Day: 27 May 2022

France, Ireland, Estonia and Albania deplored in a joint statement yesterday the decision of the Israeli Higher Planning Council to advance plans for the construction of more than 4,000 settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank, affirming that Israeli settlement construction is a clear violation of international law.

Delivered by Ambassador Geraldine Byrne Nason, the Permanent Representative of Ireland to the UN, the statement urged Israel to rescind this decision, as well as abandon planned demolitions and evictions, especially in Masafer Yatta area, which alone could result in the forced transfer of 1,200 Palestinians.

“The new housing units would constitute an additional obstacle to the two-State Solution. Israeli settlements are in clear violation of international law and stand in the way of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace between Israelis and Palestinians,” read Nason.

She continued, “This decision, as well as the retroactive approval of three illegal settlement outposts, demolitions and evictions affecting the Palestinian populations in East-Jerusalem and Area C, directly threaten the viability of a future Palestinian state.”

The EU members called “for a thorough and independent investigation that clarifies all the circumstances of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, which occurred while she was covering an operation of the Israeli security forces in Jenin, and brings those responsible for her killing to justice.”

“We were deeply shocked by the violence exercised by the Israeli police towards the mourners at her funeral,” added the statement.

The EU members reiterated the call to uphold and respect the status quo on the Holy Sites in Jerusalem and stressed the importance of Jordan’s specific role in this regard.

“The deteriorating situation again highlights the need to restore a political horizon for a credible and viable peace process.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

More than 450 Palestinian detainees have been refusing to show up for their military court hearings for 147 days in protest of their unfair detention without charge or trial under Israel’s controversial administrative detention policy.

The boycott includes hearings for the renewal of administrative detention orders as well as appeal hearings and later sessions at Israel’s Supreme Court.

In addition to the boycott of military courts, the detainees have also recently started considering civil disobedience measures such as refusing to pose for the daily counting of prisoners last Tuesday. Other civil disobedience measures are also reportedly being considered by the detainees.

Palestinian detainees say their action is a continuation of longstanding Palestinian efforts “to put an end to the unjust administrative detention practiced against our people by the occupation forces.”

Under administrative detention, Israel keeps Palestinians without charge for up to six months, a period which can be extended for an indefinite number of times. Women and minors are also among those detainees. The detention takes place on orders from a military commander and on the basis of what the Israeli regime describes as ‘secret’ evidence. Some prisoners have been held in administrative detention for up to 11 years.

Palestinians and human rights groups say the administrative detention violates the right to due process since evidence is withheld from prisoners while they are held for lengthy periods without being charged, tried, or convicted.

Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes in an attempt to express their outrage at the detention. They have also been subjected to systematic torture, harassment and repression all through the years of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

More than 4,500 Palestinian prisoners are currently held in about 17 Israeli jails. Over 450 detainees, including women and minors, are under the administrative detention. Rights groups describe Israel’s use of the detention as a “bankrupt tactic” and have long called on Israel to end its use.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

An Israeli court rejected today a petition submitted by the attorney of Palestinian detainee Khalil Awawdeh demanding his client’s immediate release after 86 days in protest of his detention without charge or trial, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).

PPS said in a statement that the court’s ruling was taken despite the deteriorated health condition of Awawdeh after nearly three months of fasting.

On Tuesday, Awawdeh was moved to the infamous Ramla Prison Clinic, although the Supreme Israeli Court had ordered his immediate transfer to hospital due to his critical health condition.

Awawdeh, 40, from the town of Idna in the southern West Bank Hebron district, has been on hunger strike in protest of his prolonged administrative detention without charge or trial.

He is reported to be suffering from headaches, fatigue, blurred vision, pain in the joints, irregular heartbeats, frequent vomiting and significant loss of weight.

Israel’s widely condemned policy of administrative detention allows the detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for renewable intervals usually ranging between three and six months based on undisclosed evidence that even a detainee’s lawyer is barred from viewing.

Currently, Israel is holding over 500 Palestinians in administrative detention, deemed illegal by international law, most of them former prisoners who spent years in prison for their resistance of the Israeli occupation.

Amnesty International, has described Israel’s administrative detention policy as a “cruel, unjust practice which helps maintain Israel’s system of apartheid against Palestinians.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

A team of legal experts said today they will refer Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder by Israeli occupation forces to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Abu Akleh, 51, was shot dead in cold blood by Israeli occupation forces while she was covering an Israeli military raid of Jenin refugee camp on May 11.

The announcement was made today at a press conference in London, and came in the aftermath of a decision by both the Palestinian Authority and Al Jazeera Media Network to submit separate cases to the ICC over the killing of Abu Akleh on May 11 by Israeli forces.

Lawyers from Doughty Street Chambers, representatives from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS), and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) were all present at the event.

Speaking at the press conference, Walid al-Omari, Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office, said that the media network was “exploring all legal possibilities” to bring justice for Abu Akleh.

Bindmans LLP, the firm hosting the event, said, “We are awaiting confirmation from the ICC’s Prosecutor’s Office about the action they intend to take, but the killing of Shireen and the shooting of Ali al-Samoudi bring to sharp focus the need for urgent action by the ICC. We will seek to add these cases to the complaint that is already before the ICC.”

The network said that it had formed an international coalition that consists of its legal team, along with international experts, and is preparing a dossier on the killing of Abu Akleh for submission to the ICC prosecutor.

“The Network vows to follow every path to achieve justice for Shireen, and ensure those responsible for her killing are brought to justice and held accountable in all international justice and legal platforms and courts,” Al-Jazeera said in a statement yesterday.

As part of an ongoing investigation, the ICC ruled last year that it has jurisdiction to investigate alleged Israeli war crimes in the Palestinian territories that Israel occupied in 1967, including the West Bank. Israel, which is not a member of the ICC, objected to the decision.

Yesterday, Palestinian Attorney General Akram Al-Khatib said that based on the Public Prosecution’s report on the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, it was established that the veteran Al Jazeera journalist was killed by an armor-piercing projectile fired directly at her head by an Israeli sniper.

He said that according to the report, it was established that an Israeli sniper directly fired a bullet at Abu Akleh’s head while she was trying to escape, although she was wearing a helmet and a vest that was clearly marked with the word “PRESS”. He said other journalists who were accompanying her were also deliberately targeted by gunfire.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)