Palestine Theater
Netanyahu to 'strengthen' settlements in Hebron
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 22 ordered the civil administration to allow settlers back into a stolen Palestinian property in Hebron, Israeli media reported. The move was in response to the killing of an Israeli soldier in Hebron earlier in the day, and Netanyahu announced Israel would "continue to fight terrorism…with one hand, while strengthening the settlement with the other," according to Haaretz.
Israeli forces clash with al-Quds student protesters
Israeli forces fired tear-gas cannisters and rubber-coated steel bullets at al-Quds university students in Abu Dis on Sept. 8, witnesses said. An Israeli border police patrol stopped and searched several students at the main gate of the university in Abu Dis, inspecting identity cards and detaining several students for over an hour. Clashes broke out after university staff prevented Israeli forces from entering the campus. Over 30 students suffered from gas inhalation. Eight students were injured by rubber bullets and transferred to Abu Dis emergency center. Two university security guards were also hospitalized.
Lebanon turns back Palestinians fleeing Syria
Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence in Syria have been refused entry into Lebanon for three weeks now. Since Aug. 6, according to Human Rights Watch, the Lebanese government has turned back Palestinians, who had originally sought refuge in Syria when they were forced from their homes in 1948 and 1967, and are now fleeing once more with their descendants, this time from the conflict in Syria. A source at the Lebanese General Security confirmed to IRIN news agency that the government is no longer letting Palestinians from Syria into Lebanon. Makram Malaeb, program manager for the Syrian response at the Ministry of Social Affairs, said exceptions would be made for "humanitarian cases."
Jerusalem: Israeli forces raze Palestinian homes
Israeli forces razed several structures in the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of al-Tur and Eisawiya Aug. 27, under the pretext that they were built without a license. Locals told Ma'an News Agency that a large number of Israeli forces—including special forces troops, police horsemen, and border guard officers—raided Khallat al-Ein neighborhood in al-Tur district. The invading forces denied residents and journalists access to the area before they forced two families to quickly evacuate their houses for demolition. The families were given only minutes to pull out some of their belongings.
Israeli soldiers shoot, kill man in Jenin camp
A man was killed and two others injured in clashes early Aug. 20 between locals and Israeli forces in Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank. Majd Mohammad Anis Lahlouh, 22, was shot directly in the heart by Israeli soldiers, witnesses said. Karim Sbeih and Alah Abu Khalifa, both in their twenties, were critically wounded. One was shot in the bladder and the other was hit by a dumdum bullet in the chest. Israeli forces raided the Jenin camp at 3 AM and broke into the home of Islamic Jihad leader Bassam al-Saedi. Clashes broke out with camp residents, who threw empty bottles and stones at Israeli soldiers, who responded with live fire, tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. The body of Majd Mohammad Anis Lahlouh was transferred to Jenin hospital. Israeli forces deployed in large numbers around the camp following the shootings, locals said.
HRW: Hamas must end death penalty for youth
Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Aug. 20 called on Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip to halt all executions, especially those of child offenders. HRW is especially concerned with the specific case of Hani Abu Aliyan, an adult prisoner sentenced to death for the murder of a peer while he was a minor. Aliyan was convicted using a confession he alleges was produced under torture. Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at HRW, reflected on the precedent that such an execution would establish. "Imposing the death penalty for a crime committed by a child makes the executions under Gaza's abusive justice system especially atrocious," he said. "If the authorities want to deter criminals, they should make sure people are convicted for what they did, not what they are tortured to confess." Israel Jaber, the prosecutor general for Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has defended the court system, insisting that torture does not occur and that all convictions are the result of due process.
Palestinian on hunger strike beaten by soldiers
The Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association reports that its lawyer Fares Ziad recently visited three of the 12 Palestinian political prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli facilities. Ziad confirmed that the health of all three continue to rapidly deteriorate, with one hunger striker savagely beaten by five Israeli soldiers. All three have been on hunger strike for 99 days. Prisoner Mohammad Rimawi in Suroka Hospital at Beersheba was informed Aug. 5 that he would be moved to another section within the hospital. Upon enquiring about the reasons for the proposed move, Rimawi had his hands and legs shackled and was then thrown on the ground and savagely beaten by five Israeli soldiers who were guarding him, according to Addameer. Ziad confirmed that that the bruises on Rimawi are still clearly visible. Mohammad has since been moved to another section, shackled to the bed, and threatened with being force-fed if he continues his strike.
Egypt: Israeli drone strike on Sinai peninsula?
Egyptian militant group Ansar Beit al-Maqdis claimed Aug. 10 that an air-strike that killed four of its fighters in the Sinai peninsula the previous day was carried out by an Israeli drone. But Egypt's military denied there had been any Israeli strikes in Egyptian territory, and later said its own aircraft had carried out the attack. Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, with a following among the Sinai's Bedouin tribes, accused the Egyptian military of co-ordinating the attack with Israel. "Our heroes became martyrs during their jihadi duties against the Jews in a rocket attack on occupied lands," the group said in a statement. "How can the Egyptian army allow the Zionist unmanned planes to cross into Egyptian territory?" A motorcade funeral for the fallen fighters made its way through through several border towns in Sinai—with dozens of militants in pick-up trucks flying their black flag in defiance of the army. Egypt's armed forces have killed 60 jihadist fighters in the Sinai in the month since Mohamed Morsi was ousted. (AFP, Al Jazeera, Aug. 10)
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