoods. Here’s a look in numbers at the toll of the Israel-Hamas war, sourced from Palestinian Health Ministry and Israeli officials as well as international observers and aid groups. TOTAL DEATHSPolitical Cartoons View All 253 ImagesNumber of Palestinians killed in Gaza: 23,708Number of people killed in Israel: Over 1,300Number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank: 347CIVILIANSCivilians killed in Gaza: The civilian toll of the war is unknown. It is believed that two-thirds of those killed in Gaza are women and minors.

Organizations: Hamas, Palestinian Health Ministry, West Bank, Journalists Locations: Israel, Gaza

☆ Israeli forces kill seven Palestinians in West Bank, Palestinian officials say
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] A Palestinian checks the damage in a street in the aftermath of an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 26, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta Acquire Licensing RightsJENIN, West Bank, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including two minors and at least one gunman, in the occupied West Bank late on Saturday and early Sunday, medics and local sources said. A sixth Palestinian fatality was in Yatma, a village near Nablus city, and another was near a Jewish settlement outside the West Bank town of El Bireh, Palestinian officials said. The Israeli military said one of its aircraft had attacked a group of gunmen, wounding several of them. Four Israelis have been killed by Palestinians in the West Bank in the same period, the figures show.

Persons: Raneen, Ali Sawafta, Moaz Abd, Adam Makary, Hugh Lawson, Edmund Klamann, David Goodman Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, The West Bank, Bank, Red Crescent Society, United Nations, Thomson Locations: Jenin, JENIN, West, Israel, Gaza, Yatma, Nablus, El Bireh

☆ Opinion | Many West Bank Palestinians Are Being Forced Out of Their Villages. Is My Family Next?
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-20 | by ( Ali Awad | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

We live in Area C of the West Bank, which means the Israeli military has complete civil and security control over our lives. In 2002, they cut off the main road that connected Tuba to the surrounding villages, including the children’s closest school and the city of Yatta, where we buy all of our food and medical supplies. Throughout it all, we had been awaiting the final ruling from the Israeli high court about whether the Israeli military could force us to evacuate. Then, last year, the court ruled in favor of the state, allowing Israel to evict about 1,200 Palestinians, including those in my village. In Tuba, as in nearby villages, settlers have also targeted the water systems and solar panels we have built and are entirely dependent on, as if to remind us of our vulnerability.

Persons: it’s, “, Itamar Ben Organizations: West Bank, Army, Local Locations: Israel, Tuba, Yatta, Hebron

[1/5] Palestinian Hamza al-Qawasmi takes care of trees near his home, in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 15, 2023. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma Acquire Licensing RightsRAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Hamza al-Qawasmi was at home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron last month when Israeli forces stormed in after midnight and told him he was under arrest. The Israeli military did not respond to requests for comment on Qawasmi's case. The Israeli military has said it operates in the West Bank against suspects involved in militant activity. Prisons are overseen by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has long advocated for a crackdown on Palestinian prisoners.

Persons: Hamza al, Mussa, Qawasmi, Mohammad Shtayyeh, Israel, Qadura, Fares, Heba, Itamar Ben, Gvir, Yosri al, Jamal, Howard Goller Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, West, Islamic, Hebron University, Reuters, ISIS, Israel, Palestinian Health Ministry, East, Palestinian, Amnesty, Hamas, Israel Prison Service, Palestinian Prisoners Society, Commission, Prisoners ' Affairs, Palestinian Authority, Prisons, National, Thomson Locations: Hebron, RAMALLAH, West, West Bank, Gaza, Israel, East Jerusalem, Ramallah, East, North Africa, Palestinian, Banat, Nizar Banat

☆ France calls West Bank Israeli settler violence 'policy of terror'
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An Israeli army vehicle operates during an Israeli raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 9, 2023. REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsPARIS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - France on Thursday condemned violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, calling it a "policy of terror" aimed at displacing Palestinians and urging Israeli authorities to protect Palestinians from the violence. Speaking in Geneva on Thursday, Turk said he was deeply concerned about the intensification of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. But just in the three weeks since the Oct 7 attack, more than 120 West Bank Palestinians have been killed. Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Middle East war and it has been under military occupation since, while Israeli settlements have consistently expanded.

