Israel approves $23 m. for a 5-yr. project to renovate and develop the Western Wall Plaza in the Old City. In the West Bank, the IDF conducts synchronized morning patrols in 2 villages nr. Jenin, setting up checkpoints and checking Palestinian IDs and vehicles but making no arrests; patrols late at night in Qiffin village nr. Tulkarm without incident; conducts latenight arrest raids, house searches in Hebron and nr. Jericho. An Israeli military court that convicted 2 IDF soldiers of using a Palestinian boy as a human shield during Operation Cast Lead (OCL) in 2008–9 gives them a 3-mo. suspended sentence and demotion, saying that the soldiers’ misconduct had to be balanced against the difficult circumstances they faced during the war. (NYT 11/22; PCHR 11/25; OCHA 11/26)
Sunday, November 21, 2010