Day: 1 April 2022

Palestinian Arabic-language dailies focused today on Israel’s killing yesterday of three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank provinces of Jenin and Bethlehem.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Al-Ayyam and Al-Quds said two Palestinians were shot dead and another 15 were injured by Israeli occupation forces in Jenin, north of the occupied west Bank, while a third Palestinian was shot dead by Israeli army in Bethlehem.

The three dailies also said the Palestinian Presidency condemned the Israeli escalation of violence and called for immediate international intervention to stop Israel’s escalation.

Al-Quds and Al-Ayyam said Israeli ultra-nationalist lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied Jerusalem on Thursday early morning.

The dailies said that the UN Human Rights Council voted in favor of a resolution on ensuring accountability and achieving justice in Palestine.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida and Al-Ayyam said the Palestinian Cabinet approved the fiscal year 2022 budget with a projected total deficit $558 million.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida said the municipality of the French city of Gennevilliers urged the national government to recognize the State of Palestine.

Al-Ayyam said the Supreme Israeli Court postponed the demolition of 38 Palestinian-owned homes in the village of Al-Walaja, in the West Bank province of Bethlehem, by seven months.

Al-Quds said Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Public Security Minister Omer Barlev approved an emergency boost for Israeli police worth 181 million shekels ($56.5 million).

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Two Palestinian young men sustained gunfire injuries today after they were shot by Israeli occupation forces who raided the village of Dayr Ghasana in the occupied West Bank province of Ramallah, according to local sources.

Witnesses told WAFA that clashes erupted with Israeli occupation forces shortly following their raid of the village. The forces fired live bullets at local Palestinians during the clashes, injuring two of them in their lower limbs.

The two were rushed to hospital for medical treatment.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The health condition of 47-year-old Palestinian detainee in Israeli jails Musa Sofan, a patient of lung cancer, has recently deteriorated, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said yesterday.

The society added that the detainee Sofan was moved from prison to Israel’s Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where medical tests showed that he is diagnosed with lung cancer.

PPS said that sick detainee Sofan has been experiencing inhumane detention conditions since he was detained in 2003, including being denied medical care and placed in solitary confinement, which both have aggravated his health condition.

Serving a life term in Israeli prisons, the cancer-hit detainee Sofan suffers from several health problems as well, the society pointed out.

“Despite the numerous appeals by detainee Sofan to get medications and be properly diagnosed, he has received no answer,” said PPS in a statement.

The society noted that there is a very noticeable increase in the number of Palestinian detainees suffering from cancer particularly during the current and past years.

Sofan, who is a resident of the city of Talkarm in the occupied West Bank, is a brother of two other prisoners, Adnan and Mohammed, who have been sentenced for 29 and 18 consecutive years in Israeli jails.

It’s worth noting that more than 600 sick Palestinian detainees are currently held in Israeli occupation jails. Of them, at least 18 detainees suffer from cancer of various types.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

At least three Palestinians were injured today as Israeli occupation forces attacked Palestinian anti-occupation protesters in the village of Qaryut, in Nablus province, and in the village of Bil’in, in Ramallah province, according to local sources.

In Qaryut, two Palestinians sustained injuries from shrapnel after being targeted with rubber-coated rounds by Israeli occupation soldiers and settlers, said the village mayor, Nedal Badawi.

Badawai said that a group of Israeli settlers attacked the western side of the village, and when local Palestinian residents attempted to fend off the attack, they were faced with brutal force by Israeli soldiers who were accompanying the settlers.

Meantime, a Palestinian was injured with live bullets in his hand and foot as Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian protesters commemorating the 46th anniversary of the Palestinian Land Day. Other cases of teargas inhalation were reported.

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank usually hold anti-occupation protests on most Fridays, typically following the weekly Friday sermon and prayer. Israeli occupation soldiers often attack these protests with teargas and live bullets, and less often with gunfire.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

A Palestinian young man was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces today during clashes in downtown Hebron, south of the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Ahmad Younes Al-Atrash, 29, was killed after being shot by Israeli soldiers at Shalala Street in the center of Hebron city.

He was taking part in a weekly protest against Israeli colonization when he was shot and critically injured by Israeli soldiers. Al-Atrash was rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment, where he succumbed to his wounds.

Many other Palestinian protesters also suffered suffocation from teargas inhalation.

Al-Atrash is said to be a former prisoner in Israeli prisons where he reportedly served six years as a political prisoner.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Weather today in Palestine is partly cloudy to clear, dry and warm with a further rise of temperature, which approaches 6°C above the seasonal average, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Winds are easterly to southeasterly, light to moderate and occasionally gusty. Sea waves are low.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 27°C and a low of 18°C, and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 26°C and a low of 17°C. In Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley temperature is expected to reach a high of 34°C and a low of 20°C, while it is expected to reach a high of 29°C and a low of 20°C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

The same weather conditions are expected for Saturday, with no change in temperature.

Temperature is set to plummet to 4°C above the seasonal average on Sunday, paving the way to mostly cloudy and relatively warm to warm conditions. Slightly cold conditions are expected in the night.

Another slight drop in temperature is expected on Monday, with moderate to warm conditions prevailing throughout the day.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli occupation forces today opened fire at Palestinian herders in the central Gaza Strip, forcing them to leave the area, reported WAFA correspondent.

He said soldiers stationed at Gaza’s eastern border at herders east of Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Strip, forcing them to take their sheep and leave the area.

There were no reports of injuries the shooting attack.

Israeli forces regularly open fire at Palestinians who come within several hundred meters from the border fence between Gaza and Israel, whether to work on their lands or to herd their cattle.

Israel does not allow Palestinians in Gaza to be within 300 meters from its border, which it unilaterally considers a buffer zone, and often opens fire at the farmers and whoever reaches those areas

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

A Palestinian young woman was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces today at the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, local sources said.

The young woman, who was not yet identified, was taken to an unknown destination.

Earlier today, tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers performed the weekly Friday prayer at the holy site, despite the Israeli entry restrictions imposed at the gates leading to the mosque.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Maliki commended today a unanimous vote by the UN Human Rights Council in favor of two resolutions on the self-determination of the Palestinian people and the illegality of Israeli settlements.

38 countries voted in favor of the draft resolution “Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan”, while five countries abstained, namely Ukraine, Lithuania, Brazil, Cameroon and Honduras. Meantime, four countries voted against the resolution, specifically the United States, the United Kingdom, the Marshall Islands, and Malawi.

41 countries voted in favor of the resolution “The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination”, while 3 countries abstained: Lithuania, Cameroon, and Honduras. Three countries voted against: the United States, the United Kingdom and and the Marshall Islands.

Al-Maliki welcomed the adoption of the two resolutions, and thanked the member states that voted by an overwhelming majority in favor of the two resolutions, calling on the countries that did not support the two resolutions “to be ashamed of themselves and to stop the policy of double standards.”

He pointed out that the adoption of the resolution on the illegality of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory affirms the need for a boycott of these settlements leading to their immediate dismantlement.

Al-Maliki stressed the need for the international community to ban settlement-manufactured goods, and to stop commercial and military dealings with the Israeli settlement system for its violation of the rules of international law.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli occupation forces last night arrested 14 Palestinians during raids across the occupied West Bank, according to local sources and witnesses.

In Jenin province, north of the occupied West Bank, Israeli army stormed the town of Al-Yamun and arrested three brothers after raiding and searching their homes. The three were identified as Ameer, Adel and Ali Jaabari.

In Ramallah province, in the center of the West Bank, Israeli troops arrested four Palestinians, including a father and his son from the village of Beit Rima. The father and son were respectively identified as Musharraf and Laith Rimawi.

In Nablus province, three Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli occupation forces in the town of Beita and the neighboring village of Talfit.

Two more arrests were also reported in the Bethlehem province in the south of the West Bank, while another two arrests were reported in Hebron.

Almost on a daily basis, Israeli occupation forces carry out raids targeting populated Palestinian communities for arrests or searches. The practice, mostly carried out at nighttime, has become a routine under Israeli military regime.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)