Author: IMEMC & Agencies

The Islamic Jihad movement released a statement on Thursday saying that the Israeli army arrested 300 members of the movement over the last two months. The movement called on its…

An Israeli source reported that the Israeli Minister of Defense ordered the army to prepare for a possible handover of security responsibilities over Bethlehem to the Palestinian Authority, next week.…

Thursday evening, Israeli soldiers fired at a group of residents who protested who protested against the bulldozing of their farmlands in order to erect the Separation Wall, on the village…

The Quartet called Thursday Israel to allow Palestinians freedom of movement in the territories prior to the disengagement from Gaza, Israel Radio reported. ‘Israel must take immediate steps to ensure…

An Israeli military source reported that soldiers started evacuating military posts soldiers used in Palestinian institutions after controlling them, in the West Bank city of Hebron. According to the source,…

Thursday morning, American diplomats were allowed to drive in West Bank areas after the US State Department changed its warning, but the officials were warned of violent settlers. The diplomats…

Thursday at dawn, detainee Aref Bani Odeh, 26, from Jenin, was found dead in Gilboa detention, Circumstances of his death are still unknown. The Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that the…

Abdul-Fattah Hamayel, head of the Deportees and Wanted Fighters Committee, denied a report that a deal was struck to disarm the fighters and absorb them in the Palestinian security devices.…

U.S. diplomats visit the Gaza Strip breaking 18-month-boycott following the killing of three U.S. gecurity Guards in October 2003 by a roadside bomb near the Erez military crossing.  USAID donated…

Israel and Egypt are close to agreeing on the deployment of 800 Egyptian policemen along the western side of the Philadelphi route on the Gaza-Egypt border. Such deployment is meant…

The Quartet’s envoy on the disengagement James Wolfensohn noted Wednesday a significant progress in Israeli-Palestinian talks on economic and civil aspects of the disengagement, especially in relation to establishing an…

Wednesday afternoon, Israeli soldiers leveled seven homes near al-Jiftlik area, in the central plain, north of the West Bank. A local source in Tubas reported that soldiers, supported by armored…

Israel threatened to severely bomb Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip should the Palestinian Authority fail to act against the resistance attacks during the disengagement, Israeli sources reported on Wednesday.…

For the third day, Israeli soldiers resumed the attacks and military searches in al-sha’rawiyya area, and several surrounding villages, north of the West Bank city of Tulkarem. A local source…

The Israeli army distributed leaflets at roadblocks stating that the Palestinian residents are paying the price as a result of the military attacks carried out by the Islamic Jihad against…

Israeli soldiers detained 6 Israeli and international peace activists, and one Palestinian, in the village of Bel’in, west of the West Bank city of Ramallah, during a procession against the…

Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Fahmi Shqeirat, reported that detainee Salama Mohammad Rashaida, 30, from Bethlehem, lost his sight as a result of torture in Asqalan detention. Shqeirat stated…

The Israeli army decided to grab more farmlands lands near the village of Ya’bod, west of Jenin in order to use them for ‘military purposes’, and to install a military…

Israeli ‘Home Front’ soldiers and officers who take part in the evacuation of settlers from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank will be granted extra pay. The bonuses…

Palestinian sources said on Wednesday that shooting and an explosion were heard in Balata refugee camp during a visit by the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei. The Associated Press reported…

Today I went to Abu Tor and I’m going to tell you about it for two selfish reasons; one because I find writing therapeutic, and two, because my writing is…

Seven people were killed and 195 were injured Tuesday afternoon when a passenger train collided with a truck near Kibbutz Revadim in the northern Negev. 15 of the wounded are…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel will transfer security control over Bethlehem and Qalqilia to the Palestinian Authority within two weeks, according to Israeli radio. Sharon made the comment…

Tuesday afternoon, Israeli soldiers attacked a peaceful procession against the Wall in the village of Marda, near the West Bank city of Salfit. A local source in the village reported…

Retired Israeli Supreme Court Justice Theodore Or accused the state of Israel of ignoring the findings of the probe into the killing of 13 Arab citizens of Israel by the…

