RT (2020-03-19). UN chief names new head of beleaguered Palestinian refugee agency. rt.com UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Swiss humanitarian expert Philippe Lazzarini to head the beleaguered UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The UN chief made the announcement on Wednesday following consultations with the Advisory Commission of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) in the Near East, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. | The UNRWA has faced a financial crisis following the cutoff of US funding and a crisis of confidence after its previous leader was accused of abusing his authority. | Lazzarini will replace former UNRWA commissioner-general Pierre Krahen…

RT (2020-03-19). Israel's Supreme Court hears challenge to coronavirus cellphone monitoring. rt.com Civil liberties activists asked Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday to suspend cellphone monitoring put in place under emergency regulations to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Surveillance began this week after the government approved special orders that circumvented customary parliamentary oversight and enabled the Shin Bet counter-terrorism agency to tap into cellular location data, Reuters reported. | The Association of Civil Rights in Israel, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights – and the Joint List of Arab parties petitioned the court to freeze the monitoring. "The government canno…

teleSUR (2020-03-19). US and Israel Seek to Monopolize Arms Sales in Iraq. telesurenglish.net Iraq said on Wednesday that U.S. and Israeli arms companies are pressuring the country not to buy military equipment from other states, local media reported. | RELATED: | "Companies and businessmen from both countries want Iraq not to buy weapons from other developed countries," Badr al-Ziyadi, a member of the Security and Defense Committee of the Iraqi Parliament, said Wednesday. | According to al-Ziyadi, recently "a d…

sputniknews (2020-03-19). Mossad Brings Israeli Health Ministry Improper Kits For Coronavirus Tests – Reports. sputniknews.com Israel has engaged all of its forces to tackle the spread of the novel coronavirus – just recently the country's Defence Ministry orchestrated the opening of two hotels for people infected with the virus, while also mobilising 2,500 IDF soldiers to help deal with the spread of the disease.

yenisafak (2020-03-19). Israel increases settlements in Palestine, says report. yenisafak.com Israel has increased its activity to build settlements in the occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank area by 25%, since the U.S. President Donald Trump assumed office in 2017, said an annual report on settlement activity.According to Peace Now — an Israeli activist group promoting a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — during President Trump's tenure over the past three years 6,800 new units (yearly average of 2,267 units) have been constructed. During his predecessor, Barack Obama's tenure on an average 1,805 such units came up in occupied lands."Nearly 63% (1,200 housing units) of the…

Ramzy Baroud (2020-03-19). 'Zionist' Biden in His Own Words: 'My Name is Joe Biden, and Everybody Knows I Love Israel'. counterpunch.org "I am a Zionist. You don't have to be a Jew to be a Zionist," current Democratic Presidential candidate, Joe Biden, said in April 2007, soon before he was chosen to be Barack Obama's running mate in the 2008 elections. Biden is, of course, correct, because Zionism is a political movement that is rooted in

Jefferson Morley (2020-03-18). Exposing a Biden Staffer's Connections to Troubled Israeli Spyware Firm. counterpunch.org After Sunday night's Democratic presidential debate, Anita Dunn, senior adviser to Joe Biden's campaign, defended the vice president's performance in a briefing with reporters. Last year, Dunn, who served as communications director in Barack Obama's White House, did a similar duty for NSO, the spyware firm founded by former Israeli intelligence officers. The NSO Group

Ali Salam (2020-03-18). Members of US Congress Call for Action Against Israeli Policy of Forced Displacement. imemc.org A letter signed by 64 members of the US Congress on Tuesday addressed to Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, urged the Trump administration to oppose Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, and to reject further US funding, Palestine News Network reported. The letter stated, "We are …

Ali Salam (2020-03-18). PHOTOS: Using Humble Means, Besieged Gaza Prepares for the Coronavirus. imemc.org By Palestine Chronicle Staff Despite its limited resources, the Gaza Health Ministry and international aid agencies operating in the besieged Gaza Strip, are taking precautionary measures to protect the Palestinians in the Strip from the Coronavirus COVID-19 disease. Palestinian photojournalist Fawzi Mahmoud visited the Al-Shati refugee camp, located on the …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-18). Senior PLO Member: "Israeli Policy of Home Demolition Is A War Crime" imemc.org Tayseer Khaled, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organization(PLO), said this week that Israeli policy of Palestinian homes' demolition constitutes a war crime, an act of collective punishment that violates International Law. Khaled's remarks came in the backdrop of a recent United Nations' report on the humanitarian situation in …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-18). Israeli Forces Abduct 7 Palestinian Civilians in Pre-Dawn Raids in West Bank. imemc.org Israeli soldiers on Tuesday before dawn abducted eight Palestinians from different areas in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society(PPS), Israeli troops stormed both Awarta and Beita villages of Nablus District, in northern West Bank, and abducted two Palestinian young men, Mojahed Awwad and Sameh Barakat. In a …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-18). Updated: "Israeli Soldiers Abduct Ten Palestinian In West Bank" imemc.org Israeli soldiers abducted, earlier Wednesday, at least ten Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) has reported. In the central West Bank city of Ramallah, a squadron of Israeli soldiers invaded a town in the Ramallah district and abducted six …

teleSUR (2020-03-18). 'Dear World, How Is the Lockdown?' Gaza Takes To Twitter. telesurenglish.net A sly dig at the international community, this is just one among a torrent of social media posts that have emerged from the blockaded Gaza Strip in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. | RELATED: | The world lockdown has sparked a surge of bitter feelings on social media from Palestinians in the tiny coastal enclave who has for years lived with enforced isolation and confinement. | Dear people of the world, | Are you af…