Persons: Raneen, Anne, Claire Legendre, Volker Turk, Turk, Israel, France's Legendre, France, John Irish, Bernadette Baum, Angus MacSwan Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Bank, Thomson Locations: Israeli, Jenin, France, Israel, Gaza, Geneva, East Jerusalem, Palestinian

As a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, Handal needs a permit to enter Jerusalem. Israel controls all entry and exit points to the West Bank through roadblocks and checkpoints which are staffed by soldiers and armed police. Ivana Kottasova/CNNIsrael has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordanian military occupation in 1967. In the early 1990s, under the Oslo Accords peace agreements, the West Bank was divided into three distinct zones: A, B and C.Area C, which comprises about 60% of the West Bank, is fully Israeli-controlled and forms one continuous territory. The increased violence is forcing many West Bank residents to stay at home.

Persons: Joseph Handal, ” Handal, Israel, Bani Moufleh, ‘ I’ll, ”, Mohammad Jamil, Jamil, Ibrahim, Ibrahim –, Ivana Kottasova, CNN Israel, Volker Turk, “, ” Turk, Mohamad Torokman, Joe Biden, Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, Handal Organizations: West Bank CNN —, West Bank, CNN, Hamas, Getty, International Labour Organization, Palestinian Authority, West Bank ., Bank, Palestinian Ministry of Health, Jihad, UN Office, Humanitarian Affairs, UN, Fourth Geneva Convention, Reuters, ” Locations: Bethlehem, Old City, Jerusalem, Bethlehem ., Palestinian, Israel, Territories, Nablus, Tulkarem, Hebron, Oslo, Israeli, West Bank . Cities, Handal’s, Oslo Accords, Ramallah, That’s, “

☆ In Today’s Middle East, an Ember of Hope - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nicholas Kristof | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

He studied the Holocaust in a master’s program, learned excellent Hebrew and tried to see the humanity in Israeli soldiers at West Bank checkpoints. A process of mutual dehumanization has led each side, he said, to regard the other as morally inferior. He noted that Israelis often suggest that the problem is that Palestinians don’t love their children and are ready to sacrifice them for the struggle, while Palestinians traffic in a similar stereotype about Israelis. But he said they were stopped by four Israeli soldiers who angrily told them to return and threatened to seize their car. “We must share this land as one state or two states or five states,” he said.

Persons: Aramin, dehumanization, ”, “ Organizations: West Bank Locations: Palestinian, Oslo, Gaza, Germany, Israel, Palestine

☆ Arab World, US Split on Gaza Ceasefire as Israeli Offensive Presses On
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Nov. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military said it was trying to stem violence and protect Palestinian civilians. The Israeli military said it would enable Palestinians to travel on a main Gaza highway, the Salah a-Din road, during a three-hour window on Saturday. Fighting was "fierce" near an Israeli outpost on the outskirts of Gaza City, CNN reported, saying Israeli soldiers were battling Hamas fighters hundreds of meters to the north and south. If we need to get inside Gaza house-by-house, it's exactly what's going to happen," one Israeli soldier told CNN.

Persons: Nidal, Simon Lewis, Suleiman, Khalidi, Antony Blinken, Israel, Blinken, WAFA, Benjamin Netanyahu's, Joe Biden, Biden, Ayman Safadi, Sameh Shoukry, David Satterfield, Salah, Nidal al, Suleiman Al, Dan Williams, Michael Martina, Jarrett Renshaw, Humeyra Pamuk, Paul Simao Organizations: Reuters, Israeli, Blinken, Israel Defence Forces, West Bank, Palestinian, Turkish, United Nations, Bank, CNN Locations: Al, Khalidi GAZA, AMMAN, United States, Gaza, Washington, Israel, Palestinian, Rehoboth Beach , Delaware, London, Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, Jordanian, Jabalia, Ankara, GAZA, Amman, Gaza City, Khalidi, Jerusalem

☆ Israeli settler attacks fuel the fire as Gaza war rages
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( John Davison | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Ben-Gvir's office did not respond to a request for comment about whether guns had already been distributed in the West Bank. At least eight of those were since Oct 7. alone, worrying ordinary Palestinians, Israeli security experts and Western officials. Washington has condemned settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank while the European Union on Tuesday denounced "settler terrorism" that risked a "dangerous escalation of the conflict." Hamas cited Israeli actions in the West Bank, core to a would-be Palestinian state, in waging its killing spree. 'GREAT DANGER'Settler-related violence is becoming harder to stem with the ongoing Gaza war and the augmented power of far-right politicians, Israeli security experts say.

