Hamas military wing claims responsibility for killing Israeli in the West Bank

Report: Hamas military wing claims responsibility for Friday shooting
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 20 June – Hamas military wing Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades reportedly claimed responsibility for Friday’s West Bank shooting that left an Israel man dead and another lightly injured. “One of the fighters ambushed a settler vehicle and shot at them from point-blank range after having observed the area continuously,” a statement released by the group said Friday, according to Hamas-affiliated news site the Palestinian Information Center. The statement identified the “Marwan Qawasmeh and Amir Abu Eisha Brigade” as the group directly behind Friday’s shooting, adding that “the operation was carried out days before the first anniversary of the martyrs Marwan Qawasmeh and Amir Abu Eisha.” The two were killed by Israeli forces after being accused of kidnapping and killing three Israeli teenage settlers near Hebron last summer in what many say was a triggering point for last summer’s Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip. The al-Qassam Brigades statement added that the operation “was part of an ongoing series of operations which started months ago in retaliation to occupation crimes,” naming several Palestinian “martyrs” who have recently been killed by Israeli forces including Izz Addin Abu Gharra from Jenin and Abdullah Ghanayim Gneimat from Kafr Malik near Ramallah.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766055

Palestinian kills Israeli, wounds another near West Bank settlement

BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) with AFP 19 June — An Israeli was killed and another wounded after a Palestinian opened fire on them near the illegal settlement of Dolev in the West Bank district of Ramallah Friday, the Israeli army said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said that at around 4:15 p.m. the two Israelis were driving to go on a hike in the occupied West Bank when a Palestinian called on them to pull over, appearing to want to ask about a nearby spring. He then opened fire on them using a 9mm handgun before fleeing the scene, she said. Both Israelis were evacuated by military helicopter to Tel HaShomer hospital in Tel Aviv, where one of them “succumbed to his wounds.” A hospital spokeswoman said that the dead man had arrived without any vital signs, having been shot in the chest. She said the other Israeli had been shot in the hand and was “not seriously injured.” Israeli news site Ynet said they were both 25 years old and identified the dead man as Danny Gonen, a resident of the Israeli city of Lod, though neither police nor hospital spokespeople were able to confirm his identity. Earlier reports incorrectly suggested they were settlers.An Israeli manhunt is underway for the Palestinian attacker …
There have been a number of attacks by Palestinians on Israeli military and civilians over the last year, largely in the wake of Israeli activities across the occupied Palestinian Territories, including last summer’s offensive on Gaza which left more than 2,200 Palestinians dead. An average of two Israeli civilians per week have sustained injuries by Palestinians so far in 2015, with one Israeli killed, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. In the same time period, an average of 39 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli forces per week and 13 killed, two of whom were killed since the beginning of this month. The number does not include incidents of injury by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=76605

Soldiers conduct searches following deadly shooting near Ramallah
IMEMC 20 June — Following the deadly shooting of an Israeli man near the central West Bank city of Ramallah Friday, soldiers surrounded several Palestinian villages, and conducted an extensive military search in the entire area. The soldiers invaded various Palestinian communities, including Ras Karkar, al-Janiya and Deir Ebzea‘ [Deir Ibzi‘], after surrounding them, and conducted searches. They also installed roadblocks, searched dozens of Palestinian cars and investigated the ID cards of the passengers while interrogating them. The Israeli army said it is searching for a car allegedly used by the attacker, who managed to flee the scene after the shooting. Soldiers were also deployed on nearby hills, Palestinian orchards and bypass unpaved roads, while a military helicopter hovered overhead, scouting the entire area.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72000

Violence / Suppression of protests / Raids / Arrests – West Bank, Jerusalem

Israeli forces shoot, injure 2 Palestinians near Nablus tomb
NABLUS (Ma‘an) 18 June– Israeli soldiers shot two Palestinian men during clashes near Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus at dawn Thursday, Palestinian security officials said. Iyad Muin Muhammad Kalbuna, 23, was shot in his left foot while Muhammad Ghassan Hammad Hashash, 24, from Balata refugee camp, was shot in the thigh. They were both taken to Rafidia hospital for treatment. Clashes broke out as Israeli military forces escorted a bus of religious Jewish worshipers to the Nablus tomb overnight.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the site was to remain under Israeli control. But the Israeli army evacuated the premises in October 2000 shortly after the start of the Second Intifada, and it was immediately damaged and burnt by Palestinians. Following security cooperation with the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli army allows Jewish worshipers to make monthly nocturnal pilgrimages to the site.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766032

Three injured in Kufur Qaddoum weekly protest
IMEMC 20 June — As hundreds peacefully marched, Friday, in Kafr Qaddum village, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, chanting against the illegal occupation and its ongoing violations, Israeli soldiers attacked the protesters, wounding two Palestinians with live rounds and one with a rubber-coated metal bullet, while many suffered effects of tear gas inhalation. The Popular Committee against the Wall and Settlements in Kafr Qaddum said that, for the first time, the protesters actually managed to reach the Iron Gate, blocking the main entrance of the village. It added that the soldiers then started spraying them with toxic water mixed with chemicals, referred to as “skunk water.” The army also fired rounds of live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs. The Committee said resident Sari Sami was injured by two live rounds in the leg, Basham Mohammad, one live round in the leg, while Mohammad Yacoub was shot with a rubber-coated metal bullet before falling onto the ground, causing a fracture in his leg. This Friday is also the first Friday in the holy Muslim month of Ramadan; hundreds of Palestinians, accompanied by Israeli and international supporters participated in the protest. After the protest, Israeli soldiers fired several gas bombs at a number of homes, causing families to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation, while small fires broke out in some gardens. Clashes took place between the soldiers and dozens of local youths who hurled stones and empty bottles on them, while the army fired more gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets and live rounds.
http://www.imemc.org/article/71996

Many injured in Nabi Saleh weekly protest
IMEMC 20 June — Israeli soldiers attacked, Friday, the weekly nonviolent protest against the Israeli Annexation Wall and Settlements, in Nabi Saleh village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, causing several injuries. The protesters, accompanied by Israeli and international peace activists, marched towards Palestinian orchards Israel illegally confiscated to expand its nearby illegal colonies, built on Palestinian lands. The army fired rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs at the protesters, causing scores to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. The soldiers also surrounded the area to prevent the Palestinians from entering or leaving it. In addition, soldiers attacked several nonviolent protests against the Wall and settlements, including in Bil‘in and Ni‘lin villages, near Ramallah.
http://www.imemc.org/article/72002

New, longer video shows Israeli soldiers beating arrested Palestinian
Haaretz 18 June by Gili Cohen — Clip reveals beginning of Friday’s confrontation between IDF soldiers, Palestinian man in West Bank refugee camp of Jalazone; soldiers seen swearing at journalists — After Israeli soldiers were captured on video last week beating a Palestinian man after he was arrested in a protest in the Palestinian refugee camp of Jalazone, another video of the same incident was released on Wednesday, revealing the events that transpired before the incident. The 10-minute-long video, taken by a Palestinian journalist and released by the International Solidarity Movement, shows the soldiers swearing at several journalists and the beginning of the confrontation between them and the Palestinian man. The Palestinian is not seen trying to grab their weapons, contrary to soldiers’ claims, though he can be seen touching their weapons or drawing near it. An IDF investigation found that thought the arrest was justified, the soldiers made a disproportionate use of force. Two soldiers seen beating the man were given suspended sentences of 28 days in military jail. Another soldier, who was filmed cursing at the man, was sentenced to 30 days on base without leave.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.661787

Palestinian bravery vs. the Israeli army
Haaretz 17 June by Amira Hass — Had it not been for the cameras, the eyewitness reports about the armed soldiers who beat a Palestinian protester would have been dubbed as dubious ‘allegations.’ — The mistake made by the armed soldiers from the Netzah Yehuda battalion was that they allowed cameras to document their bestiality and cowardice while attacking a brave Palestinian civilian, armed with a visor cap and T-shirt, last Friday. For this error, their commanders punished them this week by meting out negligible disciplinary punishments. Their commanders couldn’t punish them for their crude assault, their loss of control, their arrogance or their abuse; you don’t punish a person for something that is the social norm, as well as a metaphor for the balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians …  Journalists’ reports, based on a clip from Palestinian television, stressed that the soldiers were filmed beating a Palestinian after they had already “gotten him under control.” The reports also emphasized the curses they showered him with. If there were a hidden camera at every arrest, we would have to admit that soldiers beating Palestinians whom they have already “gotten under control” is not unusual. And curses? There are Palestinians who conclude, from their run-ins with soldiers, that Hebrew consists of only eight words. Five of them are curses, and the other three are “halt,” “scram” and “forbidden.” All eight are barked out, like the videotaped barks and growls of the Netzah Yehuda soldiers …  The Hebrew-language reports about the soldiers who beat a Palestinian in front of the cameras missed one obvious fact that arises from the video clip: Ghabashi’s courage. He went out to the soldiers to protest the tear gas grenades they threw into his house in the Jalazun refugee camp while they were facing off with the young people from the camp, who demonstrate there every week against the occupation, the army, the settlement of Beit El. Ghabashi knows very well what armed, nervous soldiers can do to a Palestinian who dares to argue with them and disobey them when they order him to get lost; curses, punches and arrest are the least of it. They could also have shot him, and then invented some excuse. The valiant Ghabashi represents a Palestinian norm.
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.661513

Settlers block road, stone Palestinian cars south of Nablus
NABLUS (PIC) 19 June — A group of extremist Jewish settlers on Thursday afternoon blocked the main road near the junction of Yitzhar settlement, south of Nablus city, and embarked on throwing stones at passing Palestinian vehicles. Some cars sustained damage in the attack and a traffic accident reportedly happened. Meanwhile, a large number of Israeli troops intervened and spread along the road to Hawara junction, according to eyewitnesses.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72231

Israeli undercover unit kidnaps Jerusalem boy
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 18 June — Israeli undercover unit kidnapped late Wednesday a Jerusalemite minor after brutally attacking him in Silwan town in occupied Jerusalem. Clashes erupted. 17-year-old Kayed al-Rajabi was severely beaten before his arrest at the hands of Israeli forces dressed like Arabs, Wadi al-Hilweh Information Center affirmed. The Israeli undercover unit stormed the town under Israeli military protection and suddenly attacked the boy before his arrest amid heavy fire of live ammunition, the sources added. Without warning, Israeli soldiers opened fire, shooting at random, eyewitnesses said. Clashes broke out in the area where local youths stoned Israeli forces who heavily fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72221

Who protects Palestinian children from the police?
+972 blog 17 June by Alma Biblash & Michael Salisbury — Three East Jerusalem children wait for hours in an Israeli police station — their parents aren’t notified and their lawyer isn’t allowed to speak with them. The case exposes a gaping black hole in the laws regulating the treatment of minors and their representation by public defenders in Israel — Israeli police arrested three children — 10, 11 and 13 years old — in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan last Thursday evening on suspicion of throwing stones. Undercover officers arrested them and took them to the Shalem police station, next to the Old City. Under Israeli law, children under the age of 12 are not criminally culpable and it is illegal to keep them in custody or to interrogate them. Contrary to what the law says, police did not notify the children’s parents about their arrest, and when they arrived at the police station after neighbors informed them of the arrests, officers prevented them from entering the station and getting information on their children. “The kids went to pick figs. Two undercover officers came and took them to a police car,” recalled Muhammad Adib, the uncle of one of the boys who waited for them outside the police station. “It happens every day — they arrest children here like that. Two hours later, when the parents were worried and didn’t know what happened, one of the neighbors told them they were arrested.” “The police didn’t notify us before that,” Adib continued. “It’s becoming a situation in which undercover officers come through our neighborhood and arrest children all of the time.”
http://972mag.com/who-protects-palestinian-children-from-the-police/107920/

9 settler attacks against Jerusalemite children
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 17 June —  Defense for Children International-Palestine documented Tuesday nine Israeli settlers’ attacks against Palestinian children in occupied Jerusalem since the beginning of 2015. On June 9, Mohamed Abu Wahdan, 13, and his sister Wafa, 11, were subjected to brutal attack at the hands of Israeli settlers while on their way to al-Aqsa Mosque. Speaking to DCI- Palestine, Mohamed said that a group of settlers suddenly attacked him and his sister when they approached the Israeli-controlled Magaribeh Gate of al-Aqsa Mosque. He pointed out that his family members are routinely subjected to similar attacks especially that their home is located in Silwan town near Magaribeh Gate. His 16-year-old sister Israa was also subjected to pepper spray attack on May 14, while passing through the Old City. On May 11, the 13-year-old Mutaz Abu Diab was severely beaten all over his body while on his way to school in Silwan town at the hands of an Israeli settler under the pretext of approaching a nearby Israeli settlement. “The settler suddenly attacked me in the presence of three Israeli soldiers who then took me handcuffed to a nearby police station where I was subjected to a similar assault by Israeli police forces”, Abu Diab added. He was subjected to tough interrogation in order to force him to admit the Israeli charges submitted against him. He was severely beaten after he refused to admit charges of stoning Israeli settlers’ cars. Abu Diab was then released and sent to house arrest for five days. DCI- Palestine also documented a similar attack in the Old City of occupied Jerusalem on April 22. The victims were the 14-year-old boys Radi Dado and Mohamed Assalia….
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72202

