PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 3:46 pm - Jerusalem Time

Clashes erupt as Israel besieges Palestinian home near Nablus

Several Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation during clashes with the Israeli occupation forces on Thursday in Urif, southwest of Nablus, as they beseiged a home in the village and interrogated the residents. 


According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, five Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation, while occupation forces also assaulted the a crew of Palestinian broadcast journalists and broke a camera.


Israeli occupation forces also raided another home in Einabus, a village south of Nablus. 


PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 1:00 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel issues travel ban against Al-Aqsa preacher Sheikh Ekrima Sabri

Israeli occupation forces issued a travel ban on Thursday against Sheikh Ekrima Sa'id Sabri, the preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the former Grand Mufti. 


According to local sources, an Israeli intelligence officials came to Sheikh Sabri's house and handed him a travel ban for a month. The Israeli authorities have the power to extend the ban at their will.


Sabri was appointed as the Grand Mufti by Yasser Arafat in 1994, and served in the position until 2006. 


He has been arrested by Israel several times. 

PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 11:25 am - Jerusalem Time

Major drop in official Israeli visits to Arab countries since Netanyahu returned to power

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Thursday that there has been a marked decline in visits by senior Israeli officials to Arab countries in light of the escalation in the occupied West Bank.


In the six months since Benjamin Netanyahu established his government, the number of visits by Israeli government officials to Arab countries has plummeted, in comparison with the previous government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.


Netanyahu has only visited one Arab country, Jordan. Bennett, meanwhile, visited the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Egypt over the same timescale. Bennett's visit to the UAE was the first of its kind for an Israeli prime minister, while his visit to Egypt was the first in a decade.


The current Israeli Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, made his first in office to Sudan, and has since visited other Islamic countries such as Turkey, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, but has not made an official visits to any Arab country. 


This contrasts with his predecessor, Yair Lapid, who visited the UAE, Bahrain, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. His trip Bahrain was the first official visit by an Israeli minister to a country that signed a normalization deal with Israel in 2020.


Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz also visited Morocco and Bahrain during the first six months of the previous government's term, while the current minister, Yoav Gallant, has not visited any of the Arab countries since he assumed office, though he has met with ministers from Bahrain and the UAE on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, which took place. held last February.


Last week, Morocco announced that it would postpone the convening of the Negev Forum - an annual meeting between Israel and Arab states - in response to Israeli construction in the settlements.


Haaretz pointed out that the deteriorating situation with Palestinians has cast a shadow over Israel's relations with the Arab countries, which directly prompted Netanyahu to postpone his visit several times.



PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 10:37 am - Jerusalem Time

Netanyahu says he wants to 'strengthen' the Palestinian Authority

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he opposes any calls, including from his own cabinet ministers, to dismantle the Palestinian Authority.


In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, he said that his government seeks to "strengthen" the Palestinian Authority, describing accusations that his government is trying to weaken the authority as "ridiculous."


Netanyahu reaffirmed the need to stop settler attacks in the West Bank and not to take the law into their own hands.

PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 10:09 am - Jerusalem Time

A settler was killed and several injured in a terrible traffic accident in Jericho

Yesterday evening, Wednesday, an Israeli settler was killed, and a number of Palestinian citizens were injured, in a terrible traffic accident between several vehicles on Al-Auja Road, north of Jericho.


Local sources reported that at least 4 citizens from the village of Al-Zubaidat, north of Jericho, were moderately injured when their vehicle collided with a settler's vehicle and other vehicles on the road to Al-Auja village. They were taken for treatment by the PRCS ambulance.


Israeli sources indicated that there were about nine injuries in the accident, some of them serious, and they were transferred to hospitals in the 48 lands, while it was later announced that the settler was killed.

PALESTINE

Thu 29 Jun 2023 10:08 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli court suspends evacuation of settlement outpost near Ramallah

An Israeli District Court in occupied Jerusalem suspended the evacuation of a settler outpost near the Eli settlement near Ramallah.


According to the Hebrew website, Ynet, these buildings were built on what is called "state land," and the court decided to postpone the eviction process until next week.

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 10:30 pm - Jerusalem Time

EU committee calls to put Israel on trial for war crimes

Brussels – The European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee called on the European Union on Wednesday to assist the International Criminal Court in prosecuting Israel for its war crimes.


