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Jenin remembers the massive 2002 Israeli invasion that left over four hundred dead. Nineteen killed this week in assassinations in
Bil’in Commemorates Eyad Tahar
On Friday, dozens of Palestinian villagers, accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists, conducted their weekly protest in Bil’in against the annexation Wall. The marchers commemorated Eyad Tahar, who drowned last week. Tahar was caught on the Wall’s razor wire when flash floods hit Bil’in. Israeli forces then prevented villagers from aiding him. Protesters carried pictures of Tahar and installed a memorial near the area where he drowned. As the marchers attempted to open one of the gates of the annexation Wall, the army fired tear gas at the marchers. They detained two residents, and beat one with clubs.
Jenin Massacre Remembered
Thousands marched through Jenin on Monday. Palestinian resistance fighters marched alongside children and nonviolence advocates, to commemorate the massive Israeli military invasion into the Jenin refugee camp four years ago. The invasion, also known as the Jenin massacre, lasted over a month. More than 400 Palestinians, mainly civilians, were killed, and over 100 homes were demolished, sometimes on top of the families living inside them.
After the pullout, banned a United Nations fact-finding commission from entering the camp for investigations. Amnesty International and other human rights groups later accused the Israeli army of using Palestinians as human shields during the invasion, and of preventing rescue teams from entering the camp to treat the wounded.
Hamas Government Faces Financial Crisis
The European Union has verified its decision to freeze aid to the Palestinian Authority after a meeting this Monday in . This, on top of the funding freeze last week, and ’s illegal seizure of Palestinian tax money worth $50 million a month, promises to cripple the Palestinian economy. The EU is responsible for $600 million, nearly half the PA budget. Around 140,000 government employees will be forced to forego salary. Both the Red Cross and the UN have voiced concerns about the humanitarian impact of the funding freeze. In
Jaber Al-Akhras Assassinated
On Sunday evening, Israeli troops, invaded the West Bank village of Beit Ta’mar village, surrounded and broke into a building where they assassinated Jaber Al-Akhras, a Palestinian fighter wanted by the Israeli security since October 2003. Al-Akhras was wanted for the killing of one Israeli officer and one soldier. Al-Akhras had escaped several previous assassination attempts.
Mofaz Threatens
Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said this Tuesday that unless there was quiet in , there would be none in
Israeli Government Halts Contact With Palestinian Authority
This Sunday, the Israeli security cabinet officially closed ties with the security liaison office in
Sousia Settlers Attack Yatta Villagers and East Jerusalemites
As part of a growing campaign against Palestinians and their property, settlers from Sousia illegal settlement outpost set fire to a Palestinian home in the adjacent
And in Al-Tour village just east of
Coroner Calls For Sanctions Against
On Tuesday, a British Labour Party Legislator, Gerald Kaufman, called for trials before an international tribunal, against those accused of killing British peace activist Tom Hurndall and British filmmaker James Miller in 2003. Kaufmann called for sanctions against if it failed to hand over those responsible.
Tom Hurndall, 22, was shot in the head near the
James Miller, an HBO cameraman, was shot in the neck while attempting to communicate with a soldier in a tank using a white flag and lights. The Israeli military then kept medical access from reaching him until he bled to death.
A coroners’ jury in
PCHR in Brief
And now, highlights from the
The Israeli army killed 19 Palestinians this week, including three children. The Gaza Strip received the brunt of the attack. Eleven Palestinians, many of them civilians, were killed in extrajudicial assassinations in southern
In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers killed two civilians in
The Israeli military continued to shell the Gaza Strip’s residential areas from sniper towers and warplanes. Fifty-four civilians, including 32 children, were injured. In the West Bank, 40 were injured, 36 of them in
The Israeli military conducted invaded the West Bank 27 times, mostly in
They continued the comprehensive siege on the Gaza Strip and the
The Israeli military escalated its shelling of the northern Gaza Strip. The shelling has been ongoing for months now, but was stepped up, resulting in the deaths of two Palestinian civilians, including a child. Forty-three more were injured, including 14 children. A number of houses and civilian facilities were also destroyed.
Now, we’ll take a closer look at the
The Israeli army occupied several buildings in
The army refused to allow medical teams to aid the families and prevented any outside communication. One child still managed to communicate with the head of medical relief, Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, through the door. The child told Dr. Ghassan that they had had nothing to eat.
Israeli soldiers also arrested seven young women from the area around
One parent of an arrestee, who asked not to be identified, described her daughter’s experience:
<Actuality>
"The soldiers asked me to search her. I started to search her, and I found nothing on her. Then they ordered her to accompany them. I went to go with them but they told my husband to take me back inside. When I refused they threatened to shoot me. Then they beat her and put her inside the armored jeep, after they had handcuffed and blindfolded her."
The Israeli also army arrested minors in
Majdi Al Shelah, a local union activist, describes an attack on Palestinian Medical Relief Committees and the arrest of school children.
<Actuality>
"Many arrests were of youth between the ages of sixteen and twenty. Most of them we never heard before they were wanted or activists. In one area, the army surrounded a building and arrested eight university students. During these operations, the army attacked a journalist, Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, and a paramedic, Feras Al-Bakri. The army withdrew from the area half an hour later."
Conclusion
And that’s just some of the news this week in
