Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians across occupied West Bank
At least 25 Palestinians have been arrested in raids by Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office (ASRA) says. A minor and former prisoners were among those arrested this morning, the office reported.
The majority of the arrests took place in and around Hebron, with others near Nablus, Jenin, Tubas and Ramallah.
Ben-Gvir shares footage of photos of devastated Gaza displayed in Israeli jail
Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has posted footage from inside an Israeli jail of images of the destruction in Gaza put on display to taunt Palestinian prisoners.
The footage, posted on Ben-Gvir’s Telegram page and verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency, shows the Israeli minister, flanked by officials, pointing to a large, black-and-white photograph of a scene of devastation in Gaza.
“In the prisons, they put pictures of the destroyed Gaza … so they know that the Israeli people are not to be underestimated,” Ben-Gvir says in the video.
“This is what they see in the morning, if they look,” he says, referring to Palestinian prisoners held in the jail.
Israel’s civil administration approves major West Bank settlement project
Guy Yifrach, the mayor of the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim, has said in a statement that the civil administration approved the planning for the construction of the illegal E1 settlement.
Israeli authorities are moving forward with plans to dramatically expand illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, despite growing international condemnation and warnings that the move would destroy already moribund prospects for a two-state solution.
The planned settlement, which was shelved for years amid opposition from the United States and European allies, would comprise more than 3,400 homes for Israeli settlers on Palestinian-owned land that experts say is vital for any future territorially contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the development was being revived as a response to plans by other countries to recognise a Palestinian state.
Israel’s E1 settlement expansion plan impossible without US support
Israel’s approval of a major settlement expansion plan in the occupied West Bank marks “a death sentence to the idea and the possibility of a Palestinian independent state”, says Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.
“This plan will completely separate the West Bank in two pieces … It will also isolate Jerusalem completely from the rest of the occupied Palestinian West Bank,” Barghouti told Al Jazeera from Ramallah, adding that thousands of Palestinians will also be displaced and communities will be destroyed.
He explained that Israel would not have moved ahead with its E1 plans without the US’s unwavering support. “We haven’t heard any word from President Trump that he’s objecting to the Judaisation of the West Bank, or the illegal annexation of the West Bank,” Barghouti said.
“This will continue unless the world community starts immediately – especially European countries – imposing sanctions on Israel,” he added.
“Without real, powerful sanctions on Israel, without a military embargo on Israel, Israel will not stop and will continue this process of destruction of the lives of people in Gaza … and the lives of the people in the West Bank, as well, destroying any possibility of peace in this region.”
