U.S., Israel, Syria Set Up Joint Coordination Mechanism After Paris Talks, Haaretz
“A senior Syrian official said the U.S.-led initiative would immediately suspend all Israeli military activity against Syria, calling it a ‘historic opportunity’ for negotiations and stressing that progress would be impossible without a clear timetable for Israeli withdrawal.”
Israel Pushes Ahead With Vast Illegal Settlement in Heart of West Bank, The Guardian
“The Israel Land Authority in mid-December quietly posted a tender for construction of 3,401 homes in the ‘E1’ project, which will effectively sever the north and south of the occupied West Bank for Palestinians, and further cut off East Jerusalem.”
United Nations Rights Office Accuses Israel of West Bank ‘Apartheid’, Times of Israel
“The United Nations on Wednesday said decades of discrimination and segregation of Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank were intensifying, and called on the country to end its ‘apartheid system.'”
In Coordination With Israel, Hamas Renews Search for Final Hostage Ran Gvili in Gaza, Jerusalem Post
“The announcement of Israel’s cooperation with Hamas on this matter comes after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Rafah Border Crossing will not be opened until Gvili’s remains are returned to Israel.”
Teen Killed After Bus Hits Ultra-Orthodox Protesters in Jerusalem, Reuters
“A mass ultra-Orthodox Jewish rally against military conscription turned deadly in Jerusalem on Tuesday, when a teenage boy was crushed and killed after a man driving a bus hit the crowd.”
Tarabin Was a Test Run – and Ben-Gvir Is Preparing Israel for Civil War, Haaretz
Zvi Bar’el writes, “Led by the national security minister, the police’s campaign of intimidation in the Bedouin village was a savage example of muscle-flexing. Now we can expect this successful pilot to be replicated.”
