Category Archives: Palestine

Settlers construct settlement units in Nablus, seize hundreds of acres in less than a month

Israeli settlers constructed two setltement units in less than a month on Yanun village, South East Nablus, and seized hundreds of acres t o connect the two.

Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of Israeli Settlements File at the Palestinian Authority in the northern part of the occupied West Bank, told Wafa news agency that the settlers have constructed two units as a start for the settlements in the areas of Al-Dawa south Yanun, connecting it to another north east Yanun.

Daghlas added that the settlers set barracks and constructed a road between the two, taking over hundreds of acres of the village.

Yanun representative in the Aqraba municipality, Rashid Marar, said that Yanun is now surrounded by five settlement units, which contributed to the Israeli occupation land grab of vast areas.

via Settlers construct settlement units in Nablus, seize hundreds of acres in less than a month.

Meshaal calls on Muslims to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque

He added, “Al-Aqsa is worth us becoming martyrs for, and anyone who can carry a weapon in the region should go and defend it, as this is the true meaning of jihad.”

via Meshaal calls on Muslims to defend Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Trying to light fuse to violence without being at risk himself and trying to be tough guy, when what is needed is leader guy.

Settlers raid Ibrahimi mosque under armed guard | Maan News Agency

Jewish settlers raided the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron late Thursday under armed guard, a local Palestinian official said.

Head of Hebron’s endowment directorate, Taysir Abu Snineh, said mosque guards were held in the al-Jawliya area during the raid, which he labeled a “dangerous act” that could have “serious consequences” for the mosque.

Israeli authorities requested access to the mosque, referred to by Jews as Isaac’s Hall, late Thursday but endowment officials refused as it violates a previous agreement on access days, which is limited to 10 visits per year.

The agreement came into place after a Brooklyn-born Jewish settler massacred 29 Palestinians in the mosque after opening fire at worshipers in 1994.

Abu Snineh said the raid was a “dangerous escalation” in tensions at the holy site.

via Settlers raid Ibrahimi mosque under armed guard | Maan News Agency.

Settlers Attacking Muslims in AL Aqsa Mosque

Since more than one week, Israeli occupation forces tighten the siege around the Muslims holy place in Jerusalem “Al Aqsa Mosque” .In addition of encouraging settlers to attack muslimes in Al Aqsa Yard.

That Israeli procedures Paves the way to control Al Aqsa mosque as it was happen in “the other Muslim holy place in Hebron city” Abraham Mosque” after one of the settlers killed 29 Palestinian inside that mosque in 1994

Actual settlers attacking against Al Aqsa started 6 months ago, when Israeli Police decided to deport 300 young Palestinian from praying in the mosque for allowing settlers invaded it and celebrate their Feasts inside the Muslims holy place

via Settlers Attacking Muslims in AL Aqsa Mosque.

Hundreds of Israelis enter Aqsa under armed guard | Maan News Agency

Hundreds of Israelis toured the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday under armed guard for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, as clashes erupted due to restrictions on Palestinian worshipers.

Palestinian men under 50 and all women were prevented from entering the compound for morning prayers and Israeli forces fired stun grenades at worshipers who tried to enter.

Israeli forces assaulted Aqsa mosque guard Muhannad Idris, 30, and detained him, witnesses said.

Director of the Aqsa compound, Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani, said 254 Israeli visited the compound to pray.

via Hundreds of Israelis enter Aqsa under armed guard | Maan News Agency.

Israeli military training targets Children in Aida Camp

Local sources said that on Sunday 12 October the Israeli Occupation Forces stormed into Aida refugee camp without any provocation and began shooting tear gas, sound bombs and rubber coated steel bullets at children in the streets.

Eye wittness and photographer Mohammad AL-Azza said that “They were searching houses, occupying rooftops and invading the whole camp”.

He added “Yesterday, they were training soldiers by using families, children and homes as military practice. Tamer Abu Salem, 13 years old, was in Lajee Center moments before he was shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet. Tamer underwent emergency surgery after arriving at the hospital and he is still in the ICU. Before the soldiers left the camp, they shot two bullets through Lajee Center’s windows as punishment. The occupation is on-going, and our struggle continues.”

via Israeli military training targets Children in Aida Camp.

“Citizen” IDF Soldiers just stand and watch!?! Settlers attack Palestinian olive farmers for 2nd time in 2 days | Maan News Agency

Dozens of Israeli settlers protected by soldiers burned and damaged olive trees on Palestinian lands in the Yasuf village near Salfit in the northern West Bank on Friday, the second suck attack in the last two days.

Settlers from the Kfar Tappuah settlement set fire to and damaged several olive trees on Friday while Israeli soldiers in the area stood by watching, eyewitnesses said.

The lands that were attacked reportedly belonged to Nafiz and Issam Ali Mansour.

Issam Abu Bakr, mayor of Salfit, warned farmers against the “settlers’ attacks” and recommended residents work in groups in the lands close to nearby Jewish-only settlements.

The attack in Yasuf follows a similar incident Thursday near Aqraba, south of Nablus, where settlers from Itamar reportedly attacked dozens of Palestinian farmers and sought to steal their olive crop.

The attacks come as the 2014 olive harvest, a major source of income for Palestinian farmers, begins across the northern West Bank, and just weeks before harvesting begins across the south.

Attacks on the fall harvest are a key way that Palestinians are forced out of their homes and their lands confiscated for settlement construction, as the loss of a year’s crop can signal destitution for many.

via Settlers attack Palestinian olive farmers for 2nd time in 2 days | Maan News Agency.

