18 feb 2017
A Palestinian police officer was seriously injured on Friday when a young citizen ran over him at a makeshift checkpoint near Zababdeh town, east of Jenin in the West Bank.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that 42-year-old Mahmoud Aissa, a police officer, was hit by a speeding vehicle as he was trying to stop it at a temporary roadblock near the Haddad tourist village.
They added that the vehicle flipped over on a road near al-Zababdeh town and its driver fled away after the police pursued him.
They noted that the reason behind the driver’s refusal to stop at the checkpoint was that he was afraid of being arrested because the car he was aboard was unauthorized.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that 42-year-old Mahmoud Aissa, a police officer, was hit by a speeding vehicle as he was trying to stop it at a temporary roadblock near the Haddad tourist village.
They added that the vehicle flipped over on a road near al-Zababdeh town and its driver fled away after the police pursued him.
They noted that the reason behind the driver’s refusal to stop at the checkpoint was that he was afraid of being arrested because the car he was aboard was unauthorized.
17 feb 2017
Empirical historical evidence combined with little common-sense are enough to tell us the type of future options that Israel has in store for the Palestinian people: perpetual apartheid or ethnic cleansing, or a mix of both.
The passing of the “Regularisation Bill” on 6 February is all we need to imagine the Israeli-envisaged future. The new law allows the Israeli government to retroactively recognise Jewish outposts built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land.
All settlements – officially recognised settlements and unauthorised outposts – are illegal under international law. The verdict has been passed numerous times by the United Nations and, more recently, pronounced with unmistakable clarity in UN Security Council Resolution 2334.
Israel’s response was the announcement of the construction of over 6,000 new housing units to be built throughout the Occupied Palestinian territories, the construction of a brand new settlement (the first in 20 years), and the new law that paves the way for the annexation of large swathes of the occupied West Bank.
Undoubtedly, the law is the “last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution”, but that is not important. It never mattered to Israel, anyway. The talk of a solution was mere smoke and mirrors as far as Israel was concerned. All the “peace talks” and the entirety of “peace process”, even when it was in its zenith, rarely slowed down the Israeli bulldozers, the construction of more “Jewish homes” or ended the unceasing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
Writing in Newsweek, Diana Buttu described how the process of building settlements is always accompanied by the demolition of Palestinian homes. 140 Palestinian structures were demolished since the beginning of 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories.
Since Donald Trump was sworn in as president of America, Israel has felt liberated from its obligation to doublespeak. For decades, Israeli officials spoke passionately about peace, and did everything in their power to hinder its attainment. Now, they simply do not care. Period.
They have perfected their balancing act simply because they had to, because Washington expected it, demanded it. But Trump had given them a blank cheque: do as you please; settlements are not obstacles to peace; Israel has been “treated very, very unfairly” and I will correct that historical injustice, and so on.
Almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated as president on 20 January, all masks came off.
On 25 January, the real Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced, dropping his act altogether, and declaring in enviable brazenness: “We are building, and we will continue to build” illegal settlements.
What more is there to talk about with Israel at this point? Nothing. The only solution that mattered to Israel is Israel’s own “solution”, always driven by blind American support, European uselessness and always imposed on the Palestinians and other Arab countries, by force if needed.
The guardians of the grand charade of the two-state solution, who shrewdly crafted the “peace process” and danced to every Israeli tune are now bewildered. They have been outed by Israel’s dreadful plans that shot their “solution” right between the eyes, leaving Palestinians to choose between subjugation, humiliation or imprisonment.
Jonathan Cook is right. The new law is the first step towards the annexing of the West Bank or, at least, most of it. Once small outposts are legalised, they would need to be fortified, (“naturally”) expanded and protected. The military occupation, in effect for 50 years, will no longer be temporary and reversible. Civil law will continue to apply to Jews in Occupied Palestinian Territories and military laws on occupied Palestinians.
It is the very definition of Apartheid, in case you are still wondering.
To meet the “security needs” of the settlers, more “Jewish-only” bypass roads will be constructed, more walls erected, more gates to keep Palestinians away from their land, schools and livelihood will be put up, more checkpoints, more suffering, more pain, more anger and more violence.
