Page 33 - Palestine

Palestine urges CIA chief to pressure Israel to stop unilateral measures

The CIA chief arrived in Israel on Thursday amid growing tensions between Israel and the Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

Palestine retaliation: Israeli forces on high alert around West Bank, Gaza

Netanyahu said in a statement that his country "is not interested in an escalation"

Nations express 'deep concern' at Israeli punitive measure on Palestine

More than 90 countries have expressed deep concern at Israel's punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society following a UN request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. In a statement released Monday by the Palestinians, the signatories called for a reversal of the Israeli measures, saying regardless of their position on the General Assembly's resolution, we reject punitive measures in response to a request for an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice. The 193-member General Assembly voted 87-26 with 53 abstentions on December 30 in favour of the resolution which was promoted by the Palestinians and opposed vehemently by Israel. Even though rulings by the International Court of Justice are not legally binding, they can be influential on world opinion. Israel's new hardline government responded on January 6, approving steps to ..

New Israeli govt takes punitive steps against Palestinian leadership

In some of its first acts since coming to power, Israel's new Security Cabinet approved a series of punitive steps against the Palestinian leadership, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday. According to a statement from Netanyahu's office, the move is in retaliation for Palestinians pushing the U.N.'s highest judicial body to give its opinion on the Israeli occupation. The development underscores the hard-line approach to the Palestinians that Israel's new ultranationalist government has promised at a time of rising violence in the occupied territories. It comes a week after the United Nations General Assembly voted to approve a resolution requesting that the International Court of Justice intervene and render an opinion on the legality of Israeli policies in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. Israel's Security Cabinet described the Palestinian Authority's request to the U.N. as a decision to wage political and legal war against the State of Israel. "The .

Palestinian authorities hail UN vote on Israeli occupation of territory

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman of the Palestinian presidency, on Saturday said, "the vote is evidence of the whole world standing by our people and their inalienable historical rights"

Palestinian car-ramming in Tel Aviv deemed 'terror attack', says police

Police in Israel have determined a recent car-ramming attack carried out by a Palestinian driver in Tel Aviv that injured a motorcyclist a "terrorist attack"

Palestine slams US pressure over updating companies in Israeli settlements

The UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which was enacted in 2016, deemed these Israeli settlements illegal and urged an immediate end to them in the Palestinian territories

Israel deploys remote-controlled robotic guns, stun grenades in West Bank

In two volatile spots in the occupied West Bank, Israel has installed robotic weapons that can fire tear gas, stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at Palestinian protesters. The weapons, perched over a crowded Palestinian refugee camp and in a flashpoint West Bank city, use artificial intelligence to track targets. Israel says the technology saves lives both Israeli and Palestinian. But critics see another step toward a dystopian reality in which Israel fine-tunes its open-ended occupation of the Palestinians while keeping its soldiers out of harm's way. The new weapon comes at a time of heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank, where unrest has risen sharply during what has been the deadliest year since 2006. The victory by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line alliance, which includes an extreme right-wing party with close ties to the settler movement, has raised concerns of more violence. Twin turrets, each equipped with a watchful lens and a gun barrel, .

Palestinian kills 3 Israelis, wounds 3 in West Bank stabbing

A knife-wielding Palestinian killed two Israelis in a stabbing Tuesday at a settlement in the occupied West Bank, then stole a car as he tried to flee the scene and crashed it on a nearby highway, killing a third Israeli, officials said. The attack at the settlement of Ariel also left three Israelis wounded. The Palestinian was shot and killed by an Israeli soldier as he tried to run away from the crash scene. The Zaka paramedic service said the three wounded were being treated in hospital and that they were in serious condition. It was the latest attack in a wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence this year that has seen Palestinian attackers target Israeli civilians and near nightly Israeli arrest raids that have fuelled unrest in the occupied territory. The Israeli military said the Palestinian first stabbed several Israelis at the entrance to the settlement's industrial zone, then proceeded to a nearby gas station and stabbed more people there. The army said the man then stole a c

India donates $2.5 mn for education, healthcare of Palestinian refugees

India presented a cheque of USD 2.5 million, the second tranche of the pledged USD 5 million annual support, to a UN agency on Monday that will go directly to serve the schools, health centres and other basic services run by the organisation to support Palestinian refugees. India has given USD 22.5 million to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) since 2018. UNRWA is a UN agency that supports the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees. "The Government of India presented USD 2.5 million (second tranche of a total contribution of USD 5 million for the Financial Year 2022-2023) to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in support of the Agency's core programmes and services, including education, healthcare, relief and social services," the Representative Office of India (ROI) in Ramallah said in a statement. "The financial contribution was presented to Ms. Xuran Wu, .

