Israel still holding Gazan detainee without trial after one year
Haaretz 8 July by Chaim Levinson — Explosives expert Sami Najar, who the Shin Bet says is a potential danger to national security, is the only one left in detention out of over 100 Gazans arrested last summer — … The Shin Bet security service says Najar remains in administrative detention because he has exceptional knowledge about building explosive devices. For now, it is not known when he will be released … Najar’s case is similar to that of Dirar Abu Sisi, a commander of the Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of Hamas), who was arrested in 2011 [on a train in Ukraine] and brought to Israel under unclear circumstances. An electrical engineer by profession, Sisi apparently helped Hamas to develop missiles that could penetrate IDF armored vehicles. As opposed to Najar, however, Sisi was tried and convicted in Be’er Sheva District Court, in March, for a long list of security offenses as part of a plea bargain. He was found guilty of various weapons charges and for belonging to an illicit organization, planning to commit murder and participating in the activities of a terror group. Sisi has yet to be sentenced, but the prosecution is apparently going to ask for a 21-year jail term.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.664847
Violence / Reprisals / Arrests — West Bank & Jerusalem
Israeli forces injure 1, detain another near Ramallah
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 July — Israeli forces shot and injured a 16-year-old Palestinian with a rubber-coated steel bullet as they raided the al-Jalazone refugee camp in northern Ramallah on Tuesday. Locals identified the teen as Baraa Muhammad al-Rimhi. Israeli forces also raided several homes in the refugee camp and detained Muhammad Safi, 20.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766367
Israeli extremists assault 3 Palestinian men in East Jerusalem
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — A Palestinian resident of occupied East Jerusalem sustained head injuries after a group of Israeli extremists assaulted him and his two friends in Jerusalem’s Old City Monday evening, he told Ma‘an. Firas Mujahid, 45, said that he was walking with his brother Muhammad, 37, and their friend Hasan al-Julani, 28, on Musrara Street when a group of Israelis began to verbally abuse them. He said that he and his companions ignored the comments and carried on walking, at which point the Israelis began to hurl stones at them and one of the attackers hit Firas with a rod on his head. He said that Israeli police arrived on the scene and called an ambulance which evacuated him to Hadassah hospital for treatment. Police then arrested Firas’ brother and friend along with a number of the attackers. After he received medical treatment, Firas left the hospital and submitted a complaint against the Israeli extremists at the Russian Compound police station in Jerusalem. His brother and their friend al-Julani were released on bail.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766362
Israeli troops assault Palestinian during Hebron arrest
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — Israeli troops violently beat a Palestinian man as he was detained overnight from his house in the al-‘Arrub refugee camp north of Hebron, a lawyer said. The lawyer, from the Palestinian Prisoners Society, visited Abdul-Majid Kamal al-Titi at the Etzion detention center south of Bethlehem on Tuesday. Al-Titi told the lawyer that eight Israeli soldiers violently beat him as he was detained. After he was transferred to jail the prison service refused to take him to the doctor, he added. The lawyer said that injuries were still visible on the detainee’s body.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766361
WATCH: Israeli forces pepper-spray Palestinian journalists
+972 6 July by Natasha Roth — Israeli security forces attack two Palestinian journalists covering a West Bank march commemorating the murder of Mohammad Abu Khdeir in the West Bank on Thursday. The incident follows numerous assaults on journalists in recent months, primarily Palestinians — Israeli security forces attacked a demonstration commemorating Mohammed Abu Khdeir last Thursday, including pepper-spraying in the face two Palestinian journalists working for a Jordanian news station. Troops also used tear gas and stun grenades against participants in the demonstration, which took place near the settlement of Geva Benyamin in the central West Bank. The two journalists, who were covering the event for Jordan’s Ro’ya TV, are wearing bullet-proof vests clearly marked as “press” in a video of the incident released by the network. Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers can be seen manhandling Nebal Farsakh, the station’s bureau chief for the Palestinian territories, and Mohamed Shousheh, her cameraman. After a brief scuffle Farsakh is seen running out of the fray screaming, her face covered in orange stains — a telltale sign of pepper spray. Shousheh is also seen with the same orange stains around his eyes, and is visibly distressed.
http://972mag.com/watch-israeli-forces-pepper-spray-palestinian-journalists/108595/
The injury of the child ‘Aseel Da’eef with fractures and bruises
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 July — The 8-year old Aseel Nazeeh Da‘eef was injured on Sunday with fractures and bruises after she was run over by a police vehicle in Sultan Suleiman Street in Jerusalem. Nazeeh Da‘eef, the child’s father, explained to Wadi Hilweh Information Center that his daughter was injured with fractures in her right leg, nose and jaw in addition to bruises and pains after she was run over by an Israeli police vehicle. Her father added that his daughter was crossing the road through the pedestrian’s zone around 7:54 p.m. and was hit by the police vehicle that was speeding in the street. He added that he came to Jerusalem from the town of Kufor Qare‘ in the 1948 lands [Haifa district] and was buying food with his daughter to break their fast at the time of the accident. He also explained that his daughter was transferred to Hadassah Ein Kerem hospital for treatment.
