4 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation army on Wednesday night imposed a tight military cordon on Qabatiya town, south of Jenin city, after three young men from the city carried out gunfire and stabbing attacks against police officers in the Old City of Occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that a large number of Israeli troops were deployed at night in different areas around Qabatiya town, where two of the attackers came from. The sources added that the Israeli army also set up barriers at road junctions south of Jenin and in other areas of the province.
The occupation army also conducted searches in different areas of Jenin, according to the sources. The siege on Qabatiya took place following an urgent meeting held by the Israeli government yesterday to take measures in response to the Jerusalem attack.
The government decided to impose a siege on Qabatiya town, intensify the presence of its security and military forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and carry out widespread arrests against the Palestinians.
The government also said it would reassess its position on the current intifada to see whether it is a spontaneous or organized uprising. In a new development, violent clashes broke out on Thursday morning in Qabatiya town between local young men and Israeli soldiers during a widespread arrest campaign in the town.
Local sources reported that several Palestinians, including a woman, suffered bullet injuries during confrontations with invading troops in different areas of the town. A 15-year-old kid called Mohamed Zakarneh also suffered serious injuries when a military vehicle ran him over during the events.
They also said that the young men closed many roads with barriers and tires, and showered the troops with stones. According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) caused material damage to furniture in over 10 houses during their campaign in Qabatiya.
The IOF also stormed and ransacked the homes of the three martyrs who carried out the Jerusalem attack, assaulted their families and threatened to demolish the houses. Additionally, Israeli military bulldozers blocked the main entrance to Qabatiya town as well as the street of the Arab American University. The siege imposed on Qabatiya prevented all Palestinian vehicles and citizens from entering or leaving the town.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that a large number of Israeli troops were deployed at night in different areas around Qabatiya town, where two of the attackers came from. The sources added that the Israeli army also set up barriers at road junctions south of Jenin and in other areas of the province.
The occupation army also conducted searches in different areas of Jenin, according to the sources. The siege on Qabatiya took place following an urgent meeting held by the Israeli government yesterday to take measures in response to the Jerusalem attack.
The government decided to impose a siege on Qabatiya town, intensify the presence of its security and military forces in the West Bank and Jerusalem, and carry out widespread arrests against the Palestinians.
The government also said it would reassess its position on the current intifada to see whether it is a spontaneous or organized uprising. In a new development, violent clashes broke out on Thursday morning in Qabatiya town between local young men and Israeli soldiers during a widespread arrest campaign in the town.
Local sources reported that several Palestinians, including a woman, suffered bullet injuries during confrontations with invading troops in different areas of the town. A 15-year-old kid called Mohamed Zakarneh also suffered serious injuries when a military vehicle ran him over during the events.
They also said that the young men closed many roads with barriers and tires, and showered the troops with stones. According to eyewitnesses, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) caused material damage to furniture in over 10 houses during their campaign in Qabatiya.
The IOF also stormed and ransacked the homes of the three martyrs who carried out the Jerusalem attack, assaulted their families and threatened to demolish the houses. Additionally, Israeli military bulldozers blocked the main entrance to Qabatiya town as well as the street of the Arab American University. The siege imposed on Qabatiya prevented all Palestinian vehicles and citizens from entering or leaving the town.
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Wednesday built a security barbed wire fence around Palestinians' agricultural lands in Yabad plain near Jenin.
Israeli occupation authorities had confiscated about 300 dunums of Palestinians’ lands in the area after declaring it a closed military zone.
Sources at Yabad’s municipality told Quds Press that the fence deprives Palestinian farmers of accessing their fields.
The municipality’s manager, Yousuf Atatrah, told Quds Press that the new Israeli orders will affect residents on the economic, commercial and agricultural levels.
Atatrah asked the international human rights and humanitarian institutions worldwide to put pressure on the Israeli authorities to halt such crimes against the Palestinians.
Israeli occupation authorities had confiscated about 300 dunums of Palestinians’ lands in the area after declaring it a closed military zone.
Sources at Yabad’s municipality told Quds Press that the fence deprives Palestinian farmers of accessing their fields.
The municipality’s manager, Yousuf Atatrah, told Quds Press that the new Israeli orders will affect residents on the economic, commercial and agricultural levels.
Atatrah asked the international human rights and humanitarian institutions worldwide to put pressure on the Israeli authorities to halt such crimes against the Palestinians.
3 feb 2016
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday evening sealed off the main entrance to Nabi Saleh village, to the northwest of Ramallah province, in the central occupied West Bank.
According to a PIC news reporter, Israeli bulldozers have leveled the access roads to Nabi Saleh village at the same time as heavily-armed troops were deployed across the area.
Over the past three months, the occupation army has often sealed off the main entrance to the village, without prior notifications.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said they caught sight of Israeli warplanes hovering over Nablus’ eastern villages, in the northern occupied West Bank, without being able to identify the reasons. Citizen Munadhel Hanani, a native of Beit Furik village, in eastern Nablus, told a PIC journalist that a flock of Israeli warplanes have been hovering over the eastern territory for a couple of days. He added that Nablus’ eastern corners have been the permanent target of Israeli notifications, confiscations, and misappropriations.
According to a PIC news reporter, Israeli bulldozers have leveled the access roads to Nabi Saleh village at the same time as heavily-armed troops were deployed across the area.
Over the past three months, the occupation army has often sealed off the main entrance to the village, without prior notifications.
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses said they caught sight of Israeli warplanes hovering over Nablus’ eastern villages, in the northern occupied West Bank, without being able to identify the reasons. Citizen Munadhel Hanani, a native of Beit Furik village, in eastern Nablus, told a PIC journalist that a flock of Israeli warplanes have been hovering over the eastern territory for a couple of days. He added that Nablus’ eastern corners have been the permanent target of Israeli notifications, confiscations, and misappropriations.
31 jan 2016
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) imposed Sunday evening a tight siege on Ramallah and al-Bireh following two separate attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in the area earlier Sunday.
Local sources reported that Israeli forces erected a number of military checkpoints at the entrances to Ramallah and al-Bireh and imposed a tight siege around the cities.
Hundreds of locals were prevented from reaching their workplaces and houses, the sources added. Hundreds of Palestinian vehicles were also stopped and searched at the checkpoints. Several towns to the north and northeast of Ramallah were completely isolated after Israeli soldiers closed all roads leading to Kafer Na’ma, Ras Karkar, and Beit Ur.
A Palestinian was shot dead after shooting and injuring three Israeli soldiers at an Israeli military checkpoint near the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, while another young man was shot and injured in disputed circumstances in al-Bireh.
Local sources reported that Israeli forces erected a number of military checkpoints at the entrances to Ramallah and al-Bireh and imposed a tight siege around the cities.
Hundreds of locals were prevented from reaching their workplaces and houses, the sources added. Hundreds of Palestinian vehicles were also stopped and searched at the checkpoints. Several towns to the north and northeast of Ramallah were completely isolated after Israeli soldiers closed all roads leading to Kafer Na’ma, Ras Karkar, and Beit Ur.
A Palestinian was shot dead after shooting and injuring three Israeli soldiers at an Israeli military checkpoint near the illegal Israeli settlement of Beit El in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah, while another young man was shot and injured in disputed circumstances in al-Bireh.
By Richard Falk
After nearly 10 years of a sustained and unlawful Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, it is scandalous that the world takes such little notice of this people so long beleaguered. There have been many pious references in UN debates relating to Libya and Syria about a UN "responsibility to protect" but not a word about applying the norm to the people of Gaza, whose urgent needs have for years been overlooked as they languish on a precipice of desperation.
We should recall that it was the UN that took responsibility for Palestine in the period after World War One, by certifying the British grant of Jewish homeland, and then after World War Two, by proposing a partition of the land between Jews and Palestinians, without taking account of the wishes of the indigenous population.
The Gaza ordeal
These are the facts in Gaza:
-- An unemployment of 43 percent (60 percent among youth).
-- A decline of 24 percent of gross domestic product; the real GDP per capita is estimated to be between 32 percent and 72 percent less in 2015 than it was in 1994.
-- Poverty levels at 39 percent ; food insecurity at 47 percent.
-- At least 90 percent of water is unsafe to drink.
