This week, media reports said that a deal about prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas is likely to come about soon, yet no confirmation has been made public by the parties involved as Israeli attacks on Palestinians were reported in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. These stories, and more, coming up, Stay tuned.
Nonviolent Activities
Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank were with IMEMC's Ghassan Bannoura:
Bil'in
Hundreds of international and Israeli peace activists participated on Friday in Bil’in village weekly demonstration central West Bank.
As is the case each week the people left the village after the midday prayers and headed towards the gate of the wall separating Bil'in from its lands.
The Israeli military attacked the protesters with tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steal bullets. Scores suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Among those who took part of the weekly protest in Friday were Dove Hannen, an Israeli MP from the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality.
Nil'in
Also on Friday in central West Bank Israeli soldiers attacked on Friday Palestinian villagers along with their international and Israeli peace supporters during the weekly non-violent protest against the wall in Ni'lin village.
Villagers marched toward the location of the Israeli Wall, then held the Friday prayers there. Israeli soldiers attacked the residents and international supporters by firing tear gas at them as they peacefully marched towards the Wall.
Some protesters were suffocated after inhaling gas fired by the army, and received the needed medical treatment.
For IMEMC.org this is Ghassan Bannoura.



The Political Report
This week media reports said that a deal about prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas is likely to come about soon, yet no confirmation has been made public by the parties involved. Meanwhile, Gaza members of the Fatah higher committee announced resignation and asked President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah for investigating the results of the Fatah election congress in the West Bank. IMEMC’s Lila Sharif has the details:
Members of the Gaza-based Higher Committee of Fatah want an investigation into this week’s election, which saw a nearly 75-percent turn-over in leadership on the party’s Central Committee. Eleven members in all submitted their resignation to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Independent analyst Dr. Haidar Eid says the lack of Gaza representation on the Central Committee is a serious issue.



"So far we have heard two people from the Gaza Strip have been represented in the central committee of Fatah and I think this is one of the major reasons that made Gaza supporters disappointed and disillusioned with the latest conference in Bethlehem.”

Eid says the results of the elections reflect a trend that supports negotiations with Israel. In other news, Arab and Israeli media reports said this week that a prisoner swap deal, between Israel and Palestinians, will likely be established soon. However, no confirmation by the parties involved was reported.

The ruling Hamas party, which holds a captured Israeli soldier, denies that any progress has been made despite meetings between Hamas's top leader, Mahmoud Alzahhar and Egyptian mediators in Cairo this week.

Also in Gaza, the Popular Resistance Committees dismissed the news about a breakthrough, reiterating the party's demands, primarily the release of 1000 Palestinian prisoners by Israel before the captured soldier Gilad Shalit is given his freedom.

Israel, from its part, also didn't confirm the reports. Israeli newspaper ,Haaretz reported that a third party, said to be a German party, has joined the negotiations on the long-pending prisoner swap brokered by Egypt. If reached, the deal would lead to the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, in exchange of the Israeli soldier Shalit. Israeli Prime Minister , Benjamin Netanyahu is put under pressure to finalize the deal.

Israeli opposition leader, Shaol Mofaza, was quoted as saying ' Israel should reach the deal at any price, even if it will have to release those whose hands are stained with blood".

At the internal Palestinian level, a meeting between representatives of both rival Hamas and Fatah parties was reported to have taken place in Gaza city this week. The meeting is said to have tackled a pending national unity dialogue in Cairo. This is the first time that Fatah and Hamas meet without a third party, since the two parties after the parties went through a division in June 2007.

In a separate issue, a Human Rights Watch report released on Thursday, accused the Israeli army of deliberately killing Gaza civilians who were flying white flags. The organization is calling on Israel to investigate the shootings.

It says it has evidence that 11 Gaza residents – including 9 women and children – were killed while standing in groups waving the flags to convey their civilian status.

For IMEMC.org this is Lila Sharif.

