3 Palestinians, including a media worker, were wounded in a peaceful demonstration in al-Nabi Saleh village, northwest of Ramallah. The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. Israeli naval troops opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats in the north and the south of the Gaza Strip. IOF opened fire at bird hunters in the north of the Gaza Strip but no casualties were reported. IOF conducted 66 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and 2 limited ones into the Gaza Strip. IOF arrested at least 19 Palestinians, including 4 children. IOF raided the houses of many Palestinians who were released recently from Israeli jails, delivered them notices to appear before the Israeli intelligence and threatened some of them. Israel has continued to impose a total closure on the OPT and has isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world. Israeli soldiers arrested at least 5 Palestinian civilians, including 3 children, at a checkpoint in the...

GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israel has set new restrictions on business owners in Gaza, the head of Palestinian contractors said Thursday. At a news conference in Gaza City, Osama Kahil said conditions were more difficult despite a recent meeting between businessmen from Gaza and Israeli officials. "Media reports said the meeting between businessmen from Gaza and Israel resulted in facilitating the work for the Gazan businessmen, but Israel implemented that in its own way. "Israel stopped issuing permits for businessmen, traders, and contractors to Israel and set some new restrictions that prevented them from continuing their work," Kahil said. He said Israel had permitted the import of construction materials into the Gaza Strip "to recycle the blockade." "Allowing construction materials, which are sold for a much higher price than those sent through tunnels, was done after Israeli traders pressured the government. They want to use us and keep the blockade on...

CAIRO — The long-estranged leaders of the two rival Palestinian political movements held rare talks Thursday in Cairo to try to rescue a power-sharing arrangement that has stalled over who should lead an interim unity government. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a Western-backed pragmatist, and Khaled Mashaal, chief of the Islamic militant Hamas, held their first working meeting since Hamas seized the Gaza Strip in 2007, leaving Abbas with only the West Bank. Abbas hopes to establish an independent state in both territories. In May, the two reached an agreement in principle that called for setting up an interim unity government, holding parliamentary and presidential elections within a year and merging rival security forces. However, talks on carrying out the agreement quickly deadlocked over who should serve as interim prime minister, with Hamas rejecting Abbas’ candidate, West Bank-based Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas official, said all elements of the power...

DAMASCUS, (PIC)-- The second batch of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli occupation jails according to the prisoners exchange deal would be set free within three weeks, Sheikh Saleh Al-Aruri, political bureau member of Hamas, said on Wednesday. He told Al-Resalah net website that the Israelis had categorically turned down an Egyptian request to re-open negotiations over the second batch. He said that the Israelis were obstinate and said that the file was closed and no talks would be held over improving the standards by which the second batch of prisoners would be freed. Aruri noted that the second batch of 550 prisoners would be chosen by Israel but would not include anyone imprisoned on criminal charges. more

Dozens of academics and parliamentarians from over 40 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and North and South America, along with revolutionary representatives from Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, have come together to affirm their opposition to and condemnation of the continuing siege of the Gaza Strip. The announcement came in the context of condemnation of siege tactics being used against any group of people, but with particular emphasis on the siege against Palestinian civilians. It was made at a conference in Gaza City on Tuesday; several members of the Palestinian Legislative Council were in attendance. During the proceedings, the European delegation called on governments and human rights organisations across the world to utilise all peaceful means at their disposal to force Israel to end its siege of Gaza. It emphasised the need to put an end to the ban on imports and exports of materials relevant to the healthcare industry, as well as industrial, commercial and construction materi...

GAZA, Nov 22 (KUNA) -- Israeli artillery and bulldozers surrounded the eastern part of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza Strip, on Tuesday. Five Merkava Israeli tanks were scene accompanied by military bulldozers entering 300 meters inside Al-Nahda area east of Rafah, Palestinian sources told KUNA. The sources added that Israeli forces were heavily firing on Palestinian houses amid during the incursion along with recon warplanes hovering over. On a different front, an Israeli recon plane fired at a training center which belonged to Salah Eddin Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian Popular Committees. more

(pic: Construction materials are in short supply in the Gaza Strip after Israel banned them for four years, fearing Hamas would use them to build military bunkers (Lo Yuk Fai, PNN) On Tuesday, Israeli forces opened the Karem Abu Salem crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, admitting nearly 300 trucks loaded with aid and supplies for the industrial, agricultural, and transportation sectors. Palestinian liaison official Ra’ed Fattouh said that 12 trucks loaded with cement and other construction materials, as well as another 53 trucks full of gravel entered Gaza through the crossing. He said a limited amount of cooking gas would be pumped in as well. The crossing was open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m, in which 298 trucks were admitted to Gaza: 11 of them carried aid supplies, 183 were designated for the industrial sector, 40 of them carried livestock feed, nine were designated for the agricultural sector, and five for transportation carrying 20 new vehicles. Twenty-two trucks loaded with gravel p...

A solidarity convoy made it into the Gaza Strip, on Monday evening, through the Rafah Border Terminal, between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. Members of the "Freedom Spring" convoy will be holding meetings with political and social figures in Gaza. Representatives of Arab Spring movement are part of the convoy; convoy members plan to hold a meeting with Ismail Haniyya, Prime Minister of the dissolved Hamas-led government in Gaza, and several Palestinian officials, in addition to holding meetings with Gaza businessmen, representatives of women movements, and representatives of local NGO’s. The visiting convoy members will be touring refugee camps in Gaza, to observe the dire situation, and also intend to visit the UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East). The convoy is distinguished by the participation of representatives of the Arab Spring, sweeping across the Arab world demanding justice and change, in addition to parliamentarians fro...

From Mondoweiss Palestine solidarity activists and human rights lawyers are decrying a Congressional bill that would investigate whether organizations involved in last summer's thwarted flotilla to Gaza should be designated as "terrorist" groups. Critics of the House of Representatives bill see it as the latest in a decades-long effort to intimidate Palestine solidarity activists in the United States. Introduced to the House on October 6, the bill seeks to: direct the Secretary of State to submit a report on whether any support organization that participated in the planning or execution of the recent Gaza flotilla attempt should be designated as a foreign terrorist organization The legislation also demands that the State Department, in the same document, report on Any actions taken by the Department of State to express support and gratitude for the principled stance taken by the Government of Greece to prevent the recent Gaza flotilla attempt to violate Israel’s lawful bl...

The latest Miles of Smiles convoy to Gaza has donated $60,000 to the field hospital established by Jordan in the aftermath of the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip in 2009. According to the coordinator of the convoy Miles of Smiles 7, participant NGOs donated the money to the hospital to purchase much-needed medical equipment. Dr. Essam Mustafa pointed out that Miles of Smiles 6 had donated an electrical generator to the hospital two months earlier valued at $40,000. Speaking to the media, Dr. Mustafa hailed the efforts of the King of Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in supporting the Palestinian people. He pointed out that the aid convoys organised by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) played an important role in easing the suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. more

Mondoweiss has an excellent breakdown of a report by the Israeli non-profit organisation (Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement) Gisha - from its Gaza Gateway project Gisha's Gaza Gateway has published a position paper presenting a brief overview of how Israel continues to maintain control in Gaza. Here are some examples: The tax system Israel continues to control taxation in the Gaza Strip, which forms part of a single customs envelope along with Israel and the West Bank. This means that Israel sets the customs and Value Added Tax rates collected for goods and in so doing influences product prices as well as Palestinian fiscal policy. To illustrate: a merchant in Gaza who purchases clothes from an Israeli manufacturer pays VAT at a rate determined by Israel, and Israel is responsible for transferring this amount to the Palestinian Authority. If the merchandise is imported, Israel sets and collects the customs for it and is responsible for transferring the amount to the Palestini...

by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News A radio station that has worked for 7 years to bring together Palestinians and Israelis in joint broadcasts and dialogue was shut down by Israeli authorities on Saturday, with the claim that the station lacked the proper license – despite the fact that the station broadcasts from the West Bank and is not under Israeli jurisdiction. The station was founded by Israeli and Palestinian peace groups seven years ago, and is called ‘Kol Hashalom’ which means ‘Whole Peace’. Its broadcast facility is in Ramallah, which is the base of the Palestinian Authority and considered to be under Palestinian Authority control according to the Oslo Agreement of 1993. According to the Israeli Communications Ministry, “The Ministry carried out wireless supervisory activities in cooperation with Israel Police against a pirate radio station, just as it carries them out against all other illegal station”. The shutdown came after Israeli Knesset (Parliament) Member Danny Danon dema...

( pic: Palestinians mourn during the funeral of Mohammed Kelani who was killed in an Israeli attack on a Palestinian Navy Site in the northern Gaza Strip - PCHR ) · 4 Palestinians, including a civilian, a member of the Palestinian Marine Police and two resistance activists, were killed by Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip. - 14 Palestinians, including 6 civilians and 5 members of the Palestinian Marine Police, were wounded by IOF in the Gaza Strip. - The site of the Palestinian Marine Police in al-Soudaneya area, north of the Gaza Strip, was totally destroyed. · IOF have continued to use force against peaceful protests in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. - 2 Palestinian civilians, including a child, were wounded in a peaceful demonstration in al-Nabi Saleh village. · The Israeli Navy has continued to attack Palestinian fishermen in the Gaza Strip. - Israeli naval troops arrested three Palestinian fishermen and confiscated their fishing boat. · IOF conducted 91 incursions into P...

RAFAH, (PIC)-- A Palestinian worker on Friday morning died as a result of being electrocuted while working in a smuggling tunnel at the Egyptian Gaza border. Palestinian medical sources told PIC correspondent that Salamah Abu Hammad, 20 years, a resident of Bani Suhaila to the east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip died as a result of being electrocuted during his work inside one of the smuggling tunnels. More than 210 Palestinians died and 800 injured during work inside smuggling tunnels since the Israeli occupation imposed a siege on the Gaza Strip in 2006, forcing residents to resort to smuggling tunnels to smuggle essential goods. more

Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that the Israeli government confiscated privately owned Palestinian lands in the Jordan Valley, and gave the lands to Kibbutz Merav, inhabited by Jewish settlers. The Israeli government re-routed the Annexation Wall in the area in order to secure the illegal takeover of nearly 1500 Dunams (375 Acres) of privately owned Palestinian lands, effectively declaring the lands as part of Israel. The move in question is not new, as Israel’s settlements and settlements blocks in the occupied territories are mostly built on Palestinian lands. This instance is different as the ownership of West Bank Palestinian-owned lands is transferred to a Jewish community that is considered inside Israel itself. Haaretz said that Maj. Guy Inbar, a spokesperson for the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the occupied territories, stated that the expropriated Palestinian lands are in the West Bank, and claimed that Jewish settlers in Merav “have been farming the lands...

PLO Executive Committee member Dr. Hanan Ashrawi issued a press release on Thursday saying she "strongly denies" that the PLO would be paid off with its withheld tax revenues in order to drop its bid for membership in the UN. The Ha'aretz report, citing unnamed European diplomats, said the PLO would freeze all moves to achieve full membership for Palestine in various UN agencies until the end of January if Israel let go of the $100 million in Palestinian tax revenues it had withheld as punishment for Palestine joining UNESCO. “This report is completely untrue, and the Israeli media tools are not the source of information for the Palestinian positions and decisions,” Ashrawi said. “The report is a new Israeli maneuver and an attempt to create confusion to stop the Palestinian bid to the UN." more

Health facilities in the Gaza Strip face a serious shortage of drugs and medical supplies. In late September, 36% of essential drugs were lacking. While MSF makes regular donations, no aid actor can meet the full range of needs. The Israeli embargo of the Gaza Strip, which began in 2007, together with years of financial crisis within the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and the chronic lack of cooperation between the Palestinian Authority and Gaza authorities, have caused harm and threaten Gaza's health system and its patients. Last spring, drug companies stopped supplying the Palestinian Authority. The situation, which had been worsening steadily for several years, deteriorated further in 2011 and has reached an alarming level. As Israeli bombs struck the Gaza Strip in mid-August, local health authorities called on international aid actors working in the area for help. Since that time, they have asked for donations on a regular, long-term basis. However, no humanitarian actor – ...

France has summoned the Israeli ambassador to Paris to a meeting at the foreign ministry after an air strike wounded the French consul in Gaza, along with his wife and daughter. A spokesman for the ministry said on Wednesday that France's ambassador in Tel Aviv had complained to Israeli authorities over the bombing, and that Israel's envoy had been required to meet with senior officials in Paris. The consul, his wife and 13-year-old daughter were injured during an Israeli air strike on Sunday night, Bernard Valero, the French foreign ministry spokesman, said on Tuesday. Valero told reporters that the three were were hit by shrapnel at their residence in Gaza, which is located 200 metres from the site of an Israeli missile attack. "France condemns the consequences of the raid," he said. "While we are all for Israeli security, France recalls the utmost necessity to avoid civilian harm," Valero adde. Though Valero did not comment on the nature of their injuries...

A brief interview, followed by the arrest of Palestinian Freedom Rider Fadi Quran, taken from the livestream of the November 15 protest. Quran was one of seven Palestinian Freedom Riders who were violently arrested while attempting to ride on segregated Israeli public transportation transporting settlers from inside the West Bank to occupied East Jerusalem in an act of civil disobedience inspired by the Freedom Riders of the U.S. civil rights movement.

Israeli defence forces chief Benny Gantz has threaten a new invasion of Gaza if rocket fire continues. He said: "recent rounds of escalated violence and the injury of both lives and the daily routine of citizens of Israel's south are leading to a reality in which the IDF will have to take significant, aggressive action in the Gaza Strip." GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli airstrikes injured two people in Gaza City early Wednesday, a Ma'an reporter said. Israeli F16 jets fired at least one missile in the Tuffah neighborhood, lightly injuring one woman who was taken to Shifa Hospital. Several homes were also damaged in the strike, a Ma'an correspondent reported. Meanwhile an Israel warplane struck a group of militants west of Gaza City. Medics said one man suffered light wounds in the attack. more