http://silwanic.net/?p=59804
Rights group rejects Israeli account of Palestinian teen’s death
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 July — A Palestinian rights group on Monday rejected the Israeli narrative of the death of 17-year-old Muhammad [Sami] al-Kasbah, who was shot dead by an Israeli commander in Qalandiya last week. Al-Haq, which has consultative status with the UN, said that a field investigation found that Israelis soldiers “arbitrarily shot and killed Muhammad, who posed no threat to the Israeli soldiers’ lives at the time of the shooting.” The group said in a statement that Kasbah, a resident of Qalandiya refugee camp, was standing near the Qalandiya checkpoint early Friday when an Israeli army vehicle passed in front of him. “Muhammad threw a stone at the vehicle and ran away,” according to al-Haq. The Israeli army said that soldiers then stepped out of the vehicle, issued a verbal warning, shot live ammunition in the air to warn Kabah, and then shot directly at him when he continued to approach, claiming that their lives were in danger. Al-Haq rejected not only that Kasbah had posed a threat to the soldiers’ lives but also that the Israeli soldiers had adequately warned the teenager. “One eyewitness stated that a single bullet was fired in the air,” the statement said, adding: “No other witnesses corroborated the Israeli claim that a verbal warning was issued.” Al-Haq said that the evidence suggested that the incident took place in less than 30 seconds, “contravening the Israeli timeline of events.” “It is impossible that the child could have been genuinely warned twice and then shot at directly and hit multiple times within the documented timeframe of a mere 30 seconds or less,” the statement said. The rights group added that Kasbah’s wounds in his upper body “demonstrated an intent to kill.”Kasbah was shot by several bullets, including one that hit his head.”The officer or solider who fired the shot approached Muhammad’s body after he had fallen on the ground, looked at it, and then returned to the military vehicle without providing any assistance,” the statement said.Israeli media later identified the shooter as a senior Israeli commander named Israel Shomer….
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766348
Army kidnaps 13 Palestinians in W. Bank, 2 near Gaza border
IMEMC/Agencies 6 July — Israeli soldiers kidnapped, earlier on Monday, thirteen Palestinians in different parts of the occupied West Bank, including several teenagers in Jerusalem, in massive home invasions; soldiers also kidnapped two Palestinians near the Gaza border — Media spokesperson of the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Beit Ummar town, north of Hebron, Mohammad Ayyad Awad, said undercover soldiers infiltrated the town, and kidnapped Yousef Fathi Ekhlayyel. Awad said the undercover soldiers violently assaulted Ekhlayyel, causing him to bleed from his face and head. The soldiers also attacked his brother, Nasr, 25 years of age, before leaving the town in a minibus that was parked at its main entrance. The soldiers used sniffing dogs, and special tools, in searching the property, causing damage. Another Palestinian, identified as Tamer Suleiman Abu Ayyash, 22, from Beit Ummar, was taken prisoner on the al-Karama Border Crossing, while heading back home from Jordan. Also in Hebron, soldiers invaded the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, Doura, Ethna and Beit Ummar towns, in the Hebron district and kidnapped four Palestinians. Resident Jaber Thieb Tmeiza was kidnapped from his home in Ethna town, after the soldiers searched it and several nearby homes belonging to family members. Soldiers also kidnapped Khalil Khaled al-Ballassy, 22, and Abdul-Majid at-Teety, 25, from their homes in the al-‘Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. In addition, soldiers invaded the al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, and kidnapped two Palestinians identified as Tareq al-Jahalin, 19, and Ziad Wael Issa, 19, after violently searching their homes. Soldiers also invaded the al-‘Azza refugee camp, north of Bethlehem, and handed Fadi Jihad ‘Adawin, 22, a military warrant for interrogation in the Gush Etzion military and security base, south of Bethlehem.
In occupied Jerusalem, soldiers invaded Ras al-‘Amoud neighborhood in Silwan town, broke into and searched many homes, and kidnapped five teenagers identified as Husam Hasan, 15, Ahmad al-Ghoul, 17, Mohammad Emad Awad, 18, Noureddin Zaghal, 17, and Mo’men ‘Adeela, 17. Soldiers also invaded Sur Baher town, southeast of Jerusalem, and kidnapped a Palestinian man, identified as Bilal ‘Affana, and his son.
In addition, soldiers kidnapped two Palestinians near the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) Crossing, after crossing the border fence with Gaza, and took them to an unknown destination.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72164
IOF arrest 10 in West Bank raids
BETHLEHEM (PNN) 7 July — 10 men were arrested and transferred to unknown locations in raids carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the West Bank and Jerusalem this morning. The IOF arrested 10 people Tuesday morning in raids in different parts of the West Bank. The Israeli military arrested Hamza Ayub Al-Mashni Halayqeh (30) and teacher Rizk Mahmoud Mashni Halayqeh (35) in the town Balad al-Sheikh after storming their homes. They have been transferred to an unknown destination. The Israeli military also arrested three young men in the town Silwad east of Ramallah this morning, brothers Abdullah and Hamid Ali Munir and Amjad Al-Najjar, after breaking into their houses with police dogs. The IOF also stormed the house of Ahmed Subhi and Yousef Al-Najjar and inspected them before they confiscated private surveillance cameras in their homes. Violent clashes broke out between the IOF and the people of the town Silwad, during which they fired tear gas, sound bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets. The IOF also arrested Nour Abu Zneid from the Shu‘afat refugee camp in Jerusalem, and Ahmed Al-Tamimi in East Jerusalem. A village near Bethlehem was also stormed, and one man named Radwan Abu Helmi Gaazh (19) was arrested there. After confrontations in Jalazoun refugee camp, the IOF arrested one man named Mohammed Safi.
