Tony Blair announced his intention to visit the region next week to revive the peace process while the Israeli army attack the Gaza strip and the west Bank, killing 14 Palestinians this week, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine

Let's begin our weekly report with news of nonviolent action in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem against the wall and settlements. IMEMC's George Rishmawi has more:

Bethlehem

On Friday midday, some 100 unarmed protestors congregated in the village of Al Walaja, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. Local villagers met with Israeli and international peace activists, and communally held prayers together. Al Walaja, like other Palestinian villages in the outskirts of Bethlehem, stands to lose some 50% of its land to make way for expanding Israeli settlements, the route of the annexation wall and the construction of a new settlers-only bypass road.

The protestors marched a short distance, close to the Christian Cremisan Monastery, which has recently had dozens of olive trees destroyed, and much of its lands confiscated by the Israeli military, where a force of 50 Israeli soldiers were waiting. The non-violent demonstration rallied nearby, on a local Palestinian street, while the soldiers watched at a distance from a nearby hillside.

After one incident where an Israeli jeep passed close by, provoking protestors, and detonating two stun grenades in the middle of the crowd, the demonstrators listened to speeches given by local community leaders, detailing the nature of the land theft taking place in the village. The Israeli military placed a flying checkpoint on the main road connecting Bethlehem and Al Walaja, and prevented all vehicles from entering the village during the demonstration.

Bil'in

Also on Friday, around one hundred Palestinian villagers from the village of Bil'in, located near the central west Bank city of Ramallah, joined by international and Israeli peace activists conducted their weekly nonviolent protest against the illegal Israeli wall and continued settlement construction on the village land.

As is the case each week, Israeli soldiers closed the street leading to the land scheduled for confiscation. As soon as the protesters arrived at the military barrier, Israeli troops showered demonstrators with rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs and tear gas.

Two people, later identified as Haytham Al Khatib and Adeep Abu Rahmah, were injured in the attack. During the protest, another three were kidnapped by the Israeli forces, including two journalists. Witnesses told IMEMC that an Israeli journalist and a Chinese Journalist were kidnapped, adding that an Israeli activist was kidnapped also.

For IMEMC.org this George Rishmawi



Political report

In Political developments this week, Tony Blair announced his intention to visit the region next week and expounded upon his strategy to improve the quality of life for Palestinians. Elsewhere, Hassan Khreshah, the second vice deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council announced his resignation on Monday. IMEMC’s John Smith has more:

Tony Blair, the newly-appointed special Envoy for the Quartet counties, will next week visit the region in the hope of pushing forward the stalled peace process. Mr. Blair has stated that he hopes to achieve progress through bolstering the Palestinian economy, but has had little to say regarding the Israeli measures that crippled the economy in the first place.

The Hamas movement has expressed skepticism over Blair’s role in the region, with Fawzi Barhoum, spokesperson for Hamas in Gaza, arguing the rebuilding of the economy is impossible without the participation of Hamas and that Blair’s plans will only increase the level of separation between the West Bank and Gaza. Barhoum spoke to IMEMC.



“I don’t know why he wants to refresh the Palestinian economy in the West Bank and Gaza without any kind of dialogue with the unity government, Hamas or many other parties. Blair is a follower of the American administration towards the implementation of the American plans against the Palestinian people. This economic plan by Tony Blair is intended at imposing more and more division between the West Bank and Gaza.”

In other political developments, the European Union on Wednesday resumed its funding of fuel for the Gaza Strip’s only power plant. The decision came after officials indicated on Monday that the EU would resume funding Gaza fuel on the condition that it received assurances that Hamas would refrain from imposing taxes on electricity bills in the coastal region. The decision to restore funding was taken after it emerged that the Hamas movement had in no way profited from the plant’s operation.

In other news, the second Vice Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Hassan Khreshah, resigned from his post on Monday in protest against the continuous obstruction of the democratic process. The resignation further deepens the political crisis faced by an administration whose legal term of office has already expired.

Elsewhere, Rani Lowenstein, a former Israeli official, has suggested that the Palestinian Authority should implement a comprehensive welfare state system in the West Bank in order to curb the rise of Hamas and establish a parliamentary majority in any future Palestinian Legislative Council elections.

Lowenstein, considered by many to be close to the current Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, made the suggestions in a report presented to Palestinian officials during a conference in the United States.

The report predicts a Hamas takeover of the West Bank within two years if the PA does not take serious measures to improve the standard of life in the region.

For IMEMC.org, this is John Smith.

In other political news, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that the continued Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip would harm the peace process. A statement issued by Abbas’ office in Ramallah stressed that Israel’s actions on the ground in Gaza would render peace negotiations fruitless.

Abbas’ comments came a day before Israel apparently proposed the establishment a safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank. The apparent plan stipulates the Palestinian Authority would maintain control over the proposed road while Israel would retain ultimate sovereignty over the passage.

