Just before midnight on June 11, an unknown gunmen opened fire at a group of armed Israelis near Jerusalem's Old City's Lions Gate, wounding two policemen. The assailant was able to escape despite Israeli security measures such as closing the Old City gates for hours following the attack. Later on the next day, the group Ahrar Al Jalil claimed responsibility for the shooting attack, saying in a statement it was part of the group's promise to carry out "quality operations" against Israelis. This previously unknown group also claimed responsibility for the yeshiva school shooting back in March, which resulted in the deaths of eight Israeli yeshiva students.
Even though the perpetrator was not, caught Israeli police say they are treating the incident as a "terror attack", especially since it comes on the heels of last week's bulldozer rampage carried out by an east Jerusalem resident in which three Israelis were killed. Israeli authorities concluded, however, that the bulldozer driver had "acted alone" even as Israel's attorney general declared it "legal" to demolish the homes of terrorists in reference to the driver, Hussam Duweiyat.
This most recent Palestinian assault in Jerusalem comes at a time when Israel is upping its settlement activities in the city. On July 9, the Israeli government approved the construction of 1,800 housing units in the east Jerusalem settlements of Har Homa and Pisgat Zeev.
Israel's continued refusal to halt settlement activities has raised the ire of both the Palestinian people and leadership, with PLO general secretary Yasser Abed Rabbo saying on July 10 that, in light of Israel's continued settlement expansion the leadership may cut off contacts with Israel.
According to Abed Rabbo, usually one of the more malleable leaders in the PLO, the leadership will reconsider its contacts with Israel including the current negotiations, once President Abbas returns from abroad.
Israel's settlement activities are not the only point of contention between the Palestinian leadership and Israel. Over the past week, Israeli occupation troops have ransacked and closed dozens of organizations, centers, shops and other facilities in the West Bank city of Nablus under the pretext of links to Hamas.
On July 8, Israeli troops entered Nablus and proceeded to shut down five charitable organizations and a shopping mall with 50 stores, tacking up a military notice ordering the facilities to be shut down for the next two years. Over the next few days, Israel continued to close down more centers and organizations in the city, including the town hall, kindergartens, medical centers, the Afaaq television stations and women's centers. A total of seven school buses were confiscated along with scores of equipment, computer and furniture from the various places. A women's organization affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was also closed on July 10.
On that same day, Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad visited Nablus in order to boost the morale of the people following the raids. During a visit to the mall, Fayyad called on the merchants to defy the Israeli orders and reopen their shops, calling Israel's actions and subsequent orders "null and void." He said since the Palestinian Authority had resumed security responsibilities in Nablus, the residents there should act as if the recent military orders "did not exist."
Fayyad also reportedly complained about Israel's recent crackdown in Nablus in a letter to General William Frasier, US President George W. Bush' envoy to monitor the implementation of the Roadmap. In the letter, Fayyad said Israel's operations in the West Bank were aimed at undermining PA security efforts. Fayyad also later said Israeli operations in the West Bank were up by 50 percent in the first half of July compared to last month. He said Israel's "antics" were aimed at weakening the leadership and humiliating the people.
These operations included the killing of two West Bankers this week. On July 11, 45-year old Mahmoud Asi from Qarawet Bani Hassan near Salfeet was killed in an exchange of fire with invading Israeli troops. Hassan, who had been wanted by Israel's intelligence services for being an active member of Hamas' Izzedin Al Qassam Brigades, was also a father of 12. On July 9, 32-year old Talal Abed was also killed when Israeli forces ambushed his car in the Jenin-area village of Kufr Dan, firing several shots at him. Abed was a Fateh commander in the Abu Ammar Brigades.
Saleem Humeida 18, was also the first Palestinian killed in the Gaza Strip after the announcement of the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel on June 19. Humeidi, from the central Gazan town of Zuweida was killed near the Kissofim crossing east of Khan Younis. While he was unarmed, Israeli authorities say Humeidi was too close to the fence and was trying to infiltrate into Israeli territory.
Just last week, Israeli authorities distributed fliers in Arabic to the people of Gaza, warning them of getting 300 meters from the border crossings, saying this would put them in mortal danger.
The Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip also claimed its 203rd victim on July 8. Fifty-nine year old cancer patient Hasan Issa died after being denied permission to leave the Strip for treatment.
The ceasefire is already on the brink of collapse given Israel's continued violations of it and also due to the odd Palestinian rockets being shot into Israeli territory. On July 10, the Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the military offshoot of Fateh, said Hamas authorities in Gaza had arrested three of their operatives responsible for firing two rockets into Israel the day before.
Hamas says it insists that all Palestinian factions adhere to the ceasefire, even announcing on July 11 that deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh agreed to allow the Carter Center to monitor ceasefire obligations in Gaza. The announcement came after a meeting with members of the Carter delegation in Gaza City in which Hamas briefed them on Israel's violations of the agreement.
This week also marks the fourth anniversary of the International Court of Justice ruling on the separation wall. The advisory ruling, issued on July 9, 2004, deemed the wall illegal according to international law and called for its dismantlement.
Not only has Israel disregarded the ICJ ruling, it has even ignored rulings by its own High Court of Justice. According to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, Israel has disregarded three High Court rulings to change the course of the wall where it proved most detrimental to Palestinian lives. No change has been made to the section of the wall near the Alfe Menesheh settlement, Azzoun and Nabi Elias or Bilin, where there are weekly protests against the wall's construction.
According to B'Tselem, when the wall is completed, 11.9 percent of the West Bank would be to the west of the wall or completely or partially surrounded by it. This includes 498,000 Palestinians, 92 villages and 60 Israeli settlements, which would fall on the Israeli side of the separation barrier.
Palestinians have been rallying against the wall with particular fervor this week given the ICJ ruling's anniversary, including in Nilin, Bilin and Qalqilya. Several people were injured in the protests, particularly in Nilin, which was besieged by Israeli troops for four days. During one protest on July 7, 10 people were injured there including four who had to be taken to hospital for treatment of their injuries.
At the diplomatic level, President Mahmoud Abbas wrapped up his visit to Syria with meetings with Syrian President Bashaar Al Assad. He also met with heads of Palestinian factions on July 7. These meetings included Islamic Jihad head Ramadan Shallah, DFLP Secretary General Nayef Hawatmeh, Maher Taher of the PFLP and Ahmad Jibril, head of the PFLP-general command. Abbas did not meet, however, with Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal.
While the PA leadership claims Abbas snubbed Meshaal because of a letter sent to the Arab League in which Meshaal accused Abbas of exploiting national conciliation talks as a cover for Israeli actions in Gaza, Hamas has its own opinion. On July 6, Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar said the Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue had come to a standstill because the leadership was heeding the American-European boycott of the movement recently declared at the Berlin security conference. According to Zahhar, the talks were "back to square one."
Abbas, who continues to call for national reconciliation, is currently focusing his efforts on the upcoming Mediterranean Union conference to be held in Paris on July 14. During a press conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on July 11, Abbas expressed hope that the conference would give the peace process a "positive push" and also create the opportunity for more funding to the PA.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