http://english.pnn.ps/2015/07/07/israeli-occupation-forces-arrest-10-in-west-bank-raids/
Israel arrests 6 Palestinian Bedouins for ‘supporting IS’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 6 July — Israel has arrested six Palestinian Bedouins from the Negev, including four teachers, for allegedly supporting the Islamic State group, the domestic security service said Monday. The six men, all members of the same family, were relatives of two people who reportedly traveled to Syria to fight alongside IS militants, Israeli media said. Around 30 Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have made their way to Syria to fight for militant groups against President Bashar Assad’s regime in the country’s more than four-year civil war, according to the Israeli authorities. The men met “in secret to study the doctrine of Islamic State,” a statement from the Shin Bet intelligence agency claimed, adding they had intended to “spread the ideology of this group among their family and friends,” and that some had wanted to travel to Syria. It did not give further details, including the date of their arrest. Several Palestinians with Israeli citizenship have been arrested after returning from Syria, and convicted for attempts to join Syrian rebels. IS purportedly executed a Palestinian in March who had gone to join the group, accusing him of being an Israeli spy.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766354
Family of Negev teachers charged with spreading ISIS dogma reject accusations
Ynet 7 July by Hassan Shaalan & Ilana Curiel — The families of the teachers from the Bedouin village of Hura in the Negev, recently arrested on suspicion of supporting the Islamic State, claimed Monday that there is no basis to the accusations made against them. In a Ynet interview, the family claimed that the security establishment sought revenge because some of its members infiltrated Syria in recent years and joined IS. One of them is a former medical intern at Barzilai Hospital, Othman Abu Al-Qian, who was killed in fighting last year, and another is still in Syria. “All the allegations are untrue,” said a relative. “We believe that everyone will be released. On the other hand, an elementary school teacher where some of the suspects worked said: “I felt that one of them supported ISIS. He was very extreme. But I did not think that he would show clips supporting a terrorist organization. If I were the education minister, I also would not allow him back to work. My heart aches for him as he was drawn to a bad place. Instead of keeping his livelihood, he ruined his life.” from custody. The state is just making noise at our expense. It has done us an injustice. It thinks we are all supporters of ISIS.”
www.ynetnews.com/home/0,7340,L-3083,00.html
Hamas criticizes ‘desperate’ attempt by PA to justify mass arrests
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 6 July — Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri on Monday criticized the Palestinian Authority for attempting to justify the recent arrests of 100 Hamas members in the West Bank, labeling the response by security forces as “desperate.” Adnan Dmeiri, spokesman for the PA security services, said last week that the arrests were for “security reasons” and will continue as long as there is a threat, denying that Palestinians were being detained for their political affiliations. Abu Zuhri said that no attempted justification would “undermine the crime” of detaining so many Hamas members. The Hamas spokesman said that Dmeiri had also tried to justify the arrests based on remarks by senior Hamas official Ismail al-Ashqar, who had said that PA forces could become a target for attacks as a result of the mass detention campaign. Responding to al-Ashqar’s comments, Abu Zuhri said: “These arrest campaigns are part of a plan to eradicate resistance and it would be silly to make connection between these arrests and certain remarks made here or there.” The mass detention of Hamas supporters “unveils the ugly face of these security services and how they cooperate with the Israeli occupation,” he added. Representatives of Palestinian factions including Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held a joint press conference in Gaza City on Saturday to express their condemnation of the arrests.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766341
Social media campaign against PA political arrests
Middle East Monitor 6 July — Social media activists have launched a campaign to protest the arrest of a number of Palestinian citizens in the occupied West Bank by the Palestinian Authority (PA) over their political affiliation, Felesteen newspaper reported on Sunday. The hashtag of the campaign is “#security cooperation is treason”, referring to the security cooperation between the PA and Israel. Palestinian news agency Safa said that activists took to social media after the PA had cracked down on a protest against the political arrests, which was held in Ramallah. The PA security services arrested three protesters after dispersing all others. Activists began protesting against the political arrest in the wake of remarks made by Adnan Al-Dameeri, the PA security services spokesman in the West Bank, in relation to the arrest of Hamas members. He claimed that they were arrested over attempts to “destabilise” the West Bank. Anadolu agency reported the activists as saying that they would gradually escalate their campaign, which includes disclosing incriminating remarks and acts of PA politicians and security service personnel against Palestinians who adopt opposing political views.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19669-social-media-campaign-against-pa-political-arrests
Punitive demolitions
Israeli forces raid homes of attack suspects killed last year
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 6 July — Israeli forces on Monday descended on two homes in occupied East Jerusalem belonging to the families of two Palestinians who were killed in separate incidents by Israeli forces last year. One of the homes, in the al-Thawri neighborhood in Silwan, belonged to the family of Mutaz Hijazi, who was killed on the roof of the house on October 30, 2014, after Hijazi was suspected of the attempted assassination of right-wing Jewish activist Yehuda Glick. Autopsies showed Hijazi was shot at least 20 times across his upper body. Hijazi’s family told Ma‘an that Israeli forces surrounded their home and took pictures of the house, the entrances and roads leading to it. The family told Ma‘an that they believed the Israeli soldiers had not entered the house as they were not inside it at the time.
Separately, Israeli soldiers raided a home belonging to the family of Ghassan Abu Jamal in Jabal al-Mukabbir village. Abu Jamal and his cousin, Uday Abu Jamal, killed four rabbis and a policeman last year in the Har Nov Synagogue before they were shot dead at the scene. Israeli forces broke into the house, photographing inside and outside the house and the roads leading to it. The Abu Jamal family said that Israeli forces also took pictures of family members.
