أرشيف الوسم : israel

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas swore in the Palestinian unity government on Monday in the Muqataa presidential compound in Ramallah, after last week’s landmark reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah which has left Israel infuriated. After the swearing-in ceremony, Abbas hailed “the end” of the bitter, and sometimes violent, divided between Hamas and Fatah. Hamas also lauded the new government, saying …

2 Palestinian teenagers were shot and killed by IDF soldiers near a protest outside Israel’s Ofer Prison in the West Bank. Israeli authorities initially denied shooting at the boys, however video was later leaked showing IDF soldiers firing bullets at the unsuspecting victims. 186 of the 5,265 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention are being held without trial or charge, …

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday named Rami Hamdallah as Prime Minister, as the two Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah appear to be on the verge of a historic unity government after seven bitter years as rivals. The official announcement brings the two parties substantially closer to a final reconciliation, after they established separate governments in 2007. Hamas took control …

Canadian taxpayers are partly financing the uprooting of Palestinians from their villages to make way for forests, a movie now being screened in Canada states. “The Village under the Forest” is produced by two South African Jews – Emmy award-winning filmmaker Mark Kaplan and author Heidi Grunebaum who did the narration. Grunebaum visited the South Africa Forest in Israel and …

The Israeli Prison Service has hospitalized 40 Palestinian prisoners, spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said on Wednesday. She described their condition as “reasonable” and said that they were, at different stages, taken to a hospital. The prisoners were on a hunger strike for over a month, protesting the terms of their imprisonment. Weizman said that all the prisoners on strike were administrative …

In what has been called by some as a complex game of “papal propaganda poker”, commentators have said that Pope Francis’ prayer at the West Bank separation barrier has handed the Palestinians a decisive victory over Israel. According to the Israeli daily Yediot Aharonot, “One image from the pope’s visit has already become history”. The newspaper admitted that the picture …

On Wednesday, Israeli forces raided the headquarters of a Palestinian publishing house in the occupied city of Ramallah in West Bank. They also warned the publishing house not to publish newspapers close to Hamas. Palestinian officials have criticized to move, and said that it violates their freedom of expression. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment. The headquarters of …

Israel on Monday approved their plans to build at least 50 new settler units in the district of East al-Quds in occupied Jerusalem despite international outrage over Israel’s settlement activities. The Israeli regime has said that at least 50 settler units are set to be built in the Har Homa settlement. Yosef Pepe Alalu, city councilor of Jerusalem, said on …

On Wednesday, the Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin defended the right of Palestinians to a “sovereign and independent” homeland, saying that he hoped that the Pope’s upcoming visit will lead to a “courageous decision” for peace. Cardinal Parolin’s role in the Vatican is equivalent to that of a country’s Prime Minister. “We know that the pope is going …

The fourth round of nuclear talks between six world powers and Iran came to an end on Friday, with both sides arguing that major hurdles remained ahead of the July 20th deadline for an accord. Abbas Araqchi, the chief nuclear negotiator for Iran, said on state television that “no tangible progress” was made at the negotiations in Vienna as the …