Life under occupation
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| Title | | Description | Date |
| Over 1m Palestinians under poverty line in besieged Gaza: UN | | Barbara Bibbo - Aljazeera - The Israel-led blockade of the Gaza
Strip cost the Palestinian enclave more than $16bn and pushed more
than one million people below the poverty line in just more than 10
years, according to a new United Nations report. The document issued
on Wednesday by the UN’s Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)
to the General Assembly covered the years between 2007 and 2018.(rh)
| 29/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Gaza`s health system days away from being overwhelmed | | Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) - Health experts in Gaza have
warned that the local health care system is days away from being
overwhelmed, as COVID-19 (coronavirus) continues to rapidly spread.
Cases of COVID-19 have more than tripled over the past month in
Gaza, with more than 15,000 people infected and 69 deaths sadly
recorded. Speaking to the BBC, Abdelnaser Soboh, the World Health
Organization`s (WHO’s) Emergency Health Co-Ordinator in Gaza, warned
that "within a week, we will become unable to care for critical
cases." Of 100 ventilators available in Gaza, 79 are already in use,
amplifying fears of the recent warning from the WHO of an increase
in severe cases of COVID-19, with more cases being reported among
people aged 60 and over. | 26/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Homes of 44 Palestinians, including 22 children, demolished | | Amit Gilutz - B`Tselem - As part of Israel’s efforts to take over
more land in the West Bank, authorities yesterday destroyed the
homes of 44 Palestinians (22 of them minors) and cut off entire
communities from the water supply. by Israel are conducting military
training in residential and farming areas, denying Palestinians
access to land, prohibiting construction, preventing connection to
basic infrastructure and confiscating property. With a month left
before the end of the year, Israel has demolished the homes of more
than 900 Palestinians in 2020 (the figure includes the West Bank and
East Jerusalem), compared with 677 in all of 2019. [ak] | 26/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Israeli army launches air raids on besieged Gaza Strip | | Al Jazeera - Israeli military says it struck Hamas positions after an alleged rocket
attack from the Palestinian enclave [ry] | 23/11/2020 |
| ... |
| The Palestinian leadership chooses captivity : Devoid of strategy, the PA has returned to its role as a subcontractor of the occupation. Luckily, the richest source of Palestinian power is in its grassroots. | | Amjad Iraqi - +972mag - As the opening remarks began, news broke that
the Palestinian Authority had decided to resume civil and security
coordination with Israel, which President Mahmoud Abbas had suspended
in May in protest of Israel’s plans to annex parts of the occupied
West Bank. Claiming they had received assurances that Israel would
adhere to their agreements, the PA’s Civil Affairs Minister Hussein
al-Sheikh hailed the move as “a victory for our Palestinian people.”
The irony was not lost on the webinar participants, who shook their
heads in dismay as the news was shared. In tragic fashion, the
Muqata’a had given evidence in real time to back the speakers’
criticisms of the Palestinian leadership. As Crisis Group analyst
Tareq Baconi predicted, the PA’s relief over Joe Biden’s election win
had “reignite[d] its misplaced faith in the U.S. to deliver
statehood,” compelling it to return to the Oslo arrangements in order
to curry favor with the new administration. That “outward-facing
gesture,” Baconi noted, would likely come at the expense of efforts
to unite the divided Palestinian factions — who were meeting in Cairo
for further reconciliation talks that very same day.(rh) | 22/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel Evicts Palestinian Families for Military Training in Jordan Valley | | The Palestine Chronicle - "Israeli authorities ordered [...] a number of Palestinian
families in the northern Jordan Valley region to leave their homes and make way
for Israeli military training in the area" [ry] | 16/11/2020 |
| ... |
| November 6, 2020. Harat Makhul. Humsa al-Foqa. | | David Shulman - The rains have come in force, the hills are muddy,
and there is food for the goats and sheep. Over morning tea in Makhul
we get the weekly litany of hurts. Walid—still a boy—was out alone
with the herd, and settlers came and beat him. It’s really dangerous
to be alone on the hills. A large posse of settlers attacked Qadri
and several others; there were two broken legs. A few days earlier,
settlers killed Qadri’s uncle’s cow.
