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- Five Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers in four separate incidents in the West Bank, prompting condemnations and calls to stop Israeli violence against Palestinians.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement that two Palestinian brothers, Jawad Al-Rimawi, 21, and Zafer Al-Rimawi, 22, were killed after Israeli soldiers shot them near the village of Kafr Ein, in the northwest of the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The ministry said in a separate statement that a third Palestinian, identified as Mufid Ikhalyel, was killed during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the village of Beit Ummar, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
A fourth Palestinian was killed after being shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers during clashes that broke out in the village of Al-Mughayyar, near Ramallah.
Al-Mughayyar Amin Abu Alia, the head of the village council, said that during clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli soldiers in the village, a 21-year-old Palestinian named Raed al-Naasan was killed.
Al-Naasan's assassination brought the total Palestinian death toll killed by Israel since January to 206, including 50 in the Gaza Strip, according to official statistics.
There has been no immediate Israeli comment on the incidents in the West Bank. However, according to an Israeli military spokesman in a statement, a fifth Palestinian was killed after he carried out a ramming attack in eastern Ramallah.
The Palestinian liaison (security coordination) with Israel said in a statement that the Israeli side informed them that Rani Abu Ali, 45, died from injuries she sustained on Tuesday after her car hit an Israeli soldier near from a gas station near the Israeli settlement of Kokhav Ya'akov. The Israeli soldier was seriously injured.
On Tuesday, Palestine condemned the Israeli killing of the four Palestinians in three separate incidents in the West Bank, holding both Israel and the United States responsible for the escalation of tension in the West Bank.
Israel's killing of the four Palestinians "is condemned and the US government bears a great responsibility because it is the sole sponsor of Israel," Palestinian presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told reporters in Ramallah.
"The United States must punish Israel and hold it accountable for its actions and force it to stop these crimes," Abu Rudeineh said.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said that killing the four Palestinians "is a heinous crime and an escalation that portends great dangers."
“The crime reflects the thoughts and behavior of the perpetrators and the crimes with which they threaten the Palestinian people, without the slightest respect for international laws and regulations,” he said in a press release.
Ishtaye called on the international community to "urgently intervene to stop and slow down the Israeli killing machine and hold the perpetrators accountable."
The killing of the five Palestinians comes amid rising tension between Israelis and Palestinians since March 2020. The Israeli army has carried out daily incursions into the West Bank in response to attacks carried out by Palestinians.
In Gaza, Hazem Qassem, a spokesman for the ruling Hamas movement, said in a statement that his movement "condemns the killing of five Palestinians in the West Bank in one day."
He criticized Israel for "desperately trying to stop the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people to win their land" through massacres and assassinations.
"This blood will be the fuel for the revolution and the continued uprising of our people," Qassem said, warning that "the escalation of their crimes and Israeli terrorism will be met with an escalation of resistance and revolutionary action." ■
- Three Palestinians, including two brothers, were killed Tuesday morning by Israeli soldiers in two separate incidents in clashes in the West Bank, Palestinian medics and local sources said.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said in a press release that Jawad Al-Rimawi, 22, and his brother Zafer, 21, died after being shot by Israeli soldiers near the village of Kafr Ein, northwest of the city. from the West Bank. Ramallah.
The two brothers were seriously injured and were taken to Salfit Hospital, according to the statement. They then succumbed to their injuries.
In a separate statement, the Health Ministry said another Palestinian, Mufid Khalil, was killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes in the village of Beit Ummar, north of the southern West Bank city of Hebron.
Violent clashes broke out after Israeli soldiers stormed the village, injuring nine youths, including Khalil, Palestinian sources and eyewitnesses said.
An Israeli army spokesman said a military jeep was stuck in Beit Ummar. Dozens of Palestinians arrived at the scene and hurled stones and explosive devices at the Israeli soldiers, who responded with live ammunition, he said.
The Israeli army worked to recover the disabled vehicle, the spokesman said, adding that none of its soldiers were injured in the incident.
