Israeli warplanes strike Gaza Strip overnight

Published today (updated) 22/11/2009 11:37

 Gaza - Ma'an -

Eight injured in Gaza as Israeli warplanes strike several targets on Sunday morning.

Israeli occupation forces aircrplanes targeted a blacksmith workshop in Jabaliya, injuring one person, said Dr. Mu'awiya Hassanain, the director of ambulance and emergency for the Gaza Health Ministry. Hassanain added that Israeli struck at tunnels leading into Egypt.

Israeli war planes further targeted another blacksmith workshop in central Gaza, in Nussairat, in Salahuddin.

Hassanain also reported five injured in Yabna, describing one Palestinian as critically injured, adding all six people were taken for treatment to the Kamal Adwan Hospital.

An Israeli military spokesman told Ma'an the country's air force targeted three sites early Sunday morning in response to a projectile fired into southern Israel the morning before. He said over 200 such projectiles had been fired into Israel since the end of its winter assault on Gaza, which killed some 1,400 Palestinians.

On Saturday, it was announced that armed groups in Gaza had reached an agreement to stop firing the homemade projectiles into Israel except during army incursions.

"We don't prohibit resistance except when there is a national consensus for a ceasefire, like after the last Israeli war against the Gaza Strip," de facto Interior Minister Fat'hi Hammad said.

Previously banned 'tutu' bullets return to Nil'in

Published yesterday (updated) 22/11/2009 03:41

Bethlehem – Ma'an –

 Israeli occupation forces renewed using live fire against Palestinian protesters in the West Bank.

An Israeli court first outlawed the "tutu" ammunition in 2001, but the last two Fridays soldiers have used the "tutu" bullets in Bil'in and Ni'lin, two villages near Ramallah, during their weekly anti-wall rallies.

Israeli TV broadcast on Saturday the controversial weapon being used against Palestinians the day before. Israeli rights organizations insist the weapon is a deadly weapon, as it has killed Palestinians in the past.

An Israeli spokeswoman confirmed to Ma'an that the weapons were being used in the two villages, but only within the law and when necessary.

In Nil'in on Friday, Israeli occupation forces shot and injured two Palestinians with the weapon.

One was hospitalized after being shot in the knee, but later released, according to a spokesman from the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Nil'in.

A second was more seriously injured after soldiers shot him between the legs. He was undergoing surgery in Ramallah due to the seriousness of the injury, but was stable on Friday, the spokesman added.

Around 200 people participated in the protest on Friday, including a delegation of Scandinavian students.

The Popular Committee said Israeli forces expanded the barrier with concrete blocks, and that Israeli forces "warned" protesters that if they opted not to leave, they would begin shooting live ammunition.

"The re-introduction of snipers confirms the rumors," the statement added, referring to information the Popular Committee received last week that Israeli forces were planning to crack down on the demonstrations.

Ibrahim Ameera, a member of the committee, responded that "this will not stop our struggle. We need to fight Israel's unjust policy in a peaceful way, and this is what we are doing.

"We will never give up on our basic human rights, no matter how many concrete blocks the Israelis will put on our land, no matter how many sharpshooters they will use, we will not give up. We know we are fighting for a just cause."

One of the Palestinians who was shot on Friday is the brother of Mohammad Attallah, a 19-year-old Palestinians who was ordered to turn himself in to Israeli forces in October over his involvement in the demonstrations.

Activists also released a video of the young Palestinian in what they termed was his "message to the world."

Troops Attack Ni’lin Weekly Nonviolent Protest

Saturday November 21, 2009 00:17 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

A Palestinian villager from Ni’lin village, near Ramallah, was injured, and several protesters suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation after the Israeli occupation soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest against the Annexation Wall.

Local villagers accompanied by international supporters marched towards the Palestinian orchards that became isolated behind the Wall, and the villagers held Friday prayers at the site.

After conducting Friday prayers, the villagers and the international activists marched towards the Wall.
Israeli soldiers, stationed nearby, fired rounds of live ammunition and gas bombs.

One resident, identified as Sa’eed Amirah was shot by a live round in his leg and was moved to a local hospital.

Several protesters were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The claim was refuted by the villagers and the supporters as their protests are among the leading methods of nonviolent resistance against the illegal Israeli Apartheid Wall and illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Several protestors were killed and seriously wounded during nonviolent protests against the Wall in the past few years a s the army never hesitated in using live ammunition against them.

Dozens suffered tear gas inhalation at the weekly demonstration in Bil’in

Friday November 20, 2009 15:04 by By: Abdullah Abu Rahma - IMEMC News

Residents of Bil’in village, central West Bank, gathered in a demonstration today, commemorating the 21st anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and condemning the ongoing expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

After the Friday midday prayers, about 150 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists raised dozens of Palestinian flags and posters with the picture of the late Yasser Arafat and chanted slogans calling for the national leadership to keep fighting for the national principles.

In a reaction to recent announcements from the Israeli occupation government regarding plans to continue with the construction of 900 new housing units in the settlement of Gilo, they protested against the expansion of illegal settlements in East Jerusalem and the threat this expansion poses for the future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The demonstrators marched to the Wall built on Bil’in’s land, where the Israeli occupation army, based on the other side of the fence, responded to their presence by throwing tear gas bombs and shooting tear gas canisters. Dozens suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

In addition, residents of Bil’in were calling today for the end of the ongoing arrest campaign, which escalated the day before, when a group of undercover Israeli soldiers invaded the village and arrested a local youth, Mohammad Yassin (20), who was targeted for his participation in the weekly demonstrations.

They entered the village in a civilian Isuzu pick-up, dressed like Palestinians, and went directly to the workshop where Mohammad works. Before he was arrested, he was beaten by the soldiers, as were his brother and mother.

In addition to Yassin, another 27 Bil’in residents were arrested for their involvement in the demonstrations since the 23 June 2009. Among them is Adeeb Abu Rahma, who has been held in detention for more than four months under a charge of ‘incitement’ – organizing demonstrations.