Welcome to this Week in Palestine, a service of the International Middle East Media Center, www.imemc.org, for December 24, to the 30, 2016.
As The UN deems Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal, a detainee dies in Israeli detention this week, meanwhile army invasions targeting West Bank communities leave a youth 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. one injured, two detained meanwhile many civilians were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli troops attacked anti wall protests organized at a number of west Bank villages. IMEMC’s Majd Batjali with the details:
This week protests were organized in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin in central West Bank, in addition to Kufer Qadum in northern West Bank.
In Kufer Qadum many two youth were detained another Israeli supporter was injured and 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.
For IMEMC News this is Majd Batajli.
The Political Report
The United Nations this week adopted a resolution, demanding an end to Israeli settlement construction in the occupied Palestinian territory. In response to the resolution, Israeli government approved thousands of settlement units. IMEMC Tian Chenwei has more:
In the first Security Council Resolution involving Israel and Palestine in six years, the United Nations Security Council passed a consensus resolution on December 23 that Israel must stop all settlement construction in the West Bank and dismantle every settlement built since 2001.
The resolution, put forward by New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal, underlined that it would not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to occupied Jerusalem. The resolution further states that all Israeli settlements are in “flagrant violation” of international law. Over the past five decades, Israel has constructed hundreds of colonial settlements on Palestinian land occupied by the Israeli military. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, as an occupying power, Israel is forbidden from transferring any of its civilian population onto land taken over and occupied by its military.
However, Israeli government responded to the resolution by violating the resolution immediately. Israeli Prime Minister strongly denounced the resolution itself and condemned U.S. President Barack Obama for standing against Israel. And according to Israeli Hayom daily newspaper, the Local Planning and Building Committee of the West Jerusalem municipality is expected, next Wednesday, to approve about 5,600 illegal housing units in East Jerusalem settlements. Meanwhile, Netanyahu decided to cancel all Israeli aid to Angola because of Angola’s endorsement to the UN resolution.
Palestine welcomed the resolution. Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, expressed gratitude to the four countries who submitted the Resolution to the UN, New Zealand, Malaysia, Venezuela and Senegal. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights calls for a prompt and effective action to restore confidence in the rule of the law and put an end to the prolonged Israeli challenge and denial of the international law and to the inherent impunity enjoyed by Israel for decades.
For IMEMC, Tian Chenwei reports.
The West Bank and Gaza Report
This week, a Political detainee dies in Israeli army detention, meanwhile army invasions targeting West Bank communities leave a youth injured. IMEMC ‘s George Rishmawi reports:
An elderly Syrian detainee from the Israeli occupied Syrian Golan Heights, died in detention under circumstances that remain unclear due to lack of information from the Israeli side. As’ad al-Wali, 70, was serving an eight-month sentence, after an Israeli court “convicted him of building a home without a permit.”
The Palestinian political Detainees’ Committee said the al-Wali is from Masada town, in the Golan, and that his body was delivered to his family at the Safed Hospital. His funeral and burial ceremony was held, Monday, in Masada. It is worth mentioning that al-Wali is a well-known leader and figure of the national movement in the occupied Golan Heights, and was imprisoned by Israeli in the seventies of last century.
also on Monday, a Palestinian youth was injured on Monday during clashes that erupted at the northern West Bank city of Nablus between invading Israeli troops and settlers on one side and Palestinian youth on the other. Fifteen buses of Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers in armored vehicles and jeeps, invaded the Nablus area in the northern part of the West Bank Sunday night to hold a religious ceremony at the site known as “Joseph’s Tomb”. The soldiers fired tear gas and live ammunition at the Palestinian youth who came out to challenge the invasion, injuring one young man in the foot with live fire.
In other news, Israeli authorities, on Monday, served demolition threats to 20 Palestinian-owned facilities in the town of Yatta, southern Hebron Hills, for lack of building permits. The town is situated in area C of the occupied West Bank, which is under Israeli civil and military control.
Moreover, Israeli troops demolished on Tuesday a water tank used for agriculture at the town of Idna near Hebron. According to local sources, Israeli troops and bulldozers invaded the town and demolished a water tank and farming hut owned by local farmer Moussa Faraj-allah. Faraj-allah had an open case regarding his water tank and structure at the Israeli court since 2011, he noted that Tuesday demolishing was done by the army without court approval or prior notice.
the residents of area C have always been subject to such threats, ending in demolition and displacement, as building permits are rarely ever issued to Palestinians, forcing them to build without one.
During the week, Israeli forces conducted at least 66 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and in occupied Jerusalem. During these invasions, Israeli troops kidnaped 52 Palestinian civilians, including 16 children.
In Gaza this week, Israeli army bulldozers and tanks invaded on Tuesday morning border areas near Rafah city, southern Gaza Strip. Local farmers were forced out of their lands close to the invasion. bulldozers destroyed farm lands and left, local sources 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 December 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 Sa’ed Naji and me Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.
