Hamas, the militant group that governs the Gaza Strip, announced a new charter on Monday, aiming to bolster its appeal to the international community by adopting a slightly less militant stance against Israel. Many analysts see the document, a sort of sequel to its 1988 founding charter, as a way to stake its claim as a legitimate leader of the Palestinian people, and to recast its message in a more politically-oriented sheen in place of its traditional religious dogma.

Revealed in Doha, Qatar on Monday, two days before Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump in D.C., the document is the culmination of a decade-long attempt to retool the optics of a group that the West–and a number of Arab countries–considers a terrorist organization. Hamas’ new charter lightens the group’s tone on Israel, omitting calls for the Jewish State’s destruction–though it does call for an “armed struggle”–a stance it has espoused for decades. But it does reject “any alternative to the full and complete liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea,” adding:

However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.

The document envisions a provisional Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, known as the “Green Line.” During the 1967 Six-Day War, Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt, and the West Bank and east Jerusalem–home of Judaism’s holiest sites–from Jordan. Hamas 1988 charter essentially called for the destruction of Israel, and a return to the pre-1948–the year Israel achieved statehood–reality.

Founded in 1987 as an offshoot of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas assumed control of Gaza in 2007, two years after Israel recalled its settlements in the tiny strip of land on the Mediterranean coast. Since then, Israel and Hamas have fought three wars. The group has launched hundreds of attacks on Israeli civilians, shooting rockets indiscriminately across the border, and sending assailants through tunnels that snake under the border. Hundreds of Israelis have been killed. A few thousand Palestinians have died in the fighting.

The new charter comes at a precarious time for Gaza’s leadership–and its citizens. Last week, Mahmoud Abbas–the internationally-recognized leader of the Palestinian people, and a thorn in Hamas’ side–decided to stop funding Gaza’s flow of electricity from Israel. Supplied by Israel and paid for by the Palestinian Authority, Gaza has historically relied on these two neighbors for its energy. Gaza residents already face frequent blackouts and now with Abbas’s decision to withhold the PA’s funding, access to electricity will be severely limited.

Israel, which celebrated its 69th Independence Day on Monday, is taking the new charter as the same product with new branding. A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office called the document a “smokescreen,” adding: “We see Hamas continuing to invest all of its resources not just in preparing for war with Israel, but also in educating the children of Gaza to want to destroy Israel.”

A spokesman for Netanyahu, David Keyes, echoed that sentiment: “Hamas is attempting to fool the world but it will not succeed,” Keyes said. “They dig terror tunnels and have launched thousands upon thousands of missiles at Israeli civilians,” he said. “This is the real Hamas.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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Late Monday, Israel’s Parliament passed a law to retroactively legalize settlements on about 2,000 acres of Palestinian-owned land in the West Bank. Passed with a vote of 60-52, the bill is widely expected to be struck down by Israel’s Supreme Court; the attorney general also recently said he would refuse to enforce the law. The vote reflects the growing influence of the settler movement in Israeli politics, and a new political reality for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who previously opposed retroactive legalization of settlements.

Under the law, a few thousand housing units in 16 different settlements would be deemed legal. Palestinian landowners would be compensated for the land, but would not be able to reclaim it. Some settlements in Israel, because they are located on private Palestinian land, are considered illegal by the Israeli government, as well as the international community, which condemns all Israeli settlements. In fact, last month, the United Nations passed a highly contentious resolution that called settlements a “flagrant violation” of international law.

Reactions to the passing of the bill exemplify the increasingly polarized climate of Israeli politics, especially as it concerns the settler movement. “Today Israel decreed that developing settlement in Judea and Samaria is an Israeli interest,” said Bezalel Smotrich, a right-wing lawmaker, referring to the biblical names of the West Bank. “From here we move on to expanding Israeli sovereignty and continuing to build and develop settlements across the land.”

Much of the ethos behind the settler movement is tied to the Jewish claim to the land of Israel including, most notably, the West Bank (or Judea and Samaria). Israel captured the Palestinian territories–the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem–from Jordan and Egypt after it won the 1967 Six-Day War. For 50 years, settlements have remained a flashpoint in Israeli-Palestinian relations, and in Israel’s broader relationship with the international community.

But many Israelis oppose settlements, and support a two-state solution with the Palestinians. Parliament members on the left and the center (and even many on the right) condemn settlements, and see them as an impediment to peace. Yair Lapid, head of the Yesh Atid party, and a leading contender to succeed Netanyahu, called the law “unjust.” He added: “They are passing a law which endangers our soldiers, will undermine our international standing and undermine us as a country of law and order.”

As of a few months ago, Netanyahu opposed passage of the law. But things have changed very quickly. For one, President Donald Trump’s election victory signaled a less harsh U.S. stance on settlements than Netanyahu experienced with President Barack Obama. Trump also appointed David Friedman, a pro-settlement lawyer who has donated millions of dollars to the settler movement, as his ambassador to Israel.

Netanyahu’s ambivalence on Monday’s vote also reflects his precarious position with the settler movement, and in his broader political standing. Netanyahu is currently being investigated on corruption charges, and is under constant pressure from lawmakers to his right to support the settlers.