Last week Uday Abu Jamal’s family home was also stormed by Israeli forces, who sealed it off with steel boards. Both cousins’ houses were given demolition orders soon after the synagogue attack last year but the families appealed the decision. Israel stopped punitive house demolitions in 2009 but resumed the practice last November when Israeli forces razed the house of a Palestinian man that killed two Israelis by running over them with his car last October.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766349
Israeli forces target families of suspected Palestinian attackers
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — For the second time this week Israeli forces raided homes in occupied East Jerusalem belonging to the families of two Palestinians who were killed in separate incidents by Israeli forces last year, witnesses said. Israeli forces raided the home of Ghassan Abu Jamal in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood, examining the floors and walls before leaving without explanation, the family told Ma‘an. The forces broke into the home one day prior, photographing inside and outside the house as well as the roads leading up to it. The Abu Jamal family said that Israeli forces also took pictures of family members.
The home of Mutaz Hijazi in the al-Thuri neighborhood of Silwan was also raided for the second day in a row Tuesday by Israeli forces who reportedly took measurements of Mutaz’s room.
Separately, Israeli forces raided a house belonging to Muhammad al-Issawi in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood and searched the family’s cars, without giving a reason. Members of the al-Issawi family said that Israeli forces deliberately destroyed furniture and other belongings in the house during the raid.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766365
Israel demolishes tent housing synagogue attacker’s family
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — Israeli forces on Tuesday demolished a tent housing the family of Uday Abu Jamal, one of the Palestinian suspects responsible for killing five Israelis in an attack on a Jerusalem synagogue last November. The family had been living in the tent, provided by the International Committee of the Red Cross, since last Wednesday, when Israeli forces sealed the property. The tent was set up on the property of the home in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766372
Prisoners / Court actions
Palestinian court accuses detainees of disturbing relations with the occupation
Middle East Monitor 7 July — Nablus Magistrates Court, in the occupied West Bank, issued an indictment on Monday against a political prisoner held by the Palestinian Authority’s Preventive Security Agency which included charges of “disturbing relations with the occupation and harming the interests of the Supreme National Authority.” Ihab Al-Shuli, from the northern town of ‘Asira, told Safa news agency that the Magistrates Court in Nablus has accused his brother Imad of disturbing relations between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian Authority, and extended his detention for another 15 days. He added that his brother was arrested several times by the PA security agencies for resisting the occupation. He had also explained that his brother was sentenced by a military court run by the PA to eighteen months in prison in 2009 against the backdrop of being arrested by the Israelis.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19699-palestinian-court-accuses-detainees-of-disturbing-relations-with-the-occupation
Palestinian detainee paralyzed by IOF bullets
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 6 July — Hassan Abu Rmila, a 21-year-old Jerusalemite captive, has undergone many surgeries after he was shot by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) at Qalandia checkpoint to the north of Occupied Jerusalem last June under the pretext that he was walking towards the checkpoint shouting Takbeer. The IOF claims that warning shots were fired in the air and that Abu Rmila didn’t obey the soldiers’ orders to stop. The captive’s family affirmed on Monday to Quds Press that one of Hassan’s kidneys was removed after one lung stopped functioning while his feet were paralyzed as a result of being shot in his spinal cord. “He is still in a coma, he sustained serious injuries, and his health condition, which is already very critical, is deteriorating,” the family said, and added that he is under arrest and his legs are tied to the bed, despite his condition, at Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72463
Post-hunger strike, admin detainee Khader Adnan is re-hospitalized
+972 Blog 7 July by Yael Marom — Adnan, who is to be released in less than a week according to a deal reached with the state, is still being shackled to his hospital bed — Just over a week after ending his 54-day hunger strike, administrative detainee Khader Adnan was re-hospitalized in recent days following a deterioration in his medical condition. Adnan reached a deal with Israeli officials last week to end his hunger strike in exchange for being released from custody on July 12. The state also agreed not to extend his administrative detention. The rehabilitation process after such a long hunger strike is complicated, slow and entails serious medical risks. “Refeeding syndrome” can have deadly complications. A return to normal nourishment must be done gradually and under close medical supervision. The dangers increase for somebody like Adnan who has gone on more than one extended hunger strike. After Adnan ended his hunger strike he was moved from a civilian hospital back to the Israel Prison Service’s medical center. His condition deteriorated when problems developed in his digestive system and he was brought back to a hospital for emergency care. The Adnan family attorney visited Khader in the hospital on Monday after he underwent a medical procedure. His attorney was surprised to find that he was shackled to his bed — against medical ethics guidelines — and despite the fact he is under 24-hour watch. Adnan is scheduled to be released from custody in less than a week. The state has not presented any evidence implicating him in a crime, and has refused to indict him.
