Lebanon warns Palestinian president that troops may intervene if clashes continue in refugee camp
Lebanon's caretaker prime minister has demanded an end to the volatile clashes in the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp, warning that troops may have to intervene if the deadly violence doesn't stop.
As Israel ends 2-day West Bank offensive, Palestinian residents emerge to scenes of vast destruction
Palestinian residents of the Jenin refugee camp encountered scenes of widespread destruction as they emerged from their homes and returned from nearby shelters following the most intense Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank in nearly two decades.
Palestinian Authority blocks registration of legal aid group
The Palestinian Authority has blocked the registration of a legal advocacy group representing critics and opponents detained in Palestinian jails, a move condemned as the authority’s latest effort to stifle civil society in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli-Palestinian cauldron tests US as Blinken visits
An alarming spike in Israeli-Palestinian violence and sharp responses by both sides are testing the Biden administration as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plunges into a cauldron of deepening mistrust and anger on visits to Israel and the West Bank this week.
UN: 2022 likely deadliest for Palestinians in West Bank
The U.N. Mideast envoy says 2022 is on course to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the U.N. started tracking fatalities in 2005 and called for immediate action to calm “an explosive situation” and move toward renewing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Biden lands in Saudi Arabia, crown prince greets him with fist bump
President Joe Biden has exchanged a cordial fist bump with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but says he then raised the issue of the murder of writer Jamal Khashoggi, which U.S. intelligence has said the crown prince approved.
Blinken set to see Israelis, Arabs wary about Iran, Ukraine
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will try to use his three-nation tour of the Middle East and North Africa to reassure wary Israelis and Arabs that the Biden administration is committed to the region’s security at a time when Washington is confronting multiple foreign policy challenges.
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Egypt invites Hamas, Palestinians, Israel for further talks
Egypt has invited Israel, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for separate talks that aim at consolidating the cease-fire that ended an 11-day war between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers, an Egyptian intelligence official said Thursday.
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Blinken claims progress in effort to boost Gaza truce
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has wrapped up a two-day Mideast mission, winning valuable diplomatic support and hundreds of millions of dollars of pledges from Arab allies as he moved to shore up the cease-fire that ended an 11-day war between Israel and the Gaza Strip’s militant Hamas rulers.
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Imprisoned Palestinian leader's entry shakes up planned vote
Marwan Barghouti, a popular Palestinian uprising leader imprisoned by Israel has submitted an independent list of candidates to run in the upcoming parliamentary elections. Polls indicate it would split the vote for Fatah, potentially paving the way for another major victory by Hamas. That increases the likelihood that Abbas will find a way to call off the first Palestinian elections in 15 years. But he remains a popular and charismatic leader, and by breaking with Abbas he could reshape Palestinian politics and potentially replace him as president. Polls consistently show him to be the most popular Palestinian leader, with support from across the political spectrum.
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The Latest: Trump blasts Fauci and Birx as 'self-promoters'
The Department of Health reported more than 10,000 new COVID-19 cases Monday, the highest since the pandemic hit the country. Fauci told CNN it seemed like the Trump virus team was “fighting with each other rather than fighting the virus.”AdIn his statement, Trump says “Dr. Texas has administered more than 10 million vaccine doses. Jared Polis has announced that residents over age 16 will be eligible for the coronavirus vaccine starting Friday. Ad___NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — Johnson & Johnson says it’s agreed to provide up to 400 million doses of its one-dose COVID-19 vaccine to African countries, starting this summer.
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Palestinians expand vaccination campaign after UN shipment
The vaccine shipment is a boost to the West Bank, where the PA has struggled to obtain vaccines as the infection rate surged in recent weeks. In the West Bank, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said the vaccines would go to medical workers and older people. But in recent weeks, it has inoculated over 100,000 Palestinian laborers in the West Bank who have permits to work inside Israel and its West Bank settlements. Bootsma said the limited number of vaccines in Gaza prevents a mass vaccination campaign. The West Bank has reported nearly 163,000 COVID-19 cases and 1,824 deaths.
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Palestinians get 60,000 vaccine doses through WHO program
The Palestinian Authority says it will receive 62,000 coronavirus vaccine doses through a World Health Organization partnership designed to help poor countries. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)JERUSALEM – The Palestinian Authority said Wednesday it will receive just over 60,000 coronavirus vaccine doses over the next 48 hours, the first shipment provided by a World Health Organization partnership aimed at helping poor countries. That's only enough doses to vaccinate 31,000 people out of a population of nearly 5 million Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza. Palestinian Health Ministry spokesman Kamal al-Shakhra said authorities would receive 38,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. AdUntil now, the PA had received 2,000 doses from Israel and acquired another 10,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.
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Palestinian Authority faces criticism over vaccine rollout
But to date it has only acquired enough doses to inoculate 6,000 people in a population of nearly 5 million. “We have focused from the beginning on health workers, but there are around 100,000" in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Health Minister Mai Alkaila told reporters on Tuesday. The PA acquired another 10,000 doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine. AdAlkaila said 2,000 doses have been shipped to Gaza, which is ruled by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and is under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade. Of the remaining 9,800 doses, she said 90% have been given to health workers.
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Israeli plan to share vaccines frozen by legal questions
Israel's attorney general says a plan by Netanyahu to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to diplomatic allies has been frozen. (AP Photo/Tal Shahar, Yediot Ahronot, Pool, File)JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plan to ship surplus coronavirus vaccines to a group of allied nations was frozen Thursday following a legal challenge to the deal, his office announced. Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that he had personally decided to share small quantities of surplus Israeli vaccines with allied nations. He described the mission as a “strategic and political move at zero cost.”Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel has hundreds of thousands of surplus vaccines. In his letter, Gantz noted that the decision to share vaccines with the Palestinians was made after consultations involving various government ministries.
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Diplomatic doses: Israel shares vaccines with allied nations
While Israel does not produce vaccines, Netanyahu has moved aggressively to secure enough vaccines for Israel’s 9.3 million people in deals with Pfizer and Moderna. Ad“Our supply is beyond what is needed by the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu told reporters Tuesday. In Prague, the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babis, said Israel was donating 5,000 doses to his country after a request for assistance. He said the vaccines were in response to requests from friendly countries, and not in exchange for any diplomatic favors. Israel this month delivered 2,000 doses of Moderna vaccines to the Palestinian Authority for frontline medical workers in the West Bank, and it has pledged to share a total of 5,000 doses.