“The Housing Ministry is seeking to advance a controversial housing project in East Jerusalem in the weeks ahead of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s expected visit to Washington. The ministry placed a 9,000-housing-unit plan to expand the Atarot neighborhood on the agenda for a December meeting of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, the Walla news site reported Monday. The new neighborhood would be located at the site of the Atarot Airport, which has been inoperative since the eruption of the Second Intifada in 2000. An Israeli official confirmed to The Times of Israel that the plan had indeed been placed on the docket, but said that the Prime Minister’s Office had not been notified in advance of the move.”

• “Israeli court’s compromise would avoid Palestinian evictions” (AP)
• “Foreign Ministry says Israeli judiciary is complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Jerusalem” (WAFA)
• “High court defers decision on expulsion of Palestinians from their homes” (Middle East Eye)
• “Analysis | In Sheikh Jarrah, Israel’s Supreme Court Seeks to Avoid Ruling on Who’s Right” (Haaretz // Nir Hasson)
• “Israeli Supreme Court offers Palestinians facing eviction a deal to avert another conflict” (Washington Post)
•  “Israel’s High Court Floats Proposal To Solve The Flash Point That Sparked War In Gaza” (NPR)

“Undercover Border Police forces clashed with Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank city of Jenin during a heavy exchange of fire early Tuesday morning, with several of the attackers hit, Israel Police said in a statement. Police said members of its counterterrorism unit, known by its Hebrew acronym Yamam, “neutralized a number of terrorists” who had opened fire at the troops during arrest operations in Jenin. Forces came under “massive fire” during the operations, police said.”

Also See

• “Six Palestinians wounded during clashes with Israeli occupation forces in Jenin and four in Beita” (WAFA)
• “West Bank: Israeli night raid injures Palestinians in Jenin” (Middle East Eye)

“An Arab Israeli man was seriously wounded Monday after being shot by Israeli troops near the security fence in the northern West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces said 34-year-old Tawfiq Agbaria and another suspect were trying to cut through the fence from the West Bank side when they were fired on. The other suspect was arrested. The army said Agbaria was hit by a bullet in his lower body, and fled from the Israeli forces. He reached Umm al-Fahm, where he lives, and sought medical treatment, according to the military. Agbaria’s family, however, denied the IDF’s claims, charging that he was shot without warning. “The IDF is lying, there is no fence to cut,” the family told the Ynet news site. “Anyone can move freely there. Tawfiq had no bad intentions, they just shot him for no reason,” the family said. Agbaria was hospitalized in serious condition in the Hillel Yaffe hospital in the Israeli coastal city of Hadera.”

“The Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs today said Israel issued 98 administrative detention orders against Palestinians during the month of July, including 38 new orders and 60 renewed. It said 540 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention without charge or trial and based on secret evidence.”

“On June 26, during a settler attack on the village of a-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, a Jewish Israeli settler grabbed a weapon from an Israeli soldier and fired it at Palestinians. Local activists documented the incident on video, which was distributed by Israeli anti-occupation group B’Tselem. “A group of settlers were hurling stones at our home,” said Jum’a Reb’i, a resident of a-Tuwani. At the same time, one of the settlers moved toward a military jeep that was at the scene and spoke to a soldier, who gave the settler his weapon, continued Reb’i. “Immediately after that, the settler stood before us and fired three bullets — directly at my house. I was very frightened, and was shaking. I tried to hide my children inside the rooms of the house. One soldier removed the shooter back toward the forest. The bullet missed my wife by only a few centimeters.” An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed that a soldier handed his weapon over to a settler, and that the settler used it to shoot at Palestinians.”

“Palestinian farmer and anti-settlement activist Mahmoud Abu Merhi, who owns a 5-acre vineyard, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian grape season is one of the most famous agricultural seasons in Palestine, and Palestinian families celebrate it by singing traditional songs at the vineyards because this season brings abundant sustenance and fortune to farmers. “However, we are dreading the grape harvest season; every year settlers deliberately ruin our vineyards and sabotage the season, whether by spraying crops with toxic pesticides that destroy them or by expelling farmers and their families from their agricultural lands,” he said. Abu Merhi is afraid that the grape season for this year is lost due to the local market being flooded with large quantities of Israeli grapes at low prices. “Large quantities of the Palestinian grapes could be spoiled, in light of the high temperatures and the surplus of Israeli products in the Palestinian markets.””

“The day after the death of 12-year-old Mohammed al-Alami of the West Bank village of Beit Ummar, was reported on by the Palestine branch of the Defense for Children International NGO last Wednesday, Israeli soldiers raided the headquarters of their office in El Bireh, and stole six desktop computers, two laptops, one external hard drive and a few binders containing the personal details of children represented by the organization…In any normal context, all of these would be considered acts of crime and terror, whose perpetrators must be brought to justice. But in Israel – where military rule over another people is as natural as the slavery regime was until recently, for those who profited from it, directly and indirectly – break-ins, thievery and murder are normative, the heart’s desire of proud Jewish mothers and fathers. The streets of Israel are bustling with mostly men who have spent their best years carrying out such normative crimes.”

“A nine-month-old baby, a 17-year-old girl, three women, one man. All were noncombatant civilians, as Israel defines them, who were killed by Israel Defense Forces artillery fire into Gaza during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May. Haaretz has learned that this was fire mistakenly aimed at temporary structures along the border with Israel – homes of Bedouin farmers that should have never been in the army’s sights. This incident received no publicity, but was known to the army, which decided to investigate it. But after two-and-a-half months, the army only reported that it has “learned professional lessons and instilled them into the unit,” according to the IDF spokesman. According to testimonies obtained by Haaretz, that’s not quite accurate. A few low-ranking soldiers were suspended for a limited time and then returned to their positions, while a battalion officer was moved to a training position. That was the sum of the conclusions drawn. No senior officer was even punished, let alone dismissed.”

