Abbas: Normalization between Arabs, Israel won’t achieve peace
Normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab countries will not achieve peace and stability in the region, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday.
Normalization of relations between Israel and the Arab countries will not achieve peace and stability in the region, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia maintains its policy of not making ties with Israel official until there is peace with the Palestinians, Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said on Wednesday.
Israeli war planes carried out series of airstrikes in the Gaza Strip late Tuesday night, after Palestinians fired a rocket and sent several arson balloons into Israel, sparking a series a fires, the Israel Defense Forces said.
Iran and Turkey lashed out at their regional rival the United Arab Emirates on Friday over its decision to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel, accusing it of betraying the Palestinian cause, even as much of the international community welcomed the move.
Palestinians taking part in Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem trampled and then set fire to a poster of the United Arab emirates leader to protest the normalization deal announced Thursday between Israel and the UAE.
At least 28 bush fires were started in the south of Israel Sunday, with authorities blaming incendiary balloons launched from the Gaza Strip following exchanges of fire between the Israel Defense Forces and Hamas over the weekend.
U.S. President Donald Trump has confirmed that Israel and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to establish full diplomatic relations in a “historic diplomatic breakthrough.”
Following waves of explosive balloons launched from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory over the last few days, Israel will shut the Gaza Strip’s Kerem Shalom commercial crossing beginning Tuesday morning “until further notice,” the Israeli military liaison to the Palestinians announced.
Israeli warplanes hit several Hamas sites in central and southern Gaza Strip early Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said, hours after Palestinians fired a rocket into Israel from the coastal enclave.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s peace plan was still on the table, although neither leader gave any indication as to when Israel would extend sovereignty to those parts of the West Bank the plan provides for, the Jerusalem Post reported.
The Palestinian Authority arrested a number of Palestinians who expressed support for Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank, according to French News Agency AFP. However, Palestinian Authority officials have denied the reports are true.
Israel can expect a third intifada if it moves ahead with annexation of parts of the West Bank, an advisor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has said.
Any changes to Israel’s eastern border would impact relations between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany, the countries’ foreign ministers said on Tuesday.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has expressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is concerned about Israel’s plan to annex parts of the West Bank, the Jerusalem Post reports. In a phone call Tuesday, Johnson said annexation would hinder the prospect of peace in the region and asked the Israeli PM to return to negotiations with the Palestinians.
A senior member of Hamas has called on Palestinian militant groups to join forces, abandon peace negotiations, and engage in armed resistance against Israel.
In a recorded address to the Christians United for Israel (CUFI) Virtual Summit 2020 on Sunday night, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touted the application of Israeli law to areas of Judea and Samaria—part of the “Peace to Prosperity” plan unveiled by U.S. President Donald Trump in January.
The United Nations, European Union countries, and the Arab League joined Wednesday in calling for Israel to abandon its plans to annex parts of the West Bank, as the Jewish state’s envoy to the international body insisted the step would not stand in the way of peace with the Palestinians.
According to a survey conducted for the Shiloh Policy Forum, US President Trump’s Mideast peace plan would place hundreds of Jewish archaeological sites inside a future Palestinian state, CBN News reports. Among the sites concerned are Shiloh and an ancient synagogue discovered in Shomron, the Biblical capital of the northern Kingdom of Israel.
U.S. officials will gather this week to discuss whether to give Israel a green light for its plan to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s target date of July 1 approaches.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told various officials over the past few days that he is considering a two-stage plan to implement Israel’s declaration of sovereignty in the Jordan Valley parts of Judea and Samaria.