Palestine: MK calls for building synagogue inside the Al Aqsa, confrontations in Al-Khalil, child arrested& the Aqsa mosque stormed

(File photo)

MK calls for building synagogue inside the Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Mordechai Eugev, a member of the Israeli Knesset, called on his government to build a synagogue in the Aqsa mosque’s southern area.

The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said in a press release on Wednesday that the Israeli escalation against the Aqsa mosque was ongoing, the latest being an article by MP Eugev, a member of the fanatic party Habayit Hayehudi, that called for building a synagogue inside it.

The statement coincided with the distribution of a detailed map of the alleged temple by Jewish settlers during their storming of the Aqsa mosque.

Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib, deputy leader of the Islamic movement in 1948 occupied Palestine, described the recent storming of the Aqsa as “unprecedented” as far as the quantity and proximity of storming days are concerned.

Khatib warned that the Knesset speaker and members’ calls for more such storming were part of new political drive to create a new de facto situation in the holy site.

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Violent confrontations in Al-Khalil, child arrested

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) encircled Arroub refugee camp, south of Al-Khalil, on Wednesday and showered young men with teargas canisters and metal bullets.

Eyewitnesses told the PIC that the young men were demonstrating on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Nakba and threw stones and crude firebombs at the soldiers.

Groups of young men said that commemorating the Nakba should include marching to settlements and military positions and not dancing and singing inside Palestinian cities surrounded by settlements and IOF soldiers.

Meanwhile, IOF soldiers arrested a Palestinian man and a child from Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, on Tuesday night.

Local sources said that the IOF arrested the schoolchild, Hakam Al-Alami, after the Israeli intelligence interrogated him at Gush Etzion detention center, north of Al-Khalil.

IOF soldiers rounded up eight university students and children in Beit Ummar over the past three days.

Jewish settlers start building religious institute in Bethlehem outpost

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– Jewish settlers started building a religious institute in a settlement outpost in Khader village, Bethlehem province.

Ahmed Salah, the coordinator of the popular committee in Al-Khader, told Quds Press on Tuesday that the institute was almost completed.

He said that the institute was being built in Tal Hatmar outpost that was built over 500 dunums of the village land in 2000.

He said that building an institute in that outpost means turning it into an official settlement. He recalled that the outpost was dismantled but the settlers rebuilt it 13 years ago.

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Jewish settlers storm the Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– 35 Jewish settlers stormed the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday through the Maghareba gate.

Local sources said that 50 Jewish children also attempted to break into the mosque via King Faisal gate.

The sources said that tension was running high in the holy site as Muslims inside it continue to chant Allahu Akbar (God is Great).

Fanatic Jewish organizations called for storming and desecrating the Aqsa mosque on the occasion of “Shavuot” on Wednesday and Thursday.

Palestine: Marches protesting violations against Aqsa Mosque quelled, religious freedom in Jerusalem suppressed & more olive tress chopped

IOF quell marches protesting Jewish violations against Aqsa Mosque

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) violently suppressed different marches held on Friday in the West Bank to protest Israel’s violations against the Aqsa Mosque.

The march held every week in Kafr Qaddum village near Qalqiliya to demand an end to Israel’s closure of the main road was dedicated this Friday to denounce the escalating Jewish violations against Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The march was held under the slogan “Jerusalem is a key to peace and a key to war,” according to its organizers.

Dozens of protestors in Kafr Qaddum march suffered injuries when the IOF responded to their chants in support of the Aqsa Mosque by firing a hail of rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at them.

In Bethlehem, the IOF also attacked two marches in the villages of Masarah and Walaja causing several injuries among the protestors.

In a related incident, violent clashes took place in Aroub refugee camp and Beit Ummar town in Al-Khalil area.

Many Palestinians suffered injuries during the events, including a young man who sustained a rubber bullet injury in his head, according to Quds Press.

In Silwad town to the east of Ramallah city, 14 Palestinians, including a journalist suffered rubber bullet injuries and many others suffocated from tear gas during clashes with Israeli soldiers.

The confrontations happened after hundreds of angry young men from Silwad marched after the Friday prayers to the Palestinian lands which the Israeli regime intends to annex to Ofra settlement.

The Palestinian villagers in the area had planned to hold the Friday prayers on these lands, which are located between Silwad and Deir Jarir towns near Ofra settlement, but the Palestinian Authority (PA) prevented them.

At the behest of the Israeli army, the PA ministry of religious affairs in Ramallah warned the Mosque imams and the residents not to pray or rally in this area, but the villagers defied the decision and decided to march to their lands after attending the Friday prayers in mosques.

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CFP accuses “Israel” of suppressing religious freedom in Jerusalem

PRETORIA, (PIC)– The Coalition for a Free Palestine (CFP), in South Africa, accused the Israeli occupation authorities of suppressing religious freedoms in Jerusalem in light of the successive Israeli aggressions against Muslims and Christians in the city.

The Coalition described in a press release on Saturday the recent Israeli practices in the occupied city of Jerusalem as racist, and denounced the policies and laws used by the occupation to confiscate the Palestinians’ rights in favor of the Israelis.

“The Zionist Judaization policies in Holy Jerusalem will never give legitimacy to the Zionist occupation of the city, which is considered an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967,” the statement said.

It also condemned the Israeli occupation procedures that impose restrictions on Jerusalemites, and monitored dozens of violations that reflect a real Zionist apartheid culture in the Palestinian occupied territories.

The Coalition denounced Israel’s attempts to desecrate the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque through providing political and security cover for the extremist rightist movements, led by settlers, to seize the mosque.

It has also denounced summoning the Grand Mufti of Palestine Sheikh Mohammed Hussein for investigation.

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Sheikh Salah: We must defend all mosques throughout occupied Palestine

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, urged the Palestinians to defend all of their mosques in the occupied territories against the Israeli violations and not to neglect them.

His remarks came in response to the Israeli decision to demolish the female section of Mohamed Al-Fateh Mosque in Ras Al-Amoud district in occupied Jerusalem.

“Primarily, we should defend the Aqsa Mosque and then its branches. Mohamed Al-Fateh Mosque in Ras Al-Amoud district is an offshoot of the Aqsa Mosque that we have to retreat to and rise up for, and we have to do the same thing with Silwan Mosque, which faces a demolition threat, and Okasha Mosque in Jerusalem,” Sheikh Salah highlighted in his khutba (sermon) yesterday at Mohamed Al-Fateh Mosque.

He also called on the Jerusalemite people to be patient and steadfast until a great victory is bestowed upon them by the Providence.

Hundreds of Palestinians from Jerusalem and the 1948 occupied lands attended the Friday kutba and prayers at Mohamed Al-Fateh Mosque, while a number of Israeli soldiers and policemen were deployed outside.

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Jewish settlers chop down olive trees, injure man and his sons

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Jewish settlers chopped down dozens of olive trees in Tawani village, east of Yatta town in Al-Khalil province, on Friday.

Ratib Al-Jabour, the coordinator of the popular committee against the wall in Yatta, said that Jewish settlers from Maon settlement attacked farmers’ land in Tawani and cut off more than 70 olive trees.

He said that the land and trees are owned by two brothers in the village.

Meanwhile, a father and his three sons were injured when Jewish settlers attacked their car south of Nablus on Thursday night.

Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of monitoring settlement activity north of the West Bank, said that settlers from Yitzhar settlement threw rocks at the car of Ibrahim Khader injuring him and his three sons.

He said that the father and his sons were taken to Rafidiya hospital in Nablus city where their injuries were described as moderate, adding that the car was badly damaged in the attack.

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IOF arrests three Palestinians, including two minors

JENIN, (PIC)– The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested three Palestinians including two minors in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank.

IOF soldiers detained late on Friday a Palestinian student at Al-Najah National University at a military checkpoint near the entrance to Araba town.

The student Badr Issam Abu Hija, 21, was detained and interrogated by IOF while on his way home when Israeli soldiers stopped him at the checkpoint and took him to a detention center.

Meanwhile, IOF soldiers raided a house owned by Nafez Jaffal, in the town of Abu Dis in occupied Jerusalem, and detained his two sons aged 14 and 15 years after searching the house.

The father, a liberated prisoner who spent 5 years in Israeli jails, charged that the Israeli soldiers brutally attacked the family members before taking his two sons to an unknown destination.

Two other students at Jerusalem University, Firas Jaffal and Faisal al-Noafle, were recently arrested in Abu Dis.

Palestine: Plans to divide Al Aqsa, mosque to be demolished, houses razed & olive trees destroyed

Israeli government officially starts dividing Al Aqsa Mosque

NAZARETH, (PIC)– Israeli Ministry of Religious Affairs revealed official attempts to divide Al Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews, claiming that preventing Jews from performing their rituals in Al Aqsa “is a violation of freedom of worship.”

Director of the Ministry of Religious Affairs announced during the Knesset session that his ministry will seek to “amend the law” that allows the Jews to perform rituals in Al Aqsa Mosque, and said: “a parliamentary committee has been charged with studying the draft, in order to enable Jews to pray at the site.”

For his part; the Likud MK Moshe Feiglin said “How can we accept the fact that the Jews do not have the right to pray in the most sacred place for them.”

Chairperson of the Knesset Interior Committee Miri Regev noted that “preventing Jews from performing prayers on the Temple Mount represents an intolerable discrimination and a violation of freedom of worship”, as she said

The Hebrew radio revealed that the Knesset began on Wednesday morning to discuss the adoption of a law that allows increasing the number of Jewish settlers who visit Al Aqsa Mosque.

It said on Wednesday morning “the Knesset Interior Committee is discussing the issue of visits by Jews to the campus of Temple Mount,” and quoted Chairperson of the Committee Likud MK Miri Regev as saying “the Committee is examining the possibility of increasing the number of visits in a way that will not change the status quo,” as she said.

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Israeli official suggests renaming Ramallah as ‘Jerusalem’

NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Israeli mayor of the occupied city of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, rejected “any notion of Palestinian rule in any part of the city”, and has totally rejected the division of the Holy City as well.

Barkat suggested in an interview with The Times of Israel on Wednesday, that if the Palestinians wanted a capital in Jerusalem they could rename Ramallah “Jerusalem” or “northern Jerusalem.”

It was in Jerusalem’s DNA to be a united city, under sole Jewish rule, he said, adding that “Palestinian demands for some degree of sovereignty in the city were unacceptable and unworkable.”

“That kind of thinking will get us nowhere. It will get us to a dead end, to a bad deal… The answer is no separation of the city…If the world pushes us there, it’s just a matter of time before things will fall apart. It will not bring closer a resolution or a better relationship with our neighbors. There is no doubt in my mind. It will get much, much worse,” he added.

Barkat said it was “ridiculous” that Jews were not allowed to pray on the “Temple Mount”. I don’t think the Muslims should feel that enabling Jews to pray in their holiest site should be a problem, he claimed.

Israelis have made repeated threats to demolish the Aqsa mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, in order to build the Jewish alleged temple in its place.

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Occupation notifies the demolition of a mosque in the Negev

NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authorities have notified, a few days ago, to demolish the only mosque in the village of al-Far’a in the Negev, southern the 1948-occupied Palestine, Palestinian sources said.

Atteya A’sam, head of the Regional Council of the unrecognized Arab villages in the Negev, said: “This mosque has been built since 1985. However the Israeli authorities are claiming that it is a new unauthorized building.”

A’sam added in a press statement that the demolition orders have no justification, and that they only aim is to displace the Palestinian residents, and warned of the consequences of harming the Islamic holy sites.

He also demanded the Jewish state to respect the mosques and to not drag them in the ongoing conflict between Israeli occupation and the Arab citizens in the Negev.

For his part; Arab MK Taleb Abu Arar considered in remarks to Quds Press Agency that the implementation of the demolition order against the village’s mosque has transcended all the red lines, and held the Israeli government responsible for the consequences of such procedure.

The Knesset member appealed to the Palestinian masses in the Negev and in the 1948-occupied territories to effectively participate in the activities of the Islamic movement, including the marches.

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IOF storms Ouja area near Jericho, demolishes 3 houses

JERICHO, (PIC)– The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), escorted by a number of bulldozers, stormed Ouja area in the Jericho Governorate in the eastern West Bank and demolished three Palestinian houses on Wednesday.

Israeli bulldozers demolished 3 houses, built of brick and tin, in Ouja under the pretext that they were built in area ​​c, head of the local council in Ouja confirmed.

He pointed that the IOF did not allow the families to evacuate their three houses before the demolition process.

The head of the local council added that five other houses are threatened with demolition, as the occupation authorities have recently handed to their owners, demolition notifications.

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Jewish settlers chop down olive trees in Al-Khalil

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Jewish settlers chopped down 15 olive trees near Susiya area in Yatta town, south of Al-Khalil, on Wednesday.

Ratib Al-Jabour, the coordinator of the popular committee in Yatta, said that the olive trees, south east of Yatta, were more than 15 years old.

He pointed out that the same area came under settles’ attacks for three times where trees were cut off and tents were tore down in a bid to terrorize citizens out of it and annex it.

Meanwhile, other groups of settlers escorted by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked Palestinian civilians in Ras Al-Joura, north of Al-Khalil city, on Wednesday.

Eyewitnesses told the PIC that IOF soldiers and settlers in 15 vehicles stormed the suburb, adding that settlers provoked citizens and together with soldiers fired at civilian homes.

They said that confrontations then took place during which young men threw stones and empty bottles at the invaders.

Palestine: Mufti of Jerusalem/Palestine detained, Jordan MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy, Israelis continue to attack & more land to be taken

IOF soldiers detain Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained Sheikh Mohammed Hussein, the Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, after taking him from his home in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the committee of relatives of Jerusalemite detainees said that the soldiers stormed the home of Sheikh Hussein, 65, and then took him to Maskobeh detention center.

He said that in a last telephone contact with the Mufti, he said that he was detained in Maskobeh and was awaiting interrogation.

The committee condemned the arrest and demanded the immediate release of Sheikh Hussein.

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Jordan MPs vote to expel Israeli envoy, recall Jordan ambassador

Press TV

The Jordanian parliament has voted to expel the Israeli ambassador to Amman and recall the country’s envoy to Tel Aviv.

The 150-member Lower House of Parliament unanimously demanded the government to ask the Israeli ambassador to leave Jordan, and recall the Jordanian ambassador to Israel, Jordan’s media reported on Wednesday.

The MPs said they took the decision due to Israel’s recent aggression against al-Aqsa Mosque in East al-Quds (Jerusalem).

Jordan’s Premier Abdalla Ensour has criticized Israel for its systematic deployment of special forces and setting up of military barracks around the holy site.

He has vowed to demand the UN Security Council to hold an emergency meeting should Israel refuses to end its aggression.

Backed by Israeli forces, some 100 Israeli settlers entered Al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday.

Clashes erupted between the Israeli settlers, soldiers and the Palestinians following the entry of the Israelis. Several Palestinians were reportedly injured, and several others were arrested.

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Dozens of Jewish settlers storm the Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Dozens of Jewish settlers stormed the Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Wednesday morning as big numbers of Israeli soldiers besieged the holy site.

The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and heritage (AFEH) said in a statement that the soldiers were blocking entry of Muslim worshipers into the holy site and set up roadblocks in the Old City.

It said that the settlers broke into the Aqsa plazas via the Maghareba gate and organized a tour inside it, adding that around 60 settlers were seen inside the holy site so far and many others were expected over the day.

