“The Israeli military said an attack helicopter struck a Hamas target in the northern besieged Gaza Strip late Thursday in response to the launch of incendiary balloons into Israeli territory earlier in the day, the Associated Press reported. ‘A short while ago, an attack helicopter struck infrastructure used for underground activities’ of the Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip, an army statement said, according to AFP.”

“’Hamas will not accept 2020 being like the previous year,’ he said. ‘It will not accept the occupation evading and being indecisive about breaking the siege.’ He did not say what actions Hamas could take to pressure Israel, but the comments came as tensions along Gaza’s restive border rose after rockets and suspected explosives-laden balloons were launched into Israel.

“Gaza factions are seeking to increase cross-border violence, as negotiations for a long-term understanding with Israel stall – a Hamas affiliated Gaza media outlet reported on Thursday. The report emerges only a day after a salvo of four rockets was fired from the Gaza Strip at Israeli communities and an incendiary balloon was also sent across the border.”

“Head of Hamas political bureau Haniyeh landed in Tehran Jan. 3 — in blatant disregard of Egypt’s advice to avoid visiting there — to take part in the funeral of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani. As I previously reported, Egypt was expected to respond. Indeed, Egypt was so furious that it immediately turned off its supply of cooking gas for the Strip’s 2 million residents to signal the heads of the organization that Haniyeh’s provocative step would not go unpunished. Over the past week, the Egyptians have clamped down on the movement of goods and people through its Rafah border crossing with Gaza. No one knows what might happen once Haniyeh asks to return to the Strip and whether Egypt will let him through.”

“Israel Police detained Monday a member of the Finnish parliament for attempting to cross the Gaza border fence in protest of the humanitarian crisis plaguing the coastal enclave. Forty-two-year-old lawmaker Anna Kontula of the Left Alliance and four other human rights activist sought to draw international attention to Gaza’s dire situation by ‘breaching the border fence,’ according to Israeli source. The Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry said that ‘We expect those who visit Israel, and especially public servants, to respect Israeli law’.”

“The interim head of the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees accused the United States on Thursday of lobbying foreign parliaments to stop donations to the organisation, to which Washington cut off funding in 2018. Christian Saunders, in an interview with Reuters in his Gaza office, also said Israel was seeking to replace United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) services for Palestinians, mandated by the UN General Assembly, in occupied East Jerusalem with those of its own…’We are engaged with the U.S., we will continue to engage with them in the hopes that they will see UNRWA as a reliable partner and worth supporting,’ Saunders said. UNRWA, Saunders said, was also feeling ‘the pressure in East Jerusalem in particular’, where Israel was in the process of building schools and institutions “to compete” with the agency and stop it from operating there. ‘The important thing to remember here is that UNRWA has a mandate from the General Assembly, from the rest of the world, the member states, to provide services to Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem,’ Saunders said.”

“The interim head of the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees on Thursday accused pro-Israel groups of lobbying foreign parliaments to stop donations, even as it struggled to recover from losing United States funding in 2018.”

“National parks and nature reserves in Area C of the West Bank are managed by the Civil Administration and referred to as ‘parks’. Their total area spans approximately 500,000 dunams and constitutes roughly 14.5% of Area C. Palestinians’ rights are violated in these territories through various means. In the Ein Prat Nature Reserve, for example, landowners cannot cultivate their land as their access is restricted. In Herodion National Park and Nabi Samuel, residents can neither construct nor renovate their homes. Beyond increasing Israeli control over these territories in recent years, we have witnessed growing tourism beyond the Green Line, thanks to the tailwind generated by government bodies seeking to erase public consciousness of the Green Line. The potential increase in tourism in national parks and nature reserves will further intensify this trend.”

“Could a judge from the European Court of Justice be barred from entering Israel because they believe Israeli settlement products made in the occupied territories must be labeled as such? A careful reading of an Israeli High Court decision, in a seemingly unrelated case, may suggest exactly that.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party is seen lagging slightly behind Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan in two public opinion polls published Thursday ahead of Israel’s March 2 election. According to Channel 13 News poll, Kahanist party Otzma Yehudit passes the 3.25-percent electoral threshold and gets four seats. The Channel 12 News poll puts support for Otzma Yehudit at 2.1 percent. In the previous election on September 17, the Kahanist party failed to enter the Knesset.”

Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz on Friday assailed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for reportedly threatening Defense Minister Naftali Bennett earlier this week that he could lose his job if he failed to unite his New Right party with other small right-wing factions — including the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. ‘Anyone who is willing to use Israel’s security to bring Kahanists into the Knesset is not fit to be the prime minister of Israel,’ Gantz wrote on Facebook. ‘Anyone who trades in national security for personal benefit and uses his leadership position [to advance] his personal fortunes cannot be prime minister’.”

“Botrus Mansour, a Nazareth-based lawyer and an astute observer of Arab voting trends in Israel, told Al-Monitor the Joint List will improve because of its stability, lack of internal squabble this time around and proven ability to influence politics in Israel. He said, ‘For years, Palestinian citizens of Israel felt their representatives in the Knesset had no influence. But when Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint List, recommended to President Reuven Rivlin that Knesset member Benny Gantz become prime minister, this drove home to many that Arabs can, in fact, have influence.’ Mansour’s comment reflects the fact that previously, Arab members of the Knesset had not nominated anyone for prime minister.”