Last week, 40 settler families were evacuated by Israeli police from the settlement of Amona. The Supreme Court ruled the Amona outpost was illegal, as it was built on private Palestinian land. After the evacuation, Netanyahu swiftly approved the construction of a new settlement, something that has not been done in over 25 years.

Trump said approving new settlements “may not be helpful” to peace, a noticeably milder critique than those from past U.S. administrations. Trump is meeting with Netanyahu in Washington D.C. on February 15, and a clearer picture of the current U.S. stance on settlements should emerge soon after. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has other things to worry about: the same day the settlement bill passed, rockets were fired from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip into Israel.

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In July, Israel’s security agency, the Shin Bet, arrested an employee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) on charges of assisting Hamas, the Gaza Strip’s governing body recognized by the U.S. as a terrorist organization. On Tuesday, that employee, 38-year-old Wahid Abd Allah Borsh, a Palestinian, was officially indicted. It marks the third time this week Israel accused an employee of an international aid organization with aiding Hamas.

“These are not independent incidents, but a worrying trend of Hamas terrorists systematically taking advantage of U.N. groups,” Israel’s ambassador to the U.N., Danny Danon, said.

Since the 1970s, the UNDP has worked to repair homes and other structures in Gaza and the West Bank that have been damaged by fire exchanged between Israel and Hamas. Borsh worked as an engineer on rehabilitation projects in Gaza since 2014. In conversations with Shin Bet officials, Borsh said Hamas directed him to attain status within UNDP so he could help finagle projects that would benefit the group.

According to Shin Bet, Borsh also tipped off Hamas whenever UNDP would come across  caches of weapons or the entrances to tunnels that the terrorists would use to smuggle into Israel. Doing so allowed Hamas to come in and commandeer the site before UNDP could make a move. Borsh–from the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza, a 140 square mile area on the Mediterranean Sea–is also accused of helping build a marina for Hamas operatives in 2015.

Shin Bet also said Borsh told them that Hamas directed him in 2014 to “focus on his work in the UNDP in a way that would allow Hamas to extract the greatest possible benefit from him.” In their rebuttal statement, Hamas called the claims of planting agents in aid organizations “false and baseless,” adding that if Israel continues to make such accusations, it will face “dangerous consequences.”

Israel’s accusations began last Monday when the Shin Bet asked Save the Children, a charity that supports programs in Gaza, to investigate one of its employees, who Israel claims has been recruited by Hamas’s armed wing. And last Thursday, Israel accused an employee of the Christian aid organization World Vision of diverting millions of dollars in donations to Hamas.

UNDP has yet to respond to Israel’s claims. Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called on the development agency to initiate an investigation “in order to ensure that an organization that is supposed to work toward peace and calm is not supporting a murderous terrorist group.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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In 2010, 80 miles off the Israeli coast, in the Mediterranean Sea, Israeli soldiers raided a Turkish ship that was on a humanitarian mission to the Gaza Strip. The soldiers killed ten workers onboard. The bloody episode aboard the Mavi Marmara–which was attempting to breach Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip–resulted in  severed ties between Israel and Turkey. On Monday, in a deal that has garnered praised from Gaza to America, Israel and Turkey announced intentions to thaw their diplomatic relationship, ushering in a new era of cooperation. The deal will be officially signed on Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the deal in Rome, where he was meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. In a speech broadcast from Rome to Jerusalem, Netanyahu touched on the primary tenets of the partnership moving forward: Turkey will be allowed to move aid to the Gaza Strip–a tiny parcel of Palestinian territory that is controlled by Hamas, a Palestinian group which the U.S. deems a terrorist organization–via the Israeli port of Ashdod. That means the naval blockade of Gaza–the point of contention in the 2010 IDF raid–will remain in place. Netanyahu called the blockade “a supreme security interest,” and said he was “not prepared to compromise on it.”

Turkey can deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, but shipments must stop through Ashdod for Israel’s approval first. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim, in his announcement of the deal in Ankara on Monday, said Turkey intends to send an aid ship of 10,000 tons of materials on Friday. He also said Turkey aims to build a 200-bed hospital, new residential buildings, a power station, and desalination plant in Gaza. The new deal also stipulates that Israel will pay $20 million to the families of the Mavi Marmara victims, and for their part, Turkey will not pursue legal action against the IDF soldiers who participated in the killings.

Netanyahu said an Israeli ambassador will be sent to Turkey, and a Turkish counterpart to Israel, “as soon as possible.” Because of normalized relations, Turkey will likely become a customer of Israeli natural gas, and Netanyahu said the deal would have “immense implications for the Israeli economy.” The partnership is especially important considering the calamity in the Middle East, particularly in Syria, which shares a border with both countries. Some analysts peg the deal as a tool against Iran, a rival for both countries in  regional prominence.

In Rome, Kerry congratulated Netanyahu on the deal. He said: “I think it’s a positive step, one of, I hope, the beginning of others.”

Alec Siegel

Alec Siegel is a staff writer at Law Street Media. When he’s not working at Law Street he’s either cooking a mediocre tofu dish or enjoying a run in the woods. His passions include: gooey chocolate chips, black coffee, mountains, the Animal Kingdom in general, and John Lennon. Baklava is his achilles heel. Contact Alec at ASiegel@LawStreetMedia.com.

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