This week witnessed one of the worst displays of Israeli violence against Palestinians in recent years. 36 Palestinians, consisting of at least 10 innocent civilians, have been killed and over one hundred wounded thus far by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip from January 15-19. The number of Palestinians who have been killed in Gaza alone by Israeli aggression since November 2007 has now reached approximately 130 people.
The violence began just one day after Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei had met in Jerusalem to conduct “quiet negotiations” over core issues such as Jerusalem, refugees, borders and settlements. The two parties, following the visit from US President G. W. Bush, aim to reach a framework and an agreement on the establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2008.
On January 15, on a “routine” excursion to push Palestinian “terrorists” further from the border, Israeli forces exchanged fire with Palestinian fighters east of Gaza city. 13 members of Hamas’ military wing, al-Qassam brigades, and around 45 Palestinians, both fighters and civilians were injured. Among the dead was Hossam Zahar, the son of the co-founder of Hamas, Mahmoud Zahar. This is the second son the former Palestinian Foreign Minister has lost at the hands of Israel and he vowed to “answer Israel in the only language that he knows”.
Later that same day, two more Palestinian activists were killed by an Israeli artillery strike near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanun. Four Palestinian civilians were also killed during these Israeli attacks on the coastal strip. Also on January 15, Palestinian activists launched some 50 primitive and inaccurate Qassam rockets as well as mortars at the Israeli towns of Sderot and Ashkelon.
On January 16, an Israeli air strike killed a thirteen year old boy, his father and his uncle. A spokesperson for the Israeli army claimed that it was “recognized that during an operation against terrorists in the Gaza Strip a vehicle that was close to the target was hit in error”. In retaliation, Palestinian political military wings fired 79 rockets and mortar shells into Israel over the course of January 16 while two more Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a car near the central Gaza Strip refugee camp of Al-Bureij.
In response to the attacks on Gaza, politburo leader of Hamas in Damascus, Khaled Mesha’al declared that there would be “no peace with the killers and no security for the criminals”.
Meanwhile, in the village of Qabatiya near the town of Jenin in the northern West Bank, Israeli soldiers killed Walid Obeidi, the head of Islamic Jihad’s military wing, al-Quds Brigades.
Also in the West Bank on January 16, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad pronounced three days of mourning. On the first day, local shopkeepers closed up shop to show their respects for those Palestinians who died in Gaza. One shop keeper described how the “strike shows that we and Gaza are one people in the face of Israeli massacres”. Despite the differences between President Abbas and Mahmoud Zahar, the Fatah leader offered his condolences to Zahar and ordered that flags be placed at half mast, deeming the Israeli strikes as a “massacre” and “brutal”.
There were three further Israeli air strikes on January 17 killing seven Palestinians. Two Hamas fighters, an Islamic Jihad activist, a woman and her child riding in a donkey cart were killed in the first two attacks according to Palestinian hospital reports. Palestinian groups once again fired rockets into Israel but Israeli forces struck back a few hours later when the leader of the Popular Resistance Committee [PRC], Raed Abul al-Foul, and his wife both died after being targeted in another assault which took place in the northern Gaza area of Beit Lahiya.
A spokesperson for the PRC swore that “sooner or later we will, by God, avenge every drop of bloodshed”. Meanwhile in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Olmert legitimized the actions of the military by stating that “a war is going on in the south, every day, every night…we cannot and will not tolerate this unceasing fire at Israeli citizens…so we will continue to operate”.
Olmert’s words found support in a statement made by Sean McCormack, spokesperson of the US State Department. The representative announced that Israel “have every right to act in their self defense and it is well documented the Qassam rocket attacks have been coming out of Gaza and are unabated at this point”.
Ever since Hamas seized control of Gaza in June, Israel has been restricting the opening of border crossings which are used to deliver food, fuel and medical supplies to the coastal strip. However, on January 18, in an apparent effort to quell the rocket attacks from Gaza, Israel complimented their air strikes by closing all border crossings to Gaza unless there were “exceptional humanitarian needs”.
Representatives from international organizations spoke out in stiff opposition to this move by Israel and appealed to Israel over this collective punishment, highlighting the potential ramifications of imposing such strict measures on an already beleaguered area. Christopher Gunness of the UN Relief and Works Agency [UNRWA] stressed how imperative it was for the crossings to be opened so that the situation doesn’t delve into further disaster “inflicting further misery on the one and a half million people”. Mr. Gunness continued by emphasizing that none of UNRWA’s supplies have reached Gaza and that its closure will only fuel radicalism in the area.
