[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
Hebron: IOF Fire Teargas Near Schools Dozens of citizens, including schoolchildren, suffered teargas suffocation on Wednesday as Israeli Occupation Forces fired teargas grenades near schools in the southern region. According to WAFA agency, Israeli Occupation Forces fired sound bombs and teargas in the vicinity of the primary boys’ school in the southern region of Hebron, causing dozens to suffer from the gas inhalation.
IOF Open Fire At a Youth on Gaza Border A young man was shot and wounded Tuesday morning east of Beit Hanoun near the Erez military checkpoint, northeast of the Gaza Strip. According to local sources in Gaza, the soldiers based on the eastern borders of the strip opened fire at a young man and injured him.
Israel Damaged Over 800 Gaza Homes in Three Days Deputy Housing Minister in Gaza Naji Sarhan said that 130 residential apartments were completely destroyed, while seven hundred others were partially destroyed in the three-day Israeli strikes on Gaza. In a statement, Sarhan said that the emergency staff of the ministry started their evaluation of the targeted buildings since the start of the Israeli offensive.
Israeli Forces Uproot 120 Olive Trees Near Ramallah Israeli Occupation Forces uprooted 120 fruitful olive trees today in the village of Lubban al-Gharbi, to the west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, local sources said.
Palestinian On Crutches Among Those Killed By Israeli Gunfire on Gaza Border, Says Rights Center A nineteen-year-old Palestinian on crutches was one of two shot and killed by Israeli army gunfire during the March of Return protests. Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights said in a report that Raed Khalil Mahmoud Abu Tir, nineteen, from Khan Younis, was injured in the evening with a bullet to the abdomen. He was taken to the European Hospital for treatment where he was pronounced dead four hours later.
Israeli Army Arrests 17 Activists, Two Journalists in South Hebron Hills The Israeli army assaulted and forcibly arrested seventeen people Friday after a group of more than 125 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists tried to repair a road in the West Bank.
Israel told Military to End Gaza attacks before Eurovision The Israeli government ordered the military to end its strikes on the occupied Gaza Strip before the upcoming Eurovision Song Content, according to Haaretz. Although the “senior political leadership” claimed that the upcoming Israel Independence Day, Memorial Day and the Eurovision Song Contest “were not determining factors in deciding whether to continue the fighting”, Israel’s “military leadership operated throughout with the understanding that the escalation must end quickly.”
Domestic Policy
Health Ministry Sends 15 Truckloads of Medical Supplies to Gaza The Ministry of Health sent on Wednesday from its warehouses in the West Bank city of Nablus fifteen truckloads worth of medical supplies to its warehouses in the besieged Gaza Strip, announced Health Minister Mai Alkaila.
Kushner’s Peace Plan is ‘pretext’ For Israeli Land Grab: Palestinian UN Ambassador The Trump administration’s long-awaited plan peace for the Middle East is really a cover for Israel’s annexation of West Bank settlements, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Dr. Riyad Mansour said Tuesday.
Israel, Palestine Reach Ceasefire Agreement to Stop Gaza Attacks Palestine says a ceasefire agreement has been reached with Israel, after twenty-five people were killed in three days of Israeli attacks on the besieged Gaza enclave, which were responded to with homemade rockets from Palestinian groups. “The ceasefire understanding will begin Monday 04:30 (01:30 GMT),” one of the officials told Reuters. Two pregnant women and a fourteen-month-old infant were among the fatalities.
Netanyahu Does Not Want PA to Collapse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is concerned about the possible collapse of the Palestinian Authority due to the financial crisis it is currently facing, local media reported. Palestinian economic expert at al-Najah University Nael Musa said the Palestinian Authority-Israeli relations are built on security cooperation and this pushes Israel to look for alternatives to end the Palestinian Authority’s crisis.
Israel Police Close Case Against Cop Who Killed Mentally Ill Ethiopian man Israel Police announced on Tuesday “that it had closed the case against a policeman who shot and killed a mentally disturbed young Ethiopian man in January”, reported Haaretz. The Internal Investigations Department concluded that there was “no suspicion of criminal offences” because of a knife that the victim, Yehuda Biadga, was brandishing.
