Violence / Raids / Clashes / Suppression of protests / Arrests
Israeli forces suppress West Bank marches
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — Israeli military forces suppressed nonviolent marches in the occupied West Bank on Friday, witnesses said. In Bil‘in, Israeli soldiers used live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters to suppress protesters. Activist Muhammad Adbi Abu Rahmeh was shot in the head with a rubber-coated bullet and taken to the Palestine Medical Center for treatment. Rahmen and Iyad Burnat, prominent activists from Bil‘in, were hit by tear gas canisters. The march began after Friday prayers and commemorated the anniversary of the Egyptian revolution against authoritarianism.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces suppressed a protest organized by the Palestinian National Initiative in the Hebron village of Susiya. Soldiers reportedly assaulted the secretary-general of the party, Mustafa Barghouthi, and other activists. Dozens suffered tear gas inhalation and four were detained. The coordinator of the Palestinian National Initiative in Hebron, Youssef Tmeizi, said the demonstration was part of a series of activities under the banner “If they chop down a tree, we will plant a hundred.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755986
‘We will hit your wife, your daughter, and your kids’
BEIT UMMAR, Occupied Palestine (ISM, Khalil Team) 22 Jan — Early Tuesday morning January 20, 2015 at 3:00 AM, Israeli occupation forces invaded the home of the Abu Maria family in the village of Beit Ummar. The occupation army used explosives to open the front door, surprising the sleeping family. This is the second violent night raid the family has experienced this week. Israeli soldiers were looking for Nidal, Ghassan, and Mohammed Abu Maria, three brothers who were summoned by the Israeli intelligence for questioning. The mother of the family, 42 years old, was attacked as soon as the invading soldiers entered the home. Her arms were violently jerked behind her back, and once she was tied up, she was beaten on her head, neck and arms. One of the family’s five sons, Mohye, 18 years old, was cut on his face, neck and fingers. The attacking soldiers demanded he tell them where his brothers were. The family’s father, Ahmed Abu Maria, has been imprisoned by the Israeli occupation forces for four months. The morning of the attack, Ahmed was taken into interrogation where Israeli investigators informed him that his family would be targeted that night. Ahmed related that he was told: “Tonight we will go to your family’s home. We will hit your wife, your daughter and your kids.” He was not allowed to warn or communicate these threats in any way to his family. The next day, Ahmed was allowed to contact his family and hear what happened to them during the night raid. The family describes this as psychological torture, designed to put pressure on the imprisoned father … During the violent invasion at the Abu Maria’s house, the occupation forces also searched the neighboring uncle’s home for the youths. When they did not find the boys there as expected, and the family refused to tell the authorities exactly where they were living, the occupation forces stole over 3000 NIS (approximately $760 USD) from the uncle. This money was his life savings; without it, he does not know how he will survive.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/01/we-will-hit-your-wife-your-daughter-and-your-kids/
Israeli troops briefly hold 4 youths in Hebron, set up checkpoints
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 24 Jan – Israeli troops stormed the southern West Bank city of Hebron early Saturday morning and apprehended four Palestinian teenage boys after raiding their homes in the city center. They were released several hours later. Palestinian security sources identified the detainees as Amjad Tariq Irfaiyya, 16, Hashim Nazeeh Dufish, 16, Muhannad Idrees, 17, and Hijazi Abd al-Jalil Deis, 16. Israeli troops also set up military checkpoints at the northern entrance to the city known locally as “Jurat Bahlas.” Checkpoints were also set near the towns of Sa‘ir and Halhul and al-Fawwar refugee camp. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli soldiers stopped Palestinian vehicles and checked ID cards of passengers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=756057
Palestinian youths clash with Israeli troops around Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 24 Jan — Clashes broke out Friday afternoon between Israeli forces and young Palestinian men in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Wadi al-Juz and al-Tur as well as the towns of Abu Dis and al-Ezariya in Jerusalem district, a local spokesman said. Hani Halabiya, a spokesman of resistance committees in Jerusalem district, told Ma‘an that fierce clashes broke out in Abu Dis and al-Ezariya during which Israeli troops detained five Palestinian youths. They were held in a police station in the Israeli settlement of Maale Addumim and in a military base known as al-Jabal (the mountain) for several hours before they were released. Rami Illariyya, a freelance journalist who was among the detainees, said more than 10 Israeli soldiers assaulted him and the other detainees. “They stopped me while I was doing my job in al-Ezariyya, beating me and kicking me violently, then they assaulted me again while I was held at Maale Addumim police station,” he explained. Clashes were also reported in al-Tur neighborhood on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem. Witnesses said Israeli troops showered houses in the area with tear gas which reached al-Maqasid hospital. The soldiers detained a young man near the hospital, beating him violently. Fifteen more youths were forced to squat in the middle of the street at a junction about 100 meters from the hospital. In Wadi al-Juz neighborhood, Israeli special forces broke in firing tear gas and stun grenades in the narrow alleys. No detentions or assaults were reported there.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=756038
Druze attacked by gang of Jews in Jerusalem after speaking Arabic
