” ‘The return of Jews to Judea and Samaria is not a curse, it’s a blessing for all the residents of the area,’ Reuven Azar, the deputy national security advisor for foreign policy who works for the Foreign Ministry, told participants at the Christian Media Summit on Sunday. ‘Calling for their expulsion is a recipe for destruction and for chaos… Look what happened when we went out of Gaza,’ Azar continued. ‘Our presence in Judea and Samaria, and in Jerusalem brings stability… because we bring security by fighting the bad guys’.”

“Aviv Tatarsky of Ir Amim, an Israeli NGO researching the Israeli-Palestinians conflict over Jerusalem, told MEE that a cable car is not the answer to the heavy traffic and that the project has political layers aimed at giving legitimacy to settlers in the area….’The project is a way to whitewash Israel’s taking of areas in Silwan to use for archaeological and touristic reasons,’ Tatarsky said…’If someone wants to go to the Western Wall of the Old City, they have to go through the ELAD activity centre. This project will give ELAD legitimacy and influence, as it is taking part in a governmental project. This is the political reason for why the government is doing this project,’ Tatarsky said.”

“The Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO), the largest electricity distribution company in the West Bank, is in an ever-increasing crisis due to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC) cut-off of its concession areas — which it supplies with electricity, namely Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Jericho — due to accumulated debts, with the first phase of the cut-off ending on Oct. 24.”

“For a Palestinian, Gaza is a place from which escape is nearly impossible. Israel has, for the past 13 years, denied all but a tiny number of applicants the right to travel outside the congested, blockaded strip of land that is often described as the world’s largest open-air prison. For those fortunate few who manage to attain a permit to depart, the extreme shock of life outside Gaza is almost unbearable. Freedom is painful: it triggers the release of long-suppressed emotions, and the realization that a lifetime of unending psychological trauma has rendered them unable to normalize the understanding that their lives can be free of fear, scarcity, and helplessness.”

“What matters is that since the protests began, Israeli security forces have killed 222 demonstrators and wounded around 8,000 with live fire. What matters is that 45 of those killed were minors, 28 of them under the age of 16, and that most of those killed or wounded were unarmed and were not endangering the soldiers, who were armed and well-protected behind an electronic fence dozens of yards away. There were lookouts, jeeps, crowd control measures, and occasionally, tanks. Two hundred twenty-two people were killed. The military has refused to make any essential changes to its open-fire regulations, promising only to investigate ‘exceptional incidents.’ To date, the MAG has identified 11 such cases, according to a military statement. Why eleven? Why these eleven? It’s anyone’s guess.”

“Five West Bank settlers were arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attacking police who had put a halt to illegal construction work at the unauthorized outpost of Maoz Esther in the northern West Bank. The suspects clashed with the police, threw stones at them and pushed them, a police source said. The police, who impounded two trucks at the site, reported that dozens of local residents also gathered at the scene and threw stones at police officers.”

“Upon his return to Palestine, Abbas set up committees to help prepare for the elections and asked the head of the Central Elections Commission, Hana Naser, to go to Gaza Oct. 7 to assess the reactions of Hamas and other factions. While some criticized Abbas for seeking the help of a technocrat like Nasser, the reactions of Hamas and others were positive. Anees Sweidan, head of foreign relations at the PLO, told Al-Monitor that Hamas expressed readiness to participate in elections, but is withholding final agreement until a decree. ‘Now we await a presidential decree regarding an election law with the goal to first set dates for parliamentary elections, to be followed within three months by presidential elections’.”

“Abbas and his advisers believed that once he issued a call for parliamentary elections in the West Bank and Gaza Hamas would refuse, thus allowing Abbas to state that elections will be held only in the West Bank — where Fatah believes it has an actual chance of winning. After Haniyeh’s announced that he welcomed the initiative, Fatah upped the stakes and Abbas demanded that the parliamentary elections be based on party slates and not geographical representation. Hamas again surprised Fatah and agreed, for one main reason: The Islamic terrorist group believes that it can win in the West Bank, potentially by a landslide, given the dwindling support Fatah has among Palestinians there. The terror group also points to the fact that it managed to get Qatari aid funds into Gaza and secure infrastructure improvements without needing to agree to an actual ceasefire with Israel. Moreover, Hamas knows that even if it doesn’t trounce Fatah in the West Bank, Abbas will face tough challenges from rivals within his party, plus those he ousted from the movement.”

“Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem told Al-Monitor, ‘The electoral system for the upcoming elections and their mechanism and timing depend on national consensus, which is the basis of the electoral process and the biggest guarantee for free and transparent elections. Hamas’ participation in the elections, whether independently or with an ally, will be discussed in due time, including the participation of Hamas leaders in electoral lists. But, what is certain is our positive and strong participation in both legislative and presidential elections’.”

“Qatari Ambassador to the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mohammed al-Emadi met recently with a high-level delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) at his Gaza City residence. The meeting was the first in months between the parties, since tensions arose between them in May after Emadi seemed to insinuate that the PIJ wants to pull the Gaza Strip into a military escalation with Israel.”

“Nevertheless, the very fact that Gantz is meeting with the Joint List is setting a precedent that could shape the future political participation of their Arab constituents, who have long felt locked out of Israel’s political system. Israel’s Arab citizens face longstanding inequalities. About half are below the poverty line, and state funds are not allocated equally among Arab and Jewish municipalities. And their identity is complex. While the Hebrew press often refers to them as ‘Israeli Arabs,’ some prefer to refer to themselves as Palestinian Arabs with Israeli citizenship—or Palestinian Israelis for short. Thabet Abu Rass, the co-director of the Abraham Fund, a Jewish-Arab group promoting coexistence and equality, said that this level of engagement represents a ‘paradigm shift’ in the way that Palestinian Israelis participate in politics. ‘For the first time, Arabs in Israel are taking an active part in the political process,’ he said, ‘and, for the first time, they may have the power to influence changes in Israeli society—for the betterment of Arabs and Jews alike’.”

“Several months ago, President Trump rejected a request by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow U.S. aid to be transferred to Palestinian security forces and told aides that Netanyahu should pay for it, U.S. officials told me…The U.S. officials said that Israeli ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer and other Israeli officials told their American counterparts they wanted the money to be transferred in order to help the Palestinian security forces, which work hand in hand with the Israelis in the West Bank. The Israelis were told that Trump’s policy was to cut the funding to the Palestinian Authority, meaning this was a decision that would have to be cleared by the president. Senior White House officials raised the issue of the $12 million with the president, U.S. officials told me. Trump pushed back on transferring the money and said the policy was to stop the aid to the Palestinians as long as they continued refusing to engage with the administration.”

“But in shifting the debate, J Street has also helped open up a significant space to its left. Progressive politicians and activists, whose voices have been elevated to the national stage, are pushing for radical changes to US-Israel relations. Many now question the viability of a two-state solution when the legal and militaristic machinery that enforces a one-state reality with a privileged class within the West Bank is becoming increasingly entrenched. Critics on the left worry that if J Street does not exert significant political will, it risks unintentionally reinforcing the status quo. “

“Rep. Andy Levin said Wednesday he was enraged by the situation in Susya, where Palestinian villagers are denied water access, while Jewish settlers nearby are granted government-supplied amenities. ‘Yesterday, I traveled to the southern West Bank, including the Palestinian village of Susya, which the Israeli government has destroyed twice and currently denies access to water,”’he wrote. ‘Yet we watched the government utility, right before our eyes, lay in pipes right across the village’s land to deliver tap water to an illegal Israeli outpost nearby’.”

“The Ministry of Strategic Affairs announced on Wednesday that it will allocate NIS 2 million (roughly USD $273,000) to produce and promote viral videos across social media in an effort to fight against Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement; a Palestinian-led campaign promoting various forms of boycott against Israel. The funds will be transferred to pro-Israeli advocacy organizations making viral videos with the intent of increasing familiarity with the Jewish state, exposing BDS lies, and mobilizing other pro-Israel activists to combat those who delegitimize and boycott it.”