For the first time, the Israeli state prosecution argued on Tuesday that the Israeli decision to construct the Separation Wall in Jerusalem area stems from political considerations, in addition to…

Tuesday morning, Israeli soldiers arrested 25 residents in the West Bank city of Hebron and several surrounding villages and al-Fawwar refugee camp. A local source in Hebron reported that soldiers,…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is ‘furious and disappointed’ after a summit meeting in which Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected Palestinian demands for an easing of restrictions in the occupied territories,…

Tuesday at dawn, Israeli soldiers, supported by 35 military vehicles and jeeps, invaded Bethlehem and several surrounding areas, and arrested three residents. A local source in Bethlehem reported that soldiers…

Hundreds of settler families slated for evacuation from the Gaza Strip expressed willingness to join the 430 families who have agreed to relocate to Nitzanim. The Gaza Coast Regional Council of…

The Israeli Security Services (Shabak) and the army announced the arrest of a resistance fighter in Jenin suspected of developing Qassam homemade shells and testing their range against Israeli settlements in…

In what could be the beginning of an expanded crackdown on the Islamic Jihad, Israeli soldiers on Tuesday arrested 50 members of the resistance organization in early-morning raids in several…

Israeli soldiers on Monday arrested a 21-year-old Palestinian woman at the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, claiming she was planning to set off a suicide bomb inside Israel. According to…

The former chief rabbi of Israel, Mordechai Eliyahu, has advised Israeli soldiers not to carry out orders to take part in the evacuation of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,…

Monday morning, Israeli soldiers shot and killed one child, seriously injured another, near al-Wista district, in the central Gaza Strip. A Palestinian security source said that the two children were…

One Israeli settler was killed and another injured Monday morning, after a Palestinian resistance group fired at their vehicle in the northern West Bank. A 30-year-old settler who apparently was driving…

In his meeting with the Israeli vice Premier, Shimon Peres on Sunday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said if the disengagement plan is not back up by progress toward …

Was the visit of U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice a total failure? Or would the reported agreement on coordinating the pullout and cooperating in destroying settlers’ homes between Israel…

Sunday afternoon, an Israeli military source reported that soldiers arrested a Palestinian teen on Huwwara checkpoint, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The army claims that Khalil Mohammed…

Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters exchanged fire on Sunday at the Philadelphi route in the southern Gaza Strip, one soldiers and one Palestinia fighter were killed, two soldiers were…

The United States is putting together a $3 billion international aid package for the Gaza Strip after Israeli withdrawal, according to a Friday’ New York Times report. The U.S. hopes…

During a joint press conference held in Ramallah on Saturday after U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Rice described the disengagement plan as the best…

Israeli Right-wing foes living in the hotel at Neveh Dekalim settlement in Gush Katif on Saturday attacked Palestinians from the adjacent Moassi area, wounding three. Following the attack, mortar shells…

U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Rice told Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz that the U.S. expects Israel to make more goodwill gestures toward the Palestinians in the coming days. During…

Israel supports demolition of settlers’ homes following the evacuation of Gaza Strip settlements, urging the Palestinian Authority to convert the land into housing quarters for refugees. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel…

An Israeli source reported that 16 Israeli soldiers committed suicide since the beginning 2005, similar to 2004 suicide remains the number one killer in the Israeli army. One soldier commits…

Saturday afternoon, Palestinian legislators passed a new election law setting a later date for the legislative election originally slated for July 17, 2005. The law was proposed by the Palestinian…

Israeli troops shot dead an Islamic Jihad member Saturday afternoon and wounded another after the two tried to infiltrate Kfar Darom settlement in the southern Gaza Strip. The two clashed…

Saturday morning, Israeli soldiers invaded the West Bank city of Hebron and the neighboring village of Yatta, conducted military searches, detained and interrogated dozens of residents.  A local source in…

Name: Palestinian victim of the Wall Birthplace: Bil’in DOB: Eternity Date of Death: The day the Apartheid Wall is completed Killer: The Occupation Cause of Death: Construction of the Apartheid Wall…

