Day: 12 September 2021

Weather today in Palestine is partially cloudy and warm with a slight rise in temperature, which remains below the seasonal average by a slight margin, and with a chance of drizzle on some areas, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Winds are westerly to northwesterly and moderate to active. Sea waves are medium.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 26 C and a low of 17 C and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 25 C and a low of 14 C. In Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley temperature is expected to reach a high of 36 C and a low of 24 C, while it is expected to reach a high of 28 C and a low of 19 C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

A further rise in temperature is expected on Tuesday to become slightly above the seasonal average, said the PMD.

Similar weather conditions are expected for Tuesday and Wednesday, with generally warm summer conditions prevailing throughout the two days and with no significant changes in temperature.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli fighter jets attacked multiple targets across the besieged Gaza Strip late last night, causing serious property damages but no human casualties, according to local sources.

WAFA correspondent said Israeli warplanes attacked with three missiles a target east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, in the center of the enclave, causing significant destruction to the site bombed and minor to moderate damages to adjacent homes. No casualties were reported.

Israeli fighters jets also attacked targets in the seafront road in Rafah and in the city of Khan Younis, both located in the south of the territory. The attacks caused destruction and fire but no casualties.

Yesterday, Israeli warplanes attacked two targets and a farming facility in the south and center of the Gaza Strip, also causing property damages but no injuries.

Israel has maintained a crippling blockade of the Gaza Strip since 2007, which critics say amounts to collective punishment of the impoverished enclave’s two million citizens.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli occupation soldiers chased and attacked dozens of Palestinian workers early today morning, as the latter tried to access their workplaces inside Israel through a crossing point near the village of Ni’lin, to the west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Mayor of Ni’lin, Emad Khawaja, said Israeli soldiers fired live shots and teargas at the workers, causing many cases suffocation from teargas inhalation among them.

No serious injuries were reported among the workers.

Last week, the Israeli occupation army announced at least a week-long shutdown of the border crossings with the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip under the pretext of Rosh Hashanah holidays.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

An Israeli court last night remanded for nine days the four Palestinian freedom fighters who had been rearrested by the Israeli occupation forces after they broke out of the Israeli Gilboa Prison on Sunday-Monday night, the Palestinian Authority’s Detainees Affairs Commission has said.

The four freedom fighters, along with another two who are still at large, are believed to have dug a hole in the floor of their cell over several months. It led to a cavity underneath the prison created when piles were sunk into the ground during its construction.

The four prisoners are Zakaria Zubeidi, 46, a former Fatah leader in the northern West Bank city of Jenin, as well as Yaqoub Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri, 49, Mohammad Qasem Arda, 39, and Mahmoud Abdullah Ardah, 46, the latter three of whom are already serving life sentences.

Monadel Nafe’at, 26, Ayham Nayef Kamamji, 35, are still at large until the moment.

Yesterday, thousands of Palestinians held protests across the occupied West Bank in support of the six Palestinian freedom fighters, especially the four who were recaptured, amid fears of an Israeli retaliation that has already ushered in the repression of hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention.

Since last week, over 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons have been facing an Israeli repressive campaign following the escape of the six Palestinian freedom fighters from Gilboa prison.

In response to the Israeli crackdown, the prisoners set fire to detention cells inside the Israeli prisons of Ofer and Kzi’ot in protest against the Israel Prison Service’s repressive measures, which included sending many prisoners to solitary confinement and restricting prisoners’ access to essential services.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli occupation forces today attacked dozens of Palestinian students who held a protest in the village of Tuqu, in the occupied West Bank province of Hebron, in support of the six Palestinian freedom fighters who last week escaped the Israeli prison of Gilboa, and of whom four were recaptured.

Taysir Abu Mufarreh, mayor of the village, told reporters that the Israeli occupation soldiers attacked the students and dispersed them using teargas canisters and stun grenades. No injuries were reported.

He said the Israeli army shut down the northern entrance to the village with a metal gate.

Meantime, the Israeli occupation forces attacked with teargas dozens of Palestinians who held similar protests in Al-Arroub and Al-Fawwar refugee camps, in Hebron province, causing many cases of suffocation from gas inhalation.

Yesterday, thousands of Palestinians held protests across the occupied West Bank in support of the six Palestinian freedom fighters, especially the four who were recaptured, amid fears of an Israeli retaliation that has already ushered in the repression of hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas, said today that “the issue of the prisoners, the heroes of the Palestinian people, is exemplary of the unity of our people and their commitment to gaining their [national] rights,” adding that the issue of the prisoners is as sacred as Jerusalem.