At Ibziq the army confiscated 21 Palestinian tractors, private
vehicles, and water tanks. It’s hard to survive in the Jordan Valley
without a tractor. At Ein Sukut there was the murdered sheep I wrote
about in my last report. It goes on and on. No day passes without
violence, insult, and hurt. The rains have come in force, the hills
are muddy, and there is food for the goats and sheep. Over morning
tea in Makhul we get the weekly litany of hurts. Walid—still a boy—
was out alone with the herd, and settlers came and beat him. It’s
really dangerous to be alone on the hills. A large posse of settlers
attacked Qadri and several others; there were two broken legs. A few
days earlier, settlers killed Qadri’s uncle’s cow. (rh)
At Ibziq the army confiscated 21 Palestinian tractors, private
vehicles, and water tanks. It’s hard to survive in the Jordan Valley
without a tractor. At Ein Sukut there was the murdered sheep I wrote
about in my last report. It goes on and on. No day passes without
violence, insult, and hurt. | 15/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Netanyahu Responds to Biden’s Victory by Announcing New Settlement near Gaza | | Palestine Chronicle Staff- Only hours after Democratic nominee Joe
Biden was projected to be the 46th President of the United States,
the Israeli government approved the construction of a new settlement
adjacent to the border of the besieged Gaza Strip.
The news of the Israeli cabinet’s approval of the settlement was
reported on Sunday by Israel’s Channel 12, Israeli daily newspaper
Yediot Ahronoth and other sources.
Prior to the cabinet meeting, right-wing Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said that the government is now set to approve of
the new settlement near Gaza. “This is a great news for Israel, this
is great news for the communities in the Gaza border area,” Netanyahu
said. According to Yediot Ahronoth, the new settlement, which would
be called “Hanun”, will initially host about 500 Israeli Jewish
families. Citing Israeli media sources, Anadolu News Agency said that
the Israeli government “will allocate one million NIS ($296,000) for
the development of the infrastructure in the new settlement, which
will be within the area of Israel’s Sdot Negev Regional Council.”
(rh)
| 15/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel criticized over West Bank home demolitions | | Y-Net - Israel has come under heavy criticism after the military
demolished several homes and other structures in a Bedouin community
in the West Bank this week as much of the world’s attention was
focused on the U.S. election.European Union Representative Sven Kühn
von Burgsdorff, who led the delegation, said it was “very clear”
that the demolition of the structures “is contrary to international
law.”“Their vulnerability is further compounded by the onset of
winter and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” she said of the Bedouins
of Khirbet Humsu. “Some of the demolished structures had been
donated as humanitarian assistance.” | 10/11/2020 |
| ... |
| 11 Palestinian families – 74 people, including 41 children – were left homeless in the Jordan Valley. Finding shelter for sheep and newborn lambs was the most urgent task, as their livelihood depends it | | Amira Hass - Haaretz - The northern migration of the Awawda and Abu al-Kabash families began in the 1970s and 1980s, when the grazing lands near Samu’a and Yatta began to shrink and access became more difficult due to military bans and Israeli construction. In 1948, the families from Samu’a already lost a large chunk of their land that was left on the Israeli side of the Green Line. Due to population growth, the limited water supply Israel permits to the Palestinians, increasing drought and expanding settlements, more sheep breeders from Samu’a moved north to the Jenin and Tubas area.
The Abu al-Kabash and Awawda families lease land owned by people from Tamun and Tubas where they also grow wheat and barley for their own needs.
But Israel declared the area a “firing zone”. Since 2018, the residents of Humsa have had to evacuate at least 20 times due to military exercises in the area. “Israel didn’t leave us any land to plant. Without our sheep, we’ll become beggars,” says Yusef Abu Awad.”
