3 feb 2016
Israeli planes have reportedly sprayed chemical substances on farmlands across the besieged Gaza Strip, killing off the crops in the already impoverished Palestinian territory.
Several farmers informed that Israeli planes had sprayed their lands with pesticides, in the area between (Kissufim, and Srij) east of al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Younis, according to Al Ray correspondence.
Witnesses pointed out that the Israeli occupation aircraft were spraying pesticides inside the border fence, and were hovering on low level .
The continuing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is putting the lives of people at risk, taking a heavy toll on the enclave's agriculture sector.
Farmers are struggling to meet growing demands of 1.8 million Gazans who are living in the tight grip of the Israeli siege. They face many challenges due to shortages in farming equipment and more importantly, approved pesticides.
Due to the decline in production and Israel's ban on the entry of basic commodities, Gazan farmers have resorted to the use of banned chemical substances to maximize crop yield. This poses a serious health hazard to both farmers and their consumers.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed concerns over the excessive use of toxic pesticides by Gaza farmers.
Many medical experts in Gaza are worried about a rise in the number of registered Gazan cancer patients, especially in the agricultural areas.
They warn that children are more susceptible to diseases, such as leukemia, than adults in such regions.
Related: Israeli Army Admits Destroying Crops in Gaza
The Gaza Strip has been under Israel’s blockade since June 2007. The crippling siege has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
Israel launched its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July of last year. Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in Israel’s 50-day onslaught. Over 11,100 others – including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people – were also injured.
Several farmers informed that Israeli planes had sprayed their lands with pesticides, in the area between (Kissufim, and Srij) east of al-Qarara village, northeast of Khan Younis, according to Al Ray correspondence.
Witnesses pointed out that the Israeli occupation aircraft were spraying pesticides inside the border fence, and were hovering on low level .
The continuing Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip is putting the lives of people at risk, taking a heavy toll on the enclave's agriculture sector.
Farmers are struggling to meet growing demands of 1.8 million Gazans who are living in the tight grip of the Israeli siege. They face many challenges due to shortages in farming equipment and more importantly, approved pesticides.
Due to the decline in production and Israel's ban on the entry of basic commodities, Gazan farmers have resorted to the use of banned chemical substances to maximize crop yield. This poses a serious health hazard to both farmers and their consumers.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has expressed concerns over the excessive use of toxic pesticides by Gaza farmers.
Many medical experts in Gaza are worried about a rise in the number of registered Gazan cancer patients, especially in the agricultural areas.
They warn that children are more susceptible to diseases, such as leukemia, than adults in such regions.
Related: Israeli Army Admits Destroying Crops in Gaza
The Gaza Strip has been under Israel’s blockade since June 2007. The crippling siege has caused a decline in living standards as well as unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty.
Israel launched its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July of last year. Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including 577 children, were killed in Israel’s 50-day onslaught. Over 11,100 others – including 3,374 children, 2,088 women and 410 elderly people – were also injured.
The Israeli occupation army on early Wednesday morning launched a limited incursion into southern Gaza Strip, at the same time as navy boats targeted Palestinian fishermen with barrages of machinegun fire.
Three Israeli army bulldozers carried out a limited incursion into the southeastern corners of Khan Younis, to the south of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Three Israeli tanks and several army jeeps were meanwhile deployed across the area. Israeli reconnaissance planes also kept hovering over the territory. Meanwhile, Israeli navy gunboats opened heavy spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian fishermen and fishing vessels setting sail in western and northern Gaza shores.
According to preliminary reports by the PIC team, a number of Palestinian fishermen were arrested and a boat was confiscated in the assault.
Three Israeli army bulldozers carried out a limited incursion into the southeastern corners of Khan Younis, to the south of the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Three Israeli tanks and several army jeeps were meanwhile deployed across the area. Israeli reconnaissance planes also kept hovering over the territory. Meanwhile, Israeli navy gunboats opened heavy spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian fishermen and fishing vessels setting sail in western and northern Gaza shores.
According to preliminary reports by the PIC team, a number of Palestinian fishermen were arrested and a boat was confiscated in the assault.
2 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on early Tuesday morning opened heavy machinegun fire at Palestinian farmers in southeastern Gaza Strip.
The IOF soldiers stationed at the Karem Abu Salem military site unleashed spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian farmers, forcing them to leave their lands for fear of being killed.
A similar attack was carried out by the IOF on Palestinian farmers and shepherds in eastern Rafah city, to the south of Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli jets have also been showering Palestinian lands in eastern Khan Younis with toxic pesticides. The attack is another chain in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered ceasefire deal struck in the wake of the 2014 summer offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
The IOF soldiers stationed at the Karem Abu Salem military site unleashed spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian farmers, forcing them to leave their lands for fear of being killed.
A similar attack was carried out by the IOF on Palestinian farmers and shepherds in eastern Rafah city, to the south of Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli jets have also been showering Palestinian lands in eastern Khan Younis with toxic pesticides. The attack is another chain in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered ceasefire deal struck in the wake of the 2014 summer offensive on the besieged coastal enclave.
The Israeli occupation navy on Monday evening opened fire at the beach of central Gaza and caused material damage to some moored fishing boats there.
The Palestinian Information Center reporter in Gaza said that Israeli gunboats fired shells and shots at the beach of central Gaza, amid intensive drone overflights.
Security sources told the PIC that four projectiles landed near a training site belonging to al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas on the beach of al-Nuseirat refugee camp.
The sources added that the gunboats also opened machinegun fire at nearby fishing boats, causing some slight material damage to some of them. A similar gunfire attack against fishing boats reportedly took place in the northern coastal area of Gaza.
The Palestinian Information Center reporter in Gaza said that Israeli gunboats fired shells and shots at the beach of central Gaza, amid intensive drone overflights.
Security sources told the PIC that four projectiles landed near a training site belonging to al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas on the beach of al-Nuseirat refugee camp.
The sources added that the gunboats also opened machinegun fire at nearby fishing boats, causing some slight material damage to some of them. A similar gunfire attack against fishing boats reportedly took place in the northern coastal area of Gaza.
31 jan 2016
By Richard Falk
After nearly 10 years of a sustained and unlawful Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, it is scandalous that the world takes such little notice of this people so long beleaguered. There have been many pious references in UN debates relating to Libya and Syria about a UN "responsibility to protect" but not a word about applying the norm to the people of Gaza, whose urgent needs have for years been overlooked as they languish on a precipice of desperation.
We should recall that it was the UN that took responsibility for Palestine in the period after World War One, by certifying the British grant of Jewish homeland, and then after World War Two, by proposing a partition of the land between Jews and Palestinians, without taking account of the wishes of the indigenous population.
The Gaza ordeal
These are the facts in Gaza:
-- An unemployment of 43 percent (60 percent among youth).
-- A decline of 24 percent of gross domestic product; the real GDP per capita is estimated to be between 32 percent and 72 percent less in 2015 than it was in 1994.
-- Poverty levels at 39 percent ; food insecurity at 47 percent.
-- At least 90 percent of water is unsafe to drink.
-- Gender-based violence affects 73 percent of Palestinian households.
-- More than half of Gazans suffer from chronic depression, and more than half of children need professional supportive therapy.
These statistics tell only a small part of the story and fail to capture the full reality of the Gazan ordeal.
To be in the overcrowded, impoverished Gaza Strip is to live in the world's largest open-air prison. More than half of the 1.8 million people are confined to refugee camps, and the majority have no means of leaving even for emergency medical treatment.
If this were not bad enough, the daily security conditions are traumatizing for residents and even for occasional visitors or UN aid workers. With drones flying overhead, frequent sonic booms from Israeli overflights, targeted assassinations occurring from time to time, fishing vessels subject to violent harassment by Israeli patrol boats and innumerable retaliatory missile strikes, the life of ordinary Gazans has long been a living hell.
Even this assessment is made without taking account of the three unprecedented massive attacks launched during the past seven years by Israeli air, land, and sea forces against a vulnerable and occupied people with no place to obtain shelter or hide. In 2008-09, 2012, and 2014 these attacks caused widespread death and destruction, including major damage to residential areas and to infrastructure. Such devastation was accentuated by Israel’s refusal to allow building materials to enter Gaza, leaving thousands homeless to this day or living in makeshift shelters, and the electric grid, water purification and sewage systems in shambles.
