“Due to the sharp rise in coronavirus cases in Palestine in the last few weeks, the Palestinian government decided today to shut down the country on weekends and at night for 14 days. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said at the cabinet meeting that a full lockdown will be imposed in Palestine every Friday and Saturday and that lockdown will also be imposed every day of the week between 7 in the evening and 6 the next morning for the next two weeks.”

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed the relevant authorities to examine closing checkpoints to Palestinian territories as coronavirus infections spike among the Palestinian population, Israeli media reported Wednesday.” Also See – “PM: Israel may close West Bank crossings to Palestinian areas amid virus surge” (The Times of Israel)

“Palestinians saw a record-shattering 1,811 new confirmed coronavirus infections between Monday and Tuesday as the pandemic worsened in both the West Bank and Gaza. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, the West Bank logged a record 1,126 cases over the past day. The previous record, set only a day before, was 863…While al-Najjar attributed the uptick in cases in part to expanded and improved testing, he also said that mass violations of social distancing were taking place.” Also See – “Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza battered by record surge in virus cases” (The Times of Israel)

“Gaza’s health system could be overwhelmed by next week because of a surge in coronavirus cases, health advisers warned on Sunday. The blockaded territory has almost run out of ventilators and could have no space in intensive-care units in 10 days’ time, said Abdelraouf Elmanama, a microbiologist who is part of the enclave’s pandemic task force. “In 10 days the health system will become unable to absorb such a hike in cases and there might be cases that will not find a place at intensive-care units,” he said, adding that the current 0.05 percent mortality rate among Covid-19 patients could rise.”

“More than 90 percent of the 330,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem are not Israeli citizens. After Israel annexed the area in 1967, the state gave Palestinian residents “permanent residence,” which gives them eligibility to vote in local elections, to receive national insurance and health coverage including monthly aid stipends, but not to vote in national or parliamentary elections, or be issued an Israeli passport. The “permanent resident” status is also relatively easier to cancel or override than that of citizenship. The number of Palestinians in East Jerusalem seeking Israeli citizenship has grown in recent years, but the regular process, as currently defined by Article 5 of the Citizenship Law, is lengthy and complicated. Applicants must provide many documents to prove that they live in Jerusalem and that they have no property in the Palestinian territories, as well as pass a Hebrew test and take a loyalty oath to Israel. The process can take a few years, because of very long wait times at the Population Registry office in East Jerusalem. Staff at the Population Authority are also authorized to reject the request, based on a determination that an applicant intends to settle in another city, for example, or if an applicant is the subject of any criminal or security warnings. About half of the applicants are rejected for such reasons, and many do not even file an application, or withdraw it at some point during the process. The amendment, known as Article 4A, allows the citizenship process to be expedited for Israeli residents aged 18 to 21 who were born in Israel, lived there for five consecutive years before submitting their application, and have no other citizenship. Applicants are obliged to prove that their center of life is in Israel, but the Interior Ministry cannot object to citizenship, unless the applicant has committed a crime for which he or she has been sentenced to five years or more in prison. Open criminal cases, minor convictions and intelligence information cannot be used to deny them citizenship. This route also does not require a Hebrew exam or oath of loyalty to the state.”

“Each year, hundreds of Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank are arrested from their homes in the middle of the night, and taken handcuffed and blindfolded to interrogation centers. The Israeli military uses night arrests as its default method for bringing Palestinian minors in for interrogation, as documented in a new report by HaMoked: Under Cover of Darkness. The report is based on affidavits HaMoked took from 81 boys aged 14-17 who were arrested during the years 2018-2019. The report indicates that 58 of the boys (72%) were arrested from their homes in pre-planned arrests between the hours of 11 PM and 5 AM. The vast majority did not receive a summons to interrogation prior to their arrest, which could have made the traumatic night arrest unnecessary. The night arrests often involve violations of other rights, including painful cuffing and lengthy blindfolding, and sometimes serious physical violence. Many of the boys were forcibly pulled out of their beds, taken from their homes in front of their frightened younger siblings. In most cases, the soldiers did not disclose the reason for the arrest, and didn’t tell the boys’ parents where they were being taken to and how the family could be in touch with them. These routine night arrests are not only contrary to international law, but also violate the military’s own regulations, which state that they should only be used as a last resort. In 2014, in a principled correspondence with HaMoked, the military committed to undertake a pilot program to examine whether summoning minors to interrogations is an effective alternative to night arrests. But the affidavits taken by HaMoked confirm that the pilot has hardly been implemented at all, and a few months ago the military officially excluded minors aged 16-17 – the age-group to which most arrested minors belong – from the program. Therefore, this week HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice, demanding that the military uphold international law and the principle of the best interest of the child, and issue a summons if Palestinian minors are wanted for interrogation, rather than dragging them out of their beds. The petition echoes the report’s recommendations that the military apply the protections enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child to Palestinian minors.”

