While Israeli occupation forces continue incursions and raids into the Palestinian territories, the Gaza Strip in particular, President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have yet to reach a mutual agreement on what exactly is going to be presented at the upcoming Annapolis summit, if it is actually held.
In the Gaza Strip, six Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire over the past few days as a result of repeated Israeli incursions and operations into different areas. Mohammed Klub and Abdu Abu Askar were killed in Beit Lahyia on October 25 from Israeli artillery shelling in the area. On October 26, Yousef Odeh from Hamas' military wing, the Izzedin Al Qassam Brigades was killed in an armed confrontation with Israeli forces east of Jabalyia. Two others were killed on the same day near the Nahal Oz gate after being hit by Israeli artillery fire. Also an Islamic Jihad activist Yasser Asfour died after trying to plant explosives in the same area.
Two Israeli soldiers were also reported lightly injured in the exchange of fire and were briefly treated in the Soroka Hospital for their wounds.
Two days earlier, on October 23, an Al Quds Brigades commander in Jenin was assassinated in Jenin and a Nasser Eddin commander was killed in Gaza.
Palestinians also lost one of their own during riots that broke out at the Negev detention center of Ketziot on October 22. Mohammed Al Ashqar was killed by Israeli prison authorities and a special military unit, which raided the detention tents and shot tear gas and rubber and metal bullets at the prisoners, who were protesting a late night raid into the camp. Palestinians are demanding an investigation into the incident and have called on international human rights organizations to step in and provide protection for all Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinian casualties in the Strip were not limited to those inflicted by the Israeli army however. On October 21, one Palestinian was killed and several wounded in clashes between Hamas and the Islamic Jihad, which had spilled over from the previous week. That evening, the two movements reached a truce agreement, which called on both sides to halt fire against one another, remove any roadblocks set up throughout the Strip and release abducted members from both sides.
The regular Israeli incursions into the Gaza Strip are ostensibly to halt the rockets being fired into Israeli territory. On October 23, the Israeli government announced it would restrict goods entering Israel after a spate of 17 rockets was fired into Israeli territory, including fuel and essential goods. The decision came on the heels of an October 25 decision by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to impose sanctions on electricity provided to the Strip. The decision, which Olmert approved, entails cutting electricity off from the Strip whenever a rocket is fired for a period of 15 minutes. The period of power cuts will be increased with every additional rocket.
The new measures are part of the Israeli declaration in September to consider the Gaza Strip "hostile territory" following Hamas' takeover of the Strip last June. The declaration, which was backed by the United States, opens the door to a number of sanctions against Gaza in a bid to further isolate Hamas and strengthen the West Bank government headed by President Abbas.
The current status quo in the Gaza Strip in particular means the agenda will be more than full at the upcoming summit in Annapolis, if it is even held. While the initial date for the summit was at the end of November, consecutive hurdles along the way have forced the United States to consider postponing the meeting or even cancelling it altogether.
The two sides have yet to agree on the essential guidelines for the summit, although each side insists it is committed to achieving progress in the peace process. Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams have been meeting over the past few weeks, ostensibly to hammer out a joint declaration but no final agreement has yet been announced.
Abbas and Olmert met on October 26 at the Israeli premier's house in west Jerusalem to try and agree on what will be discussed at the summit. In statements made after the meeting, both leaders maintained they were committed to the process and to their respective obligations towards implementing the first phase of the roadmap before heading to Annapolis. However, Abbas insisted that the roadmap's first phase is to be immediately implemented, not negotiated.
During the two-and-a-half hour meeting, Abbas also suggested a Palestinian-Israeli framework under the supervision of the Quartet Committee, which would address issues such as settlement expansion, reopening Jerusalem offices, namely the Orient House and returning the status of the territories to that which prevailed prior to September 28, 2000.
Abbas also called on Olmert not to cut the electricity supply off of the Gaza Strip and to allow essential supplies and fuel to enter unhindered. Abbas reportedly also called on the Israeli leader to halt assassinations of Palestinian activists.
Still, the main difference between the two sides is that the Palestinians demand a specific timeframe for the creation of a Palestinian state and the addressing of core issues in the conflict such as permanent borders, the refugee issue and Jerusalem.
The Israelis, however, do not want to commit to any binding agreement, saying they preferred a "general document" to be discussed in Annapolis. During a speech in Jerusalem to Jewish fundraisers, Olmert played down the importance of the summit, saying it would not produce any binding peace agreement with the Palestinians and might not even take place if the gaps between the two sides are not bridged.
Even the sponsor of the anticipated summit, the United States, is showing frustration over the lack of real progress on the ground. On October 24, during a House hearing, US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice said the "two-state solution was in jeopardy" and that there was only a "narrow window of opportunity" for peace, continuing to encourage "moderate Palestinian leaders".
