30 apr 2016
The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) has said that the Palestinian government's decision to give the Gaza power plant tax exemptions on fuel supplies between 80 to 100 percent is an "insufficient step."
In a press release on Saturday, the DFLP demanded the government to assume its responsibility fully towards Gaza and give the power plant 100-percent tax exemptions on its fuel needs in order to retain the eight-hour electricity program.
It called for necessarily respecting what had been agreed upon by the electricity company, the energy authority and the national committee of the factions during their recent meeting in order to provide Gaza with its power needs.
In a press release on Saturday, the DFLP demanded the government to assume its responsibility fully towards Gaza and give the power plant 100-percent tax exemptions on its fuel needs in order to retain the eight-hour electricity program.
It called for necessarily respecting what had been agreed upon by the electricity company, the energy authority and the national committee of the factions during their recent meeting in order to provide Gaza with its power needs.
28 apr 2016
Jamil Mezher, member of the national committee to follow up the power crisis in Gaza, said that the unity government decided to exempt the fuel of the main power plant in the Gaza Strip from 80-100% of the Blue Tax starting from first of May.
Mezher described, in a statement on Wednesday, the decision which was declared by Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah on Tuesday as a positive move and a temporary solution.
He said, “This is going to contribute to maintaining the 8-hour electricity schedule".
He opined that the best solution to the power crisis can be reached either by increasing power energy produced from the Israeli 161 Line with 120 MW or extending a gas line to the power plant.
“Both solutions are possible and manageable but political issues and differences are the main obstacles", he highlighted.
Mezher described, in a statement on Wednesday, the decision which was declared by Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah on Tuesday as a positive move and a temporary solution.
He said, “This is going to contribute to maintaining the 8-hour electricity schedule".
He opined that the best solution to the power crisis can be reached either by increasing power energy produced from the Israeli 161 Line with 120 MW or extending a gas line to the power plant.
“Both solutions are possible and manageable but political issues and differences are the main obstacles", he highlighted.
25 apr 2016
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Palestine sustained a trade deficit (excess of imports over exports) of about 308.3 million dollars in February 2016, describing the deficit as "slight" compared with January.
"The trade balance, which represents the difference between exports and imports, was slightly decreased by 0.3 percent in February 2016 compared to January 2016, while it increased by 11.0 percent compared to February, 2015 and reached 308.3 million dollars," a report released on Monday by the PCBS stated.
Exports increased in February 2016 by 10.8 percent compared to January 2016. It also increased by 1.5 percent compared to February 2015 and reached USD 69.0 million.
Exports to Israel increased in February 2016 by 11.6 percent compared to January 2016 and represented 88.6 percent of total exports in February 2016.
At the same time, exports to other countries increased by 4.3 percent during the same period compared to January 2016. As for the imports, they increased in February 2016 by 1.6 percent compared to January 2016. It also increased by 9.1 percent compared to February 2015 and reached 377.3 million dollars.
Imports from Israel increased by 5.1 percent in February 2016 compared to January 2016 and represented 57.2 percent of total imports in February 2016, while imports from other countries decreased by 2.8 percent compared to January 2016.
The Palestinian government attributes trade deficits to the occupied territories' failure to access key resources and because of movement restrictions imposed by Israel.
"The trade balance, which represents the difference between exports and imports, was slightly decreased by 0.3 percent in February 2016 compared to January 2016, while it increased by 11.0 percent compared to February, 2015 and reached 308.3 million dollars," a report released on Monday by the PCBS stated.
Exports increased in February 2016 by 10.8 percent compared to January 2016. It also increased by 1.5 percent compared to February 2015 and reached USD 69.0 million.
Exports to Israel increased in February 2016 by 11.6 percent compared to January 2016 and represented 88.6 percent of total exports in February 2016.
At the same time, exports to other countries increased by 4.3 percent during the same period compared to January 2016. As for the imports, they increased in February 2016 by 1.6 percent compared to January 2016. It also increased by 9.1 percent compared to February 2015 and reached 377.3 million dollars.
Imports from Israel increased by 5.1 percent in February 2016 compared to January 2016 and represented 57.2 percent of total imports in February 2016, while imports from other countries decreased by 2.8 percent compared to January 2016.
The Palestinian government attributes trade deficits to the occupied territories' failure to access key resources and because of movement restrictions imposed by Israel.
Israeli Occupation Authority (IOA) banned Palestinian owners of quarries in Salfit governorate from taking out red stones, which are referred to as “red petrol”, in order to pave way for the expansion of Ariel settlement.
Many of the owners complained about heavy losses due to the ban order of taking valuable stones under the pretext that the quarries are located in the Israeli-controlled C area.
Researcher Khaled Maali revealed that the IOA confiscated, in a previous measure, the owners’ digging equipment and that it has been refusing to issue permits for quarries in the West Bank.
Maali told the PIC reporter that the IOA, however, issued 11 permits for settlers’ quarries in the area between 2009 and 2014. 500 dunums were confiscated for this regard.
The international Bank in 2013 revealed that the Israeli restrictions on Area C costs the Palestinian economy with a sum estimated at $3.4 billion annually which equals 33% of the Palestinian total local production.
Many of the owners complained about heavy losses due to the ban order of taking valuable stones under the pretext that the quarries are located in the Israeli-controlled C area.
Researcher Khaled Maali revealed that the IOA confiscated, in a previous measure, the owners’ digging equipment and that it has been refusing to issue permits for quarries in the West Bank.
Maali told the PIC reporter that the IOA, however, issued 11 permits for settlers’ quarries in the area between 2009 and 2014. 500 dunums were confiscated for this regard.
The international Bank in 2013 revealed that the Israeli restrictions on Area C costs the Palestinian economy with a sum estimated at $3.4 billion annually which equals 33% of the Palestinian total local production.
22 apr 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at predawn time on Friday kidnapped two Palestinians from the southern West Bank province of al-Khalil after they wreaked havoc on their family homes.
The Israeli occupation army claimed responsibility for the abduction of two allegedly wanted Palestinians from al-Khalil on account of their involvement in anti-occupation activities.
Meanwhile, the occupation troops stormed Palestinian shops in al-Khalil’s southern neighborhoods and were deployed on their rooftops to provide extremist settlers with a security shield on the occasion of the Jewish Passover holiday.
The Israeli occupation army claimed responsibility for the abduction of two allegedly wanted Palestinians from al-Khalil on account of their involvement in anti-occupation activities.
Meanwhile, the occupation troops stormed Palestinian shops in al-Khalil’s southern neighborhoods and were deployed on their rooftops to provide extremist settlers with a security shield on the occasion of the Jewish Passover holiday.
21 apr 2016
3,500 Palestinians may be out of work after Israel closes three quarries just outside the village of Beit Fajar; COGAT says quarries are operated illegally on state land, but Palestinians claim that they own the land on which the quarries are located.
The future of the Palestinian town of Beit Fajar looks bleak after Israel's military forced the shutdown of some three dozen quarries in the area, endangering 3,500 jobs and paralyzing the dominant local industry.
Palestinian quarry owners and their lawyer say March 21 raids of the quarries by hundreds of Israeli soldiers and the confiscation of millions of dollars in equipment amount to collective punishment. The raids came four days after two Beit Fajar residents stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier.
The fate of the quarries also highlights Israel's policy of favoring Israeli settlement businesses in the occupied West Bank over those of local Palestinians, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch said Thursday. Israel has not issued new licenses for Palestinian-run quarries in the West Bank since 1994, while giving operating permits to 11 Israeli-run quarries in the area, the group said.
The Israeli-administered quarries produce 25 percent of the quarrying materials for the Israeli and settlement economies, amounting to Israeli exploitation of natural resources in occupied territories in violation of Israel's obligations as an occupying power, HRW said.
"I think Israel wants to strike at the Palestinian economy," said Subhi Thawabteh, head of the Union of Stone and Marble in Palestine. "This is part of the Israeli pressure on the Palestinians. They want us to desert our land and fill it with Israeli settlers."