That is Israel’s vision. Even Trump is growing frustrated by Israel’s shamelessness and audacity. He called on Israel in an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper to “be reasonable with respect to peace”.
“There is so much land left. And every time you take land for settlements, there is less land left,” Trump said. He is backtracking on promises he made with regard to moving the US embassy and the unchecked expansion of the settlements and more, as he is realising that Netanyahu and his US supporters have led him to a cliff and are now asking him to jump.
But it matters little, anyway. Whether Trump holds on to his extremely pro-Israel position or reverts to a wishy-washy stance similar to that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, reality is unlikely to change – for only Israel is ultimately allowed to influence outcomes.
Israeli lawmakers’ approval of the bill is, indeed, an end of an era. We have reached the point where we can openly declare that the so-called “peace process” was an illusion from the start, for Israel had no intentions of ever conceding the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian leadership is hardly blameless in all of this.
The greatest mistake that the Palestinian leadership committed (aside from its disgraceful disunity) was entrusting the US, Israel’s main enabler, with managing a “peace process” that has allowed Israel time and resources to finish its colonial projects, while devastating Palestinian rights and political aspirations.
Returning to the same old channels, using the same language, seeking salvation at the altar of the same old “two-state solution” will achieve nothing but waste further time and energy.
But Israel’s humiliating options to the Palestinians can also be read in a different way. Indeed, it is Israel’s obstinacy that is now leaving Palestinians (and Israelis) with one option, and only one option: equal citizenship in one single state or a horrific apartheid and more ethnic cleansing.
In the words of former President Jimmy Carter: “Israel will never find peace until it permit(s) the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights.”
That Israeli “permission” is yet to arrive, leaving the international community with the moral responsibility to exact it.
– Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
The passing of the “Regularisation Bill” on 6 February is all we need to imagine the Israeli-envisaged future. The new law allows the Israeli government to retroactively recognise Jewish outposts built without official permission on privately-owned Palestinian land.
All settlements – officially recognised settlements and unauthorised outposts – are illegal under international law. The verdict has been passed numerous times by the United Nations and, more recently, pronounced with unmistakable clarity in UN Security Council Resolution 2334.
Israel’s response was the announcement of the construction of over 6,000 new housing units to be built throughout the Occupied Palestinian territories, the construction of a brand new settlement (the first in 20 years), and the new law that paves the way for the annexation of large swathes of the occupied West Bank.
Undoubtedly, the law is the “last nail in the coffin of the two-state solution”, but that is not important. It never mattered to Israel, anyway. The talk of a solution was mere smoke and mirrors as far as Israel was concerned. All the “peace talks” and the entirety of “peace process”, even when it was in its zenith, rarely slowed down the Israeli bulldozers, the construction of more “Jewish homes” or ended the unceasing ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.
Writing in Newsweek, Diana Buttu described how the process of building settlements is always accompanied by the demolition of Palestinian homes. 140 Palestinian structures were demolished since the beginning of 2017, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the Occupied Territories.
Since Donald Trump was sworn in as president of America, Israel has felt liberated from its obligation to doublespeak. For decades, Israeli officials spoke passionately about peace, and did everything in their power to hinder its attainment. Now, they simply do not care. Period.
They have perfected their balancing act simply because they had to, because Washington expected it, demanded it. But Trump had given them a blank cheque: do as you please; settlements are not obstacles to peace; Israel has been “treated very, very unfairly” and I will correct that historical injustice, and so on.
Almost immediately after Trump was inaugurated as president on 20 January, all masks came off.
On 25 January, the real Benjamin Netanyahu resurfaced, dropping his act altogether, and declaring in enviable brazenness: “We are building, and we will continue to build” illegal settlements.
What more is there to talk about with Israel at this point? Nothing. The only solution that mattered to Israel is Israel’s own “solution”, always driven by blind American support, European uselessness and always imposed on the Palestinians and other Arab countries, by force if needed.
The guardians of the grand charade of the two-state solution, who shrewdly crafted the “peace process” and danced to every Israeli tune are now bewildered. They have been outed by Israel’s dreadful plans that shot their “solution” right between the eyes, leaving Palestinians to choose between subjugation, humiliation or imprisonment.
