This Week in Palestine, August 4, 2017

The Palestinian Authority rejects the recent Israeli plans to build more settlements in occupied West Bank; Israeli attacks this week leave three injured civilians. These stories, and more, coming up, stay tuned.


The Nonviolence Report

Let’s begin our weekly report as usual with the nonviolent activities organized in the West Bank. Many residents were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli troops attacked anti wall and settlement protests on Friday organized at a number of west Bank villages.

This week protests were organized in the central West Bank villages of Bil’in, Ni’lin and Al Nabi Saleh in addition to In Kufer Qadum village in northern West Bank

Israeli soldiers attacked protesters in Al Nabi Saleh before even leaving the village. At the nearby villages of Bil’in, and Ni’lin, residents and their supporters reached the Israeli wall.

In Kufer Qadum troops also attacked the villagers and their international supporters at the village entrance. Later troops stormed the village and fired tear gas at protesters.


The Political Report

A part of its continued efforts to bring about peace, Palestinian Authority this week insisted that coordination with Israel will remain frozen. IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari with the details:

Palestinian Authority says that recent Israeli moves to construct new settlement building are totally rejected and that peace negotiations with Israel should resume.

PA called this week on some international key players, including the US to pressure the Israeli government to halt those actions, before any peace talks could resume.

Rejecting such measures, PA asserted that security coordination with Israel will remain frozen, until Israel complies.

In a different development, considered by a senior Palestinian leader as related, US Senates decided this week to cut off yearly financial aids to the Palestinian people.

The Senate’s bill is said to have been stirred by what Senate’s dubb as unwanted PA’s payment of monthly salaries to Palestinian detainees’ families and some other families of those killed in the conflict.

AT the local Palestinian level, the Islamist Hamas party in Gaza called on the PA in Ramallah to resume governmental responsibilities. Hamas was responding to Ramallah-based consensus government that Hamas should dissolve an administrative committee of its own, to run Gaza.

For IMEMC news, I am Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.


The West Bank and Gaza report

Israel this week hands over the bodies of four Palestinians killed last month in the meantime troops invade farmlands in Gaza. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura reports:

Israeli authorities released the corpses of four Palestinians who were killed by Israeli forces during the month of July to their families, in the southern occupied West Bank, Friday. The authorities released the corpses of Abdullah Taqatqa, 24, from Marah Maalla in southern Bethlehem, and Muhammad Tnouh, 26, from the Tuqu town in southeast of Bethlehem, to Palestinian Red Crescent crews at the Mazmoria checkpoint east of Bethlehem.

Tnouh was killed by Israeli forces on July 20th, in Tuqu, after attempting to carry out a stabbing attack against Israeli soldiers, while Taqatqa was killed nearly a week ago, near the Gush Etzion junction, for allegedly attempting to carry out an attack on Israeli soldiers stationed in the area.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Committee of Civil Affairs confirmed that it had received the corpse of Rafaat Hirbawi, 29,in Hebron city. Hirbawi was killed on July 18, after carrying out a vehicular attack that injured three Israeli soldiers. The corpse of Ammar Ahmad Khalil Tirawi, aged 34, from Nablus’ Balata refugee camp and a resident of the Ramallah-area village of Kafr Ein, was returned at an Israeli checkpoint near the village of Abud, in northwest Ramallah.

Earlier in the week, dozens of Israeli extremist settlers stormed into Al-Aqsa Mosque early Monday morning, from Al-Maghariba gate, guarded by Israeli police, amid more restrictions imposed on Palestinian entry to the mosque. Israeli occupation police tightened security measures at the gates of the mosque and checked the personal identities of the worshipers coming to it.

On Tuesday, several Israeli military vehicles invaded the town of al-Khader, south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and clashed with many local youngsters, before shooting a Palestinian, who was driving his motorcycle, and abducted him.

During the week, Israeli forces conducted at least 74 military invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and Jerusalem. During these invasions troops detained at least 83 Palestinian civilians, including 13 children.

In Gaza, Israeli soldiers opened fire, earlier Wednesday, into Palestinian agricultural lands, east of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, and abducted two Palestinians.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers fired many live rounds into the agricultural lands, close to the border fence, east of Rafah, and abducted two Palestinians for “approaching the fence.” The two were cuffed and blindfolded before the soldiers moved them to an unknown destination.

For IMEMC News this is Ghassan Bannoura.


Conclusion

And that’s all for today from This Week in Palestine. This was the Weekly report for July 29, to August 04, 2017. From the Occupied Palestinian Territories. For more news and updates please visit our website at www-dot-imemc-dot-org, This week’s report has been brought to you by George Rishmawi and me Eman Abedraboo-Bannoura.