Latest Palestinian territories government News

Cities worldwide hold subdued Christmas Eve celebrations amid conflicts

Dec. 24, 2024 23:37 PM EST

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza. The cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and...

Middle East latest: Israeli raid and airstrikes in West Bank kill at least 8 Palestinians

Dec. 24, 2024 16:18 PM EST

At least eight people were killed by Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank around the city of Tulkarem on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, including three people it said were killed by Israeli airstrikes. The Israeli military said it opened fire after...

Amsterdam court sentences 5 men over violence linked to Ajax-Maccabi soccer game

Dec. 24, 2024 12:55 PM EST

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — An Amsterdam District Court on Tuesday sentenced five men to up to six months in prison for violence that erupted around a UEFA Europa League football match between the Dutch club Ajax and Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv in November. The riots, which...

Bethlehem plans another somber Christmas under the shadow of war in Gaza

Dec. 23, 2024 00:12 AM EST

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — The Nativity Store in Manger Square has sold handmade olive wood carvings and religious items to people visiting the traditional birthplace of Jesus since 1927. But as Bethlehem prepares to mark its second Christmas under the shadow of the war in Gaza, there are almost...

Winter is hitting Gaza and many Palestinians have little protection from the cold

Dec. 22, 2024 16:39 PM EST

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Winter is hitting the Gaza Strip and many of the nearly 2 million Palestinians displaced by the devastating 14-month war with Israel are struggling to protect themselves from the wind, cold and rain. There is a shortage of blankets and warm clothing,...

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass

Dec. 22, 2024 14:24 PM EST

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Sunday killed at least 22 people, including five children, Palestinian medical officials said, while Gaza's small Christian community celebrated a pre-Christmas Mass. Israeli authorities...

US civil rights probe faults Philadelphia school district over handling of antisemitism reports

Dec. 20, 2024 13:13 PM EST

The Philadelphia school district failed to show it protected Jewish students from harassment despite “repeated, extensive notice” that students, teachers and administrators were engaging in antisemitic behavior, the U.S. Department of Education has concluded after a federal civil rights...

Middle East latest: Israeli strike on a Gaza school kills 17 people sheltering there

Dec. 19, 2024 19:51 PM EST

Israeli airstrikes slammed into two schools sheltering displaced Palestinians in Gaza City on Thursday, a Health Ministry official said, killing at least 17 people including five children in one of the schools. Rescue workers said at 30 people were also wounded across both locations. ...

Lawsuit accuses State Department of creating loopholes for Israel on military aid and human rights

Dec. 17, 2024 15:57 PM EST

WASHINGTON (AP) — The State Department has carved out exceptions for close ally Israel that block a U.S. law restricting foreign military support over human rights abuses, a lawsuit from a group of Palestinians in Gaza and American relatives asserted Tuesday. Former State...

Israel will close its Ireland embassy over Gaza tensions as Palestinian death toll nears 45,000

Dec. 15, 2024 17:06 PM EST

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said Sunday it will close its embassy in Ireland as relations deteriorated over the war in Gaza, where Palestinian medical officials said new Israeli airstrikes killed over 46 people including several children. The decision to close the...