Persons: Ammar Awad, Father, QUSRA, Mourning, Mohammed Wadi, Israel hurtled, Wadi's, Shira Liebman, Itamar Ben, Mohammed's, Ahmed, Ibrahim, Abdullah Abu Rahma, Liebman, We've, Lior Akerman, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ben, Ariel Danino, Akerman, Den, Wadi, I'm, Emily Rose, Ali Sawafta, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, Reuters, Yesha, National, Twitter, Humanitarian Affairs Office, OCHA, European Union, Wall Resistance Commission, Hamas, United Nations, Palestinian, Thomson Locations: Nablus, West, Bank, Gaza, Qusra, Yesha Council, Lebanon, Washington, Israel's, Israel, Lebanese, Wadi, Abdullah, Jerusalem, Ramallah

☆ The Lost Promise of the Oslo Accords - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-30 | by ( Serge Schmemann | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +7 min

As a result, the Oslo peace process he had begun, named after the city where it was secretly hatched, had become irreversible. In fits and starts, the Oslo process ground to a halt, and the Israeli “peace camp” that had championed it disintegrated. We must live side by side in peace, equality and cooperation.” Mr. Savir and Mr. Qurei emerged close friends from the negotiations. (Mr. Savir died last year; Mr. Qurei in February). In the 1996 electoral campaign following Mr. Rabin’s death, Mr. Netanyahu attacked Shimon Peres, Mr. Rabin’s partner and often guide in the Oslo negotiations, for “subcontracting” Israeli security to the Palestinians.

Persons: Yitzhak Rabin, Rabin, Yasir Arafat, ”, Rabin’s, Benjamin Netanyahu, dispossession, Uri Savir, Ahmed Qurei, “, we’ve, Qurei, Abu Ala, ” Mr, Savir, Arafat, Netanyahu, Shimon Peres, subcontracting, Ariel Sharon’s, Mahmoud Abbas Organizations: Mr, Palestine Liberation Organization, Palestinian Authority, West Bank Locations: Oslo, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Palestinian, Jerusalem, Ramallah, United States

Israel still occupies the West Bank, captured with Gaza in a 1967 Middle East war. More than 70 Palestinians have been killed in West Bank violence since Oct. 7 and Israel has arrested more than 800 people. Hamas cited attacks on West Bank Palestinians and arrests this year as part of its reason for attacking on Oct. 7. But the arrests have also limited West Bank violence, said Mustafa al-Khawaja, a 52-year-old anti-settlement activist. WEST BANK A COMPLEX PATCHWORKWhile Hamas tightly controls besieged Gaza, the West Bank is a complex patchwork of hillside cities, Israeli settlements and army checkpoints that split Palestinian communities.

Persons: Mohammed Torokman, Israel, Jonathan Conricus, Salah, Mowafaq Sehweel, Nizar Mughrabi, Netanyahu, Haniyeh, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ismail Haniyeh, Mustafa al, Khawaja, Mughrabi, Mahmoud Abbas's PA, Abbas, Israel's, Fatah, Hadi al, Masri, Lior Akerman, Shin, Akerman, Ali Sawafta, John Davison, Howard Goller Organizations: West Bank, REUTERS, Gaza, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Reuters, Fatah, Bank, Palestinian, UN, Thomson Locations: Ramallah, RAMALLAH, JERUSALEM, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, West Bank, Lebanese, Jerusalem

☆ West Bank a Possible 'Third Front' for Israel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-19 | by ( Oct. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +7 min

Persons: Ali Sawafta, John Davison, Israel, Jonathan Conricus, Salah, Mowafaq Sehweel, Nizar Mughrabi, Netanyahu, Haniyeh, Benjamin Netanyahu, Ismail Haniyeh, Mustafa al, Khawaja, Mughrabi, Mahmoud Abbas's PA, Abbas, Israel's, Fatah, Hadi al, Masri, Lior Akerman, Shin, Akerman, Howard Goller Organizations: West Bank, Gaza, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, Reuters, Fatah, Bank, Palestinian, UN Locations: John Davison RAMALLAH, JERUSALEM, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Iran, West Bank, Lebanese, Ramallah, Jerusalem

