“The Israeli cabinet decided to accept Mahmoud Abbas’ request that the electricity supply to Gaza be cut. The army has warned against doing so, but it seems that for Israel, Abbas’ interests are more important than people’s lives,” writes Orly Noy.

“Without it being either side’s objective, without any interest to be served by escalation, it looks as if Israel and Hamas are getting closer to a confrontation, with the active and exceptional encouragement of the Palestinian Authority,” writes Amos Harel.

“The decision of the occupation to reduce the electricity to Gaza at the request of PA President Mahmoud Abbas is catastrophic and dangerous. It will accelerate the deterioration and explode the situation in the Strip,” said Hamas spokesperson Abdel Latif al-Qanua.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday distanced Israel from responsibility for the worsening electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying the matter was an internal Palestinian dispute between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman blocked a cabinet initiative to construct an artificial island off the Gaza coast to allow the flow of goods into the territory, Haaretz reported Monday.

Egypt offered Hamas more freedom at its border and much-needed electricity amid a severe power shortage, in exchange for the terror group agreeing to a list of security demands, Arab media reported Tuesday.

The Gaza-based Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, is facing a new and harsh reality in light of the recent Gulf crisis between Qatar and several Gulf countries.

Former peace negotiator MK Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal based on the 1967 lines during the 2014 peace talks. She also called on the current US administration to adopt the framework agreement that was reached at the time as the basis for new peace talks.

A bipartisan bill introduced in the US House of Representatives would strengthen the processes that have ensured Israel’s qualitative military edge in the Middle East. Under the legislation introduced Friday, the president would consult with Israel about its defense needs before authorizing the sale of arms or defense technologies to countries in the Middle East.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi held secret talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and opposition leader Isaac Herzog last year to promote a plan that would have recognised Israel as a Jewish state, according to a report by the the Haaretz newspaper.

If Israel is not willing to relinquish military control over the West Bank, then it is saying that there can be no two-state solution.

Elitzur praised Jews who carried out hate crimes against Palestinians as “buds of a growing public that take responsibility for the security of the Jews.” He wrote that such assailants represented a vision for a government that truly represents the Jewish people.

“A new ‘code of ethics’ commissioned by Israel’s education minister seems to target left-wing politics in universities,” writes Dahlia Schiendlin.

Israeli artists widely condemn the decision by the Acre Festival of Alternative Theater to exclude Einat Weitzman’s play about Palestinian prisoners, saying the move is part of a dangerous trend of self-censorship in Israel.