The demolition of each encampment lasted about half an hour. Umm Walid al-Kabash, from the third encampment, says through tears: “If only they had informed us ahead of time. We would have been able to save more things. The taboun for baking bread was also destroyed.” [bz] | 10/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Many Israelis mourn Erekat - and are castigated by right-wingers | | Aaron Boxman - Times of Israel - Saeb Erekat helmed for decades
successive Palestinian negotiations with Israel, including talks
that led to the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accords. Many Israeli
current and former officials — including those who sat across from
Erekat at the negotiating table — mourned Erekat as a moderate who
sought peace. Condolences messages were issued by Peace Now, Meretz,
the Labor Party`s Minister Amir Peretz and more surprisingly Likud
Minister Tzahi Hanegbi. Former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, offering
her deepest condolences to the Palestinians and to Erekat`s family,
said “Saeb dedicated his life to his people. He used to say that
reaching peace was his destiny, and when falling into his final
illness he still texted me: ‘I’m not finished with what I was born
to do.’ He will be missed”. However, right-wingers such as Knesset
Member Betzal`el Smotrich called Erekat "an anti-Semitic terror-
supporter" and castigated the Israelis who mourned him, and the
extreme-right agitator Bentzi Gopstein called his death "a piece of
happy good news". Former Israeli negotiator Gilad Sher, who built a
friendship with Erekat that outlasted the talks, said he was
“appalled by right-wingers` hatred, curses and death wishes.” [ak]
| 10/11/2020 |
| ... |
| `A patriotic leader and great fighter for his people" - President Abbas mourns Saeb Erekat | | WAFA / IMEMC - The departure of our brother and friend, the great
fighter, Dr. Saeb Erekat represents a great loss for Palestine and
our people, and we feel deeply saddened by his loss, especially in
light of these difficult circumstances facing the Palestinian cause.
Palestine today bids farewell to this patriotic leader and the great
fighter who played a big role in raising the banner of Palestine
high and defending the rights of our people and their national
constants in all international forums". [ak] | 10/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel carries out largest West Bank demolition operation in a decade | | Ahmad Al-Bazz and Oren Ziv - +972 - Israel demolished over 70 structures in the
Humsa al-Fuqa community in the occupied West Bank, displacing 11 Palestinian
families [ry] | 9/11/2020 |
| ... |
| MAP supports essential respirator training for Palestinian health workers battling COVID-19 | | Medical aid for Palestinians - In September, Medical Aid for
Palestinians (MAP) and the International Medical Education Trust 2000
(IMET2000), supported by the British Consulate General, delivered 15
Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) respirators to the
Ministry of Health (MoH) in Ramallah to help save lives amid the
COVID-19 pandemic. These highly-effective CPAP respirators were
developed by University College London (UCL) and manufactured by
Mercedes High Performance Powertrains in the UK. They deliver oxygen
under pressure, enabling many patients to recover without intrusive
ventilation. This allows ventilators to be used for the most
critically ill patients. The IMET2000 team are now training doctors
and nurses in the five West Bank hospitals that will receive the
respirators. Trainings have been conducted at the Military Hospital
in Nablus and the Hugo Chavez Hospital and the Palestinian Medical
Complex in Ramallah, with more planned in the coming weeks in Dura
and Alia Hospitals in Hebron. (rh) | 8/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Under cover of US elections, Israel wipes entire Palestinian community off the map | | YUMNA PATEL - Mondoweiss - As the world was engulfed in the unfolding
US elections on November 3rd, Israel quietly demolished an entire
Bedouin enclave in the northern Jordan Valley, leaving more than 70
Palestinians homeless just as temperatures started to drop in the
occupied West Bank. At around 11am on Tuesday morning, the residents
of Khirbet Husna were shocked to see a caravan of Israeli military
jeeps, accompanied by a number of bulldozers and excavators, heading
down the dirt pathway to their village. “The soldiers often come
here to evacuate us when they have military training,” Fatima Abu
