Top news stories from Israel/Palestine: October 16, 2018

What We’re Reading

Occupation/Human rights

Israeli bulldozers enter Khan al-Ahmar ahead of demolition,

Israeli forces have entered a Palestinian Bedouin village under imminent threat of demolition in occupied West Bank with heavy equipment and at least three bulldozers, local media reported.

PHOTOS: Israeli bulldozers demolish homes in West Bank villages,

Israeli bulldozers demolished nine Palestinian structures in the West Bank villages of Al-Hadidiya and Al-Jiftlik late last week.

Israel Approves $6 Million Expansion of Hebron Jewish Settlement,

The Israeli government approved on Sunday some 22 million shekels ($6.1 million) in government funding to expand the Jewish settlement inside the predominantly Palestinian West Bank city of Hebron.

Hundreds of Trees Destroyed in West Bank Palestinian Villages, Israeli Rights Groups Report,

Hundreds of olive trees and vines were found destroyed Sunday on land belonging to five different villages in the West Bank, Palestinian sources and Israeli human rights groups B’Tselem and Yesh Din reported.

Polluted Water Leading Cause of Child Mortality in Gaza, Study Finds,

Illness caused by water pollution is a leading cause of child mortality in the Gaza Strip, says a study by the RAND Corporation, a copy of which was obtained by Haaretz.

Israeli politics

Netanyahu’s flirtation with the far right,

“The guiding principle of Netanyahu’s ostentatious seduction campaign among rightwing populist and neo-fascist circles in Europe is ‘their antisemitism doesn’t matter so long as they are Zionists’.”

PM: Australia considering moving embassy to Jerusalem,

Australia’s prime minister said Tuesday he was open to shifting the Australian embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in line with President Donald Trump’s decision to recognise the contested holy city as Israel’s capital.

US-Israeli/Palestinian relations

Trump's envoy reveals plan to unite Gaza and West Bank,

The White House’s peace plan entails intentions to unify the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Jason Greenblatt, US President Donald Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, told Ynet on Tuesday.

BDS

Documents Reveal Board Of Shadowy Charity Linked To Canary Mission,

In early October, the Forward reported that a U.S. Jewish charity had noted in its tax filings that the purpose of a particular $100,000 grant was: “CANARY MISSION FOR MEGAMOT SHALOM.” Now, the Forward has obtained Megamot Shalom’s full public file from Israel’s charity registry.

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