RT (2020-03-17). Trump Derangement Syndrome meets Covid-19 panic: Hollywood actress spreads conspiracy theory about Israel & coronavirus. rt.com Rosanna Arquette inspired some colorful reactions when she floated the theory that Israel has long known about the coronavirus and claimed the country and Jared Kushner are putting "lives at risk for profit." | "I'm still confused," the 'Buffalo 66' actress tweeted to her more than 100,000 Twitter followers on Tuesday, "so Israel has been working on a coronavirus vaccine for a year already? (so they knew)." | Arquette went on to say US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is the main investor in the vaccine. | "Vaccines take a long time to know if they are safe and KUSHNER OSCAR is the major inves…

Staff (2020-03-17). 475 lawyers demand Israel Bar Association rescind effort to intervene in Int'l Criminal Court deliberations on 'Situation in Palestine'. imemc.org By The Legal Center For Arab Minority Rights In Israel — Aadalah: Lawyers: IBA move, pushed through in a hasty and underhanded manner, is strictly political in motive and is seemingly intended to advocate Israeli government positions entrenching occupation.

Staff (2020-03-17). Headlines for March 17, 2020. democracynow.org More Countries Enact Travel Bans, Isolation Measures, as Coronavirus Cases Top 183,000 , U.S. Braces for Spread of Coronavirus as Trump Lauds Gov't Response Despite Severe Lack of Testing, Stock Market Plummets as Trump Acknowledges Economy "May" Be Headed Toward Recession , Fire Kills Young Girl at Refugee Camp in Lesbos, Netanyahu Rival Benny Gantz Asked to Form New Government , U.S. to Pull Out of Several Iraqi Bases After Recent Attacks | , Mitch McConnell Urging Conservative Judges to Retire While GOP Still Holds Senate & Presidency, Gunman Kills 5 People at Missouri Gas Station | , Maryland Senate Passes Bi…

Jonathan Cook (2020-03-17). The Coronavirus Could Force Rival Benny Gantz to Shake Netanyahu's Hand. dissidentvoice.org Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's caretaker prime minister, is preparing to squeeze every last drop of personal advantage from a local and global crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He has needed to move fast. Following this month's election, Netantyahu's efforts to establish a governing coalition appeared to have been thwarted yet again — for the third …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-17). Due to Corona, Israel to Let Palestinian Workers Stay in Workplaces. imemc.org Israeli Minister of Defense, Naftali Bennett, decided on Tuesday to let many thousands of Palestinian workers, working inside Israel, to stay for several weeks in Israel. Bennett's statement, reported by Israeli media, suggested that Palestinian workers, who work in the various sectors with recruitment by Israeli contractors, can stay for …

Rami Almeghari (2020-03-17). Israeli Troops Detain Palestinian Residents in the West Bank. imemc.org Israeli army troops reportedly detained earlier on Tuesday, seven Palestinian residents from different areas in the West Bank. According to the Palestinian Detainees Club Forum in Ramallah city, Israeli occupation troops stormed both Awarta and Beita villages of Nablus city, arresting two Palestinian young men, Mojahed Awwad and Sameh Barakat. …

PCHR (2020-03-17). PCHR Calls for the Expedited Release of Investigation Results on Tragic Nusairat Camp Fire. imemc.org The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights continues to monitor, with great pain, the consequences of the catastrophic fire at Nusairat camp that took place on 05 March 2020 in a densely populated area at the heart of Nusairat refugee camp market. As a result of the unfortunate event, 19 civilians, …

Delilah Boxstein (2020-03-17). The Coronavirus Outbreak is Revealing the Appalling Conditions Faced by Palestinians in Israeli Prisons. mintpressnews.com "Ailing prisoners traveled three days in a metal van tied to metal chairs with feet and hands cuffed. They don't have access to food or a toilet as they spend hours picking up other sick prisoners. Most sick inmates won't even go to Ramleh [Hospial] because they know how excruciating the journey can be."

Ali Salam (2020-03-16). Sheikh Bukairat Arrested from Home in Jerusalem. imemc.org The Israeli police, on Sunday evening, arrested Sheikh Najeh Bukairat, deputy director of the Administration of Islamic Awqaf and Aqsa Mosque Affairs, from his home in Sur Baher neighborhood, in East Jerusalem, Days of Palestine reported. The Administration of Islamic Awqaf and Aqsa Mosque Affairs in Occupied Jerusalem, announced on …

Middle East Eye (2020-02-07). Russia Says Israel Used Civilian Plane as Human Shield During Syria Strikes. theantimedia.com Russia accused Israel of "making a total mockery of the lives of hundreds of innocent civilians."

CounterSpin (2020-01-31). Omar Baddar on Israel/Palestine 'Peace' Plan, Rainey Reitman on Greenwald Persecution. fair.org MP3 Link This week on CounterSpin: It is strange to think that you could create a plan to shape the relationship between two entities, in consultation with one but not the other, and then not just declare it, yourself, a "win-win," but also say to the unconsulted party, "You better take it, or else." Yet …