Day: 28 January 2023

The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip remains dire as the 17th year of the Israeli blockade draws to a close, said Euro-Med Monitor in a statement, urging all concerned parties to put pressure on Israel to end its illegal blockade of the Strip.

In its annual report on the blockade, entitled “Generation under blockade,” Euro-Med Monitor noted that the Israeli blockade has impoverished more than 61% of Gaza’s total population of over two million people. Moreover, it has disrupted the work of approximately 47% of workers and left nearly 53% of the population facing food insecurity.

Israeli restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza through the Erez/Beit Hanoun and Kerem Shalom/Karm Abu Salem crossings have remained in place, with exit permits primarily limited to humanitarian cases and only following lengthy security checks. Under security pretexts, Israeli authorities continue to prohibit the entry of a large number of essential materials and equipment for the health, commercial, and production sectors in Gaza.

Over the last year, Israeli authorities granted about 17,000 workers from Gaza permits to work inside Israel after lengthy security and administrative procedures. This will not, however, alleviate the severity of the Strip’s economic crisis, as the consequences of Israel’s blockade have severely harmed all economic and humanitarian sectors, causing long-term damage that requires the lifting of all restrictions imposed on those sectors, said the Euro-Med statement.

“Entering its 18th year, the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip reflects an abject moral and humanitarian failure on the part of all United Nations and international entities, who appear to be indifferent to the suffering of two million people being collectively punished in a confined and isolated area,” said Victoria Ceretti, a researcher at Euro-Med Monitor. “After 17 years of blockade, Gaza residents are not looking for limited and short-term measures to improve their living conditions, but rather for an end to all restrictions that prevent them from enjoying the same natural rights as those living outside the Strip.”

At least eight patients from the Strip, including three children, died in 2022 as a result of Israeli occupation authorities’ delays or refusals to grant them permits to exit through the Erez crossing for medical treatment. The report highlights the drastic decline in the health sector due to Israel’s blockade, with essential medicine supply dropping to 40%, medical consumables to 32%, and laboratory and blood bank supplies to 60%. Israeli authorities also prohibit the import of critical medical devices such as diagnostic medical imaging equipment, as well as the spare parts required to repair damaged medical devices.

The economic and productive sectors are facing complex crises due to Israeli import and export restrictions, with hundreds of factories closing and thousands of workers laid off as a result of raw material shortages and ongoing fuel and electricity crises. The fishing industry was also significantly harmed as a result of Israeli attacks and restrictions, whether by direct attacks on fishermen’s boats—which occurred at a rate of 30 attacks per month in 2022—or indirect attacks such as the ban on exporting fish from Gaza to the West Bank, which resulted in huge financial losses for fishermen.

From 2006 to 2022, Gaza’s agricultural sector suffered losses of approximately $1.3 billion as a result of the blockade and multiple Israeli military attacks; those who were affected received only 30% compensation. Throughout 2022, the electricity crisis in the Strip also persisted, with residents receiving power for only 12 hours a day in the best-case scenario. The availability of electricity is dependent on both the Kerem Shalom crossing staying open to import fuel (which Israel can close at any time for security reasons), as well as the continued funding for the fuel needed to run the Strip’s sole power plant; for years, Qatar has been providing funds for fuel.

Relevant international conventions expressly prohibit collective punishment and require the occupying power to meet the humanitarian needs of the occupied people without any political or security strings attached. Israeli authorities must lift all restrictions on the Gaza Strip, end the policy of collective punishment against the population, and refrain from using the security and political situation as an excuse to continue restricting the natural rights of Palestinians in the Strip, stressed Euro-Med Monitor.

All relevant UN and international parties must fulfill their duties in protecting Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, put pressure on the Israeli authorities to stop all forms of collective punishment, and require Israel as an occupying power to uphold all obligations towards Gaza’s population, as sanctioned by the relevant international norms, it added.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

The three Palestinian Arabic dailies published today, al-Quds, al-Hayat al-Jadida, and al-Ayyam, highlighted last night’s attack in a Jerusalem settlement that left seven Israelis dead.

