While the tit for tat with the Houthis continues
US Central Command says airstrikes destroyed Houthi drone ground control station in Yemen
US Central Command says US destroyer shot down Houthi ballistic missile and 3 drones
The US carried out airstrikes on "a number of" Houthi drones in Yemen, US official says
US destroyer intercepts Houthi ballistic missile and drones in Gulf of Aden, official says
Some positive news from Biden
Biden plans to issue executive order targeting violent settlers in the West Bank, US official says
US President Joe Biden plans to issue an executive order targeting violent settlers in the West Bank who, he has said, have undermined stability in the area, according to a US official. The issue is one that Biden has personally discussed in recent months with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Politico was first to report the upcoming executive order.
What to know about settlers in West Bank: Israel has occupied the West Bank since seizing the territory from Jordanian military occupation in 1967. In the early 1990s, under the Oslo Accords peace agreements, Israel agreed to gradually transfer control over the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority, but that has not happened. Instead, dozens of Israeli settlements have been built in the West Bank, encroaching into land that Palestinians, along with the international community, view as territory for a future Palestinian state.
Approximately 500,000 Israeli Jewish settlers now live in the West Bank, according to Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates for peace and monitors settlements. Many of these settlements are heavily guarded, fenced-off areas that are completely off limits to Palestinians. Most of the world considers these settlements illegal under international law and Israel has been criticized for allowing their expansion – and, in some cases, supporting them with tax breaks and state-funded security. Israel views the West Bank as “disputed territory” and contends its settlement policy is legal.
The areas around these settlements have always been prone to violence, but the situation has worsened in recent months.
This is from before the current war (stats up to March 2013) 2017-2023
2009 to 2018
About time the US recognizes Settler violence. It has gotten much worse since October 7th, next to the nightly military raids.
This is only up to November 13th
The amount of people living in illegal Settlements seems to vary
According to the UN it was already up to 700,000 in March 2023
That number likely also included illegal settlements in Occupied East Jerusalem, 12 there vs 144 in the West Bank.
But they are widespread, all over the West Bank throwing up barriers for Palestinians trying to live and work there. Making a 2 state solution very difficult to achieve (which is the whole point of the settler movement) A 1 state solution with equal rights is the best way, yet both sides need to fundamentally change for that to ever happen.
Here's the PeaceNow map
Essay Pro