Latest West Bank News

Palestinians ask Europe to send monitors for elections

Jan. 24, 2021 11:09 AM EST

Palestinian election officials on Sunday invited the European Union to send observers to monitor upcoming elections planned for the Palestinian legislature and presidency. The elections are seen as an important step toward ending a rift that has left the Palestinians divided between rival governments since the...

FILE - This Nov. 15, 2020 file photo, shows a general view of the Givat Hamatos Israeli settlement in east Jerusalem. Israeli authorities on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, advanced plans to build an additional 780 homes in West Bank settlements, an anti-settlement monitoring group said, in a last-minute surge of approvals before the friendly Trump administration leaves office later this week. Peace Now said that over 90% of the homes lay deep inside the West Bank, which the Palestinians seek as the heartland of a future independent state. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

Israel pushes settlement construction as Trump leaves office

Jan. 20, 2021 2:25 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — An Israeli watchdog group said Tuesday that the government approved nearly 2,600 new housing units in east Jerusalem and the West Bank settlements a day before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. Israeli authorities made a major last-minute push this week to advance settlement...

Arab League head hopes Biden changes Trump Mideast policies

Jan. 18, 2021 7:09 PM EST

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the Arab League expressed hope Monday that the Biden administration will change President Donald Trump's policies and launch a political process supported by regional and international parties to achieve independence for the Palestinians. Ahmed Aboul Gheit,...

A woman attends mass next to three bottles of hand sanitizer available for worshippers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Jesus Christ is believed to be buried, during a third lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Monday, Jan. 18, 2021. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

WHO raises 'concerns' about Mideast vaccine inequity

Jan. 18, 2021 1:16 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — The World Health Organization has raised "concerns" about the unequal distribution of coronavirus vaccines in Israel, which has given shots to more than 20% of its population, and the occupied territories, where Palestinians have yet to receive any, an official said Monday. Rights groups...

FILE - In this March 7, 2019, file photo, settlers jump on a trampoline as an Israeli solider stands guard in the Israeli controlled part of the West Bank city of Hebron. Israel's premier human rights group has begun describing both Israel and its control of the Palestinian territories as a single

Israel moves to rein in rights group over 'apartheid' use

Jan. 18, 2021 8:13 AM EST

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel's education minister says he is banning groups that call Israel an “apartheid state” from lecturing at schools — a move that targets one of the country's leading human rights groups after it began describing both Israel and its control of the Palestinian...

Israelis receive the second Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, in Netanya, Israel, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. Israel has struck a deal with Pfizer, promising to share vast troves of medical data with the drugmaker in exchange for the continued flow of its COVID-19 vaccine. Critics say the deal is raising major ethical concerns, including possible privacy violations and a deepening of the global divide between wealthy countries and poorer populations, including Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, who face long waits to be inoculated. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israel trades Pfizer doses for medical data in vaccine blitz

Jan. 18, 2021 1:30 AM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — After sprinting ahead in the race to inoculate its population against the coronavirus, Israel has struck a deal with Pfizer, promising to share vast troves of medical data with the international drug giant in exchange for the continued flow of its hard-to-get vaccine. Proponents say the...

FILE - This Nov. 15, 2020 file photo, shows a general view of the Givat Hamatos Israeli settlement in east Jerusalem. Israeli authorities on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, advanced plans to build an additional 780 homes in West Bank settlements, an anti-settlement monitoring group said, in a last-minute surge of approvals before the friendly Trump administration leaves office later this week. Peace Now said that over 90% of the homes lay deep inside the West Bank, which the Palestinians seek as the heartland of a future independent state. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)

Israel OKs hundreds of settlement homes in last-minute push

Jan. 17, 2021 1:34 PM EST

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli authorities on Sunday advanced plans to build nearly 800 homes in West Bank settlements, in a last-minute surge of approvals before the friendly Trump administration leaves office later this week. COGAT, the Israeli defense body that authorizes settlement construction, confirmed...

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2020 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters. Abbas has announced that the first presidential and parliamentary elections since 2006 will be held later in 2021. The voting is seen as a key step in mending a rift between Abbas’ Fatah party that rules the West Bank and the Islamic militant group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip. ( (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Palestinian president briefs Egypt, Jordan on election plan

Jan. 17, 2021 12:36 PM EST

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday hosted the Egyptian and Jordanian intelligence chiefs to brief them on plans to hold the first Palestinian elections in 14 years. Abbas issued a decree on Friday announcing plans for parliamentary elections in May and a presidential...

FILE - In this Feb. 11, 2020 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters. Abbas has announced that the first presidential and parliamentary elections since 2006 will be held later in 2021. The voting is seen as a key step in mending a rift between Abbas’ Fatah party that rules the West Bank and the Islamic militant group Hamas that controls the Gaza Strip. ( (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Explainer: Road to Palestinian vote full of obstacles

Jan. 16, 2021 12:02 PM EST

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has announced that the first presidential and parliamentary elections since 2006 will be held later this year. But the road to the vote — key to advancing Palestinian statehood and mending a rift between Abbas' Fatah party and the...

FILE - In this May 19, 2020 file photo, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas heads a leadership meeting at his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas has issued a decree setting parliamentary and presidential elections for later this year, Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. It would be the first vote of its kind since 2006, when the Islamic militant group Hamas won a landslide victory. (Alaa Badarneh/Pool Photo via AP, File)

Abbas decrees first Palestinian elections in 15 years

Jan. 15, 2021 3:15 PM EST

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday decreed parliamentary and presidential elections for later this year in what would be the first vote of its kind since 2006, when the Islamic militant group Hamas won a landslide victory. Elections would pose a major risk for Abbas'...

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