- IMEMC News

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Shinui chairman Yosef Lapid were slated to meet Saturday evening to discuss the 2005 state budget Cracks in Likud widen, Olmert slams Netanyahu Israeli…

Arab leaders on Wednesday re-launched a 2002 peace initiative which offered Israel normal relations in return for full withdrawal from areas occupied in 1967 war.  The closing statement of the…

Palestinian factions demanded the Arab leaders meeting in Algeria not to normalize relations with Israel , and to have the issue of Jerusalem as a top priority of the conference.…

The Palestinian Prisoners Society revealed that the Israeli Authorities has decided to open a new section in Ansar 3 detention camp in the Negev desert, to accomodate additional 1200 detainees. The…

Israeli soldiers placed barbed wires and iron gates surrounding 16 families, south of Wadi Al-Salqa village, near the Kissufim settlement road, in the central Gaza Strip. A local source in…

At least 5000 members and supporters of Hamas participated on Monday in a ceremony commemorating Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, the wheelchair bound spiritual leader of Hamas, who was assassinated by the…

United Nations Secretary General Kufi Annan on Tuesday reiterated his demand to Syria to provide timetable for its pullout from Lebanon. Annan demanded a that by early next month, Syria…

Thursday at dawn, Israeli soldiers, supported by dozens of military vehicles and jeeps the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia , and broke into dozens of homes. A local source…

Wednesday at dawn, Israeli soldiers invaded the old city of Nablus and Balata refugee camp and broke into dozens of homes. An Israeli military source claimed that a number of…

Two senior U.S. envoys met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Wednesday to ask pointed questions about plans to expand the settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in violation of the…

The Israeli Knesset Finance Committee passed the State Budget and the Economic Arrangements bill Wednesday night by a majority of ten to nine. The Israeli government so far lacks majority…

Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned Tuesday that Syria and Hezbollah are trying to divert attention from the situation in Lebanon by encouraging Palestinian activists to carry out attacks against Israel. …

An Israeli court convicted two Israeli residents after charging them with obstructing army while attempting to demolish a Palestinian home near Jerusalem. Head of the “Hakhams for Peace” organization Erik Ahserman and…

Israeli decided to impose a full closure over the West Bank and Gaza Strip starting on Wednesday morning over “Purim” celebrations in Israel. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz ordered the…

Israeli Police detained Tuesday evening 66 settlers at the Glilot junction north of Tel Aviv. Police believes were in way to block traffic in an unauthorized protest against the disengagement…

Israeli Soldiers, who used force to disperse a peaceful anti-wall protest, fully burned a Palestinian home in the village of Belein, west of the city of Ramallah. Home owner, Marzoq…

Palestinian medical source warned Tuesday that Israel uses radiant glass rooms to inspect Palestinian passengers at border crossings. Dr. Juma’ Saqa, the head of emergency section at Shifa medical center…

The members of the Israeli Knesset’s Law, Justice and Constitution Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would allow a national referendum on the disengagement plan.  The bill passed by…

Tuesday morning, residents of the southern Mount Hebron area reported that Jewish settlers attempted to poison flocks of sheep owned by local shepherds. The settlers reportedly dispersed contaminated seed over…

Trial of captain R, the Israeli military commander charged of the confirmed kill scandal of the 13 years old girl, Iman Al-Hams, has surfaced again as the military trial continued…

Tuesday morning, Israeli soldiers invaded Dahiat Al-Barid, north of Jerusalem and started marking the lands to erect the separation wall in the area. Resident Hamdi, Al-Masrawi, said that the news…

An Israeli security source reported on Tuesday that the military intends to dismantle a village protected by the army in the southern Gaza Strip, and move Palestinian and Egyptian collaborators…

Head of the Israeli army intelligence stated that the Palestinian Authority security forces are actually foiling attacks against Israel. Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security…

Tuesday morning, Israeli soldiers invaded Dahiat Al-Barid, north of Jerusalem and started marking the lands to erect the separation wall in the area. Resident Hamdi, Al-Masrawi, said that the news…