Foreign Policy
First-ever Reveal of 'Deal of the Century' Details Israel Hayom published the main points of the Deal of the Century from a leaked document circulated by the Israeli Foreign Ministry. The main points of the deal include the annexation of settlement blocks and the Jordan Valley by Israel, the maintenance of the holy areas as they are, that Jerusalem would be shared by Israel and “New Palestine,” the Palestinian state would have no army, and a highway would be built to connect Gaza and the West Bank.
Settlers and Illegal Settlements
Israeli Court Releases Settler Suspected of Killing Palestinian Mother An Israeli court released the Israeli settler suspected of killing a Palestinian mother of eight, Aisha Muhammad Talal al-Rabi, near the Zaatara checkpoint in Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, on Tuesday. Lod’s District Court ordered for the release of the Israeli settler and placed him under house arrest until further notice.
Israeli Settlers Vandalize Vehicles, Spray Death Threats Near Nablus Israeli settlers vandalized, and spray painted racist, anti-Arab slogans, on the walls and doors of Palestinian-owned home and vehicles, on Friday, in Huwwara town, in the northern occupied West Bank district of Nablus.
In video - Dozens of Israeli Settlers Storm Urif, Attack Palestinians Head of Urif village council, Mazen Shehadeh, told Ma'an that heavily armed Israeli forces provided protection to dozens of Israeli settlers as they stormed the village and attacked Palestinian residents.
Report: Israel Implemented 53 Settlement Projects in the West Bank During April The Jerusalem Center for the Study of Israeli Affairs has documented fifty-three settlement projects implemented by Israel in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem during the month of April. According to the report, the Israeli measures have also affected facilities owned by Arab-Israelis as part of a policy aimed at displacing them.
Boycott, Divest, and Sanction Movement
Gaza Artists Urge Eurovision Singers to Boycott Israel The Gaza Strip-based Palestinian Artists Association said Wednesday that Israel is using the event to "perpetuate oppression, promote injustice or whitewash a brutal apartheid regime." The artists cited the killing of more than sixty Palestinians during protests in Gaza along the Israeli fence on 14 May last year, the same day Israel won the Eurovision.
US Faculty Votes Overwhelmingly For ‘non-cooperation’ With Israel University The Department of Social and Cultural Analysis of New York University (NYU) voted overwhelmingly, on Thursday, in favor of a resolution of non-cooperation with the university’s Tel Aviv campus over what they say is “Israel’s long-standing discriminatory policies.” Only one member reportedly opposed the resolution.
Law
Two Palestinian prisoners continue hunger strike for 37 days Palestinian Prisoners’ Society confirmed that Odeh Haroub, thirty-two, from Deir Samet village, and Hasan Awawi, thirty-five, have been on a hunger strike for thirty-seven days demanding an end to their administrative detention.
Israel May Close Case of Shin Bet Officials Who Ordered Search of Palestine Woman’s Private Parts Israel is expected to close an investigation against two Shin Bet officers who are suspected of ordering female soldiers to search the private parts of a Palestinian woman for no reason, Haaretz reported. An officer in the Israeli army was also questioned on suspicion of instructing female soldiers to carry out similar searches.
Environment, Economy, and Other
The EU Contributes €15 Million to the PA Payment of April Salaries And PensionsThe European Union has made a contribution of fifteen million euros to the payment of April salaries and pensions of nearly fifty-seven thousand Palestinian civil servants and pensioners in the West Bank. It did so saying that it was “committed to maintaining the viability of the two-state solution.”
Italy Contributes 1.9 Million Euros to UNRWA Health Program in Gaza The Government of Italy contributed 1.9 million euros to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East to support the provision of primary health care at six health centers in Gaza.
Qatar to send $480m to West Bank, Gaza after truce with Israel Qatar has said it will send 480 million dollars to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip after a ceasefire deal ended the deadliest fighting between Israel and Palestinian factions since a 2014 Israeli assault on the enclave.