As Israel continues to besiege the Gaza Strip the Hamas negotiating team returned to Gaza from Cairo this week with no clear truce deal agreement, These stories and more, coming up, Stay tuned.

Nonviolent Activities

Let us begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's George Rishmawi:

Ramallah The residents of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, joined by international and Israeli activist groups protested against the Israeli annexation wall being built on their land. The protest started after the Friday prayer and head to the construction site of the wall, raising and chanting slogans calling for national unity and resisting the Israeli. An Israeli army unit prevented the demonstrators from reaching the farmland by shooting tear gas canisters to disturb the crowd. Dozens suffered gas inhalation and two required medical treatment. Also near Ramallah, villagers of Ni'lin organized and anti-wall protest. Villagers held Friday prayers outside the mosque, before proceeding to march to the land being confiscated by the Israeli military for the wall.

As soon as locals and their international supporters arrived at the site of construction, soldiers showered them with tear gas and shot rubber-coated steel bullets at them. Troops later invaded the village and clashed with local youths. A number of people, among them journalists, received medical treatment for gas inhalation. Bethlehem Residents of Al Ma'ssara village, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, alongside international supporters, protested the illegal Israeli wall on Friday. The protesters gathered at the village's school, carrying Palestinian flags, before marching towards the site where the Israeli military is supervising construction of the wall. Israeli troops stopped demonstrators from reaching the construction site, attacking some with rifle butts and batons. Troops then kidnapped an Israeli peace activist and the local coordinator of the committee against the wall and settlements, Mahmoud Zawahra, taking them to unknown location. Witnesses reported that soldiers beat up the two activists while they were being detained. Jayyous
On Friday around 200 residents from Jayyous organized their weekly demonstration after the Friday prayer against the Israeli wall built on their village's land. More than 10 military vehicles attempted to stop the demonstration and opened fire at the demonstrators.

Two young students were wounded, one in the leg with a rubber coated-steel bullet while the other was hit with a live round in his arm. Troops detained him for more than two hours and prevented his family or the ambulance to reach him to provide medical care and stop the bleeding.
For IMEMC.org this is George Rishmawi


The Political Report

As the Hamas negotiating team returned to Gaza from Cairo this week, the humanitarian situation in the coastal territory is still grave, as Gaza's access points and crossings have yet to be reopened by Israel. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura has the story:

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called on Israel to allow the flow of humanitarian aid into the war-torn Gaza Strip, while meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in London. President Abbas called for accelerating the reconstruction process of the region, in the wake of the most recent Israeli assault.

Meanwhile, the US congress is set to release a bill condemning the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), alleging that UNRWA delivers aid to “terrorists” in the Gaza Strip, referring to the elected Hamas party.

Hamas' negotiators to the Cairo talks over a ceasefire with Israel have returned empty-handed this week, with no agreement on the horizon. Israeli negotiators have told Egyptian mediators that a ceasefire must be conditional on releasing captured Israeli soldier Gil'ad Shalit.

Hamas have stated that Shalit’s case must be considered separately, and that any ceasefire agreement should be based on the reopening of each of Gaza's border crossings, closed by Israel since June 2007.

Other Gaza-based resistance factions voiced the same opinion, calling for continuing homemade-rocket fire into nearby Israeli areas, until the crossings are reopened. Abu Mojahed is a spokesperson of the Popular Resistance Committees, one of the groups that hold Corporal Shalit.



"There are three main demands: reopening the crossings completely, ending the attacks on our people and lifting the blockade totally, otherwise, there can never any talk about Tahdiya (truce). The Shalit profile is totally separate and is linked to the Israeli release of 1400 Palestinian prisoners. Therefore we cannot accept any extortion, at any rate"

Also this week, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza (UNRWA) and the ruling Hamas party traded accusations over the blocking of humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza population. Christopher Gunness is a spokesperson of UNRWA:



"All I can say is that this aid was seized by armed personnel, police personnel, and must be returned".

Hamas has denied these accusations. Yehiya Mousa is a spokesperson of Hamas in Gaza:



"We have a fixed policy: we do not intervene in UNRWA's work unless this work is linked with certain political agendas, here and there".

As Israeli elections loom, the leading candidate for the position of prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu of the Likud Party, pledged to supporters that he would not allow the return of occupied Palestinian territories to the Palestinians, or evacuate any Israeli settlement.

For IMEMC.org, this is Ghassan Bannoura.

Gaza Strip Report

As Israel continues to besiege the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians from Gaza have been reported dead this week. From Gaza, IMEMC's Rami Al Meghari reports:

Israeli military sources reported on Thursday evening that a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza-Israeli border. The Israeli army has claimed that the man was armed, and tried to throw a grenade at soldiers stationed nearby. They further said that the grenade exploded near the Palestinian man, due to the gunfire of the soldiers.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli navy intercepted a Lebanese aid ship within Gaza's territorial waters. Salam Khader, a correspondent for the Al Jazeera channel, who was onboard the ship, confirmed that a number of Israeli soldiers boarded the ship and attacked the passengers onboard. The vessel, Al-Ikhwa, - meaning "brotherhood" -originally set sail from Cyprus and left the Lebanese port of Tripoli on Tuesday

Media sources reported that Israeli naval forces forcibly escorted the ship to the Ashdod sea port for investigation and search. The ship is said to be loaded with 60 tons of humanitarian assistance, including medical aid, food items, clothes and children's toys. The delivery was organized by the Palestinian National Committee against the Siege, in cooperation with the US-based Free Gaza Movement.

Nine people were on board the vessel, including the Greek-Catholic Archbishop of Jerusalem, Monsignor Hilarion Capucci, who was abducted by Israel in 1974 after allegations were made that he had been smuggling weapons from Lebanon to activists in the Palestine Liberation Organization.

This is the first ship to try to enter the Gaza Strip since the recent twenty-two day offensive.

A Palestinian youth from Gaza was reported dead on Wednesday at an Egyptian hospital after succumbing to wounds sustained during Israel's attacks on Gaza last month. The Palestinian Embassy in Egypt reported that Mithqal Al Rabee, 23, was transferred to Egypt for treatment earlier this week. Officials added that he is the thirty-first Palestinian to die in Egyptian hospitals from wounds sustained during the recent assault.

Another man from Gaza was reported dead on Monday morning, medical sources reported. Mohamed Al Sawafrey was injured when Israeli jet fighters shelled his home in the Al Zaytoun area of Gaza City on January 12th this year. Doctors stated that he had sustained critical wounds, and had been transferred last week to Egypt for treatment.

For IMEMC.org, this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.

The West Bank Report

This week, the Israeli military conducted 28 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During the invasions, Israeli troops killed one Palestinian man and kidnapped 42 Palestinian civilians, including three children. IMEMC's John Smith has the story:

Early on Thursday morning, Israeli forces assassinated 23 year old Aladdin Issam Abu Al Rub from the town of Qabatiya near the northern West Bank city of Jenin. Al Rub was a local leader of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement. The Israeli military reported that Aladdin was killed during an exchange of gunfire with Special Forces troops. The army further claimed that the man had a gun and an explosive belt. His brother Mohammad told IMEMC that the army stormed the house while the family were asleep, and shot Aladdin while he was still sleeping.

The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled in 2006 that if it is possible to detain, question and put on trial, those who are suspected of military acts against Israel, then this must be done, instead of a targeted assassination.

Also on Thursday, a group of Israeli settlers bulldozed Palestinian-owned farmland located near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Local farmers reported that Israeli soldiers had provided protection for the settlers. The villagers added that this is not the first time they have been attacked in this way, and that settlers have increased their attacks since the beginning of this year.

Six Palestinian farmers were injured on Tuesday at midday, during an attack by Israeli troops and settlers in the village of Sa'er, located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Witnesses said that Israeli settlers, protected by Israeli troops, came to the village land and started to uproot olive trees. When farmers tried to protect their trees, soldiers and settlers both attacked them, injuring six farmers.

Near Hebron city on Monday morning, eyewitnesses reported Israeli troops staffing a military checkpoint opened fire at a Palestinian car, killing one man and injuring four passengers. Israeli military sources claim that the men opened fire at the soldiers, before troops returned fire, killing the man.

Also Hebron city on Monday, a Palestinian boy was injured after an Israeli settler hit him with his car. Witnesses stated that the settler drove into six-year old Sohayib Abu Miqdad, before Israeli troops arrived and surrounded the area. The soldiers called an ambulance and took the boy to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

This week, seven Palestinian owned homes, a bus garage and a warehouse were demolished by the Israeli Army in East Jerusalem.

The Israeli authorities stated that the demolished homes had been built without the required permission or documentation. Since Israel began occupying the city of Jerusalem in 1967, Palestinian residents have rarely been given permits to build homes. Meanwhile, Israel continues to build and expand Jewish-only illegal settlements in and around Jerusalem.


For IMEMC.org, this is John Smith


Conclusion

and that was just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, please check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This week's report has been brought to you by Dina Awwad.