West Bank: Living with Uncertainty

FRANCE 24 spoke to the Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Mohammad Shtayyeh in Brussels where he unreservedly criticised the new Israeli government, claiming its goal is "annexation", and adding that "the whole settlement programme was designed to destroy the two-state solution".

In East Jerusalem, locals are still coming to terms with the trauma of the attack that left seven people dead as they gathered to pray at a synagogue on January 27. That attack was followed by a second incident the following day, which injured two Israelis.

From withholding nearly $40 million in tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority, to pledges to expand West Bank settlements and the Israeli security minister's controversial visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the first months of Israel's most far-right government in history presage a bleak outlook for peaceful relations between Israelis and Palestinians.

Delegates from Israel and the Palestinian Authority have pledged to counter a surge in violence and de-escalate tensions. At a rare meeting, representatives said they would work for a "just and lasting peace."

Following the killing of two Israelis at the weekend, angered Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian city of Hawara in the occupied West Bank, posing a further escalation of tensions and violence in the region.

Palestinian Khader Adnan was being held on terror charges and died after an 87-day hunger strike. His death increases potential for conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups.

During a farm-to-table tour of the occupied West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, five high-profile chefs of Palestinian heritage encountered a Palestinian cuisine often unfamiliar to foreigners more accustomed to news of conflict with Israel.

In February, dozens of young Israeli settlers in the West Bank led a punitive expedition to the Palestinian town of Huwara in the north, near Nablus, following the murder of two of their own. They burned several buildings in the town and threw stones, injuring several residents and killing one, according to Palestinian authorities. One Israeli general described the violence as a "pogrom". FRANCE 24's Gwendoline Debono returned to Huwara to find out why the northern West Bank is now one of the most violent areas in the Palestinian Territories.

An Israeli raid in the West Bank city of Jenin killed three Palestinians and wounded at least 29 others. Israeli helicopters opened fire on gunmen in a rare Israeli Air Force operation in the area.

The third day of tit-for-tat attacks in the occupied West Bank has led to the death of at least one Palestinian. Israel has said it will build 1,000 more settlement homes despite international calls to halt the plans.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said five people had been killed and over two dozen wounded in the attack in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.

Jenin and its refugee camp have seen heightened violence between Israeli forces and Palestinian fighters over past weeks. While Israel claims the operation is to counter terrorism, international observers are concerned.