Violence / Attacks / Raids / Suppression of protests / Arrests -- West Bank, Jerusalem
Dozens injured in Kufur Qaddoum weekly protest
IMEMC 23 May by Saed Bannoura -- Israeli soldiers used excessive force against Palestinian protesters conducting the weekly protest against the Wall and settlements in Kufur Qaddoum village near Qalqilia, and demanding Israel to open the main road of the village that has been shut down for the thirteenth consecutive year. The Israeli attack led to dozens of injuries. Coordinator of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in the village Murad Eshteiwy said the soldiers used excessive force against the protesters, fired dozens of gas bombs, sprayed the them with toxic waste-water mixed with chemicals, and also fired sponge-tipped bullets. Israel closed the main road of the village 13 years ago, to allow easy access for settlers living in the illegal Kedumim colony, built on Palestinian lands. Eshteiwy said the locals, accompanied by a number of international activists, marched from the center of the village following Friday noon prayers, carrying Palestinian flags and chanting against the occupation and its illegal policies. In addition, soldiers invaded the village, and clashed with dozens of youths who hurled stones and empty bottles on them. The army fired rounds of live ammunition, dozens of gas bombs and sprayed the protesters with toxic waste-water mixed with chemicals. The “sponge-tipped bullets” were first used against the Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem two years ago, and have proven to be very dangerous as they to led the death of a teenager, in addition to broken bones, fractured faces, and even causing some residents to lose eyesight.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71679
Another violent attack on Palestinian family
AL-KHALIL, Occupied Palestine (ISM, Al-Khalil Team) 23 May -- On the 23rd May, settlers in Al Khalil (Hebron) blocked the entrance to Hashem Younes Azzeh’s house and attacked his family. Large rocks were thrown at them and his daughter was hit in the hand. Hashem lives with his wife and four children in Tel Rumeida, part of the H2 area of Al Khalil. H2 is under Israeli military control and many settlers have constructed illegal homes within this part of the city. For the Palestinians, it has become an extremely tense place to live due to daily harassment from the settlers and the Israeli army alike. Early in the morning, the settlers had parked their car right in front of the entrance to Hashem’s house, making it a tight squeeze for anyone to get by. Later on, as Hashem was walking an international group of Quakers back to the checkpoint, six settler boys, aged between 10 and 12, started throwing large amounts of stones at them. The internationals quickly escaped and when Hashem got home, he found five Israeli soldiers there. They were checking the IDs of his daughter, Raghad, and his wife, Nisreen. Raghad attempted to show the soldiers a video of the attack, but because she had filmed while trying to avoid big stones thrown at her, the footage was blurry. The soldiers called her a liar and were about to arrest her, blaming her for the stone throwing. All of a sudden, under the eyes of the soldiers, the settlers started throwing stones at them again and injured Raghad’s hand. Unable to support their lie anymore, the soldiers said that they would go and check on the settlers and come back – hours later, they still have not returned.
The Azzeh family has been subjected to regular attacks since 1984, when the settlers arrived in Al Khalil. Their neighbor is the leader of the Jewish National Front, Baruch Marzel. This man has a sticker on his wall that says “God gave us the right to kill Arabs and we love it”. Hashem’s house has been invaded and turned upside down by settlers and soldiers several times, with furniture and equipment smashed. He has been shot at inside his house, narrowly missing him and his family. Hashem has been threatened, intimidated and beaten up by settlers, of which the scars on his face bear witness. His wife has suffered two miscarriages due to being beaten by settlers....
