Welcome to +972’s Sunday Recap!

Leaked documents show that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has tripled its reliance on Microsoft in the last six months, Yuval Abraham revealed in a joint report with Local Call and The Guardian. Amid its escalating crackdown on migrants, the agency has been storing large amounts of data on Microsoft’s cloud while making use of its AI tools to analyze videos and images.

Local Call reporter Oren Ziv reported from the Jordan Valley, where the Israeli army is issuing evacuation orders and seizing land to prepare a massive new separation wall that will sever the region from the rest of the West Bank — part of a wider project to annex the Palestinian “breadbasket.”

Six recent decisions from the Israeli cabinet may push the occupation of the West Bank past a tipping point towards permanent Israeli rule. Dikla Taylor-Sheinman spoke with Ziv Stahl, executive director of the Israeli anti-occupation nonprofit Yesh Din, about why these are “game-changing” measures, even if a formal declaration of annexation still seems unlikely.

Liam Syed wrote about how the Israeli government is exploiting the visa-free travel system to clamp down on activists supporting vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank — revoking their entry authorization with no explanation and no way to appeal. 

In a widening rift between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, Mira Al Hussein argued, Israel is at the heart of a narrative war. Saudi accusations that Abu Dhabi acts as Israel’s proxy have ignited a media firestorm, but similar anti-Israel sentiments circulate within the UAE itself.

And Sofia Fani Gutman, Carolina Pedrazzi and Andrey X investigated how Israel’s solar energy boom is powering apartheid in the occupied West Bank. Israel’s self-branding as a pioneer in sustainability obscures how its “green development” is fueling the takeover of Palestinian land and resources — and international corporations are helping to bankroll it.

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