This Week in Palestine, July 11th, 2014

More than 100 Palestinians have been killed so far due to the ongoing Israeli military offensive targeting the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile the Palestinian leadership has asked for international intervention to end the escalating Israeli aggression against Palestinians. These stories and more, coming up, stay tuned.

On Monday of this week Israel started a massive military attack against the Gaza Strip. On Friday 12 Palestinians were killed as Israeli bombardment continue to target the costal enclave, bringing the death toll since Monday to 100 people killed and more than 650 injured, among those killed there are 25 children, Palestinian medical sources reported.

Israeli war planes continued to targeted residents homes, hospitals and schools, local sources reported. More than 150 homes gave been leveled to the ground after being targeted by Israeli missiles.

From Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari says Israel is targeting residents’ homes at random:

On their part, Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza continued to fire rockets into different Israeli areas following the murder of Mohammad Abu Khdeir in Jerusalem by Israeli settlers. Armed groups vowed to continue the firing of shells in retaliation to the ongoing Israeli attacks targeting the Palestinian people.

On Thursday, the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on the escalating violence. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has asked for an immediate ceasefire.

Japan, Egypt and Jordan have issued statements condemning the latest series of Israeli assaults on the Palestinian community. Member of the executive committee of the Palestinian liberation Organization (PLO) and chief Palestinian negotiator, Dr. Saeb Ereikat has described the ongoing Israeli offensive against Gaza as an "all-out, systematic war against the national project and national reconciliation."

Egypt opened the Rafah crossing with Gaza to allow urgent aid to enter the region and facilitate the evacuation of injured Palestinians to nearby Egyptian hospitals.

Israeli authorities declared this week that its armed forces are ready to deploy 40,000 reserve soldiers for a possible ground offensive in Gaza. Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that the attacks on Gaza may take more than few days.

IMEMC spoke to Sergio Yanni, an Israeli political analyst from Jerusalem:

Also on Friday, weekly anti wall and settlements protests were organized in Bil’in, Ni’ilin and al Nabi Saleh in central West Bank in addition to the southern West Bank village of Al Ma’ssara. Protests this week were in solidarity with the Gaza strip and against the ongoing Israeli attacks.

IMEMC spoke to Salah Khawaja, a member of the popular struggle committee that organizes the weekly nonviolent protests.

“The main message is to show that the occupation government and the settlers are using the Nazi policies, and fascist practices in addition to mass killing and genocide. So the protestors today wore similar outfits the Nazis used to give to those they wanted to kill.”

Israeli troops attacked the anti-wall and settlements protests wit h tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets. Many civilians were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

Earlier in the week at least 19 people were injured many others were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation as Israeli soldiers invaded West Bank communities and clashed with local youth.

Clashes were reported in the central West Bank city of Ramallah as well as Hebron and Bethlehem city in southern west Bank.


Conclusion

And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine – Gaza Special Coverage . This was the Weekly report for July 5th, to the 11th 2014 from the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website athttp://www.imemc.org. This week’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi, and me Ghassan Bannoura.