Three Palestinian men were reported killed in Gaza and the West Bank this week as Israeli media reports said that the U.S administration gave the green light for Israel to build 2500 settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. 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 Kathrin Orwell:

Two kidnapped and dozens suffered from gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked the weekly protest in Bil'in village near the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Friday.

International and Israeli supporters joined the villagers of Bil'in and marched from the village center after the Friday midday prayers.

The protesters commemorated the 5th anniversary of the decision of the International Court of Justice that declared the Israeli Wall illegal. Among the protesters were leaders and supporters of the Palestinian National Initiative, PNI, marking the 7th anniversary of the Initiative.

As the protesters arrived at the wall, Israeli troops stationed at its gate fired a barrage of sound bombs, tear gas and rubber-coated bullets. The soldiers also used what the villagers call the "bad smell" bombs.

The "bad smell" bombs cause people to vomit and get miss-oriented. Dozens were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation and cases of vomiting. Among the people affected were Mustafa Al Barghouthi, the General Secretary of the PNI and a Palestinian MP.

In related news, the Israeli military continued their invasions of the village of Bil'in. Troops kidnapped eight villagers and one international supporter this week.

In a similar protest in the same area, in the village of Ni’lin, Israeli soldiers attacked Palestinian villagers along with their international and Israeli peace supporters during the weekly non-violent protest against the wall and the confiscation of village lands.

As the villagers marched towards the location of the Israeli wall, undercover Israeli soldiers attacked people and kidnapped three local youth. Witnesses said they saw soldiers beating up the three, before kidnapping them.

People continued to march until they reached the wall; troops then attacked them with tear gas. Scores were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation. Later on local youth hurled stones on Israeli troops.

For IMEMC.org this Kathrine Orwell.


The Political Report

This week Israeli media reports said that the U.S administration gave the green light for Israel to build 2500 settlement homes in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank. Meanwhile, as Palestinian national unity talks are postponed, predictions towards such talks were outspoken this week. IMEMC’s Jessica Hulsey has the story:

In his latest visit to Washington this week, Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, was quoted by Israeli media sources as saying that Israel will resume reconstruction of thousands of settlement homes in the occupied West Bank. The U.S administration, which has called on Israel to freeze all settlement activities, did not comment on Israeli media reports.

Michael Warchinsky is an Israeli political analyst :

" If this is true its very disappointing because the official policy of the new American administration is full implementation of the road map which outright calls for freezing settlement activity"

In a related statement, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, said this week that Palestinians are ready for resuming peace talks with Israel if they stop all of their settlement activity.

Abbas also maintained that this Palestinian request does not mean that the Palestinians are satisfied with more than 130 Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian lands. The president remarked that such settlements are illegal, according to international law.

Mr. Amr Mousa, Secretary of the Arab States League, echoed from Cairo a similar stance. Mousa was quoted as saying that settlement activities and peace negotiations can never coexist.

The Arab league launched in 2002 a comprehensive peace initiative, on which Israel should end occupation of Arab-Palestinian lands of 1967, in return for normalization between 22 Arab states and Israel.

On another issue, media reports said this week that a possible prisoner swap deal between Israel and the ruling Hamas party is likely. Both Israel and Hamas denied such reports, claiming no concrete progress has come out of the Egyptian-mediated talks.

This week, Israel sent Amos Gil'ad as their representative for swap talks to Egypt.

As the political process between Israel and the Palestinians is stalled, humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip has increasingly deteriorated, with Israel still imposing a strict closure on the territory since June of 2007.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) issued last week a lengthy report on the situation.

Antoine Grand, is head of the Red Cross Gaza sub-delegation.


" The objective of this report is to raise the awareness, and to call on Israel and others to take all possible measures to reopen the crossing so that the population of Gaza stops paying the price for this conflict. If we continue like this, the people of Gaza will continue to become more poor and people will fall into poverty and misery, if things are not changed".

On the internal level, Palestinian national unity talks were postponed until July 25, as representatives of both the rival Hamas and Fatah parties failed to reach an agreement on a number of contentious issues.

At least eight leftist parties in Gaza agreed this week that they won’t accept any results of bilateral Hamas-Fatah talks on national unity. The groups, involving the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine along with others, believe that there should be a comprehensive dialogue including all political factions.


For IMEMC.org this is Jessica Hulsey.


The Gaza Strip Report

As the Israeli military continues to besiege Gaza, two men were reported dead this week in the strip, from Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports:

A man in Gaza died on Wednesday after doctors were unable to treat him due to the lack of medical equipment caused by the Israeli siege of the Strip. 44 year old Abed Al Haleem Zo'rob, was suffering from brain cancer.

The Israeli military denied him permission to leave Gaza for the life saving medical care he needed.

Doctors tried to save his life but due to the lack of equipment and required medicine his condition deteriorated, resulting in his death on Wednesday afternoon, medical sources reported.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that with Zo'rob's death, the total number of patients who died due to the Israeli siege has now reached 349.
Israel placed the Gaza Strip under total siege in June of 2007. The military rarely allows patients to leave Gaza to receive medical care in the West Bank or Egypt.
Elsewhere Israeli tanks and bulldozers invaded areas in the south of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday afternoon.

Witnesses said that Israeli tanks opened fire at residents' homes, while bulldozers uprooted trees and destroyed farm lands. No injuries were reported.

A fighter of the Al Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, was killed on Monday during a training in the Gaza Strip.

In a statement faxed to press the brigades said that Saleem Abu Shunnar, aged 18, was killed on Monday afternoon during a training exercise near Gaza City.

On Monday, the Egyptian Authorities allowed eight people from the Gaza Strip to enter Egypt through the Rafah crossing. The Palestinian embassy in Cairo said that among those eight were students and patients.

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


The West Bank Report

This week the Israeli military conducted at least 25 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli forces kidnapped 18 Palestinian civilians, including seven children; IMEMC's Jane Smith has the details:

Most invasions were reported in the city of Hebron, southern West Bank and in the city of Ramallah and Nablus, in central and northern West Bank.
Unknown gunmen killed a Palestinian man in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. 51 year old Jihad Hajjah, died after he was gunned down in downtown Hebron, Palestinian police sources reported.
Doctors reported that Hajjah died due to fatal wounds in the chest and head. The police chased the car the gunmen used to escape with after the shooting but did not manage to arrest them, the police added.
Local sources reported that Hajjah was a political detainee who was held by the Israeli military for 11 years and was released several days ago. No group has claimed responsibility for the shooting.
In other news, on Tuesday afternoon Israeli settlers bulldozed Palestinian owned land near the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Though the lands are owned by farmers from Bureen village, the settlers took over the land, around 7.5 acres, earlier this month to expand their illegal settlement of Burka. The villagers added that the settlers damaged olive trees and vines.
On Monday the settlers attacked the villagers' homes and set fire to animal huts and small farms near the farmers' homes.
Also on Monday the Israeli military destroyed five acres of land owned by villagers from Al Towani village in the southern West Bank The villagers reported that the military is expanding the nearby settlement of Ma'on, they added that this kind of destruction is happening around the clock.
According to international law, all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including in East Jerusalem, are illegal. The villagers say that armed settlers are attacking them and killing their sheep while the army is protecting the settlers.
Towani is a small Palestinian village located on the green line; it hosts a dozen families that depend on farming as a main source of income.
For IMEMC.org this is Jane Smith.

Conclusion

And that's just some of the news of 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 Ghassan Bannoura.