As Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied West Bank continues to be a strain on US-Israel relations, an unflattering light is being shone on US private donations towards the development of the settlements that are increasingly encroaching on Palestinian land. Alice Speri reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Activists work to stop tax-exempt donations to Israeli settlements 

Early morning on 27 July, Israeli bulldozers, flanked by helicopters and throngs of police, demolished the entire Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the northern Negev desert. Despite their land rights cases still pending in the court system, hundreds of al-Araqib villagers were instantly made homeless a month after Israeli police posted demolition orders. Read more about Bedouin village razed in Negev as Israelis cheer on 

The arrest by Israel’s internal security service, the Shin Bet, of an Israeli Jew accused of killing at least four Palestinians has thrown a rare light on the secret police, including attempts by one of its agents to enlist the accused to assassinate a Palestinian leader. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israel's Shin Bet encouraged accused killer to assassinate Raed Salah 

A decision by Israel’s high court to double a 15-month jail term for a policeman who shot dead an unarmed Palestinian driver suspected of stealing a car has provoked denunciations from police commanders and government officials. Jonathan Cook reports. Read more about Israelis rally around officer convicted of killing unarmed Palestinian motorist 

CAIRO (IPS) - Almost two months since Egypt announced it would reopen its Rafah border terminal with the Gaza Strip, operation of the crossing remains sorely limited. “Rafah has only been opened to passengers and some medical supplies,” Hatem el-Buluk, journalist and resident of al-Arish, located some 40 kilometers west of Rafah, told IPS. Read more about Egypt remains complicit in Gaza siege 

Tony Blair’s relationship with one of the world’s richest men poses a clear and significant conflict of interest with his duties as Quartet envoy. Adri Nieuwhof reports. Read more about Blair's undisclosed business dealings conflict with Quartet role 

Nine-year-old Samah al-Massry is now being hospitalized in serious condition, having been hit by shrapnel and flechettes from an Israeli-fired nail bomb that landed 100 meters away, causing internal bleeding to the chest and severe head trauma. Adie Mormech reports for The Electronic Intifada. Read more about Gaza children shelled with flechette bombs 

NABI SALAH, occupied West Bank (IPS) - Palestinian activists are being jailed, Israeli activists are under surveillance, and the Israeli military is increasingly targeting journalists who cover West Bank protests. Read more about Israel wages war against media and activists 

A food co-operative in Olympia, Washington, voted to become the first grocer in the US to ban Israeli-made items from its shelves. Meanwhile, activists in New York delivered more than 15,000 signatures from petitions and postcards to the TIAA-CREF shareholders’ meeting on 20 July. Read more about Victories as N. American boycott movement gains momentum