The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem, which primarily served the capital’s Palestinians, officially merged with the U.S. Embassy in Israel. U.S. Department of State Spokesman Robert Palladino reported this decision was carried out to enhance diplomatic engagements and does not signal a change in U.S. foreign policy towards Jerusalem (Time)
UN: Gaza Protester Deaths May Amount to War Crimes
A United Nations commission reported that Israel may have committed war crimes or crimes against humanity in a crackdown last year on protests at the Gaza border. According to UN investigators, Israeli forces killed 189 people, including dozens of children (New York Times)
Gazan Demonstrators Protest Against Palestinian Leader Abbas
Thousands of protesters called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to step down following his attempts to put financial pressure on Hamas. Demonstrators also called for Israel to end its decade-long blockade of Gaza (Al Jazeera)
Palestinians Protest Israeli Move to Eject Foreign Observers
The Palestinian Authority called on the United Nations yesterday to deploy a permanent observer mission to the West Bank and East Jerusalem after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not renew the mandate of a decades-old civilian observer mission in the West Bank city of Hebron (Associated Press)
Hamas Rejects Qatari Aid
The Palestinian militant movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, said it will not accept the latest monthly transfer of $15 million from Doha, part of an informal deal totaling $90 million, due to the Israeli “occupation’s behavior and attempts to evade the agreement,” according to a top Hamas official (Haaretz)
The group reportedly accuses Israel of demanding a halt to protests in Gaza before it will allow the funds to be delivered through its territory (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian Authority to Reject U.S. Security Aid
The Palestinian Authority told Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that it will no longer accept security aid as the Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act 2018 enters into force at the start of February. The new law will allow American victims of violent crime to sue recipients of aid in U.S. courts (Wafa)
Palestinian Groups Form New Political Body
Five Palestinian political groups announced they are forming a new body in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to challenge the ruling Fatah party and Hamas militant movement, which have dominated Palestinian politics (Associated Press)
Hamas and Israel Agree to Cease-Fire
Hamas leaders agreed to abide by an Egypt-brokered cease-fire to halt an escalation of fighting with Israel along the Gaza border that began Monday (Al Jazeera)
Israeli opposition leaders and some residents in targeted towns criticized the truce (New York Times)
Israel Carries Out Air Strikes on Gaza Strip
Israel carried out dozens of air strikes on the Gaza Strip today, a day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched more than four hundred rocket attacks across the Israeli border (Reuters)
Palestinian Authorities Call to Suspend Recognition of Israel
The Palestinian Central Council authorized the Palestine Liberation Organization to suspend recognition of Israel, stop security coordination, end agreements laid out in the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol, and invalidate the legitimacy of the Oslo Accords “in light of Israel’s continued denial of signed agreements” (Al Jazeera)
Israel Ends Fuel Blockage to Gaza Strip
Israel will end a twelve-day fuel blockage and allow diesel shipments to the Gaza Strip to resume. Israel had suspended the fuel deliveries after Israeli troops killed five Palestinians who, the army said, broke through a border fence to attack a military post (Agence France-Presse)
Netanyahu, Trump Talk Israel-Palestine at UN General Assembly
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israel “will not relinquish security control west of Jordan” to any future Palestinian state (Haaretz)
His comments came after U.S. President Trump said at a joint press conference with Netanyahu that he supports both one- and two-state solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (Reuters)
Two Dead After Israeli Troops Fire on Protesters
Israeli forces opened fire during a demonstration in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, killing two Palestinian protesters and injuring forty-six. The Israeli military indicated that it had confronted people allegedly tampering with the border fence (Reuters)
Palestinians File New Claim Against Israel at ICC
The Palestine Liberation Organization filed a new request for the International Criminal Court to investigate Israel’s planned demolition of a West Bank village, PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat said yesterday. The move came a day after U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton threatened to sanction the ICC if it targets the United States or its allies (Associated Press)
U.S. to Close Palestinian Office in DC
National Security Advisor John Bolton is expected today to announce the closing of the Palestinian Liberation Organization’s office in Washington over its alleged unwillingness to negotiate with Israel. Palestinian envoy Husam Zomlot said early today that U.S.-Palestinian relations are at a “historic low” (Wall Street Journal)
Israel Approves New Settlement Homes in the West Bank
Israel’s governing body in the West Bank approved the construction of 1,015 new residences in Jewish settlements there. Some six hundred thousand Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem (Associated Press)
Israel Reopens Kerem Shalom Crossing with Gaza
Israel reopened the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Gaza in response to a period of relative calm. Israel also restored the fishing zone off Gaza’s coast to seventeen kilometers (BBC)
Israeli Air Strikes Hit Gaza
Israel carried out strikes on 150 targets in Gaza overnight after militants fired 180 rockets into southern Israel; three Palestinians were killed in the strikes (Haaretz)
Israeli Military Kills Two Hamas Militants in Gaza
The Israeli military said it killed two members of the al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, in response to fire from Gaza (Haaretz)
Israel and Gaza Truce Talks Underway
Israel said the focus for truce talks was on a proposal to ease its blockade of Gaza in exchange for a cessation of hostilities by Hamas militants (Reuters)
Israeli Military Strikes Incendiary Kite Launch Site in Gaza
Israel’s Air Force struck a cell in northern Gaza yesterday from where Palestinians launched flaming kites. Earlier, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said two days without border violence, incendiary kites, or rockets are necessary before Gaza crossings will be reopened (Jerusalem Post)
Separately, Israeli soldiers fatally shot a Palestinian teenager during an overnight raid in Dheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank (Al Jazeera)
Hamas to Gradually Decrease Incendiary Kite Attacks on Israel
Hamas will gradually decrease the launching of flaming kites from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, according to Palestinian media (Times of Israel)
Israel Adds More Restrictions to Gaza Border Crossing
Israel said it will further restrict the Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza to allow only basic food items and medicines, cutting off the strip’s access to fuel, after a rocket was fired into southern Israel. Egypt announced it would temporarily close its Rafah crossing into Gaza (Ynet)
Gaza Cease-Fire Appears to Halt Weekend Fighting
Israel carried out dozens of air strikes in Gaza, killing at least two people, while militants fired rockets across the border on Saturday. The two sides announced a cease-fire later that day that appeared to hold through the rest of the weekend (Reuters)
UN Warns Israel Over Ban on Goods Into Gaza
Israel halted the flow of all commercial goods except humanitarian supplies, such as food and medicine, into the Gaza Strip via its Kerem Shalom crossing. A top UN envoy for the Middle East urged Israeli officials on Tuesday to reverse the decision (Jerusalem Post)