16 jan 2017
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) cut down on Monday hundreds of Palestinian-owned olive trees in Ezba Tabib town east of Qalqilia for the establishment of road surrounding the neighboring settlements.
Head of the village council affirmed that Israeli forces stormed the area along with a number of military bulldozers and starting uprooting hundreds of olive trees.
At least 1,000 olive trees were uprooted in the area as a prelude for the establishment of “a settlement road,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces violently suppressed dozens of local residents who gathered and protested against the bulldozing operation.
Earlier Monday, IOF confiscated on Monday Palestinian tractors and a truck in the Northern Jordan Valley to the east of Tubas.
Head of the village council affirmed that Israeli forces stormed the area along with a number of military bulldozers and starting uprooting hundreds of olive trees.
At least 1,000 olive trees were uprooted in the area as a prelude for the establishment of “a settlement road,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces violently suppressed dozens of local residents who gathered and protested against the bulldozing operation.
Earlier Monday, IOF confiscated on Monday Palestinian tractors and a truck in the Northern Jordan Valley to the east of Tubas.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) seized a number of Palestinians’ cars in Bartaa al-Sharkiya town which is isolated by the Israeli Separation Wall in Jenin.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that dozens of the IOF soldiers raided the town, broke into car repair shops and confiscated a score of vehicles. They questioned shop owners in the field, the sources highlighted.
The soldiers transferred the vehicles, some of which have Israeli car plates, to an unknown destination. They handed summonses to some of the car shop owners to be questioned, the sources pointed out.
Local sources told the PIC reporter that dozens of the IOF soldiers raided the town, broke into car repair shops and confiscated a score of vehicles. They questioned shop owners in the field, the sources highlighted.
The soldiers transferred the vehicles, some of which have Israeli car plates, to an unknown destination. They handed summonses to some of the car shop owners to be questioned, the sources pointed out.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) confiscated on Monday Palestinian tractors and a truck in the Northern Jordan Valley to the east of Tubas.
Aref Daraghmeh, human rights activist, told the PIC reporter that civil administration teams and IOF soldiers raided Abziq hamlet and an area near Irza hamlet and confiscated two tractors belonging to Methqal Naghnaghiya and Nimer al-Hourob.
The IOF soldiers also confiscated a parked truck belonging to Hussein Mesa’eed and took the whole lot to Nahel camp near the Hamamat el-Malih area.
The Israeli policy of confiscating Palestinian vehicles and tools aims at pressuring citizens to leave and evacuate their homes and lands, Daraghmeh stressed while appealing to human rights organizations to stand alongside the Palestinians to regain their belongings and to stop the policy of confiscation and harassment.
Aref Daraghmeh, human rights activist, told the PIC reporter that civil administration teams and IOF soldiers raided Abziq hamlet and an area near Irza hamlet and confiscated two tractors belonging to Methqal Naghnaghiya and Nimer al-Hourob.
The IOF soldiers also confiscated a parked truck belonging to Hussein Mesa’eed and took the whole lot to Nahel camp near the Hamamat el-Malih area.
The Israeli policy of confiscating Palestinian vehicles and tools aims at pressuring citizens to leave and evacuate their homes and lands, Daraghmeh stressed while appealing to human rights organizations to stand alongside the Palestinians to regain their belongings and to stop the policy of confiscation and harassment.
The first batch of Qatar’s pledge to purchase fuel to alleviate Gaza power crisis reached Sunday evening the besieged Strip in order to operate the Gaza Strip’s only power plant starting from Monday.
Gaza Energy Authority expressed in a statement issued late yesterday its deep gratitude to the Qatari government and people.
The government of Qatar had earlier pledged to provide $4 million per month for three months in support of Gaza's electricity sector and to urgently alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the statement clarified.
The Authority said that the Gaza Strip would return on Monday to the 8-hour program for electricity, in which power is supplied and cut off in 8-hour intervals.
Earlier on Sunday, Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya in Doha, and gave orders to Qatari officials to immediately intervene to solve the ongoing electricity crisis in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
Gaza Energy Authority expressed in a statement issued late yesterday its deep gratitude to the Qatari government and people.