Awwad told Mondoweiss, as she sat amidst the rubble of what was her
home just 24 hours earlier.(rh) | 8/11/2020 |
| ... |
| The landslide that wasn’t: What the elections say about America : It was supposed to produce a sweeping victory for Joe Biden, so why did so many Americans vote for Donald Trump? | | Marwan Bishara - Aljazeera - The United States presidential elections
were supposed to produce a sweeping victory for Joe Biden and a
decisive win for the Democrats. The vote was supposed to signal a
clear break with the past; ushering in a new morning after a dark
night in America. November 3 was supposed to be “judgement day” when,
after four years of Donald Trump, Americans were finally seizing the
chance to deliver a clear verdict befitting the crimes committed by
President Trump against their democratic institutions and liberal
values.// More importantly, how is it that Trump continues to be so
popular after his utter mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic,
which led to a quarter of a million deaths, unprecedented economic
decline and double-digit unemployment. How is it he remains a
credible option after countless scandals and investigations into his
suspicious record, from abuse of power to tax avoidance not to say
evasion? (rh)
| 8/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Israel criticized over West Bank home demolitions : EU representative says demolition of Bedouin village in the northern Jordan Valley, housing 74 people, including 41 minors, is a violation of international law | | Associated Press -Ynetnews - On Friday, a group of European diplomats
visited the community of Khirbet Humsu in the northern Jordan Valley
in a show of support for the Palestinian community against what an EU
representative said was a violation of international law. Israeli
troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment on Tuesday — U.S. Election
Day — demolished 18 tents and other structures that housed 74 people,
including 41 minors, according to the Israeli rights group B’Tselem.
The Israeli military said the structures were built without
permission. Israeli troops with bulldozers and heavy equipment on
Tuesday — U.S. Election Day — demolished 18 tents and other
structures that housed 74 people, including 41 minors, according to
the Israeli rights group B’Tselem. The Israeli military said the
structures were built without permission. (rh) | 8/11/2020 |
| ... |
| Maher al-Akhras "prevails over jailer," ends 103-day hunger strike | | Tamara Nassar - Electronic Intifada - Al-Akhras took the decision after Israel agreed to release him on 26 November, when his current administrative detention [i.e. detention without trial-bz] ends. Such orders can be renewed indefinitely but Israel has agreed not to renew his. The 49-year-old father of six hails from the occupied West Bank town of Silat al-Dahr, near Jenin, where he owns a dairy farm.
“I don’t want to die. I love life. I do not choose death,” he told Tel Aviv daily Haaretz this week.
Palestinians are crediting al-Akhras’ with rallying national and global support for Palestinian political prisoners. [bz] | 7/11/2020 |
| ... |
| IDF destroys Palestinian village in Jordan Valley | | AFP/Ynet - According to Abdelghani Awada, left homeless by the operation, the Israelis who arrived in vehicles and with bulldozers gave people "10 minutes to evacuate our homes".
"Then they started bulldozing," he told AFP.
He stressed that his family had lived in the area for generations and accused Israel of trying to "empty the Jordan Valley of its Palestinian population". [bz]
| 6/11/2020 |
| ... |
| “Thank God… another day has gone by without being expelled” | | Musa Abu Hashhash - B`Tselem - “Thank God… another day has gone by
without being expelled”, a 50-year-old Palestinian woman from the
area of Masafer Yatta said to me. She lives in the South Hebron
Hills, in an area the Israeli military has designated “Firing Zone
918”. When I asked how she and the rest of the community were
holding up, she said, “We’re used to the harsh life of the desert.
We’re used to living without electricity or water and walking for
many miles. We shelter against the cold of winter and the heat of
summer in our tents. We’re used to leading a simple life on our
land, by our sheep. We don’t have grand dreams about castles,
playgrounds, or swimming pools for our children. Our dreams are
small: to live in peace on our land, without fear or worry.” [ak]
| 3/11/2020 |
| ... |
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