Yitzhar is an extremist Jewish settlement in the northern West Bank that was founded by rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg, who has commended a text condoning the killings of non-Jews. Israeli police raided it Tuesday, seizing weapons they said could be used on Palestinians or Israeli forces
Ma’an reports: “A settler shot and injured a 17-year-old Palestinian teenager in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan on Monday, witnesses said. Muhammad Yusuf Burqan, 17, was shot while tending to a small herd of sheep in the Wadi Yasul area of the neighborhood, his cousin told Ma‘an. “I came back to check up on Muhammad and found him lying on the ground surrounded by about 15 settlers, one of whom had a gun in his hand. I tried to access Muhammad and give him first aid, but the settler with the gun threatened to shoot me”
Middle East Monitor reports the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday that it will respond to Israel’s continued expansion of illegal settlements in occupied Palestinian territories by referring the case to the International Criminal Court.
Middle East Monitor reports: “Palestinian intelligence services arrested a media student yesterday morning for “insulting a public official”. Bara Al-Qadi, 22, posted a status on Facebook mocking Jibril Rajoub, who leads the Palestinian Football Federation, after the Palestinian team lost 5-1 to Jordan in the Asian cup. The public prosecution has extended Bara’s detention for a further 48 hours for additional investigations to be carried out, despite him being continuously interrogated from yesterday morning according to family members.”
Ma’an reports: “Israeli forces on Sunday detained a young Palestinian boy and his uncle in the al-Tur neighborhood of East Jerusalem, leading to clashes in the area, witnesses said. Locals told Ma‘an that Israeli special forces assaulted 10-year-old Muhammad Afeef Khweis as he was sitting in a park in the neighborhood, causing him to panic. Israeli forces also assaulted Khweis’ family members, who tried to stop the arrest.”
A grieving father has recounted to NBC News how his five-month-old son froze to death after the family’s Gaza home was bombed by Israel.
IMEMC reports an Israeli settler entered a Palestinian market in the Old City of Jerusalem and started insulting local residents before attacking Anwar Mona, 24, and opening fire. Israeli soldiers arrived, provided protection to the Israeli assailant and arrested Mona.
On Friday, Palestinian infant Ashraf al-Qidra died due to severe cold in Gaza. The infant’s family lives in an area heavily damaged during Israel’s summer war on Gaza and they continued living in their damaged home. Ma’an News writes, “Due to lack of alternative shelter, many of the nearly 110,000 Palestinians left homeless by Israeli bombardment have done the same, including many living in just tents.”
Israeli forces injured a total of 1,190 Palestinian children in the West Bank during 2014, according to a UN agency report. More than in 1 in 5 of the child injuries were caused by Israeli forces’ use of live ammunition, with the rest from rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas inhalation, and assault. Earlier this week, it was revealed that Israel had detained 1,266 Palestinian children in 2014, an average of seven children every two days.
Ma’an News reports: ” Israeli forces on Tuesday suppressed a peaceful march calling for ‘Christmas without occupation’ in Bethlehem. Demonstrators marched to the Israeli military checkpoint in northern Bethlehem to celebrate Christmas and hand out gifts to children in the area. Marchers held up signs reading: ‘Jesus came with a message of: Peace, Freedom and Justice’ and ‘We want Christmas without occupation.’ Israeli forces prevented demonstrators, some of whom were dressed as Father Christmas, from reaching the checkpoint and fired tear gas at the crowd. Several people were treated at the scene for tear gas inhalation. Mazen al-Azza, an activist with the Palestinian National Initiative, told Ma‘an that the march had a peaceful Christmas message, but ‘Israeli soldiers did not miss the chance to suppress it by assaulting journalists and peaceful demonstrators.'”