“The United States is working to convene a Middle East peace summit in the next few weeks, a senior Emirati diplomat told Israel Hayom Monday. The Emirati official said that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s five-day visit to the Middle East and Africa, which began in Jerusalem, is part of Washington’s effort to lay the groundwork for the peace summit. Sources familiar with the issue said that the summit is to take place in one of the Persian Gulf sheikdoms, adding that the US is trying to secure the participation of Bahrain, Oman, Morocco, Sudan, and Chad, alongside Israel and the UAE. Other states, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan – the latter two already having peace treaties with Israel – have yet to confirm their participation in the summit. The diplomat added that prior to and during Pompeo’s visit to Israel, Palestinian officials were invited to the summit. The message was also conveyed to the PA that Pompeo is willing to visit PA President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah to personally invite him to the summit. Abbas and other PA officials dismissed the offer, snubbing the top American diplomat “and even sent the message that Pompeo is not wanted in Ramallah,” the UAE official said.”

“An Israeli delegation and top aides to U.S. President Donald Trump will fly together to the United Arab Emirates on Monday for talks on cementing the two Middle East countries’ deal to normalise relations, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.”

“Israel and the United Arab Emirates’ defense ministers pledged on Tuesday to boost communication between their countries after their deal to normalize ties, according to an Israeli defense ministry statement and UAE state news agency WAM…In a telephone call, UAE Minister of State for Defense Affairs Mohammed al-Bawardi and Defence Minister Benny Gantz said they were “looking forward to strengthening communication channels”, a statement carried by WAM said.”

“Following Pompeo’s departure, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was quoted as saying that he told the secretary of state that his country remains committed to the Arab Peace Initiative, which calls for Israel’s complete withdrawal from the Palestinian territories occupied after 1967, in exchange for peace and the full normalisation of relations. “The king stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict according to the two-state solution…to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital,” the official Bahraini news agency reported. Israel and the US have said they are pushing more Arab countries to follow the UAE’s path. Israel’s intelligence minister has mentioned Bahrain as a possible candidate. Bahrain was among the first countries in the world to welcome the UAE deal without reservations.”

Also See: “Backing Arab Peace Initiative, Bahrain appears to reject US push for Israel ties” (The Times of Israel)

“The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, today resigned from a UAE forum over the forum’s statement endorsing normalization with Israel. Hussein announced in a press conference that he submitted his resignation from the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies (FPPMS), citing the forum’s statement which supported the UAE agreement to normalize relations with Israel. “This normalization is a stab in the back of Palestinians and Muslims, and a betrayal for Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem,” he said.”

“US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed Sudan’s relations with Israel in a visit to Khartoum on Tuesday, but normalization between the two countries may not happen so fast. Pompeo spoke to Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in a meeting Hamdok described as “direct and transparent.” The two discussed the possibility of the United States removing Sudan from the state sponsors of terror list and Sudan’s transition to democracy after the deposition of long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir last year, according to the state-run Sudan News Agency.”

“To maintain a sense of momentum, President Trump is sending a delegation to Israel next week to accompany high-level Israeli officials on the first direct commercial flight between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, probably on an El Al carrier with its traditional Star of David on the tail. The delegations will seek to forge cooperation in the aviation, security, health and banking sectors, among others, in accordance with the agreement that the two nations announced two weeks ago.”

“There will be no peace, security and stability in our region without ending the Israeli occupation of our land and the Palestinian people obtaining their freedom and independence in their sovereign state on the 1967 borders,” he told visiting British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

“According to the paper, Israel selling advanced and offensive weapons to the UAE in 2010, after the assassination of Hamas leader, Muhammad Al-Mabhouh, in a Dubai hotel.”

“From the Israel Defense Force’s point of view, the stealth jet is a major component in Israel’s military advantage in the Middle East, which is why the sale of such airplanes to the UAE brought such harsh reactions. Still, Israel cannot prevent the United States from going ahead with the sale; Israel can only try to place hurdles in the way of such a deal. In his remarks, Hanegbi acknowledged that reality, saying, “The Americans are not required to accept our position. They didn’t accept it when they decided to sell the stealth fighters to the Turks, who are not an enemy state, but whom we understand we could have some kind of a conflict with.’’”