Palestinian assailant wounds 2 Israelis in shooting in Jerusalem

A Palestinian assailant opened fire at an Israeli military checkpoint in east Jerusalem seriously wounding two people late Saturday, Israeli authorities said, hours after a pair of Palestinian teenagers were killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank. It was the latest bloodshed in the deadliest round of fighting in the area in seven years. It also came less than 24 hours before Israel was to begin celebrating the weeklong Sukkot holiday, a time when tens of thousands of Jews visit the holy city. Saturday night's shooting occurred at a checkpoint near the Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem. Police said the assailant opened fire, wounding a female soldier and a security guard. Israeli rescue services said the woman was in critical condition and the man was in serious condition. A third Israeli was lightly wounded. Police said they were searching for the attacker, with special forces and a helicopter involved in the search. Our hearts tonight are with the ..

Two Palestinians killed in Israel during military raid in West Bank

Israeli soldiers shot and killed two Palestinians on Saturday in an exchange of fire that erupted during a military raid in the West Bank, according to Israeli and Palestinian accounts, in the latest confrontation that has made 2022 the deadliest year of violence in the occupied territory since 2015. The raid occurred in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank, the site of repeated clashes between Israeli forces and local gunmen and residents. The camp is known as a stronghold of Palestinian militants and the army often operates there. Palestinian officials said soldiers entered the camp early Saturday and surrounded a house. In videos circulated on social media, exchanges of fire could be heard. The Palestinian Health Ministry reported two dead and 11 wounded, three of them critically. The official Wafa news agency said both of the dead were 17-year-old boys. The Israeli military said it had arrested a 25-year-old operative from the Islamic Jihad militant group who has ...

European Union urges Israel, Palestine to defuse West Bank tension

The European Union (EU) is exerting efforts to defuse the escalating tension between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, an official announced

Israeli minister orders expulsion of Palestinian attacker's family members

Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked has ordered the expulsion of families of a Palestinian man who carried out an attack five years ago in East Jerusalem

Israel restricts movement to Palestinian territories during Jewish holidays

The Israeli military announced that it will close all the checkpoints and crossings connecting the country and the West Bank during the upcoming Jewish holidays

Arab aid to UN Palestinian refugee agency continues to decline: Official

The annual Arab financial aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) had declined to 3 per cent of UNRWA's budget in 2022, a UN advisor said

Palestinian farmer excavates rare ancient mosaic artwork treasure in Gaza

Last spring, a Palestinian farmer was planting a new olive tree when his shovel hit a hard object. He called his son, and for three months, the pair slowly excavated an ornate Byzantine-era mosaic that experts say is one of the greatest archaeological treasures ever found in Gaza. The discovery has set off excitement among archaeologists, and the territory's Hamas rulers are planning a major announcement in the coming days. But it is also drawing calls for better protection of Gaza's antiquities, a fragile collection of sites threatened by a lack of awareness and resources as well as the constant risk of conflict between Israel and local Palestinian militants. The mosaic was uncovered just a kilometer (half mile) from the Israeli border. The floor, boasting 17 iconographies of beasts and birds, is well-preserved and its colors are bright. These are the most beautiful mosaic floors discovered in Gaza, both in terms of the quality of the graphic representation and the complexity of t

Talks between rival Palestinian factions to resume in Algeria in October

The Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) will join the dialogue on October 2

Palestinian PM urges US not to block its bid for full UN membership

The US administration has urged the Palestinian Authority not to advance the voting process in the Security Council and warned against doing so, according to Israeli media reports

Palestinian death toll reaches 85 as Israel steps up West Bank raids

At least 85 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year as Israeli forces have carried out nightly raids in cities, towns and villages, making it the deadliest in the occupied territory since 2016. The military says the vast majority were militants or stone-throwers who endangered the soldiers. The tally, from the Palestinian Health Ministry, includes Palestinians who carried out deadly attacks inside Israel. But it also includes several civilians, including a veteran journalist and a lawyer who apparently drove unwittingly into a battle zone, as well as local youths who took to the streets in response to the invasion of their neighbourhoods. The length and frequency of the raids has pulled into focus Israel's tactics in the West Bank, where nearly 3 million Palestinians live under a decades-long occupation and Palestinians view the military's presence as a humiliation and a threat. Israeli troops have regularly operated across the West Bank since Israel captured the .