18 may 2011
Amnesty calls for investigation into Nakba Day deaths
A "full, impartial and independent investigation" must be launched into the Israeli military's use of force against Palestinians and Syrian Durze during Sunday protests which saw 13 killed, international rights group Amnesty International said.
Ten Palestinian refugees were killed as they commemorated the 1948 expulsion from their homes and villages in what is now Israel, another two Syrian Druze were killed by Israeli fire as they breached the border dividing the Golan Heights in a protest demanding their right to return, and one Palestinian was killed in Gaza was killed as he joined a protest commemorating those killed in the fighting that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel.
In its call for an investigation, Amnesty criticized Israel for its characterization of the events marking the Palestinian Nakba - the "catastrophe" of 1948 - "as 'riots' and attempts to 'infiltrate' into Israel illegally, and in several of the protests, demonstrators threw rocks towards Israeli troops," noting that in no accounts have Israeli officials "claimed that any protesters fired on Israeli troops."
Troops responded to the events "by firing live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, artillery shells and tear gas against the protesters," prompting serious concern from the organization, which characterized the response as one of "excessive force, killing and maiming individuals who were not posing a threat to the lives of the soldiers or others."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=388509
OIC: Nakba Day deaths a reminder of Palestine situation
Organization of the Islamic Conference secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has said that Israel's attacks on peaceful Nakba Day protesters that killed and injured many are a reminder of the injustice the Palestinians have been dealt over the past 63 years.
Israeli soldiers shot into crowds of Arab protesters at the border territories of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon and Golan Heights in Syria killing some 20 people and injuring hundreds more, some of them critically.
The shootings pose a major violation of international law, Ihsanoglu said, highlighting that the incidents took place in occupied Palestinian land as well as in the foreign countries of Lebanon and Syria.
Meanwhile, the Gaza government of prime minister Ismail Haneyya has adopted all of the martyrs who were killed in clashes that erupted on Nakba Day in and beyond Palestine's borders.
His government declared Tuesday that those killed would share the same moral and material rights as all other martyrs killed in the Palestinian cause.
http://fwd4.me/01is
Amnesty calls for investigation into Nakba Day deaths
A "full, impartial and independent investigation" must be launched into the Israeli military's use of force against Palestinians and Syrian Durze during Sunday protests which saw 13 killed, international rights group Amnesty International said.
Ten Palestinian refugees were killed as they commemorated the 1948 expulsion from their homes and villages in what is now Israel, another two Syrian Druze were killed by Israeli fire as they breached the border dividing the Golan Heights in a protest demanding their right to return, and one Palestinian was killed in Gaza was killed as he joined a protest commemorating those killed in the fighting that accompanied the creation of the state of Israel.
In its call for an investigation, Amnesty criticized Israel for its characterization of the events marking the Palestinian Nakba - the "catastrophe" of 1948 - "as 'riots' and attempts to 'infiltrate' into Israel illegally, and in several of the protests, demonstrators threw rocks towards Israeli troops," noting that in no accounts have Israeli officials "claimed that any protesters fired on Israeli troops."
Troops responded to the events "by firing live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets, artillery shells and tear gas against the protesters," prompting serious concern from the organization, which characterized the response as one of "excessive force, killing and maiming individuals who were not posing a threat to the lives of the soldiers or others."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=388509
OIC: Nakba Day deaths a reminder of Palestine situation
Organization of the Islamic Conference secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu has said that Israel's attacks on peaceful Nakba Day protesters that killed and injured many are a reminder of the injustice the Palestinians have been dealt over the past 63 years.
Israeli soldiers shot into crowds of Arab protesters at the border territories of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon and Golan Heights in Syria killing some 20 people and injuring hundreds more, some of them critically.
The shootings pose a major violation of international law, Ihsanoglu said, highlighting that the incidents took place in occupied Palestinian land as well as in the foreign countries of Lebanon and Syria.
Meanwhile, the Gaza government of prime minister Ismail Haneyya has adopted all of the martyrs who were killed in clashes that erupted on Nakba Day in and beyond Palestine's borders.
His government declared Tuesday that those killed would share the same moral and material rights as all other martyrs killed in the Palestinian cause.
http://fwd4.me/01is
16 may 2011
Arab Leaders React To al Nakba Killings
Leaders from various Arab countries have begun to react Sunday’s events around Israel and the Occupied Territories, in which at least 16 protesters were killed by Israeli forces, as well as hundreds injured. Across the West Bank and Gaza, thousands took to the street to commemorate al Nakba and demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Marches by Palestinian refugees to the Israeli border in Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria resulted in instances of protesters breaching the international borders. Israel forces responded with live gunfire resulting in many of the deaths reported.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the protests, stating that the protests were not about 1967 borders or the right of return of refugees, as stated by the protesters and organizers, but were instead meant to to challenge “the very existence of Israel”.
Netanyahu defended the actions of the Israeli military, saying that the attacks on protesters were necessary to defend Israeli sovereignty. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also defended the actions of the military, placing blame for the deaths with those who crossed the border and those who sent them. He warned that these protests are just the beginning of similar problems in the future.
