Day: 17 February 2022

Israeli occupation forces today confiscated a Palestinian private-owned tractor in the Jordan Valley region, east of the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Aref Daraghma, a local rights activist, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers confiscated a tractor belonging to Ayman Gharib, a local Palestinian villager, while he was working on the tractor near the village of Al-Auja in the Jordan Valley, about 6 km north of Jericho.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Scores of Israeli settlers Thursday early morning stormed the archaeological site of Sebastia, north of Nablus city, according to a municipal source.

Sebastia mayor Mohammad Azzem told WAFA that some 150 settlers forced their way into the site under the protection of the Israeli military, which declared the site off-limit for Palestinians.

He added that a large unit of Israeli soldiers raided the town and proceeded to close the site, preventing from Palestinians from accessing it, to make room for the settler intrusion.

Located 11 kilometers to the northwest of Nablus, Sebastia is a small historical town located on a hill with panoramic views across the West Bank and has a population of some 3,000 Palestinians.

A prominent settlement during the Iron Age as well as the Hellenistic and Roman eras, the town embraces a Roman amphitheater, temples, a Byzantine and a crusader churches, dedicated to Saint John the Forerunner, who baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River, besides to a mosque built in honor of the saint. Christians and Muslims believe the town to be the burial place of the saint.

Israel has been attempting to take over the town, which has become a site of heated cultural conflict, preventing the Palestinian Authority from conducting restoration works at the site, prohibiting providing tourist services to visitors from around the world, and stealing antiquities from it.

Palestinians complain that Israeli settlers have repeatedly attacked the town and fenced parts of its antiquities, where they hold religious rituals.

Twelve dunums of the archaeological area is located within (B) areas, which are controlled by Israeli military and Palestinian administrative authority, while the other part of the area lies within (C) areas, which falls under complete Israeli administrative and military control.

Owners of restaurants and hotels complain about the Israeli acts in the town which have caused them severe damages and losses.

Israel uses the Jewish nationalist name “Judea and Samaria” to refer to the occupied West Bank to reinforce its bogus claims to the territory and to give them a veneer of historical and religious legitimacy.

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

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The Israeli occupation authorities today tore down a commercial facility in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya, according to WAFA correspondent.

He said that Israeli police and municipal staff barged their way into an area known as Wadi al-Dam in the neighborhood, and cordoned if off before bulldozers demolished a commercial facility belonging to the Qassas family.

Using the pretext of illegal building, Israel demolishes houses on a regular basis to restrict Palestinian expansion in occupied Jerusalem.

At the same time, the municipality and government build tens of thousands of housing units in illegal settlements in East Jerusalem for Jews with a goal to offset the demographic balance in favor of the Jewish settlers in the occupied city.

Although Palestinians in East Jerusalem, a part of the internationally recognized Palestinian Territory that has been subject to Israeli military occupation since 1967, they are denied their citizenship rights and are instead classified only as “residents” whose permits can be revoked if they move away from the city for more than a few years.

They are also discriminated against in all aspects of life including housing, employment and services, and are unable to access services in the West Bank due to the construction of Israel’s separation wall.

According to a report by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, the Israeli High Court could be liable for war crimes for their policies that led to the dispossession of Palestinians from their properties in Area C of the West Bank.

The report, Fake Justice, shows that the court’s support of Israeli planning policy is tantamount to support for dispossession and forcible transfer of Palestinians, a war crime under international law.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The United Nations Wednesday called on Israel to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and forced evictions, including in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Speaking during a press conference in New York, the Spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, stated: “We are following up closely the situation in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and the possibility of evicting Palestinians from their homes.”

“It is very important to de-escalate the tension and maintain self-control and tranquillity. We continuously ask the Israeli authorities to put an end to the policy of demolishing Palestinian homes and stop evicting Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and anywhere else in the West Bank.”

This came as Israeli police removed a symbolic office set up by a Palestinian activist in the neighborhood and attacked Palestinian activists and supporters who keep a vigil to defend the Palestinian residents against settler attacks.

Police have blocked off the western area of the neighborhood, where the threatened house of the Salem family lies, heavily restricting exit and entry for the fifth consecutive day.

