Um Salamuna is a village of about 2,000 residents in the Bethlehem district next to the second biggest Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Efrat, and another settlement called Migdal Oz. On 23 November 2006, the Israeli occupation authorities came to a part of the village called Wadi Dumbak and informed the Takartra and ‘Issa families that their land would be expropriated for a new checkpoint and tunnel that will be part of the Apartheid Wall. The families, who depend on agriculture to survive, will lose all of their land – some 300 dunams currently planted with olive, peach, and grape trees. Seven extended families, numbering some 300 people in all, will be … Continue reading

An Israeli settler named Ya’akov, together with other settlers from the Susiya settlement, has been plowing 300 dunams of land belonging to Palestinians from Imneizil, a small village near Susiya, for the past two weeks. One week ago, the Palestinian owners of the land came to plow and discovered that the settlers had already been working on the land and intending to take it over. When the Palestinians attempted to plow their land, Ya’akov ran in front of the tractor and lay down in front of it in order to prevent them from working. Ya’akov called the army who arrived and forbade the Palestinians from plowing their land.
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Tuwani is a small Palestinian village south of Yatta, very near the Maon settlement. At 8am this morning a group of settlers carrying weapons came into the village and approached the house of Juma’a Nuwajah. They surrounded the house, shouted at Juma’a and his family, pointed their M16s at them, and threatened to occupy the house. Juma’a's younger brother went out of the house to speak to the settlers and they hit him. The settlers called the army and a jeep arrived almost immediately and the soldiers began to yell at the Palestinians, ignoring the fact that the settlers had created the problem. More Palestinians arrived from the village, and more Israeli soldiers arrived, as well as Palestinians and internationals … Continue reading

Israeli Bulldozers Destroy Palestinian Farmland near Jabalia Refugee Camp

The Israeli occupation forces destroyed Palestinian farmland today near Jabalia Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip. Israeli bulldozers destroyed a large area planted with fruit trees and several greenhouses, while Israeli tanks fired ammunition and sound bombs so that the air was filled with bad-smelling smoke and the Palestinian residents could not see what the bulldozers were doing. This is part of an ongoing Israeli policy of destroying any sources of income within Gaza.

The Israeli soldiers also killed a 12-year-old boy, Iyad Muhammed Ibrahim, from Jabalia Refugee Camp. This Israeli aggression is part of an ongoing … Continue reading

The tragic scenes of Palestinian citizens crowding into the Rafah Border Crossing every day hoping to be allowed in or out of Gaza continue.

The Rafah Border Crossing is Gaza’s only connection with the outside world. The overcrowding created by the Israeli occupation forces’ refusal to open the crossing has brought harm and tragedy to many citizens, denying them their basic rights of freedom of movement. The prolonged closure of the crossing has prevented Gazan patients from traveling abroad for urgent medical treatment, and many patients have been stuck waiting at the crossing for days or weeks.

This inhumane and illegal closure violates all the Israeli-Palestinian agreements, and the humanitarian crisis at the crossing … Continue reading