6 h. ago Settler violence in the Jordan Valley expels Palestinians from one of the few towns left standing

Families from one of the few remaining Palestinian Bedouin villages in the dusty corridor between Ramallah and Jericho packed up and prepared to flee their homes Sunday, saying harassment by Jewish settlers living in unauthorized outposts nearby had grown unbearable

Events

32 h. ago Video shows masked, armed men beating a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank

Dozens of masked men armed with sticks attacked a plant nursery and beat a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank

Events

1 week ago Palestinians watch as Israeli bulldozers claw down their West Bank homes

Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank watched as Israeli military bulldozers pulled down their homes as part of Israel’s nearly year-long incursion into northern refugee camps

Politics

1 week ago Fraudster who conned elderly victims out of £100k by convincing them to leave bank cards outside for couriers to collect is jailed for over 6 years

Abdirahman Yalahow, 29, from Walsall, West Midlands, posed as bank officials or police officers when phoning eight victims to tell them that their bank accounts had been compromised.

Economics

1 week ago Trump says ‘there’ll be hell to pay’ if Hamas does not disarm as he meets Netanyahu at Mar

US president says group will have ‘very short period’ to disarm and that he and Israeli prime minister ‘don’t agree on the West Bank 100%’ as pair meetBenjamin Netanyahu is expected to tell Donald Trump on Monday that Hamas must return the remains of the last Israeli hostage left in Gaza before the next stages of the stalled ceasefire can be implemented, Israeli officials and analysts say.The trip comes amid a new push by officials in Washington to force concessions from Israel to allow progress towards a second stage of the ceasefire in Gaza, which began in October after two years of devastating war.He feels he has a number of cards to play yet and the remains of Gvili is the easiest one to play now but there are others.Netanyahu knows exactly what he wants for Christmas – more of the same. Israeli troops stay in 51% of Gaza, periodically striking Hamas without the shadow of withdrawal looming over him. None of this requires a denunciation of the [Trump] plan itself and Trump can v...

Politics

1 week ago ‘A gift that cannot be sold’: the Palestinian family fighting to save their West Bank farm

For more than three decades, the Nassars have battled Israeli efforts to reclassify their property as ‘state land’In 1916, Daher Nassar, a Christian Palestinian farmer living south of Bethlehem, made a move considered more than unusual at the time. He bought a 42-hectare stretch of farmland on the slopes and valleys of Wadi Salem, and formally registered the purchase with the Ottoman authorities, who then ruled the region.A few years later, after transferring the title to his son, Nassar did something even more extraordinary. He re-registered the deed under each successive administration – the British mandate, then the Jordanian government, and finally, after 1967, under Israeli occupation. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Mohammad Bakri death: Renowned Palestinian actor and filmmaker dies aged 72

Filmmaker’s 2003 documentary about an Israeli military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during the second Palestinian intifada was banned by Israel

Events

2 w. ago Archbishop of York ‘intimidated by Israeli militias’ during visit to West Bank

He recounted being stopped at checkpoints and told by these groups that he was unable to visit families in the occupied West Bank

Politics

2 w. ago 3 Palestinians arrested on suspicion of torching a Christmas tree at a Catholic church in West Bank

Three Palestinians have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging a Nativity scene at a Catholic Church in the West Bank city of Jenin

Events

2 w. ago UK, Canada and Germany condemn Israel for 19 new West Bank settlements

Fourteen countries, also including France, Italy, Ireland and Spain, say actions ‘violate international law and risk fuelling instability’Fourteen countries, including Britain, Canada and Germany, have condemned the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying they violate international law and risk fuelling instability.Israel approved a proposal last Sunday for the new Jewish settlements, which brings the recent total to 69, according to the far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Ireland joins international condemnation of new West Bank settlements

Helen McEntee and 13 counterparts co-signed a statement condemning new Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Politics

2 w. ago Thousands flock to Bethlehem to revive Christmas spirit after 2 years of war in Gaza

After two years of subdued Christmas celebrations due to war, thousands of people flocked to Bethlehem's Manger Square on Christmas Eve

Events

2 w. ago Israeli settlers spray Palestinian children with teargas in latest West Bank attack

A Palestinian government official says Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the south of the Israeli-occupied West Bank overnight

Politics

2 w. ago Israel condemned after approving 19 new settlements in West Bank in latest blow to Palestinian state hopes

The U.S.-brokered peace plan calls for a possible ‘pathway’ to a Palestinian state — something the settlements are aimed at preventing

Politics

3 w. ago 19 new Jewish settlements in West Bank approved in latest threat to Palestinian state

The U.S.-brokered peace plan calls for a possible ‘pathway’ to a Palestinian state — something the settlements are aimed at preventing

Events

3 w. ago The West Bank brewery battling Israeli blocks to export rare Palestinian beer to the UK

Taybeh Brewery, which exports to the UK and beyond, has seen sales plummet by 70 per cent since 7 October. Its staff tell The Independent about how Israeli export controls, settler attacks and a struggling local economy have made business difficult

Politics

3 w. ago Christmas spirit returns to Bethlehem after ceasefire in Gaza

At midnight on Christmas Eve, the hymn “The Night of Christmas” will ring out in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was born

Events

3 w. ago Israel blocks six Canadian members of Parliament from entering the occupied West Bank

The Israeli Embassy in Canada confirmed the group was denied entry

Politics

3 w. ago Britain plans 'Iron Dome' missile shield to protect UK from Russian attack, Armed Forces chief reveals

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton said a system similar to that employed by Israel to block attacks from Palestine is needed due to the threat posed by the Kremlin.

Events

4 w. ago New Israeli barrier will slice through precious West Bank farmland

Palestinians who have worked the ‘breadbasket’ area for generations face being replaced by Israeli settlersThe death knell for the Palestinian village of Atouf, on the western slopes of the Jordan valley, arrived in the form of a trail of paper, a series of eviction notices taped to homes, greenhouses and wells, marking a straight line across the open fields.The notices, which appeared overnight, informed the local farmers that their land would be confiscated and that they had seven days from the date of their delivery, 4 December, to vacate their properties. A military road and accompanying barrier was to be built by Israel right through the area. Continue reading...

Politics