Day: 2 February 2023

On their first visit to Gaza in 2023, European diplomats today called on Israel to end its 17-year-long blockade of the Gaza Strip.

During the visit, 15 European Union Heads of Mission met Palestinian Authority officials; inaugurated infrastructure projects; visited Jabalia Preparatory Girls School where they were briefed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), and visited Egyptian-funded reconstruction projects and a Turkish hospital treating cancer patients.

“Gaza remains a priority for the EU and its Member States. The humanitarian situation is of great concern. It is high time to end the closure of the Strip, achieve Palestinian reconciliation, and renewal of democratic legitimacy. The EU stands ready to support these critical processes,” said the EU Missions in a tweet.

Israel imposed a land, sea, and air blockade on the Gaza Strip, where over two million people live in dire conditions and over-crowded conditions and have lived through four devastating Israeli wars since 2006.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

The Israeli occupation forces today razed to the ground a residential structure and an animal barn near the Nabi Musa locality, to the south of Jericho in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.

Odeh Ali Rashida, a local Palestinian resident, told WAFA that an Israeli army force raided the locality and tore down the shack where his family lives, in addition to their livestock barn.

He said the Israeli forces also confiscated their belongings, including a trailer, solar panels, and an electric motor.

Meantime, Israeli occupation forces bulldozed about 15 stalls for Palestinian vendors selling antiques to tourists in Wadi al-Qelt tourist area, near Jericho, and stole their content.

The developments come amid an Israeli blockade on the city for the sixth day in a row, with roadblocks and checkpoints placed by the Israeli occupation authorities at all the entrances to the city, making it difficult for Palestinians to enter or leave the city without long delays and thorough searches.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency

President Mahmoud Abbas today mourned late Palestinian freedom fighter and author Yahya Rabah, who passed away this evening in the city of Ramallah, Palestine.

Born in 1941, Rabah held several leading positions at times throughout his struggle for our people and their just cause, including the position of the Director General of Radios in the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to brotherly Yemen, to name just a few.

In 2010, the Central Committee of the Fatah movement appointed him as Commissioner for Information and Intellectual Mobilization.

Source: Palestine News and Information Agency