[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Palestine and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Palestine Page co-editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each roundup to Palestine@jadaliyya.com.]
The Occupation Forces
Israeli Forces Shoot, Kill 2 Palestinians, Injure Another in Ramallah Israeli forces opened fire at a Palestinian vehicle, killing two Palestinians and injuring a third in the Kafr Nimeh village, west of the central occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, early Monday morning. Locals identified the two killed Palestinians as Amir Mahmoud Jumaa Darraj, twenty, from the Kharbatha al-Misbah village, and Youssef Raed Mahmoud Anqawi, twenty, from Beit Sira.
Israeli Forces Uproot 350 Olive Trees in Hebron Israeli forces uprooted 350 olive trees from the Khillet al-Dabe area, in the southern occupied West Bank city of Hebron, on Wednesday. The coordinator of a local popular committee, Fouad al-Umour, reported that Israeli forces uprooted olive tree saplings in the Khillet al-Dabe area of Masafer Yatta in southern Hebron.
IOF Arrest 10 Palestinians in West Bank Raids The Israeli Occupation Forces launched a large-scale wave of arrests and incursions into different areas of the West Bank cities and towns, detaining ten Palestinians and confiscating thousands of shekels during raids and searches.\
Israel Orders Family to Evict Building in Jerusalem The Israeli authorities issued warrants against the Maraga family, demanding that they evict their property in Baten al-Hawa neighborhood in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center said in a statement on Tuesday morning that the Ateret Cohanim Jewish settler group handed the Maraga family nine judicial warrants, ordering them to evict their five-apartment residential building and hand the plot of land on which they live to the settlers’ group.
Dozens of Suffocation Injures in Jerusalem’s Shufat Camp Dozens of Palestinians Tuesday morning suffocated from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces in Jerusalem’s Shufat refugee camp. WAFA correspondent reported that Israeli police closed off the military checkpoint installed at camp’s entrance, preventing students and other residents from reaching their schools and workplaces and causing them to lose important time.
Domestic Policy
After Major Israeli Deduction: PA Set to Pay Full Salaries Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said that the government is determined to pay the full salaries of the Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli custody and the families of those killed by Israeli Forces, on Sunday afternoon. Hamdallah said that the government would only be able to pay a portion of the monthly salaries of the civil servants for the month of February, in light of the financial crisis affecting the Palestinian Authority as a result of Israel’s withholding of the Palestinian tax revenues.
Palestinian Lawmakers Face ‘uphill battle’ Following Disbandment of The Joint List Once major forces of change and the star underdogs of the previous national elections, the Palestinian lawmakers of the now disbanded Joint List have been pushed to the sidelines of this election cycle, as party infighting and personal rivalries have overwhelmed the bloc—previously the third largest party in the Knesset.
Hamas Calls For Government to Prepare For Elections Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh yesterday called for the formation of a national unity government to tackle the threats facing the Palestinian issue and prepare for comprehensive elections. Speaking to journalists, he said: “Today, we need a political government–a national unity government–in order to face the threats and challenges facing the Palestinian issue, including the Israeli siege and the sanctions imposed on the Gaza Strip.”
Opinion poll: Half of the Israeli Voters Have Not Yet Decided For Whom They Will Vote A new opinion poll has shown that it will be very difficult for the head of Kahol Lavan’s electoral list, Benny Gantz, to form the next government in the wake of the Knesset elections, which will take place on 9 April. Another has shown that nearly half the voters have not yet decided on the candidate for whom they will vote.
Demolishing Khan Al-Ahmar “a great opportunity” for Netanyahu to Win Elections Weeks ahead of the Israeli Knesset elections, which are due to be held on 9 April, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed his intention to demolish the Palestinian village of Khan al-Ahmar as soon as possible, according to Israeli media reports. The demolition plan of the Bedouin village is said to be a great opportunity to help Netanyahu win the coming elections, according to what he himself commented in a private meeting with journalists last month. In 2017, Palestinian residents were forced to move to a site near Abu Dis village, an act that the International Criminal Court declared to be a war crime.
Foreign Policy
Corbyn Calls for UK to Freeze Arms Sales to Israel After UN Report Jeremy Corbyn, head of the British Labor Party, over the weekend, called for the British government to freeze arms sales to Israel and to condemn it for the killing of Palestinians. Corbyn’s remarks came after a United Nations’ report, which found that Israeli security forces may have committed war crimes killing scores of Palestinians and wounding more than 6,100 in weekly protests in the besieged Gaza Strip over the past year.
US to Downgrade Its Mission to Palestine Today The United States Sunday officially downgraded its mission to the Palestinians by merging its Jerusalem consulate with the embassy to Israel. “On March 4, 2019, US consulate general Jerusalem will merge into US embassy Jerusalem to form a single diplomatic mission,” the State Department said in a statement.