Jonathan Cook is right. The new law is the first step towards the annexing of the West Bank or, at least, most of it. Once small outposts are legalised, they would need to be fortified, (“naturally”) expanded and protected. The military occupation, in effect for 50 years, will no longer be temporary and reversible. Civil law will continue to apply to Jews in Occupied Palestinian Territories and military laws on occupied Palestinians.
It is the very definition of Apartheid, in case you are still wondering.
To meet the “security needs” of the settlers, more “Jewish-only” bypass roads will be constructed, more walls erected, more gates to keep Palestinians away from their land, schools and livelihood will be put up, more checkpoints, more suffering, more pain, more anger and more violence.
That is Israel’s vision. Even Trump is growing frustrated by Israel’s shamelessness and audacity. He called on Israel in an interview with Israel Hayom newspaper to “be reasonable with respect to peace”.
“There is so much land left. And every time you take land for settlements, there is less land left,” Trump said. He is backtracking on promises he made with regard to moving the US embassy and the unchecked expansion of the settlements and more, as he is realising that Netanyahu and his US supporters have led him to a cliff and are now asking him to jump.
But it matters little, anyway. Whether Trump holds on to his extremely pro-Israel position or reverts to a wishy-washy stance similar to that of his predecessor, Barack Obama, reality is unlikely to change – for only Israel is ultimately allowed to influence outcomes.
Israeli lawmakers’ approval of the bill is, indeed, an end of an era. We have reached the point where we can openly declare that the so-called “peace process” was an illusion from the start, for Israel had no intentions of ever conceding the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem to the Palestinians.
The Palestinian leadership is hardly blameless in all of this.
The greatest mistake that the Palestinian leadership committed (aside from its disgraceful disunity) was entrusting the US, Israel’s main enabler, with managing a “peace process” that has allowed Israel time and resources to finish its colonial projects, while devastating Palestinian rights and political aspirations.
Returning to the same old channels, using the same language, seeking salvation at the altar of the same old “two-state solution” will achieve nothing but waste further time and energy.
But Israel’s humiliating options to the Palestinians can also be read in a different way. Indeed, it is Israel’s obstinacy that is now leaving Palestinians (and Israelis) with one option, and only one option: equal citizenship in one single state or a horrific apartheid and more ethnic cleansing.
In the words of former President Jimmy Carter: “Israel will never find peace until it permit(s) the Palestinians to exercise their basic human and political rights.”
That Israeli “permission” is yet to arrive, leaving the international community with the moral responsibility to exact it.
– Dr. Ramzy Baroud has been writing about the Middle East for over 20 years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a media consultant, an author of several books and the founder of PalestineChronicle.com.
16 feb 2017
A number of Palestinian homes and neighborhoods were flooded due to continuous rain in the besieged Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Ministry of Interior crews along with volunteers offered aid to the affected people.
Civil defense in Gaza announced that their crews carried out 40 missions of fire extinguishment, rescue, and first aid during the last 24 hours.
Seven fires were extinguished, ten homes were evacuated, and three cars that were stuck in sand were pulled out. The crews also removed a wall which was about to fall and transferred ten cases of the sick and wounded people to hospitals and medical centers, the civil defense elaborated.
The ministry, for its part, underlined that it follows a comprehensive plan for serving and rescuing citizens as well as for alleviating the damages resulting from the stormy weather conditions hitting the region.
Traffic police in Gaza warned drivers of driving at high speeds in order to avoid accidents and to preserve passengers’ lives.
Civil defense in Gaza announced that their crews carried out 40 missions of fire extinguishment, rescue, and first aid during the last 24 hours.
Seven fires were extinguished, ten homes were evacuated, and three cars that were stuck in sand were pulled out. The crews also removed a wall which was about to fall and transferred ten cases of the sick and wounded people to hospitals and medical centers, the civil defense elaborated.
The ministry, for its part, underlined that it follows a comprehensive plan for serving and rescuing citizens as well as for alleviating the damages resulting from the stormy weather conditions hitting the region.
Traffic police in Gaza warned drivers of driving at high speeds in order to avoid accidents and to preserve passengers’ lives.
11 feb 2017
A body belonging to an unidentified man in his 30s was found by the Israeli police on Friday afternoon near a cave in the mountainous area of Wadi Qelt, a valley between Jerusalem and Jericho.
Israel’s Channel 10 said the Israeli police refused to provide the media with details about the dead man and whether he was Palestinian or Israeli, noting that no one reported about a missing person.
The Israeli police launched an investigation to determine the circumstances behind the man’s death, the channel said, expressing its belief that there could be nationalistic motives behind his murder.
The channel noted that the same area had seen several such crimes before.
Israel’s Channel 10 said the Israeli police refused to provide the media with details about the dead man and whether he was Palestinian or Israeli, noting that no one reported about a missing person.
The Israeli police launched an investigation to determine the circumstances behind the man’s death, the channel said, expressing its belief that there could be nationalistic motives behind his murder.
The channel noted that the same area had seen several such crimes before.
7 feb 2017
Anonymous gunmen overnight Monday opened fire on a Palestinian citizen in al-Khalil’s northern town of Beit Ummar, in the southern occupied West Bank.
Reporting from al-Khalil, a PIC news correspondent said three gunmen driving a Mazda fired multiple bullet shots at 46-year-old Sakr Sadiq Abu Mariya.
At the time of the attack Abu Mariya was driving in the area en route to his family home in al-Habayel.
Abu Mariya did not sustain injuries in the attack while his car sustained material damage.
The assailants immediately fled the scene. A probe has been reportedly launched by the Palestinian Authority (PA) forces to track down the criminals.
Reporting from al-Khalil, a PIC news correspondent said three gunmen driving a Mazda fired multiple bullet shots at 46-year-old Sakr Sadiq Abu Mariya.
At the time of the attack Abu Mariya was driving in the area en route to his family home in al-Habayel.
Abu Mariya did not sustain injuries in the attack while his car sustained material damage.
The assailants immediately fled the scene. A probe has been reportedly launched by the Palestinian Authority (PA) forces to track down the criminals.
5 feb 2019
Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas Movement, declared the martyrdom of its field commander Mohammad al-Qoqa after he was injured Saturday evening in an accidental explosion during preparation works in al-Sudaniya area north of Gaza.
The spokesman of Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qudra revealed that martyr al-Qoqa, 37, died of his wounds after Saturday’s accident.
A score of Palestinians in Gaza Strip died in resistance preparation works carried out by Palestinian resistance factions in order to achieve readiness for any possible confrontation with Israeli forces.
The spokesman of Health Ministry Ashraf al-Qudra revealed that martyr al-Qoqa, 37, died of his wounds after Saturday’s accident.
A score of Palestinians in Gaza Strip died in resistance preparation works carried out by Palestinian resistance factions in order to achieve readiness for any possible confrontation with Israeli forces.
The Moroccan Commission to Support the Nation’s Causes slammed the Palestinian Authority (PA), chaired by Mahmoud Abbas, for handing over the al-Mascoubiya Church to the Russians.
PA police used teargas to disband hundreds of protesters in al-Sabta area and cordoned off the environs of the al-Mascoubiya church, after they declared it a closed military zone. Several protesters were also arrested on claims of inciting riots.
The decision by the PA to hand over a church built on Palestinian land to an envoy of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Occupied Jerusalem sparked widespread furor among the Muslim and Christian communities across the occupied Palestinian territories and overseas.
The forfeited church covers an area of 73 dunums of Islamic land in the southern occupied West Bank province of al-Khalil. It dates back to hundreds of years ago and has long been known as part of endowments offered by Tamim Ibn Aws al-Dari, one of the companions of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
The Moroccan Commission expressed its concern over the move, saying there is undeniable historical proof that Prophet Muhammad tasked his companion Tamim Bin Aws al-Dari, who was among the first people who adhered to Islam in Palestine, to use the land in favor of all generations of Muslims setting up roots in the area.
“The commission expresses its firm rejection of the decision by Mahmoud Abbas to hand over an Islamic property to the Russian missionaries,” the statement further read.
The commission called on Arabs and Muslims across the world to take urgent action as regards such an “unacceptable move.”
PA police used teargas to disband hundreds of protesters in al-Sabta area and cordoned off the environs of the al-Mascoubiya church, after they declared it a closed military zone. Several protesters were also arrested on claims of inciting riots.
The decision by the PA to hand over a church built on Palestinian land to an envoy of the Russian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission in Occupied Jerusalem sparked widespread furor among the Muslim and Christian communities across the occupied Palestinian territories and overseas.
The forfeited church covers an area of 73 dunums of Islamic land in the southern occupied West Bank province of al-Khalil. It dates back to hundreds of years ago and has long been known as part of endowments offered by Tamim Ibn Aws al-Dari, one of the companions of the Prophet of Islam, Muhammad.
The Moroccan Commission expressed its concern over the move, saying there is undeniable historical proof that Prophet Muhammad tasked his companion Tamim Bin Aws al-Dari, who was among the first people who adhered to Islam in Palestine, to use the land in favor of all generations of Muslims setting up roots in the area.
“The commission expresses its firm rejection of the decision by Mahmoud Abbas to hand over an Islamic property to the Russian missionaries,” the statement further read.
The commission called on Arabs and Muslims across the world to take urgent action as regards such an “unacceptable move.”
Palestinian police found a young Palestinian man suffering from a gunshot inside a vehicle on Saturday evening, at a crossroads near the village of Asira al-Shamaliyya north of Nablus in the northern West Bank.
Police spokesman Luay Irzeiqat told Ma'an that a police patrol stopped a vehicle for inspection and found among the passengers a 28-year-old suffering a gunshot wound in his back.
Initial investigations, according to Irzeiqat, revealed that the man was shot during a brawl inside Israel.
Irzeiqat said that the man had been "on the run" from police for several years after being sentenced in absentia to a 36-month prison sentence.
An ambulance was called to the scene take the injured man to hospital, who remained unidentified. Irzeiqat quoted doctors as saying the man's condition was moderate.
The passengers who were in the vehicle were arrested for questioning, according to Irzeiqat.
Police spokesman Luay Irzeiqat told Ma'an that a police patrol stopped a vehicle for inspection and found among the passengers a 28-year-old suffering a gunshot wound in his back.
Initial investigations, according to Irzeiqat, revealed that the man was shot during a brawl inside Israel.
Irzeiqat said that the man had been "on the run" from police for several years after being sentenced in absentia to a 36-month prison sentence.
An ambulance was called to the scene take the injured man to hospital, who remained unidentified. Irzeiqat quoted doctors as saying the man's condition was moderate.
The passengers who were in the vehicle were arrested for questioning, according to Irzeiqat.
4 feb 2017
The Popular International Committee for the Support of Gaza has said that the popular conference for the Palestinians abroad to kick off soon in Turkey will be a chance to renew allegiance to the land and the right of return.
“No matter how long it takes, victory will come as long as we uphold Palestine as our precious land and country that we will not compromise on,” Isam Yousef, head of the committee stated on Friday.
Yousef also described the conference as “an event to renew adherence to the path of liberation and the eternal capital of Palestine Jerusalem.”
He urged the participants in the conference to pass on the trust to the next generation and believe in the day when they return to Jerusalem and raise the Palestinian flags over its minarets and walls, and in every place of the liberated land.
Noted national Palestinian figures and citizens from over 20 countries around the world will participate in the two-day conference to be held on February 25, 2017.
“No matter how long it takes, victory will come as long as we uphold Palestine as our precious land and country that we will not compromise on,” Isam Yousef, head of the committee stated on Friday.
Yousef also described the conference as “an event to renew adherence to the path of liberation and the eternal capital of Palestine Jerusalem.”
He urged the participants in the conference to pass on the trust to the next generation and believe in the day when they return to Jerusalem and raise the Palestinian flags over its minarets and walls, and in every place of the liberated land.
Noted national Palestinian figures and citizens from over 20 countries around the world will participate in the two-day conference to be held on February 25, 2017.