The government of Qatar had earlier pledged to provide $4 million per month for three months in support of Gaza's electricity sector and to urgently alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, the statement clarified.
The Authority said that the Gaza Strip would return on Monday to the 8-hour program for electricity, in which power is supplied and cut off in 8-hour intervals.
Earlier on Sunday, Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met with senior Hamas leader Ismail Haneyya in Doha, and gave orders to Qatari officials to immediately intervene to solve the ongoing electricity crisis in the blockaded Palestinian territory.
15 jan 2017
The meeting between Ismail Haneyya, deputy chairman of the Hamas political bureau, and the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad, ended on Sunday in the Qatari capital Doha with an urgent Qatari action to help solve the electricity crisis in Gaza.
According to Haneyya's office, an in-depth discussion was raised in the meeting on many issues on the political and living conditions in Gaza Strip in addition to some important issues especially the current electricity crisis in the Strip, which was discussed in detail.
The office added that the positive results reached at the meeting confirm the supportive attitudes of Qatar toward the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people especially in the besieged enclave.
The Emir of Qatar asked his government to act urgently and implement practical steps to solve the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip on several levels.
Haneyya expressed his thanks to Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad and the state of Qatar for such brotherly and sincere actions.
In the same matter, the Qatari ambassador and chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, said that he called Zafer Melhem, acting minister of the Energy Authority in Ramallah, and informed him that the Emir of Qatar pledged to pay 4 million dollars per month for 3 months in support of Gaza's electricity sector and to urgently alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Emadi affirmed, in a press statement published by the Qatari Committee, that the money will be urgently and immediately transferred to the account of the Palestinian Authority to mitigate the worsening crisis in the Gaza Strip according to the directives of the Qatari Emir.
He pointed out that intensive contacts are being conducted with the government, the Energy Authority, and the concerned authorities along with other mechanisms and proposals that are being examined currently to comprehensively address the crisis.
He stated that Bin Hamad's directives came after the meeting held in his office at the Emiri Diwan in Doha with the former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya who is currently in Qatar to confer about the crisis and the proposed solutions.
The Gaza Strip is suffering from a severe electricity crisis that was aggravated by the onset of winter with only four hours of power supplied to inhabitants per day.
According to Haneyya's office, an in-depth discussion was raised in the meeting on many issues on the political and living conditions in Gaza Strip in addition to some important issues especially the current electricity crisis in the Strip, which was discussed in detail.
The office added that the positive results reached at the meeting confirm the supportive attitudes of Qatar toward the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian people especially in the besieged enclave.
The Emir of Qatar asked his government to act urgently and implement practical steps to solve the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip on several levels.
Haneyya expressed his thanks to Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad and the state of Qatar for such brotherly and sincere actions.
In the same matter, the Qatari ambassador and chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Mohammed al-Emadi, said that he called Zafer Melhem, acting minister of the Energy Authority in Ramallah, and informed him that the Emir of Qatar pledged to pay 4 million dollars per month for 3 months in support of Gaza's electricity sector and to urgently alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Emadi affirmed, in a press statement published by the Qatari Committee, that the money will be urgently and immediately transferred to the account of the Palestinian Authority to mitigate the worsening crisis in the Gaza Strip according to the directives of the Qatari Emir.
He pointed out that intensive contacts are being conducted with the government, the Energy Authority, and the concerned authorities along with other mechanisms and proposals that are being examined currently to comprehensively address the crisis.
He stated that Bin Hamad's directives came after the meeting held in his office at the Emiri Diwan in Doha with the former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneyya who is currently in Qatar to confer about the crisis and the proposed solutions.
The Gaza Strip is suffering from a severe electricity crisis that was aggravated by the onset of winter with only four hours of power supplied to inhabitants per day.
The Palestinian Energy and Natural Resources Authority (PENRA) said Saturday that it had received official confirmation about the Turkish government’s intention to send 15 million liters of fuel for the Gaza power plant.
In a press release, the energy authority affirmed that once the Turkish fuel shipment arrived in Gaza, it would be used immediately to operate the power generators in the plant.
It added that the shipment would enhance the distribution program and maintain its stability during the winter months.
The Turkish government, a strong supporter for the Palestinian people, planned years ago to send a floating power plant (power-generating ship) to Gaza to supply it with electricity, but the Palestinian Authority thwarted the step.
In a press release, the energy authority affirmed that once the Turkish fuel shipment arrived in Gaza, it would be used immediately to operate the power generators in the plant.
It added that the shipment would enhance the distribution program and maintain its stability during the winter months.
The Turkish government, a strong supporter for the Palestinian people, planned years ago to send a floating power plant (power-generating ship) to Gaza to supply it with electricity, but the Palestinian Authority thwarted the step.
13 jan 2017
Israeli professor Yitzhak Reiter has said that the living conditions in Palestinian neighborhoods of east Jerusalem are in constant decline while Israel’s discriminatory practices and police violence against the local residents are on the rise.
In a recent interview conducted with him by Maariv newspaper, Reiter, a noted professor of Middle East, Israel and Islamic Studies, said that the Jerusalemites feel that the Israeli government does not care about them and consider them not part of the city’s population, but it sees them as citizens who break the law all the time and thus there is a need to deploy security forces and barriers at the entrances to their areas in the city and restrict their movement.
He affirmed that the majority of Jerusalem’s Arab population lives in poverty and lack of hope, in light of the low levels of infrastructure and the services provided for them, adding that the Jerusalemites also feel legally insecure.
According to statistics he provided, most of the residents in east Jerusalem are Muslims, 64 percent of them under age 18, another 36 percent of them unemployed and 51 percent live below the poverty level.
Although they have Jordanian passports, the Jerusalemites have no rights, while the Israeli government enables Jewish groups with extremist ideology to take over east Jerusalem and gradually the Aqsa Mosque, the professor said.
He also opined that the Jerusalemites became deeply pessimistic about the political process after US president-elect Donald Trump declared his intent to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem.
In a recent interview conducted with him by Maariv newspaper, Reiter, a noted professor of Middle East, Israel and Islamic Studies, said that the Jerusalemites feel that the Israeli government does not care about them and consider them not part of the city’s population, but it sees them as citizens who break the law all the time and thus there is a need to deploy security forces and barriers at the entrances to their areas in the city and restrict their movement.
He affirmed that the majority of Jerusalem’s Arab population lives in poverty and lack of hope, in light of the low levels of infrastructure and the services provided for them, adding that the Jerusalemites also feel legally insecure.
According to statistics he provided, most of the residents in east Jerusalem are Muslims, 64 percent of them under age 18, another 36 percent of them unemployed and 51 percent live below the poverty level.
Although they have Jordanian passports, the Jerusalemites have no rights, while the Israeli government enables Jewish groups with extremist ideology to take over east Jerusalem and gradually the Aqsa Mosque, the professor said.
He also opined that the Jerusalemites became deeply pessimistic about the political process after US president-elect Donald Trump declared his intent to relocate the US embassy to Jerusalem.
The Israeli police ordered four shopkeepers to shut down their businesses in Nazareth, Jaffa, and Nazareth Tamra within the Green Line.
Israeli radio affirmed that the police ordered the closure of four Palestinian-owned commercial shops for a period ranging between five and 15 days.
The decision came under the pretext that workers from the West Bank are working in the notified shops without Israeli permit.
Israeli radio affirmed that the police ordered the closure of four Palestinian-owned commercial shops for a period ranging between five and 15 days.
The decision came under the pretext that workers from the West Bank are working in the notified shops without Israeli permit.
12 jan 2017
Israeli forces uprooted and cut down tens of olive trees in the Karam al-Mufti area of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem on Thursday, as part of an ongoing construction of a road connecting a nearby illegal settlement with the Israeli ministry of interior, according to locals.
Local activist Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma’an that Israeli authorities have been uprooting and cutting down tens of olive trees planted in the area for the last week, transferring the trees to unknown locations.
According to al-Hummus, Israeli authorities put signs in the Karam al-Mufti area last year, declaring that construction works would be conducted on the land “in accordance with articles 5 and 7 of the law,” the construction and planning law regulated 1965 and plan number 4329.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality was not immediately available for comment.
Local activist Muhammad Abu al-Hummus told Ma’an that Israeli authorities have been uprooting and cutting down tens of olive trees planted in the area for the last week, transferring the trees to unknown locations.
