Israel

16 July 2019; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces detained 2,759 Palestinians during the first six months of this year, including 446 minors and 76 women, Palestinian rights groups announced yesterday.

The Prisoners Affairs Commission, the Palestinian Prisoner Society and Addameer said in a joint statement said 5,500 Palestinians were being held in Israeli jails until 30 June 30, including 43 women and 220 minors.

16 July 2019; MEMO: A Palestinians has died while in solitary confinement in an Israeli prison, the head of the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs revealed this morning.

Thirty-one-year-old Nassar Majed Taqatqa, who was being held in Nitzan prison, was detained by occupation forces a month ago after they raided his house in the occupied West Bank town of Beit Fajjar near Bethlehem, Qadri Abu-Baker said.

16 July 2019; MEMO: Former Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister Ehud Barak has said in a video posted on social media that current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption was “limitless”, Al-Wattan Voice reported yesterday.

“Today, from the northern borders, I undertake to regain democracy,” head of new party Democratic Israel said.

14 July 2019; MEMO: Israel’s Minister of Regional Cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi yesterday said that Israel is preparing for a “possible” military confrontation with Iran and its military wings in the next two years.

Speaking to Israel Hayom, Hanegbi – who is also a member of Israel’s security cabinet – said “the possibility that there will be a military confrontation with Iran or its military arms is more likely than the possibility there will not be a war”.

14 July 2019; MEMO: The Greek Orthodox Church will next week petition against a final ruling of Israel’s Supreme Court which approved the sale of church property in East Jerusalem’s Old City to pro-settlement group Ateret Cohanim.

Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported that the petition will argue that the sale of the property was based on bribery and the church figures who signed the deal were corrupt, immediately fleeing the country after signing the deal.

7 July 2019; MEMO: Teams from Israel’s Defence Ministry started a decade ago to remove and hide documents from the Israeli archives related to crimes against Palestinians during the Nakba of 1948, Israeli newspaper Haaretz revealed yesterday.

5 July 2019; MEMO: Israel Hayom reported, Thursday, that Israel is disappointed with the expected appointment of Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell as the new EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

According to the newspaper, Borrell will replace the current High Representative, Federica Mogherini, who was an unpopular figure in Israel because of her stubborn support for the Iran nuclear deal and for her relatively pro-Palestinian tendencies.

5 July 2019; MEMO: A number of Israeli rabbis have signed a letter criticising the possibility of appointing former Israeli Justice Minister, Ayelet Shaked, as head of the Union of Right-Wing Parties because “women should not be involved in politics”.

4 July 2019; MEMO: Israel’s Supreme Court has refused to hear a petition filed by a human rights organisation which requested that Palestinian child prisoners be allowed to call their parents while in detention.

4 July 2019; DW: Bones unearthed in Israel and analyzed in Germany may have revealed the origins of the ancient Philistine people.

The Philistines were believed to have arrived in modern-day Israel in the 12th century BC, though there was little evidence to suggest where the people had come from.