Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiators had long declared that they would not return to U.S.-backed peace negotiations unless Israel committed to releasing prisoners linked to violence and terrorism. Israel committed to releasing 104 such prisoners, emphasizing that the move was a good will gesture aimed at restarting talks. The list of...

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Hamas authorities in Gaza are intensifying their crack down on political activity across a number of platforsm. The Palestinian terror group si reportedly driven, among other things, by fears that the territory could experience mass protests like those that overthrow the organization’s Muslim Brotherhood allies in Egypt. Gazan activists, unhappy...

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FC Barcelona – one of the world’s greatest soccer teams, led by Argentinean soccer divinity Lionel Messi – traveled this week through Israel and through Palestinian controlled territories in the West Bank. When they played in Israel’s Jaffa, Israeli officials invited 400 to 500 Palestinians to watch the game. When...

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Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has been criticized in the past for declaring that a future Palestinian state would be cleansed of all Israelis. According to reports, including from Reuters, those criticisms have not taken hold: “In a final resolution, we would not see the presence of a single...

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Palestinian officials have imposed further precondition that they are demanding Israel fulfill before they will sit down for peace talks scheduled to begin next week in Washington. A Palestinian source spoke to the left-leaning gazette Ha’aretz to explain the new ultimatum: The Palestinians will not take part in peace talks scheduled to...

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A report by a watchdog group on renewed Palestinian incitement has sparked a debate over the capacity and willingness of Palestinian officials in general, and of the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas specifically, to make peace with Israel. A picture posted to an official Fatah social media outlet...

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A top member of Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction is suing the Palestinian Authority (PA) president at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for intimidation and corruption. Mohammed Dahlan – a member of the Fatah Central Committee and the movement’s onetime strongman in Gaza – is seeking reparations for property he claims...

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As part of Jerusalem’s ongoing efforts to boost the peace initiative being pushed by Secretary of State John Kerry, Israel has agreed to release “hardcore” Palestinian prisoners. The concession may however prove insufficient to overcome Palestinian opposition to renewing negotiations between the parties. Palestinian factions have resisted exhortations by President Authority (PA) President Mahmoud...

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Top Palestinian Authority (PA) figures are downplaying the significance of Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent announcement that a “basis” had been established for renewing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Spokespeople for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas are explaining that that an upcoming three-way meeting in Washington will be at best exploratory...

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Late last week Secretary of State John Kerry announced that he had achieved a “basis” for restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. On Sunday a top Palestinian official clarified that, actually, not so much: Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary-general of the Palestine Liberation Organization and one of the Palestinians’...

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