Day: 17 December 2021

This week marked the first cash disbursal of the Child Sensitive Cash Assistance Program in the Gaza Strip, in which nearly 4,300 girls and boys from 1,160 poor and vulnerable households affected by the May 2021 escalation will benefit from four cycles of monthly cash payments.

With funding support from the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to UNICEF in the State of Palestine, and in cooperation with the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Social Development, first payments were made to households through PalPay cash-out points in the Gaza Strip.

These payments are provided to enable children made vulnerable by the May escalation in hostilities to continue their development through school, access to essential services, and ensuring children are better protected.

“By assisting children with humanitarian needs to better access school and services, we are ensuring their development. This assistance will help children and their families overcome the shocks caused by the May 2021 escalation enabling their future growth. We are doing this with the Ministry to buttress shock responsive social protection systems, providing a sustainable model for potential future shocks and to ensure the continuum between humanitarian and development efforts. Almost 90 per cent of recipients withdrew their cash within the first 48 hours of availability,” said UNICEF State of Palestine Special Representative, Lucia Elmi, in a press statement.

“The speed at which these households redeemed this assistance is a strong indication of the vulnerability of children and their families and the need for this type of programming in the Gaza Strip.” The UK Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, James Cleverly, said, “The UK is proud to provide a further £2m to UNICEF to respond to ongoing humanitarian needs in Gaza. The program provided by UNICEF will help the most vulnerable people in Gaza, especially children to continue their education, meet their basic needs, and hopefully to fulfill their potential.” Child-focused cash assistance will help enable vulnerable children in the Gaza Strip to meet their basic needs and promotes behavioral change on child rights and well-being, such as COVID-19 vaccination and the elimination of violence against children. Household eligibility for this program is based on child vulnerability.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Two Palestinians were shot and injured with rubber-coated steel bullets, and dozens of others suffocated as Israeli forces violently quelled a peaceful anti-settlement demonstration in the village of Kufr Qaddoum, east of Qalqilia, the occupied West Bank, said a local activist.

The coordinator of the popular resistance committee in the village of Kufr Qaddoum, Murad Shtawi, Israeli forces attacked demonstrators with tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets, shooting and injuring two people in their lower extremities. Dozens were treated at the scene from tear-gas suffocation.

The resident of Kuf Qaddoum also rally to protest Israel’s closure of the main road that connects the village of Kufr Qaddoum with the city of Nablus since 2003.

Before 2003, the residents of Kufr Qaddum would use a shorter road to the east in order to come and go to nearby cities and villages.

However, as the settlements expanded so that they overwhelmed the road, it became closed for Palestinian use, said Addameer Human Rights Association.

The only alternative road is roughly six times longer than the previous route, disrupting the villagers’ ability to attend university, their jobs, and other vital aspects of their economic and social well-being, noted Addameer.

Although Kufr Qaddum’s Popular Resistance Committee took their case to the Israeli High Court in 2003, the legal status of the road remains unchanged, stressed Addameer.

After all legal appeals failed, villagers decided to organize weekly demonstrations in July 2011, a step that was met with violent suppression by Israeli forces.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli forces today cracked down on an anti-land-pillage protest in Beita and Beit Dajan towns, south and east of Nablus, according to medical sources.

Israeli forces used fatal violence to disperse a rally called for to protest the construction of the new colonial settlement of Givat Eviatar atop Jabal Sabih (Sabih Mountain), near Beita, as well as the seizure of lands belonging to the villagers of Beita, Huwarra, and Za‘tara to inaugurate a new settler-only bypass road.

Director of the Palestinian Red Crescent’s (PRC) Emergency Department in Nablus, Ahmad Jibril, said that five protestors were hit by rubber-coated steel bullets and five others sustained injuries after being chased by the soldiers.

Meanwhile, the soldiers attacked the participants of the rally called for to defend Palestinian-owned land threatened with confiscation, east of Beit Dajan, to make room for Israeli colonial settlement construction, injuring five by rubber-coated steel bullets and causing 14 others to suffocate from tear gas.

Palestinians across Historic Palestine have been rising up against decades of Israeli settler- colonialism and apartheid. The villagers of Beita have not only been protesting decades of Israeli oppression, but also intensified Israeli land pillage of their land.

In almost a month, some eight Palestinians from the town were killed and over 620 others were injured while trying to oust the colonial settler outpost built atop Mount Sabih or Sbeih.

In addition to Mount Sabih, Israeli forces have erected another colonial settlement outpost atop Mount Al-Arma, north of Beita, a few months ago, as both mounts enjoy a strategic location as they overlook the Jordan Valley, a fertile strip of land running west along the Jordan River which makes up approximately 30% of the West Bank.

Seizing the two hilltops represents a panoptical defensive tool as they would grant the Israeli occupation with a panoramic view over the Jordan Valley and the whole district of Nablus. This is why the Israeli occupation authorities have assigned them a place in its settlement expansion project.

