MIFTAH
Thursday, 28 March. 2024
 
Your Key to Palestine
The Palestinian Initiatives for The Promotoion of Global Dialogue and Democracy
 
 
 

The Palestinians got a boost of encouragement this week with the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council condemning settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. On January 31, human rights investigators called on Israel to halt settlement expansion and withdraw Jewish settlers from the occupied West Bank, saying that its practices could be subject to prosecution as possible war crimes.

A three-member UN panel said work in settlements should be halted, “if their work adversely affected the human rights of Palestinians,” urging member states to ensure companies respected human rights.

"Israel must cease settlement activities and provide adequate, prompt and effective remedy to the victims of violations of human rights," the judge who led the inquiry, Christine Chanet said.

"To transfer its own population into an occupied territory is prohibited because it is an obstacle to the exercise of the right to self-determination," she stated.

The findings of the inquiry said the settlements were "leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination".

"To maintain such a system of segregation you need strict police and army control. It means a lot of checkpoints, violation of freedom of movement, no access to natural resources, demolition of houses and sometimes even destroying the trees," Chanet said.

Of course Israel was unhappy with the inquiry, with its foreign ministry rejecting the report as "counterproductive and unfortunate". On the contrary, the PLO welcomed it with open arms, calling it "principled and candid".

PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters: "This is incredible. We are extremely heartened by this principled and candid assessment of Israeli violations...This report clearly states the Israel is not just violating the fourth Geneva Convention, but places Israel in liability to the Rome Statute under the jurisdiction of the ICC."

On January 30, Israel boycotted the HRC review on Israel’s human rights record, becoming the first country to do so in spite of US advice to attend.

Israel received another chiding from the international community on January 30 when the European Union and the United Nations expressed concern about Israel's use of lethal force against Palestinians.

The EU missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah said in a statement that they were "deeply concerned by the number of Palestinians killed recently."

UN humanitarian coordinator James W. Rawley also expressed concern at the rise in Palestinians casualties caused by live Israeli fire in the West Bank. "Eight Palestinian civilians, including three minors and one woman, have been killed since mid-November in separate incidents in the West Bank," a statement from his office said.

"Using live ammunition against civilians may constitute excessive use of force and any such occurrences should be investigated in a timely, thorough, independent and impartial manner. Individuals found responsible must be held accountable," the statement added.

Meanwhile, Israel released withheld tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA in the amount of around $100 million. Israel said the handover was a “one-time deal”, hinting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may withhold funds yet again, mainly as punishment for the Palestinians’ recent UN upgrade to non-member state.

As a result, the PA announced it would pay the second half of public servant November salaries, vowing to cover the remaining salaries in the coming few weeks. Government employees also said they would end their strike as a result, according to the union on January 31.

Meanwhile, Israel continued to confiscate Palestinian land. On January 29, Israeli authorities announced they were planning to confiscate 234 dunams of land from the southern Jerusalem neighborhoods of Beit Safafa and Sharafat in order to extend Road 50 or the so-called “Menachem Begin” road. The confiscation will take land from the villages and split neighborhoods down the middle.

Also on January 29 Israeli authorities delivered demolition orders to Palestinian families in the Fuheidat neighborhood east of Anata village in northeast Jerusalem. According to local sources, about 200 Palestinians live in the neighborhood located near a large Israeli military base called Anatot. Plans to remove the neighborhood are in order to expand the base.

On the internal front, Central Election Committee members visited the Gaza Strip this week to meet with members of the deposed Gaza government led by Hamas and with Palestinian factions. CEC head Hanna Nasser called the meetings “positive” saying that deposed Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh gave directives to the relevant ministries to facilitate the CEC’s work in the Strip. According to CEC executive director Hisham Kuheil said voter registration would begin on February 11 in the West Bank and Gaza. President Mahmoud Abbas said he would issue a decree for talks on the formation of a unity government to begin once voter registration is resumed in Gaza. He also called for the PLO reform committee to meet in the middle of this month.

On January 30, the Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage condemned a video by Israel's deputy foreign minister depicting the disappearance of the Dome of the Rock. The film by Danny Ayalon which was leaked to Israeli media, shows the dome collapsing in the background as a Jewish temple rises in its place.

The Foundation said the film reflected calls by Israeli groups to demolish the Aqsa Mosque and replace it with "a legendary alleged Jewish temple." The film was taken down after protests from various parties.

Tragedy struck Gaza on January 31 when six members of the same family perished in a fire in their home, including four children. The fire broke out in the Dheir home in Gaza City’s Shujaiyeh quarter, taking the lives of the parents and children: Hazem Mahmud Dahier, 32, his wife Samar, 30, and their children, 4-month-old Qamar, Farah, 3, Nabil, 5 and Mahmud, 6. Angry residents stormed the electric company, breaking office furniture and car windows after they blamed the repeated power cuts in Gaza for the tragedy. Preliminary investigations point to a candle being the possible origin of the fire.

 
 
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