Settlment contruction continues in the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev, and Hamas and Fatah leaders meet in Gaza, these stories and more coming up; so stay tuned.

Over the weekend, the Jerusalem Municipality Regional Construction and Planning Committee, approved a plan to construct 650 housing units in the settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev. The settlement, first constructed in 1985, is built on land belonging to the residents of the villages of Beit Hanina and Hizma, north of Jerusalem.

The land, originally approved as part of an Industrial Zone- which is now voided, with 300 Dunams of Palestinian lands that were allocated for the Zone, will now be used for the construction of hundreds of residential units.

In the West Bank, the Israeli military detained three Palestinian teenagers near the settlement of Eli’, built on Palestinian land near the village of Al-Lubban Ash-Sharqiyah, by the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Local sources said that the Israeli soldiers arrested the three Palestinians as they were picking olives trees near the settlement of Eli’. The youth were identified as Ahmed Sameer Oweiss, Habeeb Oweiss Awas, and Anas Tareq Oweiss, all aged 15.

After a meeting between the leaders of the Hamas and Fatah movements in Gaza on Sunday evening, the groups reconfirmed the implementation of the articles of the Palestinian national unity agrement signed by the Hamas Political chief, Khaled Meshaal, and the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas.

Dyab Al-Louh, Fatah national relations’ commissioner, stated that the meeting was very significant and successful.

This meeting is the first since Abbas and Meshaal, have held a meeting since November 24, in a bid to thrash out a deal to unite the rival groups and pave the way for elections.

The Military Court at the Ofer Prison admitted Sunday that Israeli interrogators are using brutal methods to interrogate Palestinian detainees, the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) reported.

PPS stated that the court had to drop all charges against detainee Ayman Hameedah, aged 23, who was detained by the Israeli Army on numerous charges.
The Israeli prosecution brought seventeen charges against Hameedah, including: conducting undercover military attacks, possession of arms, shooting, and attempted murder.

PPS Lawyer, Tareq Barghouthi, stated that his client underwent physical tourture, from sleep deprivation, to being left in a chained chair for days on end, threatened with prolonged interrogation, and being left under periods of administrative detention for extended periods with no charge.

They also threatened Barghouthi’s family, and brought his brother in for interrogation.

That’s all for today from the IMEMC News, this was the Monday December 5 daily roundup of news from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We hope you will join us again tomorrow. This was brought to you by Hasam Qassis, and me, William Gibson.