Published date: 20 February 2021 12:20 UTC | Last update: 1 week 4 days ago
Mohammed Bashiti drives his car through al-Wad Street in the Old City of Jerusalem with extreme caution. At the sign of Bab al-Majlis, he turns left towards his house and parks the car.
Together with his wife and daughter, Bashiti walks in the direction of the Israeli police post stationed right at the entrance of Al-Aqsa Gate, and enters their house, standing just a metre away from Al-Aqsa Mosque. Their childhood was marked with raids, incursions, arrests, beatings, torture, separation, and house arrest
- Mohammed Bashiti, father
Mohammed, Binar and Baylasan are the only members of the family who are allowed even this partial freedom of movement.
Published date: 18 February 2021 14:31 UTC | Last update: 4 weeks ago
Both parties are going into the elections without an agreed vision for Palestine and a detailed plan for obtaining it
A Palestinian member of Central Elections Commission displays an ID to a colleague as they check the work of the first Voter Information and Registration Centre in Gaza City on 10 February, 2021 (AFP)
You can tell when elections are being planned in the occupied West Bank.
This is the fifth time elections across Palestine have been attempted in the past 15 years since they were held in 2006, when Hamas, to everyone’s surprise, not least their own, swept the board. This time President Mahmoud Abbas appears to be serious about holding them.
The Syrian border at the southern Golan Heights, seen from the Israeli side, July 29, 2018.
On Wednesday we reported that Syria would release an Israeli citizen who wandered into their territory in exchange for Israel’s releasing two imprisoned terrorists in exchange (
Syrian Report: Israel and Syria to Exchange Civilian for 2 Terrorists). Israel and Syria were relying on Russia to mediate the talks to carry out the exchange, and to that end, the head of Israel’s National Security Council Meir Ben Shabbat, and the POW coordinator Yaron Blum, flew to Moscow for the negotiations.
But something went wrong back home: both prisoners, who were convicted on security charges by Israeli courts, have no interest in going back to Syria, they would much rather stay confined in Israel, thank you very much.
Feb. 18, 2021
Israel repatriated on Thursday two Syrian shepherds who crossed into Israel a few weeks ago, in a sign of progress in Russian-mediated negotiations between the two neighboring countries for the release of an Israeli woman captured in Syria.
The woman was transferred to Russia over the past week, and a private Israeli plane left Tel Aviv on Thursday to retrieve her.
The Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the two Syrian nationals were handed over to the Red Cross at the Quneitra border crossing on the Golan Heights. The military added the shepherds return was at the order of Israel s political leadership.
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