Simply put, Trump’s negotiators believe the Palestinian enterprise has failed and its leadership will have to accept pennies on the dollar in any settlement with Israel. But a bankruptcy sale is a poor analogue for a national conflict, and international politics cannot be easily reduced to a commercial transaction.

Israeli officials are working with the Trump administration to maintain funding for Palestinian security forces.

The Israeli military was gearing up Friday for renewed violence on the Gaza border, a day after Hamas rejected millions in Qatari aid money, ratcheting up tensions on the volatile frontier.

Another Palestinian village joins the popular protest, its inhabitants no longer able to bear attacks by settlers. Vandals have butchered a grove of 35-year-old olive trees in the village. The tracks led to a nearby settler outpost.

Police opened an investigation on Friday into the vandalism of three cars in the West Bank town of Turmusaya, close to the city of Ramallah.

Billions of people around the world need aid. But providing the help required isn’t as easy as it used to be. According to several NGO’s including Norwegian People’s Aid, that’s because of US counter-terrorism legislation.

“The idea of Jewish terrorism should be shocking and unthinkable, and yet when such incidents occur condemnation from community leaders, especially rabbis, has been scant.”

Palestinians say they have little faith in Palestinian Authority as it seeks to implement a controversial social security law.

The passage of Irish legislation criminalizing selling goods and services originating beyond the 1967 lines will “have serious ramifications for Israel-Ireland relations and Ireland’s status in the region,” The Foreign Ministry warned Ireland’s ambassador Alison Kelly on Friday.