An Israeli source reported that representatives of Nisanit settlement, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, arrived to an agreement of relocation with the Sela Disengagement Authority. The agreement…

Friday evening, a Palestinian security source in Gaza reported that one resident was killed, two injured, after a shell exploded in a car they were driving in Gaza. The explosion,…

Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons decided to conduct an open ended hunger strike on Tuesday June 21 which is the date of the scheduled Sharon-Abbas meeting. The detainees demand considering…

Israeli sources reported U.S. security of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in the country early Saturday.  The source said that Rice is en-route to Ramallah as she is scheduled to…

 Download MP3 (5.00 MB) | Listen to Real Audio  (05:29 min) This week in Palestine – a service of the International Middle East Media Center for the week of Friday, June 10th…

The U.S. should replace the roadmap with a “carrot and stick approach”, former House speaker Newt Gingrich argued in the recently published summer edition of the Middle East Quarterly. In…

A Palestinian medical source in Bethlehem reported that a 70-year-old died on Gilo checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The source stated that Zahra Issa Zboun, 70, from…

Finally Israel has accepted to allow supplies of light armsthe Palestinian Authority  to help its security forces restore law and order in the Palestinian territories. Israeli officials, including Vice Premier Shimon…

Shinui leader Yousef Lapid expressed readiness to return to government if the Labor party withdraws from the government. Lapid said that in response to comments made by some politicians that…

Friday morning,  Israeli military bulldozers started uprooting hundreds of trees which belong to residents of Yatta, south of the West Bank city of Hebron. The bulldozing, which was initiated three days…

Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Sana’ al-Harbawi, said that the detainees in Asqalan detention are facing harsh living conditions and deprived of their fundamental rights. Lawyer al-Harbawi added that…

Israeli and Palestinian officials met on Thursday and agreed on a series of measures said to ease the daily live of Palestinians residents in the occupied territories. Israel pledged to…

The Orthodox Church has decided to demote Irineos, its former Patriarch of Jerusalem, to the rank of simple monk. Irineos, who has been accused of selling Church land in the…

Israeli troops might enter the Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis during the evacuation, said the Israeli newspaper Haaretz in its online edition on Friday. The army claims that an…

Concerned about the ongoing dialogue between American and European Union diplomats and Hamas, Israel is pressing to ban the participation of the Islamic movement in legislative Palestinian Authority elections. According…

{mosimage}Settlers and right wing foes’ nonviolent direct actions are right now the best show in town. Blocking roads, placing “suspicious” packages to halt trains, gluing closed governmental offices, demonstrating and…

The Israeli-Palestinian security committee continues its meetings in bid to coordinate the intended Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip, Wednesday night, while the Palestinian Authority is preparing to welcome the…

An Israeli military source claimed that the Lebanon based Hezbollah party is financing cells of al-Aqsa brigades, the military wing of Fateh, in the Palestinian territories.  Israel charged t that…

Wednesday at night, the Israeli police arrested six settler women after writing graffiti against the Palestinians on walls adjacent to Keryat Arba’ settlement, east of the Hebron. The police reported…

The Palestinian district coordination office, DCO, in Hebron, reported that Israeli soldiers broke into homes in the city, and Yatta village, and conducted military searches. The DCO stated that soldiers…

Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, rejected a request by the US administration to hold a joint press conference between him and U.S. secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, when she visits…

In a move described as a political-strategic turnaround with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the European Union decided to renew low-level talks with Hamas, Israeli sources reported. The EU has…

Wednesday morning, dozens of fighters broke into a vacation home of Palestinian Prime Minister, Ahmad Qorei, in Jericho and fired rounds of live ammunition in the air. The fighters demanded…

Israeli media sources said a shipment of 12 mobile homes arrived in the Nitzanim Dunes site north of the Gaza Strip on pre-dawn hours Thursday, said to serve as temporary…

The Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa on Tuesday was pessimistic about the chances for the upcoming Sharon-Abbas summit meeting saying it he does not expect a diplomatic breakthrough. However, Al-Kidwa…