http://972mag.com/post-hunger-strike-admin-detainee-khader-adnan-is-re-hospitalized/108624/
Court convicts Palestinian of mass stabbing in Tel Aviv
JPost 7 July by Ben Hartman et al. — The Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday convicted Hassan Matruch of Tulkarm as part of a plea bargain relating to his stabbing attack in Tel Aviv in January. Matruch is likely to receive 28 years in prison for the attack, according to the plea deal. He stabbed 12 passengers on a Dan No. 40 bus on January 21. Following the attack, the IDF, guided by the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), raided three homes in Samaria belonging to Matruch’s family.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Court-convicts-Palestinian-of-mass-stabbing-in-Tel-Aviv-408237
Israeli minister to decide on deportation of Palestinian MPs
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — The Israeli Minister of the Interior was given 30 days by the Supreme Court on Monday to reach a final decision on the possible deportation from East Jerusalem of three Palestinian lawmakers and a former Palestinian Authority Jerusalem affairs minister. Monday’s hearing was a follow-up to a previous hearing in the same court on May 5, 2015 that discussed the possibility of revoking the Jerusalem residency rights of officials Muhammad Abu Teir, Ahmad Attun, Muhammad Tutah and Khalid Abu Arafeh. While Abu Arefeh formerly served as the PA’s minister of Jerusalem affairs, the other three are members of Palestine’s parliament, the Palestinian Legislative Council. All four live in occupied East Jerusalem. The Israeli Ministry of the Interior has been threatening to deport the lawmakers and former minister since Hamas won Palestinian legislative elections in 2006. The pretext for the ruling is disloyalty to the Israeli state, the lawmakers said last year. The four were initially detained along with other lawmakers and, after their release, Israeli police seized their identity documents.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766356
Palestinian prisoner declares open hunger strike
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 7 July — Palestinian prisoner Abbas al-Sayyid, former head of the higher committee of Hamas prisoners, declared an open hunger strike Tuesday in protest of severe mistreatment and poor conditions in Israeli jails, the Minister of Prisoner Affairs said. Wasfi Qabha reported that the Israeli prison services failed to follow through on promises of improving al-Sayyid’s detention conditions as well as to move him from the Hadarim prison. According to several lawyers who visited Hadarim, al-Sayyid had been transferred to solitary confinement. The Ahrar Prisoners Studies and Human Rights Center said that al-Sayyid had retreated from starting a hunger strike several times previously. Tuesday’s announcement comes as the prisoner’s fourth official hunger strike.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766376
The magistrate judge decides to release six Jerusalemite children
Silwan, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 5 July — The Magistrate judge decided on Sunday to release six Jerusalemite children from Beit Hanina with a 1000-NIS bail, house-arrest for 7 days and a third-party bail of 5 thousand NIS for each. Wadi Hilweh Information Center’s lawyer explained that the Magistrate judge released Omar Tawil, Omar Yassin, Murad Alqam, Saleh Shtayyeh, Seif Tawil and Zeid Tawil with the above mentioned conditions. The lawyer added that the District judge extended the arrest of Mohammad Mughrabi until next Thursday.
In a related matter, Al-Dameer organization lawyer Mohammad Mahmoud said that the Magistrate judge extended the arrest of Hasan Masri until Monday; note that he was arrested on Saturday night after settlers threw stones at his vehicle in Jerusalem.
http://silwanic.net/?p=59802
Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Restrictions on movement
Israel planning to expand French Hill colony in Occupied Jerusalem
IMEMC/Agencies 8 July — The Regional Planning and Construction Committee of the Jerusalem City Council approved, Tuesday, a plan to expand the French Hill colony by illegally confiscating large areas of Palestinian lands belonging to al-‘Eesawiyya and Shu‘fat towns, in occupied Jerusalem. Palestinian researcher specializing in Settlements’ Affairs, Ahmad Sob Laban, said the Regional Committee has approved the illegal annexation of 25 dunams (6.17 acres) of lands, belonging to Shu‘fat residents, north of Jerusalem. Israel is planning the construction of a commercial zone on lands that were slated only for residential purposes under the Regional Plan of the Jerusalem City Council for the year 2020. Sob Laban added that the decision falls under a new structural plan, approved by the Regional Committee, to expand the French Hill colony, and to set aside lands that would be used for the construction of additional units. The Palestinian researcher also said that the residents in Shu‘fat have repeatedly applied for construction permits on the lands in question, but Israel kept delaying the applications, and alleged that the construction plan for 2020 “has not been approved yet.” The lands are in the Sahl neighborhood in Silwan, one of many Palestinian areas severely impacted by Israel’s illegal colonies. Sob Laban also stated that, under the new structural plan of the French Hill settlement, the Palestinians in the al-‘Eesawiyya town would lose nearly 30 dunams (7.41 acres) near the main entrance of the town.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72171
Israeli forces place concrete barriers near Nablus-district town
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 7 July — Israeli forces placed several concrete barriers on the side of the road near the main entrance to the northern West Bank town of Beita south of Nablus on Monday evening. Locals told Ma‘an that eight cubic concrete barriers were placed on the roadside “in preparation to shut down the main entrance to the town or install a steel gate there.” Palestinian security sources said that the Israeli liaison office had not given them any explanation for the barriers. There have recently been several reported incidents of Israeli settler vehicles being attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails while traveling on the main road near Beita. Israeli forces closed down the village’s farmers market on June 14 in response to the attacks. During the Second Intifada, Israeli forces previously set up checkpoints and concrete barriers at Beita’s entrances.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766358
Israel forces prevent farmers from accessing land in Hebron
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 7 July — Israeli forces prevented Palestinian farmers from accessing their land in Wadi Abu al-Rish in northern Beit Ummar on Tuesday, a local popular committee said. Muhammad Ayad Awad, spokesman for the popular committee of Beit Ummar, said Muhammad Abd al-Hamid Jaber al-Sleibi and his family were forced from their land at gunpoint by Israeli forces on the basis that they had entered the area illegally. The family was told to coordinate permission with Israel’s Civil Administration to access their agricultural land. Al-Sleibi said that he had obtained a court order two years ago to enter the land without coordination and had set up a fence to separate his land from a nearby illegal Israeli settlement … Tuesday’s incident is the latest for members of the al-Sleibi family, three of whom were assaulted in March by settlers living in the nearby settlement of Beit Ayn. In the year prior, Beit Ayn residents uprooted al-Sleibi’s olive and grape trees from his private land under the armed protection of Israeli forces.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766369
Gaza one year later
Israeli navy arrests six fishermen off Gaza coast
GAZA (WAFA) 7 July – The Israeli navy on Tuesday arrested six Palestinian fishermen while sailing offshore the coast of Khan Younes, in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR). PCHR said a number of Israeli naval boats opened fire at fishing boats from a distance before they sailed towards them and arrested six fishermen and seized three boats. No casualties were reported in the live fire attack. The six fishermen were identified as Kamal Abu Warda, 45, Ref’at Abu Warda, 21, Ref’at Zayed, 26, Medhat Zayed, 23, Ramadan Abu Warda, 37, and Mahmoud Abu Warda, 26.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=28812
Israeli military recommends easing Gaza border restrictions, opening crossings
Haaretz 8 July by Amos Harel — Move will strengthen Gaza’s economy and help achieve long-term quiet, senior defense officials say — Senior Israel Defense Forces officers have recommended to Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon that the opening of border crossings between Israel and the Gaza Strip be expanded. One recommendation would allow thousands of Palestinians to travel abroad by entering Israel via the Erez crossing and leaving the country to Jordan via the Allenby Bridge. Another would permit merchandise into Gaza through the Karni crossing and expand use of the Kerem Shalom crossing. In addition, permits would be issued for Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to work in Israeli communities near the border. A year after the Gaza war, the IDF says that Hamas has been left without real achievements from the fighting and is politically isolated, with its ties with Egypt strained. Precisely for these reasons senior defense officials believe that Israel could help achieve relatively long-term quiet by easing economic restrictions and some limitations on the passage of people and goods from the Gaza Strip. The move could have added value in reducing international criticism of Israel over its closure of the Gaza Strip
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.664923
Qatari diesel to enter Gaza on Wednesday
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 July — The Palestinian Prime Minister said Tuesday that all arrangements regarding the remaining quantity of diesel from a Qatari donation to the Gaza power station have been settled. The remaining diesel quantity, estimated to be around 10,000 tons, is currently in storehouses of the Egyptian company Copetrol. PM Rami Hamdallah said that the first ship of diesel will be transferred to the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing. He pointed out that the transferred amount of diesel will increase the power station’s capacity to 80 megawatts which will provide electricity for several more hours. Hamdallah thanked Qatar for its donation and Egypt for the arrangements and facilitating transferring the diesel to the Gaza Strip.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766374
PA sends medical supplies to Gaza
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 6 July — The Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Health shipped eight truckloads of medicine and medical equipment to the Gaza Strip on Monday, the ministry said in a statement. The medicines are worth around 4 million shekels ($1 million), and include medicine for chronic diseases as well as venous solutions and antibiotics. Included in the shipment are 400,000 shekels worth of medical consumables. The shipments were loaded from the ministry’s stores in Nablus in the northern West Bank. The Gaza Strip, which has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007, suffers a severe shortage of medical supplies as well as equipment … Tension between Hamas and the Fatah-dominated PA has also been detrimental to the supply of aid. In December last year, the Ministry of Health accused Hamas officials in Gaza of stealing medicines and supplies sent to Gaza.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766346
Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians after Gaza border fence breach
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 6 July — Israeli forces arrested three Palestinian men on Monday morning after they breached the border fence between the southern Gaza Strip and Israel near the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israel’s army said. An Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma‘an that the three men were taken in for questioning and have yet to be released. It is unknown whether the men were armed.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766337
Qatari charity holds group iftar in Gaza
Middle East Monitor 6 July EXCLUSIVE IMAGES Qatar’s Sheikh Eid Charitable Association hosted a group Iftar dinner for 20,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. Ibrahim Al-Qara, the association’s coordinator, said that the iftar, which was held simultaneously in Al-Kateeba Square in the west of Gaza city and in Khan Younis municipality in southern Gaza, is “the largest of its kind in Palestine.” He noted that the purpose of this Iftar was to “send a humanitarian message to the word that the Gazans are still suffering and that action must be taken to lift the siege.” According to Al-Qara, the owners of homes destroyed in the latest Israeli war on Gaza were present at the iftar, as well as those who were injured by the war and less-fortunate families. The iftar was attended by a number of political figures, including the deputy chairman of Hamas’s Political Bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, who praised the role played by the Qataris and other charities working to support the Palestinian people. MEMO Photographer: Mohammad Asad
