In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to Palestinian olive groves nr. Nablus, causing some damage before Palestinian residents of the area contain the blaze. IDF troops arrest a Palestinian allegedly carrying pipe bombs at a checkpoint nr. Ramallah, and 9 more Palestinians during raids in and around Bethlehem and Tulkarm. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 1 Palestinian during a latenight raid in Qalandia r.c. In s. Israel, Israeli forces demolish 5 structures in the Bedouin village Sa‘wa. (JP, WAFA 5/10; PCHR 5/18)
Israel’s Knesset passes a preliminary reading of the so-called nation-state bill, which the Ministerial Comm. for Legislation approved on 5/7. The Constitution, Law, and Justice Comm. will now prepare it for a first reading in the full plenum. (HA, KNE 5/10)