-- Gender-based violence affects 73 percent of Palestinian households.
-- More than half of Gazans suffer from chronic depression, and more than half of children need professional supportive therapy.
These statistics tell only a small part of the story and fail to capture the full reality of the Gazan ordeal.
To be in the overcrowded, impoverished Gaza Strip is to live in the world's largest open-air prison. More than half of the 1.8 million people are confined to refugee camps, and the majority have no means of leaving even for emergency medical treatment.
If this were not bad enough, the daily security conditions are traumatizing for residents and even for occasional visitors or UN aid workers. With drones flying overhead, frequent sonic booms from Israeli overflights, targeted assassinations occurring from time to time, fishing vessels subject to violent harassment by Israeli patrol boats and innumerable retaliatory missile strikes, the life of ordinary Gazans has long been a living hell.
Even this assessment is made without taking account of the three unprecedented massive attacks launched during the past seven years by Israeli air, land, and sea forces against a vulnerable and occupied people with no place to obtain shelter or hide. In 2008-09, 2012, and 2014 these attacks caused widespread death and destruction, including major damage to residential areas and to infrastructure. Such devastation was accentuated by Israel’s refusal to allow building materials to enter Gaza, leaving thousands homeless to this day or living in makeshift shelters, and the electric grid, water purification and sewage systems in shambles.
In the most recent war, for 51 days in the summer of 2014, 2,147 Palestinians were killed, including 530 children. Israel lost 70 people, 66 of whom were soldiers. The one-sidedness of the civilian casualties conveys that the reality was more of a massacre than a war, or perhaps more accurately described as state terrorism. Also indicative of Gaza’s situation is the denial of a refugee option allowing civilians to escape from the combat zone even temporarily during the onset of attacks.
Israel’s rationale
Israel tells the world that its Gaza policy is a necessary and reasonable component of dealing with a terrorist political actor in Hamas, and protecting its population from rocket fire.
Israel rejects international criticism of the attacks, insisting that it is not aiming to destroy Hamas, but to administer enough pain that it will remain subdued. As explained in the Jerusalem Post by Efraim Inbar, an Israeli professor of strategic studies at Bar-Ilan University: “Western thinking is solution-oriented, while Israel is engaged in a protracted conflict with Hamas. The Israeli government wisely has defined limited political and military goals for this offensive, in accordance with what we call ‘mowing the lawn'.”
Such chilling language has become habitual. Other top government advisers and leaders justify Israel’s Gaza policy in terms other than security.
For instance, Dov Weisglass, a prominent associate of Ariel Sharon, referred to the 2005 "disengagement" plan as "formaldehyde" effective in freezing the peace process, and above all preventing pressure to agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.
Although Israeli leaders please Washington by giving lip service to the idea of a Palestinian state, their real position is to preclude it from happening. For this reason, Gaza policy anticipates a condition of semi-permanent oppressive occupation reinforced by periodic massacres and continued captivity.
Rejecting diplomacy
This bloody interaction was far from inevitable. My own experience of several meetings with prominent Hamas leaders in recent years was consistent in their advocacy of a long-term ceasefire, up to 50 years.
Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree and a respected journalist, determined that “Israel and the United States had repeated opportunities for a diplomatic solution in Gaza. Each time, they have chosen war, with devastating consequences for the families of Gaza”.
Tolan quotes from a letter given by the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, to Jerome Segal of the NGO Jewish Peace Lobby in 2006, shortly after Hamas won the legislative election in Gaza, to be delivered to then-US president George W. Bush.
“We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don’t mind a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce of many years.” Haniya added some words that have turned out to be prophetic: “The continuation of this situation will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region.”
Bush and Israeli leaders refused to respond to such initiatives despite the fact that earlier short-term ceasefires had brought violence between Gaza and Israel to a virtual halt. In other words, mowing the lawn was preferred by Israel and the US to an approach that might have normalised the situation in ways that would almost certainly have enhanced Israeli security and regional stability.
What should be done
It is worth appreciating Gaza’s importance. This is not always self-evident as even the Palestinian Authority marginalises Gaza, given its stress on the occupied West Bank, but Israel exhibits an awareness, explaining why it persists in keeping the population of Gaza at intolerable levels of stress.