Here are the main headlines of the three dailies:

Al-Hayat al-Jadida:

Seven settlers were killed in an operation in the Nabi Yaqoub settlement, the attacker, Khairy Alqam, was killed

The occupation forces injure dozens of Palestinians in the West Bank and the settlers riot

Widespread destruction of the belongings of prisoners transferred from Ramon prison to Gilboa

Greek Orthodox Patriarchate: We will prevent marches of extremist Zionist groups

The Jordanian monarch and the Canadian prime minister stress the importance of preserving the historical status quo in Jerusalem

OCHA launches a half-a-billion-dollar humanitarian appeal for occupied Palestine

Rage in the West Bank after the occupation’s massacre in Jenin and its refugee camp

UN calls for accountability for those responsible for the violations in the West Bank and for an immediate end to the occupation

Israeli police suppress a protest in Haifa against the Jenin massacre and arrest six demonstrators

An occupation plan to double the number of settlers and demolish Palestinian buildings in Area C

Al-Ayyam:

Seven Israelis were killed in a shooting attack in the Nabi Yaqoub settlement and the perpetrator was killed

Gaza: Israeli planes attack several sites for the resistance

Two UN experts urge the international community not to tolerate the crimes of the occupation

Five civilians were wounded by a settler’s gunfire near the entrance to Beita

Settlers attack people and their property

Human Rights Council: Those responsible for violations in the West Bank must be held accountable

Arrests at a demonstration in Haifa, two protests in Umm al-Fahm and Tamra condemning the aggression against Jenin

A march in downtown Amman in support of Palestine

Dozens of injuries due to the occupation’s suppression of the Friday marches

Al-Quds

Seven Israelis killed in an operation in Jerusalem

Yousef Muheisen buried in al-Ram and injuries during confrontations and attacks in the West Bank

Jerusalemite died of an injury he sustained two days ago

Marches in Jordan and Lebanon in support of Jenin camp and Jerusalem

Israel Hayom: The Netanyahu government pledged to add half a million settlers in the West Bank and to demolish construction in Area C

Fierce battles between Ukrainians and the Russians in Vogledar

An international humanitarian appeal for half a billion dollars to support Palestine

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem condemned violent attacks by radical Israelis against Christian property in the New Gate area of Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday night and vowed to prevent marches by radical Israeli groups in the Old City.

“We will work to prevent the marches of Israeli radical groups,” said the Patriarchate in a statement, condemning “the violent attack carried out by members of Israeli radical groups targeting Christians in the New Gate area of the Old City of Jerusalem.”

The Patriarchate said that it “affirms that allowing members of such radical groups to freely march and roam around the neighborhoods of Jerusalem while armed and having declared criminal intentions, is considered as complicit in the attack and displays unwelcomed leniency with the criminals,” in reference to the Israeli police allowing the marches despite their open intent to harm Palestinians in the area.

A large group of Israeli settlers, carrying flags, chanting and shouting, entered the New Gate, one of the main gates of the Old City where mainly Christians live and have businesses, and started harassing tourists sitting at an Armenian-owned restaurant, destroying chairs and tables, and attacking other shops and residents in the area. Police, who were called to the scene, arrived an hour later but did not arrest anyone, according to sources.

The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem called for the “protection of the unarmed people of Old City from radical aggressors who aim to change the diverse character of the city of Jerusalem and its cultural and religious mosaic, determined to limit it to one character being their radical definition and depiction of what a Jewish character should be.”

It added: “The Patriarchate, along with the rest of the churches of Jerusalem, will resist with all their strength, by the mercy of the Lord, the goals of these radicals,” calling upon the Israeli authorities not to allow the repetition of such marches that led to attack on Christians in Jerusalem, and stressing that “it upholds its right to take the necessary legal action to prevent such violent marches from reoccurring.”