Ynet 23 Jan by Roi Yanovsky — A Druze student was brutally attacked by a group of ten Jewish men in Jerusalem on Thursday – reportedly after they heard that he was speaking Arabic. What Tommy Hasson‘s assailants did not know was that they were attacking a young man who had just completed his IDF service three months ago and recently moved to Jerusalem to study music. The men, who were wearing skullcaps, hit the 21-year-old Druze student and broke a glass bottle on him. Hasson was hospitalized suffering from bruises on his face and on the back of his head … President Reuven Rivlin, who knew Hasson from his days in the IDF, called Hasson’s father to show his support for the family. Hasson’s father, Ramzi, was shocked by the incident. “On a personal level I believed up until now that this is one nation – I never saw a difference between a Jew and a Druze. I believed and I will continue to believe in the future that this is the land of the Jewish nation – it has a right to live here. There was never doubt about this. I blame myself (and) I blame my Jewish friends for not doing enough to educate. To speak Arabic is not shameful – it does not make you a potential terrorist,” said Ramzi. Tommy’s brother, Julian, said: “A month ago two Druze police officers were murdered during terror attacks and now a Druze gets hit by Jews. When we were asked if we were scared that Tommy lives in Jerusalem we said no, because he lives next to Jews.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618430,00.html
Followup:
Bus driver who fought off terrorist recovering after life-saving surgery
Ynet 22 Jan by Yaron Kelner, Itay Blumenthal — The 62-year-old bus driver, Herzl Biton, who was seriously wounded in the Tel Aviv stabbing attack on Wednesday has regained consciousness and is on the road to recovery according to medical staff at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center. Despite progress in Biton’s condition, he is still attached to a respirator and in serious condition – he underwent emergency surgery. The veteran bus driver was repeatedly stabbed in the stomach which caused damaged to his inner organs. Along with Biton in the intensive care unit (ICU), is a 69-year-old woman, one of Biton’s passengers on Bus 40, who is in serious condition and still fighting for her life
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4617933,00.html
Israeli forces raid homes in Qalqiliya
[with photos] QALQILIYA (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — Israeli forces early Friday raided Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank and searched the homes of several Palestinians, a local resident told Ma‘an. Khalil Ibrahim al-Dura said that a number of Israeli soldiers and police dogs entered his home around 2:00 a.m. The soldiers ordered him to take every member of his family out of the house, then proceeded to “brutally” search [trash] each room, al-Dura said. After the soldiers finished searching, they moved to the home of his son-in-law, Salah Daoud al-Kafarneh, where they conducted a similar raid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755937
Settler runs over 5-year-old Palestinian near Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma ‘an) 23 Jan — A settler car ran over a five-year-old Palestinian child near Tulkarem on Friday, medics said. Yamen Nabil Mahmoud, five, from Shufa village was hit by the vehicle on a bypass road south of the West Bank city. The child was taken to a local hospital for treatment, where he is said to be in a moderate condition. The circumstances behind the incident are unclear. In December, a 10-year-old Palestinian boy was injured after an Israeli settler ran him over on the main road of the Palestinian village of Tuqu‘ south east of Bethlehem. Months earlier, a settler ran over two Palestinian children as they walked near near Ramallah, killing 5-year-old Einas Khalil.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755980
Report: Stones thrown at settler car in northern West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — Stones were hurled at a car belonging to Israeli settlers as they drove near the illegal settlement of Ofra in the northern West Bank on Friday, Israeli media reported. The Israeli news site Ynet said two Israeli settlers, a mother and a daughter, were lightly hurt when stones hit their car. They reached the entrance of the settlement, where they were treated by Israeli paramedics, and later went to the hospital. Israeli soldiers are searching the area, the Ynet report said.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=756005
Police: Car attempts to run over Israeli forces near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — A car tried to run over Israeli border guards at the Tappuah checkpoint south of Nablus on Thursday, Israeli police said. Spokeswoman Luba Samri said that a vehicle with two passengers drove towards border guards at high speed near the checkpoint, bypassing a queue of cars awaiting inspection. The car swerved into the path of Israeli forces, who fired warning shots before pursuing the vehicle. The car was later found abandoned and police say it was stolen.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755880
Soldiers open fire on Palestinian car near Nablus
IMEMC/Agencies 23 Jan by Saed Bannoura — Israeli soldiers opened fire, on Thursday evening, on a Palestinian car at the Huwwara military roadblock, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, allegedly after the driver failed to stop, and “attempted to ram a soldier.” Israeli media sources quoted an army spokesperson claiming a young Palestinian man was speeding towards the roadblock, and that the soldiers opened fire after the driver “failed to heed to the soldiers commands to stop.” The driver managed to escape unharmed, while the army claimed the car he was driving is a stolen vehicle. The soldiers are still searching for the driver, the army said. In related news, soldiers closed the Za’tara roadblock, south of Nablus, allegedly after shots were fired at the soldiers from a Palestinian car.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70332
Israeli forces interrogate worshipers after dawn prayer near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Israeli forces raided the northern West Bank village of Asira al-Shamaliya near Nablus Thursday morning and questioned several worshipers after they exited a mosque following dawn prayers. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli troops stormed the village and surrounded Abu Khalil Mosque as worshipers arrived for prayers around 5:30 a.m. The soldiers allowed all of the worshipers to enter the mosque, but when they left, the soldiers stopped eight of them for questioning … Israeli troops also broke into home of a local man named Anas Jamalan who was previously held as a prisoner in Israeli jails. They delivered a summons demanding that he appear at an Israeli military center for interrogation. Soldiers also entered and ransacked the homes of Ismat Shuli and Muhammad Sidqi Saadah during the raid.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755719
‘Isawiya leader receives death threat over activism
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – A Zionist organization has sent a Palestinian activist from the East Jerusalem town of al-‘Isawiya a letter threatening to kill him if he doesn’t leave the area. Hani Isawi, 63, said during a visit to the Ma‘an office in Bethlehem that he received a written letter in English from a purported Zionist organization calling itself Pulsa Di Noura. The letter, he said, asked him either to leave al-‘Isawiya or die. Isawi is a member of a local committee for defending the town’s lands. “Neither such a letter, nor the Israeli occupation’s practices, could push us to even think of leaving or cede a span of the hand of our land,” Isawi told Ma‘an. The citizens of al-‘Isawiya, he added, have been suffering seriously as a result of the tough practices and restrictions imposed by the Israeli municipality of Jerusalem on the one hand and the assaults and plots by the extremist Zionist groups on the other hand. Nevertheless, the residents are adamant to remain firm on their lands despite all restrictions and plots, he said. Isawi added that Israeli police had set up an almost permanent checkpoint at the western entrance to the town since the latest military offensive on the Gaza Strip. Police officers at this checkpoint search passersby almost every day using police dogs. The envelope in which the letter was sent to Isawi included seeds of citrus fruits. About two weeks ago, the mayor of Hebron and a school principal in the city received similar letters.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755457
Most Palestinians restrain themselves, despite Israel’s plunder / Amira Hass
Haaretz 22 Jan — Unlike a few individuals, they channel their wrath and loathing into nonviolent action like the BDS and ICC movements – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are deceiving the Israeli public, as usual. There is no need for “incitement” by Palestinian Authority officials or Israeli-Arab public figures to make a young Palestinian man stab a dozen or so people in a frenzy. There is no need for outside elements to encourage a young Palestinian man to carry out a revenge campaign at the risk of being killed or deprived of his freedom for many years. Whatever the life circumstances of Hamza Mohammed Hasan Matrouk, the anger, loathing and desire for revenge seething within him are all his. Nor is there a need for a particular “atmosphere.” The “atmosphere” was there all the time, from the moment Matrouk was born in the Tul Karm refugee camp, and even before. Its creators: the Israel Defense Forces, the Civil Administration, the Shin Bet security service, the Defense Ministry, the settlements and their inhabitants, the IDF’s watchtowers, the barbed-wire fences. “Atmosphere” is a misleading word. This is reality, a reality that Israeli Jews refuse to acknowledge even though it’s of their own making. After all, in democratic elections they voted the policy-makers in, and if they had wanted, they could have learned about the lives of non-Jews under the Israeli regime. If there is incitement, this is its source: the supremacy of a nation convinced it has the right to interfere in and sabotage the life of the inferior Palestinian nation — its future, past, economy, money, assets and family and social relationships.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.638375
[VID] Street talk: What do you think about home demolitions?
Israeli Social TV 23 Jan — Whenever there is a terrorist attack in Israel, somebody on the political level starts talking about demolishing the terrorist family’s home as punishment and deterrence. Social TV hit the streets of Tel Aviv and asked the public what they think, and put that against Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions chairman Jeff Halper.
http://972mag.com/vid-street-talk-what-do-you-think-about-home-demolitions/101754/
Prisoners / Court actions
Israel sentences and fines 14-year-old girl
Middle East Monitor 12 Jan — The Israeli military court in Ofer sentenced the imprisoned 14-year-old Malak Al-Khatib, from Betin in Ramallah, to two months in prison and fined her $1,528, the Ahrar Centre for the Study of Prisoners and Human Rights reported. Al-Khatib’s family told Ahrar, in an exclusive interview, that the court issued the sentence after striking a deal. Malak, an eighth grader in school, was arrested on December 31, near her school for allegedly throwing rocks at the occupation forces. Israel extended her detention twice and she was transferred to HaSharon Prison. The Director of the Ahrar Centre Fouad Al-Khafsh condemned the sentence saying he considered it unfair. He said the sentence does not take into account that Malak is a child who is already suffering psychologically due to her extended imprisonment. Al-Khafsh stated that the centre launched a campaign in cooperation with legal and media organisations to pressure authorities to release her. The charges against Malak include throwing rocks, obstructing the road and the possession of a knife. She has been imprisoned for 22 consecutive days.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/16489-israel-sentences-and-fines-14-year-old-girl
Israeli court releases guards suspected of shooting at Palestinians
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 22 Jan – An Israeli court Thursday released two security guards stationed at the illegal settlement of Itamar, southeast of Nablus, a day after their arrest under the pretext of firing at two Palestinians earlier in January. According to the Israeli Army Radio, the court decided to release two security guards, arguing that they ‘aimed at the open air and didn’t intend to shoot the two Palestinians.’ The security guards accompanied by the army earlier in January attempted to arrest four Palestinians and during the arrest the guards opened fire on two, injuring them. Fuad Al-Khafsh, the director of Ahrar center for prisoners’ studies and human rights, said ‘All of the Palestinians who were killed or injured [by Israelis] were released. [intended to be [‘All Israelis who kill or injure Palestinians are released’?] This promotes the killing of Palestinians by Israeli security guards with ease.’ The two Palestinians who were shot were sustained moderate injuries and the two then-suspects were referred to the Magistrate’s Court in Petah Tikva, East of Yaffa to extend their detention pending an ongoing investigation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=27652
9 youths still in police custody after Bedouin protests
