Israeli forces storm Palestinian village after armed settlers injured 11 Palestinians

Villagers in Qusra have set up guarding committees to fend off increasing Israeli settler attacks [MaanImages, File]

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers assaulted a Nablus village Friday morning, leading to clashes with Israeli forces injuring 11 Palestinians.

After the settlers were removed by Israeli police, Israeli forces raided Qusra village injuring six villagers with rubber bullets, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Forces surrounded a house sheltering European press agency cameraman Alaa Bedarneh was filming the earlier settler attack, the correspondent reported.

UK amends law to protect Israelis from prosecution for war crimes

Human rights group Amnesty International condemned the change , accusing the government of handing war criminals "a free ticket to escape the law"

LONDON (Ma'an, Reuters) -- A British law limiting citizens' rights to seek the arrest of foreign politicians for alleged war crimes took effect on Thursday, removing a thorn in British-Israeli relations.

The law amends legislation which Israel had protested about, saying it exposed its high-profile officials to the threat of arrest for alleged offenses if they visited Britain.

Rise in attacks by Israeli settlers could provoke major retaliation

Palestinian brothers Ahmad (R) and Mohmoud Mleitat inspect their father's car after is was torched in the West Bank village of Beit Furik near Nablus on September 15, 2011. [Reuters/Abed Omar Qusini]

RAMALLAH (Ma'an, Reuters, by Tom Perry) -- An escalation in Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian villages in the West Bank risks triggering retaliation, a Palestinian official said on Thursday, pointing to a growing risk to stability in the region.

Incidents over the past two weeks have included acts of vandalism against three West Bank mosques, increasing tension just a week before the Palestinians seek recognition of statehood at the United Nations.

In some villages, Palestinians are organizing neighborhood watch groups in an effort at deterrence. The governor of Nablus, an area where villages are often targeted, ordered the formation of the unarmed volunteer groups last week.

Israel detains Palestinian lawmaker, third in 3 weeks

Sheikh Fadel Hamdan was seized from his Ramallah home by Israeli forces
[MaanImages/Rami Swidan, File]

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained Hamas lawmaker Sheikh Fadel Hamdan overnight Wednesday, a Ma'an correspondent reported.

Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinian teens

A general view of Silwan in Jerusalem on July 16, 2010.
[MaanImages/Mimmi Nietula]

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces detained five teenagers from the Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Thursday morning, witnesses said.

Palestinians describe their beating by Israeli settler gang

PNN, Amin Abu Warda – When Israeli settlers increase their attacks against Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, they usually observe their movements first before attacking them in remote areas.

Iyad Sanafra is one of many Palestinians who endured the settlers’ aggression.

Israeli forces demolish homes, barn in Jordan Valley

TUBAS (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces raided al-Aqaba village in the West Bank Jordan Valley on Thursday, destroying two houses and a barn.

Soldiers imposed a cordon around the area and denied the media access, a Ma'an correspondent said.

Armed Israeli settlers attempt to raid Palestinian village, 2 Palestinians detained

An international activist is detained after crossing an Israeli army checkpoint between the West Bank city of Bethlehem and Jerusalem on March 28, 2010 during a protest against Israeli closures. [MaanImages/Luay Sababa]

JENIN (Ma'an) -- Dozens of settlers tried to raid the village of Arraba in Jenin overnight Wednesday, Palestinian security sources said.

Israel issues 5 demolition orders, demolished 387 in 2011

Israeli bulldozers demolish a Palestinian home in the West Bank village of El-Khader, near Bethlehem on April 14, 2010.[MaanImages/Luay Sababa]

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces on Wednesday evening handed five demolition orders to Palestinians from Khallet al-Hajjar village, south Hebron, a local community organizer said.

Israeli army attacks protest, injuries reported

IMEMC – Israeli soldiers attacked on Thursday a nonviolent protest in the Al Arroub refugee camp, in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, and injured several residents, including one child.

Surge in Israeli settler violence, 3 cars torched

Israeli soldiers are seen as smoke rises after Israeli settlers from Yitzhar set fire to Palestinian fields in Huwwara village near Nablus on May 4, 2010. [MaanImages/Rami Swidan]

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers burnt 3 Palestinian cars overnight Wednesday in Beit Furik village east of Nablus, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Israeli Navy abducts 5 Palestinian fishermen

GAZA, (WAFA) – An Israeli navy boat Thursday abducted five Palestinian fishermen and confiscated their boat while fishing at sea of the cost of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, said local sources.

Fayyad condemns Israeli demolitions in West Bank

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Thursday strongly condemned the Israeli demolition campaign targeting al-Aqaba, a village in the Toubas area of the northern parts of the Jordan valley, where it destroyed a house and razed two streets.

The Israeli destruction of Palestinian houses, water wells and recently-paved streets in the last two months stresses the Israeli government’s persistence to stop Palestinians from living on their land, said Fayyad.

Israel arrests 8 Palestinians, summons 4 for interrogation

WEST BANK, (WAFA) – The Israeli army Thursday arrested eight Palestinians and summoned four others for interrogation across the West Bank, according to security sources.

New Report: 100% of Palestinian children "arrested" by Israel are convicted

DCI A new Israeli report on Israeli military juvenile courts found that 93 % of Palestinian children were denied bail, revealed that there was a 100% conviction rate, and included three new case summaries involving violence, threats and signing documents written in Hebrew.

Israeli forces abduct three Palestinians

Israeli soldiers surround a Palestinian house during clashes near Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah [MaanImages/Moti Milrod, File]

QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained three Palestinians at dawn Wednesday near Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank, locals told Ma'an.

Locals said Israeli soldiers raided Azzun village and detained Naer Abu Haniyeh, 14, Abdul Rahman Radwan, 15, and Muhammad Radwan, 20.

Soldiers also handed summons to three residents to appear at Israeli intelligence, locals said.

An Israeli military spokesman was not familiar with any detentions in Qalqiliya, but said one Palestinian was detained in Beituniya near Ramallah overnight.

Israeli military targets Palestinian wells

IMEMC – An Israeli military force invaded Al-Far'a area in the eastern part of the West Bank near Tubas near the Jordan Vally. The military took photographs of the existing water aquifers in the area, and informed the residents that they will come back to destroy the aquifers.

Israel’s Blockade of Gaza Violates International Law, Says UN Panel

Antiwar.com, John Glaser – Israel’s naval blockade of the Gaza Strip violates international law, according to a panel of human rights experts reporting to the United Nations on Tuesday.

Video: Gaza children in hospital after drone attack

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Israeli settlers burn protest tent in Palestinian yard

PNN – Sheikh Jarrah resident Rifqa al-Kurd accused settlers of setting fire to a protest tent in her yard at dawn on Monday.

UN: Israel increased checkpoints in West Bank

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – The average number of flying checkpoints the Israeli army has set up in the West Bank has significantly increased from less than 350 in previous years (July 2007 – June 2010) to close to 500 over the last 12 months (June 2010 – July 2011), Monday said the weekly report of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs to the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OCHA).

It said Jewish settlers’ attacks on Palestinians have also escalated during the period of August 24 and September 6.

Israeli army closes off Palestinian villages

AT-TUWANI, SOUTH HEBRON HILLS, (WAFA) – The Israeli army set up road blocks on August 26 on a series of roads in the south Hebron hills along bypass road 317 virtually closing main entrances to Palestinian villages located in areas adjacent to this road, Monday said a press release by two international aid organizations.

Jewish Israelis attempt to steal historic stones from most sacred Muslim mosque

JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – Israeli police Monday arrested two Jews who attempted to steal historical stones from the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque, the most important Islamic holy site in Jerusalem, said local witnesses.

An Arab who was present at Al-Aqsa compound at the time tried to stop the Jews, which led to a fist fight. He was also arrested by the police.

Israeli settlers burn vehicles and raid house

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Jewish settlers set two vehicles belonging to Palestinians on fire and raided one house on Monday at dawn in Burqa village, east of Ramallah.

A witness told WAFA that armed Jewish settlers raided his house, ransacked its contents and burned his cars, adding that they beat him up when he confronted them.

Israeli Ministry to finance illegal settlement project

TEL AVIV,(WAFA) – The Israeli Ministry for Development of the Negev and Galilee has financed an auditorium project in the settlement of Kiryat Arba, near Hebron in the West Bank, according to Haaretz on Monday.

Report: Israeli forces infringe on Palestinian right to demonstrate

B'Tselem, "Show of Force: Israeli Military Conduct in Weekly Demonstrations in a-Nabi Saleh"

A-Nabi Saleh is a Palestinian village in the West Bank, north of Ramallah. For for more than eighteen months now, every Friday, its residents have demonstrated against settlers seizing nearby land that belongs to Palestinians. The Friday processions held in the village have become one of the main sites of weekly protest in the West Bank in recent years.

In their handling of the protests in a-Nabi Saleh, Israel’s security forces have infringed the rights of the Palestinian demonstrators in three fundamental ways, as follows:

Security forces disperse a demonstration in a-Nabi Saleh, 21 May 2010. Photo: Oren Ziv, activestills.org