Prime Minister, Foreign Ministry condemn Israeli killing of a Palestinian man

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates today condemned the Israeli killing late last night of Jamil Kayyal, 31, in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

“The crime of executing the young man, Kayyal, in Nablus is appalling and reflects the doctrine of murder that articulates the ideology and behavior of the leaders of the military establishment of the (Israeli) occupying state,” said Shtayyeh in a statement, calling on international human rights organizations to condemn the killing, “which is one more of many crimes of the occupation against our people.”

The Foreign Ministry said “this crime is one episode in the series of field executions carried out by the occupying forces in accordance with the instructions and directives of the political and military levels in the occupation state, which allow and facilitate the shooting by soldiers and others members of the occupation of the Palestinian and treat him as a practice target that can allow killing him without conscience, morals or law.”

It added, “These crimes also reflect the racist culture of the occupation that dominates the decision-making centers of the occupying state.”

While holding Israel fully responsible for this crime, the Foreign Ministry called on the International Criminal Court to speed up its war crime investigation of Israel to force it to immediately stop its crimes and start investigating the violation of its forces and colonial settlers.

Kayyal was killed late last night during an Israeli army incursion into Nablus to arrest a local activist. Two others were injured when run over by an army vehicle.

The city of Nablus today observed a general strike against the killing of Kayyal, who was later buried in a mass funeral in his hometown.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Two people die of coronavirus in Palestine in the last 24 hours, 410 new cases confirmed

Two people have died of coronavirus in Palestine in the last 24 hours and 410 new cases were confirmed, today said Minister of Health Mai Alkaila.

The two deaths were located in the West Bank where 271 new cases were confirmed and 143 patients have recovered.

The Gaza Strip recorded 139 new cases and 70 recoveries.

Alkaila said 95 coronavirus patients are currently in hospitals and 58 are in intensive care, while 15 are on ventilators.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Youth and Sports Council regrets and denounces decision of Moroccan and Emirati teams to play in Israel

The Palestinian Higher Council for Youth and Sports tonight said it regrets and denounces the decision of Moroccan and Emirati teams to hold friendly matches with Israeli teams in Israel, and to host those teams in their countries, describing it as “an insult to the struggles and sacrifices of our people, and a disregard for the feelings of millions of Arabs and Muslims sympathetic to the cause of justice and human rights in this world.”

The Council reminded in a statement “our brothers who took this decision, which constitutes a resounding stab in the heart of every free Arab, that by doing this they are rewarding one of the most heinous types of occupation for its crimes against a defenseless people who stand alone in the trench defending the Arabism of their sanctities on behalf of all Arabs.”

It appealed to the Moroccan and Emirati teams not “to shake hands stained with the blood of the children of Palestine.”

The Youth and Sports Council called on those in charge of such agreements “to respect the decisions of the Council of Ministers of Arab Youth and Sports, and the decisions of the Arab League regarding the normalization of sports with the occupying state while they offer a free reward to a country whose racism constitutes a clear violation of the Olympic Charter.”

It added, “We appeal to them to reconsider their position and think about the feelings of millions of Arabs and Muslims, who care for the issues of truth and justice, before they extend a hand of peace to an occupation that does not know the language of peace, and has nothing to offer them except contempt and arrogance.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency