ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:20 pm - Jerusalem Time

New night attacks on Kiev and other Ukrainian cities

New "massive" Russian attacks targeted Kiev and the cities of Lvov and Zaporizhia overnight, according to the Ukrainian military authorities, who did not report any immediate casualties.


The Civil and Military Administration in Kiev wrote via Telegram, "A new heavy air attack on the capital," noting that about twenty explosive drones were launched on the city from different directions.


"There is no information about casualties or destruction so far," she added, noting that the state of alert lasted for more than three hours.


The Ukrainian Air Force said in the morning on Telegram that anti-aircraft defense had destroyed "32 out of 35" drones launched by Russia during the night, adding that they were targeting the Kiev region "mainly".


However, Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat lamented the operational "lack of capabilities" needed to "protect" the entire Ukrainian territory from Russian air strikes that have intensified in recent weeks, as Ukraine launched the first phase of its counter-offensive.


"There is a lack of air defense capabilities..." Ignat told Ukrainian television.
In Lvov, in the west of the country, the head of the local administration, Maksim Kozitsky, wrote via Telegram that drones had hit a "vital facility," without giving further details. No injured were recorded.


The Ukrainian General Staff confirmed at a later time that the Ukrainian air defenses shot down 28 of the 30 drones sent by Russian forces towards Ukraine during the night.


The military administration in Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine indicated that the city and its surroundings had been subjected to "heavy attack" on civilian targets. According to preliminary information from the Staff Command, seven "S-300" missiles were fired towards Zaporizhia and its suburbs.


"After a tumultuous night, the situation in Zaporizhia has become stable. With God's help, no injuries were recorded and no residential building was damaged," wrote the Secretary-General of the city's municipal council, Anatole Kortev, via Telegram.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:15 pm - Jerusalem Time

Abu Rudeineh: Jerusalem is in real danger

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Nabil Abu Rudeineh said that the city of Jerusalem with its sanctities is under great danger, and a campaign of Judaization by the Israeli occupation, which requires us, as Palestinians and Arabs, to unite ranks, and to make a unified political and media effort, directed to the countries of the world to defend it.


Abu Rudeineh's statements came during an international symposium held on the sidelines of the Conference of Arab Ministers of Information, which will be held in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, tomorrow, Wednesday, and deals with the role of the media in supporting the cultural identity of Jerusalem. Morocco has Jamal Al-Shobaki, and a large number of Arab ministers, researchers, and intellectuals.


He stressed that there is an Israeli campaign to falsify history through a misleading narrative that tries to falsify the facts, but the Palestinian narrative is stronger, and the need is necessary for a joint Palestinian and Arab effort to convey the Palestinian narrative to the world, and without Jerusalem there will be no Palestinian state, as it is the gateway to heaven and the cradle of religions.


Abu Rudeineh stressed that Jerusalem is greater than all of us, and it is the most important for the Palestinian cause and leadership, and its top priority, stressing the leadership's keenness on joint Arab action, in order to carry out an intensive media campaign supported by the Arab countries, to support the justice of our cause, and to establish the identity of Palestine.


He pointed out that the city of Jerusalem is witnessing a very accelerated Judaization campaign by the Israeli occupation, and that our people are standing firm on their land, clinging to their rights, and will not give them up.


He wondered: How can the Arab media, alongside the Palestinian media, serve Jerusalem and its sanctities, and preserve its history and its Palestinian, Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity?


Abu Rudeineh explained that we need to put in place mechanisms to activate the decisions taken in the previous councils of Arab information ministers through a media campaign. Jerusalem today is in danger, and it needs all Arab political and media efforts to protect it and defend its sanctities, history and cultural heritage.


He said that the Israeli occupation, since its establishment, has been carrying out excavations at the bottom of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, to search for any evidence of a Jewish presence there, but it has not succeeded in that, because Jerusalem is Arab, Islamic and Christian.


Abu Rudeineh added that Jerusalem is facing, in addition to Judaization, a campaign of forced displacement of its original Palestinian population, and the occupation forces are demolishing homes and displacing the holy ones from their homes, leaving them without shelter, as is happening in the neighborhoods of: Sheikh Jarrah, Shuafat, Al-Isawiya, and other neighborhoods in Jerusalem.


