AP PHOTOS: Israel's separation barrier, 20 years on
Twenty years after Israel decided to build its controversial separation barrier, the network of walls, fences and closed military roads remains in place, even as any partition of the land appears more remote than ever. Israel is actively encouraging its Jewish citizens to settle on both sides of the barrier as it builds and expands settlements deep inside the occupied West Bank, more than a decade after the collapse of any serious peace talks. Palestinians living under decades of military occupation, meanwhile, clamor for work permits inside Israel, where wages are higher.
news.yahoo.comPalestinian reporter for Iranian agency beaten in West Bank
A Palestinian reporter working for an Iranian news agency was briefly abducted, beaten and threatened by Palestinian gunmen after covering the violent dispersal of an Islamist student demonstration in the West Bank earlier this week. The Tasnim news agency says the men forced Samer Khuaira into a car at gunpoint on Tuesday, beat him and threatened him. The men said his coverage harmed the Palestinian Authority and the secular Fatah movement that dominates it, Tasnim said.
news.yahoo.comPossible successor to Abbas warns Israel, but works with it
Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official increasingly seen as a successor to the 86-year-old President Mahmoud Abbas, says relations with Israel have gotten so bad that Palestinian leaders cannot go on with business as usual. In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press on Monday, al-Sheikh defended the Palestinian leadership in the West Bank, saying it was doing the best it could under the difficult circumstances of Israel’s 55-year-old military occupation.
news.yahoo.comIsraeli coalition suffers loss, faces uncertain prospects
Israel’s government on Monday failed to pass a bill extending legal protections for settlers in the occupied West Bank, marking a major setback for the fragile coalition that could hasten its demise and send the country to new elections. The failure to renew the bill also highlighted the separate legal systems in the West Bank, where nearly 500,000 Jewish settlers enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship while some 3 million Palestinians live under military rule that is now well into its sixth decade. Three major human rights groups have said the situation amounts to apartheid, an allegation Israel rejects as an assault on its legitimacy.
news.yahoo.comReport: Israel arrested no Jews over violent, racist march
An Israeli newspaper says Israeli police arrested dozens of Palestinians, but no Jews, during a Jewish nationalist parade in which crowds of marchers chanted racist slogans, beat Palestinian residents and vandalized Palestinian property in east Jerusalem
washingtonpost.comReport: Israel arrested no Jews over violent, racist march
Israeli police arrested dozens of Palestinians but no Jews during a nationalist march through Jerusalem this week in which crowds of Jews chanted racist slogans, assaulted Palestinians and vandalized Palestinian property, an Israeli newspaper reported Thursday. Israeli police had said after Sunday’s march that over 60 people were arrested, but have refused to give a breakdown, despite queries by The Associated Press. Tens of thousands of Israeli nationalists participated in Sunday’s parade -- an annual march that celebrates Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war.
news.yahoo.comIsrael, UAE sign free trade deal, first with an Arab country
Israel and the United Arab Emirates signed a free trade agreement on Tuesday, the first of its kind that Israel has concluded with an Arab country. The UAE agreed to normalize relations with Israel in a U.S.-brokered deal in 2020, the first of the so-called Abraham Accords that Israel eventually concluded with four Arab nations.
news.yahoo.comPakistani-American defends Israel visit amid criticism
A Pakistani-American woman who came under fire in the Islamic nation for leading a delegation to Israel defended the trip Monday, saying she traveled to Jerusalem with a small group of Muslims and non-Muslims to promote interfaith harmony. Anila Ali, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen living in Washington, responded to growing criticism from Pakistanis, some of whom questioned who was actually behind the visit. Pakistan is among the countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the lingering issue of Palestinian statehood and Pakistan says no delegation from Pakistan visited Israel.
news.yahoo.comVisit by far-right Israeli lawmaker sparks Jerusalem unrest
A far-right Israeli lawmaker, joined by scores of ultranationalist supporters, has entered Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site early Sunday, prompting a crowd of Palestinians to begin throwing rocks and fireworks toward nearby Israeli police
washingtonpost.comIsraeli military ID's gun that may have killed journalist
The Israeli military has identified a soldier's rifle that may have killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but said it cannot be certain unless the Palestinians turn over the bullet for analysis, a military official said Thursday. The confirmation marked a small sign of progress in the investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian officials, along with fellow journalists who were with Abu Akleh, have said Israeli troops stationed nearby killed her.
news.yahoo.comCatholic leader blasts Israeli conduct at journalist funeral
The top Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land on Monday condemned the police beating of mourners carrying the casket of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, accusing the authorities of violating human rights and disrespecting the Catholic Church. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa told reporters at St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem that Friday's incident, broadcast around the world, was a “disproportionate use of force” to the Palestinian flag-waving crowd of thousands proceeding from the hospital to a nearby Catholic church in Jerusalem's Old City. The attack drew worldwide condemnation and added to the shock and outrage of Abu Akleh's killing as she covered a shootout in the occupied West Bank.
news.yahoo.comPolish Nobel author says Russia threat to 'free world'
A Polish Nobel Prize-winning author on Sunday called Russia a threat to the “free world,” saying its attack on neighboring Ukraine had echoes of the Second World War. Olga Tokarczuk, known for her humanist themes and playful, subversive streak, spoke at a writers festival in Jerusalem. “The Poles share the Ukrainian feeling of danger that Russia presents to the free world,” Tokarczuk said, adding that the Polish government had warned about the risk presented by Russian aggression for years.
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