Hamas spokesman Tahir al Nunu, reacting to yesterday’s events, claimed that the actions of the Israeli military showed Israel’s confusion and helplessness in the face of the wave of popular movements that have swept the Middle East. Al Nanu predicted that Sunday's events could mark a turning point for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the protesters' “precious blood will not be wasted” adding that “it was spilled for the sake of our nation's freedom”.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah resistance movement in Lebanon, also praised the actions of the protesters and predicted their right of return will be fulfilled in the near future. “Your message, loud and clear, to the enemy is that you will liberate your lands, that the fate of this entity (Israel) is demise, and that no initiatives, treaties or borders will protect it. You, the honorable, have given the Nakba new meaning”, he said. Iranian Foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi also condemned the killing of protesters by the Israeli military and called on the international community to hold it accountable.
The Lebanese Mission to the United Nations has filed a complaint against Israel, and Israel promised to do the same against Lebanon and Syria, to the UN Security Council. Lebanon claims the Israel military violated Lebanese sovereignty and fired shots into the town of Moroun al Ras near the Lebanese-Israeli border. Israel in return claims the move toward the Israeli border by protesters showed a clear disregard for Israeli sovereignty.
http://www.imemc
U.S. accuses Syria of inciting Israel border clashes
Lebanese delegation files complaint at UN after 10 people killed in border clashes; Israel's delegation plans to follow suit, with complaints against both Syria and Lebanon.
The White House on Monday accused Syria of inciting deadly border clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators, saying Damascus was trying to distract attention from its own violent crackdown on protests.
White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed regret for the loss of life in confrontations on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday but said Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders."
"We urge maximum restraint on all sides," Carney told reporters on Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to Tennessee.
Israeli troops opened fire at three separate border locations to prevent crowds of demonstrators from crossing, killing at least 13 people.
Syrian media reports said Israeli gunfire killed two people after dozens of Palestinians infiltrated the Golan Heights from Syria, along a front line that has been largely tranquil for decades.
The White House put the onus on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the violence that broke out on the Israeli-Syrian border.
Carney said the administration was "strongly opposed to the Syrian government's involvement in inciting yesterday's protests in the Golan Heights."
"Such behavior is unacceptable and does not serve as a distraction from the Syrian government's ongoing repression of demonstrators in its own country," he said.
"It seems apparent to us that this is an effort to distract attention from the legitimate expressions of protest by the Syrian people, and from the harsh crackdown that the Syrian government has perpetrated against its own people," he added.
The Obama administration has tightened sanctions on senior Syrian officials to try to pressure Damascus to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, but international human rights groups have criticized Washington for not taking stronger action.
Some Israeli officials suspect an Iranian hand in the attempted border breaches, with the help of Tehran's allies in the region: Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli delegation to the United Nations announced Monday that it would file a complaint to the UN Security Council against Syria and Lebanon regarding the Nakba Day border clashes.
The Lebanese delegation to the UN filed a complaint against Israel over the clashes, after the Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
IDF sources said, however, that both Israeli and Lebanese forces opened fire to prevent demonstrators from crossing the border.
Israeli security forces were on alert for more violence on Monday, fearing that the events of the day prior may be serve as a model for additional violence aimed toward Israel and trigger further protests for Palestinian refugees.
http://fwd4.me/01aA
Israel to complain to UN about Syria, Lebanon over Nakba Day clashes
Complaint against Syria and Lebanon's 'violation of international law' follows similar Lebanese complaint to UN against Israel.
The Israeli delegation to the United Nations announced Monday that it would file a complaint to the UN Security Council against Syria and Lebanon regarding Sunday's Nakba Day border clashes, Army Radio reported.
Israel said it wants to file a complaint against Syria and Lebanon for violating international law and violating UN Security Council resolutions when Nakba Day protesters from Syria and Lebanon clashed with IDF forces and infiltrated into Israel.
Earlier, the Lebanese delegation to the UN filed a complaint against Israel after the Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
Beirut officials called on the UN to "denounce this act of violence and Israel's disregard for Lebanese sovereignty and UN resolutions."
Two demonstrators were killed in clashes near Majdal Shams on the Syrian border and between three and 10 people were killed in Maroun a-Ras on the Lebanese border.
The Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
The Lebanese army said it was in a state of maximum alert and had coordinated with UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon "to prevent the enemy from continuing its targeting of the masses and its violation of Lebanese sovereignty".
IDF sources said, however, that both IDF and Lebanese forces opened fire to prevent demonstrators from crossing the border.
http://fwd4.me/01Z6
Arab Leaders React To al Nakba Killings
Leaders from various Arab countries have begun to react Sunday’s events around Israel and the Occupied Territories, in which at least 16 protesters were killed by Israeli forces, as well as hundreds injured. Across the West Bank and Gaza, thousands took to the street to commemorate al Nakba and demand an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Marches by Palestinian refugees to the Israeli border in Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria resulted in instances of protesters breaching the international borders. Israel forces responded with live gunfire resulting in many of the deaths reported.
In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denounced the protests, stating that the protests were not about 1967 borders or the right of return of refugees, as stated by the protesters and organizers, but were instead meant to to challenge “the very existence of Israel”.
Netanyahu defended the actions of the Israeli military, saying that the attacks on protesters were necessary to defend Israeli sovereignty. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also defended the actions of the military, placing blame for the deaths with those who crossed the border and those who sent them. He warned that these protests are just the beginning of similar problems in the future.
Hamas spokesman Tahir al Nunu, reacting to yesterday’s events, claimed that the actions of the Israeli military showed Israel’s confusion and helplessness in the face of the wave of popular movements that have swept the Middle East. Al Nanu predicted that Sunday's events could mark a turning point for the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the protesters' “precious blood will not be wasted” adding that “it was spilled for the sake of our nation's freedom”.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah resistance movement in Lebanon, also praised the actions of the protesters and predicted their right of return will be fulfilled in the near future. “Your message, loud and clear, to the enemy is that you will liberate your lands, that the fate of this entity (Israel) is demise, and that no initiatives, treaties or borders will protect it. You, the honorable, have given the Nakba new meaning”, he said. Iranian Foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi also condemned the killing of protesters by the Israeli military and called on the international community to hold it accountable.