As the French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu makes clear in his authoritative 2014 study, Gaza: A History, Gaza has been the inspirational foundation of Palestinian resistance ever since the 1950s, including being the place where the transformative intifada burst forth in 1987.
Few realise that Gaza has a rich history stretching back more than 1,000 years. It was a major trading centre and port, as well as being a place where close and renowned followers of the Prophet lived and worshipped.
With the rise of the Islamic State, the persistence of wars in Syria and Yemen, chaos in Libya, authoritarian crackdowns in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, a renewed rivalry of the West with Russia and sectarian and proxy wars, it is not surprising that Israel enjoys a free pass from the international community.
The US has turned its back on the Israel-Palestine struggle, instead devoting itself to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.
It is no wonder in such a regional setting that the torments confronting the people of Gaza are essentially ignored, at least until the next wave of Israeli violence again captures headlines with yet another slaughter.
Despite the distractions it is unacceptable to allow Gaza to remain an open wound. It is time to encourage governments to impose sanctions upon Israel until the blockade is lifted. Three steps seem imperative as demands made in the name of minimal justice and respect for international law:
(1) A Palestinian seaport in Gaza open to international shipping, which is UN monitored to prevent weapons smuggling;
(2) An immediate end of the blockade and other forms of collective punishment in accord with Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention;
(3) A mutual ceasefire coinciding with the end of the blockade, which if not implemented within three months should result in the establishment of a protection mechanism under international auspices. -
Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. The article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
After nearly 10 years of a sustained and unlawful Israeli blockade imposed on Gaza, it is scandalous that the world takes such little notice of this people so long beleaguered. There have been many pious references in UN debates relating to Libya and Syria about a UN "responsibility to protect" but not a word about applying the norm to the people of Gaza, whose urgent needs have for years been overlooked as they languish on a precipice of desperation.
We should recall that it was the UN that took responsibility for Palestine in the period after World War One, by certifying the British grant of Jewish homeland, and then after World War Two, by proposing a partition of the land between Jews and Palestinians, without taking account of the wishes of the indigenous population.
The Gaza ordeal
These are the facts in Gaza:
-- An unemployment of 43 percent (60 percent among youth).
-- A decline of 24 percent of gross domestic product; the real GDP per capita is estimated to be between 32 percent and 72 percent less in 2015 than it was in 1994.
-- Poverty levels at 39 percent ; food insecurity at 47 percent.
-- At least 90 percent of water is unsafe to drink.
-- Gender-based violence affects 73 percent of Palestinian households.
-- More than half of Gazans suffer from chronic depression, and more than half of children need professional supportive therapy.
These statistics tell only a small part of the story and fail to capture the full reality of the Gazan ordeal.
To be in the overcrowded, impoverished Gaza Strip is to live in the world's largest open-air prison. More than half of the 1.8 million people are confined to refugee camps, and the majority have no means of leaving even for emergency medical treatment.
If this were not bad enough, the daily security conditions are traumatizing for residents and even for occasional visitors or UN aid workers. With drones flying overhead, frequent sonic booms from Israeli overflights, targeted assassinations occurring from time to time, fishing vessels subject to violent harassment by Israeli patrol boats and innumerable retaliatory missile strikes, the life of ordinary Gazans has long been a living hell.
Even this assessment is made without taking account of the three unprecedented massive attacks launched during the past seven years by Israeli air, land, and sea forces against a vulnerable and occupied people with no place to obtain shelter or hide. In 2008-09, 2012, and 2014 these attacks caused widespread death and destruction, including major damage to residential areas and to infrastructure. Such devastation was accentuated by Israel’s refusal to allow building materials to enter Gaza, leaving thousands homeless to this day or living in makeshift shelters, and the electric grid, water purification and sewage systems in shambles.
In the most recent war, for 51 days in the summer of 2014, 2,147 Palestinians were killed, including 530 children. Israel lost 70 people, 66 of whom were soldiers. The one-sidedness of the civilian casualties conveys that the reality was more of a massacre than a war, or perhaps more accurately described as state terrorism. Also indicative of Gaza’s situation is the denial of a refugee option allowing civilians to escape from the combat zone even temporarily during the onset of attacks.
