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Palestinians: Israeli Forces Shoot Man Dead During Clashes, AP
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during clashes in the West Bank on Thursday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, as Israeli troops continued arrest raids in the occupied territory. The ministry identified the man as Mohammed Abu Ayhour, 27, from the village of Halhul in the southern West Bank.
In First, Blinken Calls for Independent Investigation Into Abu Akleh’s Killing, The Times of Israel
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday became the first US official to call for an independent investigation into the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh. “We are looking for an independent, credible investigation. When that investigation happens, we will follow the facts, wherever they lead. It’s as straightforward as that,” he said at a forum for student journalists on the sidelines of a Latin America summit in Los Angeles.
Israeli PM Bennett in Snap UAE Visit Amid Standoff With Iran, The Washington Post
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett made a surprise visit to the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, with the snap trip coming as efforts to salvage a deal over Iran’s nuclear program are stalled in a deepening standoff with Tehran. The visit was Bennett’s second public trip to Abu Dhabi since Israel and the UAE agreed to normalize ties in 2020 after years of quiet cooperation, mainly over their shared concerns over Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Israel Rejects U.S. Proposal for Summit With Palestinian Authority, Axios
Israel last week rejected a proposal by the Biden administration to hold a high-level summit with the Palestinian Authority. The Biden administration is trying to create a “political horizon” or diplomatic process between Israeli and Palestinian officials in an attempt to strengthen the PA. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed frustration and warned Israel and the Biden administration about the potential consequences if the stalemate in the peace process continues.
Israeli Minister Races To Salvage Flailing Coalition, AP
Israel’s justice minister says he will give the government one final chance to approve a contentious bill extending legal protections to West Bank settlers in a last-ditch effort to keep the fractured coalition in power. Justice Minister Gideon Saar said in a series of TV interviews that he will resubmit the bill next Sunday, after the legislation failed to pass earlier this week. Several members of the coalition joined the opposition in defeating the bill.
Under Settler Pressure, Israel Extends Antiquities Authority’s Powers Into West Bank, Haaretz
Anti-theft inspectors from the Israel Antiquities Authority will begin operating in the West Bank, a move pushed by right-wing groups seeking to weaken or even do away with Israel’s main representative in the territory, the Defense Ministry’s Civil Administration. The move has been agreed between the antiquities authority and the Civil Administration, with the approval of the Culture Ministry.
Israelis Push U.S. To Remove NSO From Blacklist, Axios
Israeli officials are pushing the Biden administration to remove Israeli cyber spying company NSO from the Department of Commerce blacklist. Removing NSO from the U.S. blacklist would be a dramatic reversal by the Biden administration and would likely be criticized by progressives in the Democratic Party and Congress, as well as many in the cybersecurity community.
A Victory for the Country, Haaretz
Zvi Bar’el writes about the recently failed settler law, writing, “This legalistic masquerade is now falling apart. It was already illegal according to international law, but now it turns out that the foundations on which the settlements were built are made of straw, and two votes are enough to make them collapse. The more important development is that the settlers now understand that they no longer have a solid right wing to defend their position. They owe this to Benjamin Netanyahu, who, with his own two hands, split up the right into two branches, each of which is incapable by itself of maintaining the settlers’ divine promise.”