LEDE: The Palestinian national dialogue is not progressing as the parties fail to meet, meanwhile, Israeli troops continue to invade the West Bank as the 1.5 million Gazans are sinking into darkness for lack of fuel, These stories and more are coming up, Stay tuned.

Nonviolence:
Let us begin our weekly report as usual with nonviolent actions in Palestine, where Palestinians commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and the 20 anniversary for the Palestinian declaration of independence through nonviolent actions against the settlements and the wall.

Ma’asra
On Friday, Israeli troops assaulted nonviolent anti-wall protestors in the West Bank village of Al-Ma’asara in Bethlehem.

The protest was also to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the declaration of independence by the Palestinian National Council.

Mohammad Brejeieh spokesperson of the Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements said troops severely beat the nonviolent protestors causing them bruises and wounds.

N’ilin
Meanwhile, At least three civilians have been wounded, one in the head, during an anti-wall protest in the West Bank town of Ni’lin near Ramallah Friday midday.

The protest was organized by the popular committee against the wall in the town as part of the efforts focused at retrieving their land confiscated for the construction of the wall by the Israeli military.

The three were wounded with rubber-coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli military who invaded the village to prevent the nonviolent protest.

Israeli troops also fired concussion grenades and tear gas canisters at the demonstrators causing dozens to choke.

Nablus
In other news, two Palestinian civilians were wounded as they tried to enter the evacuated Israeli settlement of Homesh near Nablus.

Hundreds of Palestinians from the villages of Bzaria and Burka accompanied by International peace activists marched to the settlement to protest the return of six Israeli families to the settlement which was evacuated in September 2005 when Israel pulled out from the Gaza Strip.

Three years after the evacuation, this area, re-occupied by the settler, is still under Israeli military order.

A spokesperson of the popular committee against the settlements said the protests will continue in peaceful means.

Israeli soldiers operating in that area fired a number of tear gas canisters and concussion grenades to prevent the protestors from entering the evacuated settlements. One of the wounded was identified as Ra’ed Hamad, and he sustained wounds and burns in his leg.


Bil’in
In the meantime, at least four nonviolent protestors were wounded in the weekly nonviolent protest in Bil’in west of the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Dozens of the villagers accompanied by International and Israeli supporters marched after the Friday prayer and went through the village in an attempt to reach the land confiscated for the construction of the wall.

The protest this week was dedicated to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the death of the late President Yasser Arafat and the 20 anniversary for the Palestinian declaration of independence.

Israeli troops fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters at the protestors to prevent them from going through the gate in the wall to their land.

The four were identified as, Ahmad Jabarin, Ahmad Saleh, Adib Abu Rahma and Abdulmajeed Nasser.


Political:
The rival Palestinian parties failed this week to attend a scheduled national unity conference in Cairo. More with IMEMC’s Dina Awwad.

The rival Palestinian Hamas and Fatah parties failed this week to attend a scheduled national unity talks in Cairo, aimed at ending division and developing a national unity government.

The Hamas party in Gaza says that its boycott of that conference came due to the continuation of Palestinian Authority's arrests of its members in the West Bank, demanding a halt of such detention before any talks begin.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, slammed Hamas' position as ' obstructing dialogue', calling for an Arab state stance towards Hamas. Amer Ibrahim, a Gaza political analyst, comments:


“If we reached a point of no dialogue or no solution to all outstanding problems, there will be other consequences and then there will be difficulties for the parties to meet. The only chance for them is the time period from now until January of 2009. Afterwards, there will be an Arab, a regional or even an Israeli stance towards what is going on between Ramallah and Gaza; things will not remain the same as it is now".

In the meantime, Palestinian residents in Gaza are still hoping that the national unity talks would lead to better living conditions. Mohammad Arrifa'y is a local Gaza resident:


"The Palestinian people are the main party affected by this situation and as a Palestinian resident I appeal to both parties to reconcile. By doing so, we will embarrass our enemy as well as those who are against peace in the region".

In June of 2007, Hamas seized control of Gaza amidst factional fighting with the Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. Immediately after this, Abbas outlawed Hamas and formed a caretaker government in the West Bank.

On another development, the outgoing Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, hinted this week at the possibility of reaching some kind of agreement with the Palestinians in terms of Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations.

His foreign minister and head of the ruling Kadima party echoed the same stance, as its American counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, believed that the peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis have reached a ground zero level. Rice's remarks came as her administration is on its way out.

Meanwhile, the Israeli opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, anticipates no concessions for the Palestinians in any peace talks. He is expected to win the next Israeli early elections which are expected in the next few months.
For IMEMC this is Dina Awwad


West Bank Report:
This week, the Israeli military continued attacks on Palestinian areas in the occupied West Bank, as the Palestinian Authority rounded up more Palestinian residents.
More with IMEMC’s Jessica Husley in the West Bank

In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military attacked a number of areas including the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem and Jenin. According to Palestinian sources, more than a dozen residents were detained in these cities.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military further restricted movement of Palestinian residents and vehicles throughout many parts of the occupied West Bank, on the various checkpoints.

Also, the Israeli military attacked the occupied east Jerusalem-based neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, demolishing Palestinian-owned property and detaining a reporter.

For other news, the ruling Hamas movement in Gaza said on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah arrested 17 Hamas members and supporters.

According to Hamas, the continued PA arrests of West Bank-based Hamas members, has held back the Cairo-hosted national unity conference. The conference is aimed at ending the division between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and developing a unity government.

For IMEMC's This is Jessica Hulsey


Gaza Strip Report:
As the Gaza Strip plunges into darkness this week due to a shortage of fuel, created by Israeli closures of Gaza's crossings, efforts are underway to welcome new international solidarity campaigners. The details from Gaza with IMEMC’s Rami Al-Meghari.

This week, the Gaza Strip has plunged into darkness because of the Israeli military denial of access of fuel, needed to generate electricity for the besieged Gaza residents.

Moreover, UN officials in Gaza have warned of an imminent humanitarian crisis across the coastal territory, as the Israeli closure of commercial crossings for more than a week now, has hampered UN-provided services such as food assistance.

Amidst such developments, more international solidarity campaigners are prepared to visit Gaza in the upcoming period. This is part of the Free Gaza Movement's missions to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza via sea.

Earlier this week, a group of EU parliamentarians managed to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza after having been denied access into the region via the Israeli controlled Eritz checkpoint in northern part of the Strip.

Israel had closed border crossings with the Gaza Strip, following deadly Israeli army attacks that killed 8 Palestinians including eight Hamas fighters.

The Israeli attacks threatened a five-month-old ceasefire deal, as Palestinian resistance factions have responded with scores of homemade shells fired onto nearby Israeli towns, with no serious causalities reported.

At the Israeli attack level, this week, the Israeli military killed four Hamas fighters during an invasion in southern Gaza. Israeli sources claimed that an Israeli drone spotted and gunned down militants, who were planting explosives near the border fence with Israel.
Palestinian witnesses confirmed that the Israeli tanks rolled 300 meters into Palestinian-owned areas in the Alqarrara town. The military bulldozers demolished a Palestinian-owned house there.
As the security situation is tense in the region, Israeli army officials have warned of launching a large military operation against the Gaza Strip in a couple of months.
For IMEMC's This is Rami Almghari


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 George Rishmawi, good bye.