Tensions have been running high in the neighborhood as extreme right-wing Israelis led by lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir set up an office there and announced that the time has come to purge the land, a reference to the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

Ben Gvir is notorious for being a member of the “Kach” terrorist movement, which carried out many massacres against Palestinians, most notably the 1994 Ibrahimi Mosque massacre. Despite being a prominent member of the terrorist movement, Ben Gvir was not arrested by police and has become a member of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.

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 (WAFA)

A US congressman has withdrawn his support for a bill promoting the expansion of the normalization of ties between Israel and Arab countries.

New York Representative Jamaal Bowman announced dropping his co-sponsorship of the Israel Relations Normalization Act, also known as HR2748 , according to the New York-based daily news website TAG 24.

The bill promotes the creation of a strategy to strengthen the former US President Donald Trump-era so-called “Abraham Accords” to establish relations between Israel and Sudan, Bahrain, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates.

After expressing his initial support, Bowman will eventually vote “no” on the bill when it is brought to the House floor, though his vote is not likely to impact the result.

In a letter to his constituents, Bowman said he first supported the bill “as an opportunity to make progress toward justice and healing in the Middle East as well as a path to a two state solution.” But he changed his mind and decided to walk back his support, explaining that “My experience on the ground and further conversation with constituents led me to see that it is not the right step to fulfill these goals,” he continued.

“Furthermore, I became aware that the deals that this bill supports and seeks to pursue, have included deals at odds with human rights and safety for everyday people in the region.”

Meanwhile, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) BDS and Palestine Solidarity Working Group welcomed Bowman’s step, but said that he has still a lot to do when it comes to taking a principled stance on Palestine.

“Jamaal Bowman NY’s removal of his sponsorship of HR 2748 was the right thing to do, but there is a lot of dishonest spin happening in @DemSocialists that is doing far more harm than good,” DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity tweeted.

“He should have never been on the bill in the first place. Him removing sponsorship was the right thing, but he is still below the floor with regards to taking a principled stance on Palestine. The absolute floor is meeting the standards we laid out in our call for expulsion,” it added.

In November 2021, DSA BDS and Palestine Solidarity slammed Bowman for taking part in a J Street-sponsored trip to Israel, during which the visiting US delegation was thanked for “supporting the replenishment of ]Israel’s[ Iron Dome missile defense system.”

The group condemned Bowman’s actions at the time and demanded that the National Political Committee (NPC) hold him accountable to DSA’s principles, policies, and resolutions, including on Palestine and BDS.

“These actions are completely out of line with DSA’s principles, policies and resolutions, which call for active support of the BDS movement. DSA must continue to unequivocally stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and in opposition to colonialism, imperialism, and racism in all their various forms. Voting to send additional military funds to an apartheid, settler-colonial state and following that up with a luxurious trip to the region where the vast majority of Palestinians are barred from entry is antithetical to DSA’s aforementioned values.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

International NGO, Human Appeal, is supporting a project to plant a total of 25000 olive trees in Palestinian farmlands, following recent disruption to the region’s olive tree farm industry, said the NGO in a press statement.

The olive tree project is supported by Human Appeal France, The Palestinian Hydrological Group (PHG), and Zakat Al Quds, a Palestinian charitable foundation operating under the supervision of the Jordanian Ministry of Islamic endowments. In total, the project will assist in the cultivation of 200 dunums of land (with an average of 15 – 16 seedlings per dunum) across 20 localities in the West Bank, directly supporting the incomes of nearly 200 farmers and 1200 individual beneficiaries. Once harvested, the initial plantation is expected to yield approx. 4000kg of olive oil.

Olive farms in Jerusalem, Tubas, Salfit, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Tulkarem will benefit from the project and receive the support of experts from Human Appeal France, Zakat Al Quds charity, the Palestinian Hydrology Group, and the Salfit Agriculture directorate as well as local village councils.

The olive tree project assists the Palestinian National Olive strategy in achieving its goal to plant an additional 50,000 olive trees in Palestine over five years. With olive seedlings bearing fruit after one year of plantation, the project will have a positive impact on the target beneficiaries’ livelihoods for many years to come.

“When seeking to provide urgently needed support it is vital that we also consider providing long-term support to help the population to help themselves. Planting these olive saplings is more than securing land for agriculture and supplying a crop which will help these recipients to support themselves into the future, it is also an important symbol of re-growth for the region,” said Mohamad Yousef, Head of Human Appeal France.

The olive oil industry makes up 25% of the agricultural income for Palestinians and supports the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 families. The value-added of the associated olive oil industry reaches an average of USD 5.4 million per year according to data from the Palestinian Olive Council.

Since olive trees are native, typically rainfed, and tolerant to difficult weather, high salty water and poor soil conditions, they are considered the best adoptive measure given the deteriorated water situation in the West Bank.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli forces Thursday overnight detained eight Palestinians and assaulted another across the West Bank, according to local and security sources.

They said that Israeli troops rounded up a Palestinian and ransacked his house in a raid that triggered confrontations in al-Am‘ari refugee camp, south of al-Bireh city.

In Jerusalem district, heavily-armed soldiers appeared at a house in Abu Dis town, southeast of the city, went inside and re-arrested a former prisoner.

In Bethlehem district, Israeli forces barged their way into Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem, where they detained another after breaking into and searching his family house.

The soldiers conducted a similar raid in the Bethlehem city neighborhood of Wadi Shahin, where they brutally assaulted a resident of Dheisha refugee camp, south of the city. The casualty was rushed to a hospital in the city for urgent treatment.

While in the neighborhood, the soldiers forcibly entered three houses, woke up all the residents and conducted a thorough search, turning the houses topsy-turvy. None was detained though.

Elsewhere in the southern West Bank, the sources confirmed a raid in the southern part of Hebron city, resulting in the detention of another.

In Salfit district, the military vehicles stormed Deir Istiya town, west of the city, where the soldiers rounded up another after muscling into his family house.

Another was rounded up from the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Still in the northern West Bank, Israeli troops conducted an overnight raid in Jenin city, where they surrounded a house and detained two others.

The raid triggered violent confrontations, resulting in wounding two Palestinians by Israeli military live gunfire.

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 (WAFA)

Israeli occupation authorities Thursday morning razed agricultural structures in Duma town, southeast of Nablus city, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors Israeli colonial settlement construction in the northern West Bank, said that Israeli forces escorted a bulldozer to the town, where the heavy machinery tore down two agricultural rooms, reducing them to rubble.

Israel demolishes Palestinian houses and structures almost on a daily basis as a means to achieve “demographic control” of the occupied territories.

Israel denies planning permits for Palestinians to build on their own land or to extend existing houses to accommodate natural growth, particularly in Jerusalem and Area C, which constitutes 60 percent of the occupied West Bank and falls under full Israeli military rule, forcing residents to build without obtaining rarely-granted permits to provide shelters for their families.

In contrast, Israel argues that building within existing colonial settlements is necessary to accommodate the “natural growth” of settlers. Therefore, it much more easily gives the over 700,000 Jewish Israeli settlers there building permits and provides them with roads, electricity, water and sewage systems that remain inaccessible to many neighboring Palestinians.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Weather today is partly cloudy and relatively cold in the mountains and fair in other districts in daytime with a rise of temperature, which becomes seasonal, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Partly cloudy and cold conditions are expected in the night, particularly in the mountains. Light to moderate northeasterly to northwesterly wind blows in daytime, while light to moderate northwesterly wind blows in the night. Sea waves are low to medium.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 14°C and a low of 8°C and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 13°C and a low of 7°C. In Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley temperature is expected to reach a high of 23°C and a low of 12°C, while it is expected to reach a high of 19°C and a low of 12°C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

Friday’s temperature is set to further rise and approach 2°C above the seasonal average, paving the way to partly cloudy to clear and mild to relatively cold conditions.

A significant drop of temperature is expected on Saturday, paving the way to partly cloudy and rainy conditions. Sporadic rain showers, possibly torrential, are expected, with the chance of rainfall gradually tapering off towards the night.

Cloudy to partly cloudy and cold conditions are expected on Friday, particularly in the mountains. The chance remains for isolated light rain showers.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)