Day: 18 November 2021

The Envoys of the Middle East Quartet from the European Union, the Russian Federation, the United States, and the United Nations underscored today the urgency of the situation and the importance of taking constructive steps to advance a two-state solution.

This call was made during an in-person Quartet meeting today in Oslo, Norway, following an important meeting of the Ad-Hoc Liaison Committee addressing the Palestinian economic situation.

The envoys said they remain deeply concerned by developments in the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, including the advancement of new Israeli settlement units, the untenable fiscal crisis within the Palestinian Authority.

They highlighted the urgent need for all parties, referring to the Palestinians and Israelis, to take additional steps to address any outstanding challenges directly through fiscal and other reforms, as well as to avoid unilateral steps that exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for peace.

The envoys noted the pressing need to address the fragile situation in Gaza – with the support of all relevant stakeholders, including in the region – by ensuring continued humanitarian efforts and an easing of access and movement restrictions for people and goods.

The Quartet Envoys highlighted the urgency of the situation and the importance of taking constructive steps to advance a two-state solution. They further underscored the importance of respect for human rights and the actions of civil society groups.

They also agreed to work toward a resolution of the conflict and continue consultations with the parties and key regional actors.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said today that “whoever cannot punish Israel can at least help Palestine” by recognizing an independent state of Palestine on the pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as the capital, and by recognizing right of return of the Palestinian refugees.

Shtayyeh’s statement was made during a meeting at the Norwegian Parliament building in Oslo with members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense in the Norwegian Parliament, headed by Ine Eriksen Soreide,.

During the meeting, Shtayyeh called on the Norwegian Parliament to translate words into action by taking measures beyond the labeling of settlement-made products that include a boycott of products manufactured in the Israeli settlements, and by asking Israeli settlers who hold European passports and who live in the illegal Israeli settlements to leave them.

“The world must act to protect the two-state solution that Israel is systematically working to destroy, through accelerated settlement expansion, arrests, murders, blockade of Gaza, isolating Jerusalem, and other measures,” he said during the meeting.

Shtayyeh urged Norway to press Israel to abide by the signed agreements by facilitating the holding of the Palestinian elections, including in occupied Jerusalem.

In May, the Palestinian general elections were postponed after Israel failed to grant the Palestinian Authority approval to hold the elections in Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister thanked Norway for its continued support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Alaa al-Aaraj, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for 103 days in protest of his administrative detention by Israel, ended his hunger strike today after reaching out an agreement with the Israeli occupation authorities ending his detention without charge or trial.

Jawad Boulus, an attorney working with the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS), said Al-Aaraj decided to break his hunger strike after the Israeli military court of Salem, northwest of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, issued a verdict cancelling his current administrative detention order, under which he has been in prison without charge or trial.

Nabila Al-Aaraj, Alaa’s mother, also confirmed the court’s verdict and the reports about her son breaking his hunger strike.

Al-Aaraj, a 34 years old engineer who comes from the town of Anabta in the north of the West Bank, was arrested by the Israeli occupation army in June 2021, and was immediately placed under administrative detention, a widely condemned Israeli policy allowing the Israeli military to hold Palestinians in prisons indefinitely based on secret information without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.

Last month, UN experts expressed grave fear for the lives of the Palestinian hunger strikers, and called on Israel to either release or charge the prisoners, and to completely end its unlawful practice of administrative detention.

Currently, Israel is holding over 450 Palestinians in administrative detention, deemed illegal by international law, most of them former prisoners who spent years in prison for their resistance of the Israeli occupation.

Over the years, Israel has placed thousands of Palestinians in administrative detention for prolonged periods of time, without trying them, without informing them of the charges against them, and without allowing them or their counsel to examine the evidence.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The European Union (EU) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) signed yesterday a joint declaration on the EU’s support for the period 2021-2024.

