13 aug 2012
Two Palestinians injured after settler's car rammed into their vehicle
Two Palestinians were wounded on Sunday morning when an Israeli settler, in a speeding car, deliberately rammed into their vehicle east of Nablus.
Ghassan Douglas, monitoring settlement activity north of the West Bank, said that an Israeli settler from Yitzhar settlement in a Toyota car rammed into a Palestinian vehicle in the town of Beit Furik east of Nablus.
Two Palestinians, Majdi Hanini and Zaid Adel Hanini, were transferred to Rafidia hospital in Nablus for treatment with moderate injuries.
Committee: Israeli forces uproot land in Bethlehem village
Israeli bulldozers uprooted agricultural land in the Bethlehem village of al-Khader on Monday, a local committee said.
Ahmad Salah, spokesman for the local committee against the wall and settlements, told Ma'an that five dunams of private Palestinian land were leveled in al-Absiyya, near the settlement of Elazar.
Olive trees and a well belonging to Riziq Muhammad Hussein Salah were also destroyed.
Settlers led by a female leader then stole several uprooted olive trees and took them away in trucks, Salah said.
"Her name is Nadia Matar the founder of the settler group known as women in green. This group maintains that all hills in the Etzion area must be under settler control to build religious schools and parks," he added.
Last week, Israeli forces moved part of a military checkpoint near al-Khader, witnesses said.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that a checkpoint at the entrance to Newe Daniyyel settlement, built on private Palestinian land, was moved around 400 meters, effectively annexing around 300 dunams of land.
Warnings against Israeli scheme to control the Aqsa
The National Bureau for the defense of land has warned against a serious Israeli scheme to control the Aqsa mosque.
The National Bureau, in its weekly report issued on Sunday, pointed to the Israeli attempt to impose new de facto conditions on the ground, where the extremist MK Aryeh Eldad suggested a draft bill to split worship times between Jews and Muslims at the Aqsa Mosque.
The report noted that the bill coincided with the Israeli right-wing proposal to divide the Aqsa mosque between Muslims and Jews in a similar attempt to the arrangement at the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil.
The scheme was also evident in the Israeli authorities' decision to turn the Aqsa yards into public parks in a prelude to turn them to Israeli tourist sites and then Jewish worship places to establish the alleged temple, the report said.
The report noted that the Knesset Finance Committee approved millions of shekels to the settlements. In addition, it pointed out that the Islamic Waqf documents and the civil administration maps confirmed that thousands of acres seized by settlers in the Jordan Valley belong to the Islamic Waqf.
Occupation allows settlers to use water pond registered as Islamic Waqf
The Israeli occupation army allowed Jewish settlers to use a water pond in the area of Tel Rumeida, in the center of al-Khalil province, although it is registered as an Islamic endowment.
Youth against Settlement group said in a statement on Sunday that the occupation army issued a decision preventing Palestinians from using the new spring of water in Tel Rumeida during Fridays and Saturdays, while allowing the settlers to daily use it without any restrictions.
For his part, the Director of Endowments in al-Khalil, Zaid Al-Jabari asserted in press statements that the new spring of water and water ponds in Tel Rumeida have been registered as Islamic endowments.
He also noted that the new spring of water, which has an area of 55 square meters, has been exposed to continuous attacks as the settlers have been trying to control it through construction and expansion processes for a long time.
Israeli Army Chief Orders Legalization of Settlement Outpost in Salfit
The Israeli Central Command Chief, Nitzan Alon, signed an order to legalize the Israeli settlement outpost of ‘Brukhin’, built illegally on Burqin land, a village in the northern West bank city of Salfit , Sunday reported the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.
The newspaper said that Alon is practically implementing the Israeli authorities’ prior decision to legalize the three settlement outposts of Brukhin in Salfit, Rahlim southeast of Nablus, and Sansana south of Hebron.
Alan ordered the settlement of Brukhin to be under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Shomron Regional Council.
12 aug 2012
Jewish settlers spray toxic substance, kill herd of sheep
Two Palestinians injured after settler's car rammed into their vehicle
Two Palestinians were wounded on Sunday morning when an Israeli settler, in a speeding car, deliberately rammed into their vehicle east of Nablus.
Ghassan Douglas, monitoring settlement activity north of the West Bank, said that an Israeli settler from Yitzhar settlement in a Toyota car rammed into a Palestinian vehicle in the town of Beit Furik east of Nablus.
Two Palestinians, Majdi Hanini and Zaid Adel Hanini, were transferred to Rafidia hospital in Nablus for treatment with moderate injuries.
Committee: Israeli forces uproot land in Bethlehem village
Israeli bulldozers uprooted agricultural land in the Bethlehem village of al-Khader on Monday, a local committee said.
Ahmad Salah, spokesman for the local committee against the wall and settlements, told Ma'an that five dunams of private Palestinian land were leveled in al-Absiyya, near the settlement of Elazar.
Olive trees and a well belonging to Riziq Muhammad Hussein Salah were also destroyed.
Settlers led by a female leader then stole several uprooted olive trees and took them away in trucks, Salah said.
"Her name is Nadia Matar the founder of the settler group known as women in green. This group maintains that all hills in the Etzion area must be under settler control to build religious schools and parks," he added.
Last week, Israeli forces moved part of a military checkpoint near al-Khader, witnesses said.
Eyewitnesses told Ma'an that a checkpoint at the entrance to Newe Daniyyel settlement, built on private Palestinian land, was moved around 400 meters, effectively annexing around 300 dunams of land.
Warnings against Israeli scheme to control the Aqsa
The National Bureau for the defense of land has warned against a serious Israeli scheme to control the Aqsa mosque.
The National Bureau, in its weekly report issued on Sunday, pointed to the Israeli attempt to impose new de facto conditions on the ground, where the extremist MK Aryeh Eldad suggested a draft bill to split worship times between Jews and Muslims at the Aqsa Mosque.
The report noted that the bill coincided with the Israeli right-wing proposal to divide the Aqsa mosque between Muslims and Jews in a similar attempt to the arrangement at the Ibrahimi mosque in Al-Khalil.
The scheme was also evident in the Israeli authorities' decision to turn the Aqsa yards into public parks in a prelude to turn them to Israeli tourist sites and then Jewish worship places to establish the alleged temple, the report said.
The report noted that the Knesset Finance Committee approved millions of shekels to the settlements. In addition, it pointed out that the Islamic Waqf documents and the civil administration maps confirmed that thousands of acres seized by settlers in the Jordan Valley belong to the Islamic Waqf.
Occupation allows settlers to use water pond registered as Islamic Waqf
The Israeli occupation army allowed Jewish settlers to use a water pond in the area of Tel Rumeida, in the center of al-Khalil province, although it is registered as an Islamic endowment.
Youth against Settlement group said in a statement on Sunday that the occupation army issued a decision preventing Palestinians from using the new spring of water in Tel Rumeida during Fridays and Saturdays, while allowing the settlers to daily use it without any restrictions.
For his part, the Director of Endowments in al-Khalil, Zaid Al-Jabari asserted in press statements that the new spring of water and water ponds in Tel Rumeida have been registered as Islamic endowments.
He also noted that the new spring of water, which has an area of 55 square meters, has been exposed to continuous attacks as the settlers have been trying to control it through construction and expansion processes for a long time.
Israeli Army Chief Orders Legalization of Settlement Outpost in Salfit
The Israeli Central Command Chief, Nitzan Alon, signed an order to legalize the Israeli settlement outpost of ‘Brukhin’, built illegally on Burqin land, a village in the northern West bank city of Salfit , Sunday reported the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot.
The newspaper said that Alon is practically implementing the Israeli authorities’ prior decision to legalize the three settlement outposts of Brukhin in Salfit, Rahlim southeast of Nablus, and Sansana south of Hebron.
Alan ordered the settlement of Brukhin to be under the jurisdiction of the Israeli Shomron Regional Council.
12 aug 2012
Jewish settlers spray toxic substance, kill herd of sheep

Jewish settlers sprayed toxic substance in Palestinian grazing fields near the town of Yatta, southern al-Khalil, causing the death of a herd of sheep.
The coordinator of the popular committees against the wall and settlement in Yatta, Ratib Al-Jabour, asserted that the herd of sheep, which belonged to Jihad Noajah, had died after grazing in wild herbs, which were sprayed with toxic substances by settlers from Susiya settlement to the southeast of Yatta.
Meanwhile, the head of Wadi al-Maleh village council, Aref Daraghmeh, stated that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have ordered Palestinian Bedouins in Wadi al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley to pay excessive fines of up to 15 thousand shekels to retrieve their cattle confiscated a few days ago.
He added that the residents lost numbers of their cows which died during the confiscation raid while others were still held by the IOA even after paying the fines.
Israeli Settlers Poison Grazing Fields, Kill Cattle near Hebron
Livestock that belong to a Palestinian farmer from Yatta, a town south of Hebron, died Saturday night after they have been poisoned by Israeli settlers, according to the Popular Committee coordinator in Yatta, Rateb al-Jabour.
He told WAFA that Israeli settlers from Sosiya settlement illegally built on the town’s land, sprayed toxic poison on wild grass in grazing fields surrounding the settlement, causing the death of 13 sheep.
11 aug 2012
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian worshippers; 8 injured
A busload of Palestinians returning from Ramadan prayers in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem late Friday night were attacked by a group of heavily armed settlers who threw rocks at the bus, injuring 8.
Earlier this week, settlers tried to mount an explosive device under a car in a village near the location of Friday's attack on the bus.
The attack took place on the main road between Ramallah and Nablus in the northern West Bank, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Shilo, around 1:30 in the morning. The settlers apparently laid in waiting for the bus of worshippers, then emerged fully-armed and throwing rocks.
Eight people injured by rocks and broken glass were taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus.
Following the attack, the Israeli military closed the road, which is the main artery from the northern to the central West Bank, for more than two hours.
No one was arrested in the attack, and no investigation is being made into the incident. But Israeli soldiers have set up new checkpoints along the road, which is mainly used by Palestinians.
10 aug 2012
MADA Condemns the Shooting of Journalist Al-Samodi
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns a shooting involving Palestine TV correspondent Nizar Al-Samodi in Jenin last nigh 9th Augustt, by an Israeli-registered car.
Al-Samodi told MADA that he was returning to his home in Jenin from Ramallah on Wednesday night when he arrived the crossroads known at 'Tormos Aya and Singel' at about 10:30pm. He said someone then fired a shot at him which hit the car mirror, only missing him by centimetres.
He added: "The bullet was fired by a white Israeli car with yellow number plates. I believe the goal was to kill me, but the shooter underestimated the speed of the car, so the bullet just missed me and broke the mirror of the car instead. I filed a complaint today with the Israeli military liaison office."
9 aug 2012
US Report Supports Right Wing Project to Allow Jews to Pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued a report that criticizes Israel's prevention of non-Muslims, "especially Jews", from praying in al-Aqsa mosque, arguing that it prevents religious freedom.
On its website on Thursday 9th August, Israel Channel 7 stated that the report criticizes the Israeli policy that prevents non-Jews from praying at the Temple Mount, also called the 'Al-Aqsa mosque yards'.
The report, which was published in Washington, claims that Israel gives security reasons for not allowing non-Muslims to pray at Al-Aqsa mosque while Israeli policy is also to promote religious freedom. This is despite the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to allow non-Muslims to pray at Al-Aqsa, and Israeli security forces accompanying Jews who wish to pray in the mosque.
The report also criticized Israel's prevention of Christian Missionary Groups from entering the country. They called on the Israeli Interior Ministry to review this decision, saying that, "When Israel doubts that these groups are Christian Missionary Groups, they are prevented from entering."
Israeli newspaper Haaretz also reported recently on the implementation of the law, proposed by Israeli right wing MK Arieh Aldad, that allows for Jews to pray in al-Aqsa mosque at specific times, and considers it as a holy place for all religions, as he claimed.
This new decision would allow Jews to pray and practice their religious freedom at separate times from Muslims.
Aldad claimed, "Temple Mountain is the most sacred place in Israel and Al-Aqsa mosque is a sacred place for Muslims. The Mosque has a special place in the hearts of Muslims and Christians, and there will be certain hours in which Jews would be allowed to pray in it."
The report follows the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, warning of the possible serious consequences of the Israeli plan to divide al-Aqsa mosque and calling on Arab and Islamic countries to intervene to prevent the mosque being opened to non-Muslims.
Palestinian woman hospitalized after settlers’ attack
A Palestinian woman from Al-Khalil was hospitalized after a group of Jewish settlers threw rocks at her south of the city on Wednesday evening.
Security sources told Quds Press that the settlers of the Kiryat Arba settlement threw rocks at a 28-year-old Palestinian woman.
They said that the woman suffered head injuries and was taken to Al-Khalil government hospital where her condition was described as moderate.
In a separate incident, large numbers of Israeli occupation forces stormed Beit Ummar village to the north of Al-Khalil on Wednesday night. IOF soldiers broke into and searched many homes but no arrests were reported.
Palestinian journalist survives settlers’ attack
Jewish settlers opened fire at a Palestinian car on the Ramallah-Nablus road near Sinjil village on Wednesday night hitting the car but not the driver.
Radio Palestine said that its correspondent in Jenin Nizar Samoudi was driving his car when the settlers shot at him, adding that he barely survived.
The radio quoted Samoudi as saying that he was shot at while driving from Ramallah to his home in Yamon village in Jenin. He said that the bullets broke his car windows but he was not injured in the incident.
Settlers Inaugurate Park Built on Seized Palestinian Land
Israeli settlers Thursday announced the opening of a park built on land seized from Palestinians from the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the committee against the Apartheid Wall, Ahmad Salah, told WAFA that Efrat settlers announced the opening of the new park during a big ceremony.
The settles first started working on the project in 2000, taking advantage of al-Aqsa Intifada and unstable political conditions, and took over large area of land.
Salah said that they took over a well that was used to water crops and feed Solomon's Pools.
He said farmers in that area suffer heavily from the settlers’ arbitrary measures that are carried out under the protection of the Israeli army.
7 aug 2012
Settler runs over Palestinian child in Al-Khalil
A Jewish settler ran over a 10-year-old Palestinian boy on Tuesday in the city of Al-Khalil south of occupied West Bank causing him several injuries.
Local sources reported that the settler was from "Kiryat Arba" settlement established on a bypass road between Al-Khalil and Jerusalem.
The settler managed to escape while the boy was transferred to the government hospital by the Palestinian Red Crescent to receive the necessary treatment.
5 aug 2012
Lambs to the settlers' slaughter, screaming and unheard
The coordinator of the popular committees against the wall and settlement in Yatta, Ratib Al-Jabour, asserted that the herd of sheep, which belonged to Jihad Noajah, had died after grazing in wild herbs, which were sprayed with toxic substances by settlers from Susiya settlement to the southeast of Yatta.
Meanwhile, the head of Wadi al-Maleh village council, Aref Daraghmeh, stated that the Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) have ordered Palestinian Bedouins in Wadi al-Maleh in the Jordan Valley to pay excessive fines of up to 15 thousand shekels to retrieve their cattle confiscated a few days ago.
He added that the residents lost numbers of their cows which died during the confiscation raid while others were still held by the IOA even after paying the fines.
Israeli Settlers Poison Grazing Fields, Kill Cattle near Hebron
Livestock that belong to a Palestinian farmer from Yatta, a town south of Hebron, died Saturday night after they have been poisoned by Israeli settlers, according to the Popular Committee coordinator in Yatta, Rateb al-Jabour.
He told WAFA that Israeli settlers from Sosiya settlement illegally built on the town’s land, sprayed toxic poison on wild grass in grazing fields surrounding the settlement, causing the death of 13 sheep.
11 aug 2012
Israeli settlers attack Palestinian worshippers; 8 injured
A busload of Palestinians returning from Ramadan prayers in the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem late Friday night were attacked by a group of heavily armed settlers who threw rocks at the bus, injuring 8.
Earlier this week, settlers tried to mount an explosive device under a car in a village near the location of Friday's attack on the bus.
The attack took place on the main road between Ramallah and Nablus in the northern West Bank, near the illegal Israeli settlement of Shilo, around 1:30 in the morning. The settlers apparently laid in waiting for the bus of worshippers, then emerged fully-armed and throwing rocks.
Eight people injured by rocks and broken glass were taken to Rafidia hospital in Nablus.
Following the attack, the Israeli military closed the road, which is the main artery from the northern to the central West Bank, for more than two hours.
No one was arrested in the attack, and no investigation is being made into the incident. But Israeli soldiers have set up new checkpoints along the road, which is mainly used by Palestinians.
10 aug 2012
MADA Condemns the Shooting of Journalist Al-Samodi
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns a shooting involving Palestine TV correspondent Nizar Al-Samodi in Jenin last nigh 9th Augustt, by an Israeli-registered car.
Al-Samodi told MADA that he was returning to his home in Jenin from Ramallah on Wednesday night when he arrived the crossroads known at 'Tormos Aya and Singel' at about 10:30pm. He said someone then fired a shot at him which hit the car mirror, only missing him by centimetres.
He added: "The bullet was fired by a white Israeli car with yellow number plates. I believe the goal was to kill me, but the shooter underestimated the speed of the car, so the bullet just missed me and broke the mirror of the car instead. I filed a complaint today with the Israeli military liaison office."
9 aug 2012
US Report Supports Right Wing Project to Allow Jews to Pray in Al-Aqsa Mosque
The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom has issued a report that criticizes Israel's prevention of non-Muslims, "especially Jews", from praying in al-Aqsa mosque, arguing that it prevents religious freedom.
On its website on Thursday 9th August, Israel Channel 7 stated that the report criticizes the Israeli policy that prevents non-Jews from praying at the Temple Mount, also called the 'Al-Aqsa mosque yards'.
The report, which was published in Washington, claims that Israel gives security reasons for not allowing non-Muslims to pray at Al-Aqsa mosque while Israeli policy is also to promote religious freedom. This is despite the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to allow non-Muslims to pray at Al-Aqsa, and Israeli security forces accompanying Jews who wish to pray in the mosque.
The report also criticized Israel's prevention of Christian Missionary Groups from entering the country. They called on the Israeli Interior Ministry to review this decision, saying that, "When Israel doubts that these groups are Christian Missionary Groups, they are prevented from entering."
Israeli newspaper Haaretz also reported recently on the implementation of the law, proposed by Israeli right wing MK Arieh Aldad, that allows for Jews to pray in al-Aqsa mosque at specific times, and considers it as a holy place for all religions, as he claimed.
This new decision would allow Jews to pray and practice their religious freedom at separate times from Muslims.