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/05/another-violent-attack-on-palestinian-family/
'Fail to obey and we will break your legs'
AL-KHALIL, Occupied Palestine (ISM, Al-Khalil Team) 24 May -- On the 21st of May, a 16-year old Palestinian, Baraa Kalaid Madhun, was banned from his own home in Al Khalil (Hebron). Armed Israeli soldiers came to his house at 8 pm and told him to step outside. Allegedly stones had been thrown at the military base, which is adjacent to Baraa’s home, and the soldiers were accusing him of this incident. For four hours the Israeli forces searched the house, whilst Baraa was held at gunpoint outside. They then told him that for the next 30 days, he was not allowed to be in his house between 6 in the evening and 11 in the morning. The logic behind this arrangement is based on the assumption that if during these 30 days no stones were thrown, then Baraa would be found guilty of the initial incident. The soldiers threatened to break his legs if he did not acknowledge these restrictions. Since then, armed Israeli soldiers have been searching his house each night, to see if he is there. This latest incident is one of many. The family is constantly being harassed by the Israeli occupation forces. Baraa himself has already been arrested six times. During those previous arrests, the soldiers have been very violent, once even fracturing his shoulder. Related to one of his previous arrests, Baraa has a court case coming up on the 10th of June.
http://palsolidarity.org/2015/05/fail-to-obey-and-we-will-break-your-legs/
Stabbing attack in Jerusalem's Old City leaves two Jewish youths wounded
Haaretz 24 May by Nir Hasson -- Two Jewish youths were stabbed by a knife-wielding assailant in Jerusalem’s Old City late Saturday night and hospitalized with light to moderate wounds. The suspect, a Palestinian man, fled the scene but was later apprehended by security services at his East Jerusalem home. The two youths, aged 15 and 18, were attacked near the Damascus Gate while heading for the Western Wall. Security services commenced a large-scale sweep of the area in an attempt to locate the attacker. A suspicious figure was identified in footage taken by security cameras in the area, and the suspect was arrested upon returning to his residence. A search conducted in the vicinity of his home revealed a knife and several other items linking him to the attack. The man was then taken for questioning. This is not the first time a suspect has been apprehended after being filmed on security footage in the Old City, which is equipped with an extensive camera network. The male victims were found on the scene, fully conscious, with multiple stab wounds to their torsos. A Magen David Adom paramedic team rushed them to Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem. The 18-year-old was stabbed in the back and lightly wounded. The 15-year-old was stabbed in the chest, suffering light to moderate wounds. July 1 will mark the first anniversary of the brutal murder of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir, an act that triggered a wave of violent uprisings in East Jerusalem. During the winter, it seemed as if the situation in the capital had stabilized and that the violence was abating, but the events of recent weeks have shown that any optimism was premature. Saturday’s stabbing marks the fourth attack in two weeks on Israelis in the Jerusalem area ...
Thursday, a group of some 20 Jewish youths attacked five Palestinian youths in central Jerusalem without provocation. Aviv Tatarsky, an activist from a Jerusalem group combating racism, witnessed the incident. “They were five up against about 20 Jews. The Jews came down on them, and one of the Palestinians took a serious blow to the head. Instinctively I began to scream ‘Police! Police!’ Immediately, the group of Jews ran off. I approached the Palestinians, two of whom were Canadian citizens who came to visit family from East Jerusalem. They were extremely frightened and asked me in English what the assailants wanted from them. I told them this is the situation here, and they need to find a way to get away,” said Tatarsky. During the incident, Tatarsky attempted to attract the attention of two nearby Border Police officers, but he said they remained indifferent, and later checked the Palestinians’ documents.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.657875
Israeli troops detain 4 children near Tulkarem
TULKAREM (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Israeli troops on Sunday morning detained four minors from a boys' school in the northern West Bank village of Farun near Tulkarem, local officials told Ma‘an. The secretary of Farun's local council, Ahmad Darwish, said that the boys were arrested near a gate used by Palestinian farmers to access their land behind the Israeli separation wall. Darwish said that Israelis refer to the gate by its number "708," which is one of eight gates in Tulkarem operated by Israeli forces. Darwish identified three of the four boys as Tariq Muhammad Fathi Badir, 12, Abd al-Rahman Sufyan Salih, 9, and Samid Amir Ahmad Omar, 13. The fourth detainee has not yet been identified. Darwish said that the village council had contacted the Palestinian military liaison department whose director Muhammad Yasin said he had been in touch with his Israeli counterparts in an attempt to get the boys released. An Israeli army spokeswoman's account differed from the Palestinian version of events. She confirmed two arrests in Tulkarem, which she said came after four Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces near crossing number "407." She said that the other two "got away."