General Jamal abu Zayed, assistant of the minister of interior and national security at the Palestinian authority said that Israel informed the P.A of intentions to withdraw from Jenin prior…

Gabi Gal, human resources chief at the Israeli police said that 8000 Israelis requested to assists in settlement pullout during disengagement from the Gaza Strip, August 2005. Gal said that…

Anti-pullout protesters are planning to simultaneously park hundreds of cars, blocking most of the roads across Israel, and stand holding anti-disengagement signs. The entire countries will be shut down for…

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei threatened suspend his government if insecurity and chaos resumes in the Palestinian territories.   Qurei told P.A ministers during the weekly session in Ramallah that…

The Israeli radio reported that an Israeli police chief in the north has ordered an internal investigation department to probe into the death of a Palestinian detainee at Rosh Pina…

Israeli sources reported that the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government survived three no-confidence votes in the Knesset proposed by Shinui, Shass and the National Union (Mafdal). The three motions…

Addressing a question, the Israeli defense establishment senior officials have until now preferred to avoid on how will police officers and troops behave if extreme anti-pullout Jews open fire at…

A senior Palestinian source reported on Tuesday that the Israeli army rearrested dozens of freed detainees, and placed them an Al-Maskobiyya, and Betah Tikva detentions.   The source stated that…

Tuesday afternoon, settlers of Keryat Arba’ settlement in Hebron, poisoned an “Arabic Horse” which belongs to Da’na family, near the settlement. Nasser Sa’id Da’na said that settlers poisoned the horse…

‘The American public has been told many differing things about the war in Iraq, about the costs and casualty projections and even about scientific reports. As time passes the facts,…

Israeli media sources reportedly said that Israeli intelligence recommended that the Secretary General of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, (PFLP), Ahmad Sa’adat who has been jailed in…

Ahead of a special address by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on governmental corruption to the Knesset plenum, MK Zahava Gal-On (Yahad) said Tuesday ‘the fish stinks from the head’…

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak kicked off Tuesday a campaign for Labor Throne by launching a fierce attack against Party leader Shimon Peres and other candidates. Barak referred to Peres…

Tuesday morning, Israel soldiers invaded the village of Yatta, south of the West Bank city of Hebron, conducted military searches, and arrested one resident.   A local source in the…

Naveh Dikalim Rabbi, Shaul Bar-Illan, the head of the Tal Orot yeshiva at Kfar Darom settlement in the Gaza Strip, said that of the State of Israel disengages ‘he will…

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal submitted by the residents of Bil’in and Kharbata, west of Ramallah, in the West Bank demanding cease to the construction of the separation…

As the Israeli government talks about preparations for evacuating, twenty new settler families moved to Su-Nur settlement in the northern West Bank. Settlers in Sa-Nur are preparing to celebrate the…

Israel ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman will be the next vice president of the United Nations General Assembly, Israeli sources reported on Tuesday. The source also said that…

Palestine took an important step towards building a democratic system when it held presidential, local and legislative elections. Combined, they set a democratic precedent in the region. The preparations for…

Palestinian sources said an explosion rocked Al-Shati refugee camp near Gaza city on Monday afternoon, three Palestinians were moderately wounded. The sources said, it is likely that the explosion, which…

Farouq Qaddoumi, head of the political bureau of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, PLO, head of the Fatah Central Committee, said that that the position of the Palestinian vice president should…

Ahead of the summit that will join the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, scheduled for June 21, several diplomats are planning meet with both…

Wisam Sahel Qabalan, from Beit Dajan, in the north of the country, was sentenced to 29 consecutive days after rejecting military service for conscious reasons.   “I prefer to be…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Sunday, he is satisfied with the preparations for the intended pullout from the Gaza Strip.  Sharon said that during a visit he had…

Detainee Riyadh Dakh-Allah al-Omour, from Bethlehem, told lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Fawwaz al-Shalloudy, details of extreme torture he was subjected to in Bir Shiva prison, in spite of…