The committee said that it “regret[s] the limited progress on the ICC infestations in war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the occupied Palestinian territories and commit to help the ICC and its prosecutor move forward with the investigation and the prosecution.”


Their statement said that the illegal settlements constitute a major obstacle to the viability of the two-state solution, He and called for new efforts to end the latest cycle of settler violence. They added that the EU should consider measures specifically addressing settlement expansion in the West Bank.


The vote passed with 41 votes in favor, 24 votes against, and nine abstentions. 


The resolution was introduced by the committee's rapporteur, Swedish MEP Evin Incir, who said that the "Palestinian people have been living under the yoke of occupation for more than 50 years, and the European Union must show its true commitment by strengthening its cooperation with the Palestinian Authority and working to end the occupation."


The committee had expressed concern about the European Union's policy and financial assistance in the Palestinian territories undermined by illegal Israeli settlements, and demanded compensation for the demolition of all EU-funded infrastructure in the area.


The text of the statement indicates that in 2022, 101 buildings funded by the European Union or member states worth €337,019 ($369,000) were demolished or seized by Israeli occupation authorities.


The committee also requested the European Union to issue a legal opinion to assess the political and economic consequences of the Israel's decision to transfer broad authority over civil issues in the West Bank to the far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.


The committee also wants the European Union to launch negotiations on a full partnership agreement with Palestine as soon as possible and to hold an Association Council, noting that the European Union had concluded a similar partnership agreement with the Israeli occupation since 2000.


These recommendations will be submitted to the full European Parliament for adoption as a whole with a vote scheduled for next July.

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 10:27 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel arrests Palestinian child at the Shuafat camp checkpoint

Israeli occupation forces arrested a child at the Shuafat refugee camp checkpoint, northeast of occupied Jerusalem.

Local sources said that the arrested child is 12-years old.

ARAB AND WORLD

Wed 28 Jun 2023 10:22 pm - Jerusalem Time

Blinken: The events in the West Bank make it almost impossible to reach a Saudi-Israeli normalization agreement

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, Wednesday, at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York that the confrontations in the occupied West Bank, "including settlement building and settler attacks on Palestinian villages, are making it difficult for the United States to broker a normalization deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia." Despite the interest of Saudi Arabia and Israel in the possibility of normalization.


Blinken added: “It (Saudi-Israeli normalization) is very difficult, and it is not something that can happen overnight, but it is also a real possibility and we are working on it. We have told our friends and allies in Israel that if there is a fire burning in their backyard, it will be even harder. If not impossible, deepening existing agreements, as well as extending them to Saudi Arabia.

Blinken indicated that he had spoken about the issue with Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen on Tuesday.

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 4:44 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel detains four settlers without trial after West Bank attacks

Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant signed administrative arrest warrants against four settlers on Wednesday, based on a recommendation from the Shin Bet security service.


According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the four settlers who were detained had been involved in acts of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank for several years.


The four had been arrested previously, but this did not deter them for continuing to carry out attacks in the last week.


PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 4:34 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli settlers beat Palestinian in Masafer Yatta

Israeli settlers assaulted a Palestinian man in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills on Wednesday.


Mahmoud Ali Harizat was beaten by settlers in the Umm Likhous area of Masafer Yatta, and was transferred to a nearby hospital for treatment, according to local sources.


Israel's Supreme Court approved the eviction of more than 1,000 Palestinians last year, claiming that they did not prove that they permanently resided in the area that was declared a "firing zone" for military training purposes.

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 4:33 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel arrests Palestinian at a military checkpoint southwest of Jenin

Israeli occupation forces arrested a Palestinian from the village of Arana, northeast of Jenin, on Wednesday while he was passing a military checkpoint near the town of Ya'bad, southwest of the city.


Palestinian sources stated that the detainee is that the man, Omran Nasser Al-Khalidi, and that he was taken to an unknown location.

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 4:32 pm - Jerusalem Time

Five Palestinian citizens of Israel killed in crime-related violence in 24 hours

The ongoing wave of homicides has claimed the lives of another five Palestinian citizens of Israel in the last 24 hours.