"Our concern is growing that without a serious political prospect for the Palestinians that gives to moderate leaders a horizon that they can show to their people that indeed a two-state solution is possible, we will lose the window for a two-state solution," she said.
Rice also shot down suggestions that the conference was a political ploy by US President Bush. "There are probably easier foreign policy tasks to take than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," she said.
There are other hurdles to overcome if the summit is to be of any success. Hamas politburo member Mohammed Nazzal announced that a Palestinian National Conference is being organized by Palestinian factions opposed to the summit and will be held on November 7 in Damascus. Nazzal said the conference is to reaffirm Palestinian national constants and rights and to confront American-Israeli pressures for Palestinian concessions, especially over the refugee right of return.
The Arab countries the United States is hoping will attend the summit also have their reservations. Saudi Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz said on October 23 that the summit must tackle core issues and guarantee a complete Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967. He also called on the Palestinians to resort to dialogue to resolve their disputes. It is still uncertain whether Saudi Arabia, which has no diplomatic ties with Israel, will agree to travel to Annapolis.
UN Resolution 1325
Date posted: February 03, 2021
By MIFTAH
Kerry talks peace while Israel bars UNESCO mission [May 19 - May 25]
Date posted: May 25, 2013
By MIFTAH
President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu both met with US Secretary of State John Kerry this week in the latter’s fourth visit to the region since he assumed office.
After meeting with the two to ostensibly find ways to restart stalled negotiations between the two sides, Kerry urged on May 24 both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take "hard decisions" to revive the peace process.
"We're getting toward a time now when hard decisions need to be made," he said at the end of his visit.
Kerry admitted a day before after meeting with the two leaders that there was skepticism and cynicism about his efforts to revive talks.
"I know this region well enough to know there is skepticism, in some quarters there is cynicism, and there are reasons for it. There have been bitter years of disappointment," he said. Still, he maintained: "It is our hope that by being methodical, careful, patient, but detailed and tenacious, that we can lay on a path ahead that can conceivably surprise people and certainly exhaust the possibilities for peace."
British foreign secretary William Hague was also in the region visiting with leaders on both sides and even visited the Bedouin community of Khan Al Ahmar between Jerusalem and Jericho, whose residents are under the threat of displacement.
On May 23, Hague was poignantly clear on where his country stands on Israeli settlements in the West Bank. "Israel has lost some of its support in Britain and in other European countries over time - this is something I've often pointed out to Israeli leaders -because of settlement activity, which we condemn,” he said.
"We strongly disagree with settlements on occupied land. Israel is a country we work with in many ways but we do disapprove of settlements,” he maintained, adding that: "We want to see both Israelis and Palestinians really commit themselves to the peace process while there is still a chance of a two-state solution."
In Khan al Ahmar, Hague listened to the residents’ grievances from Israeli efforts to push them out to make way for more settlement expansion. "We (in Britain) strongly condemn the building of settlements and recognise they are a severe threat to a two-state solution,” he told the people there.
On March 21, Israeli forces demolished two residential buildings in the Jabal al-Mukabbir in East Jerusalem. Earlier, they demolished two Palestinian homes in al-Tur, all under the pretext of unlicensed construction. Dozens of people have been left homeless from the demolitions.
A UNESCO fact-finding mission was supposed to arrive this week to look into Israeli measures in the Old City of Jerusalem and their impact on the archeological, cultural and heritage significance of the place, but was denied entry by Israel on May 20. Israel justified its decision by saying Palestinians were trying to politicize the visit.
"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings,” an Israeli foreign ministry official said. “The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.
UNESCO maintained that the mission was not cancelled, but postponed, the agency’s spokeswoman Sue Williams said.
The Palestinians said they expected Israel to pull something like this. “We weren't surprised by this decision because we believed that Israel's agreement to (allow the mission) was not convincing," minister of foreign affairs Riyad Al Malki said.
The Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt was reopened on May 22 after a five day closure. Egyptian soldiers and policemen closed the crossing following the kidnapping of seven Egyptian soldiers in Sinai, only reopening it after the soldiers were freed. Over 2,400 Palestinians had been stranded on both sides of the crossing during the days of the closure.
Extremist Israelis extended their attacks this week all the way to the Negev desert. On May 19, residents of the Retamim Kibbutz attacked the nearby Bedouin village of Bir Hadaj and set fire to a tent, according to head of the local village council, Salman Ibin Hamid
"The setters of Retamim are acting like they are in the West Bank," Ibn Hamid said. "These people have the mentality of the occupying settler to attack every Arab."
