Palestine

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: An Israeli planning committee yesterday approved plans advancing the construction of thousands of homes in Givat Hamatos, an illegal East Jerusalem settlement that threatens to cut off parts of the city from its Palestinian residents and the West Bank.

According to Peace Now activist Hagit Ofran, the Palestinian area of Khirbet Tabalya, southwest of the city, had already been allocated for use in Givat Hamatos. She described yesterday's approval as a "bureaucratic move."

14 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinian director, Ameen Nayfeh, says he felt proud after bringing to life through film his personal struggle in crossing an Israeli military checkpoint to visit his dying grandfather. But he did not expect his short film to have a wide audience, Reuter's reports.

That all changed for Nayfeh on Thursday, when Netflix launched a new Palestinian film collection, the first of its kind by a major streaming service, that includes his award-winning short "The Crossing".

13 Oct 2021; MEMO: Hamas has rejected an Egyptian proposal to form a unity government with Fatah, citing previous unity agreements foiled by the secular Palestinian movement.

In remarks made to Arabi Post yesterday, Hamas spokesman Abdul-Latfi Al-Qanou said: "Hamas' vision is to reevaluate the national temporary mechanisms. It had been proposed to end the internal division."

13 Oct 2021; MEMO: Extremist Israeli settlers yesterday uprooted 900 olive and apricot saplings and stole olive crops in the village of Sebastia of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wafa news agency reported.

Settlers also uprooted 70 trees in Masafer Yatta, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Palestinian sources reported to Wafa that settlers vandalised Palestinian-owned property in several northern West Bank towns.

09 Oct 2021; MEMO: Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has announced boycotting the US and its officials, however, he has continued holding secret meetings with US officials in Ramallah, The Times of Israel revealed on Friday.

Abbas has also ordered all Palestinian officials not to meet with the Americans following the closure of the US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem in 2018.

RAMALLAH, Oct 7 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, yesterday discussed by telephone, the readiness to resume peace and achieve calm with Israel.

The official Palestinian news agency said that, Abbas explained to al-Sisi the Palestinian side’s readiness to act under the auspices of the Middle East Quartet, which comprises the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the UN.

07 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority condemned on Wednesday an Israeli court ruling that allows Jewish settlers to perform their prayers in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, Wafa has reported. The PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates described the ruling as "unprecedented".

07 Oct 2021; MEMO: An Israeli right-wing opposition member of the Knesset is seeking to outlaw the planned reopening of a US mission in Jerusalem that has traditionally been a base for diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians, Reuters reports.

07 Oct 2021; MEMO: The Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, called on Wednesday for Arab and Muslim leaders to oppose further normalisation deals with Israel in return for "false promises", Anadolu has reported.

Responding to remarks made by Israel's Foreign Minister, Yair Lapid, the head of the Hamas Political Department Abroad, Sami Abu Zuhri, said that the movement is "extremely concerned" about Israel promoting more normalisation deals with Arab states.

Al-MUFAGARA, West Bank (AP) — Dozens of Jewish settlers swept down from the dusty hills, hurling rocks at a small Palestinian village in broad daylight, smashing windows, cars and water cisterns as families hid inside their homes and Israeli soldiers looked on.

Palestinians in this rural part of the occupied West Bank say last week’s attack was especially violent but not unusual. They view it as part of a much larger effort by Israel to force them off their land, including by cutting off vital water resources in a parched region.