Israel / Palestine

The latest escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict brought important shifts in the status quo, underscoring the necessity of a political settlement. A peace based on equal respect for both peoples’ rights will take time, however. Steps to lower the temperature are urgent in the interim.

A report from the human rights watchdog has concluded that violence during the May Gaza conflict amounted to war crimes. The investigation focused on three Israeli airstrikes.

Former United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay will lead the UN’s unprecedented open-ended inquiry into “systematic” abuses in Israel and the Palestinian territories, it was announced on Thursday.

The cessation of hostilities negotiated last month between Israel and Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, remains “very fragile”, the UN envoy there told the Security Council on Thursday. “The UN is working closely with all concerned parties and partners…to solidify a ceasefire, allow the entry of urgent humanitarian  assistance and stabilize the situation in Gaza”, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland said, … . 

Israel says it carried out air strikes in Gaza overnight after Palestinians launched incendiary balloons from the territory, in the first major flare-up since an 11-day conflict last month.

Israel's new incoming eight-party coalition government could be sworn in within the next week, bringing an end to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 12-year reign.

The UN Human Rights Council (OHCHR) is discussing launching an investigation into the fighting between Israel and the militant group Hamas earlier this month.

The top U.N. human rights body on Thursday passed a resolution aimed to intensify scrutiny of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, after the U.N. rights chief said Israeli forces may have committed war crimes and faulted the militant group Hamas for violations of international law in their 11-day war this month.

The UN Security Council on Saturday made it’s first statement on the conflict that erupted between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza, calling for a “full adherence to the ceasefire” that brought 11 days of fighting to an end early on Friday morning.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday that there must be an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, as deaths and destruction mount.