Aldad claimed, "Temple Mountain is the most sacred place in Israel and Al-Aqsa mosque is a sacred place for Muslims. The Mosque has a special place in the hearts of Muslims and Christians, and there will be certain hours in which Jews would be allowed to pray in it."
The report follows the Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, warning of the possible serious consequences of the Israeli plan to divide al-Aqsa mosque and calling on Arab and Islamic countries to intervene to prevent the mosque being opened to non-Muslims.
Palestinian woman hospitalized after settlers’ attack
A Palestinian woman from Al-Khalil was hospitalized after a group of Jewish settlers threw rocks at her south of the city on Wednesday evening.
Security sources told Quds Press that the settlers of the Kiryat Arba settlement threw rocks at a 28-year-old Palestinian woman.
They said that the woman suffered head injuries and was taken to Al-Khalil government hospital where her condition was described as moderate.
In a separate incident, large numbers of Israeli occupation forces stormed Beit Ummar village to the north of Al-Khalil on Wednesday night. IOF soldiers broke into and searched many homes but no arrests were reported.
Palestinian journalist survives settlers’ attack
Jewish settlers opened fire at a Palestinian car on the Ramallah-Nablus road near Sinjil village on Wednesday night hitting the car but not the driver.
Radio Palestine said that its correspondent in Jenin Nizar Samoudi was driving his car when the settlers shot at him, adding that he barely survived.
The radio quoted Samoudi as saying that he was shot at while driving from Ramallah to his home in Yamon village in Jenin. He said that the bullets broke his car windows but he was not injured in the incident.
Settlers Inaugurate Park Built on Seized Palestinian Land
Israeli settlers Thursday announced the opening of a park built on land seized from Palestinians from the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, according to a local activist.
Coordinator of the committee against the Apartheid Wall, Ahmad Salah, told WAFA that Efrat settlers announced the opening of the new park during a big ceremony.
The settles first started working on the project in 2000, taking advantage of al-Aqsa Intifada and unstable political conditions, and took over large area of land.
Salah said that they took over a well that was used to water crops and feed Solomon's Pools.
He said farmers in that area suffer heavily from the settlers’ arbitrary measures that are carried out under the protection of the Israeli army.
7 aug 2012
Settler runs over Palestinian child in Al-Khalil
A Jewish settler ran over a 10-year-old Palestinian boy on Tuesday in the city of Al-Khalil south of occupied West Bank causing him several injuries.
Local sources reported that the settler was from "Kiryat Arba" settlement established on a bypass road between Al-Khalil and Jerusalem.
The settler managed to escape while the boy was transferred to the government hospital by the Palestinian Red Crescent to receive the necessary treatment.
5 aug 2012
Lambs to the settlers' slaughter, screaming and unheard

An elderly Palestinian man gestures as he stands next to a torched car Palestinians say was set on fire by Jewish extremists, in
There were more than 50 reports of Israelis assaulting Palestinians in the West Bank last month. In the start of a regular series, Haaretz details one particularly violent attack.
There is still a bruise under Ibrahim Bani Jaber's left eye. The blows his brother Jawdat received to his right ear didn't leave any marks, but they still make his head feel heavy. During our meeting at their home in the West Bank village of Akraba last week, they did not spend much time describing the fear and pain they felt when they were attacked. Instead, they spoke about the family's sheep, that they had rushed to try and save that day, July 7, when they heard that settlers were attacking them.
The violent confrontation - between settlers from Itamar and Giva 777, and Palestinian residents of Akraba - was the worst such incident last month. But it was, nevertheless, merely part of the daily routine of assaults, attacks and incursions. It is only on rare occasions that these incidents become news. In most cases, if there is an investigation there is no indictment.
The map presented here shows the various assaults from last month alone, but it is not complete because it does not include Jerusalem. It is based on reports that have been cross-checked, and eyewitness testimonies from the Ta'ayush Arab Jewish partnership, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Haaretz will continue to follow events on a regular basis and the way they are handled by the authorities.
On Saturday July 7, when the Bani Jaber brothers were working in a wheat field, their brother Jihad - who was tending the sheep - telephoned them in a panic. "Settlers have arrived at the spring and they are slaughtering the sheep," he shouted. The two brothers were some three kilometers from the spring and orchard, east of the village of Yanun. Jawdat, 44, went to speak with the soldiers who had accompanied the Palestinian farmers to their fields.
About six months ago, the Israel Defense Forces began revisiting plans for its dormant firing range there - which contains farmers' fields, orchards and a number of homes belonging to families from Akraba. When it was decided to use the firing range again, the IDF began forbidding the Palestinians from going to their lands there. Giva 777, an offshoot of the Itamar settlement, is in that same firing range (known as 904A ). Dror Etkes, who has been tracking the way the settlers are gaining control of lands in the West Bank, states that most of Giva 777's tended fields are on private Palestinian lands and in the firing range.
In the past few months, Rashed Fahmi - the head of the Yanun local council; the Israeli-Palestinian group Lohamim Leshalom (Fighting for Peace ); and Rabbis for Human Rights have been waging an exhausting and prolonged campaign to get the authorities to uphold the Palestinians' rights to work their lands. The efforts bore bitter fruit: the Palestinians were permitted to go to their fields accompanied by soldiers for one week, between July 3 and July 10. Most of the wheat had already dried up by then.
Awaiting his death
There were more than 50 reports of Israelis assaulting Palestinians in the West Bank last month. In the start of a regular series, Haaretz details one particularly violent attack.
There is still a bruise under Ibrahim Bani Jaber's left eye. The blows his brother Jawdat received to his right ear didn't leave any marks, but they still make his head feel heavy. During our meeting at their home in the West Bank village of Akraba last week, they did not spend much time describing the fear and pain they felt when they were attacked. Instead, they spoke about the family's sheep, that they had rushed to try and save that day, July 7, when they heard that settlers were attacking them.
The violent confrontation - between settlers from Itamar and Giva 777, and Palestinian residents of Akraba - was the worst such incident last month. But it was, nevertheless, merely part of the daily routine of assaults, attacks and incursions. It is only on rare occasions that these incidents become news. In most cases, if there is an investigation there is no indictment.
The map presented here shows the various assaults from last month alone, but it is not complete because it does not include Jerusalem. It is based on reports that have been cross-checked, and eyewitness testimonies from the Ta'ayush Arab Jewish partnership, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and the B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Haaretz will continue to follow events on a regular basis and the way they are handled by the authorities.
On Saturday July 7, when the Bani Jaber brothers were working in a wheat field, their brother Jihad - who was tending the sheep - telephoned them in a panic. "Settlers have arrived at the spring and they are slaughtering the sheep," he shouted. The two brothers were some three kilometers from the spring and orchard, east of the village of Yanun. Jawdat, 44, went to speak with the soldiers who had accompanied the Palestinian farmers to their fields.
About six months ago, the Israel Defense Forces began revisiting plans for its dormant firing range there - which contains farmers' fields, orchards and a number of homes belonging to families from Akraba. When it was decided to use the firing range again, the IDF began forbidding the Palestinians from going to their lands there. Giva 777, an offshoot of the Itamar settlement, is in that same firing range (known as 904A ). Dror Etkes, who has been tracking the way the settlers are gaining control of lands in the West Bank, states that most of Giva 777's tended fields are on private Palestinian lands and in the firing range.
In the past few months, Rashed Fahmi - the head of the Yanun local council; the Israeli-Palestinian group Lohamim Leshalom (Fighting for Peace ); and Rabbis for Human Rights have been waging an exhausting and prolonged campaign to get the authorities to uphold the Palestinians' rights to work their lands. The efforts bore bitter fruit: the Palestinians were permitted to go to their fields accompanied by soldiers for one week, between July 3 and July 10. Most of the wheat had already dried up by then.
Awaiting his death

'Don't touch my land. Price Tag' is sprayed on a wall in the West Bank village of Sinjal.
Two military jeeps joined around 40 farmers who went to their fields that Saturday. After Jihad telephoned, at around 2 P.M., Jawdat told a soldier who spoke Arabic that something bad was happening at the spring. His impression was that the soldier brushed him off contemptuously.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim, 42, hurried down the hill toward the spring. He was carrying a walking stick that he uses when tending the sheep. Jihad had already fled from the scene.
Some of the sheep had wandered off. The settlers were standing among the sheep that remained and, according to Ibrahim, were hitting them. There were perhaps 10 or 20 settlers. "What have the sheep done to you?" Ibrahim shouted to them in Arabic.
At this point, other family members joined him. In the meantime, three or four soldiers arrived at the scene and prevented them from approaching the sheep. The number of settlers increased. Most of them were wearing white shirts. Two of them were, apparently, armed.
Ibrahim says he waved his stick to chase a settler away from a sheep. A soldier grabbed him, he says, and hit him with the butt of his rifle, below the eye. He fell and got up, bleeding. He saw the soldier taking out plastic handcuffs to detain him. Ibrahim ran away, "out of fear they would leave me to the settlers, who would beat me" - as had happened the previous month in Orif. There were shots, he says, as he began walking toward the south, bleeding.
The soldiers who prevented Jawdat from going to his brother handcuffed him and sat him forcibly on the ground. One soldier hit him with a baton on his ear, he says. Another soldier kicked him in the same place. As he was sitting with his hands secured behind his back, he saw some of the settlers approaching him and had the impression that one was holding an ax. At that point, he says, he shut his eyes and awaited his death.
Jawdat believes he was hit with the blunt edge of the ax and lost consciousness. Eyewitnesses say that some two hours elapsed before the soldiers would allow the residents to rescue him. He remembers waking when he was transferred from an Israeli ambulance to a Palestinian one, on his way to a hospital in Nablus.
The confrontation took place in a number of spaces. No one saw the entire picture. The Akraba residents who were being attacked had the feeling that the number of settlers was constantly growing, and that there were many dozens of them. The two sides began throwing stones at each other. The soldiers fired into the air, and stun grenades and tear gas were employed against the villagers who wanted to help their fellow residents. A fire broke out in the fields, either through arson or because of the stun and tear-gas grenades. One of the villagers was wounded by a tear-gas canister. Another was hit in the arm by a rubber-coated bullet, which left a deep wound and required hospitalization.
Another relative, Adwan Bani Jaber, 58, was also in the fields. "At a distance of some 800 meters from the orchard, I came across soldiers and a settler," he says. "A soldier began shooting and I asked him, 'Why are you shooting? This is my home.' And he shouted, 'Go back!' I asked him: 'Where should I go? This is my home.' The soldier then told me there was no problem, and that there were no injured."
Adwan says he suddenly felt a blow to his head. It was a stone which, he says, was thrown by a settler, in the presence of the soldiers.
The IDF spokesman said that the army had no reports about the injuries to the three family members. He says that on July 7, "a confrontation developed between a number of settlers and a number of Palestinians. A large number of Palestinians continued to arrive at the scene of the confrontation and there was stone throwing from both sides. The Palestinians started some conflagrations. The security forces began acting to disperse the confrontation and used means for the dispersal of demonstrations. During the incident, one settler and two Palestinians were lightly injured. The injured were treated by army medical personnel at the scene, and they then evacuated the Palestinians to hospital for further treatment. The event was investigated by senior officers and the required lessons were learned."
Jihad reported that 14 sheep were killed - four died that day and the remainder in the next few days. He no longer takes the sheep to drink at the spring.
The entire agricultural area was once again closed to residents of Akraba and Yanun. From afar, they can see the settlers who live in firing range 904A, tending their fields.
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian vehicles near Ramallah
A gang of Jewish settlers threw rocks on Palestinian cars passing near a settlement outpost near Ramallah on Saturday night wounding a Palestinian man from 1948 occupied Palestine.
Hebrew media claimed that the settlers even threw stones at the Israeli police forces that arrived at the scene.
Three Palestinians were earlier wounded in a similar attack on a bus they were riding near Shilo settlement between Ramallah and Nablus.
The Israeli radio said in another report that Jewish settlers chopped off 15 olive trees owned by Palestinians near Shuweika village, Tulkarem province, and claimed that the Israeli army was investigating the incident.
4 aug 2012
Palestinians hospitalized in Jewish settlers attack on bus
Jewish settlers threw rocks on a Palestinian bus while passing along the Ramallah-Nablus road on Saturday morning, local sources said.
They told the PIC reporter that eight of the passengers were injured in the attack and that some of them were taken to hospital.