The Lebanese Mission to the United Nations has filed a complaint against Israel, and Israel promised to do the same against Lebanon and Syria, to the UN Security Council. Lebanon claims the Israel military violated Lebanese sovereignty and fired shots into the town of Moroun al Ras near the Lebanese-Israeli border. Israel in return claims the move toward the Israeli border by protesters showed a clear disregard for Israeli sovereignty.
http://www.imemc
U.S. accuses Syria of inciting Israel border clashes
Lebanese delegation files complaint at UN after 10 people killed in border clashes; Israel's delegation plans to follow suit, with complaints against both Syria and Lebanon.
The White House on Monday accused Syria of inciting deadly border clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinian demonstrators, saying Damascus was trying to distract attention from its own violent crackdown on protests.
White House spokesman Jay Carney expressed regret for the loss of life in confrontations on Israel's frontiers with Syria, Lebanon and Gaza on Sunday but said Israel "has the right to prevent unauthorized crossing at its borders."
"We urge maximum restraint on all sides," Carney told reporters on Air Force One as President Barack Obama flew to Tennessee.
Israeli troops opened fire at three separate border locations to prevent crowds of demonstrators from crossing, killing at least 13 people.
Syrian media reports said Israeli gunfire killed two people after dozens of Palestinians infiltrated the Golan Heights from Syria, along a front line that has been largely tranquil for decades.
The White House put the onus on the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for the violence that broke out on the Israeli-Syrian border.
Carney said the administration was "strongly opposed to the Syrian government's involvement in inciting yesterday's protests in the Golan Heights."
"Such behavior is unacceptable and does not serve as a distraction from the Syrian government's ongoing repression of demonstrators in its own country," he said.
"It seems apparent to us that this is an effort to distract attention from the legitimate expressions of protest by the Syrian people, and from the harsh crackdown that the Syrian government has perpetrated against its own people," he added.
The Obama administration has tightened sanctions on senior Syrian officials to try to pressure Damascus to halt its crackdown on pro-democracy protests, but international human rights groups have criticized Washington for not taking stronger action.
Some Israeli officials suspect an Iranian hand in the attempted border breaches, with the help of Tehran's allies in the region: Syria, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza.
The Israeli delegation to the United Nations announced Monday that it would file a complaint to the UN Security Council against Syria and Lebanon regarding the Nakba Day border clashes.
The Lebanese delegation to the UN filed a complaint against Israel over the clashes, after the Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
IDF sources said, however, that both Israeli and Lebanese forces opened fire to prevent demonstrators from crossing the border.
Israeli security forces were on alert for more violence on Monday, fearing that the events of the day prior may be serve as a model for additional violence aimed toward Israel and trigger further protests for Palestinian refugees.
http://fwd4.me/01aA
Israel to complain to UN about Syria, Lebanon over Nakba Day clashes
Complaint against Syria and Lebanon's 'violation of international law' follows similar Lebanese complaint to UN against Israel.
The Israeli delegation to the United Nations announced Monday that it would file a complaint to the UN Security Council against Syria and Lebanon regarding Sunday's Nakba Day border clashes, Army Radio reported.
Israel said it wants to file a complaint against Syria and Lebanon for violating international law and violating UN Security Council resolutions when Nakba Day protesters from Syria and Lebanon clashed with IDF forces and infiltrated into Israel.
Earlier, the Lebanese delegation to the UN filed a complaint against Israel after the Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
Beirut officials called on the UN to "denounce this act of violence and Israel's disregard for Lebanese sovereignty and UN resolutions."
Two demonstrators were killed in clashes near Majdal Shams on the Syrian border and between three and 10 people were killed in Maroun a-Ras on the Lebanese border.
The Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and 112 were wounded in Maroun a-Ras when IDF troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross the border.
The Lebanese army said it was in a state of maximum alert and had coordinated with UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon "to prevent the enemy from continuing its targeting of the masses and its violation of Lebanese sovereignty".
IDF sources said, however, that both IDF and Lebanese forces opened fire to prevent demonstrators from crossing the border.
http://fwd4.me/01Z6
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As many as 14 were said killed by Israeli fire in incidents on the Syrian and Lebanese borders on Sunday, as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of the expulsion from their homes.
Two people were killed and four critically hurt by the gunfire after protesters from Syria entered the occupied Golan Heights, a Druze doctor who tended them told AFP, while other reports said four had been killed. Protesters from the Syrian Golan breached the border with the Israeli-controlled half of the plateau, prompting Israeli troops to fire in the air and use tear gas, Israeli defense sources said. A statement from Israel's military said "forces fired selectively towards |
rioters who were targeting security infrastructure and some were injured as a result."
Staff at the local medical center in the Druze border town of Majdal Shams said one of the men was shot in the head and the other in the chest. They said they treated another 20 people with light to moderate injuries.
The protesters, part of the Syrian Druze community separated from their families when Israel occupied the southern half of the Golan heights in 1967, breached the border, crossing almost a kilometer of minefields at the border zone.
The United Nations patrols the area, which was illegally annexed by Israel. Border crossings remain closed between Israel and Syria, making visits between families separated by the border almost impossible.
