Diaries from Gaza: Yasmin says it's become impossible to survive in Gaza City
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Nahar Net
an hour ago
- Nahar Net
Israel approves settlement project that could divide the West Bank
by Naharnet Newsdesk 20 August 2025, 15:49 Israel gave final approval Wednesday for a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, and that Palestinians and rights groups say could destroy hopes for a future Palestinian state. Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank to be illegal and an obstacle to peace. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a former settler leader, cast the approval as a rebuke to Western countries that announced their plans to recognize a Palestinian state in recent weeks. "The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not with slogans but with actions," he said on Wednesday. "Every settlement, every neighborhood, every housing unit is another nail in the coffin of this dangerous idea." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects the idea of a Palestinian state alongside Israel and has vowed to maintain open-ended control over the occupied West Bank, annexed east Jerusalem, and the war-ravaged Gaza Strip — territories Israel seized in the 1967 war that the Palestinians want for their state. Israel's expansion of settlements is part of an increasingly dire reality for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as the world's attention focuses on the war in Gaza. There have been marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns, Israeli military operations, and checkpoints that choke freedom of movement, as well as several Palestinian attacks on Israelis. More than 700,000 Israelis settlers now live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The location of E1 is significant because it is one of the last geographical links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah, in the north, and Bethlehem, in the south. The two cities are 22 kilometers (14 miles) apart, but Palestinians traveling between them must take a wide detour and pass through multiple Israeli checkpoints, spending hours on the journey. The hope was that, in an eventual Palestinian state, the region would serve as a direct link between the cities. "The settlement in E1 has no purpose other than to sabotage a political solution," said Peace Now, an organization that tracks settlement expansion in the West Bank. "While the consensus among our friends in the world is to strive for peace and a two-state solution, a government that long ago lost the people's trust is undermining the national interest, and we are all paying the price." If the process moves quickly, infrastructure work in E1 could begin in the next few months and construction of homes could start in around a year. The plan includes around 3,500 apartments that would abut the existing settlement of Maale Adumim. Smotrich also hailed the approval, during the same meeting, of 350 homes for the settlement of Ashael near Hebron. Israel's government is dominated by religious and ultranationalist politicians, like Smotrich, with close ties to the settlement movement. The finance minister has been granted Cabinet-level authority over settlement policies and vowed to double the settler population in the West Bank.
L'Orient-Le Jour
2 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Jordanian foreign minister accuses Israel of 'killing prospects for peace' in the region
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, on a visit to Russia, on Wednesday accused Israel of "killing the prospects for peace" in the region, as the Israeli government gave the green light to take Gaza City. "We see the Israeli government not only killing Palestinians and killing the prospects for peace in the region, but also expanding the conflict to Lebanon and Syria," Safadi said during a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Moscow. He condemned a "completely inhumane reality created in Gaza by the Israeli aggression," stating that he wanted to discuss with Lavrov "efforts to stop" the "massacres and famine." "Peace is a strategic objective for all of us. It is the only path to stability in the region," stressed the Jordanian foreign minister. Although Jordan does not border the Gaza Strip, it is among the countries in the region affected by the conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered by the unprecedented attack by the Palestinian Islamist group in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday ordered the recall of 60,000 reservists after giving the green light for the capture of Gaza City, amid mediation efforts toward a truce in the Palestinian territory and the release of Israeli hostages. Since the beginning of the war, Israel has besieged more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, who are threatened with famine according to the United Nations, accusations rejected by Israel. The Oct. 7, 2023 attack killed 1,219 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The Israeli retaliatory offensive has killed at least 62,064 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas health ministry considered reliable by the U.N.
L'Orient-Le Jour
2 hours ago
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Protesters applauded William Noun as he left the Justice Palace
Summoned by the criminal police upon the instructions of Assistant Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation, Sabbouh Sleiman, following a legal complaint filed by lawyer Ali Hassan Ibrahim, William Noun, the brother of a victim of the Aug. 4, 2020 Beirut Port explosion, was heard for two hours on Tuesday. Noun was released with a proof of residence at the order of Judge Sleiman. Read more William Noun targeted with legal complaint The plaintiff, who is clearly close to Hezbollah, said in his complaint that Noun expressed 'dangerous empathy with the Israeli enemy' during his speech on the fifth commemoration of the a video of his speech, Noun addressed participants at the commemoration rally who were chanting 'Hezbollah is a terrorist organization,' saying, 'there is no one left from Hezbollah.' According to the...