COGAT (Coordnator Of Government Activities in the Territories), the Israeli military body that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, did not respond to requests for comment. COGAT wrote to HRW that the quarries operate unlawfully, on state land, and that they pose a safety and environmental hazard.
Roni Salman, a lawyer representing the Palestinian quarry owners, said he believes the raids amounted to "collective punishment of the people of Beit Fajar" for the attack carried out by the two village residents.
Human Rights Watch also noted that a previous raid of quarries by the military came three days after a Beit Fajar resident killed an Israeli woman in a West Bank attack in November.
Asked about the timing, COGAT wrote that the raids were carried out once resources were available and "as per priority."
Quarry owners said troops confiscated equipment in the past, but that the heavy machinery was usually returned after payment of heavy fines. This time, Israel had stiffer demands.
In a letter to HRW, it said that quarry owners will have to pledge to "cease illegal operations." They would also have to reimburse the military for the cost of confiscating equipment and pay retroactive royalties for extracting stones.
Salman, the lawyer, said he is trying to persuade quarry owners to appeal to Israel's Supreme Court to try to challenge Israel's overall policy.
Underlying the dispute is a complex division of the West Bank into jurisdictions — a legacy of failed negotiations on Palestinian statehood on lands Israel captured in 1967, including the West Bank.
Israel retains full control over more than 60 percent of the West Bank, known as "Area C" and home to dozens of Israeli settlements with some 370,000 residents. The rest of the territory, where most Palestinians live, is under varying degrees of Palestinian self-rule.
Beit Fajar, near biblical Bethlehem, is located in autonomous territory, but the quarries are in Area C. Israel argues that the quarries are on state land, a designation critics say has routinely been used to take lands from Palestinians.
Human Rights Watch quoted three Palestinian quarry owners as saying they have repeatedly tried to prove ownership of the land, but have been rejected. Quarry owners also said they repeatedly asked for licenses, but were ignored or turned down.
"This is our land, it's in our village, not in Israel," quarry owner Abdel Moin al-Taweel said this week, after seeing two bulldozers and other heavy equipment confiscated.
Quarries and stone factories are the economic bedrock of Beit Fajar, employing some 3,500 people and producing an estimated $25 million a year.
Sari Bashi, the Israel and Palestine director at HRW, said the latest measures counter recent assurances by the military to facilitate Palestinian economic development.
"Instead, it is choking a Palestinian-run industry in the West Bank, while promoting the same industry in Israeli settlements," she said.
The future of the Palestinian town of Beit Fajar looks bleak after Israel's military forced the shutdown of some three dozen quarries in the area, endangering 3,500 jobs and paralyzing the dominant local industry.
Palestinian quarry owners and their lawyer say March 21 raids of the quarries by hundreds of Israeli soldiers and the confiscation of millions of dollars in equipment amount to collective punishment. The raids came four days after two Beit Fajar residents stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier.
The fate of the quarries also highlights Israel's policy of favoring Israeli settlement businesses in the occupied West Bank over those of local Palestinians, the New York-based group Human Rights Watch said Thursday. Israel has not issued new licenses for Palestinian-run quarries in the West Bank since 1994, while giving operating permits to 11 Israeli-run quarries in the area, the group said.
The Israeli-administered quarries produce 25 percent of the quarrying materials for the Israeli and settlement economies, amounting to Israeli exploitation of natural resources in occupied territories in violation of Israel's obligations as an occupying power, HRW said.
"I think Israel wants to strike at the Palestinian economy," said Subhi Thawabteh, head of the Union of Stone and Marble in Palestine. "This is part of the Israeli pressure on the Palestinians. They want us to desert our land and fill it with Israeli settlers."
COGAT (Coordnator Of Government Activities in the Territories), the Israeli military body that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, did not respond to requests for comment. COGAT wrote to HRW that the quarries operate unlawfully, on state land, and that they pose a safety and environmental hazard.
Roni Salman, a lawyer representing the Palestinian quarry owners, said he believes the raids amounted to "collective punishment of the people of Beit Fajar" for the attack carried out by the two village residents.