And he stressed the need to find an Arab voice with the US administration as well, because it is the only one capable of curbing Israel, noting that the current administration has expressed positive positions with the two-state solution, stopping settlements, preserving the historical situation in Jerusalem, and preventing the displacement of residents, but all of that remained slogans. It was not implemented, and only expressed its annoyance and condemnation of the continuous Israeli aggressions against our people.


Abu Rudeineh concluded: Israel deals with itself above the law, and it is actually outside international law, and we went to Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh and agreed to freeze settlements, but after two days they announced new settlement units, and this proves that they do not want calm, which calls for stances obligated to comply with international laws.

_____

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:09 pm - Jerusalem Time

The occupation tightens its military measures in several cities in the West Bank

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli occupation forces tightened their military measures in the vicinity of several cities in the West Bank.


According to local sources, the occupation forces closed the Hawwara and Za'tara checkpoints in front of those leaving the city of Nablus, the "Al-Murabaa" hill gate, and the Deir Sharaf roundabout to the west.


The same sources added that the Beit Furik checkpoint, east of Nablus, was closed in both directions, amidst a gathering of settlers, and prevented the residents of the towns of Beit Furik and Beit Dajan from reaching their homes, and the vehicles present were attacked with toxic tear gas bombs, which led to the injury of a number of citizens, as well as the Surra checkpoint, which is undergoing thorough inspection. And a suffocating crisis for the outsiders.


In turn, the Red Crescent's ambulance and emergency director in Nablus, Ahmed Jibril, said that settlers attacked an ambulance at the Beit Furik junction, forcing its crew to retreat.


In the same context, the occupation closed, with iron gates and military checkpoints in the city of Salfit, the entrances to the towns and villages of Derastia, Marda, Kafr al-Dik, and Kifl Haris.


Local sources reported that the occupation forces impeded the movement of citizens in those towns and villages, and prevented them from reaching their places of residence.


While the occupation forces closed the military checkpoint established at the northern entrance to the city of Al-Bireh in both directions, which caused a suffocating traffic crisis.


The same sources added that the occupation forces set up a military checkpoint on the main street adjacent to the town of Ein Yabroud, northeast of Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, and on the street adjacent to the village of Kafr Malik to the east.

ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:09 pm - Jerusalem Time

The Iraqi authorities set a new date for the provincial elections

The Iraqi authorities decided on Tuesday to postpone the date of the provincial elections from November 6 to December 18, 10 years after they were held for the last time, according to an official statement issued by the Council of Ministers.


The statement indicated that "the Council of Ministers sets December 18 as the date for holding the provincial elections for the year 2023, in compliance with the ministerial platform adopted by the government, and approved by Parliament last October."


The authorities did not justify the reasons for postponing the poll.
These elections include 15 provinces out of 18, as there are three provinces within the autonomous Kurdistan region that are not included in the elections.


This will be the first local provincial council elections to take place in Iraq since April 2013, during which the lists of former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki topped the results. Prior to that, provincial council elections were held in 2009 only.


It was scheduled to take place in 2018, coinciding with the parliamentary elections at the time, but it was postponed more than once.


In the wake of unprecedented popular protests that reached their climax in the fall of 2019, the Iraqi parliament voted at the time to dissolve these councils and to vote to end their work, which is among the demands of the demonstrators.


Part of the opposition and civil society see these councils as a breeding ground for corruption.


Earlier, Representative Alaa Al-Rikabi, head of the Extension bloc emanating from the 2019 protests, objected to the return of the councils. At the time, he told Agence France-Presse, "The Iraqi people in general view the experience of the provincial councils as a failure, and it was one of the doors to corruption and did not produce anything."


According to the Iraqi constitution, the provincial councils have wide powers, as they are not subject to the control or supervision of any ministry or entity not linked to a ministry, and they have broad administrative and financial powers.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:08 pm - Jerusalem Time

Settlers attack citizens' homes in Burin, south of Nablus

Settlers attacked, on Tuesday evening, the village of Burin, south of Nablus, and assaulted citizens' vehicles.


Local sources reported that a number of settlers attacked houses on the outskirts of the village, where the residents confronted them, adding that settlers attacked citizens' vehicles with stones, on the road linking Hawara and Qalqilya.

ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:08 pm - Jerusalem Time

Libya deports 165 Nigerian migrants to their country

The Libyan authorities announced that they had deported on Tuesday to Nigeria, in coordination with the International Organization for Migration, 165 Nigerian migrants, more than half of them women and children, as part of a voluntary return program implemented by the international organization.


Libyan authorities have "deported 165 illegal immigrants to Nigeria" on a special flight, Colonel Haitham Belqasim, spokesman for the Libyan Anti-Illegal Immigration Agency, told AFP.


He explained that among the deported immigrants were "90 women and nine children."


These women and their children were placed in a room at the headquarters of the Anti-Migration Agency in Tripoli, under the guard of policewomen who monitored the distribution of meals, drinks and travel necessities to them by the staff of the International Organization for Migration.


The migrants were deported from Tripoli's Mitiga International Airport on board a private Libyan airline, Al-Buraq.


According to Belkacem, "Other flights are scheduled to be organized next week to Nigeria."


Last week, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya expressed its concern about the "arbitrary detention" of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers in Libya, calling on the Libyan authorities to stop these measures and treat migrants with "dignity" and "humanity".


The security services in western and eastern Libya launched massive campaigns to arrest irregular migrants, and arrested thousands of them in different cities.


The United Nations says that migrants are arrested in an "arbitrary" manner and are often subjected to "killings, enforced disappearances and torture" or even to "slavery, sexual violence, rape and other inhumane acts."


The Libyan authorities deny these accusations, stressing that they do not resort to violence and that all migrants receive the necessary services and care for them in detention centers.


Since the fall of the Muammar Gaddafi regime in 2011, Libya has been mired in political divisions and conflicts.


Two governments are competing for power in the country: one that controls the west of the country and is based in Tripoli and headed by Abdul Hamid al-Dabiba and formed in early 2021, and another that controls the east of the country and is headed by Fathi Bashagha and appointed by Parliament last March and supported by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:07 pm - Jerusalem Time

The occupation arrests two young men from Jericho at a military checkpoint south of Nablus

This evening, Tuesday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested two young men from Jericho, at the Hawara military checkpoint, south of Nablus.


Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested Sharif Abu Laila and Diaa al-Fakhouri, residents of Aqabat Jabr camp, south of Jericho, while they were passing through the checkpoint.

ARAB AND WORLD

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:06 pm - Jerusalem Time

Four dead in an explosion at a gunpowder factory in Russia

Russian authorities said that four people were killed and others injured Tuesday in an explosion at a gunpowder factory in central Russia, speaking of an accident.


Russian news agencies quoted the local branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry as saying, "An explosion occurred in the building of a gunpowder production plant in Tambov," a town about 400 kilometers southeast of Moscow.


"At the moment we have information about four dead and wounded" in the blast, she added.
According to the governor of the Tambov region, Maxim Egorov, the explosion that caused a fire was quickly brought under control, caused by a "human factor".


"I can state unequivocally that this is not an assault," he wrote on Telegram, as there have been several drone attacks and acts of vandalism in Russia since the offensive began in Ukraine in 2022.
"Unfortunately, there are dead," he added, without giving an exact toll.


"There is no threat to the factory workers or to the residents of the surrounding areas," he said, adding that the factory was operating "normally... and production has not been suspended."


With the conflict in Ukraine, weapons and ammunition production plants are operating at full capacity in Russia.
Accidents regularly occur in Russian factories due to poor compliance with safety rules and the aging of some facilities.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 7:51 pm - Jerusalem Time

The occupation orders to intensify its operations in the West Bank

The Chief of Staff of the Israeli Army, Herzi Halevy, ordered this evening, Tuesday, to intensify the operations of his forces in the West Bank, following the killing of 4 settlers near the Eli settlement near Ramallah.


According to an Israeli military spokesman, Halevy instructed to intensify arrests as needed in the West Bank.


He also ordered, following an assessment session, to reinforce the military forces, especially in the northern areas of the West Bank.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 7:31 pm - Jerusalem Time

Hamas: Gunmen who killed four Israelis belonged to their military wing

In a mourning notice, Hamas claimed Muhannad Shehadeh and Khaled Sabah, the two gunmen who killed four Israeli settlers   near the settlement of Eli, near Ramallah, as members of its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades.


Shehadeh previously served in Israeli prison, the Hamas statement added.


Hamas praised the operation as a "natural response" to the massacre in Jenin, where six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid on Monday, and plans to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque.


Hamas stressed the right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves by all possible means.


PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 7:28 pm - Jerusalem Time

The "Prisoner's Club" holds the occupation responsible for the fate of the prisoner Al-Amouri

The Prisoners' Club held the occupation prison administration fully responsible for the fate of the prisoner Shadi al-Amouri (42 years) from the Jenin camp, after he was transferred to interrogation and isolation recently.


The club pointed out that the Occupation Prisons Administration transferred the prisoner Al-Amouri to interrogation on the 15th of last May, and later transferred him to solitary confinement in the cells of "Nafha" prison.


It is noteworthy that the prisoner Al-Amouri entered yesterday his 22nd year in the occupation prisons, and he has been detained since 2002, and is sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 years, and he has been suffering for years from the policy of depriving him of visits, noting that he lost his mother in 2010, and was deprived of saying goodbye to her.


The policy of solitary confinement is one of the most dangerous policies pursued by the Occupation Prisons Administration against prisoners, and it is one of the consistent policies, which it escalated, especially after the heroic Operation (Freedom Tunnel), compared to the past ten years.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 4:58 pm - Jerusalem Time

Two Palestinian gunmen killed after shooting dead four Israeli settlers

Two Palestinian gunmen were killed after they shot dead four Israeli in a shooting operation on Tuesday evening in the settlement of Eli near Ramallah.


Israel's emergency services, Magen David Adom, reported that the four settlers were killed at the scene, while four others were injured and transferred to Beilinson Hospital for treatment.


According to a preliminary investigation, at least two Palestinian gunmen arrived at the scene in a vehicle and opened fire toward a hummus restaurant, and then opened fire toward a gas station as well. 


One of the gunmen was neutralized and the other fled, apparently in a seized vehicle. 


After a two-hour manhunt, the Israeli army announced that they had shot him dead.


The shooters were identified as Muhannad Faleh Shehadeh and Khaled Sabah, Hamas activists from Urif in Nablus.



Hello Froala!

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 1:41 pm - Jerusalem Time

Palestinians gather in Jenin to mourn sixth victim of Israeli raid

Crowds of Palestinians gathered in Jenin on Tursday to mourn 48-year-old Amjad Aref Jaas, who succumbed to gunshot wound from the Israeli raid on the occupied West Bank city.


The funeral procession departed from Rafidia Hospital in Nablus and headed toward the refugee camp in Jenin. The crowd chanted slogans denouncing the occupation and its continued aggression against the Palestinian people. 


The funeral procession marched toward the martyr's family home in Jenin refugee camp, where his family gave a last farewell to his body before it was transferred to the Grand Mosque for a funeral prayer and then buried. 


Amjad Jaas' son, Wassim, was one of 10 Palestinians killed in a separate raid by Israeli occupation forces in January.


OPINIONS

Tue 20 Jun 2023 10:41 am - Jerusalem Time

On the participation of Jerusalemites in the elections for the municipality of "Jerusalem" again

Rasim Obeidat

Rasim Obeidat

Opinion Writer

With the approaching date of the elections for the municipality of "Jerusalem" on October 31 of this year, the controversy, discussion and tensions were renewed about whether or not to participate by the Palestinian Arab residents of Jerusalem, who hold the "blue" Israeli identity, or who hold Israeli citizenship from the residents of Jerusalem and the Arabs of the Palestinian interior. - 48 - They live in the city of Jerusalem...although Jerusalemite participation in those elections, candidacy and voting, did not exceed 2% at its best during the 56 years of occupation of the city, in compliance with the Palestinian national, religious and popular position, which criminalizes, calls and demands the city's residents not to participate in those The elections are based on principled, national and political principles, because such participation would legitimize the entity’s occupation of that city, recognizing its sovereignty over it, and marketing and identifying with the American position, which moved its country’s embassy in May / 2017 from Tel Aviv to the city of Jerusalem, which means recognizing the city’s annexation For the state of the entity, and in violation of all norms, laws, agreements and decisions of international legitimacy, which considers the city of Jerusalem an occupied city, and that all procedures and what the entity is doing in it in terms of settlement, Judaization and Israeliization, and the enactment of laws and legislation in it are null and void and have no value.


Likewise, it must be said that the entity’s municipality in Jerusalem is one of the most important arms of the entity’s state in implementing racist policies, procedures, decisions, and projects, aimed at uprooting the city’s residents from their land, expelling and displacing them, and practicing all forms of ethnic cleansing against them, not to mention the demolition of their homes, the imprisonment of their education, and the exile their existence and identity.


The traditional Palestinian national, religious and popular position is fixed as it is, and there has been no change or change in it, although some of those who seek to run in the entity municipal elections are from the Arab residents of the city of Jerusalem or from our people in the Palestinian interior - 48 - who hold Israeli citizenship, and who Some of them held several interviews and meetings with Jerusalemite personalities, to seek their opinion and point of view, about the possibility of participating in these elections, under the pretext and pretext that there are civil, economic, social and service rights, for which Jerusalemites pay taxes in various forms, the most important of which is the roofing tax "Arnona", and they do not receive services For example, they pay between 28-30% of the taxes that the entity municipality collects from the city's residents, and they receive only 6-8% for it.


Civil rights are services, economic and social. It is possible to engage in a popular and institutional struggle in order to obtain them, by forming bodies and committees for these goals and objectives. However, it is forbidden to skip the national political reasons and positions, for the reasons that were mentioned previously, as well as those who fabricate arguments and pretexts to justify their participation in the Those elections, that they realize well, that issues with a strategic dimension such as security, settlement, land ownership, structural planning, education and others, are not decided by the municipal council, but rather the decision-maker here in these issues that are considered national security, is the deep state, the security and military institutions and those who control the economy Men of money and business, and therefore participation in those elections from the gate of the demand and its predominance over the national politician is harmful and harmful. Regardless of the position on it, it has not and will not prevent the settlement and Judaization operations that are taking place in full swing against the land of our people there, and for which huge budgets are allocated from the government of the extreme right and Jewish fascism, which seeks to Judaize the Galilee and the Negev and expel and displace our people there, as well, and also is this participation, It affected or changed the position of the state of the entity and its security services that fuel the crimes committed against our people there, where the crime escalates, not as a result of criminal gangs and mafias. These murderers are prevented from reaching them, arresting them, and holding them accountable.


Within this vision, I say that there have been no developments or changes that necessitate a change in the national and political stance regarding participation in the entity’s municipal elections in Jerusalem, for candidacy and election. With the national political position, it must be hardened and strengthened by refusing to participate in the elections for the entity's municipality.


And I believe that some people put forward alternatives to confront the entity’s municipal projects and plans in the city, such as working to revive what is known as the Jerusalem Trust, which existed before the completion of the occupation of the eastern part of the city. , and mental exercise.


The alternative must have solid supports, and the masses must rally around it, and there must be the ability and will to translate it into action on the ground, for which budgets and capabilities are monitored, and we do not need formal alternatives or formal bodies, as this would deepen the state of frustration and despair among Jerusalemites, a large part of whom basically lack confidence in authority, and do not see it as an expression of their aspirations, concerns, and rights, or as a real title for them.


The circumstances and conditions in the city of Jerusalem, and the total war waged by the entity against it, obligated everyone to move away from the quarrels, tensions and internal conflicts, and the theorists or enthusiasts to participate in the entity’s municipal elections, from the gate of the rights of the Jerusalemites, they must review their position and their choice in this direction, the political and national dimension More important than the human rights dimension is the civil claim, and they must not allow the entity to exploit them to say that the Jerusalemites have reached a conviction of the need to change their position on the issue of Jerusalem, and they are moving towards integration into the Israeli economy and society as citizens of this state.

OPINIONS

Tue 20 Jun 2023 10:39 am - Jerusalem Time

Where is the organization and authority? Hamas Truce: From Division to Separation

Jamal Zaqout

Jamal Zaqout

Opinion Writer

For years, the "Hamas resistance" in the Gaza Strip has gradually and regularly turned into a tool to consolidate its rule rather than a means to defeat the occupation. During the "May 2021 War", Hamas managed to kidnap Heba Sheikh Jarrah, and the unprecedented international solidarity with it against the racism of the occupation in this neighborhood targeted for uprooting and settlement control, along with a large number of citizens' homes in the various neighborhoods of Jerusalem threatened with demolition and confiscation, which was revealed in At the same time, the powerlessness of both the organization and the authority in managing the battle in any of its public, political, diplomatic or even media dimensions.