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765593
UPDATE: Israel arrests 11 Palestinians, summons 2 for interrogation
JENIN (WAFA) 24 May – Israeli forces Sunday arrested nine Palestinians from across the West Bank, including Jerusalem, as well as summoned two youths in Bethlehem for interrogation, according to local and security sources. Israeli forces arrested Amer Bajawi, 14, and Snnd Masharqa, 16, while they were present near their homes in the town of Ya‘bod to the west of Jenin. Forces further stormed Bir Al-Basha village southwest of Jenin city and raided the home of Sharif Ghawadreh, where they interrogated its residents, destroyed the house’s furniture, and wreaked havoc in its yard. However, no arrests were made ... In the meantime, Israeli forces handed two Palestinian youths notices ordering them to appear before the Israeli intelligence for interrogation. They were identified as Abd al-Rahman Billo and Anwar Taqatqa, 21. Forces further raided and searched several homes in the town of Taqou‘ to the east of Bethlehem. Israeli police also arrested six Palestinians, including a cameraman who was severely beaten before his arrest, while they were exiting al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for attempting to fend off settlers’ provocative tours to the mosque’s yards. They were identified as cameraman Mohammed al-Qazaz, in addition to Jarrah Abu Saleh, Tamer Shla’ta ,Rami al-Fakhouri ,Qusai Dandis and another lady whose identity is still unknown.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=28556
Israeli troops detain 2 Palestinians near Nablus
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 23 May -- Israeli forces stopped two Palestinians, including one teenage boy, at military checkpoints before taking them into custody near Nablus in the northern West Bank Sunday morning. Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an that 30-year-old Khamis Ishtewi Mubarak from Tubas had been detained at Huwwara checkpoint south of Nablus. Separately, 15-year-old Diyaa Ismail Dweikat was detained at a flying checkpoint that Israeli forces had set up near the main entrance to the village of Beita. An Israeli army spokeswoman said she was looking into the arrests. Israeli forces routinely detain Palestinians throughout the West Bank, often on the pretext of a perceived security threat, and Addameer estimates that 40 percent of the Palestinian male population has been arrested at some point.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765588
Israeli police kidnap eight Jerusalemites in overnight raids
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 25 May -- The Israeli occupation police kidnapped eight Palestinian young men from their homes during raids last night and at dawn Monday in different areas of east Jerusalem. Local sources said the police stormed at an early hour today some neighborhoods of Silwan district, south of the Aqsa Mosque, and kidnapped Ahmed Ghaith, 17, Hamdi Jaber, 17, Sa'eid al-Keswani, 16, and Mohamed Ruwaidi, 15. Two other young men were also taken prisoners during raids at dawn in ‘Issawiya district. Last night, the Israeli police said it had arrested two young men identified as Laith Shalabi and Yousuf Abu Remaila during a campaign in the Old City of Jerusalem.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=71826
Israeli police ban Palestinians from entering Aqsa for days
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 25 May -- The Israeli occupation police in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday released six Palestinian young men after arresting them at the Aqsa Mosque, on condition of staying away from the Islamic holy place for seven days. Photojournalist Mohamed Qazaz, who works for a local media center, was among the young men who were detained and assaulted by policemen at the Aqsa Mosque. Qazaz said he was covering the events that erupted when scores of Jewish settlers stormed the Mosque's courtyards under police protection. The journalist suffered several bruises and injuries during the police attack. The Israeli police also banned the entry of a young man to the Mosque for one day and another for 15 days as punitive measures for their alleged involvement in the events.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=71823
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Judaization
Israel to confiscate 820 dunams for new settlements dumping ground
