U.S special envoy to the Middle East peace, George Mitchell, reiterated Washington's policy for the two-state solution, while in Gaza more patients died due to the siege, and the military conducted aerial and sea attacks, these stories and more coming up stay tuned.

Nonviolent Activities

Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's Rosa McCarthy:

Bil'in

A Palestinian man was killed and dozens more injured on Friday during the weekly non-violent protest in Bil'in village, near the central west Bank city of Ramallah.

Local sources said Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahmah, 30, died when soldiers shot him in the chest with a tear gas bomb. The protest was joined by Israeli and international activists. Abdullah Abu Rahmah, from the local committee against the Wall and Settlements, witnessed the soldiers attack:



"As is the case each week, we did our weekly protest, Bassem was in the front line, we arrived at the wall, as soon as we tried to cross to our lands that soldiers showered us with tear gas and rubber-coated-steel bullets. Bassem was shouting at the soldiers that it was a peaceful protest and that there were children present. Before he could finish, soldiers shot him with a heavy gas bomb to his chest which caused him to bleed to death."

Protesters' held banners condemning Israel's ongoing policies and violence against civilians and demanding the release of Palestinian political prisoners held by the Israeli army.

As well as the fatal shooting of Bassem, an international supporter was hit in the head and sustained moderate wounds from Israeli fire. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation. Bil'in villagers have been conducting non-violent protests against the Israeli wall for four years.

Nil'in

Also near Ramallah scores of villagers from Nil'in, along with their international supporters, held their weekly protest on Friday midday against the illegal Israeli wall being built on village land. The protest this week was also in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners being held by the Israeli army.

As soon as locals and international supporters arrived in the part of the village where Israel is building the wall, soldiers showered them with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. They also fired rounds of live ammunition. Ten suffered tear gas inhalation. Later on the soldiers stormed the village and fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at the villagers and their homes. Local youth hurled stones at the invading troops; no inquires were reported.

For IMEMC.org Rosa McCarthy


The Political report

U.S special envoy to the Middle East peace, George Mitchell, told the Israeli foreign minister that Washington wants statehood for Palestine. Meanwhile, Israel refused this week to cooperate with a fact-finding mission into possible war crimes committed during the recent Israeli war on Gaza. IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura has the story:

Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, pointed out during a meeting with the U.S envoy in Tel-Aviv, that Israel considers the Annapolis peace conference, which Washington hosted in late 2007, as invalid.

For his part, Mitchell reaffirmed his administration's position that a Palestinian state should be created along side Israel, within a two-state solution as envisioned by previous U.S administrations.

On a related note, top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Eriqat, called on the international community, especially European countries, to intervene in order to stop ongoing Israeli settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, Israel has refused to cooperate with a UN-led investigation into the impact of the Israeli war on Gaza as well on nearby Israeli towns. Israel says there is no need for such a probe.

The ruling Hamas party said it would fully cooperate with the investigating team, led by South African judge , Richard Goldstone, who will visit the region early next month.

In other news, the rival Hamas and Fatah parties have not yet reached an agreement on the basis for their upcoming round of national unity talks in Cairo.

Fahmi Azza'areer, Fatah spokesperson in the West Bank , accused Hamas of not being willing to reach an agreement. Azza'areer was commenting on a shooting incident in northern Gaza, where three Fatah members were shot and wounded on Thursday by militants.

Both parties are still arguing over the political agenda for any unity government. Egyptian mediators have recently offered to promote an agreement without a specific political agenda.

Hamas wants a platform that emphasises resistance to the Israeli occupation, while Fatah insists that such a government should promote peace talks with Israel.

For IMEMC.org this is Ghassan Bannoura.


The Gaza Repot

This week, as more patients from the Gaza strip died due to the siege, the Israeli military conducted aerial and sea attacks. From Gaza, Rami Al Meghari reports:

On Thursday night, the Israeli Air Force fired at a home east of Dir Al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, completely destroying it. Medical sources reported no injuries, and added that the shelled home was empty.

