Caught between covid and settlers: How a West Bank school is struggling to survive
Middle East Monitor

“For the 170 pupils in Al-Maleh village in the West Bank, the three-hour journey to school was arduous. Sometimes it took three hours after they had navigated the Israeli security checkpoints, some on foot and others on donkeys. Eventually, many of them simply stopped going."

Image: The remains of a school after it was ordered to be demolished in the West Bank, 14 January 2021. (Mahdi Daraghma/Middle East Monitor)

Syria calls on UN to take 'immediate' action against Israeli air strikes
Middle East Monitor

“Syria has called on the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities and take ‘strict and immediate’ action against Israel's repeated air strikes on its neighbour. ‘The Israeli aggression on Syria coincided with the terrorist acts committed by Al-Qasd militia fighters [Syrian Democratic Forces] against the Syrian people in eastern Syria,’ said the foreign ministry in Damascus in its letter to the UN. ‘They are supported by the American administration and the international coalition forces.’”

Image: Israeli war planes. (U.S. Air Force photo/Wikipedia)

Israel/OPT: UN experts call on Israel to ensure equal access to COVID-19 vaccines for Palestinians
United Nations

“UN human rights experts* today called on Israel, the occupying power, to ensure swift and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for the Palestinian people under occupation. ‘Israel’s roll-out of its vaccination programme against the COVID-19 pandemic for its citizens has been impressive. In this early stage of the worldwide inoculation programme, Israel has delivered the vaccines to a higher percentage of its citizens than any other country,’ the experts said. ‘We understand that Palestinians with resident status in occupied East Jerusalem have been offered the vaccines by Israel.’”

Image: United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner logo.

Muslim scholars call for Al-Aqsa Mosque to be protected from Israeli Judaisation
Middle East Monitor

“The International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS) expressed on Thursday its condemnation and rejection of the ‘aggressive’ Israeli Judaisation of the occupied city of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque, Anadolu has reported. The scholars called for the city and mosque to be protected in the face of such a ‘heinous crime’.”

Image: People walk around at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in East Jerusalem’s Old City on 6 September 2020. (Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency)

Biden administration to engage with Israel, Gulf states on Iran policy
J-Post

“President-elect Joe Biden's nominee for secretary of state, said that when it comes to Iran policy, it is vitally important that the incoming administration would “engage on the take-off, not the landing, with our allies and with our partners in the region to include Israel and to include the Gulf countries.” Blinken, addressing a question from Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey, was under scrutiny as a part of his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday (January 19).”

Image: US Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken speaks on Syria at the White House in Washington. September 9, 2013. (Reuters)

Regression, hope and change: The Middle East in 2020
Aljazeera

“The year 2020 has left its mark on much of the Middle East. While some developments sparked a glimmer of hope in ostensibly unsolvable conflicts, other dynamics have exacerbated existing issues across the region.”

Image: Palestinian protesters run for cover from tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces during a demonstration against the expansion of illegal settlements near the occupied West Bank village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh/AFP)