“Israeli soldiers planted at least three explosive devices last week along a road in a Palestinian village that runs near a residential area. The Nahal Brigade soldiers entered the West Bank village of Qaddum shortly before midnight last Wednesday to plant the explosive devices, which were armed and ready to explode when touched. The explosives were hidden with stones, cloth and weapons crates. The military said that stun grenades were left at the scene, without any additional explosives, “in an uninhabited, open area in which violent riots have regularly occurred for years.” Military sources  said that the boxes were planted for the purpose of creating deterrence, while the military’s spokesman said that “after it was discovered that this could lead to injuries, forces worked to remove them from the area.”

“Israeli soldiers shot and injured today a Palestinian man near the separation wall in the north of the West Bank, according to local sources. They said that Mamoun Qalalweh, 27, from al-Jadida village, southwest of Jenin, was shot in the leg near an Israeli army checkpoint.”

“Israeli authorities Wednesday morning forced two Palestinian brothers to demolish their own houses in Sur Baher village, southeast of Jerusalem, according to WAFA correspondent. He said Mohammad Dabash, and his brother, Bilal, overnight embarked on tearing down their houses, each of which occupying an area of 280 meters square, in order to avoid paying a fine of between ILS 100,000 and 200,000 (USD 29,000 – 59,000) should the Israeli municipality carries out the demolition itself.”

“Monday’s cases were uncovered after a woman traveled to the West Bank, where she tested positive, the Gaza Health Ministry said. A ministry spokesman urged everyone who might have visited a supermarket outside a hospital in central Gaza to quarantine themselves and report to medics immediately.”

“Cases have appeared in different regions, and Hamas officials have said that some are unrelated to one another. This could be evidence of community spread — infections appearing without a clear chain of transmission — which would mean that many cases are going undetected. Hamas officials have not released information about the level of testing for the virus in the Strip.”

“Contrary to how it’s been portrayed in Israel, the latest escalation did not begin for no reason, just because Hamas was bored. For several months the Israeli leadership allowed the situation in the Strip to heat up gradually until the violence came to a boil. In January, before the coronavirus reached the region, there was actually considerable progress in the indirect contact between Israel and Hamas, brokered by Egypt.”

“A Qatari envoy will arrive in the Gaza Strip later this week in an attempt to stem the recent escalation. However, Gazans say that the continuation or expansion of Qatari aid, under which $100 were granted to 100 thousand families in need throughout the coastal enclave, will not end the crisis. “Do you want the [explosive-laden] balloons to stop? So work to significantly ease the siege,” a senior Hamas official told Haaretz. “I belong to the ranks of senior academics in Gaza and this weekend I couldn’t bring food for my children, so you can understand what happens to the weaker population.””

“You have no idea what we would pay to have Gaza sawn off from the mainland, pushed and swept away from us into the wide open Mediterranean,” a senior Israeli security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity recently. “Not just us. The Egyptians, too, would like this to happen as would the Palestinians in Ramallah who would not touch Gaza with a ten-foot pole,” the source added, arguing that Israel’s military occupation of the Gaza Strip following the 1967 Six-Day War was one of the cardinal mistakes in the history of the state. “[Egyptian] President Anwar Sadat did not even demand the return of Gaza within the framework of Egypt’s peace treaty with Israel, and even had Israel tried to force him to take it back, he would have refused.”

“The Government of the People’s Republic of China made a vital contribution of personal protective equipment including surgical masks, protective face masks, sterilized surgical gloves, medical eye covers, medical protective smocks and face shields to assist Palestine refugees through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), today said a press release. This donation will enable UNRWA to better safeguard Palestine refugees from COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria with industry-standard safety equipment, it explained.”

“The government committee that awards exemptions for competitive bidding was told by Orit Efrati-Lev, the Health Ministry’s head of procurement, that J&K was chosen because it “has rich experience in logistics.”Although the company’s website says its managers do have 20 years of experience managing big systems in Israel and Hungary, according to the Companies Registry, J&K was only formed last year. Its CEO, Noam Yaacov, was a career army officer whose last role was coordinating procurement for military intelligence with the Defense Ministry and Prime Minister’s Office.”

“Commenting on the election-skirting legislation passed Monday night that gives the government until December 23 to pass a state budget, the Blue and White chairman said, “If someone wastes these next [120] days again, it is a sign that his intentions are impure and you know that someone is not me.””

“But while the odds are overwhelmingly stacked against them, the Palestinians make up nearly half the population between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Their leaders say Israel still needs their signature if it hopes to resolve the conflict, a source of frustration for Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, the architect of the plan. “There is an erroneous assumption that the Palestinians are defeated, and they have to accept the facts of their defeat,” said Hanan Ashrawi, a senior Palestinian official. “The Palestinians are willing, generation after generation, to continue their struggle until we get our rights.””