In the most recent war, for 51 days in the summer of 2014, 2,147 Palestinians were killed, including 530 children. Israel lost 70 people, 66 of whom were soldiers. The one-sidedness of the civilian casualties conveys that the reality was more of a massacre than a war, or perhaps more accurately described as state terrorism. Also indicative of Gaza’s situation is the denial of a refugee option allowing civilians to escape from the combat zone even temporarily during the onset of attacks.
Israel’s rationale
Israel tells the world that its Gaza policy is a necessary and reasonable component of dealing with a terrorist political actor in Hamas, and protecting its population from rocket fire.
Israel rejects international criticism of the attacks, insisting that it is not aiming to destroy Hamas, but to administer enough pain that it will remain subdued. As explained in the Jerusalem Post by Efraim Inbar, an Israeli professor of strategic studies at Bar-Ilan University: “Western thinking is solution-oriented, while Israel is engaged in a protracted conflict with Hamas. The Israeli government wisely has defined limited political and military goals for this offensive, in accordance with what we call ‘mowing the lawn'.”
Such chilling language has become habitual. Other top government advisers and leaders justify Israel’s Gaza policy in terms other than security.
For instance, Dov Weisglass, a prominent associate of Ariel Sharon, referred to the 2005 "disengagement" plan as "formaldehyde" effective in freezing the peace process, and above all preventing pressure to agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.
Although Israeli leaders please Washington by giving lip service to the idea of a Palestinian state, their real position is to preclude it from happening. For this reason, Gaza policy anticipates a condition of semi-permanent oppressive occupation reinforced by periodic massacres and continued captivity.
Rejecting diplomacy
This bloody interaction was far from inevitable. My own experience of several meetings with prominent Hamas leaders in recent years was consistent in their advocacy of a long-term ceasefire, up to 50 years.
Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree and a respected journalist, determined that “Israel and the United States had repeated opportunities for a diplomatic solution in Gaza. Each time, they have chosen war, with devastating consequences for the families of Gaza”.
Tolan quotes from a letter given by the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, to Jerome Segal of the NGO Jewish Peace Lobby in 2006, shortly after Hamas won the legislative election in Gaza, to be delivered to then-US president George W. Bush.
“We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don’t mind a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce of many years.” Haniya added some words that have turned out to be prophetic: “The continuation of this situation will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region.”
Bush and Israeli leaders refused to respond to such initiatives despite the fact that earlier short-term ceasefires had brought violence between Gaza and Israel to a virtual halt. In other words, mowing the lawn was preferred by Israel and the US to an approach that might have normalised the situation in ways that would almost certainly have enhanced Israeli security and regional stability.
What should be done
It is worth appreciating Gaza’s importance. This is not always self-evident as even the Palestinian Authority marginalises Gaza, given its stress on the occupied West Bank, but Israel exhibits an awareness, explaining why it persists in keeping the population of Gaza at intolerable levels of stress.
As the French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu makes clear in his authoritative 2014 study, Gaza: A History, Gaza has been the inspirational foundation of Palestinian resistance ever since the 1950s, including being the place where the transformative intifada burst forth in 1987.
Few realise that Gaza has a rich history stretching back more than 1,000 years. It was a major trading centre and port, as well as being a place where close and renowned followers of the Prophet lived and worshipped.
With the rise of the Islamic State, the persistence of wars in Syria and Yemen, chaos in Libya, authoritarian crackdowns in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, a renewed rivalry of the West with Russia and sectarian and proxy wars, it is not surprising that Israel enjoys a free pass from the international community.
The US has turned its back on the Israel-Palestine struggle, instead devoting itself to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.
It is no wonder in such a regional setting that the torments confronting the people of Gaza are essentially ignored, at least until the next wave of Israeli violence again captures headlines with yet another slaughter.