IMEMC 24 May by Saed Bannoura -- The Israeli authorities have decided to confiscate around 820 dunams (202 acres) of privately owned Palestinian lands to establish new dumping grounds for its illegal colonies, in the central West Bank, in the Ramallah district. More than 140 Palestinian families, from Rammoun andDir Dibwan villages, own the lands that Israel plans to illegally confiscate to establish the new dumping grounds. The dump, according to the Israeli authorities, “would serve the settlements and the Palestinians in the area,” but would be run completely by Israel and Palestinians would have no access to it. If the Israeli government manages to take control of the 820 Palestinian dunams, the total impacted area from the new dumping grounds would be around 2000 dunams, which would be contaminated by runoff and debris. These lands contain fertile soil and farmland, in addition to many water wells, Palestine TV has reported. The residents plant their lands with various crops, mainly wheat, and use parts of this land as grazing grounds for their livestock. Some of the land is slated for development as residential areas, but this would be impossible once Israel takes control of the land and turns it into a dump. Local villagers told Palestine TV that Israel is trying to push them out of the area to turn their land into a dump – many of these villagers have already lost land in past seizures by the Israeli military for the construction of illegal colonies. There are three settlements near the lands in question, in addition to a settlement road and a military roadblock.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71694
Ariel settlement sewage water pollutes touristic areas in Salfit
PNN 24 May -- The farmers and citizens of Salfit city, and of Kafr Al-Deek town, in the southern occupied West Bank, on Sunday, made complaints about the dangerous environmental damage they were facing because of the skunk water poured by the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel. Farmers said that the pollution is causing hideous smells and contamination of surface and groundwater after mixed with settlement sewage water. Researcher and activist Khaled Ma'ali said that theAriel settlement and university daily pour more than 10,000 cups of sewage water in Palestinian areas, causing the pollution and contamination of many water springs and soil, sabotaging the most touristic natural areas in Salfit. Ma'ali added that 24 settlements and 4 industrial zones were draining the environment and spreading unemployment by engorging land and releasing pigs in agricultural zones, which was damaging the economy in Salfit severely. The sewage water problem has been going on for years now. In December, eyewitnesses and Palestinian shepherds complained that the factories in the Industrial Zone of "Burkhan" Israeli Settlement near Salfit, north West Bank, every Thursday and Friday utilize the weekend to pour waste-water all at once into the Salfit valleys.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71696
Pictures and details: 'Ateret Cohanim' seeks to control 5 dunams of land in the neighborhood of Batn Al-Hawa in Silwan
SILWAN, Jerusalem (SILWANIC) 23 May -- The settlement organization “Ateret Cohanim” is seeking to confiscate 5200 square meters in the “Middle Neighborhood” in Silwan south of Al-Aqsa Mosque. Wadi Hilweh Information Center-Silwan obtained a map and aerial photographs illustrating one of the plans of “Ateret Cohanim” in the “Middle Neighborhood” and revealed their intention to confiscate nearly 5200 square meters under the pretext of being owned by the Jews of Yemen since 1881. The targeted area is divided into 6 pieces of land (numbers: 73, 75, 88, 95, 96 and 97) and the settlement organization claim that the Israeli Supreme Court approved the ownership of settlers from Yemen to lands in Batn Al-Hawa. Wadi Hilweh Information Center explained in a statement issued Saturday that the lands at risk of being confiscated currently have 30-35 residential apartments established on them where 80 families and nearly 300 individuals live. All the residents have been living in the neighborhood since the 1960’s after they bought the lands and property from the previous owners using official documents. The Center added that Palestinian families own the lands as well as the buildings established on them where all the families own more than one apartment in the area. The families are: Abu Nab, Rajabi, Sarhan, Abu Rammouz, Gheith, Shihadeh, Basbous, Dweik and Silwadi. According to the aerial photographs, some of the houses are at risk of confiscating parts of it that fall within the area allocated in the map.
http://silwanic.net/?p=58836
Municipality, ACRI debate causes for growing poverty in East Jerusalem
The Media Line 24 May -- During the past nine years, the number of Arab residents of East Jerusalem living below the poverty line has increased to the point where three-quarters of the population is living with insufficient means according to claims published by the non-governmental organization, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). The group claims that as many as 83.9 percent of Arab children in the city fall below the poverty line ... ACRI argues that the large increase in poverty is principally due to the onset of construction of the security barrier in 2006, because the barrier has economically dislocated Arabs living in Jerusalem from communities in the West Bank. During this period, the population has also increased putting additional strain on available resources ... A spokeswoman for the Jerusalem Municipality dismissed ACRI’s figures saying, “It is unfortunate that ACRI chooses every year to recycle the report that is distorted and cut off from reality hoping to get press coverage.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4660616,00.html
Arab MKs: Acre municipality forcing out Arab residents
The Media Line 24 May -- Joint Arab List MKs says Jewish-led Acre municipality perpetuates poor state of housing in order to drive the mostly Arab residents --Minarets, green domes and an Ottoman-era clock tower look out over the brightly painted fishing boats that line the quayside. Tourists stroll beside gaggles of children on outings from nearby Muslim schools. The old city of Acre is made uniquely beautiful by the sparkle of blue water from the Mediterranean Sea surrounding the ancient port town on three sides. For its examples of Ottoman architecture - a citadel, mosques, khans and a Turkish bathhouse - and for the Crusader ruins buried below, the city was awarded UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) heritage status in 2001. Acre features heavily in the long history of the region, with the remains of both the largest Crusader town left in the world and evidence of permanent habitation dating back five millennia. The modern day city’s 46,000 residents are mixed demographically with around two thirds being Jewish, and one third Arab. The winding alleys and timeworn buildings are what gives the old city its atmosphere, valued by both tourists and UNESCO alike. But many of these ancient buildings are in need of repair. The beauty of such structures goes hand-in-hand with the difficulty present in maintaining them - any repairs must be done using materials which preserve the ancient look of the old city. This makes repairs unaffordable to many of the residents of the old city, an area which suffers from high levels of poverty ... “For many years the aim was to evacuate most of the old city of its own inhabitants and to turn it into a touristic city that is mostly inhabited by artists and investors, hotels, small boutique hotels – businesses that are mainly for tourism,” Touma-Suleiman said, adding that a combination of racism against Arabs and naked capitalist interest were behind the drive to force out Arab families. The mayor’s office sharply rejected claims that they are trying to force Arab residents out of the old city....
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4660619,00.html
Israeli extremists smash doors of Palestinian stores in Hebron
IMEMC/Agencies 23 May -- Several fanatic Israeli settlers smashed, Saturday, the doors of a number of Palestinian stores and shops, in Shuhada Street, inHebron’s Old City, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank. The Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA) said the settlers came from a number of illegal outposts, in the center of Hebron city. Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers prevented the Palestinians from entering Shuhada Street for several hours, denying them access to their own homes and shops, an issue that pushed some to seek alternate, extended, routes.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71685
PA pledge support for Bedouin community facing forced displacement
[with photos] RAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Sunday pledged $50,000 to the Bedouin community of Abu Nuwwar east of Jerusalem that is currently facing forced displacement by Israeli forces. Hamdallah made the pledge during a high-profile visit to the Palestinian community in the company of four government ministers, the EU envoy to the Palestinian Territories John Gatt-Rutter, and UN Humanitarian Coordinator James W. Rawley. "We came to visit you today... to show solidarity and to support our people in the Bedouin dwellings who have shown legendary steadfastness facing (Israel's) displacement and transfer plans," Hamdallah said during the visit. Two weeks ago, dozens of Palestinian families living in Abu Nuwwar were told they would be forced from their land in less than a month to clear way for the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim ... Hamdallah said Sunday that the Palestinian government and President Mahmoud Abbas were making efforts at an international level to prevent the displacement of Palestinian Bedouin families, which he said was "a blatant violation of the principles of human rights." He added that Israel's "targeting" of Palestinians in Area C extended to "46 Bedouin communities, 70 percent of whom are refugees."
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765592
How Jerusalem makes Palestinians disappear / Orly Noy
+972 mag 23 May -- While the exclusion of Palestinian cab drivers from a Jerusalem megaplex is illegal and immoral, it is just the tip of the iceberg in a city that constantly tries to erase Palestinian existence -- “If she wants a Jewish driver, she’ll get a Jewish driver, I don’t understand what difference it makes.” This is how Merav Basher, the representative of Cinema City Jerusalem, responded to Thair Raga, a cab driver from East Jerusalem, when he confronted her about the megaplex’s policy of ordering Jewish-only drivers for some of their workers ... The truth is that I believe Basher ... I believe her because Basher is working in a city where sidelining Palestinians is a way of life -- it’s practically policy. I believe her because the mayor of the city where she works doesn’t see Palestinians, giving little more than the crumbs of the municipal budget to a population that makes up approximately 40 percent of the city’s residents. I believe her because in Jerusalem the Israeli government does all it can to make invisible the Palestinians in the name of the settlement and Judaization of the eastern part of the city.... I believe her because in Jerusalem, it isn’t rare to see street signs with Arabic sprayed over in black. I believe her because in Jerusalem, when settlers want to hold a violent and provocative march in the heart of the Muslim Quarter, the police makes sure to keep away the Palestinians locked in their homes. I believe her because the Israeli education also disappears Palestinians (in contravention of its own laws), and doesn’t see that thousands of children in East Jerusalem have no classrooms to learn in....
http://972mag.com/how-jerusalem-makes-palestinians-disappear/107037/
Right-wing Jews tour Al-Aqsa compound
JERUSALEM (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Dozens of right-wing Jewish Israelis entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound under the protection of Israeli forces on Sunday morning to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. Director of the compound Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani said that tensions quickly rose after the group of up to 50 right-wing Jewish Israelis began to perform religious rites near the compound's Golden and Chain Gates. Israeli police officers reportedly arrested a right-wing Jew after he swore at one of the compound's Palestinian guards. "As the numbers of Jews who broke into the compound increased, more worshipers shouted 'Allahu Akbar,' and in response 12 Israeli special forces officers stormed the compound to protect the settlers," al-Kiswani said. Witnesses said that as the group left through the Chain gate, they performed religious dances and other rituals in order "to provoke Muslim worshipers." ... The Jewish holiday of Shavuot, celebrated this year on May 24, marks the day Jews believe God gave the Torah to the Jewish people while they were gathered on Mount Sinai.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765591
Why won't Israeli peace groups talk about the Nakba? / Tom Mehager
Haokets 23 May -- It’s 2015 and Israeli peace groups still refuse to talk about the mass dispossession of Palestinians in 1948, including those who became Israeli citizens. Tom Mehager says it is time for a real conversation about the right of return -- Israeli non-profit organizations that strive for a society based on coexistence most often focus on the most pressing issues vis-a-vis Jewish-Arab relations: educating toward democratic values, mutual recognition and teaching the Arabic language; equal allocation of resources and land; integration into the workforce and strengthening economic investment in Arab towns and villages; proper representation in decision-making processes; legitimacy for Arabic in the public sphere; changing state symbols, and more. In this respect, these organizations are making important conversations. But what those same organizations, which demand equality between Jews and Arabs, do not speak about or deal with is the right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homeland. 1948 is the elephant standing in the center of the room. Many of our Palestinian colleagues in these organizations come from families who were uprooted from their homeland, with much of their nation still living in the diaspora. I do not want to speak in the name of Palestinians and claim that they want to open up a conversation with us, Jewish Israelis, about the right of return. But I do want to ask why it is that we never raise questions about 1948 when speaking of a life of coexistence or about our vision of equality.
http://972mag.com/why-do-peace-groups-refuse-to-talk-about-the-nakba/106951/
Prisoners
Detainee begins hunger strike in protest of familial visit deprivation
IMEMC/Agencies 24 May -- 38-year-old Palestinian detainee Mohammad Idrees Rashdan, from the village of Einabus [or ‘Aynabus] near Nablus, has launched an open-ended hunger strike after being denied family visits by Israeli authorities, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported Thursday. PPS said, according to WAFA, that Rashdah has not seen any member of his family for six years due to security pretences, and is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence. So far, Rashdan has served 15 years.
