Israel Orders Sections of Jaffa Mosque Demolished

Jaffa, (IMEMC)The Israeli Authorities in Jaffa are demanding the removal of sections of Al Bahar Mosque, in Jaffa, under the claim that these sections were built without construction permits, the Wattan TV reported.

Israel Demolishes Palestinian Properties in Jordan Valley

WEST BANK, (WAFA) – Israeli forces early Thursday demolished houses, barns and barracks belonging to Palestinian shepherds in Wadi Al-Maleh and Al-Hamma areas north of the Jordan Valley, according to head of Al-Maleh village council, Aref Daraghmeh.

Official: Israeli Settlers Uproot Trees in Palestinian Village near Nablus

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers uprooted 200 olive trees in Qusra village near Nablus overnight Wednesday, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Miles Of Smiles 6 Arrives In Gaza

Gaza,(IMEMC)-The Miles of Smiles convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip late on Wednesday through the Rafah Border Terminal in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and received popular and official welcome ceremonies.

Thousands rally for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails

Women take part in a protest at the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza City on Oct. 3, 2011, to show their solidarity with prisoners held in Israeli jails. (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

NABLUS (Ma'an, AFP) -- Thousands of people in the West Bank and Gaza staged demonstrations on Monday in solidarity with Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

PA: Israeli settler violence 'not random'

Ma'an -- Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian agricultural land are "condoned and supported by the Israeli government," Palestinian Authority spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Sunday.

Over 500 olive trees were burned and uprooted on Saturday night, in settler attacks on villages near Nablus and Hebron, a government statement said.

Israeli military fire wounds Palestinian child in Gaza

IMEMC – A Palestinian child was shot and wounded by Israeli military fire in Gaza Strip, the Ma'an News Agency reported on Monday.

Coordinator of medical services Adham Abu Salmiyya reported that the child, 16, was was shot in his leg while collecting scrap metal in the eastern part of Gaza.

Mosque torched in Israel's Galilee district

IMEMC – Similar to attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, a group of extremists burned a mosque at the entrance of Toba Zanghriyya village in the Galilee on Sunday night, and wrote “Price Tag” and “Revenge” on its walls, the Arabs48 news website reported.

The fire spread through the mosque, consuming most of its property, while hundreds of village residents rushed to try to extinguish it.

Israeli author allowed Israeli ID with no religion listed

IMEMC – An 81-year old Israeli intellectual has been allowed by an Israeli court to register a new identity card that does not list a religion – an anomaly in Israel, where all citizens are categorized on Israeli-issued ID cards by their religion. Israeli passports list the nationality of each citizen as either ‘Jewish’ or ‘Arab’.

UK court rules arrest of Palestinian Islamic leader was illegal

IMEMC – A British Court ruled that the arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement [in Israel], had no legal grounds, and that the Sheikh can sue for compensation.

Israeli air strike on Saturday injured 3

IMEMC – Three Palestinians were injured as Israeli jets targeted a group of militants east of town of Beit Hanoon, north of the Gaza Strip Saturday evening, local medical sources reported.

Medical staff spokesman, Adham Abu Silmya, told the Maan News Agency that the wounded residents were transferred to some hospitals north of the Gaza Strip; one of the injuries was described as a critical condition.

Israeli settlers uproot dozens of olive trees near Nablus

IMEMC – A group of extremist armed Israeli settlers uprooted on Saturday dozens of Palestinian olive trees that belong to residents of Madama village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Clashes were reported; soldiers fired gas bombs at the protesters leading to a number of injuries.

Palestinian Agricultural Committee to Launch Initiative in Order to Protect Harvest from Attacks by Israeli Settlers

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees announced on Monday an upcoming campaign to protect West Bank farmers from attacks by Israeli settlers during the olive harvest season.

Noting a recent escalation in attacks on Palestinian lands and farmers, the agricultural support organization said it will organize groups of volunteers to accompany workers picking olives during the season.

Israeli Bulldozers Raze Agricultural Land in Palestinian Village near Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – On Monday Israeli bulldozers razed agricultural land in Walaja, a Palestinian village southwest of Bethlehem, local sources said.

OCHA: Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes doubled in 2011

IMEMC, October 01 – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied territories (OCHA) reported that Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes have doubled in 20111 comparing to the figures of 2010.

OCHA reported that Israel demolished 409 Palestinian homes and structures during this year comparing to 290 in 2010, while 804 Palestinian were displaced this year comparing to 374 last year.

Israeli settlers torch dozens of acres of farm land

IMEMC – Settlers burnt dozens of farming acres in the lands of Einabous s and Huwwara, south of Nablus on Saturday afternoon, local media sources reported.

Arab Mosque Torched In The Galilee by Israeli "Price Tag" Campaigners

Galilee,(IMEMC)- On Sunday night, vandals set fire to a mosque at the entrance of the Arab village of Toba Zanghriyya in the Galilee region of Israel. The walls were marred with graffiti saying "price tag" and "revenge," the Arabs48 news website reported. These attacks mimic similar acts of vandalism that occurred last week near the West Bank town of Hebron.

Isolated Palestinian prisoners begin hunger strike

IMEMC – Palestinian Minister of Detainees and Ex-detainees Affairs, Issa Qaraqe’, stated Friday that around Twenty-five Palestinian detainees in solitary confinement at the Nafha. Ramon, Al Ramla and Asqalan Israeli detention facilities declared an open-ended hunger strike.

Qaraqe' said in his statement that twenty five sick detainees in Al Ramla Israeli detention center decided to strike three days a week in solidarity with the other detainees who have started their hunger the strike since September 17th in protest to the escalating humiliation and violations carried out by the Israeli government and the Israeli Prison Administration.

Three injured as Israeli army attacks nonviolent protest near Hebron

IMEMC – Two Palestinian women and one international peace activist were injured after the Israeli army during attacked a nonviolent protest against settlements and the Annexation Wall in the southern West Bank village of Yatta north Hebron on Friday, Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA) reported.

UN Committee held first meeting to discuss Palestine bid

IMEMC, October 01 –The special UN Security Council Admission Committee, tasked with dealing with state membership requests, held on Friday its first meeting to discuss the Palestinian request to become a full member at the international body.

Security Council - Image UN

The official request to join the UN was officially submitted last week by Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The admission committee consists of 15 member countries.

Dozens teargassed during weekly protest In Bil'in

IMEMC, October 01 – On Friday, dozens of demonstrators suffered from tear gas effects during the weekly march organized by the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements in Bil'in.

Present at the demonstration were Chairmen of the Advisory Council for a Green Palestine, Basem al Masri and Dr. Sabri Saydam, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah, Sultan Aboul-Enein, Adviser to the Prime Minister, Dr. Jawad Naji, the artist Ahlam Faqih, and dozens of Palestinians and international and Israeli peace activists.

Israeli army invades Jenin and other Palestinian towns

Jenin, (IMEMC) – The Israeli army invaded, on Friday morning, the West Bank city of Jenin. The Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) reported that a large military force invaded the city and refugee camp in addition to some other surrounding villages in the early hours of Friday Morning.

PCHR: Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (22 – 28 Sep. 2011)

West Bank,(PCHR)- Yesterday the Palestinian Center for Human Rights published its weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The following is the report as shown on the PCHR's website.

Three Palestinians Treated for Injuries Sustained from Israeli Tear Gas, Settlers Destroy Palestinian Irrigation Pipes.

West Bank,(IMEMC)-Palestinian medical sources reported, on Thursday evening, that three residents were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation during clashes with Israeli soldiers invading Yasouf Palestinian village, near the West Bank city of Salfit.

Palestinian Children forced out of bed to be photographed by the Israeli army

Ramallah,(IMEMC) -The British newspaper, The Guardian, reported on Thursday that Israeli troops recently invaded the village of an-Nabi Saleh, known for being a center of non-violent resistance, and went house-to-house forcing children out of bed in the middle of the night to photograph them.

Israeli Soldiers Arrest Palestinian, Raze Land in Hebron to Make Way for New Settlement Construction

HEBRON, (WAFA)– Israeli soldiers Thursday arrested a Palestinian from the town of Dura, southwest of Hebron in the Occupied West Bank, and razed land for eventual construction of new Israeli settlements according to security sources.

Israeli Soldiers Hand 7 Palestinians Demolition Notices near town of Tulkarem

TULKAREM,(WAFA) – Israeli soldiers Thursday handed seven Palestinians from Ezbet Shofeh, a village southeast of Tulkarem, demolition notices for their houses, according to a witness.

Israeli Settlers Destroy 55 Olive Trees South of Palestinian town of Hebron

HEBRON, (WAFA) – Israeli settlers from Shim, a settlement near Hebron, destroyed 55 fruitful olive trees and wrote several threatening slogans to Palestinian residents, according to security sources.

Israeli Military To Start Working On A New By-pass Road Soon on Palestinian Occupied Land

West Bank, (IMEMC)- Israeli military bulldozers are expected to start construction work to build a by-pass road in the southern part of the West Bank, Palestinian media sources reported on Thursday.

Study: Israeli Occupation costs Palestinian economy $7 billion

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A Palestinian Authority ministry and national research institute released a joint study Thursday which estimates that the Israeli occupation cost the Palestinian economy around $7 billion in 2010.

Israeli probe finds "serious shortcomings" in soldiers' actions that killed Palestinian

Ha'aretz – Serious shortcomings have been found in Israel Defense Forces soldiers' handling of an incident in which a Palestinian was shot to death by troops in the West Bank village of Kusra on Friday, an army investigation has revealed.

Expert says new Israeli settlement to divide West Bank

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) –Israel’s approval of a plan to build new 1100 housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo is a prelude to an Israeli project to build a new settlement that will separate south of the West Bank from the Palestinian villages bordering Jerusalem, Wednesday said Khalil Toufakji, a Palestinian expert on Israeli settlements.

He told Voice of Palestine radio that a new residential area that would ultimately house thousands of Israelis, to be known as Givat Yael, will be constructed on land that belong to the village of al Walaja, northwest of Bethlehem, and will extend to the west of Gilo.

Israel to confiscate land of 40 Bethlehem villagers

Israeli soldiers hand out confiscation orders in the West Bank village of Izbat al-Tabib, east of Qalqiliya, on April 7, 2011. (MaanImages/Khaleel Reash, File)

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces notified villagers near Bethlehem that their land will soon be confiscated, local residents said Wednesday.

Land owned by 40 families in Battir village -- 148 dunams of vegetable, fruit and olive groves -- is earmarked for confiscation, villagers told Ma'an.

100,000 Jewish Americans call for US to veto Palestinian UN membership

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A petition signed by 100,000 American Jews calls for the US to veto the PLO proposal for UN membership of a Palestinian state, Israeli media said Tuesday.

Israeli troops raid villages, kidnap Palestinian

(MaanImages/Rami Swidan, File)

JENIN (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces conducted raids on several northern West Bank villages early Wednesday, and detained a man in the city of Jenin.

Security officials told Ma'an that Israeli troops deployed in al-Zawiya, Meithalun, Siris, Sanour and Misliya villages in the early hours, and detained Mahmoud Abdel Razeq Jarar, 40, from his south Jenin residence.

Israel closes off West Bank for 4-day Jewish holiday

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Israeli army announced its closure of the West Bank from midnight Tuesday until midnight Saturday, a statement said late Tuesday.

Israeli settlers gather south of Bethlehem, block cars

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers gathered on Tuesday at the junction between the Tuqu village southeast of Bethlehem and prevented some cars from passing through, witnesses said.

Onlookers told Ma’an that dozens of settlers went out in a march near Tuqu junction and forbade the Palestinian cars from passing by throwing stones toward them.

Israeli army kidnaps Palestinian legislator

IMEMC – Israeli soldiers kidnapped on Monday Jerusalem legislator of the Change and Reform Block of Hamas, Ahmad Attoun, as he was in front of the protest tent that was installed in front of the Red Cross in Jerusalem more than a year ago.

Israel releases journalist after 49 days of detention

IMEMC – Monday afternoon, Israeli military court decided to release Al-Jazeera bureau chief in Afghanistan, journalist Samir Allawi, after 49 days in illegal detention and interrogation.

Eight-year-old hit by Israeli settler car dies in Palestinian town of Hebron, Governor demands "real protection"

West Bank,(PNN)-On Tuesday morning, 8-year-old Farid Jaber died of injuries sustained last Friday when an Israeli settler struck him with his car on an Israeli only bypass road near Hebron. During his funeral, the governor of the town, Kamel Hamid demanded "actual international protection" for Palestinians in his province.

Israel plans 1,100 more settlement units as Memebers of Israeli Parliament call for full annexation

Jerusalem,(IMEMC)-A group of right-wing Israeli Members of Knesset(Israel's Parliament) submitted a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister on Monday stating that in response to the Palestinian Authority's unilateral bid for statehood at the United Nations,Israel must retaliate by fully annexing all West Bank settlements as part of the state of Israel.

Palestinians detained in Israel start hunger strike

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails have started a hunger strike to protest their treatment by the Israeli prison services, Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe said Tuesday.

Israeli Setteler Rabbis Encourage Students to Attack Palestinians

TEL AVIV, (WAFA) – Israeli newspaper Haaretz Tuesday published that extreme Jewish rabbis in ‘Od Yusuf Hai’ religious school in Yitzhar, An Israeli settlement near Nablus, encourage their students to attack Palestinians and their properties.

Two children, 8 and 10, kidnapped by Israeli soldiers

IMEMC – Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Sunday evening, two children, ages 8 and 10, from Al Bustan neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem. Clashes took place following the abduction.

File - Israeli soldiers in Silwan

Israeli police say fatal West Bank crash caused by Palestinian rock throwing

Ha'aretz, Chaim Levinson – Police originally suspect accident caused by the driver, Kiryat Arba resident Asher Palmer, taking turn too fast.

The police and army traded accusations on Sunday over who was responsible for issuing a statement attributing the accident in which a man and his infant son were killed near Kiryat Arba on Friday to excessive speed. Police later said the car that Kiryat Arba resident Asher Palmer was driving rolled over after Palestinians threw rocks at the vehicle.

Israeli court orders compensation for death of Palestinian girl

TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an) -- The family of a Palestinian girl killed in 2007 by Israeli soldiers has been awarded 1.6 million NIS ($430,000) in compensation by a Jerusalem court, the Israeli news site Ynet reported Sunday.

Abir Aramin, 10, was killed in Anata, East Jerusalem by a rubber bullet fired by an Israeli border guard officer.

Judge Orit Efal-Gabai from the Jerusalem District Court ruled that the Israeli state was responsible for the death of Abir Aramin and must pay her family compensation for burial expenses and "lost years," in addition to compensation based on the nature of her death.

Police at the time had claimed that autopsy results showed Aramin was killed by a stone.

Israeli settlers put up posters calling for killing Arabs

IMEMC – Dozens of armed Israeli settlers put up Israeli flags and posters on main and bypass roads close to Jewish settlements in the southern part of the West Bank, calling for slaughtering Arabs and Palestinians.

File

Racist posters were also placed along the Jerusalem-Hebron road, and around all settlements extending from the southern part of Bethlehem district to the northern part of Hebron.

Some of the posters read “We Will Slaughter All Arabs”, “This is the land of our fathers and forefathers”, and dozens of similar racist posters.

Israeli settlers uproot 400 Palestinian olive trees

Settlers uproot 400 olive trees near Nablus

Jewish youths hold Israeli flags during a rally march outside the West Bank
settlement of Itamar, near Nablus September 20, 2011.(Reuters/Nir Elias)

 

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Dozens of Israeli settlers on Sunday uprooted over 400 Palestinian-owned olive trees near Nablus in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian Authority official said.

Settlement Affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said settlers attacked fields between Qusra and Duma villages south of Nablus.

On Friday, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man, Issam Kamal Odeh, 33, during clashes sparked by settlers who entered Qusra.

The incident comes amid a surge in settler violence in the northern district, including village raids, attacks on Palestinians and their property and the vandalism of two mosques in recent weeks.

In Qusra on Sept. 5, settlers torched a mosque and spray-painted anti-Arab slogans and the Star of David.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinians in West Bank

NABLUS, (WAFA) – Jewish settlers Sunday morning attacked a Palestinian vehicle on a main road south of the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, said local sources.

Coordinator of the Israeli Rabbis for Human Rights organization, Zakaria al-Sidda, said a group of settlers from Yitzhar settlement, south of Nablus, ambushed Palestinian cars and stoned them.

The attack is the latest in the settlers’ ongoing violent campaign against Palestinians, in retaliation for the Palestinian application last Friday for full United Nations membership of a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders.

197 Gaza tunnel workers died since 2006

GAZA, (WAFA) - Al-Mezan center for Human Rights Sunday said that the total number of victims who died while working in the smuggling tunnels in Rafah, south of the Gaza strip, has increased since 2006 to reach197 Palestinians, including 10 children.

Israeli soldiers fire at car near Bethlehem, father and daughter injured

 

Israeli soldiers opened fire Saturday morning at a Palestinian vehicle on Tiqua road south east of Bethlehem leading the vehicle to flip over injuring the driver and his daughter.

UN move could help establish Palestinian legal rights

Ma'an, Joseph Schuman – Behind the diplomatic battle over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations this week is the prospect of a new front in the Middle East conflict: the international courts.

The Palestinians hope that full or partial UN recognition of Palestine as an independent state could give them the power to bring the Israeli government or its officials before war-crimes tribunals or sue them in other global venues.

Israeli soldiers fire on Palestinian car near Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces opened fire on a Palestinian car south of Bethlehem early Friday, witnesses said, injuring two members of the same family who were also arrested.

Muhammad Ghannam, 41, and his daughter Qamar, 17, from Dura village in Hebron, were injured in the incident and subsequently arrested, according to witnesses.

They had been driving on a main road in the Tuqu village which links several settlements.

Israeli and Palestinian ambulances arrived at the scene.

Minute-by-minute report on UN bid, with annotations

Ma'an – From New York and Ramallah, with annotations from CNI

Israeli forces detain 5 Palestinians teens

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli police detained five Palestinian teens in Jerusalem on Friday, after thousands of officers were deployed around the city ahead of President Mahmoud Abbas's speech at the UN.

Benjamin Netanyahu at UN General Assembly

IMEMC Full Transcript – Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly Friday evening shortly after the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, handed over the Palestinian UN membership application to the UN chief, Ban Ki-Moon, and delivered his speech to the UN General Assembly.

Hamas: “Abbas’ Speech Filled With Contradictions”

IMEMC – Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, stated that the Friday evening speech of Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, at the United Nations, “is filled with contradictions, despite its emotional start”.

Hamas said that Abbas managed to relay the suffering of the Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation, facing assaults and massive deportation and expulsion from their historic land when Israel was established in historic Palestine in1948.

But the movement added that, "despite this emotional opening of his speech, Abbas went on to recognize the state of Israel that was established on 80% of the historic land of Palestine.

Dozens injured in Palestinian weekly nonviolent protests all over West Bank

Protesters and journalists in Bil'in, N'ilin, Nabi Saleh, and Qalandia were injured by Israeli forces.

Israeli settler hit-and-run injures 8 year old child

...grandfather says the incident was deliberate and not a car accident and that Israeli army had prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent from attending to the child.

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- An eight-year-old boy sustained serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle in east Hebron on Friday morning, eyewitnesses said.

Feature: Israeli settlers' provocative attacks

The wild card, Israeli analysts say, is what happens in and around the settlements, whose residents have a long history of provoking confrontations with Palestinian villagers

Israeli forces kill Palestinian in West Bank

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man Friday evening in the northern West Bank during clashes with soldiers and settlers, medics said.

Christian leaders back UN bid at faith conference

Leaders of various Christian traditions gathered in Bethlehem.

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine organized a spiritual meeting for the “International Day of Prayer for Peace” on Wednesday.

Christian and Muslim religious figures attended the conference and appealed for the world to back the Palestinian UN bid.

They also insisted upon the Palestinian people’s unity as Muslims and Christians and said the Palestinian cause united the entire people.

Israel bans males under 50 from praying at most sacred mosque

JERUSALEM, 2011 (WAFA) – Israeli police Friday banned Palestinian males who are under 50 years of age from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque as the Palestinians get ready to ask for United Nations membership. No restrictions were imposed on females.

Israeli settlers destroy 60 olive trees in West Bank village

NABLUS, (WAFA) – Israeli settles from Yitzhar, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, uprooted and destroyed 60 olive trees in Madama village, south of Nablus, according to local sources.

Israeli settlers burn Palestinian farm land

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Israeli settlers set fire on Thursday to dozens of dunums of agricultural land in Deir Jarir, a village East of Ramallah, according to local officials.

Weekly Report: 38 Israeli raids, 18 abducted, 2 children dead

PCHR: Weekly Report On Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (15 – 21 Sep. 2011)

Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Continue Systematic Attacks against Palestinian Civilians and Property in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT)

Two Palestinians, included a child, died of previous wounds in the Gaza Strip. Read more

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian woman

IMEMC – Palestinian Medical Sources reported Wednesday that a Palestinian woman was hospitalized after being attacked by extremist Israeli settlers in the southern West Bank city of Hebron.

Israeli press wary over Obama's 'Zionist' UN speech

JERUSALEM (Ma'an, AFP) -- Israeli newspapers were unanimous Thursday in characterizing US President Barack Obama's UN speech as hugely supportive of Israel, but some argued it was perhaps too much of a good thing.

"The American embrace" was the front-page headline of the Maariv daily, while the top-selling Yedioth Aharonoth took a similar line, summing up the impact of Obama's remarks for Israel and the Palestinians as "The hug and the snub."

"Obama not only adopted all of the Israeli arguments against recognising a Palestinian state by means of the UN, he adopted the basic Israeli narrative," Yedioth said.

Boy's eye shot out by Israeli forces

(PIC)-- A Palestinian child lost his left eye on Wednesday when Israeli occupation forces fired teargas canisters at demonstrators near Qalandia in occupied Jerusalem.

Medical sources said that 13-year-old Ahed Wahdan was seriously injured in his left eye when a teargas canister hit him in the face.

[On several previous occasions Israeli forces have fired high velocity teargas canisters directly into people's faces or heads. At least one person was killed, a young American woman lost her eye, and an American man lost part of his brain. Over 100 Palestinian children have lost eyes from Israeli fire.]

Israeli forces raid 3 Palestinian villages overnight

PNN – Israeli troops conducted three raids throughout the West Bank concluding on Thursday morning but made no arrests.

Israeli settlers give women weapons training

Jewish settlers holding Israeli flags march during a protest near the West Bank settlement of Beit El, near Ramallah September 20, 2011. Settlers protested on Tuesday against Palestinian plans to seek United Nations endorsement of a state in the occupied West Bank (Reuters/Ronen Zvulun)

JERUSALEM (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers began a weapons training program for women in the settlements on Wednesday, Israeli media said.

Israeli forces injure 5 Palestinian demonstrators

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Five Palestinians were injured by rubber bullets and dozens inhaled tear gas on Wednesday as demonstrations took place at Qalandia checkpoint, near Ramallah.

Settlers escalate attacks against Palestinians

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – Tens of settlers from ‘ Beit El’ settlement rallied Tuesday on the outskirts of al-Bireh (Ramallah) northern entrance, in the West Bank, raising Israeli flags and threw stones on Palestinian houses and cars, close to the settlement, according to witnesses.

Israelis attack bus of prisoners' families

JENIN, (WAFA) – A group of Israelis attacked on Wednesday a bus carrying families of Palestinian prisoners on their way to visit their detained relatives in the Naqab prison, south of Israel, according to family members.

They said the Israelis threw stones at the bus after they prevented it from continuing on the road. [Israel holds approximately 5,500 Palestinians prisoner, and Palestinians hold one Israeli prisoner.]

Israeli special forces arrest Palestinian

HEBRON, (WAFA) - Israeli special forces arrested on Wednesday a Palestinian from Beit Ummar, a village north of Hebron, according to local activists.

Israeli Army uses new weapons to disperse Protesters

RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – The Israeli army Wednesday used an acoustic weapon called 'The Scream' for the first time to disperse Palestinians demonstrating at Qalandia checkpoint, north of Jerusalem, in support of the Palestinian bid to the United Nations.

Women demonstrate in Gaza to support Palestinian UN bid

GAZA, (WAFA) – A mass women’s demonstration took place in Gaza on Wednesday in support of the Palestinian request for a full United Nations membership of a Palestinian state this Friday.

Video: Israeli settlers storm Palestinian village, soldiers injure boy

Israeli settlers stormed a Palestinian village on Tuesday. Israeli soldiers protecting them fired at unarmed Palestinians, injuring a 14-year-old boy.

Israeli army detains Palestinian citizens and increases checkpoints and presence in Palestinian villages

(PNN)The Israeli army detained citizen Baha’ Jaser Abdel -Razaq from Deit Ballut, Salfit, on Tuesday morning. The army arrested Abdel-Razaq in an olive field near “Al Ze’if’ settlement while he was checking on the trees and preparing for picking season. Settlers attacked Kafur Hares, Salfit. According to Wafa, witnesses said dozens of settlers attacked houses and threw stones. Witnesses believe the settlers are trying to provoke citizens in Hares, Kufur Hares and Deir Astia. Citizens are afraid of settler attacks especially because the Israeli army protects and helps the settlers in their attacks.

Israeli settlers attack Palestinian village, Stoning Homes, PA call for international protection.

NABLUS, (WAFA) – ‘Settlers from the hard-line settlement of Yitzhar, near Nablus, Tuesday attacked the village of Assira al-Qiblieh, south of Nablus, and stoned Palestinians houses, according to a local activist.

Israeli soldiers occupy home in Palestinian village

HEBRON (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces took control of a building under construction on Monday evening in the village of Beit Ummar near Hebron, a local committee said.

Israeli settlers set fire to fields in Palestinian city of Qalqiliya

QALQILIYA (Ma’an) -- Residents of the illegal Zufin settlement on Tuesday set fire to fields behind an area of the separation wall in Qalqiliya, witnesses said.

Israeli settlers seize Palestinian land for Israeli-only road

HEBRON, (WAFA) – Jewish settlers Monday built a new dirt road and surrounded it with barbed wires, adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Sosiya, which was built illegally on Palestinians’ land south of the town of Yatta, in southern Hebron, according to witnesses.

Israeli settlers uproot over 500 trees in Palestinian village

A Palestinian farmer tries to extinguish fire at his field in the Israeli
settlement of Beitar Illit near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on October 19, 2010, after a group of Israeli settlers set fire to the agricultural land. [MaanImages/Luay Sababa]

SALFIT (Ma’an) -- Israeli settlers uprooted over 500 olive and fig trees in Deir Istiya village in Salfit on Monday morning, witnesses said.

Onlookers said residents of the Revava settlement chopped down trees using a chainsaw in Qarawat Bani Hassan village near Deir Istiya.

Israeli settlers shoot at homes in Palestinian village

A Palestinian man looks on as Israeli soldiers check the damage inside a class room at Alsawya girl school in the West Bank Village of Sawya near Nablus, 20 October 2010 after Israeli settlers burned the school. [MaanImages/Rami Swidan]

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Settlers opened fired on Palestinian homes late Sunday in the village of Burin in southern Nablus, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Israel storms area, issues 3 demolition orders in Jordan Valley

Israeli bulldozers clear the way for the Separation wall near a Palestinian Bedouin family on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Nov. 11, 2007. [MaanImages/Jared Malsin]

TUBAS (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces issued three demolition orders on Sunday to residents of Bedouin communities in the northern Jordan Valley.

Israeli soldiers detain 2 children in Hebron

Israeli soldiers surround arrested Palestinians following an operation in theWest Bank village of Beit Ummar near Hebron on March 11, 2009. [MaanImages/Mamoun Wazwaz]

HEBRON (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained two Palestinian boys, 12 and 13, at a military checkpoint in Hebron on Sunday, Palestinian Authority officials said.

Holy Land Christian clergy bless Palestinian UN bid

Joint statement by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran priests pledged their "support for the diplomatic efforts being deployed to win international recognition for the State of Palestine

The retired Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah gestures during his annual pre-Christmas press conference in 2007. Priests in the Holy Land used their sermons to give their blessing to the Palestinians' bid for United Nationsmembership. [AFP/Gali Tibbon, File]

JERUSALEM (Ma'an, AFP) -- Priests in the Holy Land used their sermons on Sunday to give their blessing to the Palestinians' bid for United Nations membership.

Armed Israeli settlers plan provocative marches in Palestinian towns

Settlers say they are prepared to shoot Palestinians who protest

IMEMC – Israeli Ynet News reported that Israeli settlers living in the occupied territories are planning what they dubbed as “Sovereignty Marches” in the Palestinian territories, starting on Tuesday afternoon.

Archive - Settler women, child, attack Palestinian woman - http://afrasianet.net

Israel Plans 10 New Settlements In The Negev

Project will displace thousands of Palestinian Bedouin inhabitants

IMEMC – The Israeli government is planning to approve a new project that aims at building 10 new Jewish-only settlements in the Negev, by displacing thousands of Bedouins from the area.

A Demolished Village In The Negev - Arabs48

Israel closes main Palestinian roads

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) – Israeli forces on Saturday forced Palestinian vehicles to wait for hours in line at two key checkpoints in the southern and central West Bank, witnesses said.

Hundreds of vehicles were stuck waiting at the “container” checkpoint near Bethlehem and Qalandiya crossing near Ramallah, two inspection points that are usually half an hour's drive from one another.

Witnesses said hundreds of vehicles, mostly taxis, were stuck on both sides of the “container” checkpoint. Hundreds of employees arrived late to work, as “container” is the only point of access through the northern, central, and southern West Bank.

Group: Israel's Bedouin relocation may bring violence

Israel plans "to forcibly move two-thirds of the Bedouin population in the Negev to cramped towns which cannot support the traditional agricultural lifestyles of the Bedouin community."

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- An advocacy group for Arab-Israelis warned Thursday that Israel's plan to rehouse Negev Bedouin communities demonstrated neglect and could spark violence.

Weekly report: Two Palestinians killed, 34 abducted

Israeli forces conducted 51 armed incursions into the West Bank

IMEMC – PCHR in its Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories for the week of 08 – 14 Sep. 2011, Israeli forces continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip, wounding two and abducting 8, including 3 children.

Israeli forces abducted and interrogated 8 fishermen, including two children, but released them all later. Israeli forces continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank. Dozens of demonstrators suffered from tear gas inhalation.

Military whistleblower tells of 'indiscriminate' Israeli attacks

Independent, Donald Macintyre

Israeli troops fired tear gas indiscriminately and sometimes dangerously to enforce a daytime curfew inside a West Bank village to stop Palestinians holding a peaceful demonstration on their own land, a military whistleblower has told The Independent.

The soldier's insight into the methods of troops comes as the Israeli military prepares for demonstrations predicted when the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submits an application for the recognition of statehood to the UN next week.

The testimony also reinforces a report by the human rights agency B'Tselem which argues that the way Israel deals with protests in the small village of Nabi Saleh is denying the "basic right" to demonstrate in the West Bank. The right to demonstrate is enshrined in international conventions ratified by Israel.

Palestinian "state" would not free Palestinians from Israeli control

1 of 9. A Palestinian from the herding community of al Hadidya in the Jordan Valley herds livestock. Credit: Reuters/Darren Whiteside

THE JORDAN VALLEY, West Bank (Reuters, By Tom Perry) - In another world, the tented village at al Hadidiya might mark the farthest reaches of a future Palestine. Instead, the herding community living here talk about the limits of that dream.

Nestled in the northeast corner of the West Bank, al Hadidiya amounts to a cluster of sprawling sackcloth encampments which shelter families and goats from the fierce desert elements.

Even if Palestinian leaders win U.N. recognition of statehood this month, the people of al Hadidiya say it will not improve their lives, squeezed by the rules of Israeli occupation.

Israeli forces abuct Palestinian

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces detained a Palestinian youth at a Nablus army checkpoint late Thursday.

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