According to al-Hummus, Israeli authorities put signs in the Karam al-Mufti area last year, declaring that construction works would be conducted on the land “in accordance with articles 5 and 7 of the law,” the construction and planning law regulated 1965 and plan number 4329.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Jerusalem Municipality was not immediately available for comment.
Several Israeli military vehicles invaded, on Thursday at dawn, Barta’a town, southwest of Jenin in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, and demolished a coop, in addition to handing warrants for the destruction of another coop, and an industrial structure.
Tawfiq Kabaha, a member of the Barta’a Local Council, said several army vehicles invaded the village, isolated behind the Israeli Annexation Wall, and demolished a coop owned by a local farmer, identified as Husam Abdullah Kabaha.
He added that the soldiers handed the Palestinian another demolition order targeting his barn, and informing him he has ten days to remove the animals.
Furthermore, the soldiers handed a demolition order to resident Warrad Ma’rouq, targeting his industrial structure, under the allegation of being built without a permit.
Kabaha stated that Barta’a has been subject to extensive invasions and searches of homes, and suffered many demolitions of homes and property over the last several years, in addition to being isolated by the Annexation Wall, and illegal Israeli colonies.
“The residents in Barta’a are living in an open-air prison,” he added, “They are surrounded by the illegal apartheid wall and colonies, and are subject to constant invasions and violations.”
In Gaza, Israeli soldiers stationed on military towers across the border fence, near Erez terminal, in the northern part of the besieged coastal region, fired many live rounds at homes and lands, close to the border fence.
Tawfiq Kabaha, a member of the Barta’a Local Council, said several army vehicles invaded the village, isolated behind the Israeli Annexation Wall, and demolished a coop owned by a local farmer, identified as Husam Abdullah Kabaha.
He added that the soldiers handed the Palestinian another demolition order targeting his barn, and informing him he has ten days to remove the animals.
Furthermore, the soldiers handed a demolition order to resident Warrad Ma’rouq, targeting his industrial structure, under the allegation of being built without a permit.
Kabaha stated that Barta’a has been subject to extensive invasions and searches of homes, and suffered many demolitions of homes and property over the last several years, in addition to being isolated by the Annexation Wall, and illegal Israeli colonies.
“The residents in Barta’a are living in an open-air prison,” he added, “They are surrounded by the illegal apartheid wall and colonies, and are subject to constant invasions and violations.”
In Gaza, Israeli soldiers stationed on military towers across the border fence, near Erez terminal, in the northern part of the besieged coastal region, fired many live rounds at homes and lands, close to the border fence.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Wednesday evening, the al-Wad area, in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem, broke into stores and abducted three Palestinian merchants.
The soldiers also invaded Shu’fat refugee camp, and abducted ten young men.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said many soldiers, police officers and employees of the tax and revenue department invaded the al-Wad Street area, and started breaking into stores and writing high fines against the owners.
They also abducted three merchants; one of them identified as Ehab Zghayyar, an issue that forced other merchants to close their stores and leave the area.
In related news, dozens of soldiers invaded Shu’fat refugee camp, in Jerusalem, and abducted ten young Palestinian men from the West Bank, for “entering Jerusalem without permits.”
The invasion led to clashes between many youngsters, who hurled stones at the military vehicles, and the soldiers who fired dozens of gas bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets.
The soldiers also ticketed many drivers, and imposed high fines of them.
The soldiers also invaded Shu’fat refugee camp, and abducted ten young men.
The Wadi Hilweh Information Center in Silwan (Silwanic) said many soldiers, police officers and employees of the tax and revenue department invaded the al-Wad Street area, and started breaking into stores and writing high fines against the owners.
They also abducted three merchants; one of them identified as Ehab Zghayyar, an issue that forced other merchants to close their stores and leave the area.
In related news, dozens of soldiers invaded Shu’fat refugee camp, in Jerusalem, and abducted ten young Palestinian men from the West Bank, for “entering Jerusalem without permits.”
The invasion led to clashes between many youngsters, who hurled stones at the military vehicles, and the soldiers who fired dozens of gas bombs and rubber-coated steel bullets.
The soldiers also ticketed many drivers, and imposed high fines of them.