File photo
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.
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
The 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 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
Krahenbuhl 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.
The Israeli army on Wednesday rounded up 27 Palestinians in overnight raids carried out across the occupied West Bank, according to an Israeli army statement.The individuals were detained for “suspected involvement in popular terrorist activities”, the army said without elaborating on the nature of the activities.They have since been remanded into custody for further investigation, according to the same statement.Dozens of Jewish settlers storm Al-Aqsa compoundThe Israeli army frequently conducts sweeping arrest campaigns across the occupied West Bank on the pretext of searching for “wanted” Palestinians.According to Palestinian figures, some 6,500 Palestinians are currently languishing in Israeli prisons, including scores of women, roughly 350 minors, and at least six members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.Israel razes home of Palestinian youth
27 Palestinians detained in West Bank raids