Human Rights Watch also noted that a previous raid of quarries by the military came three days after a Beit Fajar resident killed an Israeli woman in a West Bank attack in November.
Asked about the timing, COGAT wrote that the raids were carried out once resources were available and "as per priority."
Quarry owners said troops confiscated equipment in the past, but that the heavy machinery was usually returned after payment of heavy fines. This time, Israel had stiffer demands.
In a letter to HRW, it said that quarry owners will have to pledge to "cease illegal operations." They would also have to reimburse the military for the cost of confiscating equipment and pay retroactive royalties for extracting stones.
Salman, the lawyer, said he is trying to persuade quarry owners to appeal to Israel's Supreme Court to try to challenge Israel's overall policy.
Underlying the dispute is a complex division of the West Bank into jurisdictions — a legacy of failed negotiations on Palestinian statehood on lands Israel captured in 1967, including the West Bank.
Israel retains full control over more than 60 percent of the West Bank, known as "Area C" and home to dozens of Israeli settlements with some 370,000 residents. The rest of the territory, where most Palestinians live, is under varying degrees of Palestinian self-rule.
Beit Fajar, near biblical Bethlehem, is located in autonomous territory, but the quarries are in Area C. Israel argues that the quarries are on state land, a designation critics say has routinely been used to take lands from Palestinians.
Human Rights Watch quoted three Palestinian quarry owners as saying they have repeatedly tried to prove ownership of the land, but have been rejected. Quarry owners also said they repeatedly asked for licenses, but were ignored or turned down.
"This is our land, it's in our village, not in Israel," quarry owner Abdel Moin al-Taweel said this week, after seeing two bulldozers and other heavy equipment confiscated.
Quarries and stone factories are the economic bedrock of Beit Fajar, employing some 3,500 people and producing an estimated $25 million a year.
Sari Bashi, the Israel and Palestine director at HRW, said the latest measures counter recent assurances by the military to facilitate Palestinian economic development.
"Instead, it is choking a Palestinian-run industry in the West Bank, while promoting the same industry in Israeli settlements," she said.
20 apr 2016
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed Wednesday afternoon Azzoun town south of Qalqilia which led to the outbreak of violent clashes.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF closed the main entrance to Azzoun town before breaking into its neighborhoods amid heavy fire of teargas bombs.
Several local shops were also raided while passing by citizens were stopped and investigated, the sources added. Local youths responded by throwing stones and empty bottles at the soldiers who were deployed in large numbers in the town.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli policemen arrested a Palestinian young man during clashes that erupted in Katana village northwest of occupied Jerusalem.
The clashes broke out when Israeli policemen stormed the village by the end of the school day and started firing teargas bombs at the students while leaving their schools, local activists reported.
Several students choked on tear gas while nearby trees were burned due to the excessive use of teargas bombs. Local youths responded by stoning the Israeli policemen who tried to break into the secondary school in the village at the pretext of looking for students who were throwing stones but were prevented by the headmaster from entering the building.
A Palestinian young man was arrested for allegedly being involved in the clashes. More than 40 Palestinians were arrested since the early morning hours during Israeli raids across West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF closed the main entrance to Azzoun town before breaking into its neighborhoods amid heavy fire of teargas bombs.
Several local shops were also raided while passing by citizens were stopped and investigated, the sources added. Local youths responded by throwing stones and empty bottles at the soldiers who were deployed in large numbers in the town.
Also on Wednesday, Israeli policemen arrested a Palestinian young man during clashes that erupted in Katana village northwest of occupied Jerusalem.
The clashes broke out when Israeli policemen stormed the village by the end of the school day and started firing teargas bombs at the students while leaving their schools, local activists reported.
Several students choked on tear gas while nearby trees were burned due to the excessive use of teargas bombs. Local youths responded by stoning the Israeli policemen who tried to break into the secondary school in the village at the pretext of looking for students who were throwing stones but were prevented by the headmaster from entering the building.
A Palestinian young man was arrested for allegedly being involved in the clashes. More than 40 Palestinians were arrested since the early morning hours during Israeli raids across West Bank and occupied Jerusalem.
