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'This is not a life': Palestinians in violence-hit Jenin camp

Weeks of Israeli raids and clashes with Palestinians have filled residents of the flashpoint Jenin refugee camp with fear and anxiety, and a longing to "live in dignity".

A hub of armed Palestinian groups, the Jenin area in the north of the occupied West Bank has been targeted by Israeli raids time and again since a wave of anti-Israeli attacks in late March.

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Jailed Egypt activist on hunger strike moved to new prison

Egyptian authorities have transferred a prominent political activist from a maximum-security prison where he was allegedly tortured and denied basic rights to a new correctional facility, his family said.

Alaa Abel-Fattah was transferred from Cairo's Tora prison complex to Wadi El-Natrun prison in the north of the country, where he was visited on Thursday by his family, his sister Mona Seif wrote on Twitter.

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Jordan king places 'erratic' half-brother under house arrest

Jordan's king has gone public with a royal rift with his half-brother and formalized the former crown prince's house arrest, calling him "erratic" in an unprecedented harshly worded letter published Thursday.

King Abdullah II said in the letter that he had approved measures to detain Prince Hamzah in his palace and restrict his communications and movements, citing his half brother's "erratic behavior and aspirations."

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Blowback as Bush gaffes Iraq war, not Ukraine, 'unjustified'

Former President George W. Bush is facing criticism after mistakenly describing the invasion of Iraq — which he led as commander in chief — as "brutal" and "wholly unjustified," before correcting himself to say he meant to refer to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"The result is an absence of checks and balances in Russia, and the decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq — I mean of Ukraine," Bush said Wednesday night during a speech at his presidential center in Dallas.

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Famed racing sailboat attacked by gunmen off war-torn Yemen

A Hong Kong-flagged racing sailboat that led its skippers to win multiple contests around the world has come under attack off the coast of war-torn Yemen, with its crew reportedly targeted by militants who fired warning shots and threatened them with rocket-propelled grenade launchers.

The Lakota, a 62-foot (19-meter) trimaran recently purchased by famed French yachtsman Philippe Poupon, found itself attacked off the coast of Hodeida. The attack began Thursday morning, when three ships carrying militants in civilian clothes chased the vessel, according to a European Union naval force in the region.

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Shaky Israeli coalition is jolted as another lawmaker quits

Another member of Israel's parliament said Thursday she was quitting the ruling coalition, leaving embattled Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in control of a crumbling minority government.

Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi's announcement further whittles away Bennett's hold on Israel's 120-seat parliament, reducing the coalition to 59 seats. Two other legislators from his own party have already bolted.

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Israel identifies gun that may have killed journalist Abu Akleh

The Israeli military has identified a soldier's rifle that may have killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, but said it cannot be certain unless the Palestinians turn over the bullet for analysis, a military official said Thursday.

The announcement marked a small sign of progress in the investigation into the killing of Abu Akleh, who was fatally shot on May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank.

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Hamas students celebrate West Bank university poll win

Hamas supporters celebrated Thursday a landslide student election win at a top West Bank university, results experts said further points to the Islamists' growing support in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Hamas's Al Wafaa’ Islamic bloc won 28 of the 51 seats on the student council at Birzeit University, marking the first time Islamist-aligned candidates have gained control of the body.

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Israel arrests Al Jazeera reporter pallbearer

Israel has arrested one of the pallbearers of slain Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, police said Thursday, but rejected his lawyer's claim that the detention was linked to his role at the funeral.

In a raid that has sparked international outrage, baton-wielding Israeli police beat several pallbearers as they carried the journalist's coffin out of a hospital in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.  

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A year after disaster, thousands flock to Israeli holy site

Thousands of worshippers have flocked to a Jewish holy site in northern Israel to light bonfires, pray and dance Wednesday under heavy police presence, a year after a stampede there left 45 people dead.

This year's Lag BaOmer holiday festivities at Mount Meron appeared orderly, but were overshadowed by last year's deaths, the largest civilian disaster in the country's history. A prominent rabbi lit 45 candles in memory of those who perished.

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