AFEH said that the few numbers of worshipers and students inside the mosque were under strict surveillance by Israeli soldiers, who forced young worshipers out of the holy site.

The foundation said that dozens of worshipers were stranded at the gates of the mosque after the soldiers barred their entry into it.

In another incident, Israeli soldiers arrested Mustafa Abu Zahra, the chairman of the Islamic cemeteries in occupied Jerusalem.

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Settlers storm evacuated settlement south of Jenin, attack citizens

JENIN, (PIC)– A horde of Jewish settlers under military protection stormed on Tuesday evening the area of the evacuated Tarsala settlement south of Jenin city and harassed some Palestinian citizens.

Local sources reported that more than 200 Jewish settlers aboard buses came to this area near Sannur village and stayed there for two hours bullying Palestinian passersby and performing rituals.

Then, they roamed around on Jenin-Nablus street singing and behaving provocatively before going to Mabo Dotan settlement near Yabad town.

During their tour, the settlers chanted racist slurs against the Palestinians and tried to attack some vehicles, eyewitnesses reported.

Other eyewitnesses told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the settlers blocked the roads on the evening of the same day near Shiloh junction and Zaatara junction and embarked on attacking Palestinian cars, which prompted the drivers to take other long routes.

Many citizens also reported they were stranded at Zaatara checkpoint for more than two hours because of the intensive presence of settlers.

In a separate incident, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped on Tuesday a Palestinian young man, from Burqin town of Jenin, at Zaatara checkpoint as he was on his way back from Ramallah to Jenin.

A local source said that the IOF detained Mohamed Mesad, 28, for a while and took him later to an unknown place.

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IOF raid homes in Nablus, kidnap nine young men

NABLUS, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped at dawn Wednesday nine Palestinians during violent raids on homes in Nablus city and its villages.

Local sources told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that the IOF stormed different neighborhoods in Nablus city and kidnapped a young man named Ahmed Al-Sous from Askar refugee camp.

They also raided the areas of northern mountain, Faisal street, Mamoun street and downtown, and kidnapped Ra’ed Al-Sayegh and Izzuddin Darwza.

Other families were reportedly handed summonses for interrogation issued against their sons by the Israeli intelligence. Many summonses have been issued since more than a week by the intelligence against Palestinian young men in Nablus area.

Six other young men were taken prisoners by the IOF during raids on homes in Beit Furik east of Nablus city. Some personal computers were confiscated in this campaign.

Consequently, violent clashes broke out between young men and the invading Israeli soldiers in different areas of Nablus.

In different separate incidents, the IOF stormed at dawn Wednesday the area around Jalama checkpoint to the north of Jenin and raided the greenhouses there.

The IOF also established a checkpoint at the entrance to Sabah Al-Khair suburb, searched the passing vehicles and checked IDs.

Some citizens who went early morning to Jalama checkpoint reported that the IOF intensified their presence in and around the area.

It was also reported that Israeli policemen and border guards launched last night a campaign to hunt down West Bank workmen who entered the 1948 occupied lands to work in construction sites.

The campaign targeted workshops and warehouses where the workmen stay and sleep and concentrated in Haifa, Khadira and Mutalat.

Workmen from Jenin told the PIC that the IOF kidnapped 10 of their friends during the campaign.

Six other Palestinian citizens were also kidnapped during different raids in Ramallah and Al-Khalil cities.

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IOA forces Jerusalemite to raze his own home

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) forced a Jerusalemite citizen to raze his own home in the Old City for lack of construction permit.

Azzam Al-Afifi said on Tuesday that he had to destroy what was remaining of his house after an Israeli court threatened it would sue him and impose on him a heavy fine.

Afifi said that he razed his home with his own hands to avoid the Israeli demolition that cost him a lot of money.

He said that Israeli courts humiliate Jerusalemites by forcing them to tear down their own homes under the threat of trials and fines.

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IOA approves bill on stealing Palestinian Bedouin lands in the Negev

NAZARETH, (PIC)– Israel Ministerial Committee on Legislation Affairs approved on Monday the “Prawer-Begin Plan” that will lead to the confiscation of more than 800 thousand dunums of Arab land in the Negev and the uprooting and forcible eviction of dozens of villages and 30-40,000 Bedouin residents.

The committee approved a map demarcating which land will be Bedouin and which is considered Israeli-owned, and reduced the time allotted for implementation from five to three years, in addition to appointing the MK Uri Ariel to oversee the plan’s implementation.

The Legal Center for Arab Minority in Israel (Adalah) considered the bill as an Israeli attempt to forcibly evict and displace tens of thousands of Bedouin residents who will lose their property and historical rights to their land.

“Coalition members point out that representatives of the Bedouin villages in question have repeatedly attempted to engage the government in a dialogue about the plan, but have been rebuffed,” Adalah stated.

“The bill is based on the denial of the Arab-Bedouin population’s rights to property and its historical ties to the land, in violation of the basic rights of the residents of the unrecognized villages. It reflects the fact that the government has failed to undertake a serious examination of alternatives to forcibly displacing the Bedouins in the unrecognized villages, despite the violations of their constitutional rights to property, equality and dignity,” the center pointed.

Adalah confirmed that “the bill creates a framework for the government to implement its discriminatory policies toward the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab in two main areas: the evacuation of the unrecognized villages in the Naqab, and the settlement of ownership of lands in the Naqab.”

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IOF arrests a Palestinian citizen accompanying his sick wife at Erez crossing

GAZA, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested a Palestinian citizen from Gaza at Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, in the northern Gaza Strip, while he was accompanying his sick wife to undergo surgery at St. John’s Hospital in Jerusalem.

Prisoners’ Center for Studies quoted the family of businessman Zuhair Maarouf, aged 52 from the Sheikh Radwan district in Gaza City, as saying that the occupation arrested Zuhair at Beit Hanoun crossing, and extended his detention for 24 hours. He was transferred to Ashkelon detention center.

The detainee’s son Yusuf appealed to the Ministry of Detainees and Ex-detainees and the Palestinian Prisoner Society to hire a lawyer to identify the cause of his father’s arrest.

“We are contacting the hospital in order to postpone my mother’s surgery which has been stalled due to the arrest of my father,” he added.

Arrests of Palestinian citizens at Beit Hanoun crossing have recently increased.

Palestine: IOA prevents Jerusalem Shopping Spring Festival & house arrest imposed on prisoner’s mother

IOA prevents Jerusalem Shopping Spring Festival

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM,(PIC)– The so-called Israeli Homeland Security Secretary issued on Thursday a decision to prevent Jerusalem Shopping Spring Festival under the pretext of being held under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.

The Festival was planned to be held in “Islamic Orphanage School,” and “the Jerusalemite Children Club,” and “Stork Tower Community Society.”

Stork Tower Community Society’s director stated that the festival aims to revitalize the city of Jerusalem, and its streets and alleys in the Old Town through encouraging shopping in the city.

The festival came in order to strengthen the relationship between Jerusalemites and the Old Town and to encourage purchasing Palestinian goods within the Jerusalemite community in light of the Israeli attempts to isolate the occupied city economically from the West Bank.

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IOA imposes house arrest on prisoner’s mother

RAMALLAH,(PIC)– Magistrate’s Court decided to impose house arrest and bail on prisoner’s elderly mother Intisar Haj from Beit Sira, west of Ramallah.

The occupation authorities has released her on bail of 30 thousand shekels and imposed on her house arrest in the village of Rahat Beersheba within 1948-occupied territories until the court session.

The Israeli occupation forces arrested Intisar Haj in 9 April 2013 while returning from visiting her son in Ashkelon Prison, where IOF detained the bus, which was carrying the prisoners’ families, for more than four hours.

Intisar Haj is the second prisoner’s mother who was subjected to house arrest, where Hajja Fethiye Khanfar, prisoner Rami Khanfar’s elderly and ill mother, was subjected to house arrest in Rahat city in 1948-occupied territories under the pretext of smuggling mobile phones to her son who is serving a 15-year sentence in Israeli jails.