Jewish settlers almost daily launch attacks on Palestinian citizens and property in the West Bank under protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
3 aug 2012
Jewish settlers try to blast a Palestinian car in Ramallah village
Jewish settlers tried on Thursday to blast a Palestinian car near the Sinjel village in Ramallah but the device used in the attempt did not detonate due to technical failure.
Ayub Suweid, the mayor of Sinjel, said that the settlers wrote racist slogans on walls of the village such as “Death to Arabs” and threatened the villagers of paying a price for reclaiming their land.
Suweid said that the settlers planted three handmade explosive devices under a car and tried to explode them but the attempt failed, describing the act as a “serious escalation”.
2 aug 2012
Israel’s Budget to Support Settlements Now One Billion, 59 Million NIS
On Thursday, 2nd August, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahranot reported that the budget allocated by the Israeli authorities to support settlement construction reached a one billion and fifty-nine million NIS in 2012.
Daily newspaper reports that the special budget is paid to the settlements, in addition to the public expenses of the government, which are paid to settlers as citizens of Israel.
There has been an increase in the budgets allocated for the settlers despite their percentage makeup of the total population of ‘Israel’ remaining constant in the recent years.
The data issued by the Department of Statistics for the Peace Now movement showed that the statements of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissing the budget as small, are totally incorrect.
According to the newspaper, in 2002 the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (before the withdrawal from Gaza) was 212 thousand settlers. They formed 4% of the total population, while in 2010, number of settlers has reached 311,000 settlers but the proportion of the total population has remained constant.
Israeli Trucks Put Up Caravans in Ramallah-Area Town
Israeli trucks Thursday started moving caravans to an area near the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to mayor of Sinjil Ayyoub Sweid.
He told WAFA that construction activities have been recently spotted in the area as Israeli bulldozers have razed the land in preparation for putting up the caravans on the land, which has been confiscated by the Israeli authority in 2001 under the pretext of “being used for military purposes.”
Sweid noted the escalating settlers’ attacks, almost on a daily basis, targeting Palestinians and their property in Sinjil; the latest of which were an arson attempt of a Palestinian vehicle in the town and vandalism.
Sinjil is surrounded with four Israeli settlements and military points, said Sweid, adding that a large part of the town’s land has been confiscated by Israeli authorities or settlers.
Number of settlers doubled 40 times in the West Bank in four decades
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics stated, in a press release about Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, that the number of settlers in the West Bank had doubled 40 times in four decades.
Data indicate that the number of settlers in the West Bank in 2011 was 536,932, compared to 523,939 in 2010, with a growth rate of 1.3%.
The number of settlements in the West Bank totaled 144, the majority of them in Jerusalem governorate with 26 settlements out of which 16 have been annexed by Israel, the report revealed.
The report pointed out that settlers in the West Bank increased their numbers by more than 40 times during the period 1972-2011 where most of the settlers (267,643) concentrate in Jerusalem governorate about 50% of the total settlers in the West Bank, followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate (100,501 settlers), then Bethlehem governorate (59.414 settlers), then Salfit governorate (34.946 settlers), while 1,489 settlers are in Tubas governorate.
Over Half Million Settlers in West Bank, says Statistical Bureau
The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank increased by a growth rate of 1.3% and totaled 536,932 in 2011, compared to 523,939 in 2010, Thursday said a press release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
The number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank totaled 144. In Jerusalem governorate, the number of settlements reached 26, 16 of which have been annexed by Israel, added the statement.
Around 50% of the overall Israeli settlers in the West Bank are concentrated in Jerusalem governorate. The second highest number of Israeli settlers was in Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, followed by Bethlehem and Salfti.
PCBS noted that Israeli settlers in the West Bank increased their numbers by more than 40 times, during the period 1972-2011.
1 aug 2012
Israeli Settlers Uproot and Burn Olive Trees in Nabi Saleh
Israeli settlers uprooted and burned olive trees on Palestinian land in the village of Nabi Saleh on Wednesday.
According to the Palestine News Network, a spokesman for the Palestinian Popular Resistance Movement in Nabi Saleh said that the Israeli military escorted a group of settlers to the area and watched passively as the settlers destroyed Palestinian property.
The land’s owners were not present at the time the destruction began but villagers rushed to the area as soon as smoke was spotted. The settlers ran away before the farmers could reach them.
Settler activities are illegal under international law and violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. Additionally, arson and destruction of private property are violations of Israeli law.
The Israeli military took no action against the settlers despite being present throughout the incident.
Palestinian olive trees on fire following Jewish settlers’ arson attack
Jewish settlers set Palestinian olive trees on fire in Nabi Saleh village north of Ramallah on Tuesday evening, local sources said on Wednesday.
The information bureau at the village said in a statement that the settlers exploited the Palestinian farmers’ preoccupation with Iftar (break fasting) and attacked the olive fields.
It said that the settlers also uprooted and damaged a lot of other trees in the fields under the very eyes of the Israeli occupation soldiers who did not move to stop them.
The statement underlined that villagers rushed to protect their fields and the settlers fled the area.
The bureau asked the international organizations concerned to provide protection for the Palestinian people and their property and to bring Israel to account for such crimes.
IOA to build dozens of settlement units in Al-Khalil
Hebrew media reported that the Israeli war ministry has recently decided to build 84 new housing units in Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied city of Al-Khalil.
The plan came as part of the privileges granted by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu to the settlers following the Knesset's rejection of the law legalizing random settlement outposts.
Hebrew newspapers described this government's decision as odd since Kiryat Arba is a single and isolated settlement and is not within the large settlement blocs.
They pointed out that the settlement council in Kiryat Arba has recently launched plans and projects inside the settlement with the encouragement of the occupation government, as the minister of transportation has recently approved the construction of a new road in the settlement.
Meanwhile, clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli occupation soldiers erupted in the Fawwar refugee camp, south of Al-Khalil, on Tuesday evening after the occupation forces arrested on Tuesday a Palestinian youth, 19, from the camp and transferred him to an unknown destination after raiding his home and searching it.
Israel decides to turn Aqsa Mosque's courtyards into public places for Jews
Deputy head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib said the Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem issued a decision to turn the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards into public gardens and squares and allow Jewish settlers to visit them anytime.
Khatib warned on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) carried out during the holy month of Ramadan unprecedented Judaization measures targeting the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
He stated that the IOA allowed for the first time its Jewish settlers and extremist groups to enter the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards with no regard to the feeling of Muslims who were inside the mosque.