The construction of the two colonial outposts atop Mount Sabih, south of Beita, and Mount Al-Arma, north of the town, besides to a bypass road to the west is an Israeli measure to push Palestinian villages and towns into crowded enclaves, ghettos, surrounded by walls, settlements and military installations, and disrupt their geographic contiguity with other parts of the West Bank.

Just like Beita, Beit Dajan has become a scene for weekly protests against the Israeli authorities’ move to construct new colonial settlements and expand existing ones at the expense of Palestinian territory.

Located 12 kilometers to the east of Nablus city, Beit Dajan has a population of some 4,700 and occupies a total area of 44,100 dunams, including 360 dunums of built-up area for the villagers. A large part of the village lands were seized for the construction of Al-Hamra and Mekhora (Mehola) colonial settlements, east and southeast of the village, in 1971 and 1973.

The number of settlers living in Jewish-only colonial settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law has jumped to over 700,000 and colonial settlement expansion has tripled since the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

Israel’s nation-state law, passed in July 2018, enshrines Jewish supremacy, and states that building and strengthening the colonial settlements is a “national interest.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

A Palestinian youth today was injured after being struck in the head with a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces during clashes that broke out in the village of Burqa to the north of Nablus, in the northern occupied West Bank, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli settlement activities in the north of the West Bank, said Israeli forces clashed with Palestinian residents after they attempted to fend off an attack against the village by Israeli settlers.

A youth was reportedly hit and injured in the head with a tear gas canister and dozens of others were treated at the scene from tear-gas suffocation.

In the meantime, Settlers gathered on Nablus-Ramallah Road near Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village to the south of Nablus and proceeded to attack Palestinian-registered vehicles with stones, causing damages to several cars.

Israeli forces reportedly closed the main road connecting Ramallah to Nablus city and set up a military checkpoint at the entrance to Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village preventing residents from entering or leaving and forcing them to look for alternative roads to reach their destination.

“The military avoids confronting violent settlers as a matter of policy, although soldiers have the authority and duty to detain and arrest them. Israeli security forces routinely enable settler violence against Palestinians and their property. As a rule, the military prefers to remove Palestinians from their own farmland or pastureland rather than confront settlers, using various tactics such as issuing closed military zone orders that apply to Palestinians only, or firing tear gas, stun grenades, rubber-coated metal bullets, and even live rounds. Sometimes, soldiers actively participate in the settler attacks or look on from the sidelines,” said the Israeli information center for human rights in occupied territories, B’Tselem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Several Palestinians today sustained injuries as Israeli police quelled a solidarity sit-in in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, according to WAFA correspondent.

She said that heavily-armed police barged their way into the neighborhood, which has become a scene of massive protests against Israel’s settler-colonialism in the occupied territories, and cracked down on a sit-in in solidarity with the Salem family, who faces the imminent threat of forced expulsion from their house, inflicting bruises and cuts across the bodies of several participants.

One of the casualties was identified as Mahmoud Alian, a journalist, who sustained an eye injury.

She added that police rounded up two participants, including a 17-year-old minor.

The sit-in was organized in support of the Salem family, who received an order to “evict” them from the house they lived in for over 70 years in western Sheikh Jarrah in favor of colonial settler organizations, and a day after settlers fenced off a plot of land belonging to the family.

The Salems (11 members) were ordered to “vacate” the house immediately, and if they do not evacuate themselves, they will be forcibly evicted on 29/12/21 or at a later date.

The eviction notice, according to Peace Now, was handed to the family earlier this week by two key settlement activists in Sheikh Jarrah, Aryeh King and Jonathan Yosef, who alleged they had purchased the house from Jewish owners who had owned the house before 1948.

The neighborhood has become a scene of massive protests against Israel’s settler-colonialism in the occupied territories since the Israeli occupation authorities decided to forcibly expel dozens of families from their houses in favor of colonial settler groups.

Palestinians have maintained that the Israeli occupation authorities decision to “evict” the families from their houses in favor of the settler groups is politically-motivated and comes as part of Israel’s efforts to ethnically cleanse Jerusalemite Palestinians.

Since the occupation of Jerusalem by Israel in June 1967, Israeli settlers colonial organizations, including Elad and Ateret Cohanim, have claimed ownership of Palestinian property in Jerusalem. Backed by the Israeli state, judiciary and security services, these organizations have been working on wresting control of Palestinian property and convert it into colonial outposts as part of the efforts to ensure a Jewish majority in the city, as well as on managing archaeological sites in Silwan and overseeing their excavation. This scheme involves building new colonial tourist sites, such as the “City of David”, to bolster their propaganda.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Dozens of Israeli settlers today rampaged through Burqa town, north of Nablus, torching and indiscriminately opening fire towards houses, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israel’s colonial settlement activities in the northern West Bank, said that scores of armed settlers descended on the West Bank town, indiscriminately opening live fire towards the residents, attacking houses at the town entrance and setting a shack on fire.