A father and son, 61-year-old Omar Khalidi and 35-year-old Muhammad Khalidi, were shot dead in the northern city of Shefa 'Amr, following on the heels of three deaths on the eve of Eid al-Adha on Tuesday evening.


In a separate incident, a gang of criminals tried to assassinate the two sons of the head of the local council in

Tuba-Zangariyye. The bullets hit the car they were travelling in. No immediate injuries were reported.


Since the beginning of this year, the death toll from murders in the Arab community has reached 104, including six women and two children, according to the news site Arab48.


In the northern city of Shefa 'Amr, Amir Sawaed was killed in a shooting; In Kafr Qanna, Ashraf Nassar was killed; and in Rahat in the Negev, another young man, Hassan Abu Latif, was killed.


According to the Hebrew website Ynet, these incidents took place in approximately one hour timeframe.


During that period, several shooting crimes took place in several areas, including Taibeh, Iksal, Kafr Qara, and Baqqa Al-Gharbiya, leaving several injuries, some of them serious. Five others were injured in these incidents, including one minor.


PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 8:01 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli police detain Palestinian in raid by Al-Aqsa compound

Israeli police arrested a group of Palestinians from the Bab Al-Rahma cemetery around the Al-Aqsa Compound on Tuesday.


According to sources in Jerusalem, Israeli occupation forces stormed the abandoned site and arrested a group of Palestinians.


PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 7:27 am - Jerusalem Time

Israel records spike in shooting attacks on West Bank roads

Official Israeli data published on Wednesday revealed that there has been a significant increase in shooting attacks against Israeli targets on settlement roads in the occupied West Bank.


According to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, 167 attacks were recorded in the first half of this year, compared to 53 in the same period last year.


Fifty-nine of the attacks were directed at Israeli settlers, while 108 targeted military forces.


In the same period this year, 1,369 stone-throwing incidents took place, 147 with Molotov cocktails were thrown at targets, and 85 homemade explosive devices were used. 

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 7:15 am - Jerusalem Time

Blinken expresses concern about settler violence to Israel's FM

U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed his concern to Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen about settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, putting a particular emphasis on harming Palestinians of American citizenship.

"Secretary Blinken conveyed concern over the recent escalation of violence, which has directly affected U.S. citizens in the West Bank, and underscored the need for all parties to work to further de-escalate the situation. The Secretary expressed condolences for the recent terrorist attack against Israeli citizens in the West Bank," the statement said.


U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller also said the two discussed "efforts to advance Israel’s integration into the region and countering Iran’s destabilizing behavior." 

PALESTINE

Wed 28 Jun 2023 3:29 am - Jerusalem Time

Three Palestinian citizens of Israel killed in crime-related violence

Three Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed in separate incidents on Tuesday, the first night of Eid al-Adha, as crime-related violence continues to soar unchecked in the community.


In the northern city of Shefa 'Amr, Amir Sawaed was killed in a shooting; In Kafr Qanna, Ashraf Nassar was killed; and in Rahat in the Negev, another young man, Hassan Abu Latif, was killed.


According to the Hebrew website Ynet, these incidents took place in approximately one hour timeframe.


During that period, several shooting crimes took place in several areas, including Taibeh, Iksal, Kafr Qara, and Baqqa Al-Gharbiya, leaving several injuries, some of them serious.


PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 9:17 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israeli army: Jenin rocket did not come from any Palestinian faction

Israel's occupation army claimed on Tuesday evening that they have identified the individual responsible for the rare rocket strike from Jenin, and that he did not belong to any Palestinian faction, including Hamas.


The homemade missile exploded barely 100m from its launchpad, an Israeli military source told the Hebrew publication Ynet. It was also fired without an explosive warhead.


The Israeli army maintains that there is no significant missile infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, and that the main remains drive-by shootings and the detonation of explosive devices.

PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 7:33 pm - Jerusalem Time

After bloody week, UN Security Council calls for 'calm' in West Bank

The United Nations Security Council expressed its "sorrow" over the civilian deaths in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, and "called on all parties to refrain from unilateral actions that further inflame tensions." 


In a statement issued unanimously by its fifteen members, the Council expressed its "sorrow over the killing of civilians" and called on both sides to work toward a "durable calm." 


Read by Lana Nusseibeh, the UN ambassador from the United Arab Emirates, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency for June, the statement also encouraged both sides to "fight and condemn terrorism in all its forms in a manner consistent with international law. They further emphasize the importance of holding accountable those responsible for such acts of violence."


Around 20 people, the majority of which were Palestinians, were killed in the occupied West Bank last week.


In her capacity as a national representative, she was asked for a response to Israel's recent approval to 5,700 settler homes and about Netanyahu's recent remarks that Israel "need[s] to eliminate their [Palestinians'] aspirations for a state." Nusseibeh says the UAE "condemned" the steps, and says it remains "fully committed to a two-state solution."


In the last week, attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have spiked. 


Last Monday, two Palestinian gunmen were shot dead after they killed four Israelis at the settlement of Eli.



ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 27 Jun 2023 4:36 pm - Jerusalem Time

Netanyahu says he will met with China's Xi

In light of his snub from Washington, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday evening that he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.


Netanyahu revealed that he had been invited to Beijing in a meeting with members of the U.S. Congress, according to the Hebrew news site Ynet. No date has been set for the visit. 


The prime minister's office said in a letter of clarification: "The planned visit will be the fourth visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu to China, and the U.S. administration was informed of this a month ago."


Despite several high-level visits between Israeli and American officials, U.S. President Joe Biden is yet to invite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. 



PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 2:46 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel's president condemns settler violence in call with Abbas

Israel's President Isaac Herzog called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday to condemn the recent settler attacks in the West Bank.


During the phone call, Herzog stressed the need to "fight terrorism, hatred and incitement," as reported by the Hebrew Walla website.


This came after a phone call from Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh, who also censured the recent attacks against Palestinians and said that his forces will work to bring the perpetrators to justice.


Galant also stressed the need to restore calm in the West Bank, calling on Minister Al-Sheikh to work against what he described as "dens of terrorism." He added that Israeli forces will not hesitate to act against "terrorists," if they so nedded.


ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 27 Jun 2023 1:56 pm - Jerusalem Time

Israel summons Ukraine's ambassador after he accused it of adopting a pro-Russian stance

The Israeli Foreign Ministry announced Tuesday that it had summoned the Ukrainian ambassador to seek clarification, after his embassy accused the Israeli government of adopting a "clearly pro-Russian stance" on the war in Ukraine.


"In light of his repeated remarks about Israeli policy, Ambassador Yevgen Korniychuk was summoned for clarification to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on July 3," the ministry said in a statement.


"The Israeli government continues to advance cooperation with Ukraine as agreed between the two countries," she added, adding that "the ambassador's behavior is not helpful."


Israel has adopted a cautious approach since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February 2022, in an attempt to maintain neutrality between the two warring parties.


On Sunday, the Ukrainian embassy said that "the current Israeli government ... has chosen the path of close cooperation with the Russian Federation."


And she talked about the "almost complete absence of Israeli humanitarian aid to Ukraine," recalling a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he said that Israel needs to cooperate with Russia to continue its long air campaign against Iranian targets in Syria.


In an interview with The Jerusalem Post last week, Netanyahu said that weapons delivered to Ukraine could fall into the hands of the Iranians and be used against Israel.


The Ukrainian embassy responded to this on Sunday, saying, "The Israeli leadership, hiding behind rhetorical demagoguery about its neutrality, is maintaining active relations with the Russian Federation."


"In fact, on the ground, what the Israeli government says is neutrality is clearly a pro-Russian position," she added.


"We urge the government of Israel to change its position and support Ukraine with defensive means, to support freedom and a democratic world order," she added.


The embassy published its statement on its social media accounts, four days after it was announced that Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov had "very fruitful contact" with his Israeli counterpart, Yoav Gallant.


"We discussed the current situation on the ground and the prospects for a project to protect Ukrainians from air threats. Iranian drones pose a security threat to both countries. We count on Israel's help to confront them," Reznikov said in a statement.

PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 1:54 pm - Jerusalem Time

Journalist groups condemns arrest of Palestinian reporter Anwar Muna

Palestinian journalist networks strongly condemned Israel's detention of 41-year-old reporter Muhammad Anwar Muna in a dawn raid on Tuesday. The arrest raises the total number of Palestinian journalists in occupation prisons to 21.


The Palestinian Journalist Support Committee said it "deplored" the arrest of a journalist as he was covering the occupation forces' incursions into Palestinian cities, while the Palestine Media Forum also condemned the "continued targeting of journalists in the West Bank" and the Israeli authorities' serious violations to freedom of press.


Muna has worked as a director for the local radio station Hawa Nablus and a correspondent for the U.K.-based Quds Press Agency, and has spent seven-and-a-half years in occupation prisons.


Muna was one of six people detained overnight in a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. 


The Palestine Media Forum also called on international organizations dealing with freedom of the press and the protection of journalists to pressure the occupation authorities to release Palestinian journalists.



PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 1:54 pm - Jerusalem Time

Three Palestinians, including child, injured in settler attack near Jericho

Three Palestinians, including a child, were injured on Tuesday in an attack by Israeli settlers on a road northwest of Jericho.


Palestinians said that a group of armed settlers forced the shepherds from the al-Mleihat community off their own pastures. Three people, including a 10-year-old boy, were lightly injured in the incident. 


Local sources added that they seized the flock of sheep and dispersed them.


OPINIONS

Tue 27 Jun 2023 10:20 am - Jerusalem Time

Whoever prevents freedom of opinion will not liberate a country

Jamal Zaqout

Jamal Zaqout

Opinion Writer

The killing of Nizar Banat is a political assassination! But the most serious crime is the attempt to protect the killers, and to cover up the criminal who bears the responsibility for committing it, and it is the one that will continue to haunt us with the shame of facilitating the shedding of Palestinian blood until justice is achieved for Nizar Banat and all the victims of opinion in Palestine.

In an attempt to undermine the noble goals of the campaigns that rejected the assassination, and protested against its perpetration in the streets and squares of Palestine, some skeptical voices came out to justify the crime and say: "...why are you silent about what accompanied the black coup in Gaza in terms of killings and witchcraft that reached the point of throwing anyone Citizens from the height of a building in Gaza City. Here it is correct to say that this is a word of truth, but unfortunately it does not mean anything but falsehood. The crimes that accompanied the coup, and the perpetrators of which must be prosecuted no matter how long it takes, cannot justify such a heinous crime regardless of the circumstances of each one of them. The most dangerous thing facing the situation of human rights and freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed in the Palestinian Basic Law is the politicization of this matter, and the attempt to bury people's rights in the clutches of division, whose mere continuation is considered a major crime against the Palestinian people and their just cause.

The attempt to bury Nizar's case in the corridors of delay and procrastination will not drop this case, no matter how long it takes. It may derail it from the course of applying justice, but such an approach will only lead to chaos and exacerbate the lack of confidence in the entire justice system, not just the executive authority. In any case, it seems that the defect has affected this system as much as it did.

Lawyer Gandhi Amin, who was assigned by Nizar's family to follow up the assassination case, told local media: "The martyr Nizar, two years ago, did not obtain justice, and there is no prospect of achieving it in Palestine." He attributed "the reasons for not achieving justice in the case of girls to the slow process of litigation, although the crime and evidence are clear, and because of the arrest of witnesses and harassment during court sessions, and the release of detainees - accused of murder - without the knowledge of the court and the prosecution." He added that these reasons indicate the unwillingness and seriousness of the authority to achieve justice and hold the killers accountable, noting that the family of the murdered girls filed a lawsuit in the Ramallah Court of First Instance, according to the Civil Violations Law, against the Minister of Interior, the directors of the security services and those accused of the crime, adding: “.. The lawsuit has been filed for eight months before the courts. And he indicated that Ghassan Banat, the brother of the murdered Nizar, went to the International Criminal Court to investigate the crime and hold the perpetrators accountable, adding: "We are waiting for the Public Prosecutor's Office in the Criminal Court to request a referral."

The question that should be bothering us all about this matter is; It is not why Nizar's brother went to the International Criminal Court in an attempt to obtain justice for his murdered brother, but rather why justice is stalled in Palestine, a case whose essence, since the Nakba, is based on the aggressiveness of the occupation and attempts to obliterate the justice of the national cause. And how will we, as Palestinians, be able to proceed with confidence in our quest to bring the occupation to justice in the International Criminal Court, while we are negligent, and what prompts the family of the deceased to take the same national authority to the International Criminal Court? It is a sad paradox, and the victim cannot be blamed here, as much as it reveals the extent of the disgrace that has come to envelop us, and threatens our national cause and justice in Palestine.

Yes, we are not well. The task of the intellectual elites is not only to diagnose "self-defeat", and to raise the voice and the values ​​of freedom and justice to the importance of that. Rather, suggesting visions capable of turning into action strategies that challenge their causes and enable people to confront them. Our responsibility is to protect the homeland and the different opinion. Let everyone know that we are a free people and we deserve a homeland for the free.

It was and still is expected that the president will bear the responsibility of stopping the collapse, whose title has become the authority and its security institution in the face of the people who resist the occupation, and to announce immediately the formation of a national unity government that enjoys national consensus, whose priority is to strengthen the steadfastness of the people and not to confront those with opinion among them, and to heal the wounds of Gaza and not To be silent on moving forward with its division towards secession in order to share with the separatists mere cantons that represent the essence of the strategy of the occupation governments to liquidate the rights of our people. Resilience in Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank, including the popular ability to resist the terrorism of the settlers and the occupation army, and certainly the serious preparation for comprehensive general elections.


And before and after all of that, by restoring the independence of the judiciary, citizens their dignity, and security is a national belief to protect the citizen and not bully him, and a public trial is held for the murderers of girls. Perhaps, and this is not certain, such a step will save the country's fate from the flames of chaos and perhaps worse. It is our duty for all of us not to let our country collapse, and this is the responsibility of every free citizen!


And if this does not happen, the collapse will continue until a broad national democratic movement rises, led by a young woman who believes in political and intellectual pluralism, to lead the process of comprehensive change, as the wreckage cannot be repaired.

OPINIONS

Tue 27 Jun 2023 10:19 am - Jerusalem Time

A settlement "tsunami" and an all-out war waged by settlers against our people

Rasim Obeidat

Rasim Obeidat

Opinion Writer

After the formation of the Jewish extreme right-wing government, seven months ago in the entity state, in which sovereign portfolios were assigned to the ministers of Jewish fascism and religious Zionism, Itamar Ben Gvir, leader of the religious Zionist movement, as minister of national security and the formation of his own militia of extremists, under the name of the National Guard, and an extension His responsibility rests with the Israeli police, with the exception of his responsibility for border guard units in the West Bank, while the leader of the extremist Zionist movement, Smotrich, was appointed minister of finance and half a minister of security and assumed responsibility for the work of the civil administration in the West Bank, as well as responsibility for the settlement file there.

It was clear from these appointments, and in light of what these two fascists said that they were coming to achieve their programs and goals, regardless of the political stage, that our Palestinian people would face great challenges and dangers. Smotrich clearly announced that he would drown the West Bank in settlements, and he would work to transfer a million settlers to the West Bank. Western, and that he will work to legalize no less than 70 isolated outposts, and will return the settlers to the settlements that were evacuated in what was known as the process of disengagement from the Gaza Strip in 2005, where the return began to the “Homesh” settlement, and the return to the “Saris” and “Kadim” settlements will take place. and Ghanem.

It is clear that the two security summits that were held in February and March in Aqaba and Sharm Al-Sheih in the presence of Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, the State of the Entity, and America, the owner of the project, which some tried to dress as political, i. There is no temporary freeze on settlements in the West Bank, nor a halt to the demolition of Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Jerusalem. Rather, what we are currently witnessing is a settlement “tsunami”, where 13,000 settlement units were approved, i.e. double the settlement units that were approved during the Bennett-Lapid government. Recently, Smotrich announced the establishment of 4,560 settlement units in the West Bank, not to mention thousands of settlement units in Jerusalem in the north, south, and east, and even in the heart of the Jerusalemite neighborhoods within the apartheid wall, as is the case in approving the initiation of establishing the "Kidmat Zion" settlement on the eastern slopes of Jabal Mukaber - Deir El-Sunna area, 379 settlement units, on an area of ​​79 dunums, to be expanded later to 1,200 settlement units.

In order to expedite the implementation of these settlement projects and plans, Smotrich announced his plan to reduce and shorten the stages of establishing settlements in the West Bank from 6 stages to two, planning and then direct approval of budgets and bidding without the need for government approval.

This settlement "tsunami" is associated with an all-out war waged by settler militias and their flocks against our Palestinian people, as militias above the law of Jewish fascism, as they attack Palestinian villages in large numbers under the protection and guarding of the entity's army, killing and burning crops, homes and cars, destroying property, stealing and burning crops as well. Mosques are desecrated and copies of the Holy Qur’an are torn. Perhaps the examples in memory of these militias and their criminal role are the burning of the boy Muhammad Abu Khudair alive in July 2014, the burning of the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma, July 2015, and the crime and massacre committed against the village of Hawara. February 2023, and today, after the operations that were carried out in Jenin and the “Eli” settlement at the hands of Palestinian resistance fighters, the settlers launched an all-out war under the protection and guarding of the army in a distribution of roles, against the villages of Turmusaya, Hawara, Urif, Umm Safa, Burqa, Sinjil, Beitin, and a number of villages in Bethlehem and Hebron. Support and endorsement by the leaders of Jewish fascism Ben Gvir and Smotrich, who called for the removal of Palestinian villages from existence, Huwara as an example, and in parallel with that, the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Netanyahu, announces the establishment of 1,000 units in the "Eli" settlement as a response to the commando operation in the settlement.

Yes, it is an all-out war waged against our people, in which the roles between the extreme right and Jewish fascism are complementary, stealing and seizing land, and targeting people by killing, burning and destroying, with the aim of expelling, uprooting and displacing this people, as well as the Palestinian stone, where the “tusks” of bulldozers and bulldozers of the entity state continue. "Instilling" it in the walls and foundations of the homes of our Palestinian people non-stop.

All this is happening and some of us are still betting on the international community and international legitimacy and on the illusions of what is known as the two-state solution, the peace of the brave and the Abrahamic peace, while they are fully aware that they are chasing a mirage under a fascist government that does not recognize us as a people.

OPINIONS

Tue 27 Jun 2023 10:07 am - Jerusalem Time

There is nothing new in Netanyahu's refusal to establish a Palestinian state

Jerusalem Hadith

Jerusalem Hadith

Opinion Writer

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s refusal to establish a Palestinian state is a new confirmation, as we have confirmed more than once, that the occupying state does not want peace, and that what it is doing on the ground in terms of settlement, annexation, expansion and Judaization, in addition to settler attacks, is clear evidence of that, except for those whose eyes are cloudy. And those who are still betting on the outside for the two-state solution, which has become elusive, as US President Biden mentioned shortly after he assumed the US presidency, which makes us say that this rejection is nothing new in it, but rather a reaffirmation of what is certain.


The occupying state, which claims day and night that it is with peace and that there is no Palestinian partner to achieve this peace, is a lie and an attempt to buy time to implement its policies on the ground to prevent the achievement of peace and without the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967 AD, according to the international vision that confirmed this. However, the occupying power has worked and is still working to thwart this vision through its imposition of a fait accompli on the occupied territory.


The frantic and escalating settlement attack, especially under the current Netanyahu government, which is more right-wing, extremist and racist, as well as the establishment of more settlement outposts and the call of the hilltop gangs to establish more of these outposts on the tops of the hills, in addition to the crimes and attacks carried out by the occupation forces and herds of settlers against our people, their land, property and sanctities. Recently, the burning of houses, cars, agricultural lands, and olive trees, and the firing of live bullets at citizens, led to martyrs and injuries, as well as the arrest campaigns that affected the elderly, the young, and women, all of which aim to put pressure on our people to leave their land and country, to replace them with more settlers. On Palestinian land, and this matter is the biggest evidence that the occupying state does not want peace, but is working to annex the West Bank and carry out the widest ethnic cleansing operations if circumstances permit, and if it is not possible, the terror of the settlers and the occupation forces will do the job in the belief of the occupying state, its security services and herds of settlers Supported by the state and its various agencies.


More than one official in the Netanyahu government and other officials in all the occupying governments have stated that the West Bank is Jewish, that there is no place for the Palestinians in it, that its annexation is only a matter of time, that the Palestinians must leave it, and that all of Palestine is Jewish, but rather that the greater goal is to establish the occupying state from Nile to the Euphrates.


This clear and explicit recognition by Netanyahu that their aspirations for the establishment of a Palestinian state should be cut off, should prompt all Palestinians to reconsider the current policies, whether internally or externally. The occupying state puts pressure on it, as well as calling on the international community to stop the policies and crimes of the occupation.


Before that, the internal Palestinian house must be rearranged on unitary foundations, end the black division, and develop a unified program of action and a strategic plan that will be implemented on the ground to confront what the occupying state is doing in order to resolve the conflict in its favour. Without that, the occupying state will continue its policies, and then regret will not work, and our people will pay more sacrifices, and history will not be merciful to anyone.

ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 27 Jun 2023 9:57 am - Jerusalem Time

The commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan announces a 48-hour truce unilaterally

The commander of the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Lieutenant General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, "Hemedti" announced a 48-hour truce unilaterally for the two days of standing at Arafah and Eid.


Hamidti said in an audio recording he posted today (Monday) on ((Facebook)), "This war was imposed on us, not against the Sudanese army, but against the remnants of the former regime."


Hemedti announced the formation of a committee and a field court to resolve any violations against citizens, and said, "We are following with interest the violations against civilians, and they will be dealt with firmly."


The commander of the Rapid Support Forces expressed his readiness to provide protection and assistance to the Sudanese people, and said, "We have begun to cooperate with the citizens to confront any escape by all parties."


The Sudanese army did not issue any comment on the truce announced by the Rapid Support Commander.


Since April 15, Sudan has been witnessing armed confrontations between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces in the capital, Khartoum, and other cities.


The clashes killed more than 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others, according to the Sudanese Ministry of Health.


According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the number of people who fled Sudan more than two months ago has exceeded 500,000, while two million people have been internally displaced.

PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 9:56 am - Jerusalem Time

Yedioth: We are facing a new era in the northern West Bank

The Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said, on Tuesday, that the recent escalating events from the northern West Bank indicate that we are at the beginning of a new era.


In a report by its correspondent and military analyst, Yossi Yehoshua, the newspaper indicated the development of events, since the detonation and development of explosive devices in Jenin, then the aerial bombardment for the first time since the second intifada, to eliminate an armed cell, and this was followed by what was published yesterday about the firing of missiles from Jenin also for the first time since Years.


The newspaper considered that these developments, and although there are no actual missiles reaching from Jenin to Afula, unlike in the past, it can be estimated that a limited military operation is closer than ever before.


The newspaper pointed out that since Operation Eli, behind which Hamas stands, calls have returned for the implementation of a large-scale military operation, and this was discussed again to find out the extent of the need for it, noting that the talk is about a specific operation, not Defensive Wall 2, and not the goal of occupying areas or presence. In it in a prolonged manner, but rather the entry of large forces in a targeted manner to specific targets for a period of up to 48 hours, to damage the armed infrastructure, and to bring a price to achieve the necessary deterrence. as you say.


The newspaper says: Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant objected last week, as did senior army officials, but it now appears that in light of this development and assessments of the situation that took place in the past two days, the possibility of this measure has increased, and there are other indications that indicate this, including condolence. The massive military forces in the West Bank, some of which are dedicated to military action inside Palestinian cities.

PALESTINE

Tue 27 Jun 2023 9:41 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli security officials: Gov't preventing stop to settler violence

Israel's security establishment accused the government of sabotaging its efforts to deal with spiralling settler violence against the Palestinians in the West Bank.


One source told the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz that "The Israeli army and the Shin Bet have lost control and the ability to act against settlers in recent months, who act as they please with the encouragement of the government ministers and members of the coalition."


The sources said that politicians have prevented the security establishment from ramping up their forces in the West Bank in order to halt nationalist attacks, and has not allowed them to evacuate outposts. They added that the government demanded that no restrictions would be imposed on the entry of equipment to new outposts.


An Israeli security source said: "We are already virtually unable to control the rioters on the ground who are doing whatever they want in the West Bank. The police are not in the field, nor does it look like they will come any time soon."


Another senior official told Haaretz that "We are not talking about a handful of settlers, but hundreds, and the phenomenon is expanding. They used to operate in the dark, but today they operate in the middle of the day."