Ramallah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | US President Donald Trump’s break with decades of support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is irresponsible and does not advance peace, a senior Palestinian said on Wednesday. “This does not make sense,” Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi told …
Read More »Netanyahu to test Trump policy at Washington talks
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warmly welcomed Donald Trump’s election as US president, will visit the White House Wednesday to test his supportive campaign pledges against emerging policy. Since taking office, Trump has edged away from unqualified backing for Netanyahu’s drive for more Jewish …
Read More »Trump slams ‘inflammatory’ Obama
Palm Beach, United States | AFP | US President-elect Donald Trump poured kerosene on a simmering dispute with Barack Obama Wednesday, accusing him of derailing a smooth transition with “inflammatory” statements and “roadblocks.” Ever since the November 8 election, Trump and Obama have tried to bury political differences in favor …
Read More »US Secretary of State John Kerry’s ‘Israel’ speech in full
Kerry warns Israel settlements threaten democracy Washington, United States | AFP | In a stern parting shot, US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Israel on Wednesday that building settlements on Palestinian land threatens the country’s very future as a democracy. Less than four weeks before President Barack Obama leaves …
Read More »Israel rejects UN settler vote, lashes out at Obama
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel lashed out at US President Barack Obama over a UN Security Council resolution passed Friday demanding it halt settlements in Palestinian territory, while vowing it would not abide by it. “Israel rejects this shameful anti-Israel resolution at the UN and will not abide by …
Read More »‘Jesus’s tomb’ opened for first time in centuries
Jérusalem, Undefined | AFP | Preservation experts have opened for the first time in at least two centuries what Christians believe is Jesus’s tomb inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Some of the historic work was witnessed by AFP photographer Gali Tibbon who captured images of the …
Read More »UNESCO adopts controversial Jerusalem resolution
Paris, France | AFP | The UN cultural agency on Tuesday adopted a controversial Arab-sponsored resolution condemning Israel’s actions at a flashpoint holy site in east Jerusalem that has sparked fury in the Jewish state. The UNESCO resolution on “occupied Palestine” was drafted by Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Qatar …
Read More »Israel receives first group of Ethiopian migrants
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel has welcomed a group of 64 Ethiopian migrants, the first group of a new wave of 9,000 to arrive over the next five years, an official said Monday. Their arrival follows the resolution of a political crisis that threatened Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, …
Read More »ICC announces visit to Israel, Palestinian territories
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | A delegation from the world’s only permanent war crimes court is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories this week, the chief prosecutor said Wednesday, against the backdrop of a probe into the 2014 Gaza war. The trip from Wednesday until October 10 will be …
Read More »Handshakes, Hebrew and humour as Peres laid to rest
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | The gathering of world leaders for Friday’s funeral of Israel’s ex-president Shimon Peres featured a rare show of Israel-Palestinian detente, US President Barack Obama’s attempt at Hebrew and just a touch of humour. Handshake On arrival at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery, Palestinian president Mahmud …
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