GAZA (Ma’an) — Israeli fighter jets attacked a target in the Gaza Strip early Thursday morning after a missile fired from the strip hit an open area near the town of Ashkelon in the western Negev, an Israeli army spokesperson told Ma’an. No injuries or damages were reported in Israel and have yet to be confirmed in the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli spokesperson could not give any information regarding the location of the airstrike in Gaza, only that the target was “terror infrastructure.”
On June 24 a similar exchange took place between the enclave and Israel.
The exchanges come as Israel and Hamas have allegedly been holding indirect talks for cementing a long-term truce in the Gaza Strip, Hamas sources said last month.While an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect on Aug. 26, ending a nearly 50-day war between the two sides, pledges to resume follow-up talks regarding longer term relations were delayed several times and never formally resumed.The conflict left over 2,200 Palestinians dead, the majority civilians, and 73 on the Israeli side, most of them soldiers.It also caused heavy damage to Gaza’s infrastructure and damaged more than 160,000 homes.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — Israeli naval forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen in several locations off the coast of the Gaza Strip with no injuries reported, witnesses said. Fishermen said their fishing boats came under fire off the coast of al-Waha northwest of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip. Separately, Israeli forces fired at Gaza fishermen off the coast of Sudaniyya northwest of Gaza City, as well as off the coast near Sheikh Ijlein in the central Gaza Strip.No injuries were reported.
An Israeli army spokesperson said that Israeli forces fired warning shots into the air after the boats had “deviated from the designated fishing zone,” but was unable to elaborate on how far from shore the vessels were at the time of the incident.Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire on Palestinian fisherman and farmers since the ceasefire agreement signed Aug. 26, 2014 that ended a devastating 50-day Israeli military offensive against the Gaza Strip.In May alone, there were a total of 51 incidents of shootings, incursions into the coastal enclave, and arrests, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.This included 41 shootings, which left nine injured, including one minor.The attacks come despite Israeli promises at the end of the ceasefire to ease restrictions on Palestinian access to both the sea and the border region near the “security buffer zone.”
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) — The Palestinian phone company Jawwal on Sunday reopened its offices and showrooms across the Gaza Strip less than a week after they were closed by Hamas over accusations of tax dodging.Official sources told Ma’an that Ismail Jabir, the attorney-general for the coastal enclave’s de facto leader Hamas, had given orders that Jawwal reopen.They said that the decision came after an agreement was reached between Hamas and Jawwal, although no further details were given.Hamas security forces shut down Jawwal’s offices and showrooms last Tuesday on orders from Jabir for allegedly dodging taxes.An executive from Jawwal, one of the principle telecoms providers in the occupied Palestinian territories, insisted that “the company is not avoiding any of its (payment) commitments.”However, business analyst Omar Shaaban said it was likely Jawwal was paying taxes to the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority and not the Hamas authorities in Gaza.Ammar al-Iker, executive director of the Palestinian Telecommunication Company, which owns Jawwal, said that the company followed lawful procedures instituted by the PA for companies in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, including tax obligations.The closure could have resulted in the cessation of all mobile phone services in Gaza, with few alternatives to the services provided by Jawwal.The PA slammed the closure as “aggravating division” and “a flagrant violation of Palestinian law.”
Hamas closes Jawwal Mobile HQ in Gaza (only mobile provider here). PalTel land line/internet closes offices in protest of closure.
Extremists Spray Paint “Death To Arabs” Racist Graffiti On Two Palestinian Schools, Wall
Anti-Arab, racist graffiti were spray-painted in an area near Beit Safafa, a small Arab neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem, according to an Israeli police report.
Israeli Occupation To Confiscate Private Palestinian Land In al-Isawiya, East Jerusalem
Officers of the Israeli municipal council of Jerusalem on Monday posted confiscation orders on vast areas of private Palestinian land in the East Jerusalem town of al-Isawiya, says a local committee member.
THE HAGUE (AFP) — The Palestinian Authority on Thursday presented the first batch of evidence to the International Criminal Court in support of its campaign to have Israel investigated for alleged war crimes.”The state of Palestine has pledged to cooperate with the court including by providing it with relevant information and it is fulfilling its pledge today,” Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki told journalists after leaving the court.”The information provided by the state of Palestine make a compelling case for the prompt opening of an investigation,” Malki added.ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in January launched a preliminary probe to see whether there was enough evidence for a full-blown war crimes investigation into last year’s conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.The documents handed over on Thursday consist of two files: one about alleged Israeli crimes committed in Gaza during the 50-day war in July and August last year that killed over 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and 73 Israelis, mostly soldiers.The other file deals with Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including “information about the issue of Palestinian prisoners,” the Palestinian mission in The Hague said. “Achieving justice is essential for the Palestinian victims, dead and alive,” said Malki. “Palestine has chosen to seek justice not vengeance, this is why we are here today.”