Israeli forces hand out summonses for interrogation, detain one
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 17 June – Several people suffered from inhaling tear gas during clashes with Israeli forces who stormed the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar early Wednesday morning, detaining a teenage boy. Israeli forces ransacked the home of Saqr Sadiq Abu Mariya, 47, handing him a summons to appear at the nearby Israeli interrogation center for questioning before detaining his son Wahid, 15, a spokesman of the Beit Ummar committee against Israeli settlements and the separation wall told Ma‘an. Local spokesman Muhammad Ayyad Awad added that Israeli forces also ransacked and inspected several homes in the town and delivered interrogation summons to Nasr Fathi Fakhri Ikhlayyil and Hasan Sharif Abu Hashim. The homes of Muhammad al-Alami and Ahmad Khalil Abu Hashim were also inspected. Clashes broke near the town’s main mosque during which young men hurled stones at Israeli forces who showered the area with tear gas canisters and stun grenades.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766007

Israeli forces raid homes across the West Bank, detain 18
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 17 June — Israeli forces detained 18 Palestinians across the West Bank overnight Wednesday, raiding and searching several homes … Three were detained from Hebron, locals identifying one detainee Zaid Shaker al-Juneidi, who was detained after Israeli forces raiding his home in Hebron, as well as several other homes in the area.  Five were detained from Ramallah and Bethlehem areas respectively, including Muhammed Fares Ash‘al, 20, from the village of Bil‘in, where an Israeli force of six military vehicles raided the home of Fares Yassin Ash’al house in early morning before detaining his son. The forces also detained a Palestinian security services member from the Askar refugee camp at the Zaatara checkpoint in southern Nablus and raided several homes in the Beit Furik and Rujeib villages in the surrounding areas. Palestinian security sources told Ma‘an that clashes erupted as Israeli forces raided the Beit Furik village while searching a house belonging to Nidal Aref Abd al-Latif Hanani. Israeli forces also raided the Rujeib village in eastern Nablus and searched a grocery store belonging to Imad Jamal Halabi.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766009

Gaza

Gazan wounded by Israeli gunfire east of Khan Younis
GAZA (PIC) 20 June — One Palestinian citizen on Friday evening suffered a bullet injury when Israeli soldiers to the east of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip opened fire at him. Medical sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that a 20-year-old young man was wounded by Israeli gunfire during his presence in the eastern area of al-Fakhari, southeast of Khan Younis. Local sources explained that Israeli border soldiers opened machinegun fire for no reason at agricultural lands east of the area, which led to the injury of the young man.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72239

Limited Israeli incursion east of Gaza [City]
GAZA (PIC) 18 June — Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) advanced a limited distance in Palestinian lands to the east of Gaza City on Thursday. Local sources told Quds Press that several Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers advanced into lands to the eastern outskirts of the city in al-Shuja‘iyah district. The Israeli forces opened machine gun fire at random and leveled lands during the incursion. No casualties have been reported.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72227

Rafah crossing closes after week open
GAZA (Ma‘an) 19 June — The Egyptian authorities closed the Rafah crossing into and out of Gaza Friday after a week of being open. The head of the department of crossings and borders in Gaza, Maher Abu Sabha, said that he is hopeful the crossing will be reopened again next week, adding that there remain 12,000 Palestinians registered to travel. On Friday, 450 people departed Gaza through the crossing and 88 others entered, while 10 were denied entry with no reasons specified. Although the crossing was initially opened last Saturday for a planned three days, following requests from the Palestinian Authority, the Egyptians agreed to keep it open a full week, the longest period of time it has been opened this year. In recent years, the Egyptian authorities have only rarely opened the Rafah crossing — Gaza’s only connection to the outside world. Before the most recent opening, there were some 15,000 Gazans registered at the Palestinian Ministry of the Interior waiting to travel via Rafah, including 3,000 patients and more than 2,500 students.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766053

2,907 crossed into Egypt from Gaza in 5 days, says official
CAIRO (The Cairo Post) 18 June — A total of 3,755 people have used the Rafah border crossing since it was opened Saturday, director of the border crossing in the Gaza Strip, Maher Abu Sabha said. A total of 2,907 people have crossed into Egypt while 848 have crossed into the Palestinian enclave, according to Sabha.
http://www.thecairopost.com/news/156143/news/2907-crossed-into-egypt-from-gaza-in-5-days-says-official

35 prisoners released in Gaza on occasion of Ramadan
KHAN YOUNIS (PIC) 18 June — The interior ministry’s general administration of correction and rehabilitation centers in the Gaza Strip on Thursday released 35 prisoners on the occasion of the holy month of Ramadan. The detainees were released from a detention center in Khan Younis. Officer Basel al-Faluji, director of the Khan Younis correctional center, said the release of those detainees was based on the prison regulations, which stipulate the release of those who have spent two thirds of their prison terms and showed good conduct.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72216

Netanyahu denounces UN’s Ban over Gaza children remarks
JERUSALEM (AFP) 18 June — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday denounced what he called the “hypocrisy” of the United Nations after UN chief Ban Ki-moon demanded Israel protect the lives of children in Gaza. “This is a black day for the UN,” Netanyahu said. “Instead of pointing out the fact that Hamas made hostages of Gaza children when it fired from kindergartens… the UN chooses once again to preach at Israel.” “Evidently there is no limit to hypocrisy,” the Israeli leader said in a statement. Ban on Thursday urged Israel to protect the lives of Palestinian children, who bore the brunt of last year’s military operations in the Gaza Strip. “Last year was one of the worst in recent memory for children in countries affected by conflict,” the UN chief said, adding he was “deeply alarmed at the suffering of so many children as a result of Israeli military operations in Gaza last year.”
http://news.yahoo.com/netanyahu-denounces-uns-ban-over-gaza-children-remarks-005717841.html

Final UN shelter in Gaza closes
AFP 18 June — Relief agency gives money to families made homeless by last summer’s conflict for temporary accommodations; reconstruction of homes yet to begin — The UN has closed the last remaining shelter for Palestinians displaced in last summer’s war in Gaza, a spokesman said Thursday, with families seeking temporary accommodation elsewhere. The July-August conflict between Israel and Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, left 100,000 Gazans homeless and forced many to seek refuge in schools belonging to the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA. “Some 30 families left the shelter of the Bahrain school (in western Gaza City), where up to 1,100 displaced people had been living,” UNRWA spokesman Adnan Abu Hasna told AFP.  It was the final UN building being used as a shelter for those displaced in the war, he said. The United Nations has stressed the need for its schools being used as shelters to be able to function fully as educational institutions. UNRWA gave between $800 and $1000 (700-875 euros) to each family to be spent on temporary accommodation for several months, Abu Hasna said …   Gazans who lost their homes are either staying with relatives, in temporary accommodation such as apartments, or living under makeshift canvas tents in the ruins of their bombed-out houses.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670147,00.html

PHOTOS: Gazans decorate their old homes with bright colors to celebrate the advent of the holy month of Ramadan
Palestine Information Center
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/albmdetail.aspx?albumid=403&albumcatid=10

Ramadan lanterns light up the darkness in Gaza (photo report)
PIC 18 June — The children in Gaza have never given up in spite of their bitter and hard lives; they waited for Ramadan to declare their high hopes and aspirations in face of the destruction that surrounds them from everywhere. With the advent of the holy month of Ramadan, Gaza children lit their lanterns to shed a glimmer of light in their houses which were destroyed by the Israeli bombs and missiles during the last Israeli war on Gaza in summer 2014. The PIC camera was there to depict how Gaza children celebrate the advent of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72225

Hope springs eternal in Gaza / Mohammed Omer
Middle East Eye 17 June — Ramadan 2014 still lingers in the memory of most Palestinians in Gaza. This holy month – usually a time of spiritual reflection and celebration – was filled last year with physical and emotional agony, as Palestinians broke their fast amid missiles and bombs from relentless Israeli airstrikes. Today, on the eve of Ramadan 2015, Gazans seem more hopeful, as leaked reports whisper of a possible truce with Hamas. Statements and reports in the media are emerging, indicating a new agreement to end Israel’s eight-year siege on Gaza is likely to happen soon. Among such indications are increasing visits by European officials to Gaza, including foreign ministers; more public statements by UN officials to end the siege on Gaza; the sudden opening of the Rafah crossing; and the recent permission for cement and construction materials to come through the Rafah crossing in order to rebuild a devastated Gaza. The latter move was precipitated by Egypt’s sudden change of stance on Gaza, which included removing, from one of its courts, the label of “terrorist” from Hamas’s military wing, before Egypt permitted 4,000 tonnes of reconstruction cement through to the besieged Strip. There are also Saudi-Qatari-Turkish efforts, proposing a six-year ceasefire to Hamas if it signs up to Qatari projects offering reconstruction. Israeli reports also indicate that a deal is forthcoming. The voices of the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership seem hysterical right now, accusing Hamas of direct dialogue with Israel.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/hope-springs-eternal-gaza-2055198045

After fleeing Syria’s war, chef becomes a star in Gaza
[with video] GAZA (Reuters) 16 June by Nidal Al-Mughrabi — It is a safe bet that no one made it as a celebrity chef following the same path as Wareef Hameedo. Three years ago, the 34-year-old was running a small restaurant in a mall in the Syrian city of Aleppo. Then it was heavily bombed in Syria’s civil war. Members of his family fled to southeast Turkey and he followed shortly afterwards. In Turkey, he decided he would be better off in Egypt. He sailed to Port Said and ended up working as a chef at corporate banquets in Cairo. Struggling to make ends meet, he faced a decision: risk a journey to Europe or try his luck elsewhere. I had to choose whether to ride the death boats to Europe, with an uncertain future, or go to Gaza on the advice of some Palestinian friends,” Hameedo said. Against the odds, he chose Gaza. In May 2013, he was smuggled through one of the tunnels linking Sinai with the Palestinian territory and joined 1.8 million Gazans trying to make a living in an economy on the brink of collapse, with unemployment nearing 50 percent. With a degree in mechanical engineering, Hameedo’s technical skills might have been useful. But he was determined to make it as a chef, and step by step he pursued the dream, although Gaza was consumed by war between Israel and the militant group Hamas barely a year after he got there. As well as meeting his wife — a Palestinian journalist who interviewed him about Syrian refugees — he eventually opened his own restaurant with a partner, calling it “Soryana,” or Our Syria, a small place in one of Gaza’s best neighborhoods.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/16/us-palestinians-syria-chef-idUSKBN0OV1HG20150616

Gaza doctors find jobs in German clinics
GAZA CITY (Al-Monitor) 17 June by Hazem Balousha — In one of the rooms of the Goethe Institute in Gaza City, 13 students attend a German-language class. Five of them are doctors seeking to study and work in Germany due to the tough economic and political situation in Gaza, which has been under Hamas control for eight years. According to figures published by several sources, some doctors employed in Gaza are looking for work in German hospitals. Germany has been offering extensive incentives for doctors from outside the European Union for years … The director-general of governmental hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Abdullatif al-Haj, however, said, “There is no such trend [of doctors moving to Germany]. I personally only know two doctors who have traveled abroad, and they are general [practitioners] rather than specialists.” … We have not reached a point where Gaza is deprived of doctors or where there is collective departure from it.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2015/06/palestine-gaza-doctors-germany-medicine-immigration-eu.html

Land, property theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Hostility toward religions other then Judaism

Israel to evacuate 13 Palestinian homes in Jordan Valley
JORDAN VALLEY (PIC) 17 June — The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) on Tuesday notified the forced deportation of 13 Palestinian families from the Jordan Valley, in the northern West Bank. Local sources said members of the Israeli planning and construction committee stormed Hamsa Fouqa area in the northern Jordan Valley at the early morning hours and handed 13 Palestinian families orders to evacuate their homes under the pretext of military drilling. The targeted buildings are reportedly homes to some 60 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72208

Jewish extremists torch revered Christian site in northern Israel
TABGHA, Israel (AFP) 18 June — A suspected arson attack damaged a revered Christian shrine in northern Israel overnight, police said Thursday, as a church adviser pointed the finger at Jewish extremists. The Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee is where many Christians believe Jesus fed the 5,000 in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish …
A member of the Roman Catholic Benedictine order, which manages the site, said one of the buildings within the compound was completely destroyed in the blaze but the church itself was not damaged. The Hebrew graffiti, which was found on another building within the complex, was part of a common Jewish prayer which says “idols will be cast out” – or destroyed, an AFP correspondent reported. Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said two people who were in the compound at the time were taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation … Wadie Abu Nasser, an adviser to the Roman Catholic Church in the Holy Land, said the apparent arson attack would reverberate throughout the Christian world.  “Israel’s global image will be harmed,” he told Israeli public radio.”When you put one and one together, between the graffiti and the arson, you can reach a conclusion regarding the potential suspects.” Tabgha was subjected to a previous attack in April 2014 in which church officials said a group of religious Jewish teenagers had damaged crosses and attacked clergy.  There has been a long line of attacks on Christian and Muslim holy places in Israel, in which the perpetrators are believed to have been Jewish extremists. “I absolutely condemn such acts,” Israel’s deputy foreign minister Tzipi Hotovely said in a statement … In April, vandals smashed gravestones at a Maronite Christian cemetery near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. That incident prompted Israeli President Reuven Rivlin to meet church leaders and pledge a crackdown on religiously inspired hate crime.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766034