Despite the distractions it is unacceptable to allow Gaza to remain an open wound. It is time to encourage governments to impose sanctions upon Israel until the blockade is lifted. Three steps seem imperative as demands made in the name of minimal justice and respect for international law:
(1) A Palestinian seaport in Gaza open to international shipping, which is UN monitored to prevent weapons smuggling;
(2) An immediate end of the blockade and other forms of collective punishment in accord with Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention;
(3) A mutual ceasefire coinciding with the end of the blockade, which if not implemented within three months should result in the establishment of a protection mechanism under international auspices. -
Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. The article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
After nearly 10 years of a sustained and unlawful Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, it is scandalous that the world takes such little notice of this people so long beleaguered. There have been many pious references in UN debates relating to Libya and Syria about a UN "responsibility to protect" but not a word about applying the norm to the people of Gaza, whose urgent needs have for years been overlooked as they languish on a precipice of desperation.
We should recall that it was the UN that took responsibility for Palestine in the period after World War One, by certifying the British grant of Jewish homeland, and then after World War Two, by proposing a partition of the land between Jews and Palestinians, without taking account of the wishes of the indigenous population.
The Gaza ordeal
These are the facts in Gaza:
-- An unemployment of 43 percent (60 percent among youth).
-- A decline of 24 percent of gross domestic product; the real GDP per capita is estimated to be between 32 percent and 72 percent less in 2015 than it was in 1994.
-- Poverty levels at 39 percent ; food insecurity at 47 percent.
-- At least 90 percent of water is unsafe to drink.
-- Gender-based violence affects 73 percent of Palestinian households.
-- More than half of Gazans suffer from chronic depression, and more than half of children need professional supportive therapy.
These statistics tell only a small part of the story and fail to capture the full reality of the Gazan ordeal.
To be in the overcrowded, impoverished Gaza Strip is to live in the world's largest open-air prison. More than half of the 1.8 million people are confined to refugee camps, and the majority have no means of leaving even for emergency medical treatment.
If this were not bad enough, the daily security conditions are traumatizing for residents and even for occasional visitors or UN aid workers. With drones flying overhead, frequent sonic booms from Israeli overflights, targeted assassinations occurring from time to time, fishing vessels subject to violent harassment by Israeli patrol boats and innumerable retaliatory missile strikes, the life of ordinary Gazans has long been a living hell.
Even this assessment is made without taking account of the three unprecedented massive attacks launched during the past seven years by Israeli air, land, and sea forces against a vulnerable and occupied people with no place to obtain shelter or hide. In 2008-09, 2012, and 2014 these attacks caused widespread death and destruction, including major damage to residential areas and to infrastructure. Such devastation was accentuated by Israel’s refusal to allow building materials to enter Gaza, leaving thousands homeless to this day or living in makeshift shelters, and the electric grid, water purification and sewage systems in shambles.
In the most recent war, for 51 days in the summer of 2014, 2,147 Palestinians were killed, including 530 children. Israel lost 70 people, 66 of whom were soldiers. The one-sidedness of the civilian casualties conveys that the reality was more of a massacre than a war, or perhaps more accurately described as state terrorism. Also indicative of Gaza’s situation is the denial of a refugee option allowing civilians to escape from the combat zone even temporarily during the onset of attacks.
Israel’s rationale
Israel tells the world that its Gaza policy is a necessary and reasonable component of dealing with a terrorist political actor in Hamas, and protecting its population from rocket fire.
Israel rejects international criticism of the attacks, insisting that it is not aiming to destroy Hamas, but to administer enough pain that it will remain subdued. As explained in the Jerusalem Post by Efraim Inbar, an Israeli professor of strategic studies at Bar-Ilan University: “Western thinking is solution-oriented, while Israel is engaged in a protracted conflict with Hamas. The Israeli government wisely has defined limited political and military goals for this offensive, in accordance with what we call ‘mowing the lawn'.”
Such chilling language has become habitual. Other top government advisers and leaders justify Israel’s Gaza policy in terms other than security.
For instance, Dov Weisglass, a prominent associate of Ariel Sharon, referred to the 2005 "disengagement" plan as "formaldehyde" effective in freezing the peace process, and above all preventing pressure to agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.
Although Israeli leaders please Washington by giving lip service to the idea of a Palestinian state, their real position is to preclude it from happening. For this reason, Gaza policy anticipates a condition of semi-permanent oppressive occupation reinforced by periodic massacres and continued captivity.
Rejecting diplomacy
This bloody interaction was far from inevitable. My own experience of several meetings with prominent Hamas leaders in recent years was consistent in their advocacy of a long-term ceasefire, up to 50 years.
Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree and a respected journalist, determined that “Israel and the United States had repeated opportunities for a diplomatic solution in Gaza. Each time, they have chosen war, with devastating consequences for the families of Gaza”.
Tolan quotes from a letter given by the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, to Jerome Segal of the NGO Jewish Peace Lobby in 2006, shortly after Hamas won the legislative election in Gaza, to be delivered to then-US president George W. Bush.
“We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don’t mind a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce of many years.” Haniya added some words that have turned out to be prophetic: “The continuation of this situation will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region.”
Bush and Israeli leaders refused to respond to such initiatives despite the fact that earlier short-term ceasefires had brought violence between Gaza and Israel to a virtual halt. In other words, mowing the lawn was preferred by Israel and the US to an approach that might have normalised the situation in ways that would almost certainly have enhanced Israeli security and regional stability.
What should be done
It is worth appreciating Gaza’s importance. This is not always self-evident as even the Palestinian Authority marginalises Gaza, given its stress on the occupied West Bank, but Israel exhibits an awareness, explaining why it persists in keeping the population of Gaza at intolerable levels of stress.
As the French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu makes clear in his authoritative 2014 study, Gaza: A History, Gaza has been the inspirational foundation of Palestinian resistance ever since the 1950s, including being the place where the transformative intifada burst forth in 1987.
Few realise that Gaza has a rich history stretching back more than 1,000 years. It was a major trading centre and port, as well as being a place where close and renowned followers of the Prophet lived and worshipped.
With the rise of the Islamic State, the persistence of wars in Syria and Yemen, chaos in Libya, authoritarian crackdowns in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, a renewed rivalry of the West with Russia and sectarian and proxy wars, it is not surprising that Israel enjoys a free pass from the international community.
The US has turned its back on the Israel-Palestine struggle, instead devoting itself to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.
It is no wonder in such a regional setting that the torments confronting the people of Gaza are essentially ignored, at least until the next wave of Israeli violence again captures headlines with yet another slaughter.
Despite the distractions it is unacceptable to allow Gaza to remain an open wound. It is time to encourage governments to impose sanctions upon Israel until the blockade is lifted. Three steps seem imperative as demands made in the name of minimal justice and respect for international law:
(1) A Palestinian seaport in Gaza open to international shipping, which is UN monitored to prevent weapons smuggling;
(2) An immediate end of the blockade and other forms of collective punishment in accord with Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention;
(3) A mutual ceasefire coinciding with the end of the blockade, which if not implemented within three months should result in the establishment of a protection mechanism under international auspices. -
Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. The article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
The Israeli occupation navy on Saturday evening opened heavy machinegun fire on Palestinian fishermen off Gaza’s shore.
The Israeli navy gunboats unleashed random spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian fishing boats setting sail off Gaza waters.
The Palestinian fishermen at the scene were forced to leave the sea and go back home for fear of being killed in the attack.
The shooting incident is another chain in the series of attacks launched on a quasi-daily basis by the Israeli navy warships on Palestinian fishermen on their way to seek a living for their starved children in the blockaded coastal enclave.
The Israeli navy gunboats unleashed random spates of machinegun fire on Palestinian fishing boats setting sail off Gaza waters.
The Palestinian fishermen at the scene were forced to leave the sea and go back home for fear of being killed in the attack.
The shooting incident is another chain in the series of attacks launched on a quasi-daily basis by the Israeli navy warships on Palestinian fishermen on their way to seek a living for their starved children in the blockaded coastal enclave.
30 jan 2016
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) shot at Palestinian farmers east of the town of al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday morning with no injuries reported.
The PIC correspondent reported that the eastern areas of the city of Khan Younis had witnessed heavy firing by the IOF from the military watchtowers adjacent to the citizens' farms.
The Israeli soldiers manning military watchtowers target farmers, birds' hunters, shepherds and whoever tries to approach the border. Such practices fall in line with other many violations, including targeting fishermen in the Sea of Gaza, of the calm agreed upon after the war on the coastal enclave in the summer of 2014.
The PIC correspondent reported that the eastern areas of the city of Khan Younis had witnessed heavy firing by the IOF from the military watchtowers adjacent to the citizens' farms.
The Israeli soldiers manning military watchtowers target farmers, birds' hunters, shepherds and whoever tries to approach the border. Such practices fall in line with other many violations, including targeting fishermen in the Sea of Gaza, of the calm agreed upon after the war on the coastal enclave in the summer of 2014.
76 Palestinians suffered different injuries on Friday during clashes with Israeli soldiers and policemen in different flashpoint areas in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and Jerusalem, according to different media sources.
In Gaza, the clashes, which took place in different border areas to the east and north, led to the injury of seven young men, one of them seriously.
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, Palestinian young men clashed with Israeli military and security forces in 12 areas in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, al-Khalil, Qalqiliya and Salfit. Red Crescent sources said that the violent events in the West Bank and Jerusalem led to the injury of 69 young men, 21 of them were wounded from either live or rubber bullets and 47 others suffered from inhaling tear gas.
Eyewitnesses reported that one Israeli soldier suffered an injury during the clashes in Issawiya district in east Jerusalem. They said that the soldiers was injured in a Molotov cocktail attack on a military vehicle.
In Gaza, the clashes, which took place in different border areas to the east and north, led to the injury of seven young men, one of them seriously.
In the West Bank and Jerusalem, Palestinian young men clashed with Israeli military and security forces in 12 areas in Jerusalem, Ramallah, Bethlehem, al-Khalil, Qalqiliya and Salfit. Red Crescent sources said that the violent events in the West Bank and Jerusalem led to the injury of 69 young men, 21 of them were wounded from either live or rubber bullets and 47 others suffered from inhaling tear gas.
Eyewitnesses reported that one Israeli soldier suffered an injury during the clashes in Issawiya district in east Jerusalem. They said that the soldiers was injured in a Molotov cocktail attack on a military vehicle.
One Palestinian farmer was injured on Friday evening when the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) opened fire at an agricultural area, north of the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses told Quds Press that that Israeli soldiers opened machinegun fire from watchtowers near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, north of Gaza, at cultivated plots of lands, which caused one of the farmers there to suffer a bullet injury.
Medical sources affirmed that a farmer received treatment for a bullet injury in one of his legs.
In a separate incident, seven Palestinian young men on Friday afternoon suffered bullet injuries during clashes with Israeli soldiers in an eastern border area in Gaza, in the 17th week of al-Quds intifada (uprising).
A spokesman for the health ministry said that one of the young man suffered a serious bullet injury in the head and six others were wounded in their legs. All the wounded were admitted to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Eight Palestinians Injured In Gaza
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip have reported, Friday, that at least eight Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire, during clashes in different areas, close to the border fence in the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza, said seven Palestinians were shot, including one who suffered a serious injury.
He added that clashes took place in the al-Farahin area, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, in addition to areas close to Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza, and Erez (Beit Hanoun) Terminal in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The soldiers, stationed across the border fence, fired dozens of live rounds and gas bombs on the protesters, who hurled stones and empty bottles.
In related news, a Palestinian farmer was shot in his farmland, east of the Eastern Graveyard, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Medical sources said the soldiers shot the farmer in his leg as he was working on his land, and that he was moved to the Indonesian Hospital, suffering a moderate injury.
Eyewitnesses told Quds Press that that Israeli soldiers opened machinegun fire from watchtowers near Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, north of Gaza, at cultivated plots of lands, which caused one of the farmers there to suffer a bullet injury.
Medical sources affirmed that a farmer received treatment for a bullet injury in one of his legs.
In a separate incident, seven Palestinian young men on Friday afternoon suffered bullet injuries during clashes with Israeli soldiers in an eastern border area in Gaza, in the 17th week of al-Quds intifada (uprising).
A spokesman for the health ministry said that one of the young man suffered a serious bullet injury in the head and six others were wounded in their legs. All the wounded were admitted to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.
Eight Palestinians Injured In Gaza
Medical sources in the Gaza Strip have reported, Friday, that at least eight Palestinians were injured by Israeli army fire, during clashes in different areas, close to the border fence in the Gaza Strip.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesperson of the Health Ministry in Gaza, said seven Palestinians were shot, including one who suffered a serious injury.
He added that clashes took place in the al-Farahin area, east of Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, in addition to areas close to Nahal Oz crossing, east of Gaza, and Erez (Beit Hanoun) Terminal in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
The soldiers, stationed across the border fence, fired dozens of live rounds and gas bombs on the protesters, who hurled stones and empty bottles.
In related news, a Palestinian farmer was shot in his farmland, east of the Eastern Graveyard, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Medical sources said the soldiers shot the farmer in his leg as he was working on his land, and that he was moved to the Indonesian Hospital, suffering a moderate injury.
28 jan 2016
Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian farmers and shepherds in the Gaza Strip near the borderline with Israel early Thursday, locals said.
Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces deployed at military guard towers southeast of Gaza City opened fire on Palestinians farming near the buffer zone, forcing farmers to leave the area.
Separately, forces opened fire on shepherds in the town of al-Qarara northeast of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources confirmed to Ma'an that no injuries were sustained during either incident.
An Israeli army spokesperson did not have immediate information but told Ma'an they were looking into the incident.
Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinians a number of times this month, consistent with a pattern of frequent fire faced by Palestinians inside of or near a military-imposed “buffer zone” on both land and seaside borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The exact limits of the zone are unclear but enforced with live fire, putting the lives of Palestinian farmers and fishermen who work near the border at risk. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported 41 incidents of live fire on the borderlines during December 2015 alone.
The Israeli army often says in such circumstances that the use of live fire is necessary to deter potential "security threats."
Earlier this month a Palestinian was killed and three others were injured by Israeli artillery fire in the northern Gaza Strip after the Israeli army said the four planned to attack forces on the border.
Witnesses told Ma'an that Israeli forces deployed at military guard towers southeast of Gaza City opened fire on Palestinians farming near the buffer zone, forcing farmers to leave the area.
Separately, forces opened fire on shepherds in the town of al-Qarara northeast of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
Medical sources confirmed to Ma'an that no injuries were sustained during either incident.
An Israeli army spokesperson did not have immediate information but told Ma'an they were looking into the incident.
Israeli forces have opened fire on Palestinians a number of times this month, consistent with a pattern of frequent fire faced by Palestinians inside of or near a military-imposed “buffer zone” on both land and seaside borders of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The exact limits of the zone are unclear but enforced with live fire, putting the lives of Palestinian farmers and fishermen who work near the border at risk. The Palestinian Center for Human Rights reported 41 incidents of live fire on the borderlines during December 2015 alone.
The Israeli army often says in such circumstances that the use of live fire is necessary to deter potential "security threats."
Earlier this month a Palestinian was killed and three others were injured by Israeli artillery fire in the northern Gaza Strip after the Israeli army said the four planned to attack forces on the border.
27 jan 2016
Safa press agency on Tuesday quoted local sources as saying that there is an agreement between former leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and the Palestinian Authority intelligence apparatus for the sake of creating disorders and living crises in preparation for civil disobedience in Gaza.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that the agreement comes within organized moves to end Jerusalem Intifada and resistance in the West Bank.
Safa agency pointed out that a prominent PFLP leader is leading a committee formed by him along with some of the former officials of the movement as well as other Palestinian figures toward this goal.
The plan includes organization of marches in Gaza Strip to influence the public opinion as well as playing mutual roles with the PA’s intelligence apparatus in the West Bank in creating several crises in Gaza in the fields of electricity, gas, health, and Rafah border crossing.
The sources, who asked not to be identified, said that the agreement comes within organized moves to end Jerusalem Intifada and resistance in the West Bank.
Safa agency pointed out that a prominent PFLP leader is leading a committee formed by him along with some of the former officials of the movement as well as other Palestinian figures toward this goal.
The plan includes organization of marches in Gaza Strip to influence the public opinion as well as playing mutual roles with the PA’s intelligence apparatus in the West Bank in creating several crises in Gaza in the fields of electricity, gas, health, and Rafah border crossing.
Israeli soldiers kidnapped, on Wednesday at noon, a young Palestinian woman while leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque through the Council Gate, in occupied Jerusalem, and took her to an interrogation center in the city. Army kidnaps four fishers in northern Gaza.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers stopped and questioned the young woman, while she was trying to leave the Al-Aqsa mosque, and abducted her. Several Palestinian women tried to prevent the soldiers from abducting the young woman, but they pushed them away. Meanwhile, several Israeli settlers, under heavy police and military protection, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, while the Palestinian Muslim worshipers were not allowed through.
In related news, the soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian teen, 17 years of age, after stopping him on the Qalandia terminal, north of occupied Jerusalem. The army claimed the teen "carried a knife."
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said that Israeli Navy ships attacked Palestinian fishing boats, in Gaza territorial waters in the Sudaniyya area, in northern Gaza, and kidnapped four fishers.
IOF arrest four fishermen, confiscate their fishing boat
Israeli gunboats on Wednesday opened machine gunfire at Palestinian fishing boats to the west of al-Sudaniya area in northern Gaza. Israeli forces, as well, arrested four fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat.
According to the committee of documenting Israeli violations against Gazan fishermen, the arrested Gazans were taken to an unknown destination.
The attack is another episode in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered truce accord signed on August 26, 2014 in the wake of the Israeli aggression on the besieged coastal enclave, which killed over 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
Eyewitnesses said the soldiers stopped and questioned the young woman, while she was trying to leave the Al-Aqsa mosque, and abducted her. Several Palestinian women tried to prevent the soldiers from abducting the young woman, but they pushed them away. Meanwhile, several Israeli settlers, under heavy police and military protection, stormed the courtyards of Al-Aqsa, while the Palestinian Muslim worshipers were not allowed through.
In related news, the soldiers kidnapped a Palestinian teen, 17 years of age, after stopping him on the Qalandia terminal, north of occupied Jerusalem. The army claimed the teen "carried a knife."
In the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources said that Israeli Navy ships attacked Palestinian fishing boats, in Gaza territorial waters in the Sudaniyya area, in northern Gaza, and kidnapped four fishers.
IOF arrest four fishermen, confiscate their fishing boat
Israeli gunboats on Wednesday opened machine gunfire at Palestinian fishing boats to the west of al-Sudaniya area in northern Gaza. Israeli forces, as well, arrested four fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat.
According to the committee of documenting Israeli violations against Gazan fishermen, the arrested Gazans were taken to an unknown destination.
The attack is another episode in the series of Israeli violations of the Cairo-brokered truce accord signed on August 26, 2014 in the wake of the Israeli aggression on the besieged coastal enclave, which killed over 2,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians.
One year after the Israeli summer offensive on Gaza in 2014, more than 7,000 explosive remnants of war are estimated to remain in the blockaded Gaza Strip, UNRWA reported.
According to the UNRWA, only 30 per cent of explosive war remnants has been identified and removed.
The remaining 70 per cent, however, pose a threat to the population of Gaza, especially children and adults who work in agricultural land littered with war remnants.
Since the beginning of the 2014 offensive, 16 people have been killed and 90 wounded, including 38 children, due to contact with these unexploded remnants, the report added.
With the support from the Italian Directorate General for Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, UNRWA and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) will conduct a wide-range of outreach activities on safety and risk education on explosive war remnants.
The Explosives Engineering Unit at the Palestinian Interior Ministry said unexploded bombs and rockets are estimated to exist underneath 40 civilian homes across the blockaded Gaza Strip.
According to the UNRWA, only 30 per cent of explosive war remnants has been identified and removed.
The remaining 70 per cent, however, pose a threat to the population of Gaza, especially children and adults who work in agricultural land littered with war remnants.
Since the beginning of the 2014 offensive, 16 people have been killed and 90 wounded, including 38 children, due to contact with these unexploded remnants, the report added.
With the support from the Italian Directorate General for Development Cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, UNRWA and the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) will conduct a wide-range of outreach activities on safety and risk education on explosive war remnants.
The Explosives Engineering Unit at the Palestinian Interior Ministry said unexploded bombs and rockets are estimated to exist underneath 40 civilian homes across the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Truce violations List of names Pictures of martyrs
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