Palestine: Jerusalemites have become refugees in their city & 60 Israelis storm the Aqsa mosque

Jerusalemite Foundation: Jerusalemites have become refugees in their city

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Jerusalemite Foundation condemned the Israeli escalated demolition campaign threatening the Jerusalemites’ right to housing.

The Jerusalem Foundation for Development said in a press statement that the Jerusalemites have become refugees in their own city due to the demolition process carried out by the Israeli municipality with the aim of expelling the city’s native residents and implement demographic changes in the area.

The Israeli right-wing parties’ statements reflect the Israeli fierce campaign against Jerusalem and its people, where many Israeli leaders claimed that Jerusalem is the Jewish eternal capital and the Palestinian population rate should not exceed 3 per cent in the occupied city, the foundation added.

The foundation pointed out to the escalated demolition campaign against Jerusalemites’ houses under the pretext of building without permits, forcing several Jerusalemites to build outside the occupied city of Jerusalem.

Since 1967, about 1322 houses were demolished in addition to 20 thousand demolition orders were issued in an attempt to create a new demographic, geographic and political reality in the occupied Jerusalem.

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60 Jewish settlers storm the Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– About 60 Jewish settlers stormed the Aqsa mosque on Tuesday morning in groups and as individuals under heavy Israeli military escort and toured the holy site in the company of rabbis.

Hundreds of worshipers, school students, and students learning the holy Quran were present at the time and chanted Allahu Akbar (God is Great) in rejection of those visits and tours.

Tension is prevailing in the Old City of Jerusalem and in the vicinity of the Aqsa mosque after Jewish fanatic organizations declared intention to assemble in front of the Israeli premier’s office at 5:00 pm today then head from there to the Aqsa mosque to demand full sovereignty over the holy site and the right of Jews to offer Talmudic rituals inside it.

The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage warned of the consequences of that march and held the Israeli occupation authority fully responsible in the event it actually took place.

AFEH called on the Arab and Islamic organizations and peoples to assume their responsibility toward Jerusalem and the Aqsa, and urged for immediate action to save the Aqsa from plots that are being ceaselessly hatched against it.

Palestine: US-Pal. teenager jailed for throwing stones, warnings about Israeli Strauss Center project & 100 arrested last week

US-Palestinian Teenager in Zionist Jail for Throwing Stones

Al Manar

The imprisonment by Zionist security forces of a 14-year old boy with joint US-Palestinian citizenship has provoked widespread criticism amongst human rights groups. The boy went before a military court on Thursday accused of throwing stones at Zionist cars.

Mohammad Khalek, who was born in New Orleans, was officially charged Thursday, along with two other youths, of pelting Zionist military and settler vehicles with stones outside the village of Silwad in the occupied West Bank.

The boy was arrested in the early hours of April 5th when heavily armed Zionist forces entered the family home. During the course of the arrest the braces on his teeth were broken.

The case was adjourned until next week, and his father, Abdulwahab Khalek, has accused the US of not doing enough to help his son.

Randa Wahbe, an advocacy officer representing Mohammad, told media outlets that the boy has been potentially abused while in detention.

“In the case of Mohammad, he was told by interrogators that if he confessed he would be allowed to go home with his father, but when he confessed, his interrogation was extended for a further two days,” she said.

Mahammad has not been allowed to see his father since then, except in court.

Defense of Children International, a human rights group, said there are 236 Palestinian children aged 12-17 among a total of 4,800 Palestinians in Zionist jails.

A UN study in March this year showed that the entity of occupation systematically and gravely violated the rights of Palestinians.

“The Israeli military’s treatment of Mahammad Khalek is appalling and all too common. There’s no justification for shackling him for 12 hours and interrogating him while refusing to let him see his father or a lawyer,” Bill Van Esveld, a researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Reuters news agency.

The Zionist authorities insist they need to crack down on potentially lethal stone throwing.

“These kind of events show you that throwing stones is not a game – it endangers innocent lives. The throwers age doesn’t change the fact that these objects kill, and it’s something we take seriously,” said a Zionist army spokesman.

Palestinians living on the West Bank are subject to a strict military law, which in theory means someone can be sentenced for up to 20 years for throwing stones at vehicles.

However, Palestinians also complain that they are regularly pelted with stones by Zionist settlers but that security forces rarely intervene even when there are witnesses.

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Warnings of seriousness of Israeli Strauss Center project

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Islamic and national figures have warned of the seriousness of Strauss Center project in Buraq Square, considering it a destruction of Islamic relics and an attack on Islamic endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the Supreme Islamic Council, said in a press statement on Sunday: “We have warned of the seriousness of this project before the start of its implementation, but the Arab and Islamic countries did not respond to our calls to deter Israel.”

He added that the Al-Aqsa Mosque vicinity, the Mughrabi wall, and the Buraq Square are all Islamic endowments, and charged that the Israeli project represents an attack on Islamic endowments and on the region’s residents.

He also stressed that there are no Jewish relics in the region, and that Israel wants to falsify reality and to change the landmarks.

Sheikh Sabri called on UNESCO to take immediate action to protect and preserve the Islamic antiquities.

For his part, head of Religious Endowments Council Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab pointed out that the excavations taking place in the vicinity of and under Al-Aqsa Mosque have been going on since the beginning of the occupation and will destroy relics from different eras.

Sheikh Salhab stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque is in real danger because of the Israeli authorities’ practices and the daily incursions by settlers.

He called on the whole nation to protect the Islamic heritage in the city of Jerusalem, and support the worshipers at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The Jerusalem file official, Hatem Abdel Qader, also warned that due to the project of expansion of Strauss Center, the building will be overlooking all around Al-Aqsa Mosque, which constitutes a security threat to the Mosque and the worshipers inside it.

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Report: “Israel” arrested 100 Palestinians last week

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– A Palestinian statistics report said that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) nabbed 100 Palestinian citizens in the West Bank over the past week.

The report published by Hamas on Sunday said that most of those arrested were taken from Al-Khalil governorate where 26 citizens were detained.

It said that the other detainees were taken from Nablus, 17, Qalqilia, 15, Jerusalem, 12, Jenin, 8, Ramallah, 7, Bethlehem, 6, Tulkarem, 5, and Salfit, 4.

The report pointed out that the list included three women, two of whom were mothers of prisoners who were detained during visits to their sons, and five who were released from Palestinian Authority jails.

Palestine: Assault on sacred sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Israeli forces assault worshipers, arrest 10 inside Aqsa

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Tension prevailed in the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday after Israeli occupation forces assaulted worshipers.

Local sources told the PIC that the Israeli soldiers escorted 250 Jewish settlers into the holy site and engaged worshipers in fistfights.

They said that the soldiers used Tasers in their attack, wounding a number of worshipers. They added that the soldiers detained ten worshipers in the mosque’s plazas.

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Hundreds of settlers storm ancient pools in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– Hundreds of Jewish settlers stormed the ancient Solomon Pools located between Artas and Al-Khader village, south of Bethlehem, on Sunday.

Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that hundreds of settlers from Etzion settlement arrived to the site on foot under heavy Israeli military protection.

They said that the settlers arrived for swimming then offering Talmudic rituals at the site.

The eyewitnesses said that inhabitants tried to approach the 500 or more settlers to block their entry into the site but Israeli occupation forces, escorting those settlers, prevented them from doing so.

The pools, which were built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificentare, are under the jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority according to the Oslo accords.

Palestine: Israeli police besiege Aqsa Mosque, attack on a boy & metro ads

Israeli police besiege Aqsa Mosque, allow Jews to defile it

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation police evacuated on Wednesday morning the Aqsa Mosque’s plazas from Palestinian worshipers and deployed its forces throughout the Mosque before allowing three groups of Jewish settlers to enter through Al-Maghariba Gate.

According to the Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage, the Jewish settlers walked around in the southern and eastern sides of the Mosque’s courtyard and some of them performed rituals.

It said that Israeli armed police men were deployed at the Mosque’s gates and prevented many Palestinians from entering their Mosque.

Earlier, deputy speaker of the Knesset Moshe Feiglin had invited the Jews to defile the Aqsa Mosque today to celebrate their Passover festival.

The Jewish settlers intensified lately their provocative acts against the Aqsa Mosque, and in one incident, they erected a Jewish plastic candlestick at the eastern corner of the Aqsa Mosque.

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Israeli settlers organize marches around Al-Aqsa Mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Hundreds of settlers have marched since the morning hours around the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the occasion of the Jewish Feast of Passover.

According to Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, MK Moshe Feiglin – Deputy Speaker of the Knesset – has called on Jewish worshipers to storm and pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday for the Passover holiday.

The Foundation warned in a press statement of the repercussions and the dimensions of such break-ins.

It called on worshipers and students from Jerusalem and the 1948-occupied territories to gather at the mosque and to intensify their daily presence inside it in order to protect it.

The group has also demanded the Arab League, holding a meeting in Doha, to take the appropriate decisions that preserve the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque from the occupation.

“The incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, which took place yesterday, were accompanied by the performance of Talmudic rituals under the guidance of rabbis, who have a prominent role in the file of Judaization and the call for the construction of the alleged temple,” the Al-Aqsa Foundation said.

It called for organizing continuous events and activities that confirm rejection of Israeli schemes, and develop a program to liberate Al-Aqsa Mosque from the occupation.

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IOA closes Ibrahimi mosque for two days

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) announced that the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil would be closed before Muslim worshipers for two days starting Wednesday.

Local sources said that the IOA informed the Awkaf department in the city with the decision.

They said that the mosque would be open only for Jews to celebrate Passover.

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Extremist Israelis attack a Jerusalemite boy

OCCIPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Information Center of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan warned of the escalated settlers’ attacks on the residents of the city of Jerusalem, amid the inaction of the Israeli police.

The center recorded in a statement on Monday evening six attacks carried out by groups of settlers and Jewish extremists against Jerusalemites from Silwan and the Old City of Jerusalem, during the last week, between the 16th and the 25th March.

The last of these attacks took place on Monday, when four Jewish extremists abused 16-year-old Mansour Abu Madi, from the village of Silwan, while heading to school in the morning, at the Mughrabi Gate.

While the boy was defending himself, the settlers called policemen, who arrived and arrested him.

Abu Madi pointed out that he was held in the police station in Salah al-Din Street for more than three hours for interrogation. Now he is under house arrest for ten days, he is only allowed to leave for school accompanied by his father.

The Information Center in Wadi Hiweh pointed out that on March 20 a 9-year-old Jerusalemite child was attacked, as two Jewish extremists throw a piece of glass at him from a close distance, causing him a deep wound in the face.

The child stated that he saw one of the settlers who attacked him the next day despite the fact that the police claimed in a statement that they arrested the attackers.

A 16-year-old settler has also attacked Dina Jwiles, 14, and her brother Mohammed, 12, on March 18 in the neighborhood of Wadi Hilweh in Silwan, as they were heading to their school.

When the child was defending herself, the security guards in the settlement of City of David arrived and held her. Dina and her brother were then arrested by the police.

Other Israelis attacked on the 16th of March a woman and her daughter, while they were passing in a neighborhood in the Old City of Jerusalem.

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US Metro Ads: End “Israeli” Apartheid

Moqawama 

Campaign and lobby group “American Muslims for Palestine” [AMP] launched Tuesday a new outdoor advertising campaign that will begin in 25 stations on the Metro North train line near New York City.

The ad will run for four weeks before moving to other cities around the country. The advert slams US aid to “Israel” and uses a quote from Archbishop Desmond Tutu stressing that “Israel” is an apartheid entity.
The AMP banners came in response to hatred ads that have been appearing at Metro-North stations since last year.

In one ad produced in September by the so-called “American Freedom Defense Initiative”, Islam is linked to a rising number of terrorist attacks. The ad declares: “It’s not Islamophobia, it’s Islamorealism.” That prompted community leaders and residents to stage a protest at the White Plains train station.
“Today, we’re actually funding apartheid in “Israel” and it’s time for us to stop funding apartheid and to stand for universal justice,” AMP’s chairman, Hatem Bazian said.

It is worth mentioning that “Israel” receives more than $ 3 billion from the United States in direct foreign assistance every year. It also gets USD 70 million more in military aid for its missile systems.

Bazian added in a statement that the group timed the release of the ads with US President Barak Obama’s visit to the Middle East to underline “his administration’s failure to address the true cause of conflict: “Israel’s” occupation of Palestinian lands and its racist apartheid policies, which subject Palestinians on a daily basis to humiliation, deprivation and a loss of their basic rights, including the freedom of movement.”

Palestine: Authorities slam police for uprooting trees from Aqsa & neighborhood east of J’lem forcibly evacuated

Islamic authorities in J’lem slam Israeli police for uprooting trees from Aqsa

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The higher Islamic committee and the Awqaf and Islamic affairs council in occupied Jerusalem strongly denounced the Israeli police for allowing themselves to remove trees from the Aqsa Mosque’s plazas last Thursday, describing what happened as an infringement on jurisdiction.

“The plazas are an integral part of the holy Aqsa Mosque and the uprooting of trees the day before yesterday by the occupation police is unacceptable, reprehensible and an assault on the Aqsa Mosque,” the higher committee the Awqaf council stated on Saturday.

“The maintenance and Islamic waqf committee of the Aqsa Mosque is the one authorized to make repairs, plant trees and do other things without permission from the Israeli police which have no authority or jurisdiction over the management of the Aqsa Mosque,” they emphasized.

The higher committee and the Awqaf council also urged the Jordanian government to assume its religious responsibilities towards the Aqsa Mosque and intervene to stop the Israeli regime from violating its sanctity.

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IOF forcibly evacuate Grandchildren of Yunus neighborhood east of J’lem

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) raided at dawn Sunday the newly established neighborhood Grandchildren of Yunus in Bab Al-Shams village east of Jerusalem and detained more than 50 activists.

According to local sources, the IOF used bulldozers to remove the tents of the neighborhood and detained most of the participating activists, including Palestinian lawmaker Mustafa Barghouthi.

Anti-settlement activist Abdullah Abu Rahma said that about 300 Israeli soldiers under aerial cover by a chopper stormed after midnight the neighborhood with their vehicles and one bus for the detainees.

He added the soldiers immediately fired photon grenades at the tents and rounded up most of the activists there.

Earlier on Saturday, the IOF set up barriers at the entrance to this neighborhood and prevented the access of individuals and supplies to it.

Activist Mohamed Qanadilo told Quds Press yesterday before the IOF raided the neighborhood that the activists were determined to stay in the area and not to leave it despite the Israeli evacuation order.

“We are here on our land, and the occupation must leave because it has occupied Palestine and Jerusalem with no right. We will remain steadfast in our land and we are not going to leave it,” Qanadilo stated.

In a related incident, a Palestinian young man officially married a girl on Saturday evening in the presence of their families in Grandchildren of Yunus neighborhood. Both of them are activists against Israel’s apartheid and settlement activities.

The families of Mus’ab Obeid from Jenin and his fiancée Lina Shalaldeh from Al-Khalil came from their residence in Aizaria village east of Jerusalem and attended the signing of the marriage contract.

Grandchildren of Yunus neighborhood was established on the ruins of Bab Al-Shams village east Jerusalem in the area classified by the Israeli occupation as E1 where it intends to build 4000 settlement units separating Jerusalem from the West Bank.

Palestine: Israeli soldiers wreak havoc in Jordan Valley village & confrontations

IOF soldiers wreak havoc in Jordan Valley village

JORDAN VALLEY, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed Annasariya village in the Jordan Valley at dawn Monday and wreaked havoc in a number of houses.

Eyewitnesses said that big numbers of IOF soldiers stormed the village and encircled the homes of two citizens and forced all inhabitants out of them including an old woman and children for three hours.

They said that an Israeli officer brought down Palestinian flags from the roof of the houses and stepped over them then threatened to raze the houses in the next time if those flags were raised anew.

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Jewish fanatic women storm Aqsa

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– A group of Jewish fanatic women stormed the Aqsa mosque on Monday under heavy police protection.

Islamic Awqaf officials objected to the step but the police ignored them and escorted the women inside the Qibli mosque.

At the same time, Israeli police blocked entry of Palestinian women into the Aqsa as dozens of them gathered in front of Bab Al-Asbat gate demanding right of entry to attend religious study courses.

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Confrontations in Nablus after settlers enter Nabi Yusuf tomb

NABLUS, (PIC)– Hundreds of Jewish settlers burst into Nabi Yusuf tomb to the east of Nablus before dawn Monday under heavy Israeli military escort.

Locals said that violent confrontations between Israeli occupation forces and inhabitants took place after the settlers’ arrival.

They said that IOF soldiers fired teargas canisters at the protestors and houses in the vicinity of the tomb.

In the same context, scores of IOF soldiers broke into the eastern suburbs of Nablus city at dawn and clashed with young men until morning.

Palestine: Harsh prison sentences against 2 children, demonstration outside US embassy, occupation accused of selling organs & arrests

“Israel” issues harsh prison sentences against 2 Palestinian children

NABLUS, (PIC)– Ahrar center for prisoner studies and human rights strongly denounced the Israeli military court for issuing harsh prison sentences against Palestinian children under the age of 18.

An Israeli military court has sentenced two Palestinian children from Al-Zawya town in Salfit in the West Bank to two years imprisonment after charging them with throwing stones at Israeli occupation forces, the two prisoners’ relatives told Ahrar center.

For his part, the director of the center Fuad Al-Khuffash said that the children are: Waleed Nasr Shaqir, 16 years old, and Khalil Ibrahim Shaqir, 17 years old.

They both are school boys under the age of 18 and were arrested on June 2012 after the Israeli forces stormed and searched their houses. Their trail was postponed many times.

Al-Khuffash said that these sentences did not take into account that the detainees are under the age of 18, and violated the international law which forbids the detention of children under this age.

He has also noted that the occupation has continued its policy of detaining dozens of children under the age of 16 in its jails, depriving them from continuing their education.

The human rights activist called for saving these detained children, who have been subjected to severe torture and pressure in the prisons of the Israeli occupation which violates all the norms and international conventions and laws.

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48-Palestinians demonstrate outside U.S. Embassy

NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Islamic movement in the Palestinian 1948 occupied territories organized on Monday a demonstration outside the US Embassy in the occupied city of Tel Rabi protesting against the U.S. President Barack Obama’s intended visit to al-Aqsa mosque during his upcoming visit to the region the next few days.

The demonstrators raised the green flags and pictures of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, and chanted slogans calling for supporting al-Aqsa and demanding the U.S. administration to stop its biased policy towards the Israeli entity.

The head of the Islamic Movement inside the Green Line, Sheikh Raed Salah, said that this demonstration is a response to the leaked news concerning the U.S. President Barack Obama’s intended visit to Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque.

The intended visit provides a false legitimacy to the occupation in al-Aqsa mosque and declares war against the Palestinian people and against the Arab and Islamic nation because Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque’s issue is not only a Palestinian issue but it is an Arab and Islamic issue, Sheikh Salah explained.

Meanwhile, UFree network to defend Palestinian prisoners’ rights stated that the number prisoners from 1948-occupied territories ranges between 90 to 100, 14 of them spent more than 20 years in Israeli jails.

Palestinian political prisoner, Maher Younis, a resident of the 1948 occupied territories who has been in Israeli jails for more than 30 years, has started a hunger strike in quest of his basic human rights, UFree pointed out in a press statement.

“He spent and continues most of his sentence in cells which lack basics of living conditions in addition to being subjected to solitary confinement. All this period, he was deprived of meeting his mother face to face but through a glass barrier. Meanwhile, since his arrest in 1983, he was not granted any of the basic rights of prisoners granted to other Israeli prisoners,” the network added.

UFree Network has also pointed out to Maher Younis’s cousin, Karim Younis, who spent 31 years in Israeli jails, in addition to Lina Jarbouni who is the longest serving Palestinian woman political prisoner, where she was arrested since 11 years ago.

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Occupation accused of selling organs of a Palestinian who died in jail

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– A Palestinian human rights center concerned in prisoners’ issues accused the occupation authorities of trading with organs of a Palestinian martyr who passed away in Ashkelon prison in 1980.

Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) said in a press statement on Tuesday that Israel, after 30 years, still denies the existence of the body of Palestinian martyr Anas Dawla.

It asserted that Dawla had been killed in the jails and that the Israeli authorities have been hiding his body and did not even allow burying him.

PPS has also revealed its belief that the Israeli side has been selling the organs of the martyr.

The occupation Supreme Court has issued a decision providing for rejecting the request to hand over Dawla’s body to his family, under the pretext that it does not exist. The PPS considers this procedure as a crime.

The Palestinian human rights society demanded the formation of an international commission to investigate the series of crimes committed by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners, and to prosecute the Israeli leaders responsible for those crimes.

For its part, Palestinian Foundation of Health Work Committees urged for an international inquiry to uncover the circumstances of the death of captive Dawla in Ashkelon detention center, in light of recently raised investigations and media reports stating that the occupation soldiers and other Israeli bodies have been conducting experiments on the Palestinian martyrs’ bodies and selling their organs.

The Foundation called for intensifying Palestinian and international efforts to free all the prisoners from Israeli jails, and to release the 240 bodies of Palestinian and Arab martyrs that are still held by the occupation authorities.

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IOF kidnap 19 Palestinians in different W. Bank areas

WEST BANK, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Wednesday kidnapped 19 Palestinians during raids on homes in different West Bank areas.

Local sources reported that the IOF kidnapped from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem city two citizens, including an ex-detainee named Ghassan Fuad, who was released as part of the prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel.

In Beit Fajar south of Bethlehem, the IOF kidnapped five Palestinian young men, including two minors, during raids on their homes.

The IOF also kidnapped a 20-year old young man named Rami Humeidat from his house in Surif town west of Al-Khalil city and took him in chain to an unknown place.

The IOF also stormed Nablus city and kidnapped a number of citizens after violent raids on their homes.

In Al-Makhfiya neighborhood west of Nablus, the IOF kidnapped several citizens, including journalist Baker Atili.

Many homes were also raided in Balata refugee camp east of Nablus. Local sources there reported the IOF took some citizens prisoners during its campaign and consequently clashed with citizens in Al-Ma’ajin neighborhood.

In a special incident, the IOF at dawn kidnapped Thamer Saba’na, the activist in prisoners’ affairs, from his house in Qabatiya south of Jenin.

An informed source from his family told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that a force of Israeli troops encircled the house of Saba’na and raided it at two o’clock after midnight.

Following two-hour thorough search in the house, the IOF confiscated a desktop computer and the cellphones of Saba’na and his wife, and took him handcuffed and blindfolded to an unknown place, according to the source

Thamer Saba’na is one of the prominent activists who defend the rights of the Palestinian prisoners and had spent three years in an Israeli prison. He was also detained and summoned several times by the Palestinian authority security agencies.

His brother is the Palestinian caricaturist Mohamed Saba’na who was kidnapped about two weeks ago by the IOF at Al-Karama bridge after his return from Jordan.

Palestine: Al Aqsa mosque stormed, child run over, olive trees destroyed & arrests

Jewish settlers storm Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Dozens of Jewish settlers stormed the holy Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Monday morning amidst heavy police presence.

Eyewitnesses said that around 40 settlers broke into the holy compound and roamed in its plazas focusing on the Dome of the rock and the main Aqsa mosque.

They said that the settlers provoked worshippers and assaulted one of them, moderately injuring him.

Israeli policemen imposed tight security measures on the vicinity of the mosque and prevented Palestinians from entering it during the storming.

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Israeli special forces assault worshipers in Aqsa mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– Israeli special forces assaulted a number of worshipers in the holy Aqsa mosque, the Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and heritage said on Monday.

It said that the worshipers confronted the Israeli forces’ attempt to break into the Qibli mosque, the old Aqsa mosque, which triggered limited confrontations with no injuries or arrests reported.

The foundation said that tension was still running high in the holy site due to the Israeli forces’ determination to storm the Qibli mosque to force young worshipers out of it.

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Israeli military vehicle deliberately run over a child during clashes in Jenin

JENIN, (PIC)– The Palestinian child Uday Hatem Zakarneh, 16, was injured on Sunday evening, where his leg was broken after an Israeli military vehicle ran him over during chases at Jalama checkpoint north of Jenin, while 6 others were wounded by rubber bullets and dozens by gas bombs.

Israeli soldiers deliberately ran over a child while he was standing with a group of boys during the clashes, in an attempt to terrorize the participants in the clashes, eyewitnesses stated, noting that Dr. Khalil Suleiman transported him to hospital for treatment.

Six other young men were injured by rubber bullets during clashes after the murder of t

he prisoner Jaradat in Israeli jails and in protest at the hunger strikers’ deteriorating conditions.

The medical sources in Jenin confirmed that there are more than 50 suffocation cases due to inhaling the Israeli tear gas during the clashes at the checkpoint.

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Jewish settlers destroy dozens of olive trees

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Jewish settlers hacked 45 Palestinian olive trees in Beit Uwa village, west of Al-Khalil, on Sunday night, local sources said.

Eyewitnesses said that the settles also damaged scores of grape trees in the same area called Jurat Mishaal, west of Beit Uwa.

Farmers in the area have asked for protection for their fields in face of the repeated settlers’ attacks.

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Sudden deterioration in health condition of hunger strikers

JENIN, (PIC)– The health condition of hunger strikers Tarek Qadan and Jafar Ezzuddin has deteriorated suddenly and they were both rushed to Assaf Harofeh hospital on Sunday.

Lawyer Jawad Bulous, the head of the legal section in the Palestinian prisoner’s society, said on Monday that doctors supervising the condition of both hunger strikers have expressed concern regarding their health condition after three months of hunger strike.

He said that the doctors were specifically concerned about the condition of Ezzuddin who lost 27 kilograms of his weight. He weighs only 47 kilograms now, Bulous said, adding that Ezzuddin refrained from drinking water for a few days before he agreed to return to drink water with some vitamins and sugar, which are not considered food in the international norms.

The lawyer added that Qadan was drinking water with only one dose of vitamins and sugar and his condition is no less serious than that of Ezzuddin.

He said that the Israeli military court in Ofer would open a hearing in their case on Tuesday to discuss the prosecution’s demand to renew their administrative detention for three more months.

Doctors are concerned about transferring them to court in such a critical health condition, Bulous said, noting that they were both on hunger strike since 27th November last year protesting their administrative custody, without trial or charge.

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IOF soldiers round up 19 Palestinians including two sisters

WEST BANK, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 19 Palestinian citizens in the past 24 hours in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem including two sisters and a journalist.

Local sources said that IOF soldiers nabbed two young men in Burin village, south of Nablus city, at dawn Monday, and two university students in Zawiya village in Salfit province.

IOF soldiers also arrested a journalist in al-Khalil city, his father Abdulsamad Shawar said, adding that the soldiers broke into his home and searched it before taking away his son Musab who works with a local radio station.

IOF soldiers rounded up six Palestinian young men in Ein Yabrud village, north east of Ramallah, and a youth in Zabuba village in Jenin.

Local sources in occupied Jerusalem said that Israeli policemen stationed near to the Aqsa mosque arrested three Jerusalemites at dawn Monday.

Amjad Abu Asab, the head of the committee of relatives of Jerusalem prisoners, told the PIC that Israeli forces detained four Palestinians in Issawiye village, two brothers and two sisters.

Palestine: Israelis desecrate cemetery, 3 children wounded in explosion of ordnance, demolitions, more land confiscation & arrests

Israeli settlers desecrate Muslim cemetery in al-Quds

Press TV

Israeli settlers have reportedly vandalized the graves at a Muslim cemetery in West al-Quds (Jerusalem), the latest in a long line of settler attacks in the occupied West Bank.

The attackers sprayed racist and anti-Islam graffiti on the headstones of the tombs on Thursday. “Death to the Arabs,” was smudged on one of the defaced stones.

“Price Tag” was daubed in Hebrew on another headstone, a term marking attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinian mosques, cemeteries and farmland.

The al-Aqsa Foundation said wine glasses were found in the area and that 30 graves were damaged in the attack.

Israeli police said they had opened an inquiry into the incident.

But the foundation held Israeli authorities responsible for the attack and urged Islamic countries to intervene to end the attacks on Muslim and Christian holy sites in al-Quds.

Human rights groups blame Tel Aviv for ignoring complaints by the victims of the growing settler violence.

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Three children wounded in explosion of ordnance

GAZA, (PIC)– Three Palestinian children were wounded on Thursday when an explosive device exploded in Beit Hanun, north of the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, the health ministry’s spokesman, said that that all three children were moderately injured in the blast.

He said that one of them Abdul Karim Abu Ode, 6, was carried to Shifa hospital in Gaza while the two others, both 4 years old, were carried to Kamal Odwan hospital north of the Strip.

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IOA threatens demolition of 20 installations in Jerusalem

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) served notices to owners of 20 industrial installations in Jaba village to the north west of occupied Jerusalem.

Deputy governor of Jerusalem Abdullah Siyam told a press conference organized by activists in the village on Thursday that the IOA was planning to destroy the installations at the pretext of their proximity to Adam settlement.

He said that the settlement was built in the eighties while the installations were there since 1972.

The demolition notices fall in line with the IOA ferocious campaign of demolitions in various areas of occupied Jerusalem other than the establishment of settlement outposts inside the holy city and excavations underneath and in the vicinity of the Aqsa mosque, Siyam said.

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Occupation notifies the evacuation of a Palestinian’s land in Bethlehem

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– The Israeli occupation authorities handed to citizens, from the town of Husan in Bethlehem, in the southern occupied West Bank, an order to evacuate their lands and uproot the trees they had planted.

Taha Hamamra, member of Husan village council, said in press statements that members of the family of Attia Mousa, were notified to evacuate their land, which has an area of two dunums and which is planted with olive trees, and to uproot the trees.

He points out that the occupation aims to seize the area, where the piece of land is located, because it is adjacent to the bypass road 60 which is used by the settlers.

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Occupation confiscates a Jerusalemite citizen’s land

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Jerusalem Municipality staff, accompanied by Special Forces, raided on Tuesday a land owned by the citizen Khaled al-Zeer in Bir Ayyub in Silwan, and handed to him an eviction order.

Khaled al-Zeer told the Information Center in Wadi al-Hilwa that the occupation forces told him that they will demolish the room, in which he lives along with his pregnant wife and five children, claiming that the land “belongs to the State of Israel.”

He pointed out that about two weeks ago the Antiquities Authority had raided his land, which has an area of 11 dunums, and claimed the existence of Jewish monuments buried in the land, which was denied by Al-Zeer.

Al-Zeer appealed to human rights organizations to help him cultivate his land with plants and trees to prevent the Israeli bodies from confiscating it.

The Information Center in Wadi al-Hilwa noted that Nature Authority has resorted, during the last two years, to demolishing and bulldozing lands in order to control them. It pointed to the demolition of the cultural cafe in Wadi al-Hilwa and rooms and a house in Wadi Rababah neighborhood in addition to bulldozing lands in Issawiya in the beginning of this year.

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Israeli special force kidnaps young man in Al-Khalil village

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)– Israeli undercover soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian young man from his family home in Beit Ummar village, north of Al-Khalil, on Thursday.

Mohammed Awad, the spokesman for the village’s popular committee against the wall and settlement, said that a group of disguised soldiers kidnapped Raed Ikhlail, 25, from his home.

He said that the soldiers also stormed the home of Ra’ed’s friend Tamer Abu Ayyash, noting that both used to go to work together in Dhaheriya town, but he was not at home.

Awad said that 15 soldiers wearing a green uniform different from that of the regular Israeli army brandished guns in face of Raed’s family and took away the youth.

He said that the 50-year-old house owner Saeed Abu Ayyash tried to start a conversation with the soldiers, but they pushed him and he fell on the floor and they broke into the house’s rooms with their guns spreading panic among the children who were traumatized by the savage attack.

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IOF soldiers nab three civilians including two brothers in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) nabbed three Palestinians including two brothers in Bethlehem city and nearby Aida refugee camp.

Local sources said that IOF soldiers stormed the home of Jalal Shalash in Bethlehem city at dawn Thursday and took away his two sons Ammar, 32, and Mohammed, 18, after handcuffing and blindfolding them.

The sources said that another group of soldiers burst into Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem city, and arrested Ibrahim Uwais, 19, and took him to an unknown location.

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IOF arrests 17 citizens in the West Bank

OCCUPIED WEST BANK, (PIC)– The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn today 17 Palestinians from different areas in the occupied West Bank cities.

IOF arrested at dawn on Wednesday 5 Palestinian children aged between 12 and 14 years in Beit Fajar village south of Bethlehem, local sources revealed.

The occupation forces stormed the village of Beit Duqqu, located in the north of the occupied city of Jerusalem, at dawn today, and raided several houses belonging to Palestinian citizens in the village.

Local sources in Beit Duqqu confirmed that the occupation forces consisting of dozens of soldiers and military vehicles stormed the village, where they broke doors of many Palestinian homes violently and arrested a number of citizens in the village, including four brothers.

In Borqa west of Nablus, Israeli forces arrested two young men after raiding and searching their homes.

Tayseer Abu Hussein, head of the village council in Borqa, emphasized that the occupation forces stormed the town and arrested the young man Mohamed Fouad Hojja before raiding and searching his family’s house.

In the same context, Palestinian sources said that the Israeli occupation forces arrested a young man from the village of al-Romaneh west of the city of Jenin after storming the town.

Palestine: Foundation unveils plans to build Jewish structures near Aqsa Mosque, construction of hundreds of housing units, demolition orders & arrests

(File photo)

Aqsa foundation unveils plans to build Jewish structures near Aqsa Mosque

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Aqsa foundation for endowment and heritage on Sunday revealed Israeli plans to build a number of Jewish projects, including a synagogue at Al-Maghariba Gate area west of the Aqsa Mosque.

This came in a news conference held by the foundation in the presence of Sheikh Ra’ed Salah, head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands, Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, head of the higher Islamic commission in Jerusalem, and Mohamed Zaidan, director of the Aqsa foundation.

During the conference, the foundation presented pictures, maps and documents showing the demolition of historical Islamic monuments at Al-Maghariba Gate in order to build Jewish structures including a police station, a synagogue and a museum.

Sheikh Salah stated that the conference was held as the holy city and the Aqsa Mosque comes through a difficult time, stressing that Al-Buraq Wall square is an Islamic site belonging to all Muslims and part of the Arab history in the city.

Sheikh Salah warned that the Israeli occupation regime wants to attach a huge Jewish center to the Aqsa Mosque and make it part of its courtyard and the tunnels built beneath its foundations.

The head of the Islamic Movement announced that a sit-in tent would be established in Jerusalem for three days as of next Thursday in protest at the serious Israeli violations against the Jerusalemite people and their holy city.

Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, in turn, strongly denounced the Israeli regime for razing the Islamic ruins and monuments at Al-Maghariba Gate area and described it as an act targeting the Aqsa Mosque and the Muslims

“There are no Jewish ruins in this area, so the occupation will work hard to build a synagogue and its own structures in order to claim it as its own, and this a clear act of fraud against the history and the truth,” Sheikh Sabri underlined.

“There had never been one synagogue near the Aqsa Mosque, and any claims in this regard are pure fabrications,” he added.

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IOA gives green light for construction of hundreds of new housing units

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)– The Israeli war ministry has approved the construction of 346 new housing units in West Bank settlements.

The Hebrew radio on Monday quoted the ministry as saying that 200 houses would be built in Taku and 136 in Nokdim.

It said that the ministry had invited tenders last month for the construction of 200 other houses in Gush Etzion, near Bethlehem.

Jewish settlements in the West Bank are deemed illegal by the international community since they are built in occupied lands.

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“Israel” orders demolition of 15 homes in Kafr Qassem town

NAZARETH, (PIC)– The Israel land authority (ILA) issued demolition notices against 15 Palestinian homes in Kafr Qassem town, 20 kilometers east of Tel Aviv, at the pretext of unlicensed construction.

An official from the town municipal council said the ILA notices demanded the owners of these houses to evacuate them and knock them down within 30 days.

He noted that the municipal council in Kafr Qassem held an emergency meeting on Sunday evening in the presence of engineers, members of popular committees and citizens to discuss the steps to be taken against these demolition orders

Nader Sarsour, head of the municipal council, told Quds Press that the Arab community in the 1948 occupied lands suffers from housing shortage and the Palestinian young couples cannot find homes to live in because the Israeli government does not allow the expansion of the residential areas in the Arab towns and villages.

Sarsour added that the Arab citizens find themselves forced to build in their towns and villages without permits because of the Israeli ban imposed since 1948 on Palestinian construction, affirming that Israel allows, even without permits, the expansion and the building of settlements and villages for Jews only.

“We will not allow anyone or any side to execute these demolitions, and whoever tries to touch an inch of any land or stone from houses, we will go to court and prevent them with all our strength,” the official emphasized.

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IOF soldiers round up 124 Palestinians in one week

RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) rounded up 124 Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and the West Bank over the past week, a Palestinian statistics report said on Monday.

The statement by Hamas said that 23 minors were among the detained Palestinians in addition to three women, one of them from occupied Jerusalem and was later released while two others were detained near the Ibrahimi mosque.

The statement pointed out that 16 of the detainees were recently released from PA jails while a number of others were former prisoners in Israeli occupation jails.

Hamas underlined that the IOF’s large-scale arrest campaign in the past week had focused on the movement’s MPs, leaders, and supporters.

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IOF soldiers round up six Palestinians including child, liberated prisoner

NABLUS, (PIC)– Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed the city of Nablus and roamed its suburbs before arresting a liberated prisoner while a Jerusalemite child was arrested among six Palestinians nabbed at dawn Monday.

Local sources said that the soldiers arrested Yazan Sawalha, who is a former prisoner in Israeli occupation jails, after breaking into his home in western Nablus and wreaking havoc in it.

Meanwhile, IOF soldiers arrested four Palestinians in Jenin, one in the city and three others in Seelat Al-Harithiya village after searching their homes.

In occupied Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers burst into Bustan suburb to the south of the Aqsa mosque and arrested a 13-year-old child.

Wadi Hilwa information center said that the soldiers detained Muslim Ode, 13, after barging into his family home.