“he new Israeli government is seeking to strengthen the Palestinian Authority as it enters a post-Netanyahu era and to bolster its own ties with the Democratic administration in Washington, a senior Israeli official told The Times of Israel on Sunday. “Our policy is first and foremost to strengthen the Palestinian Authority. Whatever Hamas receives, three times as much should be given to the PA,” said the official, who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity. The approach being taken by the new unity government led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid flies in the face of the one maintained during the tenure of ex-premier Benjamin Netanyahu, when relations with the PA hit an all-time low.”

“Over the weekend, Palestinian and Israeli social media sites were awash with false rumors about the health of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The unfounded stories were spreading so fast that Israeli officials rushed to brief the Israeli media that Abbas was alive and well. At the same time, Palestinian Authority officials also briefed Palestinian media outlets that the president was at home in Ramallah and in touch with his government ministers. The rumors turned out to be false, but the truth about Abbas is disturbing enough in its own right. He is an 85-year-old chain-smoker who has ruled over the PA since 2005 and has no apparent plans to relinquish his hold on power anytime soon. After 15 years in office, he has shown no signs of preparing anyone else to succeed or replace him. If it is up to him, it seems, he will continue to lead the PA from his compound in Ramallah until the day he dies.”

“Seven members of the US Congress wrote the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding an investigation into US charities supporting illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. “We write to express our extreme concern that US charities are funding and providing direct support to Israeli organizations that are working to expand and perpetuate Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in violation of international law, including supporting the dispossession and forced displacement of Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem neighborhoods. We are concerned that these policies violate US obligations under international law, as well as federal tax law,” wrote Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Andre Carson, Betty McCollum, Mark Pocan, Ayyana Pressley and Cori Bush.”

“Pro-Israel groups are pouring millions of dollars into the contest to help their favoured candidate Shontel Brown defeat progressive firebrand, Nina Turner. Turner is a former Ohio state senator who co-chaired Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign last year. Brown is chair of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party. The majority Black, safe Democratic district covers the cities of Cleveland and Akron in northeast Ohio. The seat was vacated by Marcia Fudge, who joined the Joe Biden administration earlier this year as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Progressive officials and activists are lining up behind Turners’ bid. Sanders, Minnesota’s Muslim-American attorney general Keith Ellison, and philosopher and civil rights advocate Cornel West held a rally for Turner in Cleveland this past weekend.”

“Israel’s defense minister said Monday that Iran’s alleged attack on a merchant ship in the Arabian Sea last week was “a stepping-up of the escalation” of hostilities by Iran, and called for international action. Benny Gantz addressed Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and said the drone strike on the Mercer Street that left two crew members dead — one from the United Kingdom and one from Romania — was “in violation of international law and human morality.” He charged that Iran was behind at least five attacks on international shipping in the last year.”

“Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that Israel is capable of acting against Iran on its own, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken promised a “collective response” to an Iranian drone attack on a tanker transiting through international waters near Oman last week. Bennett said that “Iran knows the price that we exact when someone threatens our security.” He added that the government is working to ensure that Israel has international support, “but meanwhile, we also know how to act alone. The Iranians must understand that it’s not possible to sit calmly in Tehran and set the whole Middle East on fire. That is over.””

“White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that the Iranian attack on an Israeli-managed ship near the coast of Oman would not affect US negotiations with Iran on a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. “As a sovereign country, Israel is going to make their own decisions” regarding a possible retaliation to the attack, Psaki told reporters.”

“The phone of a prominent British human rights lawyer and close associate of Princess Latifa of Dubai was infected by NSO’s Pegasus software, an Amnesty International forensic analysis revealed on Monday, in what was the first confirmed targeting of a U.K. number by the Israeli-made spyware.”

“Israel’s top defense committee will convene for a special session dedicated to offensive cyberarms in the wake of the global investigation into NSO Group and the subsequent international backlash to the apparent misuse of the Israeli-made Pegasus spyware. The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee will convene for a closed session to discuss not just NSO and the string of revelations about its spyware’s potential targets, exposed as part of the Project Pegasus project. The session, which will not be open to the public, will also focus on other Israeli offensive firms that have made headlines in recent months, like Candiru and Quadream, after it was exposed they too sell their spyware to non-democratic regimes.”

“The control of the fund that owns NSO will not change, however, shareholders will replace its managing body. This is what the chairman of NSO, Asher Levy, claimed in a letter, obtained by Calcalist, which was sent to the employees of the embroiled Israeli company.”

“n a letter to the manager of Florida’s state investments, DeSantis nominated Ben & Jerry’s, and its parent company, Unilever, for a de facto divestment blacklist for companies that boycott Israel. In other words: DeSantis is calling for his government to boycott Ben & Jerry’s for their boycott.

“We at HonestReporting are no strangers to taking legal action when appropriate. For example, in 2018 we responded swiftly to Airbnb, Inc’s announcement that the popular online hospitality service planned to “remove listings in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank that are at the core of the dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.” In 2012, we launched legal proceedings and successfully forced The Guardian to reverse its policy of claiming that Tel Aviv is the capital of Israel. And now we are launching proceedings once again: this time via the United States Office of Antiboycott Compliance (the “OAC”)  that enforces America’s numerous antiboycott laws. If found to be in violation of the relevant laws, Unilever, United States, Inc. could be subject to significant fines, tax consequences or even criminal action. Through its illegal acts, the consumer goods giant is even risking its ability to continue doing business in the United States.”