AMMAN: Palestinians celebrated at the Damascus Gate pavilion on Sunday night after forcing Israeli security authorities to remove metal barricades that were preventing Ramadan festivities outside the main entrance to the old city of Jerusalem.
Ofer Zalzberg, Middle East program director at Herbert Kelman Institute for Conflict Transformation, told Arab News that Israel removed the fences after recognizing that its limitation was fostering “an expansion of Palestinian protests across Jerusalem and the West Bank, nourishing Arab-Jewish altercations across Israel and prompting Hamas missiles attacks from Gaza.”
Israeli decision-makers hope this move will restore calm, Zalzberg said, adding: “However, they realize it might not because Palestinian protests have become entangled with other dynamics, including President Mahmoud Abbas’ unpopular intention to postpone elections and the desire of some in Hamas to publicly repudiate it.”
Can The US Deescalate Israel-Iran Tensions?
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US secretary of defense aims to deescalate Israel-Iran tensions
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AMMAN: Palestinian officials warn that Israel’s prime minister might use the fiercely fought election campaign to make a deal with right-wing Israeli parties that will include building an 11,000-unit settlement for Orthodox Jews on the runway of a former Jerusalem airport. Israeli elections are set for March 23 and Benjamin Netanyahu has no clear path to staying in power. Palestinian Orthodox clergyman Bishop Atallah Hanna called on Palestinians to be on the watch and prevent Israelis from turning the former Qalandia Airport into a massive Jewish settlement. Ofer Zalzberg, the Middle East program director at the Herbert Kelman Institute for Conflict Transformation, told Arab News that three weeks ago Netanyahu revived a plan for housing in the area before the elections to encourage unity among religious Zionist parties.