Israel’s rationale
Israel tells the world that its Gaza policy is a necessary and reasonable component of dealing with a terrorist political actor in Hamas, and protecting its population from rocket fire.
Israel rejects international criticism of the attacks, insisting that it is not aiming to destroy Hamas, but to administer enough pain that it will remain subdued. As explained in the Jerusalem Post by Efraim Inbar, an Israeli professor of strategic studies at Bar-Ilan University: “Western thinking is solution-oriented, while Israel is engaged in a protracted conflict with Hamas. The Israeli government wisely has defined limited political and military goals for this offensive, in accordance with what we call ‘mowing the lawn'.”
Such chilling language has become habitual. Other top government advisers and leaders justify Israel’s Gaza policy in terms other than security.
For instance, Dov Weisglass, a prominent associate of Ariel Sharon, referred to the 2005 "disengagement" plan as "formaldehyde" effective in freezing the peace process, and above all preventing pressure to agree to the existence of a Palestinian state.
Although Israeli leaders please Washington by giving lip service to the idea of a Palestinian state, their real position is to preclude it from happening. For this reason, Gaza policy anticipates a condition of semi-permanent oppressive occupation reinforced by periodic massacres and continued captivity.
Rejecting diplomacy
This bloody interaction was far from inevitable. My own experience of several meetings with prominent Hamas leaders in recent years was consistent in their advocacy of a long-term ceasefire, up to 50 years.
Sandy Tolan, author of The Lemon Tree and a respected journalist, determined that “Israel and the United States had repeated opportunities for a diplomatic solution in Gaza. Each time, they have chosen war, with devastating consequences for the families of Gaza”.
Tolan quotes from a letter given by the Hamas leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, to Jerome Segal of the NGO Jewish Peace Lobby in 2006, shortly after Hamas won the legislative election in Gaza, to be delivered to then-US president George W. Bush.
“We are so concerned about stability and security in the area that we don’t mind a Palestinian state in the 1967 borders and offering a truce of many years.” Haniya added some words that have turned out to be prophetic: “The continuation of this situation will encourage violence and chaos in the whole region.”
Bush and Israeli leaders refused to respond to such initiatives despite the fact that earlier short-term ceasefires had brought violence between Gaza and Israel to a virtual halt. In other words, mowing the lawn was preferred by Israel and the US to an approach that might have normalised the situation in ways that would almost certainly have enhanced Israeli security and regional stability.
What should be done
It is worth appreciating Gaza’s importance. This is not always self-evident as even the Palestinian Authority marginalises Gaza, given its stress on the occupied West Bank, but Israel exhibits an awareness, explaining why it persists in keeping the population of Gaza at intolerable levels of stress.
As the French historian Jean-Pierre Filiu makes clear in his authoritative 2014 study, Gaza: A History, Gaza has been the inspirational foundation of Palestinian resistance ever since the 1950s, including being the place where the transformative intifada burst forth in 1987.
Few realise that Gaza has a rich history stretching back more than 1,000 years. It was a major trading centre and port, as well as being a place where close and renowned followers of the Prophet lived and worshipped.
With the rise of the Islamic State, the persistence of wars in Syria and Yemen, chaos in Libya, authoritarian crackdowns in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, a renewed rivalry of the West with Russia and sectarian and proxy wars, it is not surprising that Israel enjoys a free pass from the international community.
The US has turned its back on the Israel-Palestine struggle, instead devoting itself to finding a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme.
It is no wonder in such a regional setting that the torments confronting the people of Gaza are essentially ignored, at least until the next wave of Israeli violence again captures headlines with yet another slaughter.
Despite the distractions it is unacceptable to allow Gaza to remain an open wound. It is time to encourage governments to impose sanctions upon Israel until the blockade is lifted. Three steps seem imperative as demands made in the name of minimal justice and respect for international law:
(1) A Palestinian seaport in Gaza open to international shipping, which is UN monitored to prevent weapons smuggling;
(2) An immediate end of the blockade and other forms of collective punishment in accord with Article 33 of the 4th Geneva Convention;
(3) A mutual ceasefire coinciding with the end of the blockade, which if not implemented within three months should result in the establishment of a protection mechanism under international auspices. -
Richard Falk is an international law and international relations scholar who taught at Princeton University for 40 years. In 2008 he was also appointed by the UN to serve a six-year term as the Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights. The article was published in the Middle East Eye website.
30 jan 2016
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Muntzer is 8 years old and from the Gaza Strip. He suffers from Lymphoma, a blood cell tumor developing from lymphatic tissues.
Israeli Major General and coordinator of Israeli government activities in the Occupied Palestinian territories, Yoav Mordechai, admitted that his government prevents cancer patients in Gaza from receiving treatment. Earlier this week, Israel imposed a travel ban for patients through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing, in the north of the Strip. Israel has given no reason for the ban on patients who were previously allowed to enter Israel on medical grounds. |
Mordechai said, in an interview with the Palestinian daily news paper Al-Quds, that his government has its excuses for such policies. Reportedly, he claimed that the patients from are commissioned, by Hamas, to “sabotage” the Israeli economy.
Soha Hussein, a wife of 53-year old cancer patient from Gaza, emphasized in an interview with Days of Palestine: “My husband is too sick to be able to serve himself. How can you imagine he would be able to leave the hospital and collect intelligence information?”
But Yoav Mordechai is of a different opinion. “Hamas' cynical exploitation of Israeli entry permits is forcing Israel to think twice before it issues permits to Gazans,” he said, warning that the Israeli authorities to “close the Strip and completely prevent travel of Gazans from the Strip.”
However, the Israeli state has been placing a strict siege on the Gaza Strip since 2006.
According to teleSUR, Palestinian female cancer patients participated in a sit-in in Gaza this week in order to protest Israel’s refusal to allow female cancer patients from Gaza to cross into Israel to seek medical help, which they have been receiving for years.
The sit-in was organized by the Aid and Hope Program in front of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Gaza, PNN firther reports. The group provides aid and support for cancer patients in the Palestinian enclave.
“Our message is to demand a clear explanation over the travel ban imposed on women cancer patients in the Gaza Strip,” said Eman Shanan, the general director of the AHP program in Gaza, according to teleSUR.
“These women have been receiving treatment for years. Our second message is directed to the Ministry of Health, that they must insure the required treatment for them, in case this travel ban continues,” Shanan added.
As a cancer survivor herself, Shanan added that the United Nations’ World Health Organization should take the necessary measures to save the lives of these women:
“This is clearly a premeditated death sentence by Israel,” she warned.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, there are more than 14,600 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip. The AHP also says that 30 percent of them have been able to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
Many of the hospitals in Gaza simply cannot provide the optimized treatment for cancer, as a result of Israeli attacks on hospitals and extremely limited access to medical supplies. At the same time, according to an interview with Dr. Hamdan in Al-Akhbar, “Patients in Gaza have no access to the medication they desperately need for their treatment. Even under normal circumstances, there are 45 kinds of cancer treatments that are not available in Gaza. Not to mention that from time to time, the Ministry of Health in Gaza declares acute shortages of medecine.” And, on top of this, there are only four doctors available for nearly 15.000 cancer patients.
Israel has, in the past, used cancer-inducing bombs such as Dense Inert Metal Explosive, known as DIME (linked images extremely graphic), in addition to depleted uranium charges. According to nuclear data, people living in the dispersal zone are expected to acquire cancers, birth defects , still births, and other known, unknown or untraceable and undiagnosable diseases.
See: Rare Cancer Caused by Israeli Bombs in Gaza
Soha Hussein, a wife of 53-year old cancer patient from Gaza, emphasized in an interview with Days of Palestine: “My husband is too sick to be able to serve himself. How can you imagine he would be able to leave the hospital and collect intelligence information?”
But Yoav Mordechai is of a different opinion. “Hamas' cynical exploitation of Israeli entry permits is forcing Israel to think twice before it issues permits to Gazans,” he said, warning that the Israeli authorities to “close the Strip and completely prevent travel of Gazans from the Strip.”
However, the Israeli state has been placing a strict siege on the Gaza Strip since 2006.