Spokesman for President Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, concurred with this assessment beseeching the international community to “intervene rapidly to prevent a further deterioration that may spin out of control”. John Holmes, undersecretary general for Humanitarian Affairs reiterated the fears Israel has for their security but adamantly disagreed that this example of collective punishment was the answer. In addition, Christoph Harnisch from the Red Cross and John Ging, head of UNRWA operations in Gaza, condemned Israel’s actions as undermining the hopes of peace and refusing to respect the civilian population in Gaza.
A 47 year old woman was also killed on January 18 when an Israeli military plane fired into a building that used to house Hamas’ interior ministry. The building was empty but the blast was so powerful that it destroyed the surrounding houses killing one woman and wounding nearly 50 people. There were two more strikes that targeted Hamas buildings in central and northern Gaza but no one was killed. Earlier, two Palestinians died after an Israeli air strike in Jabaliya northern Gaza in what they labeled an attack on “a rocket launching squad after they launched rockets into Israel”.
While this was happening in Gaza, Israeli soldiers shot and killed an al-Aqsa Brigades leader in the West Bank town of Nablus.
On January 19, two members of the al-Qassam Brigades were killed in an air strike while attempting to repel Israeli soldiers and 40 tanks from entering Jabaliya in northern Gaza.
In five days of violence, 36 Palestinians were killed, over one hundred were injured and over 150 Qassam rockets were launched from Gaza by the political military wings of Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, DFLP and the Popular Resistance Committee.
The four different parties caught up in these events have expressed their differing perspectives on the violence in Gaza. President Abbas stated on January 17 that “the Israeli raids and military escalations aim to deliver a blow to the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations” as well as “destroying the dreams and trying to destroy the future of our national aspirations”. On the same day Israeli deputy premier Haim Ramon described how the “military and economic pressure as well as the international isolation of the Gaza Strip will end up producing results”. UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, called for an “immediate cessation of Palestinian sniper and rocket attacks into Israel and for maximum restraint on the part of Israel Defense forces”. Finally Hamas spokesman, Hamad al-Rukeb, warned that “if bloodshed in Gaza and the West Bank does not stop, there will be similar bloodshed in Tel Aviv”. Another Hamas spokesperson, Ayman Taha, also claimed that there will be “no white flags”.
In other news, on January 15, it was announced that 66 homes are to be built in the Israeli settlement of Maaleh Hazeitim [known as Ras al-Amd to Palestinians] in east Jerusalem. The manager of the construction site confirmed that they possessed “all the necessary papers and authorization for the construction work”. This expansion arrives only a couple of months after it was publicized that 300 homes were to be built in the Israeli settlement of Har Homa in east Jerusalem. This was revealed only days after the Annapolis summit where Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to abide by stage one of their roadmap obligations. On the Palestinian side, this involves dismantling political military wing infrastructure and taking steps to ensure Israeli security whereas Israel is to cease settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories. However, while Palestinians want east Jerusalem as the capital of their state, Olmert has declared that Jerusalem is the “undivided, eternal” capital of Israel and therefore exempt from roadmap obligations, despite being occupied by Israel in 1967.
On January 16, eleven Jewish families moved into the controversial City of David housing project in the heart of Arab east Jerusalem to join the 60 Jewish families that are already residents there.
Also on January 16, Avigdor Lieberman withdrew Yishrael Beiteinu’s 11 seats from the government coalition. This resignation from Lieberman, which leaves Olmert with 67 seats out of the 120 in the Knesset, was fueled by Olmert’s peace meetings with the Palestinians. Lieberman stated that “negotiations on the basis of land for peace is a fatal mistake”. While many Knesset members believe that Lieberman’s exit will be positive step forward towards peace, Olmert must still try to keep his majority. With the imminent Winograd report, which is to prove highly critical of the Prime Minister, the ultra orthodox party Shas, which is another coalition party and one closely affiliated with Lieberman, may also leave Olmert if the Prime Minister makes concessions on Jerusalem. Without Shas’ 12 seats, Olmert will only control 55 seats and would therefore have to appease United Torah Judaism, Meretz or the Israeli Arab groups to prevent his coalition from collapsing. If they don’t, early elections will ensue and Olmert will be invariably replaced by the right wing Likud leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, an appointment which will delay the peace process indefinitely.
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.
