Ahmad Jaradat writes for the AIC: “The southern West Bank city of Hebron is under what local Palestinians are calling a siege to enable tens of thousands of Israelis to celebrate the holiday of Passover this week by invading the city. “
Israeli settlers, on Saturday, opened pepper spray on 11-year-old Qamar Qafisha, from Hebron, on Shuhada street in the city.
Ma’an reports: (Ma‘an) 26 Mar — Thousands of Palestinians on Thursday marched in the funeral of a young man who succumbed to his wounds the day before after being shot by Israeli forces during a protest near Ramallah last week. 20-year-old Ali Mahmoud Safi was buried in the al-Shuhada (Martyrs’) Cemetery in the al-Jalazun refugee camp north of Ramallah Thursday, as thousands mourned the first Palestinian youth to be killed in the camp so far this year.
IMEMC reports: Masked Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’on, south of Hebron, threw stones at Palestinian children and injured a six-year-old child, Saturday.
AFP reports: President Barack Obama on Thursday warned Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington will “re-assess” its policies after the prime minister’s election win called into question crucial US diplomatic cover for Israel at the UN
Harriet Sherwood reports for The Guardian: “Senior UN officials in Jerusalem have been accused of caving in to Israeli pressure to abandon moves to include the state’s armed forces on a UN list of serious violators of children’s rights.”
Israeli soldiers shot and injured a 22-year-old Palestinian at an army checkpoint in Hebron. Meanwhile, Israeli forces detained a Palestinian from the Hebron area and summoned four more for interrogation.
In two separate incidents, groups of Israeli Jews celebrating Purim assaulted Palestinians, +972 Magazine reports.
Middle East Monitor reports: “The Israeli army on Saturday reduced fishing space off the coast of the Gaza Strip to four nautical miles from the six miles agreed on as part of last summer’s cease-fire agreement, Gaza’s fishermen’s union has said.”
Amira Hass reports for Haaretz: “Residents of Gaza who want to marry overseas are supposed to receive a permit in advance of the wedding date from the Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces.”