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19675-qatari-charity-holds-group-iftar-in-gaza
Hamas bans Shi‘a group in Gaza
Middle East Monitor 7 July — It has been reported that the de facto Palestinian government in Gaza has decided to dissolve the Harakat Al-Sabireen (Movement of Those Who Endure with Patience) as well as ban the group’s activities. The Shi‘a group is affiliated with Iran. The decision to dissolve Harakat Al-Sabireen was made after local citizens lobbied Hamas which is, in the absence of officials from the Ramallah Palestinian Authority, still the de facto government in the territory. Local Palestinians regard the movement as “the door to Shi‘a ideology in Gaza”.The movement does not deny its absolute loyalty to the Iranian government; indeed, its logo is very similar to Lebanon’s Hezbollah. In addition, a picture of Ayatollah Khomeini hangs on the wall of its headquarters. Hisham Salem founded the movement about two years ago after he separated from Islamic Jihad. Hamas arrested him for a short time but gave no reason for doing so. The government in Gaza is expected to release an official statement shortly to announce the decision officially, and the reasons behind it.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19703-hamas-bans-shia-group-in-gaza
Artificial eyes given to Gazans wounded in Israeli war
Middle East Monitor 7 July — Gaza’s Special Eye Hospital, affiliated to the Strip’s Public Aid Society, has begun procedures to fit artificial eyes to Gaza residents who lost one of their eyes during last year’s Israeli incursion on the Gaza Strip, Felesteen newspaper reported on Monday. This is part of a project is funded by the Forum of Palestinian Doctors in Europe (PalMed Germany). It aims at improving psychological and social conditions of those Gazans who lost eyes during last summer’s Israeli war, mainly women and children. Ophthalmology consultant Doctor Iyad Al-Halis said that the wounded who are the most needy were chosen to benefit from this project. He noted that the artificial eyes would look almost like a normal eye.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19690-artificial-eyes-given-to-gazans-wounded-in-israeli-war
Israeli army promotes Rafah atrocities officer
Middle East Monitor 7 July — The Israeli military announced Monday the promotion of Colonel Ofer Winter to the rank of brigadier general within OC Central Command. Winter was the commander of the Givati Brigade during last year’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’, and oversaw an attack on Rafah, when dozens of Palestinians were killed over a few hours. Winter implemented the ‘Hannibal Directive’ on August 1, to thwart a suspected kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. An internal army probe later found that “an estimated 800 artillery shells and 260 mortars were fired by the IDF during the battle in Rafah”, as well as airstrikes on 34 “targets.” Prior to invading Gaza, Winter told his soldiers that they were engaged in a war to “wipe out” an “enemy who defames” God. The events of August 1 are among those still being examined by the Military Advocate General. Winter’s promotion makes the prospect of a harsh verdict and accountability even less likely.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19684-israeli-army-promotes-rafah-atrocities-officer
WATCH: Gaza time lapse shows one day at the height of last summer’s conflict
Haaretz 6 July — Israeli photographer Omer Messinger created a time-lapse video sequence of stills taken in the afternoon until about four in the morning on a hilltop in Sderot overlooking the northern Gaza Strip. The footage was taken on July 18, 2014, a few weeks into Operation Protective Edge, the 50-day military campaign between Israel and Hamas last summer.
http://www.haaretz.com/video/1.664679
Injured woman forced to strip recalls horror of Israel’s Gaza war
EI 7 July by Charlotte Silver — …They rushed to collect their most important papers and belongings in a small bag and headed out. But just as Majda reached the gate to their home, a missile struck. The blast slammed her to the ground. Both of Majda’s legs were torn open, and a piece of shrapnel lodged deep above her left eye. As we spoke almost a year later, Majda lifted up her skirt to reveal the deep scars gouged into her left ankle and below her right knee. Her left eye is permanently half-shut. She was sitting under the same arbor of the well-muscled grapevines where she lay in July 2014, immobilized by the blast of the missile, her face covered in blood and the flesh on her legs ripped.Majda recalled what happened next … Then Shadi sat down next to his wife, crying. Eventually, having given up on the possibility of medical help arriving, he carried his wife back into their home. As the shells rained down around them, Majda told her husband to go outside with a white flag in hopes it would prevent the army from shelling their home. “I didn’t want the house to collapse on our heads,” she said. Shadi opened the door to exit the house, holding the white flag, filled with trepidation. Immediately a bullet shot past his head. Today a hole as big as a ping pong ball punctures their doorway. Then, around 30 soldiers entered their front yard, assault rifles drawn. They ordered Shadi to take off all his clothes, throw the white flag to the ground and put his head down. They barked at him, “Who else is inside?” “Only my wife,” Shadi told them. When the soldiers ordered him to bring her out to them, he tried to explain that she was badly injured. “You have five seconds to get her out, if you don’t we will kill both of you,” Shadi remembers them threatening. He pulled Majda from her bed and onto the stone veranda, her bandages unfurling and coming off as he did. The soldiers then ordered Majda to take off all her clothes. She complied, removing first her abaya (a robe), then her headscarf, until she was left only in her underwear. Some soldiers entered the tiny one-bedroom house, while the rest kept their rifles pointed at the nearly naked couple on the ground. The soldiers then tore through their home, smashing windows, shattering dishes and kitchen items. They pointed to multiple mattresses piled in the house and insisted they were evidence that Shadi and Majda were harboring militants [as if every Palestinian home didn’t have a pile of thin mattresses for visitors] … The couple was forced to lie on the ground outside for hours, with no water or food, as the soldiers ransacked their home, blowing open a hole in a wall to create an exit for themselves. Finally, the army allowed Shadi to take his wife inside, where they remained for four days without any medical attention or food….