Finally, on May 23, the US appointed Gen. John Allen as special envoy on security issues in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. According to a US official, Allen will deal with the U.S. position on Israeli security needs and the security arrangements that would accompany the establishment of a future Palestinian state.
Al Nakba commemorated amid increasing settler attacks [May 12 - May 18]
Date posted: May 18, 2013
By MIFTAH
This week Palestinians commemorated the 65th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of 1948 on May 15, with a variety of activities, demonstrations and events throughout the Palestinian territories and outside of its borders. Festivals were held in Ramallah and Nablus in addition to several protests and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces. In Jerusalem, clashes broke out between protesters and Israeli police and border guards when Palestinians commemorating Al Nakba, raising Palestinian flags and facing off with Jewish settlers and soldiers. Thirty people were wounded or arrested during the clashes in addition to six Israelis.
The Jerusalem clashes come at a time when settler break-ins to Al Aqsa have been on the rise amid increasing calls by extremist Jewish groups to make a presence at the compound. The break-ins have become a near daily event. Muslim worshippers and Palestinian youths have kept constant vigil at the mosque to stave off the break-ins which included settler groups who used children as a cover to enter the compound on the occasion of Shavuot.
Settlers in the West Bank have wreaked havoc this week as well. On May 17, three Palestinians were injured in clashes in Urif south of Nablus when dozens of settlers set fire to lands in three area-villages: Urif, Einabus, and Asira al-Qibliya. The settlers also attacked citizens and threw burning tires at people’s homes.
Jewish extremists attacked inside the Green Line as well. On May 14, extremists set fire to three cars and sprayed racist graffiti on a mosque south of Haifa, according to Israeli media reports.
"Price-tag" and "Eviatar," which is thought to refer to the name of a settler stabbed to death last week, were found on the mosque’s walls in addition to the Star of David. In Safed, even farther north, racist graffiti with the words "Arabs out" was found on walls in the city.
On May 13, Israeli settlers exhumed a number of graves and sprayed racist graffiti in the Sawiya village in Nablus. Ghassan Daghlas, head of the PA settlement activity file, said settlers from the Alia settlement were responsible for the damage.
On the same day settlers from Tel Hatimar begin building a religious school for children on Al Khader lands in the Bethlehem area.
The Israeli army meanwhile, uprooted over 1,200 olive tree saplings on May 16 and razed land Palestinian farmer in the northern West Bank, according to Daghlas. He said the army dug up over 40 dunums of farm land and demolished a water tank and stone walls in Ras Karker, near Nablus.
On May 17, three Palestinian laborers were wounded in Beit Ula northwest of Hebron after Israeli forces fired rubber-coated steel bullets and unleashed police dogs at them according to Issa al-Amla, coordinator for the popular struggle committee. He said Omar Al-Amla, 31, and Abdulkadir Al-Amla, 28, suffered multiple dog bites to the neck and hands. A third laborer, Jihad Saleem, was shot in the leg.
In Jerusalem on May 17, Israeli forces raided the home of Iyad al-Awar and insisted on taking his two children 6-year-old Qassam and 5-year-old Nasrallah for “interrogation”. While their father prevented the forces from arresting his boys, Israeli soldiers handed him a warrant ordering him to bring his children to the Russian Compound for questioning.
"We arrived to the Russian Compound and the troops wanted to take my kids for investigation; I refused and they beat me in the ear and the leg. My kids started crying and were so scared from the troops. They took my kids by force," al-Awar said.
Israeli Intelligence officers apparently questioned the children about their detained cousin Shadad, and asked if they had seen him throwing stones or Molotov cocktails at Israeli forces, Al Awar said.
On the same day however, Palestinians scored a tiny victory in the Jerusalem suburb of Abu Dis when they were able to tear a hole through part of the separation wall. Protesters marking the Nakba anniversary ripped a 4-meter hole in it, eyewitnesses said. Clashes ensued between the protesters and Israeli soldiers who fired tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Several injuries were reported.
Peace Now reported on May 16 that the Israeli government planned to grant retroactive approval to four West Bank settlement outposts it had previously pledged to at least partially demolish.
The Israeli state attorney's office said that settlers had purchased the private Palestinian land on which they built, thus paving the way for the government to give its blessing.
"In the response, the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas," Peace Now said in a statement, adding that the strategy was an affront to US Secretary of State John Kerry's efforts to revive dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. "The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry's new peace process," Peace Now said.
On May 14, Hamas and Fatah agreed in Cairo to form a national unity government within three months during which they would finalize and approve the Palestine National Council elections law. The two sides, represented by Fatah leader Azzam Al Ahmad and Hamas politburo member Mousa Abu Marzouq, came to the agreement under Egyptian sponsorship and said President Abbas would immediately begin talks on the new government formation. Once the government is formed, general elections can be held.
