3 mar 2017
United States senators re-introduced a bill which calls for cutting funds provided to the Palestinians Authority (PA) as it still supports “terrorism”.
The bill, according to Haaretz, was reintroduced by Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, in addition to two other senators, demanding a cut on US funding to the PA if it continues to provide monetary support to the families of those who commit acts of terror against Israelis and others.
“If a young Palestinian is convicted in a court in Israel of being a terrorist, the longer they’re in jail, the more their family receives from the Palestinian Authority,” Graham said.
He added that the aim of the new bill is not to destroy the PA rather than forcing it to change its policies.
He claimed that he supports peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to achieve peace PA must stop paying money for attackers who harm Israelis.
Al Ray further reports that the bill was named the “Taylor Force Act” after a US army veteran who was killed during an incident in Jaffa, last year.
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the bill would necessitate that the PA follow certain conditions in order to receive funds from the US government, including taking “credible steps” to end violence by its citizens under its “jurisdictional control”, publicly condemning and punishing Palestinians who have committed acts of violence against Israelis, and “terminating payments” to individuals and their families who have been killed after carrying out attacks.
Rights groups have claimed that Israelis use prison and detention raids – which often erupt into violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces – as a tool to disrupt Palestinian life in the occupied territory, as many families suffer financially when Israeli forces kill, wound, or imprison Palestinians.
The bill, according to Haaretz, was reintroduced by Republican South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, in addition to two other senators, demanding a cut on US funding to the PA if it continues to provide monetary support to the families of those who commit acts of terror against Israelis and others.
“If a young Palestinian is convicted in a court in Israel of being a terrorist, the longer they’re in jail, the more their family receives from the Palestinian Authority,” Graham said.
He added that the aim of the new bill is not to destroy the PA rather than forcing it to change its policies.
He claimed that he supports peace between Israelis and Palestinians and to achieve peace PA must stop paying money for attackers who harm Israelis.
Al Ray further reports that the bill was named the “Taylor Force Act” after a US army veteran who was killed during an incident in Jaffa, last year.
According to the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the bill would necessitate that the PA follow certain conditions in order to receive funds from the US government, including taking “credible steps” to end violence by its citizens under its “jurisdictional control”, publicly condemning and punishing Palestinians who have committed acts of violence against Israelis, and “terminating payments” to individuals and their families who have been killed after carrying out attacks.
Rights groups have claimed that Israelis use prison and detention raids – which often erupt into violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces – as a tool to disrupt Palestinian life in the occupied territory, as many families suffer financially when Israeli forces kill, wound, or imprison Palestinians.
1 mar 2017
Dozens of soldiers invaded, on Wednesday at dawn, Tulkarem city, in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, and broke into a local print shop, before destroying many of its equipment, and confiscating machines.
Abdul-Rahim Badawi, the owner of the print shop, said a large military force invaded the area, before the soldiers broke into his shop, after smashing its main doors, and initiated violent searches, leading to excessive property damage.
He added that the soldiers confiscated most of his equipment, and destroyed several computers and machines, during the violent invasion and search.
Badawi further stated that his shop is licensed, and never received any notices or warnings from the Israeli military, or any other party.
The soldiers also invaded several neighborhoods in Tulkarem, before storming several buildings and violently searching them.
Abdul-Rahim Badawi, the owner of the print shop, said a large military force invaded the area, before the soldiers broke into his shop, after smashing its main doors, and initiated violent searches, leading to excessive property damage.
He added that the soldiers confiscated most of his equipment, and destroyed several computers and machines, during the violent invasion and search.
Badawi further stated that his shop is licensed, and never received any notices or warnings from the Israeli military, or any other party.
The soldiers also invaded several neighborhoods in Tulkarem, before storming several buildings and violently searching them.
28 feb 2017
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) on Tuesday handed demolition notices to owners of vegetable stalls north of Jenin city after interrogating them.
Hasan Abu Farha told the PIC reporter that the IOA warned them of setting up their vegetable stalls along al-Nasra road until the Jalama checkpoint claiming that it is a military zone.
Farha pointed out that 14 owners of vegetable stalls, who have set up their stalls few hundred meters away from the Jalama checkpoint, were handed demolition notices, and added that these citizens, who do not pose any threat to the Israeli authorities, will become jobless.
The IOA demolished in 2016 all the stalls in the area which served as a shopping center for the Palestinians of the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
Hasan Abu Farha told the PIC reporter that the IOA warned them of setting up their vegetable stalls along al-Nasra road until the Jalama checkpoint claiming that it is a military zone.
Farha pointed out that 14 owners of vegetable stalls, who have set up their stalls few hundred meters away from the Jalama checkpoint, were handed demolition notices, and added that these citizens, who do not pose any threat to the Israeli authorities, will become jobless.
The IOA demolished in 2016 all the stalls in the area which served as a shopping center for the Palestinians of the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories.
27 feb 2017
The so-called Israeli army civil administration on Monday confiscated two trucks and two tractors that belong to Palestinians in al-Ras al-Ahmar area in the Jordan Valley and took them to a military camp.
The official of the Jordan Valley file in Tubas Mutaz Bsharat said, in a statement on Monday, that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) did not give the machines’ owners any papers that prove and justify the confiscation of their equipment.
According to reports by international and humanitarian institutions, the IOA targets the Jordan Valley in order to pressure the Palestinian residents there to abandon their homes and lands and leave the area.
The official of the Jordan Valley file in Tubas Mutaz Bsharat said, in a statement on Monday, that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) did not give the machines’ owners any papers that prove and justify the confiscation of their equipment.
According to reports by international and humanitarian institutions, the IOA targets the Jordan Valley in order to pressure the Palestinian residents there to abandon their homes and lands and leave the area.
24 feb 2017
At least four Palestinians were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at daybreak Friday during assaults on the West Bank and Jerusalem.
According to a PIC news correspondent, dozens of Israeli soldiers and policemen stormed Bartaa’s market, to the west of the northern West Bank province of Jenin, and ravaged Palestinian commercial shops.
The Israeli soldiers kidnapped the Palestinian citizen Mohamed Makhzoumi after they wreaked havoc on his shop and seized all the commodities.
At the same time, two Palestinian youths, one among whom from the Nakhla family, were kidnapped by the IOF from al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah and al-Bireh province.
According to local sources, the occupation troops broke into civilian homes in the camp.
At predawn time, the IOF kidnapped the Palestinian youth Tahseen al-Haj from his workplace in 1948 occupied territories.
Meanwhile, clashes burst out between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian anti-occupation youth shortly after a flock of Israeli military jeeps rolled into Jerusalem’s eastern town of Hizma.
The Israeli soldiers attacked the Palestinian protesters with heavy spates of teargas canisters, resulting in several suffocation cases.
According to a PIC news correspondent, dozens of Israeli soldiers and policemen stormed Bartaa’s market, to the west of the northern West Bank province of Jenin, and ravaged Palestinian commercial shops.
The Israeli soldiers kidnapped the Palestinian citizen Mohamed Makhzoumi after they wreaked havoc on his shop and seized all the commodities.
At the same time, two Palestinian youths, one among whom from the Nakhla family, were kidnapped by the IOF from al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah and al-Bireh province.
According to local sources, the occupation troops broke into civilian homes in the camp.
At predawn time, the IOF kidnapped the Palestinian youth Tahseen al-Haj from his workplace in 1948 occupied territories.
Meanwhile, clashes burst out between the Israeli forces and the Palestinian anti-occupation youth shortly after a flock of Israeli military jeeps rolled into Jerusalem’s eastern town of Hizma.
The Israeli soldiers attacked the Palestinian protesters with heavy spates of teargas canisters, resulting in several suffocation cases.
23 feb 2017
Israeli soldiers invaded, Wednesday, several residential communities in Masafer Yatta area, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and delivered demolition orders targeting a school, residential sheds and tents, barns, and a water well.
Rateb al-Jabour, the coordinator of the Popular and National Committees in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, said the soldiers placed the demolition orders on the ground near the targeted buildings and structures.
He added that the soldiers also photographed the structures from several directions, and that the orders only grant the residents three days to file appeals, which doesn’t give them enough time, especially due to the weekend.
Jabour said the structures are owned by the families of Abu ‘Arram, Abu Sabha, al-Hamamda, an-Najajra along with several other families.
In addition, the soldiers demolished a 400 cubic-meters well, owned by an-Najajra family, in in Khashm ad-Daraj area.
Rateb al-Jabour, the coordinator of the Popular and National Committees in the southern part of the occupied West Bank, said the soldiers placed the demolition orders on the ground near the targeted buildings and structures.
He added that the soldiers also photographed the structures from several directions, and that the orders only grant the residents three days to file appeals, which doesn’t give them enough time, especially due to the weekend.
Jabour said the structures are owned by the families of Abu ‘Arram, Abu Sabha, al-Hamamda, an-Najajra along with several other families.
In addition, the soldiers demolished a 400 cubic-meters well, owned by an-Najajra family, in in Khashm ad-Daraj area.
Israeli forces, on Thursday morning, leveled Palestinian lands in Salfit city, northern occupied West Bank, for the purpose of settlement expansion.
Palestinian farmers in Qarawat Bani Hassan and Deir Istiya, to the west of Salift, said that Israeli bulldozers have been leveling their land lots in an attempt to expand the adjacent (and illegal) Hafat Yair settlement outpost.
PNN reports that, according to the Palestine Information Center (PIC), Israeli forces and settlers declared the razed area a “nature reserve”, preventing Palestinians from growing crops or reclaiming their private lands.
“The Israeli occupation authorities have made use of the nature reserve pretext not to protect nature, as it might seem upon first glance, but rather to grab more land in favor of illegal settlement expansion, as has been the case with Havat Yathir illegal outpost,” researcher Khaled Maali warned.
Maali added that occupation authorities and settlers have both been doing harm to the ecological system and damaging Salfit’s fauna and flora by uprooting olive trees and razing pastoral lands, as they pave the way for the construction of more illegal homes in the area.
Palestinian farmers in Qarawat Bani Hassan and Deir Istiya, to the west of Salift, said that Israeli bulldozers have been leveling their land lots in an attempt to expand the adjacent (and illegal) Hafat Yair settlement outpost.
PNN reports that, according to the Palestine Information Center (PIC), Israeli forces and settlers declared the razed area a “nature reserve”, preventing Palestinians from growing crops or reclaiming their private lands.
“The Israeli occupation authorities have made use of the nature reserve pretext not to protect nature, as it might seem upon first glance, but rather to grab more land in favor of illegal settlement expansion, as has been the case with Havat Yathir illegal outpost,” researcher Khaled Maali warned.
Maali added that occupation authorities and settlers have both been doing harm to the ecological system and damaging Salfit’s fauna and flora by uprooting olive trees and razing pastoral lands, as they pave the way for the construction of more illegal homes in the area.
The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) on Thursday withdrew commercial permits for travel to Israel from 110 Palestinian businessmen from Jenin province in the West Bank.
A citizen told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that he went in the morning to al-Jalama crossing in Jenin as usual where he saw an Israeli officer from the Israeli army’s civil administration taking away permits issued especially for commercial purposes from citizens on allegations they were not businessmen or merchants.
The citizen described the measure as part of the Israeli restrictions on the lives and livelihoods of the Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.
In a related context, the Palestinian chamber of commerce in Jenin said the Israeli measure at the crossing today increased the number of businessmen whose commercial permits were withdrawn recently by Israel to 220 citizens from the province.
A citizen told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that he went in the morning to al-Jalama crossing in Jenin as usual where he saw an Israeli officer from the Israeli army’s civil administration taking away permits issued especially for commercial purposes from citizens on allegations they were not businessmen or merchants.
The citizen described the measure as part of the Israeli restrictions on the lives and livelihoods of the Palestinian families in the occupied West Bank.
In a related context, the Palestinian chamber of commerce in Jenin said the Israeli measure at the crossing today increased the number of businessmen whose commercial permits were withdrawn recently by Israel to 220 citizens from the province.
22 feb 2017
The Israeli occupation bulldozers on Wednesday morning leveled Palestinian cultivated lands and uprooted olive trees and almonds in Bethlehem’s southern town of al-Khader.
Coordinator for the popular anti-settlement committee in al-Khader, Ahmed Salah, said the Israeli occupation army has been leveling Palestinian lands in an attempt to establish an access road leading to the Hatamar illegal outpost, built on Palestinian lands in the area.
The targeted land tracts reportedly belong to the Palestinian citizen Issa Salah and cover an area of three dunums, mostly planted with olive trees and almonds dating back to over 30 years.
The activist added that the Israeli forces destroyed a penthouse covering 20 square meters and a stone wall set up decades ago in the area.
Coordinator for the popular anti-settlement committee in al-Khader, Ahmed Salah, said the Israeli occupation army has been leveling Palestinian lands in an attempt to establish an access road leading to the Hatamar illegal outpost, built on Palestinian lands in the area.
The targeted land tracts reportedly belong to the Palestinian citizen Issa Salah and cover an area of three dunums, mostly planted with olive trees and almonds dating back to over 30 years.
The activist added that the Israeli forces destroyed a penthouse covering 20 square meters and a stone wall set up decades ago in the area.
21 feb 2017
The Israeli authorities declared intention to stop pumping diesel and gasoline to Gaza via Karem Abu Salem commercial crossing under the pretext of undertaking maintenance work.
Speaking to Safa news agency, head of the crossing Mounir Ghalban affirmed that Israeli authorities stopped pumping diesel and gasoline to Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The move will not affect the cooking gas pumping or the goods’ entry into the Strip, he added.
Palestinian maintenance works have been declared in parallel with the Israeli operations.
Speaking to Safa news agency, head of the crossing Mounir Ghalban affirmed that Israeli authorities stopped pumping diesel and gasoline to Gaza on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The move will not affect the cooking gas pumping or the goods’ entry into the Strip, he added.
Palestinian maintenance works have been declared in parallel with the Israeli operations.
