Gaza’s ruling faction Hamas said that they’re ready to hold Palestinian elections for the first time in almost 13 years, AP news agency reported on Monday.
Leader of Hamas Ismail Haniyeh announced the proposition after a meeting with the head of the Palestinian Central Election Commission, Hanna Nasser.
The last time elections were held in the West Bank and Gaza was in 2006, when the militant group Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, won the parliament.
If a decision to hold elections will come into fruition, it may be a potentially significant step to end a 12-year split with the rival Palestinian Authority, according to AP.

President Donald Trump’s senior advisor and son-and-law Jared Kushner met on Monday, in separate occasions, both Israel’s prime minister-designate Benny Gantz and incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Special Envoy to the Middle East met first with Gantz in Jerusalem. Co-leader of Blue and White alliance Yair Lapir, US Ambassador to Israel David Fridman, US Special Representative for Iran Brian Hook and Deputy Assistant to the President Avi Berkowitz also attended the meeting.
Blue and White issued a statement to the press, saying “the participants talked about the stable alliance and the good and strong relations between the US and Israel, as well as developments in the Middle East.”

Steven Bannon said on Sunday morning that he believes Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is “winning” the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump and “will impeach the president.”
Bannon, who previously served as a top strategist and senior counselor for the president, made the remarks during an interview with radio talk show host and billionaire John Catsimatidis on The Answer in New York. The Trump official, who co-founded the alt-right website Breitbart News, went on the show to promote his news podcast called War Room: Impeachment, which intends to defend the president.

Gov. Larry Hogan, R, has scheduled a special election in April to select a successor to finish the remaining term of Baltimore’s beloved U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, who died earlier this month.
The announcement Monday is the starting gun for a potentially chaotic race to succeed Cummings, D-Md., who had represented Maryland’s 7th Congressional District since 1996 and rose to national prominence as a champion of civil rights and political antagonist of President Donald Trump.
Hopefuls have until Nov. 20 to declare their candidacy. The primary election will be Feb. 4 and a general election will be held April 28, the same day voters will head to polls to nominate candidates for the 2020 election.

Israel’s version of “Air Force One” was seen for the first time exiting the garage at the aircraft division of Israel Aerospace Industries on Sunday, Ynet reported on Monday.
The customized Boeing 767 is painted blue and white with a Star of David on the tail, and is to serve Israel’s president and prime minister.
The plane is 19 years old and arrived in Israel in 2016 from Australian airline Qantas. It has undergone special renovations according to Israel’s Channel 12.
Among the new technologies reportedly installed are defense systems against cyber attacks and missiles.
The plane also includes a study room, a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen, as well as a meeting room equipped with encrypted satellite communications systems.
(JNS)

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said on Sunday that she “disagreed” with U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision in March to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
“It’s not a good idea to negotiate these things right now, but let me be very clear in how strongly I believe that that promise that the prime minister made during his political campaign was wrong,” she said on stage at the annual J Street Conference in Washington, D.C.

Democratic lawmakers have summoned several little-known US officials to testify this week in their impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump but have their eye on a more prominent player — former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
The House of Representatives Democrats running the inquiry want to hear first-hand from the mustachioed foreign-policy hawk who, according to the testimony of other officials, was alarmed by a White House effort to pressure the president of Ukraine to investigate Trump’s political rivals.
“Obviously he has very relevant information and we want him to testify,” House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, one of the Democrats leading the effort, told ABC‘s “This Week” on Sunday, referring to Bolton.

Back-to-back U.S. operations Saturday and Sunday have resulted in the deaths of Islamic State militant group (ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and spokesperson Abu al-Hassan al-Muhajir in Syria, but the organization has already designated a successor, NEWSWEEK reports.
Abdullah Qardash, sometimes spelled Karshesh and also known as Hajji Abdullah al-Afari, was said to have been nominated by Baghdadi in August to run the group’s “Muslim affairs” in a widely-circulated statement attributed to ISIS’ official Amaq news outlet, but never publicly endorsed by the group.

A fast-moving brush fire erupted on the western edge of Los Angeles early Monday, prompting the evacuation of more than 10,000 buildings near the Pacific Ocean and state park land.
The Getty Fire broke out in the early morning next to I-405 and had covered 500 acres by midmorning, according to the city fire department. Roughly 470 city firefighters, as well as personnel from other departments, were battling the “very dynamic” blaze as it headed west into forested land, the Los Angeles Fire Department said. Three recreation centers were housing evacuees.
At least five homes have been damaged, and Fire Chief Ralph Terrazas told reporters that he expected that number to rise. No injuries had been reported as of early Monday.

The European Union agreed Monday to delay Britain’s exit date from the bloc to Jan. 31, once again postponing Brexit and potentially paving the way for a British general election beforehand.
The postponement came in response to a request from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was forced to ask for more time after Parliament shot down his effort to speed the country out of the E.U. by the previous deadline of Oct. 31.