The Foreign Minister of the Palestinian Authority, Riyad al-Maliki, leaves the International Criminal Court in The Hague, on June 25, 2015. ANP/AFP/Robin Van Lonkhuijsen)
The move is part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering by the Palestinian leadership, who has grown frustrated with consecutive failures to end the nearly fifty-year Israeli occupation and creating their own independent state.Bensouda warned in May that both sides could face war crimes charges in the case, which has been vehemently opposed by Israel. Israel is not a signatory of the statute that established the court. Palestine ratified the ICC’s statutes in January.The PA’s submission of evidence comes three days after the UN Commission of Inquiry announced it had gathered “credible allegations” that both sides had committed war crimes during the conflict, which killed more than 2,140 Palestinians, most of them civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers.
The report decried the “huge firepower” used in Gaza, with Israel launching more than 6,000 airstrikes and firing 50,000 artillery shells during the 51-day operation.
It also criticized the “indiscriminate” firing of thousands of rockets and mortar rounds at Israel, which it said appeared to be have been intended to “spread terror” among Israeli civilians.Earlier this year, as the Palestinians were putting their accession to the ICC in motion, president Mahmoud Abbas sent documents to the court authorizing the prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes in the Palestinian territories since June 13, 2014.Among the more controversial events of the Gaza war was Israel’s bombing of UN schools being used as shelters for the displaced.Israel said it was forced to carry out the strikes, claiming Hamas used them to store weapons or fire rockets at Israel.The ICC, set up in 2002, is the world’s only permanent independent body to try the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
GAZA, June 24, 2015 (WAFA) – Israeli warplanes targeted a farmland in the town of Beit Hanoun to the north of the besieged Gaza Strip with at least one missile on Wednesday before dawn, reported local media sources and witnesses.
There were no reports of casualties in the aerial attack, which came only hours after Israeli media outlets said a projectile, which was fired from Gaza, landed near the seaport city of Asqalan. No injuries were reported however.
In the summer of 2014, Israel launched a relentless onslaught on Gaza, which claimed the lives of about 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and left more than 10,000 injured. Hundreds of thousands others remain displaced and live in makeshift caravans or in UNRWA-run schools.
GAZA CITY (Ma’an) – Worshipers from the Gaza Strip will be barred from travelling to Jerusalem for prayer in the Al-Aqsa mosque this week after rocket fire from Gaza, the coordinator of Israeli government activities in the Palestinian territory said Wednesday.The announcement came after rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit an open area near the town of Ashkelon in the western Negev during the early hours of Wednesday, causing no damage or casualties.The 500 men and women scheduled to leave the strip Thursday and Friday will not be allowed to travel because “the security conditions around the crossing aren’t stable,” Yoav Mordechai said, adding that the recent rocket fire landed “not far from the Erez crossing” on the Gaza-Israel border.Mordechai said that Israeli authorities would reevaluate the security conditions next week in order to determine future travel by Gazans into Jerusalem, emphasizing the role that Gaza’s current governing power Hamas plays in the decision.“Hamas is responsible for depriving worshipers of prayer in Al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan,” Mordechai said.“I am not saying that Hamas fired the missile, but Hamas is responsible because it controls the Gaza Strip.”A round of sporadic rocket fire from the Gaza Strip towards Israel this month has been claimed by smaller political groups allegedly aiming to undermine Hamas’ control of the strip. Hamas has attempted to vamp down on such groups who are reportedly growing more active.The rocket fire comes despite the August 26 ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hamas last summer that ended a devastating war inside of the Gaza Strip.Meanwhile, near daily Israeli incursions continue into the coastal enclave that have left three Palestinians dead and dozens injured since September.’Relaxed’ restrictionsWednesday’s travel restrictions come as a major blow to Palestinians planning to travel to the mosque compound in East Jerusalem during the holy month of Ramadan.While Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are subject to strict limitations on movement into East Jerusalem, part of the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel has historically made gestures ahead of and during Ramadan, partially easing restrictions.In response to this year’s good-will gesture, the director of the Palestinian Ministry of Endowment Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib told Ma’an that every Palestinian Muslim has the right to pray at the holy site during Ramadan, criticizing heavy Israeli restrictions on access.“All the people of Palestine have the right to access the city and pray in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in full freedom without the need for permits,” he said.Several Palestinians have been detained or barred from the compound by Israeli forces this week, and heavy security has been seen around Jerusalem’s old city since the start of Ramadan.Israeli easing of restrictions came on the condition that security wasn’t “breached.”After an Israeli hiker was killed in the occupied West Bank and an Israeli policeman was stabbed in East Jerusalem last week, Israel on Sunday revoked entry permits for residents of the West Bank village home to the Palestinian who had stabbed the policeman.It also cancelled permission for 500 West Bank Palestinians to fly via Israel’s Ben Gurion airport.
UN Report: ‘War crimes’ Likely By both Sides In 2014 War On Gaza
Both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during last year’s Gaza war, a widely anticipated United Nations report said Monday, decrying “unprecedented” devastation and human suffering.The Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict announced it had gathered “substantial information pointing to the possible commission of war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian armed groups.”
Powerful Article: In Israel, We Walk Amongst Killers And Torturers
The harassment of the Al-Midan Theater stems from envy of our subjects’ ability to overcome oppression, to think and create, in defiance of our image of them as inferior.
Israeli Rights Group Blasts Occupation Army For Failing To Protect Palestinians From Extremist War Crime ‘Settlers’
A recent report by the human rights organization Yesh Din claims that the Israel Defense Forces does not do enough to protect Palestinians in the West Bank. The study focused on the practice of what it terms “standing idly by,” of Israeli soldiers not moving to protect civilians from violence by Jewish settlers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked the French government’s initiative to promote a United Nations Security Council resolution attempting to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, reported the Israeli daily Haartez.
Third Freedom Flotilla To Try Breaking Siege Sails To Gaza
Freedom Flotilla III, a third initiative organized by international pro-Palestine activists to break Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip for eight years, is expected to set off from Greece to the coastal enclave within hours, said Isam Yousef, coordinator of the Miles of Smiles convoys.
Israeli Extremists Spray Racist Graffiti And Attack Palestinians
Israeli extremists Sunday sprayed anti-Arab graffiti on the walls running along a street in Tabariya, while settlers residing in illegal settlements in central Hebron attacked Palestinians with rocks, according to WAFA correspondent.
Palestinians Rip Up Israeli Permits: “I do not need your permission to enter my own land”
Following the overwhelming operative in Jerusalem Sunday where a Palestinian teenager was shot after stabbing Israeli border guard, Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled permissions to enter “Israel” for the people of Si’ir village near Hebron and 500 others.
GENEVA (AFP) — Both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during last year’s Gaza war, a widely anticipated United Nations report said Monday, decrying “unprecedented” devastation and human suffering.The Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict announced it had gathered “substantial information pointing to the possible commission of war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian armed groups.”
On Jan. 16 the ICC announced “a preliminary examination” into Israel’s actions over a period including the Gaza war in which over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, mainly civilians.On the Israeli side 73 people were killed, 67 whom were soldiers.On April 1, the PLO acceded to the ICC with the goal of trying Israeli leaders over alleged abuses in the Gaza war and alleged crimes relating to the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.But the Israeli military has expressed confidence that its own internal probes will be sufficient to head off action by the Hague-based court.
On June 11, the Israeli army said that it was dropping proceedings over a July 16 bombing of a Gaza beach where four children were killed during last summer’s war.
Cousins Ahed Atef Bakr and Zakaria Ahed Bakr, both aged 10, nine-year-old Mohamed Ramez Bakr and 11-year-old Ismail Mohamed Bakr were playing on the beach in Gaza City when they were hit in strikes witnessed by journalists staying at a beachfront hotel.
The death of the four boys was well documented and brought international outcry against policies that allegedly enabled the Israeli military to kill civilians.
Israeli Occupation High Court Rules To Seal Room Off In Palestinian Home
he Israeli High Court on Tuesday ruled that a room in the home of a Palestinian family residing in the al-Thuri neighborhood of Jerusalem must be sealed, family members said.
Palestinian Prime Minister Hamdallah Tenders Resignation- Unclear If It was Accepted By The President
A source in the central committee of Fatah said that President Mahmoud Abbas may offer Hamas a share in the next government which will be formed as a national and factional Palestinian government.
War Crime: Israeli Occupation Prisons’ Service to Stop Providing Prisoners With Medication
Minister of detainees and ex-detainees affairs committee, Issa Qaraqe, Wednesday said that the Israeli prisons’ administration has decided to stop providing Palestinian prisoners with medication, under the pretext of an allegedly insufficient budget.
Occupied: Headlines From Palestine 