Dozens hurt in Aqsa clashes as Israeli police ‘force Muslims out’ | Maan News Agency

JERUSALEM (Ma’an) — Clashes broke out early Wednesday at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Palestinian worshipers and Israeli police officers, leaving dozens hurt, sources said.

Security guards at the mosque told Ma’an that Israeli forces stormed the compound at 7:30 a.m. ahead of expected visits by right-wing Israelis on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, or the Feast of the Tabernacles.

Israeli forces forcibly removed worshipers, attacking some of them with clubs, the guards said.

Some Muslim worshipers clashed with Israeli officers in the compound before managing to take refuge inside the mosque.

As worshipers threw stones, soldiers fired tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber bullets, injuring dozens of Palestinians, Al-Aqsa Mosque director Sheikh Omar al-Kiswani said.

Some of the stun grenades were fired into the Al-Aqsa Mosque itself, causing a fire to break out, and fire fighters were not immediately allowed access to the area, al-Kiswani added.

“The compound is almost empty of Muslim worshipers, while Israeli forces allowed herds of extremists to storm it and move freely,” he said.

Witnesses said that eventually Israeli forces succeeded in forcefully removing Palestinians from the compound, besides those who had taken refuge in the mosque itself.

Instead, they closed the doors of the mosque and locked them with chains, trapping worshipers inside, the witnesses said.

Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld tweeted about the incident, saying “masked Arabs” threw “stones/blocks/iron bars” at Israeli forces near the Moroccan gate.

Three police officers were lightly injured, Rosenfeld said.

Since Tuesday morning, Israeli forces have restricted access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, only allowing Palestinian worshipers aged 60 and up to enter. Elderly men and women have had to leave their identity cards with the police officers at the entrances of the compound.

Photos provided by the Israeli police show officers at the Al-Aqsa compound on Oct. 8, 2014

New entrance for non-Muslims

Israeli army radio announced earlier this week that the ministry of tourism was working on a plan to allow Jews to enter the Al-Aqsa compound through the Cotton Merchants Gate, in addition to the Moroccan Gate which is already used as an entrance for non-Muslims.

The announcement was greeted with harsh backlash from Palestinians.

The Palestinian legal counselor of Jerusalem affairs, Ahmad Ruwaidi, said that the Islamic endowment department in charge of the mosque compound has received no notice of any such plan.

Ruwaidi said the announcement was “unacceptable,” calling Palestinian religious sites a “red line” and saying the move would harm the peace process.

Taleb Abu Arar, a Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, also said in a statement that opening an additional gate for Jews to enter the Al-Aqsa compound was the equivalent of opening a “gate to war.”

PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi also weighed in, saying: “Israel is creating a new reality at the expense of Palestinians, their religious rights, sites, and historical identity.”

“They are violating the sanctity of religious sites without consequences, which completely terminates possibilities for peace and will ultimately drag the whole region into disastrous clashes,” Ashrawi said in a statement.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque is sensitive for Palestinians due to its status as the third holiest site in Islam and its location in the heart of the Old City of Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem.

Israel claims all of Jerusalem as its “eternal, undivided capital,” but the international community sees East Jerusalem as Palestinian territory and the capital of a future Palestinian state.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, referred to by Jews as the Temple Mount, is also the holiest site in Judaism.

But mainstream Jewish leaders forbid Jews from entering, for fear they would profane the inner sanctum of the Second Temple they believe was once located at the site.

Right-wing Jews, however, often visit the compound under armed guard by Israeli forces, leading to regular clashes with Palestinian worshipers.

via Dozens hurt in Aqsa clashes as Israeli police ‘force Muslims out’ | Maan News Agency.

Israeli Military Arrest Large Numbers of Palestinian Children – SPIEGEL ONLINE

Mahmood Bassim Ghanim, 14, relates his story from the sofa in his parents’ house in Ya’abad, a village near the Palestinian city of Jenin. An air-conditioning unit, a point of pride for the family, blasts cold air into the room and the father’s engineering diploma hangs above the sofa. Mahmood folds the handkerchief flat and smoothes it out. He has the face of a child, the body of an adolescent, and the large hands and feet of an adult.

Mahmood was arrested twice in the space of two months. The first time he spent four days in jail; the second time he was beaten, interrogated and brought back home the next morning. On neither occasion did there seem to be any reason for his arrest. Perhaps the soldiers were bored. Maybe they made a mistake.

via Israeli Military Arrest Large Numbers of Palestinian Children – SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Just because they can because the government lets them and protects them! Israeli settlers take over 25 homes in E.Jerusalem: residents | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

Mohammed al-Khayat, whose family owns three apartments in one Silwan building, told AFP settlers had broken the locks on empty properties and then changed them.

A police spokeswoman said clashes flared later when one Palestinian man tried to get into one of the buildings.

She said the properties belonged to settlers, who had presented documents proving they had purchased them.

Elad, a hardline settler organisation that seeks to increase Jewish settlement in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, told AFP that a company called Kendall Finance had purchased the properties.

But Mohammed Dahla, a lawyer representing the Palestinian owners, said they denied selling them.

A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, quoted by news agency Wafa, slammed “the occupation by settlers of buildings in Silwan close to the Al-Aqsa mosque.”

Silwan, an Arab neighbourhood were a few hundred hardcore settlers live, is often the scene of violence between the two sides, or between young Palestinians and police.

via Israeli settlers take over 25 homes in E.Jerusalem: residents | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR.