Day: 1 September 2022

Weather today is very hot in the Jordan Valley and hot in other districts in daytime with a slight drop of temperature, which approaches 5°C above the seasonal average, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department (PMD).

Weather tonight is mild in the mountains and relatively hot in other districts. Light to moderate northeasterly to northwesterly wind blows. Sea waves are low.

Temperature in the capital, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem is expected to reach a high of 35°C and a low of 21°C and in Ramallah and Hebron a high of 33°C and a low of 20°C. In Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Jordan Valley temperature is expected to reach a high of 43°C and a low of 27°C, while it is expected to reach a high of 32°C and a low of 25°C in Gaza and the coastal areas.

Friday’s temperature is set to further slightly rise, bringing a slight relief in the heat stress.

A further slight drop of temperature is expected on Saturday, paving the way for an additional slight relief of the heat stress.

Temperature is set to further slightly drop on Sunday, paving the way for an additional relief in the heat stress.

PMD warns people against being directly exposed to the sun for long period, particularly from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and setting fire to dry grassy areas.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli forces Thursday dawn gunned down a Palestinian in the occupied West Bank city of al-Bireh, according to local sources.

They said Israeli forces barged their way into al-Bireh city of Sateh Marhaba, ransacking several houses and sparking confrontations.

The gun-toting soldiers opened fire towards local youths attempting to block their passage, killing Yazan Afaneh, a 26-year-old resident of the nearby Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The Palestinian nationalist forces and prisoners’ advocacy groups said today that they plan a number of activities in solidarity with the Palestinian freedom fighters incarcerated in Israel as they get ready to start tonight an open-ended hunger strike demanding their rights.

Wasel Abu Yousef, head of the Popular Organizations department in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said after a meeting at his Ramallah office that there will be popular activities in support of the freedom fighters as soon as they declare that they will go on hunger strike this evening.

He called on the public to take part in the activities that will take place in support of the prisoners.

Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Prisoners Affairs Commission, said the strike is a step to achieve the prisoners’ legitimate demands,

He said there are official, diplomatic and international efforts to pressure the Israel Prison Services (IPS) to meet the demands of the prisoners.

Activists said there will be a massive reaction in all the cities and at points of contact with the Israeli soldiers to show support for the prisoners once they declare the hunger strike.

At least 1000 of the more than 4500 Palestinian prisoners in Israel will start a hunger strike tonight after their negotiations with the IPS to regain their rights have failed to yield any results.

The protests in the prisons started last week with the prisoners refusing to stand for the security checks or receive their meals on certain days of the week as they were negotiating with the IPS, warning that if the negotiations fail, they will embark on an open-ended hunger strike starting with 1000 prisoners to be later increased to eventually include all the prisoners.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh and the European Union’s Special Envoy for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans today discussed at Shtayyeh’s office in Ramallah the latest political developments and ways to protect the two-state solution.

The Prime Minister stressed the importance of the EU playing an active role to protect the two-state solution in light of the systematic Israeli measures destructive to this solution such as the acceleration of settlements and land confiscation, the continued incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Palestinian areas, and the killings, arrests and demolition of homes and facilities.

Shtayyeh called for formulating a road map that puts everyone in front of their responsibilities in order to end the occupation and establish the Palestinian state, and not only talk about economic solutions, stressing that there is no alternative to a serious political horizon.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

The Palestinian freedom fighters incarcerated in Israel have decided to cancel an open-ended hunger strike that was scheduled to start tonight after the Israel Prison Services (IPS) has accepted their demands, today said the Higher National Emergency Committee of the Prisoners’ National Movement.

It said in a statement published by the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS) that “after the Zionist enemy and its tools in the IPS have realized that the prisoners are ready to pay any price for their dignity and rights and that there is a people of resistance ready to pay any price to support their freedom fighters in the prisons of the Zionist occupation, therefore it decided to stop its unjust decisions and arbitrary measures against your imprisoned sons and to accept their demands.”

As a result of this, it added, “we decided to cancel the open hunger strike after the IPS retracted its decision of the periodic arbitrary relocation of life term prisoners.”

It praised the popular support it got for its protest steps, stressing that this support induced “the enemy to retract its measures” against the prisoners.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli workers resumed groundwork in parts of a Muslim cemetery in occupied East Jerusalem in order to turn it into a park, according to local sources.

They said that the Israeli workers from the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem and the Nature Authority brought a digger and started groundwork in a section of al-Yousufiyah cemetery near Lions Gate of Jerusalem’s Old City.

Israel has been trying to remove the cemetery as part of a plan to turn the area into a park provoking strong protests from Palestinian residents of Jerusalem who have relatives buried there, particularly after remains of dead people were dug out during previous works.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

EU calls for protection of Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank against Israeli settlers’ violence

An Israeli court decided today to continue to classify the attack by mentally ill prisoner Ahmad Manasra, 20, as “terrorism” thus diminishing his chance for early release, according to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).

It said in a statement that the occupation court rejected an appeal submitted by Manasra’s defense team to cancel the classification of his attempted stabbing attack in 2015 as “terrorism”, which meant Manasra, who was 13 years old when he carried out his attack, will not be eligible for early release.

The PPS said the court did not take into consideration Manasra’s mental health and decided that his health and psychological condition were not serious enough for his release.

By keeping the classification of his act as “terrorism”, the defense team will not be allowed to present his file before the release committee for early release after completing two-thirds of his term.

The court had earlier decided to keep Manasra in isolation despite his health condition.

Manasra’s trial was attended by European Union diplomats, who later said in a tweet that they were “very concerned about the mental health and well-being of Ahmad Manasra who continues to be held in solitary confinement against UN standards.”

It is “crucial that Ahmad receives necessary healthcare and counseling,” said the EU.

Manasra was brutally beaten by Israeli passersby following his act and then tortured during interrogation after his arrest despite his very young age. He suffered head injuries that affected his mental health.

He was later sentenced to 12 months in prison, then decreased in 2017 to nine-and-a-half years.

His family is concerned about his health as he was not able to recognize them in court.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)