The border breach was called "very serious and violent" by Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Liebowitz, while Syria issued a statement condemning the fire on residents from its south, and also labeled as "criminal" shots fired toward Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying Israel bore full responsibility for the deaths.
The army accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime of "organizing" the violence as a means to divert international attention from pro-democracy protests sweeping his country.
"Syrian authorities organized this violent incident in order to divert world opinion away from what is happening in their cities," army spokeswoman Leibovitz said.
"Syria is a police state," the official added. "Demonstrators do not randomly approach the border without the prior approval of the central government."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he would make a statement on the incident at 1500 GMT.
Channel 1 television reported that its correspondent in Majdal Shams, a Druze town on the Golan, said he had come across 30-40 infiltrators in its main square, some of who said they were Palestinians from Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus.
Local religious leaders escorted a number of the outsiders to the point where they crossed the frontier and sent them back they way they had they come, through a minefield, local residents told AFP.
The army sealed off the town and its immediate surroundings and carried out house-to-house searches for infiltrators, defense sources said.
Forces fire on refugees in Lebanon protests
Israeli gunfire killed ten people and wounded 112 others at the country's border with Lebanon, a medical source in southern Lebanon told AFP, revising an earlier toll.
Thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated, a Lebanese security official said, calling for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel, and condemning their expulsion from the are in 1948 when the State of Israel was created.
An Israeli military statement said "several rioters attempted to breach the border fence and to infiltrate into Israeli territory," noting that soldiers responded with "warning shots."
The statement held the governments of Lebanon and Syria "responsible for any violence or provocation towards Israel that emanates from their respective territories."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387823
Mohamad Ahmad , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Gaber , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Hamada , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Subhya , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Abu Shalha , from Gal ElBahr refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Abu Salim 17 years old, from Al Bosrefugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Samir Al Saleh from Burg Al Shamaly refugee camp | Lebanon
Imad Abu Shakra from Ain El Helwa Palestinians refugee camp | Lebanon
Ibrahim al-Halabi
Indentity of the other estimated 16 shuhada of the Nakba Day 2011 exact names of massacred unknown
Red Crescent: 1 dead, 182 injured in Nakba protests
One Palestinian was killed, 182 injured and 149 suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a detailed report on injuries sustained by Israeli forces on Sunday.
The injuries were those treated by Red Crescent medics, and cataloged in the field, the report said, noting the highest number of injuries in the Gaza Strip.
At a demonstration in northern Gaza, a teenager was killed, 35 struck by rubber-coated bullets and another 100 hit with shrapnel, the report said, adding that a medic suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation.
Near Ramallah at the Qalandiya checkpoint and refugee camp, the report said 15 were treated by medics for rubber-coated bullet injuries, while another 120 were treated for the effects of gas inhalation. One medic also sustained a gunshot wound, the report said.
North of Ramallah at the Attara checkpoint, the report said, two were shot with live fire, 19 were injured by rubber-coated bullets, a child was burned by a tear-gas canister, and 11 others were treated for tear-gas inhalation.
In Hebron, one was treated for fractures after he was beaten by Israeli forces, the report said, adding that nine were treated for wounds from rubber-coated bullets, and 18 were treated for tear-gas inhalation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387949
Teen killed in Gaza protest marking Nakba
An unidentified 18-year-old was killed and 82 others injured by Israeli fire during a march of Palestinians in Gaza toward the separation fence and Erez border with Israel on Sunday.
The group, estimated to number almost 1,000, marched in commemoration of the Palestinian expulsion from homes and villages in 1948 that accompanied the declaration of the state of Israel. The march began in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun toward the Israeli border.
A medic told AFP that several hundred people had bypassed a Hamas checkpoint just south of the border, and came within a few hundred meters of a concrete border barrier installed by Israel near the Erez checkpoint when shots were fired.
Protesters calling for the right of return to their homes in what is now Israel, identified an Israeli patrol car, and began throwing stones and condemning Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, which is populated by mostly refugees.
Teenagers began throwing stones at an Israeli tank, which opened fire towards them.
Medics told Ma'an that at least 82 demonstrators were injured by artillery shells and gunfire. The injured were mostly children, and some were critically injured, medical officials said. One journalist was also injured. They were taken by ambulances to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
The day, known as Yom An-Nakba in Arabic, commemorates the "Day of Catastrophe," when the state of Israel was created, turning an estimated 800,000 Palestinians into refugees.
Most of the people who fled to the Gaza Strip in 1948 were from the city of Jaffa, south of what is now Tel Aviv, and the towns and villages between Jaffa and Gaza City, as well as from areas in Beersheba and the Negev.
Estimates from the UN's refugee agency said some 200,000 refugees fled to the Gaza Strip. The refugee population now numbers 1.1 million there, three quarters of the population.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387746
8 said dead on Syrian, Lebanese borders by Israeli fire
As many as eight were said killed by Israeli fire in incidents on the Syrian and Lebanese borders on Sunday, as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of the expulsion from their homes.
Two people were killed and four critically hurt by the gunfire after protesters from Syria entered the occupied Golan Heights, a Druze doctor who tended them told AFP.
Protesters from the Syrian Golan breached the border with the Israeli-controlled half of the plateau, prompting Israeli troops to fire in the air and use tear gas, Israeli defense sources said.
A statement from Israel's military said "forces fired selectively towards rioters who were targeting security infrastructure and some were injured as a result."
The protesters, part of the Syrian Druze community separated from their families when Israel occupied the southern half of the Golan heights in 1967, breached the border, crossing almost a kilometer of minefields at the border zone.
The United Nations patrols the area, which was illegally annexed by Israel. Border crossings remain closed between Israel and Syria, making visits between families separated by the border almost impossible.
The border breach was called "very serious and violent" by Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Liebowitz, while Syria issued a statement condemning the fire on residents from its south, and also labeled as "criminal" shots fired toward Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying Israel bore full responsibility for the deaths.
Forces fire on refugees in Lebanon protests
Israeli gunfire killed six people and wounded 71 others at the country's border with Lebanon, a medical source in southern Lebanon told AFP.
Thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated, a Lebanese security official said, calling for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel, and condemning their expulsion from the are in 1948 when the State of Israel was created.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387823
Israel kills protesters on catastrophe day
Israeli troops have launched attacks on many rallies held across the Middle East in protest at the establishment of the Israeli regime 63 years ago, killing dozens of people.
On Sunday, the demonstrators gathered in different cities across the Middle East to remember the May 15, 1948 occupation of Palestine, known as the Nakba Day or day of the catastrophe.
The manufactured existence, enabled by large-scale offensives, forced more than 800,000 of 1.4 million Palestinians out of their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab nations as well as many other countries in the world.
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military killed two protesters, including a Palestinian teenager, and injuring at least 65 others, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Israeli Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter planes flew over the demonstrators, whereas troops fired tank shells near marching protesters.
Troops reportedly open fire on Gazans marching on Erez border crossing the coastal strip's northern border with Israel.
A journalist suffered critical injury from Israeli fire in the northern city of Beit Hanoun.
Two Palestinians died and scores were wounded by Tel Aviv fire in the occupied West Bank. The protesters there were calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and aggression as well as the release of all Palestinian prisoners who number around 9,000.
A report said one person had been killed and 150 hurt in the Qalandiya village near the city of Ramallah in central West Bank. The military also mowed down five protesters in south Lebanon, injuring another 30.
The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged Palestinians to carry on with their resistance against the Tel Aviv regime. He also expressed hope that Palestinians would one day return to their homes and homeland.
The Palestinian people know what their path is. They know the path to liberation and to resolving the conflict with the occupation, which can only be done under the banner of Islam. The struggle for freedom cannot happen unless this requirement mentioned in the Qur'an is achieved, he said.
In Syria's Golan Heights, at least 12 protesters were killed and 30 wounded by Israeli military fire. In Lebanon, Israeli troops killed at least 5 people, injuring another.
http://networkedblogs.com/hT2yK
Deadly clash on border; IDF shoots Syrian infiltrators
Shooting incident reported at Druze community of Majdal Shams on Golan Heights; IDF says it fired at Syrian infiltrators, at least four killed. Magan David Adom ambulance service says 10-20 people hurt in incident.
10 to 20 people were hurt in a shooting incident in the northern Israel community of Majdal Shams Sunday, Magen David Adom ambulance service officials said.
The IDF says it opened fire at infiltrators along Syrian border killing four people, the Associated Press reported. MDA said three Israelis were lightly hurt in the incident.
Dozens of ambulances rushed to the area, with village residents saying they could hear the fire for long minutes. Security and emergency forces are operating cautiously at the site of the incident, where many landmines have been planted in the past.
The IDF said that the incident occurred at two sites in the area. Military officials said the IDF was using "all means" in order to keep infiltrators out of Israel. However, zones of Syrians were apparently able to enter Majdal Shams.
Initial reports said pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to break through the northern border with Syria shot - it was not immediately clear by whom - as they tried to enter Israeli-controlled territory.
Earlier in they day, some 30 protestors on the Syrian side approached the border and apparently attempted to damage the border fence. An IDF force was dispatched to the site and deployed along the border in an effort to prevent demonstrators from crossing into Israel.
Meanwhile, thousands of Lebanese citizens gathered at the Marun a-Ras boardwalk near Moshav Avivim to protest on "Nakba Day." Lebanese Army forces pushed them away from the border by firing warning shots in the air.
Security forces near the northern border have been on high alert throughout the day. IDF and police forces joined by Magen David Adom emergency services were deployed in the region early Sunday around. With the help of UNIFIL, IDF officials sent messages to the Lebanese army demanding that no Israeli infrastructure in the area be damaged, including the border fence.
IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkot declared a northern road connecting various area communities as a "closed military zone"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068829,00.htm
Staff at the local medical center in the Druze border town of Majdal Shams said one of the men was shot in the head and the other in the chest. They said they treated another 20 people with light to moderate injuries.
The protesters, part of the Syrian Druze community separated from their families when Israel occupied the southern half of the Golan heights in 1967, breached the border, crossing almost a kilometer of minefields at the border zone.
The United Nations patrols the area, which was illegally annexed by Israel. Border crossings remain closed between Israel and Syria, making visits between families separated by the border almost impossible.
The border breach was called "very serious and violent" by Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Liebowitz, while Syria issued a statement condemning the fire on residents from its south, and also labeled as "criminal" shots fired toward Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying Israel bore full responsibility for the deaths.
The army accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime of "organizing" the violence as a means to divert international attention from pro-democracy protests sweeping his country.
"Syrian authorities organized this violent incident in order to divert world opinion away from what is happening in their cities," army spokeswoman Leibovitz said.
"Syria is a police state," the official added. "Demonstrators do not randomly approach the border without the prior approval of the central government."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he would make a statement on the incident at 1500 GMT.