https://electronicintifada.net/content/injured-woman-forced-strip-recalls-horror-israels-gaza-war/14665
Growing up Gazan: Tales of a Palestinian teen
Al Jazeera 7 Jul by Fatma Naib — Despite surviving three wars, 17-year-old Farah Baker wants to remain in Gaza to fight for Palestinians’ rights — “I still remember the sound of the bombs,” says Farah Baker softly. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because the 17-year-old from the Gaza Strip helped document the devastation wrought by Israel’s assault on the region last summer. Under her Twitter name, Guess what , the then 16-year-old student offered the world a glimpse into the death and destruction she witnessed – 140 characters at a time. Her posts went viral. “I was amazed by the overwhelmingly positive response to my tweets,” she says now, a year after the 50-day war started. “My followers jumped from 800 to 200,000 in a matter of weeks.” “I discovered that people started following me because they too wanted to know the truth.” “I didn’t focus on the politics,” she explains. “I just wrote about my life during the war.” And that meant relaying a visceral sense of what it felt like to live in constant fear of death.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/07/growing-gazan-tales-palestinian-teen-150706170514658.html
Gaza: Hamza helps his family avoid disaster
Handicap International 6 July — Following the 2014 conflict in Gaza, countless unexploded bombs and other ordnance (UXO) lay scattered across neighborhoods and inside damaged buildings. Despite clearance efforts, many weapons still pollute populated areas and pose a serious threat to civilians, many of whom do not realize that the bombs can still explode. To prevent injuries and death, Handicap International teams travel throughout Gaza to educate residents—like Hamza’s Al-Sisawi family—about what to do when they find potentially dangerous objects in their midst. Hamza explains what happened during the conflict: “We were living in our house but when the shelling got bad we escaped to a hospital. During a ceasefire, we returned to check the situation at home and collect some important papers. But then the bombing started again and we went to take shelter at a friend’s house.” “When we got back to our home, we found the whole building was badly damaged. Everything was destroyed … “After two days there was another ceasefire. My younger brother went back home and found a lot of UXO inside the house. He gathered them up and put them inside the bathroom. When my father and I returned home, I saw all of the UXO [unexploded ordnance] that my brother had collected and I worried that it might explode. But my father told me, ‘it’s OK, these things are safe.’” Thankfully, one of Handicap International’s education teams came into contact with the family before any accidents occurred. “We met Hamza in a focus group and told him about UXO and how dangerous it is,” says Mohammed Saleh, a Handicap International risk education team leader. “We also provided him with a leaflet about the risks. He took it to his mother and father and explained the dangers.”
http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-hamza-helps-his-family-avoid-disaster
Other news
Palestinian FM: France retreats from draft UN resolution
RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 7 July — The Palestinian Authority foreign minister said Tuesday that France was retreating from submitting a draft resolution on renewing Palestinian-Israeli peace efforts to the UN Security Council. Riyad al-Maliki said that France was backing away from the move following pressure from Israel and the United States, who are both currently busy with talks on Iran’s nuclear program. “I can say that the idea of the French draft resolution in Security Council is not a main topic for decision makers in France anymore,” he told Palestinian state radio Voice of Palestine after meeting with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Cairo. He said that to avoid “embarrassment,” France had suggested forming a negotiations “support committee” as an alternative, although al-Maliki said that the role such a committee would play was not clear. He said that a “support committee” would only be active if talks began, adding that it would be formed of the major member states in the UN Security Council, in addition to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Al-Maliki added that he would speak with New Zealand’s foreign minister to check whether his country, which is currently chairing the UN Security Council, would be taking any steps related to peace talks.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766364
Hamas leader denies forming militant group to harm PA in the West Bank
Middle East Monitor 7 July — Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef has denied reports claiming that the Islamist movement has formed a militant group to target the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. Yousef said in a statement that such rumors are a “desperate attempt” to justify the recent arrest of 180 Hamas members, leaders and supporters in the West Bank by PA security services. “Rumours claiming that Hamas has formed a militant group north of the West Bank to create a state of instability in the West Bank are untrue and come on political grounds at a time when the movement hopes that all Palestinians will unite to develop a common plan to face the Israeli settlements and the Judaisation of Jerusalem,” Yousef said. Yousef called on Hamas supporters to organise peaceful sit-ins to protest against the arrests that recently took place in the cities of Ramallah and Hebron.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19707-hamas-leader-denies-forming-militant-group-to-harm-pa-in-the-west-bank
Hamas alleges PA arrests aim to ‘eradicate’ the movement
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 7 July — Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority (PA) of executing a plan to “eradicate” the movement from the West Bank, saying Tuesday that an arrest campaign carried out by the PA is targeting reconciliation efforts between the two factions. Hamas leader Abd al-Rahman Shadid said in a press conference that “the arrest campaign carried out by the PA against Hamas leaders and members comes under an organized project aiming to eradicate the movement.” He alleged that more than 200 Hamas members had been arrested by PA security forces since July 2, with most of them left severely tortured. Shadid said that the campaign hinders efforts towards Palestinian reconciliation and is pushing the Hamas movement to reevaluate its stand towards past reconciliation agreements.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766373
Can the UN’s agency for Palestinians be fixed?
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT (IRIN) 3 July by Annie Slemrod and Joe Dyke — Facing what its commissioner-general Pierre Krähenbühl called its “most serious financial crisis ever,” this week the UN agency for Palestinian refugees announced it would let go around 100 foreign employees on short-term contracts, roughly half of all its international employees. Dealing with emergencies in Syria and Gaza and having lost $25 million to currency exchange fluctuations overnight, UNRWA is $101 million in debt and faces a $330 million shortfall in its $680 million annual budget. Financial woes have plagued the agency, which is responsible for the medical care, education, and welfare of registered Palestinian refugees, since it was formed in 1950 as a temporary measure, but this crisis is the worst to date. In part, this is due to a growth in needs. The number of people in Gaza relying on the agency for food aid shot up from 80,000 in 2000 to 860,000 in 2014. What, if anything, can be done to fix the frequently broke agency? The most straightforward approach might appear to be to search for additional sources of funding … But, barring a major Gulf splurge, any new funding is unlikely to be sufficient. Rex Brynen, professor at McGill University and an expert on Palestinian refugee issues, said that there were really no easy cuts left. “They have trimmed optional staff positions and [other] programs … it is not as if UNRWA still has a large number of optional programs left [to cut],” he said. As such, Darkazally said, the next target for cuts is one of the agency’s core services: education.<a href="http://www.irinnews.org/repor