Israeli-Palestinian tensions could ultimately spark a major confrontation

At some point, in the year ahead, depending on the deployment of troops on the ground and the nature of the specific trigger that is pulled, there could be a serious explosion between Palestinians and Israelis.

 

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Palestinians’ renewed statehood bid will be ‘different’ this time round

The Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the 66th United Nations General Assembly during the bid for statehood in September last year. (Reuters)

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By AL ARABIYA WITH AGENCIES

This time, the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) statehood bid will be “a different story,” political sources in Ramallah said on Sunday as Palestinians seek to upgrade their status at the United Nations in a renewed bid.

“The decision is not dramatic. What will happen in the upcoming September [U.N. General Assembly session] will not resemble last September; it’s a different story this time,” a Ramallah official told Israel-based Ynet news.

The Palestinians want to found a state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, which Israel captured in the 1967 war. Though Israel quit Gaza in 2005, it claims East Jerusalem as its capital – a move not recognized abroad – and says it would keep swathes of West Bank settlements under any peace deal. The United Nations deems the settlements illegal.


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Israeli authorities to demolish eight Palestinian villages

Children of a Palestinian family of cave-dwellers play and work at their home in the Mount Hebron region of the occupied West Bank. (AFP)

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the demolition of eight Palestinian villages in the West Bank and the expulsion of the residents on the grounds that the land is needed for military training.

The demolition order includes the villages of Majaz, Tabban, Sfai, Fakheit, Halaweh, Mirkez, Jinba, and Khroubeh, all located in the South Hebron Hills.

The resident of these villages are known as “cave dwellers” since they live in caves manually carved hundreds of years ago by shepherds and farmers that lived in the area. The villages, therefore, preserve an almost-extinct lifestyle that sheds light on part of the Palestinian culture.

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