The Palestinian Authority announced a 12-day tightening of the West Bank’s coronavirus restrictions on Saturday, but also said a $10m batch of vaccine doses would be arriving this week. The new measures will see the closure of nurseries and schools as well as an earlier start to the nighttime curfew. Read more…
Britain, France and Germany are planning to use a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency this week to censure Iran for attempting to curtail inspections of its nuclear sites. The news comes as the Islamic republic on Sunday rejected a European offer to host an informal meeting involving the Read more…
Israel votes in its fourth general election in under two years later this month – with the latest polls suggesting Benjamin Netanyahu’s long premiership may be drawing to a close. But Israel’s longest-serving prime minister may get a reprieve thanks to the divided and ideologically diverse nature of the opposition Read more…
In a carefully choreographed series of steps, the Biden administration has edged towards re-engaging with Iran – nearly three years after Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 accord which is designed to limit the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions. The moves came as Iran partially pulled back from a threat to Read more…
Israeli Magen David Adom paramedics today began vaccinating Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Those targetted for the covid jabs – which are being carried out at the Qalandiya crossing – are residents of Israel but live beyond the security barrier which cuts through the eastern half of the city. Israel also agreed with Read more…
A group of 130 former army commanders and senior officials in the secret services and intelligence community publicly called for Benny Gantz to pull out of next month’s general election – or risk helping Benjamin Netanyahu remain in power. Gantz, a former IDF commander, currently serves as defence minister in Read more…
Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party looks set to split into two – or possibly three – rival slates in this summer’s planned parliamentary elections, the Haaretz newspaper reported this week. Nasser al-Kidwa, the nephew of Yasser Arafat and a former PLO ambassador to the United Nations, confirmed publicly that plans are Read more…
The Labour frontbench is to press the government on Britain’s funding of the Palestinian Authority’s school curriculum – a curriculum which glorifies terrorists, incites violence and is riddled with antisemitic and anti-Israeli content. The announcement by shadow Middle East minister Wayne David (pictured) is a major step forward in LFI’s Read more…
A left-right coalition of parties opposed to Benjamin Netanyahu remaining as prime minister has eked out a narrow one-seat majority in the latest Channel 12 poll. The survey also showed voter approval of the government’s handling of the covid pandemic rising as over four million Israelis received at least one shot of the vaccine. The poll indicated that Netanyahu’s Read more…
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis could be eased by the announcement last weekend of a major deal between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli energy company Delek to supply natural gas to the coastal enclave’s sole power plant. The agreement was announced by Qatar’s envoy to Gaza – a key intermediary between Read more…
Hamas has restocked its deadly arsenal since the 2014 Gaza war, a senior Israeli military commander said last week. The news came as an Islamic court in the coastal enclave further tightened restrictions on women, saying they needed the permission of a male guardian to travel. The Gaza-based terror group Read more…
The contours of the choice before Israeli voters on 23 March became clearer last week as parties submitted their final electoral lists, with centre-left rivals to the Labor party dropping out, the far-right consolidating and the main Israeli-Arab alliance splintering. What happened Last Thursday was the deadline for parties to Read more…