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Israel, Gaza Fighters Trade Fire After Deadly West Bank Raid, The Washington Post
Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes early Friday as tensions soared following an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank that killed nine Palestinians, including at least seven militants and a 61-year-old woman. Of the five rockets fired at Israel, three were intercepted, one fell in an open area and another fell short inside Gaza, the military said. It said the airstrikes targeted an underground rocket manufacturing site for Hamas as well as militant training areas. The rockets set off air raid sirens in southern Israel but there were no reports of casualties on either side.
Palestinians Suspend Security Coordination With Israel After Deadly Jenin Raid, Axios
The Palestinian Authority on Thursday suspended its security coordination with Israel after Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians, including an elderly woman, during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. “The security coordination is nonexistent starting from now,” the Palestinian Presidency said in a statement announcing the move.
CIA Director Visiting Israel, West Bank As Concern Over Violence Intensifies, Axios
CIA director Bill Burns arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday for visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he is expected to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders and his counterparts on both sides, according to two U.S. sources with knowledge of the issue. Burn’s visit was pre-planned but it takes place amid the most significant escalation of tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza in months.
Advocates for Netanyahu’s Judicial Reforms Are Increasingly Pressing Their Case in English, JTA
The Kohelet Policy Forum, a right-wing Israeli think tank, released a “Schoolhouse Rock”-style English-language video arguing for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposed judicial reforms.
Continue Killing Them’: Twitter Deletes Post of Israeli MK Who Said Soldiers Did ‘Nice Work’ in Fatal Jenin Raid, Haaretz
Twitter deleted on Friday a post by a far-right lawmaker who wrote “Nice and professional work of the combatants in Jenin. Continue killing them,” referring to Thursday’s raid in Jenin where 10 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces.
UN Security Council To Hold Emergency Meet Following Lethal Jenin Sweep, The Times of Israel
The UN Security Council will convene for an emergency session on Friday afternoon to discuss an Israeli raid in Jenin in which nine Palestinians were killed, two diplomats told The Times of Israel Thursday.
Will Less Democracy Kill Israel’s Tech Sector?, Foreign Policy
Neri Zilber writes, “[T]he big surprise has been the role the Israeli tech community has taken in this anti-government movement, with industry executives speaking out publicly and bankrolling the demonstrations…Economists are quick to point out that Israel would wilt without its tech sector. The industry accounts for more than 40 percent of all exports, a quarter of all taxes, and some 15 percent of GDP while making up roughly 10 percent of the workforce, according to government figures.”
Why the Pro-settler Right Hates Israel’s Justice System So Much, Haaretz
Susie Gelman notes, “Netanyahu’s all-out assault on judicial independence and democracy can’t be understood without recognizing what first fueled right-wing hostility towards Israel’s Supreme Court: Its critique, even if inconsistent, of illegal settlements.”