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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Israel Approves New Settlements

  • Israel approved hundreds of new settlement homes in East Jerusalem (BBC)

Soldier Convicted for Killing Palestinian Assailant

  • An Israeli soldier who fatally shot a wounded Palestinian assailant last year was found guilty of manslaughter, the first conviction in twelve years for an Israeli soldier over actions while in uniform (Middle East Eye)
  • The judges ruled that the soldier killed the assailant without reason

Netanyahu Rebuffs Kerry Speech as ‘Biased’

  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a speech by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that criticized Israel’s settlements in the West Bank. In the speech, Kerry defended (New York Times) the Obama administration’s choice to not veto a UN resolution condemning Israel’s West Bank settlements, saying it was driven by a hope to save Israel from “the most extreme elements” in its own government

Palestinian Stabs Two Israeli Policemen

  • A Palestinian man wielding a screwdriver stabbed and lightly wounded two Israeli police officers before being shot and killed. Officers shot the attacker, who was taken to an Israeli hospital and later died of his wounds, police said (Associated Press)

U.S. Secretary of State Kerry Criticizes Israel Over Expanding Settlements

  • Secretary of State John F. Kerry said that Israel is “heading to a place of danger” because settlement growth is eroding chances for a two-state solution and peace with the Palestinians, though he said the United States will continue to veto U.N. resolutions that it deems as reflecting anti-Israel bias. Kerry effectively laid out some details that he said already have been discussed regarding how a Palestinian state could exist while Israel’s security is ensured (Washington Post)

Palestinian Leaders Meet in Doha

  • Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with leaders of the Gaza-based Hamas in Doha to discuss mending the political rift between the Gaza Strip and West Bank and establishing a consensus government, PA media said (Middle East Eye)
  • The two areas have been politically split since Hamas seized Gaza a year after winning parliamentary elections

Two Israelis Killed in Jerusalem

  • A Palestinian gunman, identified as a resident of East Jerusalem, fired at civilians from a moving car near a light rail stop opposite Israel’s national police headquarters, killingtwo Israelis. (New York Times)

Activist Flotilla Attempts to Reach Gaza

  • A Gaza-bound flotilla with women activists, including a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and a retired U.S. army colonel, was intercepted by Israeli authorities and redirected to the Israeli port of Ashdod (Haaretz)

ICC Delegation Visits Israel and Palestinian Territories

  • The six-day trip is the first to the region by officials from the prosecutor’s office at the International Criminal Court since the Gaza war. The team will travel to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Ramallah to gather information for an initial probe into alleged war crimes, at the request of the Palestinians (Al Jazeera)

Palestinian Court Orders Elections in West Bank

  • The Palestinian high court ordered municipal elections in Fatah-run West Bank, but not in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip (AFP)
  • Fatah and Hamas have not contested an election since 2006

Israeli Founding Leader and Nobel Laureate Shimon Peres Dies at 93

  • Shimon Peres, former Prime Minister and President of Israel, has died at age ninety-three. Mr. Peres headed the creation of Israel’s defense industry though later won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the Oslo accords (BBC)

Israel Legalizes “Pirate Outposts”

  • A new report says the Israeli government has retroactively legalized many so-called “pirate outposts” of Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Approximately one hundred outposts were constructed over the past two decades without government authorization (New York Times)

Israel Completes Investigation of 2014 Strike on Gaza School

  • The Israeli military cleared itself of wrongdoing and closed its investigation into a strike in 2014 that killed about ten civilians in Gaza who took shelter in a UN school). The military said that six criminal investigations are still open relating to incidents during the Gaza incursion (New York Times

Palestinian Leaders to File Complaint Against Britain

  • Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki sought support from the Arab League for a lawsuit against Britain for its 1917 Balfour Declaration that established a national home for Jewish people in Palestine (AFP)

Egypt’s Foreign Minister Visits Israel

  • Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, where he offered to help revive peace negotiations with Palestinians and said a two-state solution was “not far-fetched” (Reuters)
  • The visit is the first of its kind in nearly a decade; Egypt and Jordan are the only two Arab nations to have signed peace accords with Israel (Al Jazeera)

Classified Procedures Permit Israeli Police to Shoot at Strone Throwers

  • An Israeli court released portions of police regulations approved last December by the country’s attorney general which allow Israeli law enforcement to fire live bullets at someone throwing stones using a slingshot (Haaretz)
  • The classified documents were released in response to a petition by a legal aid NGO (Jerusalem Post)

Israel Strikes Major Hospital in Gaza City

  • The Al-Ahli Hospital served as the last fully functioning hospital in the Gaza Strip, severely damaging the building’s infrastructure, though Israel stated that the hospital hosted a Hamas command center; total strikes on Palm Sunday killed at least twenty-one Palestinian civilians (AP)

Blinken Wraps up Mideast Tour as Oil Tanker Seizure Underscores Regional Tensions

  • U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the outlook for the eventual postwar Gaza Strip with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo today, finalizing a tour through the region that also aimed to prevent the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas from spreading (NYT)
  • The International Court of Justice also began hearing a case against Israel today, in which South Africa alleges that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians (FT)
  • Israel says the case “lacks both a factual and a legal basis,” while several Western countries, led by the United States, said South Africa’s case is unfounded; the case could extend for years, though South Africa is requesting an immediate order for emergency measures (Reuters)