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Prior to his scheduled visit to the Middle East, a delegation of Arab American and Palestinian American leaders met with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken upon his invitation to discuss his upcoming trip to the region that starts on January 29, and which will include stops in Egypt, Israel, and Palestine, according to the Arab American Institute (AAI), one of the attendees of the meeting.

It said in a press release that the discussion focused on the Secretary’s agenda for his trip to the region, which has been upstaged by the recent Israeli undercover military raid in Jenin that resulted in the killing of nine Palestinians, including civilians.

Discussions in the meeting were serious, frank, and substantive, and allowed the Arab-American participants to express their concerns about US policy objectives and statements regarding the situation in Palestine, specifically the Israeli military assault in Jenin and the planned Israeli mass displacement of Palestinians from Masafer Yatta in the south of the occupied West Bank, said AAI. The group made it clear to the Secretary that the US has a responsibility to act to restrain Israel’s aggressive behaviors toward the captive Palestinian people.

Decades of US acquiescence to Israel’s policies of settlement expansion, land confiscation, home demolitions, and a range of other human rights violations have led to an Israeli sense of impunity and Palestinian despair. If the Administration is to fulfill its commitment to the equal worth of Israelis and Palestinians and their rights to security, prosperity, and dignity, the group insisted that the Secretary demonstrate firmness and resolve to rein in Israeli behavior.

Another central concern to the community is Israel’s ongoing efforts to gain admission to the US visa waiver program. Last year, Israel published military rules regarding its restrictions on visitors to the West Bank which make clear that American citizens are discriminated against in entry to the West Bank if they indicate an intention to visit Palestinians. Those visiting Israelis face no similar restrictions.

As to the Department of State’s highlighted objective of the trip as that of encouraging Israel’s integration in the region, the participants urged the secretary to ensure that the rights of Palestinians be protected in any US-supported regional integration projects. Recent polling on Arab public opinions shows widespread Arab rejection of normalization with Israel.

Finally, the community leaders emphasized their condemnation of antisemitism and hate crimes against the Jewish people and other vulnerable communities, including Arabs. They also expressed their deep concern with efforts to expand the definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israeli policies and behavior. This conflation, they warned, was nothing more than a heavy-handed attempt to silence legitimate criticism of Israel.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Illegal Israeli settlers today assaulted a group of Palestinian children in the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque, in the old town of Hebron in the southern West Bank, according to local sources.

Witnesses told WAFA that the fanatic settlers beat up a group of children outside the mosque and in the full watch of Israeli occupation soldiers, who did nothing to stop the assault.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property is commonplace in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli occupation authorities.

There are over 650,000 Israeli settlers illegally occupying portions of the West Bank in violation of international law and established norms prohibiting the relocation of the occupying power’s civil population to the land of the occupied.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Israeli occupation soldiers today opened direct fire in the direction of Palestinian journalists while covering an event at the entrance to the town of Beita, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. No one was hurt.

Wahaj Bani Moufleh, a journalist, told WAFA that while he and his colleague, Mohammad Sumrin, were preparing a report on the Israeli army’s closure of Beita entrance with cement boulders the soldiers shot live gunfire in their direction despite the fact that they were wearing vests that clearly indicate they were press.

Sumrin said a couple of soldiers first fired tear gas canisters at a group of youths then came to where they were and opened fire in their direction but over their heads.

The soldiers kept coming in their direction forcing them to pull back immediately and go into the town to avoid being hit, he said.

Last night, an Israeli settler opened fire and injured five people at Beita with live bullets.

Afterward, soldiers came to the area and instead of arresting the attacking settler placed the boulders at the entrance of the town, blocking the movement of people, even on foot.

Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors Israeli settlement activities in the north of the West Bank, warned that settlers have escalated their attacks against Palestinians.

“There are indications of settlers escalating their attacks and terrorism against Palestinians and their property,” he told WAFA.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

A Palestinian was injured today and many others suffered suffocation from teargas inhalation during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in the village of Majdal Bani Fadel, to the south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Ghassan Daghlas, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that the confrontations erupted after a group of settlers raided the village and embarked on attacking the local Palestinian residents. The settlers set at least six Palestinian-owned vehicles on fire.

