Day: 3 March 2022

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Israeli forces dismantle agricultural structure in northern Jordan Valley

Israeli forces today dismantled an agricultural structure in Kardala village, northeast of Tubas, according to local sources.

Mohammad Qabaha, a local resident, said that a unit of the Israeli forces barged their way into the northern Jordan Valley village, dismantled and seized a 600-square-meter agricultural structure belonging to him purportedly for being built without a license.

The structure, he explained, served as a vegetable packaging facility, where vegetables purchased from local farmers are re-packaged before being placed on the market and sold to traders.

The Jordan Valley, which is a fertile strip of land running west along the Jordan River, is home to about 65,000 Palestinians and makes up approximately 30% of the West Bank.

Since 1967, when the Israeli army occupied the West Bank, Israel has transferred at least 11,000 of its Jewish citizens to the Jordan Valley. Some of the settlements in which they live were built almost entirely on private Palestinian land.

The Israel military has also designated about 46 percent of the Jordan Valley as a closed military zone since the beginning of the occupation in June 1967, and has been utilizing the pretext of military drills to forcefully displace Palestinian families living there as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing and stifling Palestinian development in the area.

Approximately 6,200 Palestinians live in 38 communities in places earmarked for military use and have had to obtain permission from the Israeli authorities to enter and live in their communities.

In violation of international law, the Israeli military not only temporarily displaces the communities on a regular basis, but also confiscates their farmlands, demolishes their homes and infrastructure from time to time.

Besides undergoing temporary displacement, the Palestinian families living there face a myriad restrictions on access to resources and services. Meanwhile, Israel exploits the resources of the area and generates profit by allocating generous tracts of land and water resources for the benefit of settlers.

Israeli politicians have made it clear on several occasions that the highly strategic Jordan Valley would remain under their control in any eventuality.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

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Decrease by over 8.5% in the industrial production index in Palestine during January – PCBS

The overall Industrial Production Index (IPI) in Palestine decreased by 8.58% in January compared to the previous month, December, today said the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).

IPI for January decreased due to the decrease in the activities of the manufacturing industry by 10.95%, which had a share of 87.89% of the total industry, and the activities of mining and quarrying by 3.67%, which had a share of 2.89% of the total industry.

Meanwhile, the activities of water supply, sewerage, waste management, and remediation increased by 13.12%, which had a share of 1.84% of the total industry, and the activities of electricity, gas, steam, and air conditioning supply increased by 9.17%, which had a share of 7.38% of the total industry, said the PCBS.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

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Palestinian activist from Jerusalem threatened with Israeli expulsion

Awad Salaymeh, a Palestinian rights activist from occupied Jerusalem, said today he was threatened with expulsion from his home city by the Israeli occupation authorities in the event he continued advocating for the issue of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Salaymeh told reporters he was summoned by the Israeli intelligence for questioning at the so-called Russian Compound where he was threatened of expulsion by Israeli interrogators in the event he continued “incitement at Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood”.

He said the Israeli threat will not dishearten his support for native Palestinian families facing a threat of forceful Israeli eviction from their homes in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Salaymeh added that other activists and he will continue to be present in Sheikh Jarrah until far-right Israeli MK Itamar Ben-Gvir removes his makeshift office, which he recently set up in the vicinity of the Palestinian family of Salem’s home in the neighborhood.

The neighborhood has been under tight Israeli entry measures ever since Ben-Gvir set up his makeshift office in the neighborhood, in what Palestinians see as a provocative step aimed at going ahead with Israeli expulsion plans targeting dozens of indigenous families in the neighborhood.

Around 300 Palestinians, all of whom face the prospect of being evicted from their homes by Israeli authorities, live in the neighborhood.

Occupied by Israel in 1967, Sheikh Jarrah has been a significant flashpoint since May 2021, after Israel tried to expel Palestinian families from the area to make way for Israeli settlers.

This prompted widespread protests across the occupied West Bank and the Palestinian community inside Israel, as well as a large-scale Israeli military aggression on the besieged Gaza Strip.

Currently, there are more than 200,000 settlers living in East Jerusalem, alongside about 300,000 native Palestinian residents.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

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Premier discusses UNRWA’s financial impasse with its chief

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh discussed today the unprecedented financial crisis affecting the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) with the visiting UNRWA Commissioner-General Philip Lazzarini and the Agency’s Strategic and Diplomatic Policy Adviser Ronald Steinger.

During the meeting, which was held in Shtayyeh’s office in Ramallah, the Prime Minister briefed Lazzarini on the Palestinian efforts to mobilize the necessary funding for the UNRWA in order to enable it to continue providing its basic services to the Palestine refugees, especially in the areas of education, health, and emergency relief.

Shtayyeh also briefed the UNRWA Commissioner-General on what the government has offered in the Palestinian camps in harmony with UNRWA’s efforts to provide a decent life for the Palestinian refugees, including the provision of infrastructure projects and boosting the budgets of the popular committees in charge or running the camps’ municipal services.

“We are working jointly to ensure the continuity and sustainability of UNRWA’s programs as an international institution that benefits more than 5.5 million Palestinian refugees, until a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue is found and the refugees’ return,” said Shtayyeh.

Meantime, Lazzarini stressed the importance of continuous coordination with all Palestinian institutions to mobilize financial support for the continuation and sustainability of UNRWA’s work.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

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Coronavirus claims 15 lives in Palestine in the last 24 hours as 861 new cases were confirmed

Fifteen people died of coronavirus in Palestine in the last 24 hours as 861 new cases were confirmed, today said the Ministry of Health.

Eight people died in the West Bank where 136 new cases were confirmed and 272 corona patients have recovered, six people died in the Gaza Strip where 315 new cases were recorded and 1200 patients recovered, and one person died in East Jerusalem where 410 new cases were reported and 515 recovered.

The ministry said 113 corona patients are in hospitals, 77 are in intensive care, and 29 are on ventilators.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)