Israel set a 10-year record last year for the number of tenders it issued for construction in settlements on occupied land in the Palestinian territories, the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now said on Monday.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has excelled in previous years at a carefully calculated interaction with the Palestinians, and in so doing prevented a third intifada, a violent uprising. So why now, of all times, just before an election, is he pushing decisions that are stirring things up?” asks Avi Issacharoff.

A U.S. jury on Monday handed down an historic verdict against the Palestinian Authority for involvement in six terrorist attacks from the time of the second intifada, pummeling it with a $655.5 million judgment in wrongful death damages.

With his speech to Congress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to breathe new life into the “Iranian existential threat” to improve his chances of being re-elected as the one person who can stop the Iranians.

If the March elections were to take place today, the Likud, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Zionist Union, headed by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni, would be neck and neck at the ballot box, according to a poll released Tuesday by the Knesset Channel.

Despite the growing economic crisis and the diplomatic stalemate, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far managed to focus the electoral agenda on himself and on the Iran issue.

“The ease with which Israel can give and take away, allow and deny, isn’t just disturbing and depressing, it’s also further proof, in case anyone needed any, that Israel’s control over daily life in Gaza is immense,” writes Amir Rotem.

Agriculture in Gaza is suffering after the Israeli decision to ban vegetable exports from the Strip to the West Bank.

“A high rate of food insecurity and a deteriorating agricultural sector are the result of Israeli policies,” writes Patrick Strickland.

Activestills photographers have been documenting the popular struggle protests against the Israeli separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bil’in from their inception in 2005. The following is a selection with personal stories marking 10 years of their work in the village.

On 29 January 2015, Civil Administration representatives came to the Khirbet Yarza community in the Jordan Valley with a bulldozer and a truck equipped with a crane. They took apart the water pipes recently laid for the isolated community and confiscated the parts.

The Israel Electric Corporation briefly cut power to the West Bank cities Jenin and Nablus on Monday over an unpaid debt of NIS 1.9 billion ($492 million). The state-owned electric company said the 45 minute blackout served as a warning over the outstanding bills accrued by Palestinian utility companies that buy electricity from Israel and distribute it to West Bank cities and towns.

The Israel Electric Corporation acted on its own when it briefly cut power to the West Bank cities Jenin and Nablus on Monday, according to sources in the Prime Minister’s Office. The National Security Council was slated to meet on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Palestinians are discussing the possibility of rejecting the Paris Protocol and disengaging economically from Israel following Israel’s decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.

“Between the U.S. court decision against the PLO and the cut off of electrical power to the northern West Bank – the warped logic of the continuing existence of the Palestinian Authority, an entity that should have been temporary but became permanent, reached new heights on Monday,” writes Amira Hass.