19 apr 2016
The Palestinian Authority is losing up to $285 million a year under its current economic arrangements with Israel, the World Bank said on Monday.
According to Ma’an News Agency, the global financial institution announced the finding a day before it presents its full report to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee, which decides on development assistance to the Palestinian territories, in Brussels. It found that the current revenue sharing arrangements as outlined by the Paris Protocol — through which Israel collects VAT, import taxes and other revenues on behalf of the PA — “have not been systematically implemented.”
The World Bank estimated that “tax leakages on bilateral trade with Israel and undervaluation of Palestinian imports from third countries” amounted to up to $285 million in revenues lost annually by the PA.
It added that the amount could be higher, as it was unable to make estimates for Area C — the 61 percent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli control — “due to data constraints.”
“These revenues can significantly ease the Authority’s fiscal stress,” the World Bank said, urging Israel and the PA to revive the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Economic Committee, which was originally set up to monitor the implementation of the Paris Protocol.
The global institution also noted that Israel was currently holding onto $669 million owed to the PA, including pension contributions from Palestinians working in Israel and their employers that were “expected to be transferred to a dedicated fund that is yet to be established by the PA.” The amount also includes deductions from these workers’ salaries that Israel is supposed to transfer to cover their health services and social benefits.
Rights groups have long condemned Israel for withholding these funds, leaving Palestinian workers with no benefits whatsoever.
Israel recently agreed to transfer $128 million “to offset some of the losses accumulated over the years,” the World Bank said, commending this as the “first step in an enhanced dialogue.”
The report to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee will also note the poor state of the Palestinian economy and the need “to stimulate growth in an economy that is not growing enough to raise living standards or reduce high unemployment.”
The World Bank said the West Bank’s economy was stronger through 2015 than in 2014, but still “barely enough to keep up with population growth,” while in Gaza, the economy was not expected to recover its pre-war levels until at least 2018. It said that slow aid was continuing “to hamper Gaza’s recovery,” as only 40 percent of foreign aid pledged in the aftermath of 2014’s devastating war with Israel had so far been disbursed.
“One can understand the exhausted population when 20 months after the war, only 9 percent of totally damaged houses and 45 percent of partially damaged houses have been repaired,” said Steen Jorgensen, the World Bank’s country director.
“For these people in Gaza, there is no escape.”
According to Ma’an News Agency, the global financial institution announced the finding a day before it presents its full report to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee, which decides on development assistance to the Palestinian territories, in Brussels. It found that the current revenue sharing arrangements as outlined by the Paris Protocol — through which Israel collects VAT, import taxes and other revenues on behalf of the PA — “have not been systematically implemented.”
The World Bank estimated that “tax leakages on bilateral trade with Israel and undervaluation of Palestinian imports from third countries” amounted to up to $285 million in revenues lost annually by the PA.
It added that the amount could be higher, as it was unable to make estimates for Area C — the 61 percent of the occupied West Bank under full Israeli control — “due to data constraints.”
“These revenues can significantly ease the Authority’s fiscal stress,” the World Bank said, urging Israel and the PA to revive the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Economic Committee, which was originally set up to monitor the implementation of the Paris Protocol.
The global institution also noted that Israel was currently holding onto $669 million owed to the PA, including pension contributions from Palestinians working in Israel and their employers that were “expected to be transferred to a dedicated fund that is yet to be established by the PA.” The amount also includes deductions from these workers’ salaries that Israel is supposed to transfer to cover their health services and social benefits.
Rights groups have long condemned Israel for withholding these funds, leaving Palestinian workers with no benefits whatsoever.
Israel recently agreed to transfer $128 million “to offset some of the losses accumulated over the years,” the World Bank said, commending this as the “first step in an enhanced dialogue.”
The report to the Ad Hoc Liaison committee will also note the poor state of the Palestinian economy and the need “to stimulate growth in an economy that is not growing enough to raise living standards or reduce high unemployment.”
