All posts tagged: Palestinian Authority

Israel and Hamas ‘agree to return to the negotiating table’

Israel and Hamas ‘agree to return to the negotiating table’

Back to homepage / Middle East AS IT HAPPENED Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams arrived in Cairo Tuesday, with Egyptian state-linked media reporting that “all parties had agreed to return to the negotiating table” for ceasefire talks. The renewed push for mediated talks came hours after Israel sent tanks into Rafah in southern Gaza, seizing the border crossing with Egypt. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded. Issued on: 07/05/2024 – 01:55Modified: 07/05/2024 – 22:03 2 min Israeli military operates on the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, 2024. © IDF Handout via Reuters This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here. Summary: Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday said the military’s capture of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing was an “important step” towards dismantling Hamas. The Israeli army said early Tuesday that its forces had taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing after launching air strikes that killed at least 27 people, according to hospitals. UN officials said …

Gaza war reminds Vietnam of liberation struggle once shared with Palestine | Israel War on Gaza News

Gaza war reminds Vietnam of liberation struggle once shared with Palestine | Israel War on Gaza News

Hanoi, Vietnam – At a private venue tucked away in a narrow alley in Hanoi’s city centre, a group of more than 20 people listened attentively to Saleem Hammad, a charismatic, 30-year-old Palestinian man, as he spoke in fluent Vietnamese. Hammad, who runs a business in Vietnam, shared an incident from his childhood in Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Those present listened as he recounted a vivid memory of being awoken one night as Israeli soldiers surrounded and raided his family home. Earlier, he had told those attending the discussion that Vietnam’s history of fighting for liberation against the United States had inspired Palestinians in their struggle against Israel’s occupation of their lands. “Vietnamese people, with their painful and glorious history, have always been the source of inspiration for the Palestinians in our struggle for justice,” Hammad told his audience. “We always look up to you as the role model.” Horrified by Israel’s war on Gaza and the spiralling death toll, primarily young Vietnamese people have begun to raise their voices in support of …

Is the Palestinian Authority still relevant? | Palestinian Authority

Is the Palestinian Authority still relevant? | Palestinian Authority

Under US pressure to reform the PA, Mahmoud Abbas has appointed a new prime minister. Amid mounting pressure from the United States, the Palestinian Authority is shaking up its leadership. President Mahmoud Abbas has named his financial adviser as the new prime minister. Sixty-nine-year-old Mohammed Mustafa has ample experience in economics, but little in politics. The move has surprised many – violence is escalating in the occupied West Bank and Israel’s war on Gaza shows no sign of ending. So, how could this appointment shape the future of the PA? And does it have enough backing from Palestinians to move forward? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Tahani Mustafa – Senior Palestine analyst at the International Crisis Group Mansour Shouman – Canadian Palestinian citizen journalist who reported from Gaza between October 2023 and February 2024 Mustafa Barghouti – Secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative Source link

Hamas Lashes Out at Abbas’ ‘Unilateral’ Designation of New PM 

Hamas Lashes Out at Abbas’ ‘Unilateral’ Designation of New PM 

cairo —  The Islamist group Hamas on Friday criticized the “unilateral” designation by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of an ally and leading business figure as prime minister with a mandate to help reform the Palestinian Authority (PA) and rebuild Gaza. Mohammad Mustafa’s appointment comes after mounting pressure to overhaul the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories and improve governance in the occupied West Bank where it is based. Hamas said the decision was taken without consulting it, despite the fact that it recently took part in a meeting in Moscow also attended by Abbas’ Fatah movement to end longtime divisions weakening Palestinian political aspirations. “We express our rejection of continuing this approach that has inflicted and continues to inflict harm on our people and our national cause,” Hamas said in a statement. “Making individual decisions and engaging in superficial and empty steps such as forming a new government without national consensus only reinforces a policy of unilateralism and deepens division.” At a time of war with Israel, Palestinians need a unified leadership preparing for …

Palestinian President Abbas appoints Mohammed Mustafa as prime minister | Israel War on Gaza News

Palestinian President Abbas appoints Mohammed Mustafa as prime minister | Israel War on Gaza News

The move comes as the Palestinian Authority faces pressure to reform from the US amid Israel’s war on Gaza. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his longtime economic adviser Mohammed Mustafa to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s post-war vision for Gaza. Mustafa, a US-educated economist and political independent, now faces the task of forming a new government for the PA, which has limited powers in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. In a statement announcing the appointment on Thursday, Abbas asked Mustafa to put together plans to re-unify administration in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, lead reforms in the government, security services and economy and fight corruption. Mustafa replaces former Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh who, along with his government, resigned in February citing the need for change amid Israel’s war on Gaza and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank. The internationally recognised PA, which is dominated by the Fatah party, exercises limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, but …

Israel’s illegal West Bank settlement plans face global condemnation | Palestinian Authority News

Israel’s illegal West Bank settlement plans face global condemnation | Palestinian Authority News

The 3,500 illegal housing units in the occupied West Bank add to nearly 20,000 approved in the past year. Israel’s plan to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank is facing widespread condemnation from several countries, including some of Tel Aviv’s staunchest allies. The country’s settlement-planning authority on Wednesday greenlit permits for nearly 3,500 new illegal settlement housing units in the occupied Palestinian territory, the first such approval since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7 last year. Israeli settlements have long been viewed as a violation of international law, and a hindrance to Palestinian statehood by the international community. Officials say the latest constructions, planned in Maale Adumim, Kedar and Efrat, are in retaliation for a February shooting targeting illegal settlers. “The enemies try to harm and weaken us, but we will continue to build and be built up in this land,” far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich in charge of civil affairs in the West Bank, said on X. Smotrich said the constructions add to the 18,515 housing units in …