Israel / Palestine

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is “confident” Israel will be able to annex parts of the West Bank within a few months with backing from the Trump administration. … U.N. and European Union officials have warned against Israeli annexation of the West Bank, calling it illegal and a move that would set off a powder keg across the Middle East.

After three deadlocked elections between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former military chief Benny Gantz, the two men agreed late Monday to establish a unity government.

Israel's president Thursday asked the Knesset to choose a new prime minister, giving parliament three weeks to agree upon a leader or plunge the country into an unprecedented fourth consecutive election in just over a year.

It is no longer enough to reaffirm past agreements on resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a senior UN envoy, who said on Monday that it is time to “find our way back to a mutually agreed mediation framework” to resume meaningful negotiations towards a two-State solution.

There has been a flare-up in violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories, days after US President Donald Trump unveiled his peace plan.

Leaders from around the world have responded with mixed reactions to US President Donald Trump's long-awaited Middle East plan unveiled on Tuesday. The proposal was released alongside Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

Palestinians have dismissed US President Donald Trump's new Middle East peace plan as a "conspiracy".
It envisages a Palestinian state and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over settlements in the occupied West Bank. Mr Trump said Jerusalem would remain Israel's "undivided" capital, but the Palestinian capital would "include areas of East Jerusalem".

Obstacles to any lasting deal between Israel and Palestine continue to mount, the UN’s Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told Security Council members on Wednesday, and only “concrete action” towards a two-State solution will change that dynamic.

Regretting the United States’ announcement on Monday that it “no longer views settlements as inconsistent with international law”, Nickolay Mladenov told the 15-member Council that “the UN position remains unchanged”.

Gaza militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Thursday, hours after a cease-fire was declared to end two days of intense fighting between Israel and the Islamic Jihad group, the heaviest escalation in months that killed at least 34 Palestinians, including three women and eight children, and paralyzed parts of Israel.