The presidential spokesperson was referring to the thousands of Palestinian political prisoners languishing in Israeli detention, and whose issue has ushered to the surface following the jailbreak by six Palestinian freedom fighters from the Israeli prison of Gilboa last week.

Abu Rudeineh said the Palestinian people are united in the battle for defending their constants and their holy places. “This is a message to all that without a recognition of all of the Palestinian rights, on top of which is Jerusalem, the prisoners, international legitimacy and international law, the entire region will continue burning, and none will be able to enjoy peace and prosperity.”

“An independent Palestinian state must be established on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, because any effort or any attempt to circumvent the historical and religious rights of the Palestinian people will only lead to more tension and destruction,” he said.

“President Mahmoud Abbas and the leadership will never allow [any attempt] to work around the issue of Jerusalem or any of the national constants. The steadfastness and sacrifices of the Palestinian people have brought down the “deal of the century”, the project of a state with temporary borders, as well as all suspicious attempts to liquidate the most sacred Arab issues: the issue of Jerusalem, Palestine and the holy sites.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has condemned the repressive Israeli measures against Palestinian prisoners and citizens, in the aftermath of the escape of six Palestinian detainees from Gilboa Prison.

IPHRC noted to reports that the Israel Prison Service has sent many Palestinian prisoners to solitary confinement and restricted their access to essential services, describing these measures as an act of collective punishment.

“These retaliatory measures are disproportionate and have no legal basis, and constitute a flagrant violation of international human rights and humanitarian law,” said IPHRC.

IPHRC noted that “the Israeli occupation forces routinely use excessive force against women and children during arrest operations, which often occur in the middle of the night.”

“Israel, the occupying power, has many obligations under the provisions of international human rights and humanitarian law, especially Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.”

Yesterday, thousands of Palestinians held protests across the occupied West Bank in support of the six Palestinian freedom fighters, especially the four who were recaptured, amid fears of an Israeli retaliation that has already ushered in the repression of hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli detention.

Since last week, over 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons have been facing an Israeli repressive campaign following the escape of the six Palestinian freedom fighters from Gilboa prison.

In response to the Israeli crackdown, the prisoners set fire to detention cells inside the Israeli prisons of Ofer and Kzi’ot in protest against the Israel Prison Service’s repressive measures, which included sending many prisoners to solitary confinement and restricting prisoners’ access to essential services.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Zakaria Zubeidi, one of the four Palestinian freedom fighters who were captured yesterday by the Israeli occupation forces after their jailbreak from Gilboa Prison last week, was moved to hospital today due to the acute beating he was subjected to during his arrest.

Hasan Abed Rabbo, spokesperson for the Palestinian Detainees Affairs Commission, told WAFA that Zubeidi, 46, sustained extreme beating in the left right of his face, and after a deterioration in his case he was taken today to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for medical treatment.

He said none of the attorneys of the Commission has been able to visit any of the four prisoners to review their health conditions, and that the only information available so far only came through the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet).

Yesterday, legal and human rights organizations called on the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to intervene and coordinate an immediate visit to the four Palestinian prisoners who were captured by Israel after their jailbreak last week from Gilboa Israeli jail.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Clashes broke out today evening between Israeli forces and Palestinian residents in Bab al-Zawyeh area in central Hebron city, in the southern occupied West Bank, according to WAFA correspondent.

Israeli soldiers stationed at the military checkpoint at the entrance to al-Shuhada Street stormed Hebron city centre amid the firing of tear gas canisters and stun grenades toward the residents and commercial shops, which forced the owners to close their shops.

Dozens reportedly suffocated due to tear gas inhalation.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed a locale in Masafer Yatta to the south of Hebron, raiding and searching a number of houses. A fifty-four-year-old man was detained during the raid, according to Coordinator of the Protection and Steadfastness Committees, Fuad al-‘Amour.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) held the Israeli authorities fully responsible for any harm that may befall the four Palestinian freedom fighters who were re-arrested after escaping from Gilboa prison on Monday.

PPS in a statement said that concerns are mounting over the fate of the four prisoners after they were re-arrested and subjected to severe beatings; adding that the transfer of Zakaria Zubeidi to hospital is an indication of what they have been subjected to, stressing that the Israeli authorities do not rush to transfer prisoners to civilian hospitals unless they were subjected to significant harm.

PPS reiterated its call to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to pay an immediate visit to the prisoners to ensure that their health is not at risk.

The prisoners were idenitied as Zakaria Zubeidi, 46, from Jenin refugee camp, Mohammad Arda, 39, from Arraba town near Jenin, Mahmoud Arda, 46, also from Arraba town, and Yacoub Qadri, 49, from Bier al-Basha, near Jenin.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency