Israel bars Gaza's Christians from visiting Bethlehem and Jerusalem at Christmas
Christians in the Gaza Strip will not be allowed to visit holy cities such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas this year, Israeli authorities said on Thursday. Gazan Christians will be granted permits to travel abroad but none will be allowed to go to ...
Israeli aircraft strike Hamas sites in Gaza after three rockets are fired from Palestinian enclave
Israeli aircraft bombed several militants' sites in Gaza early Sunday, hours after three rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave toward southern Israel. The military said in a statement the airstrikes targeted military camps and a naval base for Hamas, the Islamic militant group controlling ...
U.S. House endorses two-state solution as Israel considers annexing West Bank
The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday threw its weight behind a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, in a warning to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he mulls annexing the West Bank. Passed largely along party lines, the House resolution also marked a shot ...
After U.S. drops opposition, Israel plans new Jewish-only settlement in Hebron flash-point
Israel's defense minister announced plans to build a new Jewish-only settlement in the heart of a flash-point West Bank city on Sunday, weeks after the United States said it no longer considered such communities illegal. The move in Hebron in the southern West Bank sparked ...
HRW rights researcher deported by Israel vows to continue work
A human rights researcher who is being deported from Israel over his alleged boycott advocacy said Sunday he will remain in his position and continue doing the "important, urgent work" of documenting violations in Israel and the Palestinian territories from abroad. Omar Shakir, the Israel ...
U.S. angers Palestinians with reversal on Israeli settlements
The Trump administration Monday softened the U.S. position on Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, reversing four decades of American policy and further undermining the effort to gain Palestinian statehood. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. is repudiating the 1978 State ...
Israel launched airstrikes Tuesday against two senior commanders from the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, killing one in Gaza but missing another in Syria in a sharp escalation of Israel's regional conflict with Iran, which backs the militant group. The attack sparked an hours-long ...
Led by Bernie Sanders, Democratic candidates vow to press Israel on Palestinian state
Democratic presidential contenders vowed Monday to switch gears sharply from Donald Trump's hawkish embrace of Israel, pledging they would press for a peace settlement that leads to a Palestinian state. Half a year after Democratic candidates all shunned the annual conference of AIPAC, the historic ...
Galvanized Arab voters display their newfound influence in Israeli politics
Israel's long-marginalized Arab minority is throwing around its newfound weight. The Joint List of Arab parties, significantly strengthened by Israel's inconclusive Sept. 17 election, recommended Sunday that former military chief Benny Gantz form Israel's next government. Its backing could nudge President Reuven Rivlin to tap ...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government approved a new settlement in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, two days ahead of a closely fought election as he seeks to boost turnout among his right-wing base. The approval came as Netanyahu and his main opponent, Benny ...
Israel's Netanyahu renews pledge to annex West Bank settlements
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday renewed his pledge to annex all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank as he sought to shore up right-wing support ahead of a Sept. 17 election. Netanyahu and his Likud party have been working to maximize turnout ...
Israel advances plans for 2,300 settlement homes, further diminishing chance of two-state solution
Israel has advanced plans for more than 2,300 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank, the latest in a surge of such approvals since U.S. President Donald Trump took office, an NGO said Tuesday. A defense ministry planning committee issued the approvals while meeting over ...
