The unclear results of Israel’s general election this week appear to be mirrored within the Palestinian Authority, according to polling conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research. Should elections go ahead in May, the polling found that both Fatah, the party of PA president Mahmoud Abbas, and its rival, terror group Hamas,[…]
Representatives of arch-enemies Fatah and Hamas are meeting this week in Cairo for a second round of talks aimed at allowing elections in the West Bank and Gaza to go ahead this summer. Mahmoud Abbas (pictured) called the elections – the first for 15 years – in January but his Fatah party and terror group[…]
Yahya Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza, appears to be floundering in his bid for re-election after three rounds of voting in a highly secret ballot on Tuesday produced no clear winner. Sinwar has held the post since 2017, making him the defacto ruler of the coastal enclave. The electorate is a small one[…]
Gaza’s humanitarian crisis could be eased by the announcement last weekend of a major deal between the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli energy company Delek to supply natural gas to the coastal enclave’s sole power plant. The agreement was announced by Qatar’s envoy to Gaza – a key intermediary between the PA and Israel –[…]
Hamas has restocked its deadly arsenal since the 2014 Gaza war, a senior Israeli military commander said last week. The news came as an Islamic court in the coastal enclave further tightened restrictions on women, saying they needed the permission of a male guardian to travel. The Gaza-based terror group now has a stockpile of[…]
Hamas has been recruiting minors to carry out terrorist attacks, Israeli security forces have said. Two Palestinian minors, including a 16-year-old, were arrested last month after Hamas recruited them over the internet, Shin Bet has revealed. They have now been indicted by the Juvenile Military Court. The two minors were to be provided with weapons, ammunition,[…]
Sudan has become the latest Arab nation to seek to normalise its relationship with Israel. The agreement was announced during a call between Benjamin Netanyahu, President Trump and Sudan’s Sovereign Council president, General Abdel Fattah al- Burhan, and prime minister Abdalla Hamdok. The announcement – which follows the signing last month of the Abraham[…]
A military court in Gaza this week convicted three Palestinian peace activists for holding a video call with Israelis in April. Rami Aman, the head of the Gaza Youth Committee, was sentenced to a year in prison after being found guilty of “weakening revolutionary spirit”. However, the court said it would “halt” implementation of the[…]
A decade-old ban on the sale of conventional arms to Iran will come to an end this Sunday, potentially opening the way for Russia and China to assist the Islamic Republic in a major, potentially hugely destabilising, expansion and advancement of its military capability. Since 2010, the supply of a host of weaponry – including[…]
In his virtual address to the UN General Assembly last week, Mahmoud Abbas predictably denounced the historic normalisation agreements signed earlier this month by Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. But the president also announced new elections – the first for over 14 years – will take place in Palestine following an agreement between[…]
Hamas is threatening to jail three Palestinian peace activists for holding a video call with Israelis in April. The activists, who belong to the Gaza Youth Committee, were charged by Palestinian military prosecutors last week with “weakening revolutionary spirit” for participating in a peace-building initiative called “Skype With Your Enemy”. Raji Sourani, the director of[…]
In their steadfast opposition to the historic agreement signed last week between Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have found a rare common cause. Earlier this month, President Mahmoud Abbas hosted a meeting in Ramallah which brought together all 14 major Palestinian factions – including Hamas and its fellow[…]