This Week in Palestine -Week 15 2009

As the newly-installed Israeli cabinet took office this week, the Israeli military has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip, Meanwhile, Palestinian national unity talks are expected to resume amidst uncertainties, 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 Ghassan Bannoura:

The residents of Bil'in village, located near the central west Bank city of Ramallah, marched towards the wall on Friday after the midday prayers. The protest was joined by Israeli and international activists.

Protesters' held banners condemned Israel's ongoing policies and violence against civilians; the protest began in the center of the village then headed towards the Apartheid Wall which is being built on Bil'in's land.

An Israeli army unit stationed behind the wall prevented the crowd from going through the gate and fired tear gas canisters to break up the crowd. Two protesters were injured, and dozens suffered from gas inhalation.


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.

As soon as locals and international supporters reached 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. One sustained critical wounds after being hit with a live round while six people were injured with rubber-coated steel. Dozens were treated for gas inhalation.


For IMEMc.org this Ghassan Bannoura.

The Political report

As the newly-installed Israeli cabinet took office this week, some voices called for a re-launch of the Palestinian-Israeli peace process. Meanwhile, Palestinian national unity talks are expected to resume amidst uncertainties about the way forward. For IMEMC, Mary Arthur has the story:

U.S President, Barak Obama, during a visit to Turkey, reiterated Washington's determination to bring about peace between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of a two-state solution, envisioned in late 2007 by the former U.S administration. Obama is expected to visit Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories in June of this year, according to administration officials.

Concurrent with such a call, top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Eriqat, called for international pressure on Israel to halt settlement activities in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Eriqat stated that such settlement activities would constitute an obstacle to peace negotiations between the two sides.

Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahou, focused his rhetoric on the Syrian call for peace, as well as Israel's drive towards curbing what Israel considers Iranian nuclear threats.

In an Israeli cabinet meeting this week, some Israeli ministers accepted European countries holding direct talks with Iran. As for Palestinian-Israeli issues, the cabinet made it clear that Israel would back new peace talks, based primarily on economic development and security arrangements throughout the Occupied Territories.

In Gaza, Gerry Adams, a leading Irish MP, visited the Strip this week, where he met with Ismail Haniya, prime minister of the Hamas-dominated government there. Adams expressed great support for the besieged Gaza Strip, especially after the recent Israeli war on the region.

On a related note, an American-European aid convoy will shortly be making its way to the coastal territory. According to the office of British MP George Galloway, another convoy will arrive soon in Gaza towards breaking the 22-month-long Israeli blockade. Last month, a British convoy led by Galloway managed to deliver aid to the people of Gaza. Galloway met with officials from the internationally-boycotted Hamas government there, which the MP considers ' the legitimate government of Palestine'.

On an internal level, the rival Palestinian parties Fatah and Hamas are expected to meet again in Cairo on April 26, in a bid to finalize a national unity agreement. A senior Fatah delegation visited the Hamas-ruled Gaza strip this week amidst ongoing uncertainties. Both parties held intensive talks in Cairo last month but failed to achieve agreement on certain contentious issues. Among these is the agenda of any upcoming unity government.

Sources in Gaza revealed that some other Palestinian factions involved in the talks had offered a compromise based on reaching a unity deal without agreeing to a power-sharing government. Hamas was reportedly initially in favour of such an offer. Since June2007, Fatah and Hamas have been at loggerheads due to Hamas's takeover of Gaza, ousting Fatah-loyal security forces from the region, after they both failed to abide by a national unity government, mediated by Saudi Arabia in February 2007.

In the aftermath of winning 2006 parliamentary elections, the Islamist Hamas shunned peace talks with Israel until the latter ends its attacks on the occupied Palestinian territories. In 1993, the Fatah-dominated Palestine Liberation Organization, signed Oslo peace accords with Israel.


For IMEMC.org this is Mary Arthur

The Gaza Repot

The Israeli military continues to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip as part of its two-year siege. The siege of the Strip has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza. IMEMC's Rami Al Meghari reports:

Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinian gunmen who approached the border fence in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday. The military radio announced that two gunmen exchanged fire with the army east of Jabalia refugee camp after they attempted to infiltrate into Kfar Azza Kibbutz.

Soldiers said that automatic rifles and an explosive charge were found in the possession of the two slain fighters. An Israeli army spokesperson told the Ramattan news agency that the soldiers spotted two gunmen approaching the kibbutz and opened fire at them.

Palestinian medics said they were not allowed to remove the men's bodies as the army barred them from entering the area. After the attack, Israeli soldiers fired a number of artillery shells near the attack site but no injuries were reported.

At least 15 patients were allowed back into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Monday. Trucks carrying medical aid were also allowed through. Raed Fattouh, from the Crossings Administration, told reporters that the seven trucks had been sent by the Saudi Arabia Red Crescent Society.

Also on Monday the Israeli military allowed a total of 109 trucks loaded with food to enter Gaza. Fattouh said that 20 truckloads were destined for the International Health Program; 80 to the private sector and five to Al Ru'ya (Vision), an international group working in Gaza.

In related news, Israel announced that it will allow equipment for the power station in Gaza City into the Strip. This is the first time that Israel has allowed spare parts of this kind into Gaza since it began its siege of the Coastal region in June 2007.

On Monday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that hospitals there have run out of 61 different types of medicines and warned that, as a result, more patients' lives are at risk.



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


The West Bank report

During the week the Israeli military carried out at least 26 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks, Israeli troops kidnapped 52 Palestinian civilians including eight children.
This and more by IMEMC's James Brownsell:

The invasions this week were focused in the cities of Bethlehem, Hebron and Jenin. In other news soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian man on Wednesday, who allegedly tried to snatch the weapon of a soldier near Hizma village, north-east of Jerusalem. The man sustained injuries to his stomach and was taken to a hospital in the central West Bank city of Ramallah. The army reported the incident took place while soldiers were operating in the village.

12 residents were shot and wounded by Israeli gunfire and 15 others were treated for gas inhalation after a group of extremist Israeli settlers attacked Safa village, near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem on Wednesday.

When villagers from the nearby Beit Ummar and Surif rushed to the area to help stopping the settlers attack, soldiers intervened to stop the settlers and ordered them to return to their illegal outposts of Beit Ayin, local sources reported. Israel's military said that Palestinians began throwing stones as settlers marked a Jewish blessing on a nearby hilltop. However, villagers say the settlers stormed the village and attacked them first, leading to the clashes.

One teenage settler was killed and another injured when a Palestinian man attacked Israeli settlers in the illegal settlement of Bat Ayin last Thursday. The attacker was not caught and villagers of Safa told reporters they had nothing to do with last week's attack. At midday on Tuesday, Israeli border police shot dead a Palestinian driver in the Surbaher neighborhood of East Jerusalem whilst bulldozers demolished a Palestinian family home in the area.

Palestinian sources said Azmi Ewisat, 20, was driving his car near a police checkpoint in the Palestinian dominated neighborhood when officers opened fire and killed him. Mohamed Amera, 20, who was in the car with him, was critically injured in the incident.

Israeli police sources said the two men where trying to run down police with the car and that this caused the officers to open fire. Police and troops had surrounded the Surbaher neighborhood earlier on Tuesday morning as the Israeli Authorities had decided to carry out demolition of the home of Hussam Doyat, who was killed last July when he attacked and killed three Israelis with a bulldozer.

During the demolition, Israeli forces attacked members of the Doyat family and forced them from their home. The parents of Hussam sustained light injuries and were moved to a nearby hospital for treatment. Earlier this month, the Israeli Court gave a green light for the Israeli army to demolish the Doyat home. The Israeli government claims destroying the homes of attackers will deter future attacks.

Staying in Jerusalem, the Israeli military barred all equipment and supplies imported by the Palestinian Authority from entering Jerusalem on Monday. Hatem Abed Al-Qader, the Palestinian Authority Advisor for Jerusalem Affairs, told reporters that the goods had been donated by the Islamic Bank and were worth several million USD.

According to Abed Al-Qader, six Palestinian hospitals in Jerusalem - Maqased, the Islamic Hospital, Saint Joseph's , Saint John's, the Red Crescent Hospital and the Amira Basma Clinic will all be affected by the new ban.

For IMEMC.org this is Brownsell.




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.