As the world’s attention shifts to the Iran war, Gaza is increasingly disappearing from the international spotlight. But more than six months after the United Nations endorsed a peace plan for Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe continues. Israeli strikes remain relentless, while major international NGOs and aid groups say critical supplies are still not entering Gaza at anywhere near the scale needed.
Violence, Settlements, and Creeping Annexation in the West Bank
As international attention remains fixed on the fallout from the Iran war, conditions in the West Bank continue to deteriorate. Hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj speak with MEI Senior Fellow Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen about the sharp rise in settler violence, expanding settlement activity, and growing Palestinian displacement across the territory. They examine how recent Israeli legal and administrative measures are reshaping realities on the ground, the implications for Israeli-Palestinian relations, and what the United States should do to play a constructive mediator role.
MEI Senior Fellow Jaser AbuMousa joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to unpack how Hamas is navigating the US-Israel conflict with Iran and its impact on Gaza. Nearly two and a half years after the start of the Gaza war, international attention has shifted away from the humanitarian crisis in the devastated coastal strip. Meanwhile, Hamas’ primary state sponsor, Iran, has been severely weakened by US-Israeli military strikes and the death of former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. AbuMousa examines how this could affect Hamas’ trajectory moving forward and its place within the Axis of Resistance, as well as what it all means for the Palestinian people.
Gulf regimes may oppose annexation, but they helped bring it about
Leaders of Arab Gulf regimes now decry the attempt to implement the vision of the Israeli Right, which aims to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state. But it is exactly the policies of the Arab Gulf regimes, through their normalization of ties with Israel at the expense of the Palestinians, that directly contributed to the rise of the Israeli Right and made this annexation more likely.
Why aren’t mainstream Israelis and American Jews supporting Palestinians?
When the video emerged of a Minneapolis policeman pressing his knee on the neck of George Floyd as he lay on the ground, Palestinians were surprised by the image — the technique was all too familiar. But while hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd, an African-American male, by police across the U.S. and around the world, the response among Israelis and American Jews to violence against Palestinians is quite different. Many liberal Jewish leaders and thinkers who have spoken out forcefully against the killing of Floyd are silent when it comes to the atrocities committed by Israeli soldiers.
The May 20 announcement is something of a watershed, in which Palestinian decision-makers appear to have chosen to leave behind the professionalism of President Abbas and instead adopt the Fatah revolutionary way of making strategic decisions and then implementing them on an ad hoc basis while making adjustments along the way.
The last few days have seen an unprecedented flurry of Russian activity on the Israeli-Palestinian track. On May 19, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister and Vladimir Putin’s Special Envoy for the Middle East and Africa Mikhail Bogdanov spoke on the phone with Assistant to the U.S. President and Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz.
The Abbas declaration: Why this time may be different
In a dramatic statement delivered yesterday in Ramallah and broadcast on Palestine TV, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared an end to all agreements signed between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and both Israel and the United States. In light of the newly sworn in Israeli government’s commitment to the annexation of Palestinian land in the West Bank, declared Abbas, the Palestinian leadership would henceforth be “absolved, as of today, of all the agreements and understandings with the American and Israeli governments and of all the obligations based on these understandings and agreements, including the security ones” — thus implying that the security coordination between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel would come to an end.
Israel finally has a government, but for how long?
Israel’s 17-month ordeal without a functioning government has mercifully come to an end. An unlikely coalition that agrees on little has given birth to a monstrosity that is the largest government in Israel’s history, with 34 cabinet positions (some reports say 36) plus 16 deputy ministers.
Israeli annexation “is a game-changer for us”: Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on the annexation threat, economic crisis, and COVID-19 in Palestine
On May 12, 2020, MEI hosted Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, for a roundtable discussion on the many crises facing Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority.
Talking about water pipes: The fraught reconstruction of Syria’s Yarmouk camp
Officials in Damascus say reconstruction plans for what was once Syria’s largest Palestinian refugee community will pave the way for the return of large numbers of displaced residents “as soon as possible.” But with plans beset by delays and vague statements from those same officials, the available evidence suggests otherwise.
In the wake of COVID-19, Jordan has limited choices if Israel annexes West Bank settlements
For Jordan Israeli annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, as well as the strategically important Jordan Valley, constitutes an existential threat to the kingdom. But now Jordan faces unprecedented economic hardship as a consequence of the coronavirus crisis, and this could limit its scope for action.
While there is no shortage of rhetorical opposition to Israeli annexation from all corners, the question now is whether any of them intend to follow up their strong words with concrete actions.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
