Internal unrest in the Gaza Strip escalates this week despite of rapprochement attempts in Cairo, as Israeli military assaults in the West Bank continues. In Israel ruling Kadima party elects a new chief, these stories and more are coming up, stay tuned.


Non-Violence
We begin our weekly report with the anti-wall nonviolent actions in the villages of Bil’in and Ni’lin near Ramallah.

Bil’in

The residents of Bil’in joined by international and Israeli peace activists organized a protest against the building of the Wall, and settlements on Palestinian land. The protest today was also in commemoration of 26th year since the massacre of the refugees of Sabra and Shatela refugees’ camp in Lebanon.

The protest started after the Friday prayer. It called for an end to the Israeli policy of settlements’ building, closures, kidnappings and the siege on Palestinian areas. The protesters marched towards the wall to reach the confiscated land behind it, and as usual the gate was closed with Israeli soldiers positioned behind concrete blocks.

As protestors tried to get closer to the gate, the army fired concussion grenades and C.S. canisters, causing dozens to suffer gas inhalation. Protestors said that troops sprayed them with blue water mixed with some kind of gas. As the skin absorbed this liquid, it caused a lot of pain to the wounded.

This is not the first time Israeli soldiers used a chemical material or new weapons against Palestinians. Israeli soldiers once used some kind of sponge bullets which stick to the body and cause burns to the skin. In other demonstrations troops used a gas that caused spasms to those who inhaled it. Apparently Israel has been testing new weapons on the people of Bil’in.

Ni’lin

In the nearby village of Ni’lin, the villagers also organized an anti-wall protest following the Friday prayer.

Israeli troops blocked the road with razor wire to prevent the protestors from reaching the land. As they arrived near the razor wire, troops showered them with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation while six people were directly hit by the steel bullets.

Some young protestors responded to the gas and steel bullets with stones, they managed to jump over the razor wire and get a little closer to the Israeli soldiers, who in return fired more tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at them.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that three Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in the demonstration.

For IMEMC this is E L Humble


Political Lede:
As Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have not achieved any concrete progress on the ground, intra-Palestinian national dialogue is underway in Cairo to restore national unity in Palestine, IMEMC’s Alice Gray has more.

A delegation of senior Fatah leaders from Gaza travelled to Amman on Friday en-route to Cairo, where they will join representatives of other Palestinian factions in the talks mediated by Egyptian officials. The goal of the talks is to reach a memorandum of understanding that would lead to renewed national unity.

The ruling Hamas party in Gaza said this week that it welcomes any Egyptian invitation for dialogue with other Palestinian factions including Fatah. However, Hamas lawmaker Mushir Al-Masri confirmed that such dialogue should be based on respect for the 2006 Palestinian parliamentary elections which brought Hamas to power.

For his part, Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) deputy speaker and Hamas member Ahmad Bahar called on Hamas and Fatah to put aside their differences for the sake of the national interest and engage in a serious dialogue that will lead to reconciliation.

The Islamist Hamas party took over Gaza in June 2007 and ousted security services that were loyal to Fatah. Since then, Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Hamas renounce its control over Gaza, while both sides have called for ‘unconditional’ national dialogue.

Meanwhile, an already shaky Egyptian-mediated truce deal between the Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza and Israel could collapse, as representatives of these factions cast doubts this week over Israel's willingness to commit to the ceasefire.

According to the Popular Committee Against the Israeli Siege on Gaza, Israel has been procrastinating in implementing the ceasefire agreement signed in June 2008. The committee says Israel has only reopened the crossings partially, allowing in limited quantities of goods and commodities.

This week, Israel closed the crossings completely after two homemade shells were fired from Gaza onto nearby Israeli areas, despite the fact that the shells resulted in no casualties.

Regarding the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat asserted that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has already rejected any partial solutions or agreements with Israel.

Abbas' rejection was in response to an offer by outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who proposed that the Palestinians and Israelis seek a partial agreement, excluding the status of occupied East Jerusalem.

Chief negotiator Ahmad Qurei’ commented this week on the negotiations, saying "any solution that falls short of Jerusalem is unacceptable."

Meeting in Amman earlier this week, King Abdullah II of Jordan and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned both Palestinians and Israelis against prolonging peace talks indefinitely, and asked them to conclude a deal by the end of this year.

In November 2007, Washington sponsored the Annapolis peace conference, which was supposed to lead to an agreed two-state solution by the end of 2008, as envisioned by outgoing US President George W. Bush.

In Israel, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni won her Kadima party's leadership elections, beating her main rival, Minister of Transportation Shaul Mofaz.

Mofaz announced that he would take a break from public life and decide his political future later on.

In Gaza, Hamas party spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum stated that Livni's victory would mean increased Israeli aggression towards the Palestinian people, while in the West Bank, senior negotiator Saeb Erekat described the event as an Israeli internal affair.

FM Livni is expected to assume the Israeli premiership soon, once current Prime Minister Olmert resigns from the post, and to try to form a new Israeli coalition government.


Gaza Lede:

In Gaza this week, 12 Palestinian residents were killed and more than 40 others injured in a deadly police raid on one of Gaza City's neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Israel closed Gaza's border crossings as the 15-month-old Israeli blockade on Gaza continues. This and more with IMEMC's Rami Almeghari in Gaza.


Palestinian medical sources reported that 12 residents including a child were killed and more than 40 others wounded during a Hamas-led police raid against the influential Doghmush clan in eastern Gaza city.

The raid, according to police, aimed at arresting three suspects from the family who are believed to be behind a series of crimes, including the killing of a policeman on Monday afternoon. The police demanded that those 'wanted' surrender, but they defied the order, necessitating the use of police force, according to a police spokesman.

Also on the internal level, the corpse of a Palestinian man, 31-year-old Raed Al-Harazeen, was found in Gaza City. He was killed and tortured after being abducted from his home by unknown assailants.

Palestinian resistance factions in Gaza continue to respect the ceasefire agreement with Israel for the most part, although two homemade shells were fired from Gaza into nearby Israeli areas earlier this week. There were no causalities but slight property damage was reported by Israeli sources.

Following the launch of these homemade shells, the Israeli occupation authorities closed the Gaza border crossings for two days, during which the 1.5 million residents of Gaza were deprived of essential daily supplies.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Popular Committee to Against the Israeli Siege, Palestinian lawmaker Jamal Al-Khudari, stated this week that despite the truce deal, Israel has not eased its blockade on Gaza as required.

Al-Khudari reported that only 30 percent of the essential supplies and commodities needed by Gaza’s population have been made available since Israel began partially reopening the commercial crossings three months ago.

In June both Israel and the ruling Hamas party in Gaza agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal stipulating that Israel gradually lift its blockade on Gaza and Palestinian factions stop firing homemade shells onto nearby Israeli areas.

For imemc.org, this is Rami Almeghari in Gaza.


West Bank Lede:
Israeli military assaults on the occupied West Bank areas continued throughout the week, resulting in death, injury and kidnapping. Meanwhile, Palestinian security services conducted their own arrest campaigns against Hamas supporters, according to Hamas sources; IMEMC’s George Rishmawi has the details.

Early this week, Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian in the village of Tiqua, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. He was shot in the chest at close range and died while being transported to a local hospital.

Meanwhile, two Palestinian residents of Nablus were wounded this week after Israeli settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Yitzhar hurled stones at them.

Also this week, Israeli troops attacked many West Bank population centers including cities and villages, kidnapping several residents.

The kidnapping took place amidst Israeli military invasions into cities such as Nablus, Jenin, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tulkarem and Qalqilia.

In these assaults, Israeli soldiers ransacked houses before forcing residents outside and detaining allegedly ‘wanted’ Palestinians. The Israeli military forces invaded several cities on daily basis in the West Bank, where Israel continues to maintain military control, even in areas run by the Palestinian Authority.

On the other hand, a Palestinian man stabbed an Israeli soldier near the West Bank city of Jericho. Israeli sources said the man snatched the soldier's rifle before escaping to Ramallah. The soldier was wounded and evacuated to hospital for treatment, the sources added.

At the internal level, according to the ruling Hamas party in Gaza, the Fatah-allied security services of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank rounded up more than 15 Hamas supporters this week. Hamas instructed its supporters in the West Bank to defy such arrests.

For imemc this George Rishmawi

Conclusion:
And that was just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant update check out
our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thanks for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This week's report has been brought to you by Hussam Qassis and E L Humble.