Scores of patients from various parts of the Gaza Strip protested on Thursday at the Rafah Border Crossing located between Egypt and southern Gaza.

Local sources said people carried banners calling for Egypt to open the crossing and to keep it free of politics. The patients demanded that they be allowed to travel for treatment outside the Gaza Strip. The Israeli siege imposed on Gaza has left the hospitals there unable to treat many illnesses.

According to the department responsible for Borders and Crossings, at least 700 Palestinian patients are waiting for the opening of the Rafah border crossing in order to access adequate treatment outside the Strip.

Many of those waiting were injured during the Israeli offensive against Gaza which ended in mid January. Israel's 22 month-long siege of Gaza has claimed the lives of 320 Palestinian patients. Doctors say that numbers may increase rapidly if the closure continues.

The Cast Lead military attack on Gaza started on December 27th 2008 and ended on the 18 of January 2009. It left 1,400 Palestinians dead, 6,000 injured and at least 10,000 homeless.

The most recent victims of the siege are two women who died this week on Tuesday. Both had applied for permission to leave Gaza for treatment but their applications were denied by Israel.

The Israeli Navy opened fire on Saturday at Palestinian fishing boats near the Gaza shore and Rafah. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli Navy boats increased their presence in the Palestinian territorial waters and are barring the Palestinians from fishing. Palestinian fishermen are subjected to daily attacks by the Israeli Navy, a violation of the Palestinian right to fish in their own waters.

Dozens of fishermen have been killed in the last few years as a result of repeated attacks carried out by the Israeli navy.

For IMEMC.org this Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.


The West Bank report

This week the Israeli military carried out at least 30 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks, Israeli troops kidnapped 49 Palestinian civilians including four children. This and more by IMEMC's Kathrin Orwell:

The invasions were focused in the cities of Hebron, Ramallah and Jenin this week. On Friday morning, a Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement, Beit Haggai, located near the southern West Bank city of Hebron

A Settler guard said that his friend shot and killed the Palestinian man after he drew a knife when he was ordered to identify himself. The army handed the body of the Palestinian man to Palestinian medics who transferred the body to the Hebron hospital.

Also in Hebron, on Saturday afternoon, a group of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian ambulance in the old city part of Hebron. Witnesses and medics operating the ambulance said that the car sustained damage.

The Red Crescent Society ambulance service announced that the military was notified of the ambulances arrival. Witnesses said that as soon as the ambulance arrived, the settlers attacked it with stones; they added that Israeli troops who were in the area did not stop the settlers and even protected them.

On Tuesday in Jerusalem, the Israeli police ordered two Palestinian families to leave their homes located in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarah near Jerusalem's old city.

Sheikh Jarah is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood. The Palestinians living there are originally refugees of the 1948 war. During the 1950's, the Jordanian government gave the Palestinian refugees rights over this land.

Israeli settlers claim that the land of Sheikh Jarah used to be owned by Jews before the creation of Israel. In the late 70's, settlers went to the Israeli high court which ruled in their favor. Palestinian families living there managed to get documents from the Ottoman Archives that showed that the land was previously owned by Palestinians; however the Israeli courts refused to recognize the validity of these documents.

Both families went to court last week to appeal the Israeli government's decision but were unsuccessful. Ziyad Hammoury, the director of the Jerusalem center for social and economical rights, told IMEMC that the courts ruling is illegal.

Actuality-English>

Also in Jerusalem, Israeli police released the body of a Palestinian youth to his family on Tuesday, allowing only immediate family to take part in his funeral. Azmi Ewisat, 20, was killed last Tuesday by Israeli border police in east Jerusalem.

Police say he tried to run an officer over but witness's say he was just driving near the checkpoint. This week, the Ewisat family demanded an independent investigation in the death of their son. The Israeli police did not publish the outcome of the investigation.

For IMEMC.org this is Kathrin Orwell.

Conclusion

And that's 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 Dave Thompson.