Republicans’ very first bill in the new Senate is highlighting divisions among Democrats over boycotts of Israel and its West Bank settlements while drawing the traditionally nonpartisan pro-Israel lobby further into a partisan political quagmire.

US civil rights activist Angela Davis said she is “stunned” that an Alabama organisation has reversed its decision to honour her with a human rights award, accusing the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) of changing course because of her support for Palestinian rights.

In an urgent letter to Israeli military officials, three human rights groups [two of whom are FMEP grantees] demand that Israel immediately stop spraying the dangerous chemicals into Gaza.

Israel opened the first section of the Eastern Ring Road on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Wednesday, taking a further step to advance the E1 project in the Ma’aleh Adumim settlement.

Police on Wednesday raided the northern West Bank yeshiva attended by the five high school students suspected of a fatal stone-throwing attack in October that killed a Palestinian woman, the Honenu legal aid organization representing the teens said.

The protests against the social security institution have taken place in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and other parts of the West Bank, with several Palestinians demonstrating for the first time in their lives.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hoping to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington just two weeks before April’s national elections, the Israel Hayom daily newspaper reported on Wednesday.