Day: 4 September 2022

Israeli occupation forces today ordered the removal of utility poles that distribute electricity to dozens of houses in Um al-Rokba area in the town of al-Khader to the south of Hebron, according to local activist Ahmad Salah.

The activist told WAFA said Israeli forces delivered seven-day notices ordering the removal of all the electricity poles that supply electricity to around 60 Palestinian houses in Um Al-Rokba area, under the pretext of lacking an Israeli-issued building permit.

The activist stressed that this measure aims at tightening the noose around the Palestinian residents in the said area to force them to leave for the benefit of settlement expansion.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli settlers today demolished a Palestinian-owned mobile home on the road connecting the occupied West Bank cities of Jenin and Nablus, according to a local activist.

Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settlement activities in the northern West Bank, said that a group of settlers, under the protection of Israeli forces, demolished a mobile home placed inside a land owned by a local resident on the road between Jenin and Nablus.

He added that settlers also cut off and stole the entire fence surrounding the land.

In many cases of settlers’ attacks against Palestinians, Israeli forces offer protection to settlers and turn a blind eye to attacks committed against locals.

Settlements are illegal under international law as they violate Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the transfer of the occupying power’s civilian population into occupied territory.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Israeli occupation authorities notified today of its intentions to demolish a Palestinian-owned house in the town of al-Issawiya, east of occupied Jerusalem, citing unpermitted construction as a pretext, according to local sources.

Israeli authorities issued a demolition notice against a house, which was built almost seven months ago and owned by a Jerusalemite resident in the town of Issawiya.

according to a UN report, more than 300 houses were demolished by the Israeli authorities in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since the start of this year.

Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem say they are forced to build without permits because the Israeli municipality rarely issues permits to the city’s original Palestinian citizens as a way to reduce their number by forcing them to leave it and find accommodation and work elsewhere.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad al-Malki urged today Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, Luis Vayas, to close the Ecuadorean Innovation Office in Jerusalem.

During a meeting in Ramallah, Malki stressed that the office violates United Nations resolutions, in particular Resolution 478 of 1980 which states that opening diplomatic missions in Jerusalem is illegal.

He affirmed that settlements and their products are illegal, stressing the necessity for free trade agreements to exclude settlement products.

They also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations in all fields, in addition to tackling issues of common interest.

The foreign minister as well congratulated Ecuador for its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2023-2024 session, urging the Ecuadorian diplomat to support Palestine in the Security Council.

For his part, Vayas confirmed Ecuador’s position in support of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and its resolutions, and its firm position on the Palestinian issue.

He stressed that Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso and his foreign minister Juan Carlos Holguín will visit Palestine in the near future.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)