Israel Launches Biggest West Bank Military Operation in Decades
In an escalation following recent tensions, Israel deployed nearly two thousand troops and conducted drone strikes in Jenin refugee camp, killing eight Palestinians and wounding fifty (ABC)
The Israeli military said it was targeting militants such as the Jenin Brigades to demonstrate that it would not allow the camp to serve as a safe haven for them (NYT)
Israel’s Netanyahu Says He Will Push Forward With Revised Judicial Overhaul Plan
After a previous version of the plan prompted mass protests, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he would advance a version of the plan that no longer contained a controversial provision allowing the legislature to override Supreme Court decisions (WSJ)
Israeli Defense Minister and Senior Palestinian Official Discuss West Bank Violence
During a rare phone call yesterday, Israel pledged to exact penalties for rioters, according to the Israeli readout of the call (Reuters)
Israel Approves Over Five Thousand New Settler Homes
The U.S. Department of State said it was “deeply troubled” by the approval of approximately 5,700 new housing permits for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, which comes as violence between settlers and Palestinians is on the rise (Reuters)
Israel Vows Crackdown on “Nationalist Terrorism”
As U.S. politicians condemn settler violence, Israeli security forces say they will step up their military presence and arrest attackers in the West Bank (CNN;Haaretz)
Meanwhile, Israeli lawmakers resumed debate over the controversial bill that would limit the Supreme Court’s powers (Reuters)
The gunman opened fire on an Israeli military checkpoint, and Israeli settlers later attacked another Palestinian village, burning homes and firing shots at civilians and medics (Guardian)
UN Rights Chief Sounds Alarm Over West Bank Violence
After a week of attacks in which fourteen people were killed, UN human rights chief Volker Türk today called for an end to the violence that he said serves “only to drive Israelis and Palestinians deeper into an abyss” (OHCHR)
Four Israelis Killed By Palestinians, Settlers Launch Revenge Attacks
Two Palestinian attackers killed four Israelis near an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, authorities said; they were then fatally shot, and Israeli settlers threw stones and tried to set fire to Palestinian homes in retaliation (AP)
Separately, Israel conducted a drone strike on a “terrorist cell inside a suspicious vehicle” in the West Bank, killing three people (Al Jazeera)
Israeli Raid Kills Five Palestinians, Injures Ninety-One
After Palestinian militants targeted Israeli army vehicles with explosives, the military deployed combat helicopters and troops to the Jenin refugee camp, firing missiles from the helicopters and live ammunition on the ground (BBC)
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blamed Israeli settlements for the uptick in violence in the West Bank (Al Jazeera)
China Recommends Three-Point Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan
Meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of a new “China-Palestine strategic relationship” and reiterated China’s intention to play a constructive role in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking (SCMP)
Meanwhile, Israel’s parliament elected an opposition lawmaker to the committee that appoints judges yesterday, raising doubts about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s control over his coalition and narrowly avoiding his controversial judicial overhaul plan (AP)
Palestinian Leader Makes State Visit to China
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas began a four-day state visit to China today in what is his fifth official visit to the country; he is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss China’s potential role in mediating Israeli-Palestinian peace talks (AFP, Al Jazeera)
Palestinian President to Visit China Following Mediation Offer
President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with Xi Jinping following Beijing’s offer to facilitate peace talks between Israel and Palestine (Al Jazeera)
UN Commission Accuses Israel of Suppressing Palestinian Civil Society
Investigators at a UN human rights commission accused Israel yesterday of “delegitimizing and silencing civil society” for its ban on Palestinian human rights groups, and said that Hamas and the Palestinian authority had also committed rights violations;Israel accused the commission of being biased (AP)
Thirty-five Wounded in Israeli Army Raid in Ramallah
The military said the operation targeted the house of a Palestinian accused of a double bombing in Jerusalem last year (Reuters)
The raid comes days after a Palestinian toddler died of wounds after Israeli soldiers shot him in a military operation (ABC)
U.S. Secretary of State Meets Gulf Officials in Saudi Arabia
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Riyadh today for a meeting with foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council where they are set to discuss the conflicts in Yemen, Sudan, Syria, and the Palestinian territories, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry said (AFP)
Blinken has said that the U.S. supports a normalization of Saudi relations with Israel, but that it should not come at the expense of progress toward reaching a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; Riyadh’s conditions for normalizing ties include the ability to develop a civilian nuclear program, Reuters reported (NYT; Reuters)
Officials Investigating Fatal Attack By Egyptian Border Guard
Authorities from both countries are investigating how a man they said was a member of Egyptian security forces crossed the countries’ fortified border and killed three Israeli soldiers on Saturday (NYT)
Air Strike in Lebanon Kills Five Palestinian Fighters
Palestinian officials said Israel was behind today’s attack, which Israel denied; the strike targeted a Syria-backed Palestinian group in eastern Lebanon (AP)
Netanyahu Passes Budget, Suggests Renewed Attempt at Judicial Reform
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overcame divisions in his coalition to pass a two-year national budget that includes new funding for ultra-Orthodox schools (WaPo)
U.S. Rebukes Israel for Push to Reestablish Settlements in Northern West Bank
A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Washington is “deeply troubled” by Israel’s move to repopulate the outpost of Homesh, where Jewish settlements were dismantled in 2005; the United States and most other countries consider Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal (AP)
Palestinian and Israeli sources stated that the Israeli military killed three militants during a large-scale raid in the occupied West Bank (Reuters)
Israeli Police Reinforce Security Ahead of Nationalist Parade Through Jerusalem
The annual parade is expected to see tens of thousands of Jewish Israelis march through the city’s Muslim Quarter; it comes less than a week after a cease-fire quelled fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip (Times of Israel)
Israel, Gaza Reach Cease-Fire After Five Days of Violence
The cease-fire came into effect late Saturday and has largely remained in place; a rocket was launched from the Gaza Strip toward Israel on Sunday, but both sides held fire afterward (Times of Israel)
Israel, Gaza Continue Fire for Fourth Day
Despite efforts to broker a cease-fire, Palestinian militants in Gaza shot rockets toward Israel and Israel said it hit four military posts of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group today; thirty-one Palestinians and one Israeli man have been reported dead since fighting broke out earlier this week (AP)
Israel, Gaza Continue to Trade Air Strikes Despite Efforts to Broker Truce
Egyptian state media said Cairo had brokered a cease-fire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, yet the Israeli military announced that it killed another commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group today; Gaza’s health ministry said twenty-five Palestinians have been killed in the fighting (AP)
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund warned that uncertainty over the status of Israel’s planned judicial overhaul presents a “notable downside risk” to the country’s economy (Times of Israel)
Israel Carries Out Additional Strikes on Militant Targets in Gaza
Israeli forces carried out new strikes today on targets linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group; at least one person died, medical officials said (Reuters)
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday killed at least thirteen people, ten of them civilians (PBS)
Israeli Air Strikes Kill Militants, Civilians in Gaza
Israeli strikes that targeted the Gaza Strip this morning killed three senior members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group; Palestinian health officials said a total of thirteen people were killed, including the militants’ wives and children (AP)