He also said the Israeli occupation forces stormed last Friday at dawn the Aqsa Mosque and rounded up the imam while he was praying in a prostration position and leading the congregation and prevented other Muslim worshipers behind him from completing the dawn prayer.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs condemned the Israeli decision to classify the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards as public squares and gardens and described it as a serious measure and a blatant violation of the sanctity of one of the holiest Islamic holy sites in the world.
The ministry urged the leaders of the Muslim world to urgently move to hold an Islamic summit to discuss this serious Israeli decision and take action to protect the Aqsa Mosque.
Two military jeeps joined around 40 farmers who went to their fields that Saturday. After Jihad telephoned, at around 2 P.M., Jawdat told a soldier who spoke Arabic that something bad was happening at the spring. His impression was that the soldier brushed him off contemptuously.
Meanwhile, Ibrahim, 42, hurried down the hill toward the spring. He was carrying a walking stick that he uses when tending the sheep. Jihad had already fled from the scene.
Some of the sheep had wandered off. The settlers were standing among the sheep that remained and, according to Ibrahim, were hitting them. There were perhaps 10 or 20 settlers. "What have the sheep done to you?" Ibrahim shouted to them in Arabic.
At this point, other family members joined him. In the meantime, three or four soldiers arrived at the scene and prevented them from approaching the sheep. The number of settlers increased. Most of them were wearing white shirts. Two of them were, apparently, armed.
Ibrahim says he waved his stick to chase a settler away from a sheep. A soldier grabbed him, he says, and hit him with the butt of his rifle, below the eye. He fell and got up, bleeding. He saw the soldier taking out plastic handcuffs to detain him. Ibrahim ran away, "out of fear they would leave me to the settlers, who would beat me" - as had happened the previous month in Orif. There were shots, he says, as he began walking toward the south, bleeding.
The soldiers who prevented Jawdat from going to his brother handcuffed him and sat him forcibly on the ground. One soldier hit him with a baton on his ear, he says. Another soldier kicked him in the same place. As he was sitting with his hands secured behind his back, he saw some of the settlers approaching him and had the impression that one was holding an ax. At that point, he says, he shut his eyes and awaited his death.
Jawdat believes he was hit with the blunt edge of the ax and lost consciousness. Eyewitnesses say that some two hours elapsed before the soldiers would allow the residents to rescue him. He remembers waking when he was transferred from an Israeli ambulance to a Palestinian one, on his way to a hospital in Nablus.
The confrontation took place in a number of spaces. No one saw the entire picture. The Akraba residents who were being attacked had the feeling that the number of settlers was constantly growing, and that there were many dozens of them. The two sides began throwing stones at each other. The soldiers fired into the air, and stun grenades and tear gas were employed against the villagers who wanted to help their fellow residents. A fire broke out in the fields, either through arson or because of the stun and tear-gas grenades. One of the villagers was wounded by a tear-gas canister. Another was hit in the arm by a rubber-coated bullet, which left a deep wound and required hospitalization.
Another relative, Adwan Bani Jaber, 58, was also in the fields. "At a distance of some 800 meters from the orchard, I came across soldiers and a settler," he says. "A soldier began shooting and I asked him, 'Why are you shooting? This is my home.' And he shouted, 'Go back!' I asked him: 'Where should I go? This is my home.' The soldier then told me there was no problem, and that there were no injured."
Adwan says he suddenly felt a blow to his head. It was a stone which, he says, was thrown by a settler, in the presence of the soldiers.
The IDF spokesman said that the army had no reports about the injuries to the three family members. He says that on July 7, "a confrontation developed between a number of settlers and a number of Palestinians. A large number of Palestinians continued to arrive at the scene of the confrontation and there was stone throwing from both sides. The Palestinians started some conflagrations. The security forces began acting to disperse the confrontation and used means for the dispersal of demonstrations. During the incident, one settler and two Palestinians were lightly injured. The injured were treated by army medical personnel at the scene, and they then evacuated the Palestinians to hospital for further treatment. The event was investigated by senior officers and the required lessons were learned."
Jihad reported that 14 sheep were killed - four died that day and the remainder in the next few days. He no longer takes the sheep to drink at the spring.
The entire agricultural area was once again closed to residents of Akraba and Yanun. From afar, they can see the settlers who live in firing range 904A, tending their fields.
Jewish settlers attack Palestinian vehicles near Ramallah
A gang of Jewish settlers threw rocks on Palestinian cars passing near a settlement outpost near Ramallah on Saturday night wounding a Palestinian man from 1948 occupied Palestine.
Hebrew media claimed that the settlers even threw stones at the Israeli police forces that arrived at the scene.
Three Palestinians were earlier wounded in a similar attack on a bus they were riding near Shilo settlement between Ramallah and Nablus.
The Israeli radio said in another report that Jewish settlers chopped off 15 olive trees owned by Palestinians near Shuweika village, Tulkarem province, and claimed that the Israeli army was investigating the incident.
4 aug 2012
Palestinians hospitalized in Jewish settlers attack on bus
Jewish settlers threw rocks on a Palestinian bus while passing along the Ramallah-Nablus road on Saturday morning, local sources said.
They told the PIC reporter that eight of the passengers were injured in the attack and that some of them were taken to hospital.
Jewish settlers almost daily launch attacks on Palestinian citizens and property in the West Bank under protection of the Israeli occupation forces.
3 aug 2012
Jewish settlers try to blast a Palestinian car in Ramallah village
Jewish settlers tried on Thursday to blast a Palestinian car near the Sinjel village in Ramallah but the device used in the attempt did not detonate due to technical failure.
Ayub Suweid, the mayor of Sinjel, said that the settlers wrote racist slogans on walls of the village such as “Death to Arabs” and threatened the villagers of paying a price for reclaiming their land.
Suweid said that the settlers planted three handmade explosive devices under a car and tried to explode them but the attempt failed, describing the act as a “serious escalation”.
2 aug 2012
Israel’s Budget to Support Settlements Now One Billion, 59 Million NIS
On Thursday, 2nd August, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahranot reported that the budget allocated by the Israeli authorities to support settlement construction reached a one billion and fifty-nine million NIS in 2012.
Daily newspaper reports that the special budget is paid to the settlements, in addition to the public expenses of the government, which are paid to settlers as citizens of Israel.
There has been an increase in the budgets allocated for the settlers despite their percentage makeup of the total population of ‘Israel’ remaining constant in the recent years.
The data issued by the Department of Statistics for the Peace Now movement showed that the statements of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, dismissing the budget as small, are totally incorrect.
According to the newspaper, in 2002 the number of settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip (before the withdrawal from Gaza) was 212 thousand settlers. They formed 4% of the total population, while in 2010, number of settlers has reached 311,000 settlers but the proportion of the total population has remained constant.
Israeli Trucks Put Up Caravans in Ramallah-Area Town
Israeli trucks Thursday started moving caravans to an area near the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, according to mayor of Sinjil Ayyoub Sweid.
He told WAFA that construction activities have been recently spotted in the area as Israeli bulldozers have razed the land in preparation for putting up the caravans on the land, which has been confiscated by the Israeli authority in 2001 under the pretext of “being used for military purposes.”
Sweid noted the escalating settlers’ attacks, almost on a daily basis, targeting Palestinians and their property in Sinjil; the latest of which were an arson attempt of a Palestinian vehicle in the town and vandalism.
Sinjil is surrounded with four Israeli settlements and military points, said Sweid, adding that a large part of the town’s land has been confiscated by Israeli authorities or settlers.
Number of settlers doubled 40 times in the West Bank in four decades
The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics stated, in a press release about Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territory, that the number of settlers in the West Bank had doubled 40 times in four decades.
Data indicate that the number of settlers in the West Bank in 2011 was 536,932, compared to 523,939 in 2010, with a growth rate of 1.3%.
The number of settlements in the West Bank totaled 144, the majority of them in Jerusalem governorate with 26 settlements out of which 16 have been annexed by Israel, the report revealed.
The report pointed out that settlers in the West Bank increased their numbers by more than 40 times during the period 1972-2011 where most of the settlers (267,643) concentrate in Jerusalem governorate about 50% of the total settlers in the West Bank, followed by Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate (100,501 settlers), then Bethlehem governorate (59.414 settlers), then Salfit governorate (34.946 settlers), while 1,489 settlers are in Tubas governorate.
Over Half Million Settlers in West Bank, says Statistical Bureau
The number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank increased by a growth rate of 1.3% and totaled 536,932 in 2011, compared to 523,939 in 2010, Thursday said a press release by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
The number of Israeli settlements in the West Bank totaled 144. In Jerusalem governorate, the number of settlements reached 26, 16 of which have been annexed by Israel, added the statement.
Around 50% of the overall Israeli settlers in the West Bank are concentrated in Jerusalem governorate. The second highest number of Israeli settlers was in Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate, followed by Bethlehem and Salfti.
PCBS noted that Israeli settlers in the West Bank increased their numbers by more than 40 times, during the period 1972-2011.
1 aug 2012
Israeli Settlers Uproot and Burn Olive Trees in Nabi Saleh
Israeli settlers uprooted and burned olive trees on Palestinian land in the village of Nabi Saleh on Wednesday.
According to the Palestine News Network, a spokesman for the Palestinian Popular Resistance Movement in Nabi Saleh said that the Israeli military escorted a group of settlers to the area and watched passively as the settlers destroyed Palestinian property.
The land’s owners were not present at the time the destruction began but villagers rushed to the area as soon as smoke was spotted. The settlers ran away before the farmers could reach them.
Settler activities are illegal under international law and violate the Fourth Geneva Convention. Additionally, arson and destruction of private property are violations of Israeli law.
The Israeli military took no action against the settlers despite being present throughout the incident.
Palestinian olive trees on fire following Jewish settlers’ arson attack
Jewish settlers set Palestinian olive trees on fire in Nabi Saleh village north of Ramallah on Tuesday evening, local sources said on Wednesday.
The information bureau at the village said in a statement that the settlers exploited the Palestinian farmers’ preoccupation with Iftar (break fasting) and attacked the olive fields.
It said that the settlers also uprooted and damaged a lot of other trees in the fields under the very eyes of the Israeli occupation soldiers who did not move to stop them.
The statement underlined that villagers rushed to protect their fields and the settlers fled the area.
The bureau asked the international organizations concerned to provide protection for the Palestinian people and their property and to bring Israel to account for such crimes.
IOA to build dozens of settlement units in Al-Khalil
Hebrew media reported that the Israeli war ministry has recently decided to build 84 new housing units in Kiryat Arba settlement in the occupied city of Al-Khalil.
The plan came as part of the privileges granted by Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu to the settlers following the Knesset's rejection of the law legalizing random settlement outposts.
Hebrew newspapers described this government's decision as odd since Kiryat Arba is a single and isolated settlement and is not within the large settlement blocs.
They pointed out that the settlement council in Kiryat Arba has recently launched plans and projects inside the settlement with the encouragement of the occupation government, as the minister of transportation has recently approved the construction of a new road in the settlement.
Meanwhile, clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli occupation soldiers erupted in the Fawwar refugee camp, south of Al-Khalil, on Tuesday evening after the occupation forces arrested on Tuesday a Palestinian youth, 19, from the camp and transferred him to an unknown destination after raiding his home and searching it.
Israel decides to turn Aqsa Mosque's courtyards into public places for Jews
Deputy head of the Islamic Movement in the 1948 occupied lands Sheikh Kamal Al-Khatib said the Israeli municipal council in Jerusalem issued a decision to turn the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards into public gardens and squares and allow Jewish settlers to visit them anytime.
Khatib warned on Tuesday that the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) carried out during the holy month of Ramadan unprecedented Judaization measures targeting the Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem.
He stated that the IOA allowed for the first time its Jewish settlers and extremist groups to enter the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards with no regard to the feeling of Muslims who were inside the mosque.
He also said the Israeli occupation forces stormed last Friday at dawn the Aqsa Mosque and rounded up the imam while he was praying in a prostration position and leading the congregation and prevented other Muslim worshipers behind him from completing the dawn prayer.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of religious affairs condemned the Israeli decision to classify the Aqsa Mosque's courtyards as public squares and gardens and described it as a serious measure and a blatant violation of the sanctity of one of the holiest Islamic holy sites in the world.
The ministry urged the leaders of the Muslim world to urgently move to hold an Islamic summit to discuss this serious Israeli decision and take action to protect the Aqsa Mosque.