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, condemned the killings and urged Israel to "immediately stop its daily crimes against the Palestinians."
“The murder of three Palestinians in a few hours is a major crime for which Israel is responsible,” he said, adding that “The United States, which is the sole sponsor of Israel and its crimes, must discipline Israel and prevent it from committing these actions. ."
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said that killing the three Palestinians "is a heinous crime and an escalation that portends great dangers."
"The crime reflects the thinking and behavior of the perpetrators... who did not have the slightest respect for international laws and regulations," he said in a press release. ■
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye warned on Monday that the formation of a far-right government in Israel would threaten to escalate tensions in the West Bank.
"The next Israeli government will work to form a settler militia under the protection of the Israeli army, which will further escalate the already tense situation in the West Bank," he told the weekly Palestinian Cabinet meeting, according to an official. statement.
He also warned that the next Israeli government would give the Israeli settlers everything they want and protect them legally, materially and politically, adding that all settlements are "illegal and illegitimate under international law."
Israeli Prime Minister-designate Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and the far-right Noam party signed a coalition agreement on Sunday, bringing Netanyahu one step closer to forming what is expected to be the most right-wing government in Israel's history.
It was the second coalition agreement for the Likud party after Netanyahu was given the mandate to build a new coalition government in mid-November.
Over the weekend, Likud said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with Itamar Ben-Gvir, leader of Israel's far-right Jewish Power party, who will be appointed to the newly created post of national security minister in the next government. ■
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye accused Israel on Sunday of seizing two-thirds of Palestinian groundwater and diverting it to its cities and settlements.
Ishtaye made the remarks at a press conference ahead of the Fourth Arab Water Conference organized by Palestine under the theme Arab Water Security for Life, Development and Peace, according to an official statement.
The two-day conference will officially open on Wednesday in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
“Israel steals 600 million cubic meters of Palestine's 800 million cubic meters and diverts it to its cities and settlements,” Ishtaye said.
An average Israeli consumes 430 liters of water per day, while a Palestinian only consumes 72 liters, far less than the world average of 120 liters, the Palestinian prime minister noted.
After 1967, "Israel began digging deeper water wells in the West Bank than the Palestinians did, which allowed it to control most of the groundwater and dried up the springs," Ishtaye said.
Such Israeli measures have affected the transformation of the agricultural pattern in Palestine, he added.
Israel has yet to respond to Ishtaye's accusations.
Water is one of the main issues between the Palestinians and Israelis in their peace negotiations that have stalled since 2014. ■
- Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said on Monday that negotiations to form a new Israeli government come at the expense of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights.
An official statement said Ishtaye made the remarks during a weekly Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting held in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
"The negotiations to form the government in Israel are based on who builds more settlements, who wants to facilitate more shooting at Palestinians and who wants to confiscate more Palestinian land," Ishtaye said, adding that the Israeli government is preparing to "declare a war against us led by extremist settlers".
The prime minister also called on the international community to put more pressure on the Israeli government, according to the statement.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog appointed Benjamin Netanyahu on November 13 to form a government following the victory of the veteran politician and his alliance of far-right parties in parliamentary elections. ■
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye said that Britain’s intention to move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem “is a violation of international law.
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Ishtaye said at a weekly meeting that moving the British embassy to Jerusalem “will harm bilateral relations with Palestine, the Arab and Islamic states.
He added that it will remove Britain from any future international endeavors to reach a solution that ends the conflict in Palestine.
“The Palestinian government are greatly concerned of the statements that the new British Prime Minister Liz Truss made.
“In her statement she promise to conduct a review of the site of the British embassy for the purpose of moving it from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“Any change in the status quo in Jerusalem would undermine the two-state solution,” Ishtaye said.
The Palestinians want to establish an independent state alongside Israel on the Palestinian territories occupied by Israel in 1967, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Meanwhile, the Israelis insists on having a unified Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye on Wednesday called on the international community to recognize the state of Palestine on 1967 borders.
"The international community is required to break the status quo imposed by Israel by recognizing the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital," Ishtaye said in a press statement.
He added that "this step is essential to confront the endless Israeli systematic destruction of the two-state vision by constructing settlements, confiscating lands, and violating international law and the United Nations resolutions."
The Palestinians want to establish an independent Palestinian state in the Palestinian territories that Israel occupied in 1967 with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday that the Israeli plan of annexing parts of the West Bank is rejected, whether it is partial or complete.
Abbas's announcement was made in a telephone conversation with Simonetta Sommaruga, president of the Swiss Confederation, the official WAFA news agency reported.
The report said that Abbas stressed that the Palestinians reject the United States Mideast peace plan, adding that it violates all the international resolutions.
The Swiss president said that Switzerland opposes any unilateral actions or any changes that violate international law and the international legitimacy, and called for Israel and the Palestinians for a dialogue.
Sommaruga told Abbas that her country will continue providing support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, mainly in the field of health to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
In another development, during an online meeting with 40 British lawmakers, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye accused Israel of planning to dissolve the Palestinian Authority (PA), adding that the Palestinians will not let Israel do so "because the PA was the result of the Palestinian struggle."
"The Israeli annexation plan threatens the existence of the Palestinian people and their just cause and also threatens security and stability in the region," said Ishtaye.
The Israeli government is planning to annex more than 30 percent of the West Bank, including the Jordan Valley. It also plans to impose sovereignty on several Israeli settlements in the territory.
Tension between the two sides has mounted after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his annexation plan will be implemented on July 1.
The Palestinian government, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas-led Fatah movement held a meeting on Wednesday in a village in the Jordan Valley, a Palestinian official said.
The Palestinian official, who declined to be named, said that holding the meeting in the small village of Fasayel was part of the Palestinian steps against the Israeli plan to annex the Jordan Valley that represents some 30 percent of the West Bank territories.
But the official did not give any detail about the discussions in the meeting.
After the meeting, a popular rally was organized in the village, where senior Palestinian officials announced that the Israeli annexation plan is fully rejected and called on the Palestinians to thwart it.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye told the rally that the position of the Palestinian leadership against the Israeli annexation plan is "firm and stable."
"The Palestinian leadership is determined to back the Palestinian citizens, who live in the areas that are under the threat of annexation," he said.
Ishtaye announced that the government has decided to provide economic support to the Palestinian citizens, mainly farmers, in the Jordan Valley.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pushing his plan to annex the Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, a portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Netanyahu set July 1 as the starting date for the beginning of the plan despite international condemnations.
(XINHUA)
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye reiterated on Wednesday that all forms of Israeli annexation of parts of the West Bank lands are "unacceptable."
Ishtaye made the remarks in a meeting with Jamie McGoldrick, UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory, and Gerald Rockenschaub, head of the WHO office in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We reject annexation in principle either it is a small or a bid area of our lands," Ishtaye said, adding that the world "must be careful" of Israel's intentions to go for a gradual annexation "to contain the international rejection of the plan."
According to a statement emailed to reporters, Ishtaye briefed the UN officials on the situation of the novel coronavirus in the Palestinian territories and the measures Palestine has taken to mitigate its outbreak.
"The outbreak of coronavirus in Palestine came earlier than we expected. However, the situation is still under control," he said.
During the meeting, Ishtaye explored the role of the UN agencies in backing the Palestinian government to overcome the mounting difficulties faced by Palestinians due to the severing of all forms of coordination with Israel, according to a Palestinian official who declined to be named.
Last month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced the breakdown of all agreements and understandings reached with Israel and the United States, and stopped all forms of coordination with Israel.
The Palestinian leadership made this decision in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plan of annexing parts of the West Bank.
Currently, Netanyahu is pushing his plan to annex the Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley, a portion of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Israeli prime minister set July 1 as the starting date for the beginning of the plan despite international condemnations.
(XINHUA)
