Morocco last week became the fourth Arab country in as many months to announce it would be normalising its relations with Israel. The announcement formalises relations between the two countries which the Moroccan foreign minister described over the weekend as “already normal”, and, given the ancient ties between the Jewish Read more…
Hanan Ashrawi, who rose to international fame when she headed the Palestinian delegation to the landmark 1991 Madrid peace talks, has reportedly resigned from the PLO’s Executive Committee. Ashrawi is thought to have quit in protest at the decision of the Palestinian Authority to resume civilian and security coordination with Read more…
The Palestinian Authority appears to be engaged in a potentially significant repositioning exercise ahead of Joe Biden’s arrival in the White House. The moves by Ramallah are reviving hopes that, with a new administration in Washington committed to a two-state solution, the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process might be revived. In Read more…
Nearly half of Israelis want Joe Biden to restart the stalled Middle East peace process and launch negotiations with the Palestinians when he takes office in January, a poll published this week found. The survey – carried out by the dovish Geneva Initiative – shows that 49 percent of Israelis Read more…
The West Bank saw a record increase in new coronavirus cases this week amid fears that the pandemic is spiralling out of control in the Palestinian territories. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, the West Bank saw 1,126 new cases yesterday. The previous record, set only a day before, Read more…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell has written to Middle East minister James Cleverely following last week’s parliamentary debate calling for the UK to back an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Ms McKinnell’s debate is part of a long-running LFI campaign to secure greater support from the British government for peace-building work Read more…
LFI vice-chair Catherine McKinnell led a debate in parliament today calling for the British government to support the establishment of an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The debate is part of a long-running campaign by LFI – ‘For Israel, For Palestine, For Peace’ – to back the fund, which would Read more…
Hamas has been recruiting minors to carry out terrorist attacks, Israeli security forces have said. Two Palestinian minors, including a 16-year-old, were arrested last month after Hamas recruited them over the internet, Shin Bet has revealed. They have now been indicted by the Juvenile Military Court. The two minors were to Read more…
Saeb Erekat, who helped negotiate the Oslo Accords, died yesterday of covid-19. He passed away at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Medical Centre, to which he had been transferred last month after testing positive for the illness. Erekat, who was 65, underwent a lung transplant three years ago and doctors said treating him was Read more…
The election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will bring avowed friends and supporters of Israel to the White House in January. Their approach towards the Middle East is likely to be very different in both style and substance to the outgoing administration. Biden’s commitment to Israel is long-standing. One Read more…
Mystery surrounds the death of a top commander of the armed wing of President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party who was killed on Saturday. Hatem Abu Rizek, a leading figure in the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, died at the Balata refugee camp, near the West Bank city of Nablus. Abu Rizek is said Read more…
The Palestinian Authority has been ordered by Jerusalem’s District Court to pay nearly £3m to the family of a couple who died in a 2002 terror attack. Tzipi and Gadi Shemesh (pictured) and their unborn twins were murdered in central Jerusalem’s King George Street in March 2002 when suicide bomber Read more…