All articles tagged with #palestinians
More than 80 current and former Berlinale participants, including Javier Bardem, Tilda Swinton and Adam McKay, signed an open letter condemning the festival’s alleged silence on Gaza and censorship of artists, urging Berlinale to publicly oppose Israel’s actions and defend free speech amid rising international boycotts and debates about the politics of cinema.
Israel advanced a plan to register large swaths of the occupied West Bank’s Area C as state land, a move Palestinians call de facto annexation. The measure, covering about 60% of the territory and affecting hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and settlers, would create an official mechanism to register land for state control. Israel frames it as an administrative step to bring order to land ownership, but critics say it breaches international law and deepens the occupation. Peace Now called it a massive land grab, drawing condemnation from the Palestinian presidency and international bodies such as the UN and EU, while noting US opposition to annexation amid broader moves to expand Israeli governance in the area.
Israel's cabinet approved a land-registration process in the West Bank to tighten control and facilitate settlement land purchases, a move Palestinians call a de-facto annexation; Israel says the measure promotes transparency and security, while critics warn it could dispossess Palestinians and entrench occupation amid ongoing settlement expansion.
Eleven Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Sunday, with the IDF saying it hit targets after alleged Hamas ceasefire violations; a strike on a northern tent encampment killed at least six and another in the south killed five. The killings underscore a fragile ceasefire in force since Oct 10, with Gaza health officials reporting about 600 deaths under the accord. The report also notes ongoing US-led diplomacy for a second phase of the ceasefire and related regional talks.
Irish politicians condemned Shannon Airport as a stopover for ICE deportation flights carrying Palestinians to the West Bank, after a Guardian/972 investigation linked a private Gulfstream jet to the operation; the first flight stopped at Shannon in late January and a second in early February. Ireland’s Department of Transport said such non-traffic stops do not require authorization, prompting calls from multiple parties for clarification and a halt to the flights.
The first week of Rafah’s partial reopening saw far fewer Palestinians cross than expected, with about 12 per direction on opening day and a peak around 40 on the best day. Many Gaza medevac patients were blocked from returning to Gaza despite approvals. Gaza health officials say roughly 20,000 patients await medical travel, and about 1,000 have died waiting. Palestinians describe gruelling, multi‑step security checks at Egyptian, EU, and Israeli checkpoints, with reports of belongings confiscated and mistreatment; Israel denies mistreatment and says checks are coordinated with Egypt and the EU, while observers note the system is still being set up under existing agreements. Families reunite amid hardship, but many urge Gaza residents not to leave.
Palestinian Eatedal Rayyan reunites with her husband in war-damaged Gaza after nearly two years away, having fled to Egypt for medical care; the Rafah crossing reopened for limited returns, with about 21 Palestinians crossing back on Thursday, and Rayyan says life in Gaza is still beautiful despite widespread destruction as her family plans to live in a tent.
Israeli forces demolished sections of UNRWA's Jerusalem headquarters and fired tear gas at a nearby vocational school in East Jerusalem, marking a new escalation against the Palestinian refugee agency and threatening its ability to provide education and health services to millions of refugees.
Palestinian Bedouin families in Ras Ein al Auja, in the southern Jordan Valley, are fleeing as Israeli settlers intensify violence and land grabs, leaving the village emptied and accelerating a wider dispossession across the West Bank, where settler control now covers substantial swaths of land previously earmarked for a future Palestinian state, with security forces providing limited protection.
Israeli fire killed at least three Palestinians in two Gaza incidents—one in Gaza City's Tuffah neighborhood and another near Khan Younis—three months after a ceasefire, underscoring persistent violence even as fighting has waned; the Israeli military says the strikes targeted threats, and the toll since the truce has surpassed 440 Palestinians along with three Israeli soldiers.
The UN rights chief has accused Israel of systemic discrimination against Palestinians in the West Bank, comparing its policies to apartheid, citing legal segregation, land confiscation, and unequal treatment, with the situation worsening since 2022 and amid recent settlement expansions.
The article explores the complex and shadowy fate of Khalil Dawas, a Palestinian suspected of collaborating with Israel, who was killed and identified among bodies exchanged after a Gaza ceasefire. It highlights the tense dynamics of Palestinian communities, Israeli intelligence tactics, and the stigma faced by alleged collaborators, emphasizing the secrecy and betrayal that surround such cases.
Christmas was celebrated in Bethlehem after a two-year hiatus, but festivities were limited due to Israeli military checkpoints and ongoing conflict in the West Bank, where Palestinians face displacement, home demolitions, and violence amid increased settlement expansion and political tensions.
Three Palestinians were arrested in Jenin, West Bank, for allegedly setting fire to a Christmas tree and damaging a Nativity scene at a Catholic church, an incident condemned as an attempt to incite sectarian tensions. The church quickly replaced the damaged decorations, emphasizing unity amid rising threats to the Christian community in the region, which faces increasing extremism and violence amid ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflicts.
The sale of TikTok's U.S. operations to a consortium led by Oracle raises concerns about potential censorship of content related to Israel and Palestine, as the new investors have pro-Israel political ties, threatening free discourse on the platform.