A “dangerous climbing”. The Palestinian presidency reacted on Saturday April 20 to the approval by the American House of Representatives of multibillion-dollar military aid to Israel, describing it as“aggression against the Palestinian people”. This aid aims in particular to strengthen the Israeli “Iron Dome” anti-missile shield. This money risks “result in thousands of Palestinian victims in the Gaza Strip” and in the occupied West Bank, denounced the spokesperson for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Follow our live stream.
Fourteen dead in raid in occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, these people were killed in an Israeli raid which began Thursday evening on the Nour Shams camp, near Tulkarem. The Israeli army says these operations target Palestinian armed groups, but civilians are often among the victims.
The war accelerates the “annexation” of the Palestinian economy. The economy of the Palestinian Territories is increasingly dependent on Israel because of the war in the Gaza Strip, several analysts warn AFP. Adel Samara, an economist based in Jerusalem, lists in particular the bureaucratic obstacles encountered by Palestinian entrepreneurs to set up, the control of resources by Israel, the constraints to develop agriculture or even tourism…
Mahmoud Abbas will “reexamine” the Palestinians’ relationship with Washington. The head of the Palestinian Authority made this announcement after the American veto of Palestinian membership in the United Nations. However, it will be difficult for the person in charge to turn his back on the United States as the Palestinian Authority needs American financial aid. Mahmoud Abbas is himself very weakened politically, and contested among the Palestinians.
Iran and Israel appear to be moving away from escalation. Tension appears to be decreasing after a retaliatory attack attributed to Israel on Friday, the scope of which Tehran downplayed. Tensions rose sharply on April 13, when Iran carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, its enemy since the 1979 Iranian revolution, with 350 drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted.