Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for June 11, to the 17, 2016.
The Palestinian Authority supports all efforts to conduct a peace conference; meanwhile Israeli attacks this week leave seven Palestinians injured. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.
The Nonviolence Report
Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. On Friday Israeli soldiers attacked nonviolent protests organized in West Bank villages using tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets.
In central West Bank, nonviolent protests were organized in the villages of Bil’in, Ni’lin and Al Nabi Saleh. Troops used tear gas and rubber coated bullets against the unarmed protesters. Both Bil’in and Ni’lin villagers and their international and Israeli supporters managed to reach the Israeli wall built on local farmers lands.
In Al Nabi Saleh, the soldiers attacked the protest at the village entrance. Later troops stormed the village and fired tear gas into residents homes.
At the village of Kufer Kadum, in northern West Bank, Israeli troops used live rounds and tear gas to attack villagers and their international and Israeli supporters. Many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. Troops also fired tear gas at residents homes causing damage.
The Political Report
Palestinian Authority asserted this week on the need for an international peace conference and supports all related moves. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari has more:
During a meeting in Jordan between Palestinian Authority’s president, Mahmoud Abbas and Kind of Jordan, Abdallah II, Abbas asserted on the PA’s position that they support holding an international peace conference, by end of this year, invited by France.
Both leaders also agreed on the need for the halt of Israeli settlements construction on occupied Palestinian lands, as well as setting a timetable for peace talks between the PA and Israel.
In a related note, the expressed support for the Arab states peace offer , which states that Israel should withdraw from Arab lands , it occupied in 1967, in return for normal relation with the occupation state, Israel.
Meanwhile, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Natanyahoo, refused the Arab states initiative that was first offered in 2002. Natanyahou says that Israel can not accept withdrawal to lines beyond the 1967 borders, but accepts normalization with the Arab states.
In the Gaza Strip, speaker of Hamas-dominated parliament, Ahmad Bahar, called on the Palestinian Authority to stop what he termed ‘security coordination’ with Israel and drop peace negotiations with Israel for he believes it is a futile peace process. The man also maintained that his Islamist party is ready for unity with the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, on basis of previous understandings , reached in Cairo and Gaza.
This comes in the backdrop of a new round of talks between Hamas and Fatah, underway in the Qatari capital of Doha. In the meantime, local media reported that a high-ranking delegation of Hamas in Gaza, will be visiting Cairo soon, over important discussions.
Egypt’s president, Abdullfattah Alsisy, had earlier called on the Palestinian parties to reach an agreement in order to accelerate peace efforts by Egypt and other international key players.
For IMEMC News, I am Rami Almeghari in Gaza
The West Bank and Gaza Report
Israeli attacks targeting West Bank communities leave seven injured Palestinians, meanwhile in Gaza navy ships attack Palestinian fishermen. IMEMC’s George Rishmawi reports:
Five Palestinian civilians were injured on Saturday when Israeli troops attacked Palestinians near Jerusalem old city. Witnesses said that soldiers used attacked civilians with batons and pepper-sprayed their faces.
Late on Monday night, two Palestinian security officers were injured after a number of fanatic Israeli settlers hurled stones on their car, driving on the Yitzhar road, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Also on Monday Agricultural lands located behind the apartheid wall in Qalqilia, were set on fire late Sunday night due to the firing of flares by Israeli forces, Palestinian media reported. Losses were estimated at about 50 olive trees and 100 dunams of land.
Later in the week, a Palestinian youth was seriously wounded on Wednesday, at dawn, after being rammed by an Israeli military jeep in Balata camp, northern occupied West Bank. Saleh Abu Anad, 21, was hospitalized, in serious condition, at Rafedia hospital in Nablus city.
Another teenaged Palestinian boy was hit by a bullet to the head on Wednesday, as Palestinian security officers clashed with masked gunmen in the village of Kafr Aqab, in the occupied West Bank district of Jerusalem. Hamza al-Wahsh, aged 15, was in front of his family home at dawn when a stray bullet hit him in the head, according to Palestinian security sources. Al-Wahsh was evacuated to the Ramallah Medical Center, where doctors said he was in critical condition.
Palestinian security forces began a crackdown, overnight Tuesday in north Jerusalem neighborhoods, after masked gunmen stopped Palestinian Authority Minister of Social Development Ibrahim al-Shaer at gunpoint near Qalandia refugee camp, earlier that day, and hijacked his car.
Also this week, Israeli forces conducted at least 95 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem. During these invasions troops kidnapped at least 88 Palestinian civilians, including 5 children.
In the Gaza Strip this week, Israeli navy ships attacked, on Wednesday at dawn, several Palestinian fishing boats, in the Sudaniyya Sea area, in Gaza territorial waters, northwest of Gaza City, kidnapped ten fishermen and confiscated four boats. The navy ships fired several live rounds at the fishing boats, before attacking them. They also ordered the fishers to swim towards their boats, abducted them and towed the Palestinian boats to the Ashdod Port.
On Sunday, Israeli warplanes launched one missile at a vacant land, southeast of Gaza City. Damage but no casualties were reported.
For IMEMC News this is George Rishmawi.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for June 11, to the 17, 2016. From the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www-dot-imemc-dot-org, This week’s report has been brought to you by Maher Qassiss and me Ghassan Bannoura.
