Renewed fighting has erupted again between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas, endangering a ceasefire instituted after an 11-day war in May. The conflict in Gaza is an early test of Israel’s new coalition government. Recently, parties across the political spectrum united to remove Israel’s scandal-plagued prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu...
Israelis March in East Jerusalem in Test for New Government
JERUSALEM — Hundreds of Israeli ultranationalists, some chanting “Death to Arabs,” paraded Tuesday in east Jerusalem in a show of force that threatened to spark renewed violence just weeks after a war with Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Palestinians in Gaza responded by launching incendiary balloons that caused at...
Israel Suspends Ultranationalists’ March in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM — Israeli police said Monday they blocked a planned procession by Jewish ultranationalists through parts of Jerusalem's Old City, following warnings that it could reignite tensions that led to a punishing 11-day war with Gaza's militant Hamas rulers last month. The parade, which celebrates Israel's capture of east Jerusalem...
Blinken Seeks to Fix Palestinian Ties on Maiden Mideast Trip
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday announced plans to reopen a key diplomatic outreach office to the Palestinians and pledged nearly $40 million in new aid — reversing key policies of the Trump administration as he moved to bolster the embattled Palestinian government in the West Bank....
Court Clears Way for War Crimes Probe of Israeli Actions Against Palestinians
JERUSALEM — The International Criminal Court said Friday that its jurisdiction extends to territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, clearing the way for its chief prosecutor to open a war crimes probe into Israeli military actions. The decision was welcomed by the Palestinians and decried by Israel's...
Food Trucks Provide Rare Bright Spot in Hard-Hit West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The coronavirus crisis has hit West Bank restaurants hard. But one part of the dining sector is bucking the trend: food trucks. With dine-in restaurants mostly closed due to health restrictions, food trucks have allowed entrepreneurial businessmen to find a way to keep working. It's a...
Israeli-Palestinian Peace? Local Dems, GOP Voice Positions on West Bank Annexation
Local congressmen are giving peace a chance between the Palestinians and Israel. But they disagree on how to forge what would be a historic reconciliation. Both local Democrats and Republicans are chiming in on the latest plan for Israel to annex land in the West Bank. Two Valley Democrats signed...
UN Begins Home Food Drops for Gaza's Needy to Stem Virus
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A U.N. aid agency Tuesday began delivering food to the homes of impoverished Palestinians instead of making them pick up such parcels at crowded distribution centers — part of an attempt to prevent a mass outbreak of the new coronavirus in the densely populated Gaza...
Qatar to Send Money for West Bank, Gaza After Israel Truce
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Qatar on Tuesday said it is sending $480 million to Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip after a cease-fire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian militants since a 2014 war. Qatar's Foreign Ministry said $300 million would support health...
Is Iran Now Too Powerful for Israel to Defeat?
Chuck Freilich knows Israel's military capabilities and politics inside out. After all, he is a former deputy Israeli national security adviser. Now he's a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center and an op-ed he penned for the left-leaning Israeli news organization Haaretz is gaining widespread attention. Not just because of...