“An attempted ramming attack took place on Wednesday afternoon at the az-Za’ayyem checkpoint near Jerusalem, the Israeli Border Police reported.
Border Police officers on the scene opened fire at the suspect, who was reportedly severely injured and evacuated to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem for medical treatment, according to Walla!” Also See – “Reports: Palestinian shot and injured by Israeli soldiers at an army checkpoint near Jerusalem” (WAFA); “Israel Police Shoot Suspect in Attempted Car-ramming Attack in West Bank” (Haaretz); “Border Police troops thwart car-ramming at West Bank post” (Ynet)

“Police arrested on Wednesday two settlers from the West Bank outpost of Kumi Ori on suspicion of obstructing police, with one also being suspected of hitting a border police officer with his car and lightly wounding him…When officers attempted to arrest the driver, whose vehicle was stuck, the suspect clashed with them, attacking an officer who was filming the incident. In the video filmed by the officer, the suspect can be heard saying, “What are you filming? I’ll break your phone.” Kumi Ori residents tell a different version of events, claiming that a police Jeep rammed into the suspect’s car while questioning him at the checkpoint. The suspect then lost control of his vehicle and veered off the road. Police then proceeded to beat the suspect, hitting his face and upper body.” Also See – “Officer hit by car in clash with Yitzhar area settlers” (Jerusalem Post)

“IDF fighters apprehended two suspects who crossed the perimeter fence near the southern Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on Tuesday evening, the IDF spokesperson reported.  No weapons were seized from the suspects and they are currently being questioned by IDF forces.”

“The report showed how the pandemic has accelerated the trends of sluggish growth and high unemployment plaguing the Palestinian economy in recent years. After clashing with the Trump administration, which cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid, the Palestinians are hopeful that improved ties with the incoming Biden administration will help give a lift to the economy.”

“Israeli bulldozers today demolished two Palestinian-owned houses and a number of shacks in the northern Jordan Valley village of Fasayel, reported WAFA correspondent. He said that Israeli bulldozers raided the village and demolished the two houses and shacks owned by two local families under the pretext that they were built without a permit. Jihad Abu al-Asal, governor of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, said that Israeli occupation authorities aim at changing the status quo and create new facts on the ground through demolishing houses, forcible displacement, and destroying lands for the benefit of their colonial expansion, calling on international institutions to immediately intervene to oblige Israel to stop doing so and respect international law.”

“Dozens of fanatic Israeli settlers Wednesday stormed the archeological site in the town of Sebastia, north of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, local sources said. Sebastia mayor Mohammad Azzem told WAFA that dozes of settlers barged their way into the site under heavy protection by Israeli soldiers, who fired tear gas and sound bomb during the raid. He added that settlers have been calling their followers to carry out regular intrusions into the site, aiming to seize it. Located 11 kilometers to the northwest of Nablus, Sebastia is a small historical town located on a hill with panoramic views across the West Bank and has a population of some 3,000 Palestinians.”

For background, see: “VIDEO – Sabastiya Town” by Kerem Navot and Diakonia

“And just as social media companies draw critics’ ire when they flag a post or ban a user, Zoom is now being accused of censorship after refusing to host a speech by a controversial Palestinian activist. The episode is raising questions among technology experts about whether and how Zoom sessions should be regulated. In September, Zoom blocked a speaking event featuring Leila Khaled, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist group. Khaled, now 76 years old and living in Jordan, is notorious for hijacking a plane in 1969 and attempting to do it again a year later…The Lawfare Project, a pro-Israel think tank and litigation fund, pressured Zoom to block the event, arguing that hosting Khaled was a legal liability. It organized a protest in front of Zoom’s headquarters in September…Zoom felt similar heat this summer after it shut down meetings commemorating the Tiananmen Square massacre at the request of the Chinese government. But while social media companies have long been in the middle of debates over content rules, this is a relatively new predicament for Zoom. “Welcome to the party, Zoom,” said Daphne Keller, a former Google lawyer who is now with Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center.”