According to teleSUR, Palestinian female cancer patients participated in a sit-in in Gaza this week in order to protest Israel’s refusal to allow female cancer patients from Gaza to cross into Israel to seek medical help, which they have been receiving for years.
The sit-in was organized by the Aid and Hope Program in front of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Gaza, PNN firther reports. The group provides aid and support for cancer patients in the Palestinian enclave.
“Our message is to demand a clear explanation over the travel ban imposed on women cancer patients in the Gaza Strip,” said Eman Shanan, the general director of the AHP program in Gaza, according to teleSUR.
“These women have been receiving treatment for years. Our second message is directed to the Ministry of Health, that they must insure the required treatment for them, in case this travel ban continues,” Shanan added.
As a cancer survivor herself, Shanan added that the United Nations’ World Health Organization should take the necessary measures to save the lives of these women:
“This is clearly a premeditated death sentence by Israel,” she warned.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, there are more than 14,600 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip. The AHP also says that 30 percent of them have been able to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
Many of the hospitals in Gaza simply cannot provide the optimized treatment for cancer, as a result of Israeli attacks on hospitals and extremely limited access to medical supplies. At the same time, according to an interview with Dr. Hamdan in Al-Akhbar, “Patients in Gaza have no access to the medication they desperately need for their treatment. Even under normal circumstances, there are 45 kinds of cancer treatments that are not available in Gaza. Not to mention that from time to time, the Ministry of Health in Gaza declares acute shortages of medecine.” And, on top of this, there are only four doctors available for nearly 15.000 cancer patients.
Israel has, in the past, used cancer-inducing bombs such as Dense Inert Metal Explosive, known as DIME (linked images extremely graphic), in addition to depleted uranium charges. According to nuclear data, people living in the dispersal zone are expected to acquire cancers, birth defects , still births, and other known, unknown or untraceable and undiagnosable diseases.
See: Rare Cancer Caused by Israeli Bombs in Gaza
29 jan 2016
Israeli forces, on Thursday, closed a main road west of Ramallah city, which connects 20 villages to the economic and cultural hub, the mayor of Ramallah said.
Ras Karqar Bahjat Samhan said Israeli troops closed the road with large concrete blocks without prior notice, preventing residents from being able to access Ramallah city, in the central occupied West Bank. He added that the closure affects 45,000 Palestinians from 20 villages and neighborhoods from reaching their families, work, universities and schools.
A spokesperson with Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) did not immediately respond for comment on the closure, according to Ma'an.
On Sunday, the mayor said Israeli forces also closed the road between Beit Owr junction and route 443 which separates five other villages from Ramallah city.
Roadblocks, temporary checkpoints, and security checks upon entrance and exit into many Palestinian villages and towns are among the increased restrictions that Israeli forces have initiated since a wave of unrest swept the region at the start of October.
Israel’s security cabinet in November 2015 gave the Israeli army the liberty to seal Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank without first receiving approval from the government.
A senior Israeli official told Israeli daily Haaretz, at the time, that military commanders would be authorized to independently implement the total closures while “searching for suspected terrorists.”
The military was already carrying out the decision without such approval prior to the cabinet's meeting, the report added.
Ras Karqar Bahjat Samhan said Israeli troops closed the road with large concrete blocks without prior notice, preventing residents from being able to access Ramallah city, in the central occupied West Bank. He added that the closure affects 45,000 Palestinians from 20 villages and neighborhoods from reaching their families, work, universities and schools.
A spokesperson with Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) did not immediately respond for comment on the closure, according to Ma'an.
On Sunday, the mayor said Israeli forces also closed the road between Beit Owr junction and route 443 which separates five other villages from Ramallah city.
Roadblocks, temporary checkpoints, and security checks upon entrance and exit into many Palestinian villages and towns are among the increased restrictions that Israeli forces have initiated since a wave of unrest swept the region at the start of October.
Israel’s security cabinet in November 2015 gave the Israeli army the liberty to seal Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank without first receiving approval from the government.
A senior Israeli official told Israeli daily Haaretz, at the time, that military commanders would be authorized to independently implement the total closures while “searching for suspected terrorists.”
The military was already carrying out the decision without such approval prior to the cabinet's meeting, the report added.