Israeli settlers suspected in church arson attack released
TABGHA (AFP) 19 June — Israeli police detained and released 16 young Jewish settlers Thursday after an overnight arson attack damaged a revered shrine in northern Israel. The arson attack struck the Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha, on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where many Christians believe Jesus fed the 5,000 in the miracle of the five loaves and two fish. A church adviser blamed Jewish extremists for the incident and police later said they had detained 16 youths from settlements in the occupied West Bank for questioning. “In an area near the church, 16 youths were detained for investigation in order to check their involvement in the incident before dawn,” police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement. She said 10 of those detained were from Yitzhar, which is known as a bastion of extremists and where residents have been involved in previous hate crimes. Israeli security forces estimated that the majority of incidents during a 2014 wave of anti-Palestinian hate crimes were carried out by Yitzhar residents, according to reports by Israeli media Haaretz … Despite Netanyahu’s vow to hold the perpetrators accountable, police spokesperson Samri told AFP that the youths suspected for Thursday’s attack were released shortly after being detained without charge, after providing statements to the authorities … The US State Department’s 2013 Country Reports on Terrorism included price-tag attacks for the first time, citing UN figures of some “399 attacks by extremist Israeli settlers that resulted in Palestinian injuries or property damage.” Such attacks were “largely unprosecuted,” it said.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766043

Joint Arab List calls for dismissal of Israeli police chief after church torching
Haaretz 19 June by Jack Khoury — The Joint Arab List called on Thursday for the immediate dismissal of the Israel’s police chief, Yohanan Danino, and for right-wing extremist groups to be declared terrorist organizations, in the wake of the torching of a historic Catholic church in the Galilee. “It is our right to combat any expression of racism,” the party announced, accusing the government of not doing anything to control extremist rightwing organizations. “It does not give the police orders and doesn’t invest any effort, and the result is more radical deeds. The failure of the police, time and again, to find those responsible and bring them to justice encourages the terrorist criminals to amplify their detestable deeds on the one hand, and increases the Arab public’s lack of faith in the police and its operations.”… “Netanyahu stands at the head of the incitement system against the Arab public in Israel, and he is guilty of the revenge attacks we witness in the morning news,” the party stated. “A so-called price-tag attack is not an act by deviants, but rather an act by calculated, thinking people that are indicative of the existence and repercussions of institutionalized racism and oppression.”
http://www.haaretz.com/news/israel/1.661989

IOA to knock down Muslims’ only mosque in Negev [town]
NEGEV (PIC) 16 June — The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) issued an order to demolish Muslims’ only mosque in Negev’s town of Rakhma, south of the 1948 occupied territories. Local sources said the Israeli occupation forces rolled into the village and threatened to knock down the Mosque. Meanwhile, Arab MK Talab Abu Arar said in a press statement Tuesday the projected demolition of the Mosque represents a flagrant infringement of Muslims’ freedom of worship and right to live in dignity. “Such an act is a barefaced proof of a deep-seated hatred and racism,” he said. “But Israel knows well that its oppressive policies and demolition procedures carried out on a daily basis in Negev . . . will neither dampen our spirits nor force us to give up our land and religion.”
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72188

Settlers defile Aqsa Mosque on first day of Ramadan
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 18 June — A group of Jewish settlers on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan desecrated the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards under police protection. Quds Press said that 12 settlers escorted by policemen toured on Thursday morning the Aqsa Mosque’s courtyards. It added that dozens of Muslim worshipers, who were there, protested the presence of Jews inside the Mosque by chanting religious slogans. The Israeli police in occupied Jerusalem had declared in June last year it would allow Jewish groups to enter the Mosque in the morning during the whole month of Ramadan. The police decision was deplored then by the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72224

Prisoners / Court actions

Hunger striker’s family asks EU rep to intervene
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 June — The family of Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan has sent a letter to Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, pleading for its intervention to help save his life. The letter was handed by a delegation from Adnan’s family on Wednesday to the European Commission office director in the Gaza Strip. The letter detailed Adnan’s plight and the aspects of his hunger strike and called on the EU representative to visit him at Assaf Harofeh hospital to see his medical condition and look into his demands.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766023

Serious deterioration in Khader Adnan’s health condition
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 19 June — The health situation of the prisoner Khader Adnan has seriously deteriorated as he continues his hunger strike for 45 consecutive days protesting his administrative detention, rights group said. Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) Jawad Boulos said that Israeli officials asked him late Thursday to urgently come to Assaf Harofeh Hospital as Adana’s health situation has sharply deteriorated. Adnan was vomiting during the visit hours and unable to speak loudly, while his right hand is still tied to the bed, Boulos said. He has lost much of his weight. Israeli authorities suggested to “improve Adnan’s detention conditions” in Assaf Harofeh Hospital if he accepts to conduct medical tests. However, Adnan refused the Israeli offer and continued to only drink water without taking any vitamins. During the past few hours, a number of Israeli figures have visited Adnan in the hospital including head of Israeli Medical Association and members of Physicians for Human Rights.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72235

Israeli Prisons Service to stop providing prisoners with medication
RAMALLAH (WAFA) 17 June – Minister of detainees and ex-detainees affairs committee, Issa Qaraqe‘ Wednesday said that the Israeli prisons administration has decided to stop providing Palestinian prisoners with medication, under the pretext of an allegedly insufficient budget. He told WAFA that the prisons service informed prisoners that they have to buy their medicine from their private cash. Israel’s Manual on the Laws of War (1998) provides that, “Prisoners must be administered proper medical care, at the expense of the detaining State and a monthly follow-up examination must be made of each detainee’s state of health. It is incumbent on the detaining State to provide the prisoners with sufficient food, drink and clothing,” reported the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) … According to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, “Israeli authorities responsible for prisoners regularly neglect their duties to provide medical support for Palestinian prisoners in their care, as required by the Geneva Conventions.”  According to the Global Research website, “Treatment is often inadequate and is delivered after substantial delays. Often medication is limited to over-the-counter pain killers.”
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=28698

IDF Court sentences 4 Palestinians for infamous rock throwing incident
JPost 18 June by Yonah Jeremy Bob — The IDF announced on Thursday the sentencing of four out of five Palestinians convicted in one of the country’s most infamous rock throwing incidents which almost led to the death of Ziona Kala, wife of the famous singer Itzik Kala, during the November 2012 Gaza War. The Judea Military Court handed down sentences of between seven years to eight and-a-half-years on Wednesday, but the decision was only announced Thursday. Many rock throwing incidents result in no injury or minor injury, but the Ziona Kala incident was infamous because the Palestinians involved seriously harmed Kala by throwing large rocks at her moving vehicle while it was traveling on Route 375. Kala was in intensive care for weeks after the attack before regaining consciousness … The cell of Palestinians involved were arrested by the IDF in January 2013, and come from the village of Husan and the Bethlehem area. Three of the four Palestinians: Ismail, Rahmah and Muhammed Hamamara were minors at the time of the incident and received slightly shorter sentences, while Abd Alhamid Hamarmara was an adult and received the longest sentence. The IDF has announced that it will be appealing the verdict, since originally the IDF had pushed not just for convictions for rock throwing at a moving vehicle, but for more serious offenses like attempted murder … A fifth Palestinian, Ali Hamarmara is still fighting the charges against him.
http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/IDF-Court-sentences-4-Palestinians-for-infamous-rock-throwing-incident-406495

8 prisoners transferred to solitary confinement
HEBRON (Ma‘an) 17 June – The Israeli Prison Service transferred eight Palestinian prisoners detained in the Ramon prison to solitary confinement, a prisoners’ affairs committee said Wednesday. The prisoners were identified as  Muhammed Manasra, Abu-allah al-Khdour, Ahmad al-Salman, Eiad Fataftah, Ahmad abu-Madi, Mahmoud Rabee, and Basem Jaber. No further information was given regarding the details of the transfers. Solitary confinement is one of several practices enforced routinely inside of Israeli prisons, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer, in addition to torture, forcible transfers, and medical negligence.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766015

Restriction of movement

#Denied – Harassment of Palestinian patients applying for exit permits
Physicians for Human Rights 11 June — PHR-Israel’s new report exposes Israel’s policy of arbitrarily denying medical treatment from Palestinians, even when such treatment can save their lives. Out of 246 denied patients 117 were no longer considered “security threat” following PHR-Israel’s intervention. In the course of 2014 PHR-Israel received 246 applications from Palestinian patients whose requests to exit the Gaza Strip or the West bank – mostly to hospitals in the West Bank or East Jerusalem – were rejected on security grounds, or delayed, thus causing severe harm to their health and even death. In nearly half of the cases (47.5%) in which we intervened, the security rejection was revoked. This rate is a testimony of the unbearable ease with which Israel denies Palestinians’ basic right to health and life.
http://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/denied-harassment-palestinian-patients-applying-exit-permits

Israeli forces prevent Egyptian poet from entering West Bank
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 18 June — Israeli authorities on Thursday prevented Egyptian poet Hisham al-Joukh from entering the West Bank to participate in a poem recital event.He was to take part in a Beit Jala summer of culture and art festival. The reasons for not allowing him to enter were unclear.Organizers of the event said it would be postponed to a later date.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766035

Israel bars two Palestinians from access to Jerusalem Old City
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (PIC) 18 June — Israeli magistrate court in Occupied Jerusalem deported two Palestinians from the Old City of Jerusalem for 60 and 30 days respectively in addition to fines. Local sources revealed that the Israeli prosecution claimed that two Jerusalemite men called Taha Shawahneh, 69, and Khair al-Shimi, 59, breached a previous court verdict. It stipulated that they should not approach the gates and nearby roads in addition to non-disrupting the work of Israeli forces. The same court, however, released three Jerusalemite women who were arrested by Israeli police at the Aqsa Mosque’s exit gates on Tuesday. Shawahneh and Shimi were arrested as well, and then released under the condition to attend a trial on Wednesday. The deportees along with Jerusalemite people opined that the Israeli authorities aim, by such verdicts, at humiliating and deporting Muslim worshipers for the purpose of paving the way for settlers to desecrate the Aqsa Mosque without objection.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72212

Thousands head to pray in Aqsa mosque for Ramadan
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 19 June — Tens of thousands of Palestinians from across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip headed to pray in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound for the first Friday of Ramadan, passing into Jerusalem with permits issued by Israel during the holy month. As worshipers made their way to the holy site, Palestinian police were deployed near Israeli checkpoints to regulate traffic. Israeli police spokesperson Micky Rosenfeld told Ma‘an Israeli security forces were deployed according to standard security measures, although he said that forces were working in increased coordination. Palestinian sources reported increased presence of Israeli forces at checkpoints and on Jerusalem street corners. While Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are subject to strict limitations on movement into East Jerusalem, part of the occupied Palestinian territories, Israel has historically made gestures ahead of and during Ramadan, partially easing restrictions. This year Israeli authorities gave permission for the entrance of men above the age of 40, children under 12, and women of all ages. Nearly a quarter of a million worshipers from occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and Israel are expected to perform prayers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque Friday. The Israeli authorities also allowed 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to travel to the compound via the Erez crossing. Compounds and hallways of the mosque were crowded with worshipers Friday from all Palestinian cities and villages, as well as Muslims from other countries.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766036

The road to Ramadan prayers
Middle East Monitor 19 June — EXCLUSIVE IMAGES — Thousands of Palestinians headed to Qalandiya checkpoint near Ramallah as they attempted to reach al-Aqsa mosque on the first Friday of Ramadan. Buses from across the central West Bank filled the roads around the checkpoint which is the main route to Jerusalem for Palestinians living in the area. According to official Israeli statements, all men over the age of 40 would be allowed passage through checkpoints to Jerusalem for Friday prayers without special permits as well as women of any age who are West Bank residents. Despite Israel’s statements, many Palestinians were still denied passage towards Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque including people who fitted within the stated demographics … For those who were again denied passage through Qalandiya and the many other checkpoints in occupied Palestine, reaching Jerusalem and al-Aqsa mosque for Ramadan prayers once again remains a right that is being denied by the Occupation
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/19328-the-road-to-ramadan-prayers

Palestinian refugees – Europe, Lebanon

Report: Palestinian refugees top 36,000 in Europe
LONDON (PIC) 19 June — 36,450 Palestinian refugees fleeing war-torn Syria reached Europe between 2011 and June 2015, Action Group for Palestinian refugees in Syria said in a report issued Friday. In 2011, 2,465 Palestinian refugees reached Europe after managing to leave their refugee camps in Syria, while 3,513 arrived to the European territories in 2012. 9,620 others reached Europe in 2013, while 13,902 refugees managed to travel in 2014. During the first half of 2015, 6,950 Palestinian refugees arrived to Europe. The 36,450 refugees arrived to Europe via the so-called “boats of death,” risking their lives after being forced to flee their homes in Syria and to live again uncertain lives as refugees, the report said. Big numbers of Palestinian refugees forcibly left their refugee camps fleeing from the ongoing bloody events in Syria.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72238

Mishaal condemns Ain Hilweh clashes
DOHA (PIC) 19 June — Head of Hamas’s political bureau Khaled Mishaal has strongly denounced the armed clashes that took place on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan in Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, south of Lebanon. Mishaal condemned the events which he described as “unfortunate” during a phone call with Hamas representative in Lebanon Ali Baraka. The Hamas political leader called upon the Palestinians in Lebanon to close ranks and address internal differences through dialog. He stressed his Movement’s keenness on maintaining peace and security in Lebanon and the Palestinian refugee camps, and promoting the Palestinian-Lebanese relations. Two Palestinians were killed and at least 11 others wounded when a personal dispute escalated into violent clashes between two militias, one of them affiliated with Fatah, in the south Lebanon refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh Thursday.
http://english.palinfo.com/site/pages/details.aspx?itemid=72233