“Even if Biden does intend to reverse Trump’s policies, he will likely face strong Republican opposition. “This administration is coming in already on the defensive,” said Lara Friedman, president of the Foundation for Middle East Peace and a Jewish Currents contributing writer. “There’s a resilient narrative that Democrats have an antisemitism problem because some of them support BDS. To the extent that Biden tries to roll back things that happened under Trump, he and the Democratic Party will face accusations of being anti-Israel and antisemitic at every turn.” Friedman added. “Until they can own their policies and defend the spectrum of opinion on Israel that exists within progressive grassroots of the Democratic party, they will continue to hemorrhage political capital on all of these issues.””

“The main objective of the policy change is acting on the annexation that President Trump’s “vision of peace and prosperity” had promised. Problematically, the annexation to be secured under the guise of product labeling would apply to more than twice the 30% of the landmass of the West Bank that was provided for under the said vision. A number of considerations would seem to lend credence to this conclusion.”

“The above notwithstanding, the normalization deals present a potentially unique opportunity for the Palestinians to liberate themselves from the illusion that the negotiations paradigm launched by the 1993 Oslo accords can one day lead to the establishment of a viable, independent Palestinian state. This in turn should encourage the Palestinians to develop a new framework for their struggle for independence in the post-normalization era. “

“What is Secretary of State Mike Pompeo doing, and how bad will it get? America’s top diplomat recently concluded a 10-day, seven-country overseas trip that seemed designed to cause as much damage as possible (and perhaps firm up his own dubious reputation with an eye toward a possible 2024 presidential run). The reviews were disastrous: Bloomberg described the trip as a “troll,” in which Pompeo “angered Turkey’s leaders, infuriated the Palestinians and befuddled the French.” “

“The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday postponed the start of the public corruption trial against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until February in light of ongoing evidentiary disputes between the prosecution and the defense. While the postponement seems like a modest victory for Netanyahu, who has consistently tried to push back the stage at which witnesses will be called, there was no indication from the court that there would be more delays. If the trial proceeds according to a February calendar, it could fall in the middle of an election campaign.”

“The High Court of Justice gave the government 21 days to explain the legality of an amendment to Israel’s Basic Law, passed by legislators in August, which allowed them to delay the passing of the budget until mid-December. Legal representatives for both the government and the Knesset must explain why the law “should not be revoked due to an abuse of the constitutive authority of the Knesset,” justices wrote in their order.”

“The Finance Ministry intends to pass the 2021 state budget in February as opposed to the demand by Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz that the budget passes during the upcoming month of December. Finance Minister Israel Katz and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have agreed to convene on Monday and present the proposed state budget for 2021, marking the first step in the process of approving next year’s state budget.After Netanyahu approves the budget’s outline, the Finance Ministry will begin the process of approving its finer details with the various government offices, including the Justice Ministry.”

“Two new polls released on Tuesday showed Israel’s so-called Right bloc gaining more than 61 seats in parliament — the threshold required for forming a government — if elections were to be held today. In a survey published by broadcaster Channel 13, the Right bloc received 64 seats versus Israel’s public broadcaster Kan that granted it 68 seats. In both polls the Likud preserved its place as the largest party in parliament, Channel 13 with 27 seats and Kan with 31. Former acting Defense Minister Naftali Bennett’s Yamina party maintained its momentum with 23 and 21 seats respectively.”

“A closer look at the lives of Gantz and Netanyahu during the first two days of this week offers a dismal picture of how the government is functioning. More than that, it shows that there is an unprecedented crisis in the country’s leadership. Nothing like that has ever happened before. It all started on Nov. 21. Suddenly, without any prior warning, the Prime Minister’s Office announced that the Coronavirus Cabinet’s meeting, scheduled for Sunday to decide on lifting certain restrictions, had been postponed by a day. The reason given for this was that the participating ministers had not finished their preparations for that meeting.”

“MK Avigdor Liberman, the leader of the opposition Yisrael Beytenu party, criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his recent secret trip to Saudi Arabia, saying Wednesday that, in excluding his own ministers and defense officials from matters of state security, the premier was endangering the country. Netanyahu flew to Saudi Arabia on Sunday for talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and reportedly did not tell Defense Minister Benny Gantz or Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi, both of the Blue and White party, about the trip.”