Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for September 24, to the 30, 2016.
As efforts by Arab states to achieve Palestinian reconciliation, two Palestinian deaths this week caused by Israel. 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. Two civilians kidnapped meanwhile scores others were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked nonviolent protests organized in West Bank villages. IMEMC’s George Rishmawi with the details:
In Kufer Kadum in northern West Bank many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest there. Troops later stormed the village and fired tear gas into residents homes.
Meanwhile in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin, in central West Bank, Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters as soon as they reached the gate in the wall that separates local farmers from their lands. Many protesters suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation and were treated by field medics at both locations. Two Palestinian protesters were kidnapped by Isralei troops duriang the weekly protest in Bil’in.
At the nearby al Nabi Saleh village, troops attacked protesters at the village entrance. Israeli soldiers fired several rounds of rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas at protesters and nearby homes. Many residents suffered effects of tear gas inhalation as a result.
For IMEMC News this George Rishmawi.
The Political Report
This week Arab states encourage Palestinians to reconcile and make sure their unity is restored. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari has more:
Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shukri, asserted this week that his country, along with some other Arab states, are encouraging Palestinians to restore their national unity, in a way that would make peace efforts between Palestinians and Israelis, easier.
Shukry maintained that unity between Fatah party of Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas and the Islamist Hamas party, is a very important step, adding that conciliation within Fatah party itself is also important.
In the meantime, peace efforts by Russia have recently failed to bring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, back to talks table. Netanyahu had already said that any peace talks should take place in the region.
Abbas has been refraining from meeting with Netanyahu for few years, over Palestinians’ rejection of illegal Israeli settlements activities on occupied Palestinian territories.
In another news, world leaders mourned this week former Israeli president and holder of peace noble prize, Shimoun Peresz. Palestinian Authority’s President Abbas, along with a number of Palestinian officials, attended the funeral procession.
In the Gaza Strip, many Palestinian factions including the Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, objected to the PA’s participation in the procession. Perez, ninth president of present-time Israel, was the first Israeli leader, who laid the foundations for illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
For IMEMC News, I am Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.
The West Bank and Gaza Report
A Palestinian political detainee dies in Israeli detention camp this week, meanwhile in Gaza a Palestinian man died while trying to defuse a missile fired by Israeli in the 2014 war on the costal enclave. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura Reports:
At the start of the week, 41-year-old Palestinian political prisoner held by Israel Yasser Hamdouna, died in Israeli custody Sunday morning. An autopsy has confirmed that the cause of death was cardiomegaly, a condition in which the heart is enlarged, and can lead to sudden death.
A statement from the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs reiterated the accusation that Hamdouna faced deliberate medical negligence by Israeli prison authorities and doctors.
Later in the week, The Palestinian Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has reported that one Palestinian was killed, on Thursday evening, and three others were injured, while trying to defuse an Israeli missile, in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the coastal region. The young man was identified as Ahmad Meit, 30.
The incident took place as many Palestinian experts, including fighters, have recently been trying to remove and safely defuse unexploded Israeli missiles that were fired during the 2014 Israeli aggression on the coastal region.
At least 2139 Palestinian civilians, including 579 children were killed during the 52-day war on the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014,
Also this week, The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report that the Israeli authorities demolished 33 residential and livelihood-related structures in multiple locales across Area C and East Jerusalem, on grounds of lack of building permits.
As a result, 35 people, a third of them children, have been displaced, and more than 100 have been otherwise affected.
In the meantime, Israeli troops conducted at least 83 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and in occupied East Jerusalem this week. During these invasions, Israeli troops kidnapped at least 114 Palestinian civilians, including 16 children.
For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.
Conclusion
And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for September 24 to the 30, 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 Saed Bannoura and me Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.