Despite the reports, Abbas’ office on Thursday denied the existence of such a proposal. Abbas’ office also denied reports published by Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the president would approve of the creation of a Palestinian State with provisional borders. Speaking for the President, Nabil Abu Rodeina stated on Thursday that Abbas rejected this proposal because of a firmly-held conviction that any solution to the conflict should be based on establishing an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, with a fair and just solution to the issue of Palestinian refugees implemented.

In other internal political developments, the Fatah-allied security forces this week continued to arrest Hamas members throughout the West Bank, with 9 persons apprehended in the Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus areas.

Elsewhere, a Fatah protest was attacked by members of the Hamas-affiliated executive force on Friday afternoon in Gaza City. Protestors marched through the centre of the city, chanting pro-Fatah slogans and throwing stones at a security complex controlled by Hamas. Shortly after the demonstration began, eyewitnesses reported that members of the security forces opened fire near protestors, arresting at least three people, including one journalist.

The Israeli attacks
The West Bank

During the week, the Israeli army conducted at least 30 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those invasions, troops killed one Palestinian resistance fighter and kidnapped at least 44 Palestinian civilians, including a child. Thus, the number of Palestinians kidnapped by the Israeli army in the West Bank since the beginning of this year has mounted to 1,803. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura has more:

In the wake of a widespread Israeli raid of the El Ein refugee camp, located in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a large Israeli force clashed with Palestinian resistance fighters, killing a senior leader of Abu Ali Mustafa brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Local sources reported that Special Forces of Israeli army stormed the camp and occupied several buildings. During the incursion, armed clashes took place between the invading soldiers and Palestinian resistance fighters, clashes that led to the death of the senior PFLP leader Nasser Mabrouk, 37.

In other news, Israeli military bulldozers demolished homes in the Krebet Homsa area of the Jordan valley, to the east of Tubas, on Thursday morning. Similarly, earlier on Wednesday, the Israeli army demolished an unfinished house belonging to a Palestinian civilian from Qarrawa Bani Hassan village, to the west of Salfit in the West Bank, claiming that the man was not in possession of a valid construction license.

In Jerusalem, Israeli soldiers attacked Sheikh Raed Salah, head of the Islamic movement in Israel, and Sheikh Ikrima Sabri, Chief Islamic Justice and the Mufti of Jerusalem, on Wednesday evening. The attack took place as Sheikh Sabri held a charitable dinner on the rooftop of a Palestinian house in Jerusalem.

Elsewhere, three Israeli soldiers were injured in an invasion the Ein Beit Ma' refugee camp, located in the northern West Bank city of Nablus. The soldiers were injured in clashes with local Palestinian resistance fighters in the early hours of Thursday morning. The resistance fighters also targeted the Israeli force with an explosive device. Witnesses said that invading Israeli troops opened fire on a Press car during the invasion.


For IMEMC.org this is Ghassan Bannoura.

The Gaza strip

The Israeli army heavily attacked the Gaza Strip this week with a series of rocket attacks and ground invasions leaving 13 Palestinians dead, among them two children. IMEMC's Rami Al Mughari has more.

One Hamas fighter was killed and another injured on Thursday night after they were targeted by Israeli shellfire. Palestinian sources indicated the man was a member of the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas.

Elsewhere, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israeli jet fighters targeted the Al Sahja'eya neighborhood, north of Gaza city, killing one Palestinian and injuring two. Medical sources identified the dead man as Yahia Habib, adding that his body had been severely mutilated and burned.

A further Israeli attack on Tuesday evening witnessed the deaths of Abed Al Qader Ashur, 13, and Fadi Al Kafarnah, 13. The two children were playing with their friends at a field near a school in Beit Hanoun, located in the northern part of the Gaza strip, when they were targeted by a nearby Israeli tank. The two children died instantly while another three were injured, one critically.

A further three Palestinians were killed on Tuesday afternoon when an Israeli aircraft fired at the men east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Local sources identified the men as Shadi Sawa, Awad Al-Masri and Mohammad Abu Salem, all said to be members of the Al-Quds brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad. A fourth man, who was injured in the air strike, was later kidnapped by Israeli military forces after they invaded the area of the attack.

On Monday, six members of the Hamas movement were killed when their vehicle was targeted by an Israeli aircraft as it approached a Hamas-controlled security post near the Al-Brueij refugee camp, located in the central Gaza Strip.

During the week, the Israeli army also targeted civilian workers in the costal region, with farmers from the Beit Hanoun area and fishermen from Rafah being attacked on Tuesday. While no injuries were reported in either attack, 8 Palestinians were abducted and 15 fishing boats were destroyed.

For IMEMC.org, this Rami Al Mughari in Gaza.


Conclusion

And that’s just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from Occupied Bethlehem, this Deryck Beaumont.