Organization of Islamic Cooperation Approves Waqf Fund to Support Palestine Refugees The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East warmly welcomed the decision by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation dated 2 March 2019 to establish and operationalize a Waqf endowment fund, in support of Palestine refugees.
Egypt Allows Mecca-bound Palestinians to Exit Besieged Gaza Strip For the first time in five years, Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip have been allowed to cross over into Egypt via the Rafah border crossing to begin their initial stage of a pilgrimage to Mecca, known as Umrah. The first convoy of eight hundred Palestinians passed into Egypt early on Sunday, according to an official at the crossing in the Gaza Strip, heading towards the Egyptian capital where they were expected to catch flights to Mecca, Islam's holiest city in Saudi Arabia.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
For 11th time: Israeli Settlers Attack Urif School Israeli settlers attacked and surrounded a Palestinian high school in the Urif village, in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus, injuring a student and damaging several vehicles, on Tuesday. Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that fifty Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of Yitzhar raided the eastern area of Urif, forcing the school to dismiss classes for the eleventh time since the beginning of the school year.
Israeli Settlers Chase Palestinian Herders Out of Grazing Land Israeli settlers Sunday chased out Palestinian shepherds while they were grazing their livestock in open fields near al-Sweida area, in the northern Jordan Valley, said a local activist. Aref Daraghmeh, a rights activist, said settlers forced the shepherds out of the pastures and prevented them from herding their livestock.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
‘I am told I am anti-American if I am not pro-Israel’ and that’s problematic — Ilhan Omar Stands Strong Amid Blizzard of Attacks Ilhan Omar’s statement last week about the role of the Israel lobby–“I want to talk about the political influence in this country that says it is OK for people to push for allegiance to a foreign country”—has ignited a firestorm of criticism, including from House Democratic colleagues such as Eliot Engel, chair of House Foreign Affairs, who called on her to apologize. Ilhan Omar has stood strong, calling out her colleagues for being silent.
US: Omar’s Comments Trigger House Vote on anti-Semitism The US House of Representatives will vote this week on a resolution condemning anti-Semitism after congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s latest remarks on Israel, Anadolu reports. Top House Democrats are reportedly planning a vote for Wednesday and deciding whether the measure will condemn Omar’s comments specifically or anti-Semitism more broadly, The Washington Post reported.
Germany: 3 BDS Activists on Trial For Protesting Israel MK Three activists who protested against an Israeli politician yesterday appeared in a German court, facing trial for trumped-up claims of trespassing and assault. The trio–Palestinian activist Majed Abusalama and Israeli activists Ronnie Barkan and Stavit Sinai–are facing trial for their involvement in a June 2017 protest of Member of Knesset Aliza Lavie at Humboldt University.
Law
Israel Releases PFLP Leading Member Khalida Jarrar The Israeli authorities released leading member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and former Palestinian lawmaker, Khalida Jarrar, early Thursday, after being held under administrative detention for twenty months.
Palestinian Christian Female Lawyer Granted License to Practice Law in Sharia Courts Chief Religious Justice Mahmoud al-Habbash granted a Palestinian Christian female lawyer a license to practice law in the Muslim shari‘a court. Haya Bannoura, a Christian lawyer from Beit Sahour near the biblical Palestinian city of Bethlehem, was granted a license to represent clients in Palestine’s Islamic shari‘a courts. She is the fifth Palestinian Christian female lawyer to practice shari‘a law since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994.
Netanyahu to Be Indicted on Bribery Charges. Here's What You Need to Know Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday on criminal offenses in all three corruption cases against him. The attorney general decided to charge Netanyahu with bribery in one case alone, pending a hearing, while bringing a lesser charge of breach of trust in the other two.
Israel Bans Top Palestinian Waqf Officials From Al-Aqsa Police in Israel have extended bans on top Palestinian officials who oversee Jerusalem's al-Aqsa compound from entering the holy site, in a move that analysts warned could further escalate tensions. The decision on Sunday came weeks after the Islamic Waqf Council, a religious body appointed by Jordan to oversee the al-Aqsa compound, defied a sixteen-year Israeli ban on the Bab al-Rahma building within the site and reopened it to Muslim worshippers.
Israel’s Attorney General Rejects Petitions to Ban Arab Parties From Election Israel’s Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit yesterday rejected two petitions to ban Arab-Israeli political parties from the country’s upcoming general election. The first of the two petitions were made against the Ra’am-Balad alliance, claiming its members “seek to eliminate Israel as a Jewish state” and support violent Palestinian resistance, as well as Lebanon’s Hizballah, the Times of Israel reported.
Environment, Economy, and Other
OCHA: Israel Destroyed Water Connections Denying Thousands Drinking Water The Israeli authorities destroyed in the last two weeks of February parts of three water connections in the occupied West Bank, two of them were funded by international donors and provided as humanitarian assistance, that supplied or intended to supply tens of thousands of Palestinians with drinking water, according the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian territory.