The Gaza Strip Report
A number of Israeli air strikes and ground attacks were reported this week as Israel continues to besiege the Gaza Strip, from Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports:
On Monday the Israeli Air force shelled the “Tunnels area” in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip targeting a tunnel in the area, while the Israeli Navy shelled areas across the Gaza Coast.
A spokesperson of the Israeli Navy stated that navy boats fired ‘warning’ shots at Palestinian fishermen, and claimed that they entered a ‘restricted area’. On Sunday evening, the Israeli Navy shelled Palestinian fishing boats North West of Gaza; no injuries were reported in both attacks.
The Israeli army said the strikes were in response to homemade projectiles fired from Gaza. There was one homemade projectile fired toward Israel from Gaza the day before, and none for the past several weeks.
However on Sunday evening Palestinians fired several mortar shells toward Israeli soldiers at the Erez border crossing at the northern end of Gaza, according to both Israel's military and two armed groups. No injuries were reported.
The cross-border violence followed weeks of relative calm. Hamas authorities in Gaza have seriously tried to uphold the unilateral ceasefire it declared last winter by subduing Palestinian armed groups in Gaza.
On Monday evening the Israeli army shelled several homes and lands causing excessive damage. The army also shelled homes in Khan Younis, in the southern part of the Strip.
Local sources reported that the army shelled several homes northeast of Al Shujaeyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli tanks and armored vehicles were noticed along the eastern border of the Strip.
Later in the week the Israeli military opened two commercial crossings and allowed a number of trucks loaded with supplies to enter the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

Israel placed the Gaza Strip under total siege in June 2007 leaving the 1.5 million Palestinians living there suffering sever conductions.
For IMEMC.org this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.
The West Bank Report
The Israeli military this week conducted at least 17 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. Israeli troops kidnapped 17 Palestinian civilians, including 7 children. IMEMC’s Katharine Orwell Reports:
A Palestinian teenager was shot and killed on Wednesday night in Al Zawiyah village near the northern West Bank city of Nablus. Palestinian police sources announced that the boy arrived dead to the hospital in Nablus city. The police added that an investigation of the incident is underway.
Witnesses from the village say that the boy was playing with his father's gun and shot him self by mistake. Other sources said that his father who works as a security officer in the Palestinian Authority shot the boy by mistake.
Part of a main road in the Silwan area in East-Jerusalem collapsed on Monday, because of underground Israeli excavations, a local civic activist that witnessed the incident told local media.
In the area the Israeli-controlled Jerusalem Municipality is digging a tunnel that is heading towards the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City. Around two months ago a similar collapse was reported in the Ad-Daraj neighborhood in Silwan.
Also in East-Jerusalem, a group of extremist settlers, led by two right-wing members of Knesset, broke into the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where just last week two families were evicted from their homes by Israeli police.
Nearly 30 settlers broke into a protest tent in the area and attacked the protestors with batons, stones, chairs and empty bottles.
The Israeli police kidnapped two residents of Sheikh Jarrah while several other residents were injured by the settlers. The settlers also sprayed a number of residents with gas and threatened to shoot them with live rounds.
Staying in Jerusalem, the Israeli municipality handed over a number of demolition orders to Palestinian families from East Jerusalem on Wednesday. Local sources reported that Israeli police forces attacked and searched homes in Surbaher, Esawiyeh, and inside the old City before handing out the demolition orders.

All the areas are Palestinian neighborhoods that Israel is planning to take over to build more Jewish settlements, residents reported. The Municipality provided the usual argument by saying the homes are built without the needed building permission.

Since Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967 it has rarely given Palestinians permission to build homes, in the meantime it continues to build settlements in and around the city, an act that is illegal under international law.
In related news, Palestinian medical sources reported that a group of Israeli settlers attacked a 45-year-old man from Awarta village, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, on Tuesday morning.
The sources identified the man as Yousef Obeidat. He was moved to Rafidia Hospital suffering neck injury and bruises. The settlers are said to be from the illegal Shilo settlement near Nablus. On Thursday afternoon as well, Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians in several areas in the northern West Bank.
Witnesses said that settlers threw home made bombs at Palestinian cars near Nablus city and attacked civilians near military checkpoints around the city. Palestinian sources reported damage to property but no injuries.
In the past few months, settler attacks escalated and were directed against Palestinian towns and villages adjacent to settlements in various West Bank areas, including East Jerusalem.
For IMEMC.org this is Katharine Orwell.

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 George Rishmawi.