The World Bank said the West Bank’s economy was stronger through 2015 than in 2014, but still “barely enough to keep up with population growth,” while in Gaza, the economy was not expected to recover its pre-war levels until at least 2018. It said that slow aid was continuing “to hamper Gaza’s recovery,” as only 40 percent of foreign aid pledged in the aftermath of 2014’s devastating war with Israel had so far been disbursed.
“One can understand the exhausted population when 20 months after the war, only 9 percent of totally damaged houses and 45 percent of partially damaged houses have been repaired,” said Steen Jorgensen, the World Bank’s country director.
“For these people in Gaza, there is no escape.”
15 apr 2016
An Israeli municipal crew on Friday morning delivered demolition orders against a commercial facility and a house in Silwan district in Occupied Jerusalem at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
A local source reported that employees from the Israeli municipality escorted by police forces entered al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan and handed a Palestinian citizen a demolition notice issued against his car wash.
The source told Quds Press that a similar demolition order was put up on a house's wall in the same neighborhood. Silwan is one of many Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem that is seeing home demolitions and displacement of Palestinian families as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at Judaizing the whole city.
A local source reported that employees from the Israeli municipality escorted by police forces entered al-Bustan neighborhood in Silwan and handed a Palestinian citizen a demolition notice issued against his car wash.
The source told Quds Press that a similar demolition order was put up on a house's wall in the same neighborhood. Silwan is one of many Palestinian neighborhoods in east Jerusalem that is seeing home demolitions and displacement of Palestinian families as part of a systematic Israeli policy aimed at Judaizing the whole city.
14 apr 2016
Violent clashes broke out in Barta’a town in Jenin to the north of the West Bank on Thursday morning after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) demolished two local facilities.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF soldiers in ten military vehicles and two bulldozers stormed the town and started the demolition process.
The two agricultural facilities were demolished under the pretext of being built in the Israeli-controlled Area C.
A young man was arrested during the clashes, the sources pointed out.
Meanwhile, IOF stormed a number of commercial shops and offices in Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil. Local activist Mohamed Awad affirmed that large numbers of Israeli forces broke into the town before storming and searching a number of offices and shops.
Electronic equipments were confiscated during the raid.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that IOF soldiers in ten military vehicles and two bulldozers stormed the town and started the demolition process.
The two agricultural facilities were demolished under the pretext of being built in the Israeli-controlled Area C.
A young man was arrested during the clashes, the sources pointed out.
Meanwhile, IOF stormed a number of commercial shops and offices in Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil. Local activist Mohamed Awad affirmed that large numbers of Israeli forces broke into the town before storming and searching a number of offices and shops.
Electronic equipments were confiscated during the raid.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday at dawn, a currency exchange shop in a building in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and fired stun grenades, causing the building to burn.
The soldiers invaded the al-Ajouli Currency Exchange shop in the building, and fired many stun grenades, after confiscating large sums of cash, causing the shop to catch fire that spread through the building.
The Israeli army claimed the soldiers stormed the currency exchange shop to confiscate what it called “money used to fun terror.”
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the soldiers ordered the owner, Ghazi al-Ajouli, to open the safe, but he refused to do so, and the army opened it in what she described as a “controlled detonation.”
The invasion and detonation led to clashes between the soldiers and many local youths, who hurled stones and empty bottles on them, especially in the al-Quds Street, near the currency exchange store.
She added that the detonation caused the building to catch on fire, and that the soldiers arrested Ghazi to interrogate him.
The soldiers invaded the al-Ajouli Currency Exchange shop in the building, and fired many stun grenades, after confiscating large sums of cash, causing the shop to catch fire that spread through the building.
The Israeli army claimed the soldiers stormed the currency exchange shop to confiscate what it called “money used to fun terror.”
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the soldiers ordered the owner, Ghazi al-Ajouli, to open the safe, but he refused to do so, and the army opened it in what she described as a “controlled detonation.”
The invasion and detonation led to clashes between the soldiers and many local youths, who hurled stones and empty bottles on them, especially in the al-Quds Street, near the currency exchange store.
She added that the detonation caused the building to catch on fire, and that the soldiers arrested Ghazi to interrogate him.