The declaration was signed by Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Olivér Várhelyi, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargemen and UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

The renewal of this agreement marks 50 years of EU-UNRWA partnership. In the Joint Declaration, the European Union commits to continue supporting UNRWA politically and in securing predictable, multi-annual financial resources to enable the Agency to fulfill its mandate and provide its essential services to Palestinian refugees. This includes quality education for more than half a million children, primary health care services for 3.5 million patients and essential assistance to the poorest and most vulnerable persons.

For its part, UNRWA reiterated its commitment to neutrality, efficiency and transparency, and to its continued reforms and modernization efforts, discussed at the International Conference in support of the Agency on 16 November.

High Representative Josep Borrell said: “UNRWA has played an essential role in providing vital services to millions of Palestine refugees within its five fields of operation. The EU is determined to continue supporting the Agency both politically and financially, including by providing long-term reliability.”

“Our support to UNRWA is a key element in our strategy of contributing to the promotion of security, stability and development in the region, which also helps to keep alive the prospects of sustainable peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said: “The EU remains a reliable and predictable partner and a top donor for UNRWA, most recently with €92 million contribution to help address the urgent cash-flow problems, including paying of staff salaries. We will continue to work with UNRWA to strengthen its governance for increased accountability, transparency & consistency with UN principles, including neutrality, and towards a more sustainable financing model. And we will promote quality education for Palestinian children and full compliance with UNESCO standards in education material.”

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini thanked the European Union for its long-standing commitment: “For half a century, the EU has stood shoulder to shoulder with Palestine refugees, providing the necessary political and financial support to UNRWA, which continues to be instrumental in mitigating the impact of multiple regional crises and supporting the long-term human development of Palestine refugees. Together, we have contributed to one of the most remarkable human development processes in the Middle East and significantly advanced several key sustainable development goals for millions of Palestine refugees.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh today stated that the current Israeli government has gone further in willful killings and war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Speaking in an interview with Voice of Palestine, Abu Rudeineh stated that the Palestinian people is facing a series of Israeli governments that continue to destroy any attempt to salvage the moribund peace process.

He cautioned that the current Israeli government has gone even further in perpetrating willful killings and war crimes against the Palestinian people, which will have grave consequences, as he urged it to reconsider its racist policies for which it will be held accountable.

He added that the Palestinian leadership have the sufficient legal means to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and violations of international law at international forums and condemned Israel’s decision to sanction all government offices that fail to relocate to the occupied city of Jerusalem, stressing that every Israeli action in Jerusalem is rejected and illegitimate.

He called upon the US administration to expeditiously translate its positive remarks regarding the two-state solution, illegitimacy of Israel’s colonial settlement construction and reopening the U.S. consulate for Palestinians in Jerusalem into actions on the ground, particularly that the situation is very serious and intolerable.

He pointed that serious work is underway to establish mechanisms to implement President Mahmoud Abbas’ speech, hold meetings and dialogues with the full spectrum of PLO factions, and convene the Palestinian Central Council to pave the way for action at the local and international arenas in the upcoming decisive stage.

Commenting on Abbas’ meeting with US Ambassador the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield on Wednesday, Abu Rudeineh stressed that the meeting focused the violations committed by the Israeli occupation authorities in the Palestinian territories and the attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from their houses in Jerusalem will only serve to exacerbate the already precarious situation and undermine the two-state solution.

He explained that during the meeting, President Abbas affirmed that it is unacceptable for the situation to continue as it is and that the Israeli government and US administration have to shoulder their responsibilities, while calling on Thomas-Greenfield to implement all the US administration’s recent remarks.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

For the third consecutive day, Israeli forces Thursday morning assaulted Palestinian students on their way to school in al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said that the soldiers deliberately obstructed the arrival of students to two local schools, located on the main road connecting Ramallah city to Nablus city.

The soldiers, he added, fired tear gas canisters at the students and their families who came to make sure that their children safely made it schools, causing a number of them to suffocate as a result.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers, under military protection, deliberately obstruct schooling in Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiya schools by attacking the students at the school gates, as confirmed by head of the village municipal council, Ya‘coub Owais.

