United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made an unprecedented move last Thursday, November 19, when he became the first high-ranking U.S. diplomat to visit Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Golan Heights.
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On October 8, Saeb Erekat, a high-profile Palestinian diplomatic negotiator and Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee, announced that he tested positive for COVID-19. When his health worsened, Erekat was rushed to Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, an Israeli hospital located in Jerusalem, reports Reuters.
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Fatah and Hamas reached a deal on Palestinian elections at the Palestinian Consulate in Istanbul last week, according to Al Jazeera. This has raised hopes that the factions can unite after years of animosity, facing a shared issue as Israel continues to threaten annexation while it normalizes relations with Arab nations.
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U.S. President Donald Trump announced on August 27 that Israel and the UAE would be normalizing relations after decades of tension. Reuters reports that the UAE and Israel first announced the move to normalize relations on August 13, but did not agree on a deal at that time. This deal is the result of Trump’s broader attempts at peace in the Middle East.
Read moreLong awaited as one of his key foreign policy achievements, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East Peace Plan was met with mixed reactions.
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The Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) resigned last Wednesday in light of an inquiry into corruption and misconduct allegations.
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In the West Bank, territory has largely been split into zones A, B, and C. Zones A and B have been dedicated as Palestinian sovereign territory while zone C, which includes East Jerusalem, is controlled and governed by Israel.
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In March 2019, uniformed officers and plainclothes Hamas enforcers attacked demonstrators with pistols, batons, and wooden rods. They raided homes and detained protest organizers and participants.
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On October 4, a senior delegation belonging to the Palestinian fundamentalist movement Hamas concluded its trip to Cairo, signaling the end of another round of Egyptian-mediated negotiations between Hamas and rival Palestinian faction, Fatah.
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The United States, in accordance with its current administration’s policies, has begun the process to ensure Palestine stops receiving U.S. aid. Palestinians had previously been allotted approximately 200 million dollars of aid.
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