File photo :Protest against Israeli violation towards media in Gaza
Dozens of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip demonstrated on Wednesday to show solidarity with one of their colleagues recently arrested by Israel.
Organized by the Palestinian Media Forum, an NGO, the demonstration was held outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s office in Gaza City.
Protesters waved banners demanding an end to Israeli violations against Palestinian reporters, including recently-detained journalist Lama Khater.
“After 34 days of interrogation, Khater was recently sent to prison,” forum chairman Khader al-Jamali told demonstrators at Wednesday’s protest.
“Israel continues to commit violations with a view to silencing voices that resist occupation by conveying the truth in words and images,” he said.
According to al-Jamali, these violations include frequent assaults on -- and the incarceration of -- Palestinian journalists, especially near the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
Israeli security forces patrol as Israeli bulldozers demolished the press house of a Palestinian in Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem on August 29, 2018.
Israeli forces demolish press house of a Palestinian
Late last month, Israel detained Khater after raiding her home in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron (Al-Khalil).
An activist and a mother of five, Khater has written articles for a number of major Palestinian publications.
According to Palestinian figures, more than 6,400 Palestinians are currently being held in detention facilities throughout Israel.
An Israeli minister on Wednesday threatened to strike Iranian positions in Syria, hours after the announcement of a Syrian-Iranian agreement under which Iran would rebuild Syrian military forces."Israel will not allow Iran to settle in Syria. We will act with all our might against any Iranian position in Syria that threatens the State of Israel," Israeli Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz told the Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority.He said the Syrian-Israeli agreement is “crossing the red line we have set”.Referring to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Katz said that if he defended Iranian forces, "he would bear the consequences immediately."On Monday, Iranian media said Tehran and Damascus signed military and reconstruction agreements during Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami’s visit to Syria.Israel frequently accuses Tehran of exploiting the ongoing conflict in Syria -- where Iran supports the Assad regime -- to establish a permanent military presence near Israel’s border.Meanwhile, Katz described the policy of Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the blockaded Gaza Strip as “totally a failure”."Israel should take a strategic decision that would change the reality in the Gaza Strip", he said."I support a unilateral move on Gaza without dialogue with Hamas, which would achieve three strategic objectives: complete separation of Israel and Gaza in all civil issues and complete separation of security and demography between Gaza, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority," he said.While the third objective, he added “is to reinforcing the policy of deterrence along the Gaza border”."I do not believe in any arrangement with Hamas, neither at the basic level nor at the operational level," Katz said,” he said.Home to nearly two million people, the Gaza Strip has been reeling under an 11-year Israeli blockade, which has gutted the coastal enclave’s economy and deprived its inhabitants of many basic commodities.Israeli soldier has ‘no regret’ for killing PalestinianJailed Fatah leader calls for healing Palestinian rift27 Palestinians detained in West Bank raidsIran's Khamenei says nuclear deal can be abandoned if does not serve interestsIran's Khamenei tells Rouhani, ministers, to solve economic problems
Israel threatens Iran attacks over Syria deal
Schools run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees opened in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on Wednesday after it secured funding to offset cuts by its main donor, the United States.The beginning of the school year had been in doubt after the United Nations Relief and Works (UNRWA) said it lacked funds to pay the 22,000 teachers in its schools in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon."We're very determined to keep these schools open," Pierre Krahenbuhl, commissioner-general of the UNRWA, told reporters at a girls' school in the West Bank refugee camp of Jalazone as students in pinstripe uniforms turned out for callisthenics in the courtyard.Israeli soldier has ‘no regret’ for killing PalestinianThe United States earlier this year cut its aid to UNRWA to $60 million from a promised $350 million for the year, saying the agency needed to make unspecified reforms and calling on the Palestinians to renew peace talks with Israel.Two weeks ago, Krahenbuhl said schools would open on schedule now that the agency had received $238 million in additional contributions since the beginning of the year.At the Jalazone school, he said Qatar and the United Arab Emirates provided $50 million each and UNRWA hoped to receive another $50 million announced by Saudi Arabia, but at the moment the agency was still short of $200 million.Jailed Fatah leader calls for healing Palestinian riftKrahenbuhl said UNRWA schools in Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, would open early next week as planned.UNRWA was founded in 1949 after the first Arab-Israel war, which led to 700,000 Palestinians being forced to leave their homes. It helps around 5 million Palestinian refugees, a figure that includes descendants of those displaced by the conflict.27 Palestinians detained in West Bank raids
UN schools open in West Bank, Gaza despite US funding cut
A former Israeli soldier who shot dead an injured Palestinian said that he has “no regret” for his action.“I know what I have done was right, and I go with it all the way with my head up,” Elor Azaria said in an interview with Israel Hayoum newspaper, excerpts of which were released on Wednesday."I do not regret it,” he said “and if time goes back to that moment in Hebron. I will do exactly what I did, because it was the right thing to do.”Azaria shot a Palestinian in the head after an alleged attack in the West Bank city of Hebron in 2016 despite the fact that he was injured and unarmed.The soldier was caught on camera while shooting dead the Palestinian by an activist with Israeli rights group B’Tselem.Azaria was sentenced to 18 months in prison after being found guilty of killing the Palestinian man.But in September 2017, his jail sentence was reduced by Israeli Army Chief-of-Staff Gadi Eizenkot to only 14 months behind bars.Azaria accused the army of being responsible for his imprisonment, citing statements by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon and army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot in which they called for his conviction."If they kept their mouths closed, nothing would have happened,” he said, “and what happened was injustice”.
Israeli soldier has ‘no regret’ for killing Palestinian
Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has called for healing the rift between rival groups Fatah and Hamas.“It is necessary to call for a national conference for a comprehensive dialogue with the participation of all powers, parties, women, youth, and Palestinians inside [Israel],” Fadwa Barghouti quoted her jailed husband as saying.The remarks came in a Wednesday conference organized by Masarat Center for Political and Strategic Studies.Barghouti, a Fatah leader, called for “partnership” in all Palestinian institutions, including the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and for holding general elections.Fatah and Hamas, two major Palestinian groups, have been at odds since 2007 when the latter seized control of the Gaza Strip from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.Ever since, all efforts aimed at healing the rift between the two movements have been fruitless.Barghouti has spent more than 15 years behind bars since being arrested by Israel in 2002 during the second Palestinian Intifada ("uprising") when he took part in armed resistance activities against the Israeli occupation.While Israel views Barghouti as a security threat, opinion polls have consistently shown him to be the most popular choice among Palestinians to succeed Fatah leader and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.Israel razes home of Palestinian youthIsrael expands mixed-gender prayer area at Western WallIsraeli army arrests 8 Palestinians in West Bank raidsIsraeli police arrest seven Palestinians in Jerusalem
Jailed Fatah leader calls for healing Palestinian rift