The residents attempted to fend off the settler attack and managed to put off the fire, however, faced with such a situation, they made a distress call, calling on Palestinians in the surrounding villages and towns to help them repel the settler attack and competent authorities dispatch ambulances and fire-fighting vehicles.

This followed the killing of an Israeli settler in a shooting attack near the evacuated colonial settlement outpost of Homesh, north of Nablus, on Thursday night.

The incident comes a few days after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the city of Nablus following a raid on his home, while two other Palestinians were wounded after being run down by an Israeli military vehicle, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Last week, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded 70 others in Beita, a village in Nablus, during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, attacked today Palestinian farmers and seized an agricultural tractor while they were working on blowing their land in the Masafer Yatta area to the south of Hebron, in the southern occupied West Bank, according to a local activist.

Coordinator for the Anti-Wall and Settlement Committee Rateb al-Jabour, said settlers from the Israeli settlement of Ma’on, built illegally on Palestinian land, attacked farmers while they were working on their land threatened with seizure by Israel, and tried to block their access to the land.

Israeli forces reportedly stood idly by and did nothing to stop the settlers.

Settlers also seized an agricultural tractor belonging to Rabe’s family.

Farmers in the Masafer Yatta area are subjected to frequent attacks by Israeli settlers and the army with the aim of forcing them out of their land for the benefit of settlement expansion.

Extremist Israeli settlers’ violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities. They often synchronize their raids and assaults with soldiers, who provide them with cover and protection.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Several Palestinian villagers Friday dawn sustained wounds and fractures in a settler attack against Qaryout village, south of Nablus, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors Israeli colonial activities in the northern West Bank, said the settlers attacked many houses in the northern West Bank town, causing damage and injuring many villagers.

The casualties were rushed to several hospitals in Nablus for treatment.

Daghlas added that the assailants attempted to kidnap a man, but the town residents rushed to his aid and succeeded in freeing him before the assailants fled the scene.

He cautioned against a serious escalation of settler attacks against the Palestinians and their property, particularly in villages close to encroaching settlements, and called on villagers to remain alert.

This followed the killing of an Israeli settler in a shooting attack near the evacuated colonial settlement outpost of Homesh, north of Nablus, on Thursday night.

The incident comes a few days after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the city of Nablus following a raid on his home, while two other Palestinians were wounded after being run down by an Israeli military vehicle, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Last week, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded 70 others in Beita, a village in Nablus, during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli forces Friday overnight detained 10 Palestinians and seized a car in multiple raids across the West Bank, according to local and security sources.

They said that heavily-armed Israeli police rounded up five Palestinians, including three brothers, after forceibly entering their houses and assaulting their families in the Bab Hutta neighborhood of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Intelligence officers leading dogs muscled in the family house of a former prisoner in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabbir and ransacked it, turning it upside down.

In the northern West Bank, Israeli military vehicles stormed Arraba town, southwest of Jenin, where the soldiers detained a woman after thoroughly searching her house.

The soldiers forced their way into the nearby town of Silat ad-Dhahr, resulting in the detention of a man.

They also conducted a raid in Dhaher al Malih village, west of Jenin, and seized a villager’s car.

In Nablus district, the sources confirmed a raid in Burqa town, north of the city, resulting in the detention of three others, including a father along with his son.

On Thursday evening, Israeli police rounded up nine women from Jerusalem purportedly for not having entry permits.

The women, all residents of Jenin city, was on their way back from the occupied city after performing prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian houses almost on a daily basis across the West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians, triggering clashes with residents.

These raids, which take place also in areas under the full control of the Palestinian Authority, are conducted with no need for a search warrant, whenever and wherever the military chooses in keeping with its sweeping arbitrary powers.

Under Israeli military law army commanders have full executive, legislative and judicial authority over 3 million Palestinians living in the West Bank. Palestinians have no say in how this authority is exercised.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli settlers Thursday evening attacked Palestinian vehicles and blocked a traffic artery to the east of Hebron, according to a local activist.

Aref Jaber, a local anti-settlement activist, said that scores of settlers gathered close to the colonial settlement of Kharsina, east of the southern West Bank city, and hurled stones at vehicles with Palestinian registration plates, causing damage to some.

He added that the settlers closed the main road linking Hebron city with the towns of Bani Neim, Sammoa’ and Yatta.

This followed the killing of an Israeli settler in a shooting attack near the evacuated colonial settlement outpost of Homesh, north of Nablus, on Thursday night.

The incident comes a few days after Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in the city of Nablus following a raid on his home, while two other Palestinians were wounded after being run down by an Israeli military vehicle, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society.

Last week, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and wounded 70 others in Beita, a village in Nablus, during a protest against Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.

Settler violence includes property and mosque arsons, stone-throwing, uprooting of crops and olive trees, attacks on vulnerable homes, among others.

There are over 700,000 Israeli settlers living in colonial settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency