Israel and the West Bank
About 2,000 Palestinians took to the streets of several West Bank cities on April 28 in solidarity with 1,500 Palestinians on a hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Israeli authorities characterized the gatherings as “violent riots,” responding with tear gas and rubber bullets. Approximately 20 people injured in the clashes, according to a local hospital.
In separate incidents, two Palestinians cousins attempted to stab Israeli soldiers stationed at Hawara Junction in the West Bank on April 25 and April 26. Both teens were shot and taken away for medical treatment.
Israel plans to build 15,000 new units in East Jerusalem settlements, according to a Housing Ministry announcement.
Gaza
Amid the first leadership change in a decade, Hamas’s is considering changes to its charter. Some in the group’s political wing want to remove anti-semitic language and improve relations with Egypt, but the document still contains its message of liberating “Palestine” from the “River to the Sea.”
In a bid to put pressure on Hamas, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) that his organization would stop paying for electricity provided to Gaza. The Jewish State currently provides Haza with 125 megawatts of power, paid for by tax revenues Israel collects on behalf of the PA.
Israeli security forces detained two Palestinian women at the Erez Crossing on April 19 for smuggling explosive materials disguised as medicine. Authorities believe Hamas used the two women, who were traveling on medical permits.
Syria
Syria’s government-run news agency reported that the IDF bombed targets at Damascus International Airport on April 27. Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told Army Radio that the incident “completely conforms to Israel’s policy, to act so as to prevent the smuggling of advanced weapons from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon by Iran.”
The IDF fired a Patriot missile at a “target,” likely a drone, crossing from Syria into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights on April 27.
In retaliation for three mortar firings emanating from the Syrian Golan Heights, the IDF launched airstrikes against the Naba Fawar military installation on April 23. According to a pro-government militia in Syria, the airstrike killed three fighters for the group.
During an event with an Israeli journalist, former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Islamic State had apologized for an exchange of gunfire near the Syrian border last November. The IDF responded with airstrikes that killed four jihadists.
Sinai
Egyptian officials accused local Tarabeen tribesman of burning alive a suspected Islamic State in Sinai militant. The execution came after a suicide bomber killed four members of the tribe at a checkpoint near the northern Sinai town of Rafah on April 25.
