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Analysis: Hamas threatens Israel as ceasefire reaches two-month anniversary

Incendiary balloons from Gaza (MinoZig, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons). The terrorist group Hamas, which has governed the Gaza Strip since it seized power in 2007, has this week threatened Israel over the supply of aid into Gaza. Incendiary The threats come in the context of incendiary balloon arson attacks, a Hamas practice since 2018. Terrorists in Gaza…

LFI director: What a genuinely progressive approach to the Middle East could look like

Labour Friends of Israel director Michael Rubin has written the below article for LabourList. Click here to read the original. For those of us on the left who support Israel and want to see the forces of peace, progress and moderation advance in the Middle East, the last decade was without doubt a dispiriting one. Benjamin Netanyahu…

LFI vice chair pushes FCDO to take initiative on peacebuilding

LFI vice chair Cat McKinnell MP today pushed Middle East Minister James Cleverly about why the UK government isn't showing more initiative to support the creation of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace, as envisioned by ALLMEP. Her question came following a written parliamentary question, in which the FCDO claimed that "US planning for the International…

In Brief: Iran nuclear negotiations unlikely to bear fruit soon

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Iran’s deputy foreign minister said at the weekend that ongoing negotiations in Vienna to restore the 2015 nuclear deal will not resume until president-elect Ebrahim Raisi is sworn in next month. “We’re in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital”, Abbas…

In Brief: Palestinian singer arrested by PA for performing for Israelis

PA security forces. Image credit: Stop the Wall, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Palestinian Authority security forces arrested a Palestinian singer for performing in the Israeli settlement of Ariel on Monday. The singer, a resident of Kafr ad-Dik, will be tried on charges of “promoting normalisation with Israel”, sources told the Jerusalem Post. The singer was invited to…

In Brief: New Israeli government rejects West Bank annexation bill

View of Judean hills. Image credit: Anthony Baratier, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. The new Israeli coalition government, led by prime minister Naftali Bennett, voted against a bill which would have annexed the West Bank in the Ministerial Committee on Legislation on Monday. Likud MK Miki Zohar dared Bennett’s right-wing Yamina party and their New Hope…

Recap: Launch of The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach

LFI last week launched a major new publication examining the changing shape of the Middle East. From the growing threat posed by Iranian expansionism to diplomatic shifting sands and demographic changes, The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach is an important contribution to Labour’s foreign policy development. Launch event The pamphlet was launched at an online event last…

LFI chair: Labour needs to rethink its Middle East ideas

Chris McAndrew, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Labour Friends of Israel chair, Steve McCabe MP, has written the below article for the Jewish Chronicle. Click here to read the original. The obsession with Israel-Palestine means my party has neglected other vital issues The past decade has seen a series of momentous events sweep the Middle East: the Arab Spring,…

In Brief: Palestinian minister expelled from party over death of activist

Palestinian flag > Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. The Palestinian Authority minister of labour, Nasri Abu Jaish, has been expelled by his party after refusing to resign in protest at the death of anti-corruption activist Nizar Banat last month. The left-wing Palestinian People’s Party (PPP) announced two weeks ago that it would withdraw from the PA government…

In Brief: Isaac Herzog sworn in as Israel’s eleventh president

President Isaac Herzog with former president Reuven Rivlin > Mark Neyman / Government Press Office (Israel), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Isaac Herzog was sworn in as Israel’s eleventh president on Wednesday, with a promise to “lower the flames, to calm things down”. Herzog, a former leader of Israel’s Labor party and former chairman of the Jewish…