For the second time in less than two years, the Arab world offers Israel a chance to end the occupation in return of full-scale normalization of ties. The Arab leaders…

Israeli Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed confidence Tuesday that the state budget would be approved by the Knesset next week.  Netanyahu also said the Likud would remain united, despite the…

Half of the Palestinian Society is composed of women, while the world and the Palestinians celebrate the Mothers Day; Palestinian women are suffering of imprisonment, death and refuge in their…

A poll conducted by the Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies An-Najah University in Nablus during the period from March 16 to 19, 2005 revealed that 70.2% of the…

Palestinian Interior Minister Nasser Yousif placed Monday restrictions on possessing weapon and publicly displaying them. The move was welcomed by Israel. A Palestinian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity,…

The Palestinian Prisoners Society revealed on Monday that a child detainee from Jenin was severely tortured causing sever bleeding, while prison administration refuses to provide him with the needed medical…

A member of the New Zealand parliament suggested his country grant the nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu a NZ citizenship after Israeli claimed that Vanunu attempted to obtain forged NZ passports.…

Israeli security sources said Monday that the plan to establish two new settlements between Ma’ale Adumim and Jerusalem will be completed within a few weeks.  Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon agreed to allow Likud MKs to vote their conscience on the 2005 state budget and on a bill mandating a referendum on the disengagement plan…

A group of Gush Katif settlers have handed the Israeli security service a list of names of Israeli right wing extremists, demanding moving them out of their settlement. The Settlers…

Israeli official source predicted Sunday that U.S. President George W. Bush will reiterate his commitment to the staged Israeli-Palestinian peace process laid out in the road map peace plan. Bush…

Israel handed over the West Bank city of Tul-Karim to Palestinian Authority security control on Monday night, Israeli and Palestinian officials said.  Under the terms of the agreement, the Israeli…

Four Israeli security agents were wounded early Sunday morning during a military operation in the Amari refugee camp south of the West Bank city of Ramallah, one of them very…

The Palestinian cabinet decided Saturday to for a committee to investigate the selling of Omer Ben Al-Khatab square in East Jerusalem to Jewish investors. Most of the sold property belongs…

Jordan accepted amendments to its proposal, which called for revising the long-standing Arab strategy to normalize relations with Israel, Arab diplomatic source in Alger said on Saturday.  According to the…

The European Union intends to offer Israel economic benefits in exchange for easing Palestinian living conditions, EU sources said.  An EU delegation is due to arrive in Israel in about…

The Israeli Defense Ministry has completed a widespread aerial photography operation revealing extensive building in West Bank settlements and unauthorized outposts in recent months.  The operation was ordered following a…

About 10,000 people attended a rally in support of disengagement Saturday night at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv.  The rally was organized by the Coalition of the Majority, the umbrella…

The Palestinian delegation delayed their planned visit to Lebanon till after forming a new Lebanese government. The deputy of the Palestinian Ambassador to Amman Atallah Kheiry stated that during this…

Dr. Mahmoud Zahhar, one of the leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, said that talks with Israel are not a taboo, but the negotiators should aware of what are…

In spite of his childhood, Ehab Riyadh Marhsoud, 5 year old, speaks as a professional politician as a result of his repeated participation in talks about detainees at home in…

A car bomb wrecked the front of a building in the northern suburbs of the Lebanese capital early Saturday, wounding eight people, Lebanese police said. The explosion left a crater…

Palestine won the prize of the saddest photo in the BBC ‘sadness and joy’ photography competition. The photo captured by Palestinian TV producer Abdul-Rahman Al-Humran, which shows three young girls…

The Palestinian Authority and Palestinian Political factions signed Thursday in Cairo a document that calls for extending the ‘calm’ period until the end of the year, calling Israel to halt…

Israeli newspaper Ma’ariv revealed in a report published on Friday that the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem secretly sold Omar Ben Al-Khatab square to Jewish investors. The square includes restaurants,…

Israeli Chief of Staff Moshe Ya’alon said on Friday that the Israelis should not be fooled by what he described as the ‘pause of terror attacks’, adding that attacks can…

Download MP3 http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/03/4054.php This Week in Palestine – a service of the International Middle East Media Center, for the week of Friday, March 11th to Thursday, March 17th, 2005. This…

Despite an Israel army decree barring Israelis from relocating to the Gaza Strip, MK Effi Eitam (Religious Zionism) and his family announced Saturday that they would be moving from the…

Jordan has put forward a new peace strategy that calls for Middle East nations to normalize relations with Israel even before all land occupied in the 1967 war are returned. …

The Gaza based Popular Resistance Committees said on Friday that I will not abide by the term of truce agreement. Mohammad Abdul-Al, known as Abu Abeer, spokesman of the committees,…

Thursday, nearly 10000 settlers rallied at Naveh Dekalim settlement in the Gush Katif settlement Bloc against the disengagement plan; the settlers at the rally were divided between supporters of an…

Palestinian vice Prime Minister Nabil Sha’ath said on Thursday that talk with the Israeli side will resume in order to solve the problematic issues, and that the negotiations will depend…

Israeli State Prosecutors Office brought charges against the nuclear whistleblower Morddechai Vanunu on Thursday at the “Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court”, Vanunu was charged of ‘violating his release terms in 21 separate…

U.S. President George W. Bush has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to his ranch in Texas for talks on April 11 on boosting the Middle East peace process, U.S.…

The United States cautiously welcomed the conditional calm declared in Cairo by the Palestinian factions and the reformation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization , (PLO). A state department spokesman described…

A group of extremist settlers from Sousa settlements, east of Yatta in the south of Hebron , barred dozens of residents form reaching their fields, while the Israeli police, did…

The Hebron chapter of the Palestinian Prisoners Society revealed on Thursday that young detainees in Kfar Atzion are facing harsh conditions and bas treatment contradictory to International Law. The office…

Fadi Fqeisha, a prominent leader of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the military wing of Fatah, denied any relation between the brigades and the a lad form Askar refugee camp in Nablus,…

Rashid Abu Shbak, head of the Palestinian Preventive Security in the Gaza Strip, said that thousands of Palestinian security men were trained and prepared to protect the settlements after the…

An Israeli source reported that five Palestinian workers were injured, one seriously, after dozens of extremist settlers of Nahlilel settlement, west of Ramallah, attacked a group of Palestinian workers. The…

In an attempt to persuade Shinui party to back the 2005 state budget, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met with Shinui leaders; chairman Yousef Lapid, and Knesset Member Avraham…

As the Palestinian political factions concluded their meetings in Cairo they agreed to extend the calm that has been put in place since Sharm A-Sheikh summit in February, in exchange…

Chief Islamic Judge, Sheikh Taiseer Tamimi condemned the military procedures on the entrances of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, after soldiers forced several worshippers to undress prior to entering the…

Abdul-Fattah Hamayel, head of the Wanted and Deported Palestinians committee said that the Palestinian and Israeli negotiators arrived to a final agreement on the issue of wanted and deported resistance…

Minister of Detainees and Liberated Detainees Affairs, Sufian Abu Zaida, reaffirmed the Palestinian position which rejects the Israeli criteria of releasing the detainees. Abu Zaida said that the Palestinian Authority…

Hezbollah Secretary General, Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday that the resistance weapons are not to be used against anyone else except the Israeli occupation. ‘Hezbollah’s arms will not be used…

Settlers in Hebron struck a Palestinian wall building with big hammers, causing the roof to collapse. Israeli police arrested two of the attackers.   The settlers also threw stones, eggs and…

Israel delayed signing the agreement on the handover of security responsibilities in Jericho to the Palestinian Authority over ‘technical reasons’, said a Palestinian commander on Wednesday afternoon. Security transfer was…

Israeli soldiers arrested an Israeli paramedic after he distributed fruits and sweets on several detainees in an Israeli prison; the medic was punished by seven days imprisonment and will be…

Tuesday afternoon, a Palestinian child was injured near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the old city of Hebron after a settler rammed her with his car. A medical source at Al-Ahli…

Tuesday evening, Israeli soldier fired gas bombs and rubber coated bullets at dozens of residents participating in a funeral ceremony in the village of Bodrus, near Ramallah.. A local source…

A Palestinian woman from the village of Atteel, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem , managed to uncover spy equipment installed on a tree in front of a…

Wednesday morning, an explosive charge detonated near a military patrol driving on the road which leads to Ebal Mountain in the northern West Bank city of Nablus , army reported…

Syrian intelligence agents pulled out of large parts of Lebanon on Wednesday, Reuter reported.   There appears to be no end in sight to Lebanon’s political crisis with Prime Minister-designate Omar…

U.S. President George W. Bush called on Hezbollah to lay down arms leaving open the possibility that the party becomes part of the political mainstream in Lebanon, despite his past…

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking an agreement with Palestinian political factions that allows him to pursue his diplomatic offense, offering opposition groups political partnership in exchange to a year-long…

Palestinian and Israeli officials said that the Israeli army has officially handed the security control over Jericho area to the Palestinian Authority. General Ahmad Eid said that the two parties…

The parents of Rachel Corrie, a U.S. activist killed in Gaza while trying to stop an Israeli army bulldozer from destroying a Palestinian home, filed suit in Israel on Tuesday…

The Israeli Defense Ministry is blaming a military dog for the death of a Palestinian resident, who was shot dead by Israeli soldiers ten months ago. Deputy Defense Minister Ze’ev…

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei slammed Tuesday Israel for continuing to dictate “facts on ground”, saying that Israel is endangering the entire peace process. Qurei described the current times as…

Leader of Israeli secular Shinui party Yousef Lapid said Tuesday that few prominent U.S. administration officials has asked him to support Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the coming state…

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in Syrian on Tuesday to hold talks with the Syrian officials on the situation in Lebanon, according to diplomatic Egyptian source. Speaking on condition…

As leaders of various Palestinian factions entered the meeting room, sources close to the Cairo meeting reported that Egypt has proposed a year long truce, but Hamas is only welling…

Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, Hussein Al-Sheikh said that he managed to visit a number of detainees in Kfar Aztion detention, especially young detainees, who informed him that Israeli…

The United States had halted the work of the Israeli-American task force after Israel did not keep its promises made to the United States April 2004 to define and set…

Israeli army radio reported on Tuesday that the higher command of the Israeli army issued direct orders against Israeli soldiers who refuse to evacuate settlements under disengagement plan. Major General…

During a meeting on Monday with Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, Sharon reiterated that Israel was demanding the PA to dismantle the resistance groups, not to make agreements with…

Israeli official source said Tuesday that the conflict with the Palestinian Authority over its intentions to release PFLP leader Ahmed Sa’adat will not delay the handover of Jericho. The official…

Since 1993 almost every Israeli negotiator laid on the table a proposal to evacuate the Gaza Strip as the concession Israel is welling to provide in exchange for a political…

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the United Nation’s Secretary General Kufi Annan on Sunday night there will be no progress on the peace talks if Palestinian resistance groups were…

Several hundred took the streets of Ramallah calling UN General Secretary Coffi Annan, who arrived in the Palestinian city on Monday morning, to pressure Israel to stop the construction of…

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday, the Palestinian Factions will announce a cease-fire this week after the meeting to be held in Cairo. Speaking to the Israeli TV…

Israeli deputy Prime Minister Ehud Ulmert said Monday that Maalee Adumim settlement is an integral part of Israel, affirming that it will be included on the Israeli side of the…

Israeli soldiers arrested Monday two West Bank settlers suspected of opening fire in the Palestinian village of Akid, west of the settlement of Ariel.  Local source in the Palestinian village…

According to the London-based Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask Palestinian factions to “realistically” look at the right of return of refugees, considering that “not all Palestinian exiles…

250 Israeli high school students signed a document declaring that they do not intend to conduct the military service because “they appose the occupation of the Palestinian territories”. The young refusenicks,…