Channel 1 television reported that its correspondent in Majdal Shams, a Druze town on the Golan, said he had come across 30-40 infiltrators in its main square, some of who said they were Palestinians from Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus.
Local religious leaders escorted a number of the outsiders to the point where they crossed the frontier and sent them back they way they had they come, through a minefield, local residents told AFP.
The army sealed off the town and its immediate surroundings and carried out house-to-house searches for infiltrators, defense sources said.
Forces fire on refugees in Lebanon protests
Israeli gunfire killed ten people and wounded 112 others at the country's border with Lebanon, a medical source in southern Lebanon told AFP, revising an earlier toll.
Thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated, a Lebanese security official said, calling for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel, and condemning their expulsion from the are in 1948 when the State of Israel was created.
An Israeli military statement said "several rioters attempted to breach the border fence and to infiltrate into Israeli territory," noting that soldiers responded with "warning shots."
The statement held the governments of Lebanon and Syria "responsible for any violence or provocation towards Israel that emanates from their respective territories."
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387823
Mohamad Ahmad , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Gaber , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Hamada , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Subhya , from Ain Al Helwa refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Abu Shalha , from Gal ElBahr refugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Abu Salim 17 years old, from Al Bosrefugee camp | Lebanon
Mohamad Samir Al Saleh from Burg Al Shamaly refugee camp | Lebanon
Imad Abu Shakra from Ain El Helwa Palestinians refugee camp | Lebanon
Ibrahim al-Halabi
Indentity of the other estimated 16 shuhada of the Nakba Day 2011 exact names of massacred unknown
Red Crescent: 1 dead, 182 injured in Nakba protests
One Palestinian was killed, 182 injured and 149 suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation, the Palestinian Red Crescent said in a detailed report on injuries sustained by Israeli forces on Sunday.
The injuries were those treated by Red Crescent medics, and cataloged in the field, the report said, noting the highest number of injuries in the Gaza Strip.
At a demonstration in northern Gaza, a teenager was killed, 35 struck by rubber-coated bullets and another 100 hit with shrapnel, the report said, adding that a medic suffered the effects of tear-gas inhalation.
Near Ramallah at the Qalandiya checkpoint and refugee camp, the report said 15 were treated by medics for rubber-coated bullet injuries, while another 120 were treated for the effects of gas inhalation. One medic also sustained a gunshot wound, the report said.
North of Ramallah at the Attara checkpoint, the report said, two were shot with live fire, 19 were injured by rubber-coated bullets, a child was burned by a tear-gas canister, and 11 others were treated for tear-gas inhalation.
In Hebron, one was treated for fractures after he was beaten by Israeli forces, the report said, adding that nine were treated for wounds from rubber-coated bullets, and 18 were treated for tear-gas inhalation.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387949
Teen killed in Gaza protest marking Nakba
An unidentified 18-year-old was killed and 82 others injured by Israeli fire during a march of Palestinians in Gaza toward the separation fence and Erez border with Israel on Sunday.
The group, estimated to number almost 1,000, marched in commemoration of the Palestinian expulsion from homes and villages in 1948 that accompanied the declaration of the state of Israel. The march began in the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun toward the Israeli border.
A medic told AFP that several hundred people had bypassed a Hamas checkpoint just south of the border, and came within a few hundred meters of a concrete border barrier installed by Israel near the Erez checkpoint when shots were fired.
Protesters calling for the right of return to their homes in what is now Israel, identified an Israeli patrol car, and began throwing stones and condemning Israel's continued siege on the coastal enclave, which is populated by mostly refugees.
Teenagers began throwing stones at an Israeli tank, which opened fire towards them.
Medics told Ma'an that at least 82 demonstrators were injured by artillery shells and gunfire. The injured were mostly children, and some were critically injured, medical officials said. One journalist was also injured. They were taken by ambulances to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip.
The day, known as Yom An-Nakba in Arabic, commemorates the "Day of Catastrophe," when the state of Israel was created, turning an estimated 800,000 Palestinians into refugees.
Most of the people who fled to the Gaza Strip in 1948 were from the city of Jaffa, south of what is now Tel Aviv, and the towns and villages between Jaffa and Gaza City, as well as from areas in Beersheba and the Negev.
Estimates from the UN's refugee agency said some 200,000 refugees fled to the Gaza Strip. The refugee population now numbers 1.1 million there, three quarters of the population.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387746
8 said dead on Syrian, Lebanese borders by Israeli fire
As many as eight were said killed by Israeli fire in incidents on the Syrian and Lebanese borders on Sunday, as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of the expulsion from their homes.
Two people were killed and four critically hurt by the gunfire after protesters from Syria entered the occupied Golan Heights, a Druze doctor who tended them told AFP.
Protesters from the Syrian Golan breached the border with the Israeli-controlled half of the plateau, prompting Israeli troops to fire in the air and use tear gas, Israeli defense sources said.
A statement from Israel's military said "forces fired selectively towards rioters who were targeting security infrastructure and some were injured as a result."
The protesters, part of the Syrian Druze community separated from their families when Israel occupied the southern half of the Golan heights in 1967, breached the border, crossing almost a kilometer of minefields at the border zone.
The United Nations patrols the area, which was illegally annexed by Israel. Border crossings remain closed between Israel and Syria, making visits between families separated by the border almost impossible.
The border breach was called "very serious and violent" by Israeli army spokeswoman Avital Liebowitz, while Syria issued a statement condemning the fire on residents from its south, and also labeled as "criminal" shots fired toward Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, saying Israel bore full responsibility for the deaths.
Forces fire on refugees in Lebanon protests
Israeli gunfire killed six people and wounded 71 others at the country's border with Lebanon, a medical source in southern Lebanon told AFP.
Thousands of mainly Palestinian refugees demonstrated, a Lebanese security official said, calling for the right to return to their homes in what is now Israel, and condemning their expulsion from the are in 1948 when the State of Israel was created.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=387823
Israel kills protesters on catastrophe day
Israeli troops have launched attacks on many rallies held across the Middle East in protest at the establishment of the Israeli regime 63 years ago, killing dozens of people.
On Sunday, the demonstrators gathered in different cities across the Middle East to remember the May 15, 1948 occupation of Palestine, known as the Nakba Day or day of the catastrophe.
The manufactured existence, enabled by large-scale offensives, forced more than 800,000 of 1.4 million Palestinians out of their homeland to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, neighboring Arab nations as well as many other countries in the world.
In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military killed two protesters, including a Palestinian teenager, and injuring at least 65 others, a Press TV correspondent reported.
Israeli Apache helicopters and F-16 fighter planes flew over the demonstrators, whereas troops fired tank shells near marching protesters.
Troops reportedly open fire on Gazans marching on Erez border crossing the coastal strip's northern border with Israel.
A journalist suffered critical injury from Israeli fire in the northern city of Beit Hanoun.
Two Palestinians died and scores were wounded by Tel Aviv fire in the occupied West Bank. The protesters there were calling for an end to the Israeli occupation and aggression as well as the release of all Palestinian prisoners who number around 9,000.
A report said one person had been killed and 150 hurt in the Qalandiya village near the city of Ramallah in central West Bank. The military also mowed down five protesters in south Lebanon, injuring another 30.
The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh urged Palestinians to carry on with their resistance against the Tel Aviv regime. He also expressed hope that Palestinians would one day return to their homes and homeland.
The Palestinian people know what their path is. They know the path to liberation and to resolving the conflict with the occupation, which can only be done under the banner of Islam. The struggle for freedom cannot happen unless this requirement mentioned in the Qur'an is achieved, he said.
In Syria's Golan Heights, at least 12 protesters were killed and 30 wounded by Israeli military fire. In Lebanon, Israeli troops killed at least 5 people, injuring another.
http://networkedblogs.com/hT2yK
Deadly clash on border; IDF shoots Syrian infiltrators
Shooting incident reported at Druze community of Majdal Shams on Golan Heights; IDF says it fired at Syrian infiltrators, at least four killed. Magan David Adom ambulance service says 10-20 people hurt in incident.
10 to 20 people were hurt in a shooting incident in the northern Israel community of Majdal Shams Sunday, Magen David Adom ambulance service officials said.
The IDF says it opened fire at infiltrators along Syrian border killing four people, the Associated Press reported. MDA said three Israelis were lightly hurt in the incident.
Dozens of ambulances rushed to the area, with village residents saying they could hear the fire for long minutes. Security and emergency forces are operating cautiously at the site of the incident, where many landmines have been planted in the past.
The IDF said that the incident occurred at two sites in the area. Military officials said the IDF was using "all means" in order to keep infiltrators out of Israel. However, zones of Syrians were apparently able to enter Majdal Shams.
Initial reports said pro-Palestinian demonstrators who tried to break through the northern border with Syria shot - it was not immediately clear by whom - as they tried to enter Israeli-controlled territory.
Earlier in they day, some 30 protestors on the Syrian side approached the border and apparently attempted to damage the border fence. An IDF force was dispatched to the site and deployed along the border in an effort to prevent demonstrators from crossing into Israel.
Meanwhile, thousands of Lebanese citizens gathered at the Marun a-Ras boardwalk near Moshav Avivim to protest on "Nakba Day." Lebanese Army forces pushed them away from the border by firing warning shots in the air.
Security forces near the northern border have been on high alert throughout the day. IDF and police forces joined by Magen David Adom emergency services were deployed in the region early Sunday around. With the help of UNIFIL, IDF officials sent messages to the Lebanese army demanding that no Israeli infrastructure in the area be damaged, including the border fence.
IDF Northern Command Chief Gadi Eisenkot declared a northern road connecting various area communities as a "closed military zone"
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4068829,00.htm
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Khamis Habib 17
Location: 50 metres from Israeli border, Gaza Nature of incident: Killed by artillery shell in North Gaza On 15 May 2011, a 17-year-old boy with an intellectual disability was killed in Gaza by artillery shells fired during demonstrations commemorating Nakba day. Khamis (17) lived with his parents and six siblings in Jabalia camp in northern Gaza. ‘My son Khamis was born with an intellectual disability,’ Khamis’s father, Salah, explains. ‘Since he was a little child, he wasn’t allowed to go far from the house because he would get lost if he went beyond half a kilometre ... I loved him very much. I used to play with him most of the time.’ On 15 May 2011, Salah went down to the garage to work. ‘Khamis came down with me and sat with me for a short time, not more than 15 minutes... He left and I thought he was going upstairs to the house.’ At noon, Salah started to look for Khamis but could not find him. ‘There were lots of people in the street because of the commemorations to mark Nakba day. The mosques were announcing the events through their loudspeakers. Also, there were buses about 500 metres from our house taking people to the demonstrations. I started worrying that he might have gone to the commemorations with strangers... and I was very scared he might get lost.’ Salah headed to Erez border crossing with Israel, where protests were being held, but couldn’t find Khamis. After reporting to the police in |
Jabalia and Gaza City, Salah went home to continue searching in his neighbourhood. ‘At around 8:00 pm,’ Salah recalls, ‘I heard on the news that an unknown martyr had been killed near the border area of Nahal Oz, east of Gaza city, and that he had been transferred to Shifa Hospital.’ Salah rushed to Shifa Hospital and found his son in the morgue. ‘It was Khamis. There was a small hole in his head, and a big hole in his chest and his left fingers were wounded. I thought from his wounds that he had been shot dead. I cried a lot.’
According to the coroner’s report, Khamis died as a result of shrapnel wounds from an artillery shell. The report states that ‘gunshots don’t cause such holes unless there are exit wounds, which is not the case with Khamis. Also, the entry wound of a gunshot is narrow, not big as in the case of Khamis.’
Speaking to DCi, Salah says: ‘Why was Khamis killed? He had an intellectual disability and was small. He looked like a small child. Even though he was 17, people thought he was 13 or 14. The Israeli occupation army killed him, but I don’t know why.’ The ambulance driver testified that he had found Khamis 50 metres from the border, eight kilometres from his home.
According to the UN, ‘Israeli forces injured 204 Palestinians, including at least 60 children, the majority of them in demonstrations commemorating the 63rd anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as the 1948 Nakba.’
http://fwd4.me/0koM
Khamis Salah Mesleh Habeeb, 17 from al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. In a statement to a PCHR field worker, Adham Abu Selmiyah, Spokesperson of the Emergency Department, said that they had received a phone call from residents of Nahal Oz area, who stated there was a body near the border fence.
Coordination was made through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and an ambulance headed to the area where the medical crew recovered the body of Habeeb at a distance of 300 meters to the west of Nahal Oz crossing.
The body was transported to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to forensic sources at Shifa Hospital, Habeeb was wounded by shrapnel in the chest and the head from an artillery shell fired at him. He was killed immediately as a result of these wounds.
It should be noted that Habeeb suffered from a mental disability.
Israeli troops kill Palestinian in Gaza
Palestinian youths clash with Israeli troops in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) as heavy clashes broke out across the West Bank while Palestinians mourned on May 15, 2011.
Israeli military forces have shot dead a Palestinian and injured ten others in the Gaza Strip as thousands of Palestinians staged protests to mark the anniversary of Nakba Day.
Israeli troops fired tank shells near protest march in Gaza and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian and wounded ten others, a Press TV correspondent reported Sunday.
Meanwhile, five Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as heavy clashes are reported from the village of Qalandiya near Ramallah.
Nakba Day, or the day of catastrophe, marks the 63rd anniversary of the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli army and the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their land in 1948.
The Israeli soldiers wiped nearly 500 Palestinian villages and towns off the map during the offensive, leaving the Palestinian refugees dreaming of an eventual return to their homeland more than six decades later.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/180008.html
According to the coroner’s report, Khamis died as a result of shrapnel wounds from an artillery shell. The report states that ‘gunshots don’t cause such holes unless there are exit wounds, which is not the case with Khamis. Also, the entry wound of a gunshot is narrow, not big as in the case of Khamis.’
Speaking to DCi, Salah says: ‘Why was Khamis killed? He had an intellectual disability and was small. He looked like a small child. Even though he was 17, people thought he was 13 or 14. The Israeli occupation army killed him, but I don’t know why.’ The ambulance driver testified that he had found Khamis 50 metres from the border, eight kilometres from his home.
According to the UN, ‘Israeli forces injured 204 Palestinians, including at least 60 children, the majority of them in demonstrations commemorating the 63rd anniversary of what Palestinians refer to as the 1948 Nakba.’
http://fwd4.me/0koM
Khamis Salah Mesleh Habeeb, 17 from al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City. In a statement to a PCHR field worker, Adham Abu Selmiyah, Spokesperson of the Emergency Department, said that they had received a phone call from residents of Nahal Oz area, who stated there was a body near the border fence.
Coordination was made through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and an ambulance headed to the area where the medical crew recovered the body of Habeeb at a distance of 300 meters to the west of Nahal Oz crossing.
The body was transported to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. According to forensic sources at Shifa Hospital, Habeeb was wounded by shrapnel in the chest and the head from an artillery shell fired at him. He was killed immediately as a result of these wounds.
It should be noted that Habeeb suffered from a mental disability.
Israeli troops kill Palestinian in Gaza
Palestinian youths clash with Israeli troops in the city of al-Khalil (Hebron) as heavy clashes broke out across the West Bank while Palestinians mourned on May 15, 2011.
Israeli military forces have shot dead a Palestinian and injured ten others in the Gaza Strip as thousands of Palestinians staged protests to mark the anniversary of Nakba Day.
Israeli troops fired tank shells near protest march in Gaza and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian and wounded ten others, a Press TV correspondent reported Sunday.
Meanwhile, five Palestinians were injured in clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Ramallah, as heavy clashes are reported from the village of Qalandiya near Ramallah.
Nakba Day, or the day of catastrophe, marks the 63rd anniversary of the occupation of Palestine by the Israeli army and the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their land in 1948.
The Israeli soldiers wiped nearly 500 Palestinian villages and towns off the map during the offensive, leaving the Palestinian refugees dreaming of an eventual return to their homeland more than six decades later.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/180008.html