By Ian ParmeterIn hindsight, the drivers of Hamas’s startlingly well-planned, land-sea-air attack on Israel on Saturday were in plain sight. The operation reflects a pattern of four wars and regular outbreaks of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza since 2005, when Israel withdrew its military posts and forcibly removed 9,000 Israeli settlers from the territory. Each time Hamas has launched rockets at Israel or engaged in similar provocations, it has drawn heavy retaliation from Israel in the form of major bombings on the Gaza Strip. Hamas does not recognize Israel, but has said it would observe a truce if Israel withdrew to its 1967 borders. The significance of a Palestinian entity being able to surprise Israel in the same way would not be lost on Hamas.

Persons: Ian Parmeter, Hamas’s, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, Den, Mahmoud Abbas, Den ”, Itamar Ben, Ariel Sharon, Jordan, Abraham, Netanyahu, Joe Biden Organizations: Saturday, West Bank, “ Lions, Palestinian Authority, Lions, Hamas, United Arab, Israel, ’, Gaza, Research, Islamic Studies, Australian National University Locations: Israel, Gaza, Al, Aqsa, Islam, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel’s, Iran, Tehran

She refers to the overhaul as a “judicial coup,” saying it risks facilitating the “de facto annexation of the West Bank without any critique or any review” from the Supreme Court. The cabinet includes a number of West Bank settlers in powerful positions, and the agreement that brought together the government calls for extending Israel’s sovereignty in the West Bank, effectively a call for annexation. Under Netanyahu’s far-right government, Israel has approved a record number of housing units in West Bank settlements, Peace Now said in a July report. “Did the Supreme Court protect Palestinian rights in the West Bank? More recently in 2017, Israeli security forces bulldozed nine homes built on private Palestinian land in the West Bank settlement of Ofra.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu’s, West Bank haven’t, Sawsan, Netanyahu, Netanyahu’s, Israel, Israel doesn’t, ” Zaher, Eliav, ” Lieblich, Zaher, Ahmed Tibi, Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, Tibi, ” Tibi, ” Gershon Baskin, Bond, ” Baskin, “ Organizations: CNN, West Bank, Legal Center, Arab, Rights, United Nations, Israel Democracy Institute, Tel Aviv University, Palestinian Authority, Supreme Court, Court of Justice, Israel’s, Israeli, Court Locations: Palestinian, Israel, West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jerusalem, West, The Hague, Dura, Qara, Ofra

☆ Lawbreaker to Israeli kingmaker? Far-right Ben-Gvir surges in vote
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Dan Williams | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

In government, however, Ben-Gvir - who wants to be police minister - would further envenom Israel's standoff with the Palestinians and strain Jewish-Arab relations inside Israel. Burly and bespectacled, Ben-Gvir has for decades engaged in raging arguments with Arabs and liberals on curbsides or in the Knesset. The yellow trappings of Israeli supremacist groups was banished from his campaign, replaced by the national colours, blue and white. A settler on the West Bank which Israel captured and occupied in 1967, Ben-Gvir wants the Palestinian Authority, which has governed parts of the territory under interim peace deals, dismantled. That would place West Bank Palestinians back under full Israeli control.

☆ Israeli Forces Kill Five Palestinians in Raid on Militant Group
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Dov Lieber | Fatima Abdulkarim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A funeral for those killed in an overnight Israeli raid in Nablus in the West Bank on Tuesday. NABLUS, West Bank—Israeli forces said they killed five Palestinians in Nablus during a raid on a militant hideout, as violence in the West Bank hits its bloodiest year in more than a decade. Israeli security forces have so far this year killed at least 111 West Bank Palestinians, including five women and at least 24 minors, more than in any other year since 2006, according to an analysis by Israeli human rights group B’Tselem and The Wall Street Journal. In 2006, 134 Palestinians were killed. It was the year after the end of a bloody uprising known as the Second Intifada, during which over 5,000 Palestinians and 1,000 Israelis were killed.

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