Israel’s Defence Minister Naftali Bennett has renewed his threats of a large-scale offensive against the Gaza Strip, speaking to Channel 12 News yesterday evening, reported Arutz Sheva. “I do not want short rounds [of fighting],” said Bennett. “Now we have eliminated terrorists in both Gaza and Damascus and made a …

For seven years, Nour Abu al-Qaraya barely stepped from her Gaza home, except to go to a hospital, after one of her relatives threw acid on her during an argument over her father’s inheritance. This deliberate act of cruelty destroyed Abu al-Qaraya’s face and partially blinded her. She has had eight operations, but the scars on her …

Israel carried out airstrikes on the Gaza Strip in response to rocket fire on Wednesday, according to the Israeli military, Reuters reports. No casualties were reported on either side of the Israel-Gaza border. Two of the projectiles launched from Gaza were shot down by Israel’s Iron Dome air defence system, …

Israel yesterday opened one of the gates of its rainwater stores east of Gaza, allowing rainwater to flood large swathes of Palestinian land, Ma’an reported. The Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that the water drowned “hundreds of dunams of agricultural lands and damaged barley and wheat crops.” …

Israeli authorities are taking steps to ease the blockade of the Gaza Strip in the context of indirect talks with Hamas over a longer-term truce, reported Al-Monitor. In one example, Israel has allowed the export of produce, “bound for the Gulf, European and Israeli markets”, via the Kerem Shalom crossing …

Despite press reports to the contrary, Qatar has not informed Hamas that Doha might not renew humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip beginning in January, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told Al-Monitor. The Qatari assistance was part of truce agreements mediated by Egypt between Hamas and Israel. In October 2018, Qatar agreed to provide $150 million in emergency humanitarian aid to …

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) said that Israel continued to impose severe restrictions on the movement of people in Gaza Strip during July, impeding 661 patients and reducing exports by 42.2 per cent. PCHR declared in a monthly report, Tuesday: “the Israeli occupation authorities refuse to allow most …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Cairo is resuming its efforts to reconcile the Fatah and Hamas Palestinian factions, taking a somewhat more hands-on approach to solving the main problem. The Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank wants Hamas to give up administrative control of the Gaza Strip, including ministries, security, courts, border crossings and tax collections. But Hamas refuses to …

In the next few days, Egypt is expected to invite Palestinian factions to visit Cairo to start a new round of political consultations in a bid to achieve Palestinian reconciliation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inability to form a new Israeli government led the Knesset to vote May 30 to dissolve itself and hold new elections. This came only two months following the April 9 election. Netanyahu, who leads the right-wing Likud party, won the April 9 elections without, however, securing enough seats in the Knesset to …