Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

Gaza Siege:
Rafah Terminal Continues for 23 Days Casting Shadow on Arrival of Female Solidarity Delegation

March 2, 2014

Female solidarity delegation to visit Gaza next week

[ 02/03/2014 - 07:59 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

A solidarity delegation, comprising 80 women from Arab and foreign countries, is expected to visit Gaza Strip early next week in order to mark the International Women's Day with Palestinian women in the besieged Strip.

Ghazi Hamad, undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that his ministry is working to facilitate the delegation's access to Gaza.

Hamad pointed out that the Algerian revolution icon Jamila Bouhired is among the delegation's members, saying that the visit came in response to Gazan women organizations' invitation.

It has not yet been decided whether the delegation will have access to the besieged Strip via the Rafah crossing or the Beit Hanoun crossing, he added.

In another context, Hamad expressed his frustration at the Rafah crossing continued closure saying, “It is unreasonable to close the Rafah crossing for 23 consecutive days, blocking patients and students' travel”. He called on the Egyptian authorities to bear its responsibilities towards the Gaza Strip.

Hamad underlined that contacts have been ongoing with the Egyptian authorities to re-open the Rafah crossing.

The Egyptian authorities have repeatedly closed the border terminal since the ouster of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi in early July and opened it only for few days for a limited period of time and for certain categories.

20 Belgian human rights organizations start campaign to boycott illegal Israeli settlement goods

[ 02/03/2014 - 02:04 PM ]

BRUSSELS, (PIC)--

Twenty Belgian human rights organizations announced a campaign to boycott goods of the illegal Israeli settlements, which are built illegally on Palestinian lands, and demanded the European Union to take concrete action to put an end to the occupation in Palestine.

The organizations said in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli occupation has not ceased grabbing Palestinian lands, which resulted in displacing the Palestinian residents, destroying their homes, and stealing their agricultural land and their water resources.

They added that the current situation "will have serious consequences and is harmful to the Palestinian economy."

"Allowing the import of settlement products by Belgium and the EU countries represents a support of the occupation policy. This contrasts with the legal obligations, under the international law that prohibits such cooperation."

A group of Belgian organizations, in solidarity with the Palestinian people, had earlier launched a campaign to impose "military embargo on the Hebrew state."

For its part, the Belgian students union called for boycotting the Israeli universities and intensifying cooperation with the Palestinian academic institutions. 

Fanatic rabbi leads desecration tour of Aqsa Mosque

[ 02/03/2014 - 03:03 PM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

A group of illegal Israeli Jewish settlers led by fanatic rabbi Yehuda Glick toured the courtyards of the Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday morning.

Local sources said that Glick and 22 other settlers embarked on a “suspicious” tour of the Aqsa plazas under protection of special Israeli police forces.

They noted that a big number of worshipers and scholars were present in various areas of the holy site.

The sources said that policemen at the gates and entrances to the Mosque took the IDs of young men wishing to enter the Mosque until they got out of it.

IOF soldiers storm West Bank cities, arrest 5 citizens

[ 02/03/2014 - 11:52 AM ]

WEST BANK, (PIC)--

Israeli occupation forces patrols stormed at dawn Sunday several areas in the occupied West Bank, and arrested five citizens.

Eyewitnesses in Nablus told PIC's correspondent that the Israeli soldiers raided and took photos of different districts in the city.

Activist in the Popular Resistance Bashar Qaryouti, from the village of Qaryout south of Nablus, said that at midnight the occupation patrols deployed soldiers in the western area of his town and fired stun grenades.

In Jenin, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) arrested two shepherds and took them to an unknown destination.

Local sources told PIC's correspondent that the Israeli forces broke into the town of Ya'abad southern Jenin, for the third time after the confrontations that had erupted in the town last night. During the raid, the soldiers searched the houses and assaulted the citizens.

The IOF soldiers have also stormed the towns of Arrabe and Zabouba in Jenin, where they roamed the streets and interrogated the citizens, the sources added.

Meanwhile, IOF soldiers arrested at dawn Sunday five Palestinians, including a child, in al-Khalil and erected military checkpoints at the entrances to the Fawwar refugee camp and Dura village.

In Bethlehem, Israeli forces stormed the village of Dar Salah and summoned a Palestinian youth to the Israeli intelligence headquarters in the Gush Etzion settlement complex, after raiding his house.

Earlier on Saturday, the IOF soldiers arrested two citizens from the town.

IOF soldiers force Palestinian farmer out of his land

[ 02/03/2014 - 08:52 AM ]

AL-KHALIL, (PIC)--

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) evicted a Palestinian farmer from his land in Beit Ummar village, north of al-Khalil, on Saturday.

Mohammed Awad, the coordinator of the popular resistance committee in Beit Ummar, said that the soldiers forced Mohammed Salibi and his sons out of their land that is adjacent to Beit Ayin settlement.

He told Quds Press that the soldiers threatened to arrest all those present on the land including a Brazilian man and an American woman who were documenting the incident and tried to assist Salibi.

Awad pointed out that Salibi had obtained an Israeli court order allowing him to work in his land without intervention from the Israeli soldiers or settlers.

IOA forces Jerusalemite citizen to demolish his house

[ 02/03/2014 - 11:48 AM ]

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

The Israeli occupation government officials forced on Saturday the Jerusalemite citizen Naim Rabayah to demolish his house in the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood, under the pretext of "unlicensed construction".

Rabayah told the Information Center of Wadi Helwa that on the 24th of November 2013, the Israeli Municipal Court ordered him to pay a fine of 25 thousand shekels and to issue a license for a part of his home within a year, and sentenced him to six months imprisonment.

However, he added, he reached an agreement with the prosecutor requiring him to demolish part of his house, as he has not been able throughout the past years to obtain a building permit due to the difficult preconditions imposed by the municipality.

Rabayah pointed out that according to the court's decision, he should demolish his house before the end of March, and then the municipal court will reconsider the decision to jail him for six months.

He also stated that the municipality has imposed on him building irregularities of 80 thousand shekels, in addition to the fees of lawyers and architects that reached 60 thousand shekels.