West Bank

The anti-Israel International Court of Justice, an arm of the United Nations, ruled on Friday that Israel’s presence in the biblical areas of Judea and Samaria is “unlawful,” and that Israeli settlements in Judea and Samaria, as well as in East Jerusalem, violated international law.

A pro-Palestinian protest held outside a Los Angeles synagogue devolved into chaotic street violence with pro-Israel counter-protesters on Sunday in an incident that several officials, including President Joe Biden, criticized as antisemitic.

The Los Angeles Police Department said it responded to two protests Sunday in the predominantly Jewish neighborhood of Pico Robertson, just south of Beverly Hills. Videos taken at the scene show police pushing pro-Palestinian protesters away from the entrance of the Adas Torah temple, an Orthodox synagogue.

Violent clashes broke out Sunday between pro- and anti-Israel demonstrators in Los Angeles after the latter held a protest outside the Adas Torah synagogue, where an Israeli real estate fair was being held.

According to the LA Times, one person was arrested for allegedly carrying a “spiked flag.”

CBS News reported that police officers with weapons drawn detained two people who were shouting at protesters from a car. Officers were seen taking a toddler from the vehicle.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) were silent Sunday after an antisemitic mob targeted the Adas Torah synagogue in the Jewish neighborhood of Pico-Robertson.

Update: After this story was published (8:37 p.m. PT), Newsom (10:16 p.m.) and then Bass (10:27 p.m.) responded:

As Breitbart News reported, dozens of pro-Palestinian activists blocked the entrance to the synagogue to prevent members of the Jewish community from attending a meeting about purchasing real estate in Israel.

In the early afternoon of 29 November last year, several Palestinian boys descended on to their street in the occupied West Bank, where they often played together.

Minutes later, two of them lay dead from gunshots fired by Israeli soldiers - Basil, 15, and eight-year-old Adam.

As part of an investigation into the conduct of Israel's security forces in the West Bank, which has been under military occupation for more than half a century, the BBC has pieced together what happened on the day the two boys were killed.

Israeli leaders have lashed out at the prospect that the Biden administration may cut off aid to one of the Jewish state's army battalions over accusations that it's committed human rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. According to a report by Axios, sanctions against the Israeli army's ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion could be announced in the coming days.

The U.S. is reportedly considering sanctions against the Netzah Yehuda, an Israeli Defense Force unit linked to violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday he would fight the sanctions “with all my strength”—joining liberal and conservative members of the Knesset in condemning the possible move shortly after the U.S. approved a $26 billion aid package for the Israeli military.

In a historic first, the United States is set to sanction a unit of the Israel Defense Forces.

According to three sources speaking with Axios, Secretary of State Antony Blinken will announce sanctions against the IDF’s 97th Netzah Yehuda Battalion. Notably, the sanctions are not due to any actions during the war in Gaza, but rather human rights abuses committed in the West Bank before Oct. 7, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Treasury announced new sanctions Thursday against two illegal outposts in the occupied West Bank that were used as a base for attacks by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians, three U.S. officials told Axios.

Why it matters: It is the first time U.S. sanctions are being imposed against entire outposts and not just against individuals.