Activism / Solidarity

Using early Zionists’ script, Jewish volunteers aim to empower West Bank Palestinians
UMM EL-KHEIR, West Bank (JTA) 16 June by Ben Sales — They dig their fingers into the dirt, their knees bearing into the ground as they embed sprigs of thyme in identical rows. The sun beats down on the small plot, and the work can be tedious, but these volunteers — most of them American, most of them Jewish — plant with a purpose. They had met early Friday morning in Jerusalem and set off on an hourlong bus ride through the terraced, rocky hills south of the city. Upon arriving at their destination, a Palestinian village about 20 miles south of Hebron, residents welcomed them with coffee, tea and a short account of the community’s history that traced decades of war and resettlement. Then the volunteers got to work. Jews have long sought empowerment through working the land, but these volunteers did their work in Palestinian villages rather than Israeli ones. Their mission was one that both Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis have pursued for decades: to create “facts on the ground,” entrenching a community’s presence by deepening its footprint. “We wanted to bring a large group of people to be a presence and do some actual physical work that will be helpful for the community,” said Daniel Roth, who was born in Toronto and immigrated 3 1/2 years ago to Israel. “We’re connecting on this very hands-on, life-bringing level.” Nearly 100 volunteers on the trip, most of them in their 20s, were part of the Israel-based organization All That’s Left — a nod to the left-wing politics of its members, who oppose Israel’s occupation of the West Bank….
http://www.jta.org/2015/06/16/news-opinion/israel-middle-east/using-early-zionists-script-jewish-volunteers-aim-to-empower-west-bank-palestinians

Online Mideast peace group gets high-powered boost
JERUSALEM (AP) 17 June — An online group promoting Mideast peace is receiving a high-powered boost of support as it prepares to pass a key milestone. The YaLa-Young Leaders program says U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and five European foreign ministers will address its online peace conference on July 2. Former President Bill Clinton and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are to send written greetings. The Facebook group brings together young activists from Israel, the Palestinian territories and across the Arab world for online seminars and discussions. During the conference, the group is expected to announce its 1 millionth member. Former Israeli peace negotiator Uri Savir, the program’s founder, said Wednesday that it brings “hope” to the region at a turbulent time. He calls the young activists the “future pragmatic face of the Middle East.”
http://news.yahoo.com/online-mideast-peace-group-gets-high-powered-boost-153825322.html

Other news

Weekly report on Israeli human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territory (11-17 June 2015)
PCHR-Gaza 18 June — A Palestinian civilian was killed in Kufor Malek villag as he was run down by an Israeli military jeep.  Two Palestinian civilians were wounded during peaceful protests. Israeli navy forces opened fire twice at Palestinian fishing boats sailing off Deir al-Balah shore, but no casualties were reported. 61 pieces of fishing nets were seized and other pieces were damaged. Israeli forces continued to open fire at border areas along the Gaza Strip. A mentally and physically disabled boy was wounded and arrested in the south of the Gaza Strip.  Israeli forces conducted 51 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. 43 Palestinian civilians, including 10 children and 3 woman, were arrested. 14 of these civilians, including 6 children and 3 women, were arrested in occupied Jerusalem. [see very detailed compilation of violations at this site]
http://www.pchrgaza.org/portal/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11112

Photos: Ramadan celebrations begin in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank
Ynet 19 June
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670330,00.html

Netanyahu aims to shut down new ‘Palestine 48’ TV station
Times of Israel 18 June — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday instructed the head of the Communication Ministry to work on shutting a new Palestinian Authority-funded TV channel based in Israel, which is set to go on air on Thursday, Ynet reported. Netanyahu – in his capacity as communications minister – ordered Director General Shlomo Filber to make the move hours after a news conference inaugurated the Arabic-language Palestine 48’s launch in Nazareth. During the press conference, Palestinian Authority Communications Minister Riad Hassan said Netanyahu and “his extremist right-wing government” couldn’t shut Palestine 48 down, and that the channel would “also give a stage to the other side, to right wing people and ministers from the government.” The channel receives funding from the PA. Netanyahu instructed Filber and ministry staffers to investigate the station’s legality, particularly its funding from the Palestinian Authority while operating out of Israel. The channel will begin broadcasting with support from a production service in the north, Ynet reported. “The goal is to give a stage to the Arabs of ’48 so that they can expose to the Arab world everything they must go through, regarding their social, cultural and economic difficulties,” Hassan said at the conference. “The Palestinian Authority headed by Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] will support this station. We are even seriously considering establishing a channel that will broadcast live from inside the Green Line. There is no intention to violate Israel’s rule of law,” he said … Sanaa Hamud, a member of a panel which counsels the channel, said its establishment was a watershed event. “For the first time in 67 years we will have television speaking our language, in more ways than one, enabling dialogue and discussions on the issues close to our heart and allowing us to make our voice heard by the entire world,” she said.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-aims-to-shut-new-palestine-48-tv-station/

Palestinians to submit first file to ICC next week
JERUSALEM (AFP) 18 June — The Palestinians will next week submit their first file to the International Criminal Court in their bid to open criminal proceedings against Israel, an official said on Thursday. The move is part of an increased focus on diplomatic maneuvering and appeals to international bodies by the Palestinians, who have been frustrated by a lack of progress in ending the Israeli occupation and creating their own independent state. The file is to be handed to ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on June 25, and will detail alleged violations of international law by the Jewish state, Palestinian foreign ministry official Ammar Hijazi told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. On April 1, the Palestinians formally joined the ICC with the goal of trying Israeli leaders for alleged abuses during last summer’s war in the Gaza Strip, and alleged crimes relating to the occupation of the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The file is “only general, it’s only statistical”, Hijazi said. “But it certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds… for the prosecutor to start (her) investigations.” It does not refer to specific incidents, but the Palestinians will submit such details in future if Bensouda decides to proceed with inquiries, he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/palestinians-submit-first-file-icc-next-week-153603078.html

Erekat: PLO should retract recognition until Israel reciprocates
JERICHO (Ma‘an) 18 June — The PLO’s chief negotiator, Saeb Erekat, on Thursday issued a 56-page report on Palestinian-Israeli relations, calling for a comprehensive review of the current status quo. In a report entitled ‘Determining Palestinian-Israeli relations: Changing, not merely improving, the situation’, the PLO official recommends that the Palestinian leadership consider retracting its recognition of Israel until the Israeli government issues a reciprocal recognition of a Palestinian state. The PLO, under the leadership of Yasser Arafat, recognized the State of Israel in 1988, a declaration never bestowed on Palestine by any Israeli administration. The study recommended that the PA should reject any international call for recognizing Israel as a Jewish state — as it could further damage the treatment of its Palestinian citizens — and must not approve the deployment of Israeli forces along the Jordan Valley as part of any peace agreement. The PLO must also reject any concessions to its sovereignty over East Jerusalem, he added. While not calling explicitly for disbanding the PA, Erekat said that the authority’s power must extend beyond security coordination and salary distribution….
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766029

Palestinian factions meet, Hamas denies Israel talks
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 17 June — The Hamas movement has denied that it reached a long-term agreement with Israel, a member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s politburo said Wednesday. Saleh Zeidan’s statement came after a Palestinian faction meeting that included the Hamas movement, the DFLP, PFLP, Islamic Jihad and the PPP in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. Zeidan added that Hamas must issue an official statement affirming its denial. He warned that any unilateral long-term agreements between Hamas and Israel would have “dangerous consequences” and would be to the benefit of an Israeli plan to separate the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian national project. Zeidan added that the DFLP backs forming a national consensus government that would include all factions, including Hamas, calling upon the president to hold an immediate meeting to form a national unity government. Hamas sources said Tuesday that Israel and the movement have been holding an indirect exchange about ideas for cementing a long-term truce in the Gaza Strip. The exchanges have gone through a number of Arab and European channels in a bid to firm up a ceasefire agreement that took hold last August, ending a 50-day war in Gaza. “There has been indirect contact between Israel and Hamas, messages passed via Arab channels as well as through European and Turkish sources,” one of the sources told AFP, describing it as “an indirect exchange of ideas.” The contacts were confirmed by an Israeli source.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766021

Fatah and Hamas: Years of strained relations
GAZA CITY (AFP) 17 June – The Palestinian unity government resigned on Wednesday in a deepening rift between the authorities in the West Bank and the de facto rulers of the Gaza Strip. Here is a timeline of relations since the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas seized power in Gaza [after winning the elections] in June 2007, ousting the secular Fatah, the main component of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
http://news.yahoo.com/fatah-hamas-years-strained-relations-203134546.html

PA still observer member to World Tourism Organization
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 17 June – The Palestinian Authority hasn’t applied for full membership to the United Nation’s World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and is still an observer member, says UNWTO secretary-general Talab al-Rifai. During an international religious tourism conference held in Bethlehem Tuesday, Rifai told Ma‘an that Palestine was chosen to host the conference because it is “an import component of the UNWTO and because of its rich religious, historic and human legacy.” The UNWTO has plans to carry out several activities and events in Palestine which will positively affect the tourism sector, added Rifai … Increasing the tourism sector is one of several ways that Palestinian leadership is attempting to work with international bodies in order to counter Israeli exploitation of Palestinian land and resources … The Israeli Ministry of Tourism has in the past printed material designating Bethlehem as an Israeli destination, with brochures targeting Christian pilgrims marketing several Christian sites including the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem as Israeli sites. In response, the PLO Negotiations Affairs Department argued that scenarios like this violate UN Security Council and General Assembly resolutions 181, 242, and 338, by both excluding Palestinians from tourism revenue while denying the link of Palestinian Christians ownership of an integral part of their history and identity.
http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=766005

Students who fly abroad to undergo hasbara and public diplomacy lessons
Ynet 19 June by Shachar Chai — Students who go on youth delegations abroad are now required to undergo training in Hasbara and public diplomacy. The first course is currently underway, and is attended by students who will be sent to Germany, China and France.  The decision to conduct the training was made in the Education Ministry after operation Protective Edge, as criticism of Israel and its policies grew around the world, and due to the recent discussion surrounding the boycott movement. The youth delegations are made up of students who fly to international competitions and from now own must undergo a minimum of 10 hours of training, during which they will learn about the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the policies of the State of Israel, and will be equipped with tools to deal with bodies who “seek to delegitimize Israel and her image.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4670378,00.html

Swedish supermarkets back out of Israel boycott after media campaign
Ynet 18 June by Itamar Eichner — Israel has won an important victory over the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) when a boycott on the sale of Israeli products in a supermarket chain in Sweden has been canceled. The national supermarket chain COOP has 655 branches across Sweden. Israel, that was worried the boycott would spread from three local stores in the city of Varberg to all branches nationwide, launched an impressive media campaign to combat it. Two and a half months ago, pro-Palestinian organizations submitted a proposal calling to take off the shelves any products manufactured in Israel, including those produced inside the Green Line. This was a mostly symbolic proposal, as the chain only sells avocado and persimmon from Israel. After the proposal was adopted with a great majority at a local consumer’s assembly, Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Isaac Bachman decided, with the help of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, to fight the boycott not with arguments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – but with arguments against the concept of a commercial boycott.  “We didn’t talk about the righteousness of Israel, rather we spoke in the name of fair trade and avoiding discrimination of any state,” Bachman explained.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4669991,00.html

US, Israel to cooperate on tunnel warfare R&D
Ynet 18 June by Yitzhak Benhorin — The US stepped up its security cooperating with Israel on Wednesday, pledging $40 million on research and development to find a solution for cross-border tunnels. An amendment passed by the US House on Wednesday views cross-border tunnels as a threat to America and its allies all over the world. Since 2009, over 150 tunnels have been discovered on the US-Mexico border. The tunnels were most likely used to smuggle illegal immigrants and drugs. Tunnels have also been used to attack US military personnel in South Korea.  Israel is already conducting research and development in the field, largely due to Hamas’ prevalent use of tunnels during last summer’s war in Gaza. The US has diverted tens of millions of dollars from the Pentagon budget in order to deal with what security officials are calling a “criminal and security threat.” The cooperation between the countries is supposed to be similar to the joint work conducted on other programs, like Israel’s missile defense systems.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4669989,00.html

Israel’s culture minister calls artists ‘petty bores’
JERUSALEM (AFP) 18 June — Israel’s culture minister, who has clashed with the country’s artistic elite over accusations of censorship, has further fueled the dispute by calling some of them “petty bores” and “hypocrites.” Less than two weeks after she sparked outrage over a threat to cut funding for a children’s theatre, cultural figures also protested on Friday as she arrived at a theatre awards ceremony in Tel Aviv. Miri Regev’s threats and blunt dismissal of her political opponents have come to symbolise for some a rightward shift by Israel’s government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu … Not afraid of an argument, the former general and chief army censor said on June 9 she would “reconsider” state funding to the children’s theatre in Tel Aviv’s mixed Arab-Jewish neighbourhood of Jaffa. Her comments came after its Arab-Israeli director, Norman Issa, refused to participate in a play in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Regev has also ordered an examination of another theatre’s books after it staged a play whose plot has close similarities to the life of Walid Daqqa, a Palestinian serving time for the kidnapping and murder of an Israeli soldier.
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-culture-minister-calls-artists-petty-bores-135121989.html

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www.theheadlines.org (archive)