He said the settlers also hurled an ambulance with stones in the village, causing partial damage to it and physically attacking two paramedics who were inside the ambulance. The two were hospitalized for medical treatment.

During the confrontations that followed the settlers’ attack, the Israeli soldiers fired live bullets and teargas canisters at the local Palestinian residents, and a Palestinian was directly hit and injured by a teargas canister.

Israeli settler violence against Palestinians and their property is commonplace in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli occupation authorities.

There are over 650,000 Israeli settlers illegally occupying portions of the West Bank in violation of international law and established norms prohibiting the relocation of the occupying power’s civil population to the land of the occupied.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

The Israeli occupation forces detained some 50 Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem since the attack last night that left seven Israelis and the Palestinian attacker dead, according to the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Commission.

It said that the arrests have overwhelmed its legal team who had to work constantly in order to follow up on the arrests.

It said that the detainees, who are held at the police detention centers in Jerusalem, will appear before the Magistrate Court tonight.

The detainees are mainly family members of the attacker from the Alqam family, including the mother of the attacker, as well as friends and others from different areas of occupied East Jerusalem.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Israeli occupation forces shut down several checkpoints tonight to the Palestinian traffic, as groups of extremist Israeli settlers rampaged at junctions to block the Palestinian traffic, according to local sources.

Ghassan Daghlas, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that the Israeli army shunt down Huwwara and Beit Furik checkpoints, south and southeast of Nablus, blocking access to the Palestinian traffic.

Meantime, groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones at several junctions in the occupied West Bank province of Jericho. No injuries were reported.

Earlier this night, extremist Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles near the village of Burin, to the south of Nablus.

Daghlas told WAFA that rampaging Israeli settlers hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles driving at Route 60 near the village, causing damage to some of them.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Extremist Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles tonight near the village of Burin, to the south of Nablus, according to local sources.

Ghassan Daghlas, a local Palestinian official, told WAFA that rampaging Israeli settlers hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles driving at Route 60 near the village, causing damage to some of them.

Almost every day, attacks by Israeli settlers are reported across the occupied West Bank.

Settler violence is a routine occurrence in the occupied territories, and is rarely prosecuted by the occupation authorities.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Israeli settlers tonight destroyed Palestinian-owned vegetable stands near the villages of Ein El-Beida and Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley, northeast of the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Mutaz Bisharat, a local Palestinian activist, told WAFA that a group of settlers destroyed three vegetable stands and their content belonging to Palestinian street vendors.

Tonight’s developments are the latest in a series of state-sponsored Israeli settler violence targeting defenseless Palestinian communities across the occupied territories.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

Groups of extremist Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian targets and blocked several roads across the occupied West Bank tonight in a series of attacks, encouraged by the far-right Israeli government.

In Ramallah province, rampaging settlers hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles at the Al-Taybeh junction, east of Ramallah. No injuries were reported.

Groups of settlers also rampaged through roads and harassed Palestinian drivers and passengers, including at the north entrance to Al-Bireh and at the roads leading to the towns of Sinjil and Kafr Nimeh in the province.

In Nablus province, the Israeli occupation army shunt down Huwwara and Beit Furik checkpoints, south and southeast of Nablus, blocking access to the Palestinian traffic.

Settlers also shut down a main section of Route 60 between the towns of Huwwara and Jit, both in Nablus province, to the Palestinian traffic.

In Salfit, Israeli settlers gathered at the road connecting the towns of Deir Ballout and Kafr Al-Dik, blocking the road to the Palestinian traffic.

In Tubas, Israeli settlers rampaged through Ein El-Hilweh junction and embarked on hurling stones at Palestinian vehicles crossing the junction.

In Jericho, groups of Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones at several junctions across the province. No injuries were reported.

Attacks were also reported in many other areas and points of friction across the occupied West Bank. No casualties were reported so far.

Tonight’s developments are the latest in a series of state-sponsored Israeli settler violence targeting defenseless Palestinian communities across the occupied territories.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency