29 jan 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed on Sunday his support for the US embassy to Israel moving from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, further adding that “all embassies should come here.”
In a statement during the Israeli security cabinet’s weekly meeting, Netanyahu emphasized the “fundamental” relationship between the United States and Israel.
“There is no substitute for this alliance. Our relations are tight and getting tighter, and I would like to take this opportunity to make it unequivocally clear that our position has always been, and will always be, that the US embassy needs to be here, in Jerusalem,” the prime minister said.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it is proper that not only should the American embassy be here, but all embassies should come here, and I believe that over time most of them will indeed come here, to Jerusalem.”
Netanyahu’s statements came two days after US President Donald Trump told Fox News that it was “too early” to talk about his controversial campaign promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Mark Zell, the co-chairman of the Republican Overseas Israel group had accused Netanyahu earlier on Sunday of being behind Trump’s decision to delay the embassy move, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The prospect of an embassy location change has been met with applause by right-wing Israeli officials and strongly condemned by Palestinians and the international community.
The move would in effect amount to American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively torpedoing efforts to implement a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The fate of Jerusalem has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem through settlement construction and mass demolitions of Palestinian homes.
The Israeli government has openly expressed its anticipation for a Trump presidency, which right-wing politicians believe will make it easier to advance plans to expand Israeli settlements and consolidate Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
Last month, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat warned that the PLO would revoke all previously signed agreements with Israel as well as the PLO’s 1993 recognition of Israel if Trump followed through on his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Erekat reportedly said such a move would indicate the US’s acceptance of “Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,” and further warned that “any hope of peace in the future will just vanish."
While members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution, Israeli leaders have instead shifted further to the right as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and with some having advocated for its complete annexation.
In a statement during the Israeli security cabinet’s weekly meeting, Netanyahu emphasized the “fundamental” relationship between the United States and Israel.
“There is no substitute for this alliance. Our relations are tight and getting tighter, and I would like to take this opportunity to make it unequivocally clear that our position has always been, and will always be, that the US embassy needs to be here, in Jerusalem,” the prime minister said.
“Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and it is proper that not only should the American embassy be here, but all embassies should come here, and I believe that over time most of them will indeed come here, to Jerusalem.”
Netanyahu’s statements came two days after US President Donald Trump told Fox News that it was “too early” to talk about his controversial campaign promise to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.
Mark Zell, the co-chairman of the Republican Overseas Israel group had accused Netanyahu earlier on Sunday of being behind Trump’s decision to delay the embassy move, The Jerusalem Post reported.
The prospect of an embassy location change has been met with applause by right-wing Israeli officials and strongly condemned by Palestinians and the international community.
The move would in effect amount to American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively torpedoing efforts to implement a two-state solution with East Jerusalem as the capital of a Palestinian state.
The fate of Jerusalem has been a focal point of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for decades, with numerous tensions arising over Israeli threats regarding the status of non-Jewish religious sites in the city, and the "Judaization" of East Jerusalem through settlement construction and mass demolitions of Palestinian homes.
The Israeli government has openly expressed its anticipation for a Trump presidency, which right-wing politicians believe will make it easier to advance plans to expand Israeli settlements and consolidate Israeli annexation of East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank.
Last month, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General Saeb Erekat warned that the PLO would revoke all previously signed agreements with Israel as well as the PLO’s 1993 recognition of Israel if Trump followed through on his pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Erekat reportedly said such a move would indicate the US’s acceptance of “Israel’s illegal annexation of East Jerusalem,” and further warned that “any hope of peace in the future will just vanish."
While members of the international community have rested the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the discontinuation of illegal Israeli settlements and the establishment of a two-state solution, Israeli leaders have instead shifted further to the right as many Knesset members have called for an escalation of settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and with some having advocated for its complete annexation.
Hundreds of mourners took to the streets of the city of Jenin on Sunday morning to join the funeral procession for 19-year-old Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Khalifa, hours after Israeli forces fatally shot him with a live bullet in the back during a military raid into Jenin refugee camp that erupted into clashes.
Mourners carried his body to Jenin Governmental Hospital for a final farewell before gathering for a funeral prayer, and continued on to the Martyr's cemetery for burial.
During the funeral march, mourners called for justice and demanded that Israel be prosecuted and held accountable for the crimes committed in Jenin refugee camp. Participants also called for an end to political conflicts among Palestinian factions as gunmen shot into the air.
Members of the family said Muhammad Abu Khalifa was an employee of the Public Works and Housing Administration in Jenin and had celebrated his 19th birthday just a few hours before Israeli forces shot him to death.
Muhammad Abu Khalifa's father, Mahmoud Abu Khalifa, expressed his family’s deep pain and sorrow for the loss of their son, describing the killing as an escalation of Israeli crimes against the Abu Khalifa family.
The grieving father explained that his slain son's uncle, Issam, was killed by Israeli forces during the First Intifada, his cousin had been shot and injured by Israeli forces, and two other cousins -- brothers Muhammad and Ahmad Abu Khalifa -- were detained in an Israeli army raid on Thursday.
Member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Jamal Juyil told Ma'an that "Israel has escalated its crimes in Jenin refugee camp and have repeatedly raided the camp over the past three days." Juyil vowed that the Palestinian struggle against Israeli aggression would continue.
Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Khalifa was reportedly shot with a live bullet in the lower back that went through his body, emerging from his abdomen.
State-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Abu Khalifa was left on the ground for hours before paramedics were able to evacuate his body.
After undercover Israeli forces in a civilian vehicle infiltrated the camp, dozens of military vehicles stormed the area, sparking violent clashes that continued for several hours, with Israeli forces heavily firing live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas into the camp, as youth threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the clashes to Ma’an via telephone, saying that “violent rioters attacked and hurled pipe bombs” at Israeli forces, with no injuries reported among Israeli forces.
“Responding to the threat, forces fired toward main instigators,” the spokesperson added. She said that “hits were confirmed,” but did not directly confirm Abu Khalifa’s killing or the number of Palestinians who were injured.
The purpose behind the hours-long raid remained unclear, as the Israeli army spokesperson said that no detentions were made in the camp.
On Friday, four Palestinians were injured during a predawn raid in the camp when no detentions were reported.
Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Due to the typically aggressive nature of the raids, clashes often erupt between local Palestinian youth who throw stones and are met in response with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas, often resulting in serious, sometimes fatal, injuries.
Rights groups have routinely condemned Israeli authorities for their use of excessive force against Palestinians, including minors, during incidents that did not warrant a violent response.
When asked Sunday morning if the army was opening an investigation to Abu Khalifa’s death, a spokesperson told Ma’an they would look into the matter.
However, Israeli rights group B’Tselem said on Tuesday that “over the years, referring cases to the military law enforcement system with a view to promoting real accountability has proved ineffective,” arguing that “even when a military investigation was actually launched, it nearly always wound up as a whitewash.”
The comments came as the group released a report and video revealing that 17-year-old Ahmad Hazem Ata Zidani, who was killed in December, was fleeing from the scene of clashes and not posing a threat to anyone when Israeli forces shot him.
According to Ma'an documentation, Muhammad Abu Khalifa was the eighth Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.
Five Israelis, either soldiers or police officers, have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period, all in alleged vehicular attacks.
Ma'an recorded the deaths of 112 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in 2016 as a result of violence from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Mourners carried his body to Jenin Governmental Hospital for a final farewell before gathering for a funeral prayer, and continued on to the Martyr's cemetery for burial.
During the funeral march, mourners called for justice and demanded that Israel be prosecuted and held accountable for the crimes committed in Jenin refugee camp. Participants also called for an end to political conflicts among Palestinian factions as gunmen shot into the air.
Members of the family said Muhammad Abu Khalifa was an employee of the Public Works and Housing Administration in Jenin and had celebrated his 19th birthday just a few hours before Israeli forces shot him to death.
Muhammad Abu Khalifa's father, Mahmoud Abu Khalifa, expressed his family’s deep pain and sorrow for the loss of their son, describing the killing as an escalation of Israeli crimes against the Abu Khalifa family.
The grieving father explained that his slain son's uncle, Issam, was killed by Israeli forces during the First Intifada, his cousin had been shot and injured by Israeli forces, and two other cousins -- brothers Muhammad and Ahmad Abu Khalifa -- were detained in an Israeli army raid on Thursday.
Member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council Jamal Juyil told Ma'an that "Israel has escalated its crimes in Jenin refugee camp and have repeatedly raided the camp over the past three days." Juyil vowed that the Palestinian struggle against Israeli aggression would continue.
Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Khalifa was reportedly shot with a live bullet in the lower back that went through his body, emerging from his abdomen.
State-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said that Abu Khalifa was left on the ground for hours before paramedics were able to evacuate his body.
After undercover Israeli forces in a civilian vehicle infiltrated the camp, dozens of military vehicles stormed the area, sparking violent clashes that continued for several hours, with Israeli forces heavily firing live ammunition, stun grenades, and tear gas into the camp, as youth threw stones and Molotov cocktails.
An Israeli army spokesperson confirmed the clashes to Ma’an via telephone, saying that “violent rioters attacked and hurled pipe bombs” at Israeli forces, with no injuries reported among Israeli forces.
“Responding to the threat, forces fired toward main instigators,” the spokesperson added. She said that “hits were confirmed,” but did not directly confirm Abu Khalifa’s killing or the number of Palestinians who were injured.
The purpose behind the hours-long raid remained unclear, as the Israeli army spokesperson said that no detentions were made in the camp.
On Friday, four Palestinians were injured during a predawn raid in the camp when no detentions were reported.
Israeli raids in Palestinian towns, villages, and refugee camps are a daily occurrence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Due to the typically aggressive nature of the raids, clashes often erupt between local Palestinian youth who throw stones and are met in response with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and tear gas, often resulting in serious, sometimes fatal, injuries.
Rights groups have routinely condemned Israeli authorities for their use of excessive force against Palestinians, including minors, during incidents that did not warrant a violent response.
When asked Sunday morning if the army was opening an investigation to Abu Khalifa’s death, a spokesperson told Ma’an they would look into the matter.
However, Israeli rights group B’Tselem said on Tuesday that “over the years, referring cases to the military law enforcement system with a view to promoting real accountability has proved ineffective,” arguing that “even when a military investigation was actually launched, it nearly always wound up as a whitewash.”
The comments came as the group released a report and video revealing that 17-year-old Ahmad Hazem Ata Zidani, who was killed in December, was fleeing from the scene of clashes and not posing a threat to anyone when Israeli forces shot him.
According to Ma'an documentation, Muhammad Abu Khalifa was the eighth Palestinian to have been killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of the year.
Five Israelis, either soldiers or police officers, have been killed by Palestinians during the same time period, all in alleged vehicular attacks.
Ma'an recorded the deaths of 112 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in 2016 as a result of violence from the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Beita town, south of Nablus city, incurs heavy losses on a daily basis due to the closure of its main entrance since last Thursday.
Beita residents considered this move part of the campaign waged against them by the Israeli occupation authorities to prevent any act of resistance.
Sources in Beita Municipality estimate that daily losses reach hundreds of thousands of shekels especially for merchants working in the town's vegetable market, not to mention depriving people of moving freely outside the town.
Beita Municipality director Awad Abu Amer told the PIC reporter that merchants of the vegetable market, most of whom have prepaid deals and orders, are the most affected for they bring their products by large trucks coming from the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories. The trucks cannot pass through the subsidiary roads so they turn back, which inflicts massive losses.
Beita residents were surprised by concrete cubes installed at the town's entrance by Israeli occupation forces accompanied by an announcement written in Arabic justifying that the move came to enforce security.
Abdulrahman Duwaikat, resident of the town, said that he is forced to go to Huwara to ride the bus that he used to wait for at the entrance of Beita town to travel to Ramallah city, which doubled his daily fare.
Aisha Abu Hamdan, a college student, said that moving through subsidiary streets and farm roads is very risky due to heavy rain and accumulated floodwater which also impose threat on the movement of small cars.
This is the fourth time Beita entrance gets closed since January 2016. The entrance was previously blocked by sand barriers under the pretext that Israeli settlers' vehicles were exposed to attacks by Molotov cocktails.
Beita residents considered this move part of the campaign waged against them by the Israeli occupation authorities to prevent any act of resistance.
Sources in Beita Municipality estimate that daily losses reach hundreds of thousands of shekels especially for merchants working in the town's vegetable market, not to mention depriving people of moving freely outside the town.
Beita Municipality director Awad Abu Amer told the PIC reporter that merchants of the vegetable market, most of whom have prepaid deals and orders, are the most affected for they bring their products by large trucks coming from the 1948 occupied Palestinian territories. The trucks cannot pass through the subsidiary roads so they turn back, which inflicts massive losses.
Beita residents were surprised by concrete cubes installed at the town's entrance by Israeli occupation forces accompanied by an announcement written in Arabic justifying that the move came to enforce security.
Abdulrahman Duwaikat, resident of the town, said that he is forced to go to Huwara to ride the bus that he used to wait for at the entrance of Beita town to travel to Ramallah city, which doubled his daily fare.
Aisha Abu Hamdan, a college student, said that moving through subsidiary streets and farm roads is very risky due to heavy rain and accumulated floodwater which also impose threat on the movement of small cars.
This is the fourth time Beita entrance gets closed since January 2016. The entrance was previously blocked by sand barriers under the pretext that Israeli settlers' vehicles were exposed to attacks by Molotov cocktails.
Palestinian school students in Taqoa town to the east of Bethlehem province staged a funeral procession Sunday morning for their colleague Qusai al-Emour.
The PIC reporter pointed out that the students organized a funeral march that kicked off from Taqoa Secondary School in which martyr al-Emour was a 12-grade student and headed to the martyr's home.
Students, along with the school academic and administrative staff, participated in the march which was organized for their colleague who was brutally killed by Israeli soldiers by several shots in the chest.
The PIC reporter pointed out that the students organized a funeral march that kicked off from Taqoa Secondary School in which martyr al-Emour was a 12-grade student and headed to the martyr's home.
Students, along with the school academic and administrative staff, participated in the march which was organized for their colleague who was brutally killed by Israeli soldiers by several shots in the chest.
28 jan 2017
U.S. President Donald Trump praised in an interview with Fox News the Israeli separation wall that has been the subject of controversy and numerous accusations of human rights violations.
Israel’s separation barrier is a success, Trump said while discussing his plan to erect a wall across the US-Mexico border.
Trump defended his executive order to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border by linking it to Israel’s “successful separation wall.”
"The wall is necessary," Trump said. "That’s not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation because people want protection and a wall protects. All you’ve got to do is ask Israel."
"They’ve seen something like over a 90 percent reduction in terrorist acts in that country (Israel) that they attribute to having an effective fence," Trump claimed. "If Israel can do it effectively, there’s no reason why America can’t."
Earlier Wednesday, Trump has signed directives to begin building a wall along the US border with Mexico.
Israel’s separation barrier is a success, Trump said while discussing his plan to erect a wall across the US-Mexico border.
Trump defended his executive order to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border by linking it to Israel’s “successful separation wall.”
"The wall is necessary," Trump said. "That’s not just politics, and yet it is good for the heart of the nation because people want protection and a wall protects. All you’ve got to do is ask Israel."
"They’ve seen something like over a 90 percent reduction in terrorist acts in that country (Israel) that they attribute to having an effective fence," Trump claimed. "If Israel can do it effectively, there’s no reason why America can’t."
Earlier Wednesday, Trump has signed directives to begin building a wall along the US border with Mexico.
Former member of Israeli Knesset Yair Gabai has called for the evacuation of UN headquarters in Jebal Mukaber neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem, Iroshalim Hebrew newspaper revealed.
UN headquarters, which was used as the headquarters of the British authorities in Palestine during the British Mandate, has been built on an area of 80 dunums overlooking Jabal Mukaber neighborhood.
The paper claimed that the land is owned by Israel and UN staff are secondary tenant and have no right on it.
The headquarters was used by the UN Observers following the 1967 war to monitor the truce agreement between Israel and Jordan.
Gabai strongly opposes the UN presence on the land, launching a petition calling for its evacuation.
UN headquarters, which was used as the headquarters of the British authorities in Palestine during the British Mandate, has been built on an area of 80 dunums overlooking Jabal Mukaber neighborhood.
The paper claimed that the land is owned by Israel and UN staff are secondary tenant and have no right on it.
The headquarters was used by the UN Observers following the 1967 war to monitor the truce agreement between Israel and Jordan.
Gabai strongly opposes the UN presence on the land, launching a petition calling for its evacuation.