He added that a number of the village residents took to the main street in the morning hours to protest against settler violence. Confrontations ensued with the soldiers and settlers.

Over the past two days, Israeli soldiers attacked the girl students near the school located on the main Ramallah-Nablus road, firing teargas in their direction and causing a large number of suffocation cases estimated at over 70.

Attacks on education by Israeli military forces and Israeli settlers in the Palestine constitute grave violations of children’s rights to education and development. These attacks are particularly prevalent in the most vulnerable areas of the West Bank – Area C, H2 and Jerusalem.

Over 700,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only colonial settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Weather on Thursday is partially cloudy with a slight drop in temperature while remaining a little higher than its annual average, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Scattered rain showers are expected in some areas. Winds are northwesterly to southwesterly, light to moderate.

Sea waves are low.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and in Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 21 C and a low of 14 C, and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 20 C and a low of 13 C are expected. In Jericho, a high of 30 C and a low of 18 C, and in the Jordan Valley a high of 28 C and a low of 16 C is expected. Temperature is expected to reach a high of 26 C and a low of 18 C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

Another drop in temperature is expected on Friday, becoming a little lower than its annual average. Scattered rain showers are expected in some areas.

A low pressure is expected to hit the country on Saturday, thus weather is expected to be partially cloudy to cloudy and relatively cold to cold while temperature is expected to drop, becoming five degrees lower than its annual average. Scattered rain showers, along with thunderstorms, are expected on most areas.

Sunday’s temperature is expected to drop again, approaching six degrees lower than its annual average, as the low pressure is expected to continue. Scattered rain showers, along with thunderstorms, are expected on some areas.

PMD warned citizens against low horizontal visibility, slippery roads, formation of floods in low areas.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Palestine today recorded 221 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths, according to Health Minister Mai Alkaila.

She announced that 221 Palestinians tested positive for the highly contagious virus and three others died of it in the occupied territories.

As part of the 221 new cases, 103 cases were registered in the West Bank and 118 others in the Gaza Strip.

She said that two of the three death cases was recorded in the Gaza Strip and the other in the West Bank.

She added that 265 Covid-19 patients recovered; 85 recovery cases in the West Bank and 180 others in the Gaza Strip.

She pointed that 48 Covid-19 patients are getting treatment in intensive care units and 75 others are currently receiving treatment at hospitals, including eight who are on ventilators.

She said that the recovery rate in Palestine has so far reached 98.4 percent and the active cases account for 0.6 percent. The death toll stood at 1 percent of total infections.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Palestinian prisoner Sami al-Amour Thursday morning died in Israeli jails due to deliberate medical negligence, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

PPS said in a press statement said that the al-Amour, 39, a resident of Deir al-Balah city in the Gaza Strip, died in his prison cell this morning as a result of systematic intentional medical negligence at the time he was in custody.

It added that al-Amour was detained in 2008 and sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment, during which he was denied family visits. He suffered from a congenital heart disease, but the Israeli deliberate medical negligence and harsh detention conditions caused a serious deterioration in his health.

He was transferred several days ago from the Nafha Prison to Asqalan Prison, before being transferred to the Soroka Medical Center, where he underwent two surgeries before being declared dead.

PPS held the Israeli occupation authorities fully responsible for al-Amour’s death as the Israeli Prison Service (ISP) maintains a systematic policy of medical negligence against Palestinian prisoners, the same policy which caused the death of other prisoners, most prominently Hussein Masalma and cancer-stricken prisoner Kamal Abu Wa‘er.

It urged legal and human rights groups to take serious and immediate action to ensure the release of all ailing Palestinians from Israeli prisons and ensure that prisoners are offered adequate medical treatment.

Al-Amour’s death brings the total number of prisoners who died in Israeli imprisonment since the start of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza in June 1967 to 227, including 72 prisoners who died due to medical negligence. IPS continued to withheld the bodies of seven prisoners.

According to Palestinian figures, roughly 4,650 Palestinians, including 34 women and some 160 minors, are currently languishing in Israeli detention facilities.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency