Ramallah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | An economic conference intended to kickstart a Middle East peace initiative by US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law has failed to convince Palestinians, who boycotted it and treated it with disdain or disinterest. In a rare show of unity, all Palestinian factions condemned the conference in …
Read More »Kushner holds open door to wary Palestinians in Bahrain peace push
Manama, Bahrain | AFP | Jared Kushner said Wednesday that Palestinians were still welcome to engage in his peace initiative, and accused their leaders of not caring about their own people for rejecting his $50 billion economic plan. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law launched a long-awaited Middle East initiative with …
Read More »Italy doctor-to-be picks Gaza for semester abroad
Gaza City, Palestinian Territories | AFP | Seated with other students on the steps at the Islamic University of Gaza with his backpack, the young Italian doctor-to-be draws looks from passersby. Riccardo Corradini is the first exchange student in the Gaza Strip under a popular European programme known as Erasmus …
Read More »Funding shortage leads to World Food Programme cuts for Palestinians
Jérusalem, Undefined | AFP | The World Food Programme has suspended or reduced aid for some of its Palestinian beneficiaries in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip due to funding shortages, an official with the organisation said Sunday. Some 27,000 Palestinians are no longer receiving aid through the United …
Read More »Orthodox worshippers mark Christmas in Bethlehem
Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories | AFP | Hundreds of Orthodox Christians began marking Christmas in Bethlehem Sunday, as protesters demonstrated against the sale of church land to Israelis. Greek Orthodox patriarch Theophilos III arrived at the Church of the Nativity, built on the traditionally recognised site of Jesus’s birth, as a …
Read More »Israel’s Netanyahu hails UN Hamas vote despite defeat
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared …
Read More »Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Hamas with ‘very strong blows’
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict “very strong blows” on Hamas after fresh violence along the border with the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist group. “Hamas has apparently not understood the message — if these attacks do not stop, they will …
Read More »Pope says ‘very worried’ by Mideast violence
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis said Wednesday he was “very worried” by escalating violence in the Middle East after 60 Gazans were shot dead by Israeli troops while protesting the US embassy’s move to Jerusalem. “I am very worried about the escalation of tensions in the …
Read More »UN Human Rights Council to meet after Gaza killings
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The United Nations Human Rights Council will hold a special session on Friday to discuss “the deteriorating human rights situation” in the Palestinian Territories, after Israeli forces killed 60 Palestinians. “The special session is being convened per an official request submitted this evening by Palestine …
Read More »Iran says Israelis should be tried as ‘war criminals’
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran said on Tuesday that Israeli officials should be tried as war criminals over the “brutal massacre” of Gazan protesters the previous day. “The killing of children, women and defenceless people of Palestine and the occupation of Palestinian lands has become the main strategy of …
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