Today’s Top Stories
1. The hunt for Rabbi Raziel Shevach’s killers ended when an arrest raid in Jenin turned into a shootout shootout on Wednesday night. According to Ynet, “One of the terrorists, Ahmed Jarrar, was killed in the fighting that broke out when Israeli troops were searching for Shevah’s killers. Another terrorist was arrested, and several additional suspects were detained for questioning.”
Violent clashes continued throughout the night. Hamas claimed Jarrar as a member and denounced Israel-PA security cooperation.
Shevach was killed in a drive-by shooting near his home in the northern West Bank earlier this month.
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2. Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri overturned a decision to ban Steven Spielberg’s latest film from the country’s cinemas. “The Post” was initially censored because of director Steven Spielberg’s ties to Israel. The Washington Post reports:
Hariri, who recently returned to his role after a brief and bizarre resignation involving Saudi Arabia, asked the Interior Ministry not to implement the ban, said a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. Hariri did so, the official said, “because he is opposed to the idea of banning movies.”
3. The trial of two Hezbollah operatives charged with bombing a Bulgarian tour bus is underway in Sofia. Five Israelis and their driver were killed in the 2012 attack, which took place at the Black Sea resort town of Burgas. Another 32 Israelis were injured. The suspects — a Lebanese-Australian national and a Lebanese-Canadian national — are being tried in absentia as Lebanon has refused to extradite them. Jerusalem Post coverage.
4. Stories I’d Like to See: Religious Leaders Calling Out Abbas’ Biblical Revisionism: Religion plays a major part of Israeli and Palestinian narratives, but it’s rare to see the foreign press take a deeper look at the beliefs and their impact on the conflict.
5. Appearing on South Africa’s Chai FM, HonestReporting’s Daniel Pomerantz discussed UNRWA, President Abbas’ speech and more. Listen here.
Israel and the Palestinians
• Belgium countered US cuts to UNRWA by chipping in $23 million.
• Worth reading: The New York Times takes a closer look at the debate over continued funding for UNRWA.
The agency, known by the acronym Unrwa, was set up in 1949 to aid those who fled or were expelled from their homes during the Arab-Israeli war of 1948. Meant to be temporary, it defined refugees loosely and expanded that definition over time. One key difference between it and the office of the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, critics say, is that the agency routinely allows refugee status to be passed down for generations. Another is that it does not remove people from its list who have acquired citizenship in a new country, so the number always increases.
Hence the Palestinian refugee population has grown from approximately 700,000 Palestinians who fled the wars in 1948 and 1967 to more than 5.2 million registered refugees, some 1.7 million of them living in Unrwa-administered camps in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria today.
• Tweet of the day goes to Lenny Ben-David:
Below is picture of #UNRWA's dense Balata refugee camp in Nablus. Almost 30K residents. IT MAKES NO SENSE.
1. It's located inside Area A under full control of the Palestinian Authority.
2. Why isn't housing built for them in nearby land?
3. Residents can't vote in Nablus elex 1/2 pic.twitter.com/5oLtk8gyNd— Lenny Ben-David (@lennybendavid) January 18, 2018
• Pence visit highlights dilemma facing Egypt, Jordan over Jerusalem recognition.
• Last fallen soldier from Lebanon War laid to rest 31 years later.
• British Labour Party drops candidate who said Holocaust victims are ‘turning in their graves’ over Gaza.
Commentary
• Here’s what else I’m reading today . . .
– Eli Lake: Abbas shows the world who he really is
– Ben-Dror Yemini: Stop ‘understanding’ the Palestinians
– Bassam Tawil: Abbas’s big bluff – again
– Elliott Abrams: Trump gets UNRWA right
– Oded Revivi: If the Oslo accords are over, the real work of peace can begin (click via Twitter)
– Nadav Eyal: Israel and the Palestinians: So what now?
– Dror Eydar: Israel and India: Two nations, one goal
– Yossi Yehoshua: After neutralizing tunnels, IDF faces new threat
Featured image: CC0 eriger Abbas via Flash90; head CC0 Pixabay;
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