Since early May, former Palestinian hunger striker and prisoner Khader Adnan started an open-ended hunger strike, in protest of administrative detention without charge or trial. He was transferred to solitary confinement by the Israeli prison administration, as a punitive measure.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71688
PA official: Israeli interrogators using 'brutal' methods
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Israeli interrogators are using "oppressive and brutal" methods to frighten Palestinian detainees and force them into confessing to attacks against Israel, a Palestinian official said Sunday. Issa Qarage, who heads the Palestinian Authority prisoners' affairs committee, made his comments during a visit to prisoners' families in the northern West Bank village of Qusin in Nablus district, where he met with former detainee Noor Muhammad Hilmi Hamamrah, 15. Hamamrah told him that during his interrogation in the Etzion detention center, Israeli interrogators had made him open his mouth while they used a utility knife to forcibly pry out part of his braces, causing bleeding. An interrogator then told Hamamrah that he would pull out all of his teeth if he didn't confess to throwing stones at Israeli vehicles, Qarage relayed. Qarage said that the boy eventually made the confession. Hamamrah was detained from his family home on April 15 at 3:00 a.m. and was taken in a military truck to the nearby Beitar Illit settlement where he was held for three hours before being taken to the detention center.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765587
Gaza
Israeli forces open fire on fishermen, farmers in Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen and farmers in the Gaza Strip Sunday morning, with no injuries reported. Witnesses told Ma‘an that Israeli naval boats fired on fishing boats off Sheikh Ijlein and Nuseirat on the northern Gazan coast, forcing the fisherman to return to land. Meanwhile, Israeli troops stationed in watchtowers along the borders with Gaza fired gunshots at Palestinian farmers working on their fields near the border area in northwestern Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinian fisherman and farmers since the ceasefire agreement signed Aug. 26, 2014 that ended a devastating 50-day Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip.In March alone, there were a total of 35 incidents of shootings, incursions into the coastal enclave, and arrests, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.The shootings left 10 injured, including three minors.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=765586
New road parallel to Israeli buffer zone in Gaza
Middle East Monitor 23 May -- This week, the Hamas military wing started to pave a new road along the Israeli military buffer zone along the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. Farmers in the nearby areas said that they saw bulldozers owned by Al-Qassam Brigades had approached the buffer zone and started working. "At first, a Palestinian bulldozes owned by the Palestinian housing ministry started working," a farmer from the middle area of the Gaza city said. He continued: "The Israeli monitoring tower opened fire at the bulldozer, pushing it to retreat. A few time later, a new bulldozer escorted with two Qassam 4x4 vehicles returned to the same area and started working." A senior Qassam source stated, "the construction of a new road along the buffer zone is underway." The source said that the road will be 300 metres from the borders and Qassam is planning to setup monitoring towers opposite to the Israeli towers. Since the ceasefire announced on August 26 that ended a 51-day Israeli offensive, Al-Qassam has deployed its members along the borders to prevent any Palestinians firing rockets or carrying out any offensive against the Israeli side. However, the Israeli occupation has been breaching the truce almost every day as it opens fire at Palestinian farmers in the east of the Strip and fishermen off the Gaza coast.
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/18803-new-road-parallel-to-israeli-buffer-zone-in-gaza
Egypt to open Rafah crossing into Gaza for 2 days
CAIRO (Ma‘an) 24 May -- Egyptian authorities will open the Rafah border crossing for two days on Tuesday and Wednesday allowing passengers to travel from Egypt into Gaza, although not the other way around, Egyptian security sources told Ma‘an. Palestinian officials have reportedly been notified so as to make the necessary arrangements. Rafah crossing has been the principal connection between Gaza's 1.8 million residents and the outside world since the imposition of an Israeli blockade on the c