BEERSHEBA (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Nine Palestinian citizens of Israel remain in detention in the wake of protests against the killing of two Bedouin men by Israeli police in the last 10 days, local activists said. Activists from the Negev told Ma‘an Thursday that they planned to take action if the detainees were not freed by police. Leaders of the Arab community in Negev, they added, should stand by the detainees because their only crime was to express opposition to “the violent treatment of Arabs in the Negev by Israeli police, which resulted in the killings of Sami al-Jaara and Sami al-Zayadnah.” A court in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba was scheduled Thursday to consider a request submitted by Israeli police to extend the remand of nine Arab teenagers and young men who were arrested. They were detained in the 24 hours following clashes which broke out in the majority-Bedouin city of Rahat amid the funerals of the two men … Lawyer Ben Berry told Ma‘an that he was worried Israeli police and the prosecution might apply a newly-approved Israeli law which allows judges to impose heavy punishment on those found throwing stones. He highlighted that several lawyers and human rights activists such as al-Mizan would volunteer to plead on behalf of the detainees, though some of them had also hired private lawyers.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755713
Israeli forces free sick Palestinian prisoner from Beit Ummar
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Israeli authorities on Wednesday evening released a sick Palestinian prisoner who was being held at Ofer detention center, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said. In a statement, the group said that Jaafar Awad, 23, from Beit Ummar north of Hebron, was transferred in a Palestinian ambulance to al-Ahli hospital in Hebron. He had been suffering from pneumonia as well as diabetes and gland problems for the last two months, and was being kept at Assaf Harofeh hospital by prison authorities in Israel. He was welcomed outside Ofer detention center on Wednesday by a number of his family members in addition to Qaddura Faris, the chairman of the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, and the group’s general manager Abdul-al al-Anani. As Awad arrived at al-Ahli hospital, large numbers of Beit Ummar residents awaited him outside as well as the president of the Palestinian Department of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe, Minister of Health Jawad Awwad and a number of other local officials. Israeli authorities freed Awad after an appeal submitted by the director of the Prisoners’ Society’s legal department. An Israeli court on Wednesday approved the prisoner’s release after more than 14 months of imprisonment beginning in Nov. 2013. The court stipulated that as a condition of his release he pay a fine of 40,000 shekels ($102,000) and be placed under probation for 18 months.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755699
Palestinian man enters 34th year in Israeli detention
IMEMC/Agencies 21 Jan — World Bulletin reports, via Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, that Maher Younis, who hails from the northern Israeli town of Arara, has now completed his 33rd year in an Israeli jail, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. PPS said that Younis was arrested in 1983, as part of a group of other people arrested prior to the signing of the Oslo Accord between Palestinians and Israelis, in 1993. The accord calls for the release, at the end of March, 2014, of Palestinian prisoners, but Israel has refused to honor this requirement, further impeding and ultimately suspending peace talks with the Palestinians. Younis, now 57 years old, is the second longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails. Another prisoner, Karim Younis, was jailed earlier in the same year. Both prisoners are currently serving a life sentence at Hadarim Detention Center in northern Israel, PPS further stated. Maher is accused of belonging to the Palestinian political faction Fateh, of killing an Israeli soldier and of possessing a weapon. Karim Younis is accused of killing an Israeli soldier. Israel had agreed to release Palestinian prisoners detained before the 1993 Oslo Accord in return for a refrain, by the Palestinian Authority, from seeking membership in the United Nations and other international institutions. The Israeli government, however, has refused to release the prisoners, saying they held Israeli nationality and are, thus, technically Israeli citizens and subject to different laws.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70319
Nice story (we need one)
Israeli settler and Palestinian cooperate to save horned owl
[with video, photos] Ynet 23 Jan by Erez Erlichman — Settlement security guard Yosef Eliyahu found an injured owl and was joined by Palestinian Eyad Beduwan to rescue the rare bird of prey — In the early hours of Tuesday morning Yosef Eliyahu, a security guard at the Har Adar Israeli settlement, was driving along his routine security route when he spotted what he thought at first was a beautiful statue of a bird – but at closer observation he saw that the statue was actually a horned owl which was unable to take flight due to an injury. “I saw that it had a string that got tied up in its wing. It was the first time that I saw a bird of prey that was so large,” Eliyahu continued … Eliyahu, who lives in the Nes Harim Moshav, has been working as a security guard at the Har Adar settlement for give years. After notifying the West Bank’s parks and recreation manager of his find, Eyad Beduwan, a Palestinian who lives in one of the adjacent villages and works at the operations unit at the local council, was called in to help save the horned owl. “First, Eyad and I furthered away curious onlookers so that they would not scare the owl. The plastic string was very strong, and got tangled up in its wing. In the beginning, it was hard to see the string but in the end Eyad and I were able to release it and we put (the owl) in a box until parks and recreation came to get him.”We see a lot of nocturnal birds in the area but they are usually smaller and I’m happy we could help him,” said Eliyahu … The horned owl [one commenter claims it’s an eagle owl] was kept at the hospital for a day and then released back to his natural habitat. After the rescuers took off the towel wrapping the owl, it spread its wings and disappeared into the night.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618380,00.html
Gaza
Israeli forces fire on Gaza fishermen, injuring one
IMEMC/Agencies 21 Jan — Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian fisherman in Gaza on Wednesday, according to the head of a local union. Nizar Ayyash told Ma‘an News Agency that Atef Muhammad Baker, age 19, was shot in the foot after the Israeli navy opened fire on fishing boats off Gaza’s northern coast. The fishermen were again within the Israeli-imposed fishing zone at the time of the incident, Ayyash added. However, an Israeli army spokesperson claimed that several vessels deviated from the designated fishing zone, with Israeli forces opening fire after they failed to respond to warning shots. Baker was taken to hospital for treatment.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70318
Israeli navy opens fire on Gaza fishing boats
IMEMC/Agencies 22 Jan — Israeli navy ships opened fire, on Thursday at dawn, on a number of Palestinian fishing boats in the Sudaniyya Sea, northwest of Gaza City, and forced the fishers back to shore. Eyewitnesses said the navy ships chased small Palestinian fishing boats, and fired several rounds of live ammunition, causing damage but no injuries. The boats were within the six nautical miles allocated for the Palestinians for fishing, but the navy frequently attacks within this zone, and in many cases while [the boats are] still docked on the Gaza shore. The fishers had to sail back to the shore without being able to fish and provide daily bread for their families. The attack comes one day after Israeli navy vessels opened fire on Palestinian boats in the same area, moderately wounding two fishermen who were moved to the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The current six-nautical-mile fishing zone falls drastically short of the twenty nautical miles allocated to Palestinian fishermen under 1993 Oslo Accords.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70325
Egyptian navy shoots, injures Gaza fisherman
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — Egyptian naval forces on Friday shot and injured a Palestinian fisherman that allegedly entered Egyptian waters south of Gaza, officials in Egypt said. Egypt’s navy spotted a Palestinian boat with two fishermen crossing into its territorial waters off the coast near Sheikh Zuweid in northern Sinai. Naval forces demanded that it stop, but the fishermen continued to flee the area and Egyptian forces opened fire. Ihab Zuheir Hassan al-Amuri, 35, was shot in the stomach while the other unidentified fisherman was arrested and taken for interrogation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755933
Egypt frees 45 Gazans imprisoned after trying to flee to Europe
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Egyptian authorities on Wednesday evening released 45 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip who had been in custody for several months after they crossed into Egypt without documents hoping to travel by sea to Europe. Sources in the Interior Ministry of the former Hamas-run government told a Ma‘an reporter in Gaza City that the freed detainees were transferred to the Gaza Strip Wednesday after spending several months in Egyptian prisons. The majority of the detainees were arrested after they crossed into Egypt without documents but were unable to leave for Europe by sea. About three weeks ago, another group of Gazan detainees were freed from Egyptian custody under similar circumstances. Thousands of Gazans are thought to have escaped via tunnels to Egypt in order to flee the nearly two-month Israeli offensive that left more than 2,000 dead and 110,000 homeless in the tiny coastal enclave. Egyptian authorities have in recent months promised to crack down on the flow and have arrested record numbers of Palestinians fleeing Gaza. But the devastation wreaked by the Israeli bombardment and the continued siege have dimmed Gaza’s economic prospects for the near future, and even as Egypt continues to crack down on movement of goods and people through tunnels, the tide is likely to continue. 2014 saw a surge in the numbers of migrants attempting to make the hazardous crossing from across North Africa and the Middle East to Europe. The UN’s refugee agency UNHCR said in mid-December that 384,000 people had tried the crossing since the beginning of the year, of whom more than 4,000 died while attempting the journey.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755688
Egypt closes Rafah crossing
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Egyptian authorities on Thursday closed the Rafah crossing after it had been temporarily opened for three days. Palestinian crossing officials told Ma‘an that 830 Palestinians in Gaza used the crossing, which was reopened on Tuesday. There was no indication from Egypt when it will be reopened again. The crossing has been closed almost completely — save for a few days — since it was closed in October after an attack on Egyptian police by militants in Sinai. The Palestinian Ministry of Internal Affairs says over 25,000 humanitarian cases are on a waiting list to use the crossing for medical treatment and to continue their studies abroad.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755876
somewhat different numbers, although quite inadequate in either case:
Egypt re-closes Rafah crossing after allowing 1507 passengers to leave Gaza
PNN/Gaza 23 Jan — Egyptian authorities re-closed Rafah crossing on Thursday evening after opening it exceptionally for 3 days to allow humanitarian cases to cross. Border Crossing Commission in Gaza reported in a statement on Thursday that 1507 passengers were allowed to leave Gaza through Rafah crossing during the 3 days. including patients, students, and foreign passport holders. The commission added that 5-6 travel buses were allowed to cross the border per day. The commission also stated that 1220 citizens that were stuck on the Egyptian side of the border were finally allowed to enter Gaza, while the Egyptian Authorities without stating any valid reasons prevented 114 citizens from traveling during the 3 days period.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/politics/9051-egypt-re-closes-rafah-crossing-after-allowing-1507-passengers-to-leave-gaza
PA embassy: Hamas prevented students from leaving Gaza
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 23 Jan — The Palestinian Authority embassy in Cairo on Friday accused Hamas of preventing students in Gaza from leaving the territory after Egypt reopened the Rafah crossing for three days this week. The embassy said that Hamas prevented 115 Palestinian students studying abroad from leaving Gaza, claiming that they did not have coordination to cross. The students had received approval to cross from Egypt, the embassy said, but Hamas authorities accused the embassy of failing to coordinate their permits.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755957
Gaza children protest Israeli siege
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Dozens of Palestinian children protested against the Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip at the coastal enclave’s port on Wednesday, hoping to highlight the effects of a blockade entering its eighth year. “We are here to remind the world to uphold its responsibilities and open the Rafah crossing to Gazans,” Israa Khalil, one of the protesters, told Ma‘an, noting that all six of the other border crossings connecting Gaza to the outside world are closed. Khalil added that even Rafah is “constantly closed and is only open under what is called ‘good intentions.'” She also expressed her hopes that Gazan children would be able to live decent lives like children in other parts of the world. The protest came as part of a series of rallies across the Gaza Strip designed to draw attention to the Israeli siege and how it has prevented the reconstruction of Gaza in the wake of Israel’s 50-day summer war that destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755604
175 tons of UAE aid set to enter Gaza via Egypt
CAIRO (Ma‘an)21 Jan — Egyptian authorities on Wednesday were preparing to ship large quantities of humanitarian aid from the United Arab Emirates to the Gaza Strip. An Egyptian security official told Ma‘an in Cairo that 175 tons of humanitarian aid from the UAE arrived Tuesday evening at El-Arish in North Sinai district. The shipment includes food, medicines and medical equipment. The cargo was then shipped to the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing to be delivered to the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, 30 tons of humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia were delivered to the Gaza Strip as well as 13 packages of medical aid from the Egyptian Red Crescent Association. The shipment was under the supervision of the UAE Red Crescent.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755514
UN says cash to repair Gaza homes will run out by end-month
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) 22 Jan by Astrid Zweynert — The U.N. agency in charge of aiding Palestinians will run out of money by the end of January to repair homes in Gaza damaged in the 2014 war with Israel, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation, an agency spokesman said on Thursday. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said it had received only $135 million of an estimated $720 million needed to rebuild and repair destroyed and damaged homes and for rent subsidies for people made homeless by the conflict. “Because of this shortfall, we’re going to be forced to suspend the program by the end of the month,” UNWRA spokesman Christopher Gunness told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “Our concern is the humanitarian impact this would have on the people of Gaza,” he said by telephone from Jerusalem … More than 14,000 people driven from their homes by the conflict still live in schools run by UNWRA, while others live in makeshift shelters or prefabricated housing units, or homes so badly damaged that they are exposed to the elements.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/22/us-gaza-aid-reconstruction-idUSKBN0KV20920150122
In Photos: Gaza’s shattered families
EI 20 Jan by Anne Paq — Ibrahim Kilani, his wife, Taghrid, and their five young children all perished in a single Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City residential tower last summer. Ibrahim was an architect who had spent more than twenty years in Germany. Except for Taghrid, the family all had German passports. But this did not protect them from the strike, and Germany has made no visible effort to seek justice on its slain citizens’ behalf. Ibrahim and his family were not killed in their home in the northern town of Beit Lahiya but in a flat they rented in Gaza City. They thought they would be safer there. After all, they were only following the instructions of the Israeli army, which had dropped leaflets in their area instructing residents to flee to Gaza City. When I visited the family’s Beit Lahiya flat in September 2014, it was still full of their personal belongings, as if they left the place for just a little while. Blueprints of Ibrahim’s latest plans still lay on his desk. – Entire families killed – The Kilanis were not the only family to be wiped out in Gaza last summer. According to the United Nations monitoring group OCHA, 142 families lost at least three members in Israel’s military assault. During the terrifying nights of bombings, families typically gathered in a single room. There was a high probability that a large number of people from the same family would be killed in direct strikes.
http://electronicintifada.net/content/photos-gazas-shattered-families/14197
One family, three dead, three maimed: ‘Black Friday’ in Gaza
Ynet 24 Jan by Elior Levy — The al-Namlah family fled the intense fighting that followed Hamas’ truce violation and abduction of an IDF soldier during the summer war, but they did not get far enough — … Several Palestinian residents of the southermost Gaza city of Rafah were wounded that morning – a large portion of them had no relation to the fighting, yet found themselves out of luck due to their close proximity to the area where the incident occurred. Very little has been reported in the Israeli media on those Palestinian residents and hell they endured that day. Wael al-Namlah, 26, a married father of two, was one of those unlucky Palestinians. That same Friday morning, al-Namlah and his family were optimistic following a ceasefire announcement, and could not predict the terrible violence that was still to come. “During those days, my sister, brother and his family stayed with us because they were scared and we wanted to be close to one another,” al-Namlah tells Ynet. The explosions that came in the aftermath of the [Goldin] incident happened close to the al-Namallah home, and soon after two artillery or tank shells landed nearby. Debris from the explosions hit the entrance to their building and the stairwell. “The children began to cry and shake,” says al-Namlah. “We realized that we needed to flee, to get far away. We picked up the children and left the building. There were more people in the street. “You run as a group – everyone and his family – and you see others escaping too,” he says.“You see the hysteria of the children, destruction, and mushroom clouds, and you try to get as far away from them as you can. “The family managed to get 600 meters away from their home when they heard an explosion. Two rockets launched from IAF aircraft hit the family. “It was a direct hit. Not next to us, not on a car, not on a home. The rockets hit us,” he says. The outcome was catastrophic. Al-Namlah’s 11-year-old sister Nagham, his brother Yusef and Yusef’s wife were all killed. Two of his brother’s children were seriously wounded. Al-Namlah had one leg blown off, as did his three-year-old son Sharif. His wife Asraah lost both of her legs. Al-Namlah’s daughter Shahd suffered multiple burns – but she was the only family member who did not have any limbs severed … “We need help to get out of Gaza and receive medical treatment anywhere possible, because in Gaza the hospitals are unable to take care of us,” says al-Namlah, who is now in a wheelchair.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4618203,00.html
Report: Summer assault on Gaza caused more civilian deaths
IMEMC/Agencies 22 Jan — A new report has found that Israel’s indiscriminate military offensive during its latest war on the besieged Gaza Strip, this past summer, caused more civilian casualties than previous acts of aggression against the coastal enclave. The report, which was partly commissioned by Physicians for Human Rights and conducted by eight independent medical experts, showed that the Israeli regime did not differentiate between military targets and civilian populations during its latest assault on Gaza, according to Press TV/Al Ray. “Attacks were characterized by heavy and unpredictable bombardments of civilian neighborhoods,” said the 237-page report, which was published on Tuesday … The Israeli military failed to give adequate warning for Palestinians to leave residential areas before assaulting them, the report said, adding that the Tel Aviv regime’s “early warning” procedures were not consistent and, often, did not give enough time for evacuation. The report also pointed to suspected violations of humanitarian law and indiscriminate attacks which left medical workers dead, and urged a full investigation into the 50-day offensive. The study was based on visits to the Palestinian territory during and after the Israeli aggression. It also used interviews with 68 people who suffered injuries during the war, as well as autopsies on nearly 400 people killed and the review of medical files.
http://www.imemc.org/article/70329
Gaza to stop importing poultry from West Bank, Israel
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday decided to stop importing poultry and other livestock from the West Bank and Israel via the Kerem Shalom crossing following an outbreak of bird flu. Zakariya al-Kafarneh, General Director of the Veterinary Services of the ministry, told Ma‘an that the decision was made to protect against the spread of bird flu to the coastal territory. Gaza is nearly entirely self sufficient in poultry, producing enough chickens for 90 percent of local demand, while 10 percent is imported, he added.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755838
Gaza water desalinization plants cause severe health risks
GAZA CITY 22 Jan by Rasha Abou Jalal — The lack of supervision over water desalination plants and the Israeli siege contribute to the contamination of drinking water available to Gaza’s residents — The poor supply of water in the Gaza Strip has pushed many unemployed to establish water desalination plants; the water is then distributed to households in private tank trucks. These plants have become the only choice for drinking water for many Gazans, at a time when the political situation and repeated wars have hindered the completion of all international projects aimed at meeting Gaza’s need for drinking water. Ali al-Mabhouh, owner of a water tank truck in the Nasr neighborhood in western Gaza City, said that his work has saved him from unemployment as he is the only provider of his family of four. “I work at a private desalination plant, EQWA, along with 60 other workers, and we distribute desalinated water in our private tank trucks to homes,” he told Al-Monitor … Mohamed Rizk, the owner of a water desalination plant in northern Gaza, told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that many plants are operating illegally, without any regulation on the desalinated water that is being sold to citizens. “There is a lack of supervision over desalination water plants and some of them are illegally established. These stations are not only selling unhealthy water, but they are also depleting groundwater in unlimited quantities, and dispose of their waste in a nonenvironmental manner by burying it in the sand or dumping it into the sea, thus contaminating soil and seawater,” Rizk told Al-Monitor … For his part, Tibi confirmed again that many problems mar the water desalination process. “After desalination, the water becomes unhealthy and demineralized with a microbiological pollution rate of 18%, which could cause many diseases for consumers in the long run, including kidney disease and osteoporosis,” he said. The European Union and UNICEF opened in March 2014 a project to build a desalination plant to turn seawater into fresh drinking water in the Gaza Strip, at a cost of an estimated 10 million euros ($11.7 million) … Palestinians are eagerly waiting for the completion of these stations to be finally able to consume fresh drinking water. However, Sheblak fears that these projects have a long way to go given the acute electricity crisis plaguing the Gaza Strip.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/gaza-drinking-desalinated-water-contamination.html
Charlie Hebdo finds support in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Al-Monitor) 20 Jan by Asmaa al-Ghoul — The victims of the Charlie Hebdo attack found sympathy in Gaza, until Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participated in the Paris unity march and the magazine published a cover with a depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. Gaza remembers the entire world, but the world does not remember Gaza. This is what went through my mind when I saw Facebook users from the Gaza Strip declaring their solidarity with French magazine Charlie Hebdo. Many have condemned the storming of the magazine’s headquarters and the killing of cartoonists in the name of defending Islam since the incident occurred on Jan. 7. Youth activist Mohammed Matar, known as Abu Yazan, wrote on his Facebook page: “As a Muslim, I find the murder of innocent people more despicable and offensive than any cartoon could ever be.” In addition, a photo circulated on social networking sites showing a group of children in Gaza holding signs in solidarity with Paris, as well as another photo of a girl from Gaza carrying a sign that read: “Not in my name.” Activist Majed Abusalama uploaded a picture that read “Je suis Charlie” on his Facebook page, along with poignant words condemning the killing of innocent people. Everyone expects puritanical reactions from Gaza because it is under the rule of Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement. However, its reaction this time was exactly the opposite. Gaza’s experience with three wars in seven years, during which thousands have lost their lives due to the Israeli war machine, is enough for it to feel solidarity with others. Hamas itself published a statement on Jan. 10 condemning the Charlie Hebdo incident
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/charlie-hebdo-gaza-palestinian-solidarity.html
Gaza’s brain drain
GAZA CITY (Al-Monitor) 21 Jan by Mohammed Othman — Hamas officials see the flight of professionals and talented youth from the Gaza Strip as part of a systematic Israeli policy to empty the territory of skilled citizens through siege and regular wars — …Some news reports claim that thousands of Gazans emigrated last year, including advanced degree holders, most recently a group of cardiac and neurosurgeons. Al-Monitor contacted several governmental and international agencies to obtain accurate statistics on emigrants from the Gaza Strip over the past year or earlier, but they all said that they have not kept records.“I communicated with a Canadian lawyer who told me that there are hundreds of immigration applications from Gaza to Canada, and all the applicants are the best minds and competencies. And it is well known that Canada opens the door to those, and I am one of those who applied to immigrate to Canada,” Otal said. Otal said that a committee on Gaza youth issues distributed a questionnaire throughout Gaza to collect young people’s opinions on immigration. It found that more than 90% of Gaza youth wish to emigrate from the Gaza Strip.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/gaza-brain-drain-war-siege-palestinian-division.html
Hamas lawmaker accuses PA of ‘attempting to make Gaza kneel’
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 Jan – A Gaza-based Hamas lawmaker on Saturday accused the Palestinian Authority of aggravating the suffering of Gaza residents by adding enormous taxes on the fuel which runs its sole power plant. In a statement, Atif Udwan, who chairs an economic committee in the Palestinian parliament, said the PA adds 130 percent tax “to enrich its budget at the expense of Gaza and its pains and blackout.” Udwan even accused the PA of “being a direct partner with the Israeli occupation Gaza blockade and suffering as a punishment to the residents for their support to resistance.” The defiant lawmaker added that the firm will and resolution of the Gaza resistance would foil “PA attempts to make Gaza kneel.” These attempts, he added, are practiced through intensifying blockade, closing crossings, escalating the power crises, refusing to pay salaries and impeding the reconstruction process.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=756065
Unidentified assailants blow up Fatah leader’s car in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 22 Jan — Unidentified assailants blew up a car belonging to a Fatah leader in Gaza City early Thursday. Witnesses told a Ma‘an reporter that a vehicle belonging to Ahmad Alwan went up in flames after a flammable substance was poured on it. Palestinian police subsequently arrived at the scene of the incident and launched an investigation. The incident is the latest in a series of attacks on the cars and homes of Fatah leaders in the Gaza Strip, where many are angry over the failure of the Fatah-dominated PA to hold Israel accountable for its promises to ease the blockade. The incidents have triggered angry exchanges between Hamas and Fatah leaders, potentially endangering the unity government that was agreed upon in April after seven years of political division between the West Bank and Gaza.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=755717
Gaza bombings deepen Hamas-Fatah rift
Al-Monitor 21 Jan by Adnan Abu Amer – Fatah believes Hamas is behind the recent spate of explosions in the Gaza Strip in an effort to add pressure on the Palestinian unity government — Several security incidents took place Jan. 9 in the Gaza Strip — including the bombing of a Bank of Palestine ATM in Gaza City, the destruction of the bank’s surveillance cameras in the Deir al-Balah branch in central Gaza, the bombing of a generator that provides electricity to the residence of government spokesman Ihab Bseiso and the robbery of a storehouse belonging to the telecommunications company. These bombings were followed by phone threats to several government ministers Jan. 10, saying, “It is only you who bear responsibility for Abbas’ gang’s mockery, and before you crush the heart of 50,000 employees we will crush yours.” … Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri condemned the incidents on Jan. 9, viewing them as tampering with the Palestinian institutions and security. Zuhri demanded that security agencies unmask and bring the perpetrators to justice … Fatah is unconvinced by Hamas’ condemnations, instead considering Hamas responsible for the incidents, as it is the only party in charge of security in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/01/gaza-explosions-hamas-fatah-division.html
Restrictions on movement
West Bank victims stand before UN probe committee in Amman
AMMAN (PIC) 22 Jan — A UN inquiry committee has summoned Palestinian victims to the Jordanian capital Amman to listen to their testimonies about their exposure to violations in the West Bank during Israel’s last war on the Gaza Strip. The victims were taken to Amman in cooperation with human rights and media organizations after the Israeli occupation authority did not allow the committee to enter the occupied Palestinian territories. The committee held sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday to listen to the victims and document what had happened to them during that period. The committee is a team of human rights experts led by Canadian lawyer William Schabas.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=69768
‘Deliver the bride to the groom, President Abbas’
Middle East Monitor 23 Jan — A social media campaign has been launched by a young Palestinian and his fiancée to bring their situation to public notice. “Deliver the bride to the groom, President Abbas” is a heartfelt call on officialdom to allow the couple to be together. For four years, Rashed and Dalia have been unable to complete their marriage ceremony due to the policy that separates Gaza from the West Bank. Their story has been played out in Nablus’s high mountains in the occupied West Bank and the alleyways of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The sea brought the couple together years ago, but then politics cut them off from each other. “The crossings are closed, everything is closed,” said Dalia, “and there are no open windows