Since that war, Hamas has returned to its original project, claiming its exclusive right to represent the Palestinian people. In order to market this saying, I once again derive its "rationality" that has always been unique to the Muslim Brotherhood movement since the start of the revolution in the conflict with the Israeli occupation. Certainly, it is not intended here to call for the continuation of the "war", what is meant by that is the continuation of the aggression and the crimes of killing and destruction that the Israeli occupation governments always carry out with or without a pretext. However, duty and responsibility require shedding light and conducting a calm dialogue about the content of the real goal that Hamas wants on the one hand, and Israel seeks on the other hand, in light of the absolute and suspicious absence of the PLO, the National Authority, and the factions affiliated with them. This is at a time when the organization considers itself to be the only legitimate representative, and the authority asserts that it represents legitimacy.

The Israeli goal became clear after three limited wars waged by the occupation government, excluding the Jihad movement and "neutralizing the Hamas movement". Despite its attempts to mislead the world and Israeli society itself that it is in its wars against jihad, it is seeking to liquidate "jihad terrorism" and its military capabilities, and what it calls the "Iranian threat" on the borders of its southern lines with the Gaza Strip. However, in fact, it was at the same time examining and observing the extent of Hamas's commitment to the understandings of "money and the economy in return for security and calm", which seems to be consolidated daily as a growing option on the part of Israel, and a number of opinion writers in Israel began to promote this saying, and some of them demanded "Jackie Houji - Maariv" by adopting these understandings as a strategic choice and being the preferred scenario for Israel for the post-President Abbas period, and the possibility of the disintegration or collapse of the authority accompanying it in the struggle of those aspiring to inherit the caliphate according to their follow-up to the reality of the authority and the centers of power in it.

The aspirations and ambitions of Hamas to control representation and the organization are not new, but the most important thing that has not been paid attention to until now is the absence or absence of the organization and the authority from carrying out any of their responsibilities to address the dilemmas of representation facing their eroding legitimacy, whether by reviewing, returning to the people and their constitutional right, or recognizing the impossibility of Continuing to monopolize and claim unilateral representation, while major forces outside of it are the unifying national institutions, especially in light of the rising curve of declining support for them in the Palestinian street, and most importantly in light of the disintegration of the national movement and the organization’s absence of its role in defending the supreme interests of the Palestinian people and its leadership of the national struggle in confronting the occupation projects To liquidate the cause of our people.

These facts in their entirety, and what they mean by the continuation of the division, are the main driver of the ambitions of the Israeli governments to liquidate the national project, and the accelerated pace of annexation of the West Bank at the hands of the Smotrich-Ben Juffair government headed by Netanyahu. It is also the main basis for reviving Hamas’s tendencies to control representation, and the accompanying plans. Separation in Gaza, and perhaps waiting for an opportunity to extend its authority to the cantons of the West Bank, both of which, i.e. the separation of Gaza and the consolidation of “rival cantons of the major cities”, have become the only game on the strategic table of the occupation government, as it constitutes the final blow to the national liberation project, and it holds the strings of bidding projects for those who meet the conditions obedience and wins her security auction.

In this context, it is possible to look at the Hamas dialogues and the attempts to contain the jihad in Cairo. The terms of the so-called long-term truce are discussed, which, from an Israeli point of view, culminates in a process of transforming “Hamas resistance” into a tool for striking at the entity of representative institutions, and liquidating the possibility of establishing an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Occupiers since June 5, 1967. As long as this is the case, everything that is said about the results of President Abu Mazen's visit to China about an initiative to revive the peace process through an international conference, the strategy of the PA and the organization's work will not go beyond the continuation of panting behind the mirage of a political settlement that will not come, as long as prevailing It is the division and the danger of secession and the disintegration of the elements of Palestinian power.

It is true that the Gaza Strip has been in immediate need for years for an economic recovery plan that addresses the effects of the devastating Israeli blockade on the lives of our people in the Strip. But here a number of questions arise, the first of which is that even if Israel agreed to all of Hamas's economic conditions, would that be enough to deal with the devastating effects of the blockade and wars waged by Israel on the Strip? The answer to this question is definitely in the negative, especially since the same experience says that the key to implementing these conditions will remain in the hands of Israel, and it is able to close the door at any moment, and even keep it as an open blackmail tool to achieve its entire liquidation project. As for the other question, it is: Can someone who turns his back on the Strip deal with this challenge at a time when he refrains from launching any initiative or responding to the voice of reason and the calls and initiatives that call him to restore unity, in a way that curbs Hamas' tendencies and contains its dangers? Then why do the two parties evade the possibility and what is available while putting the handling of our crises in our hands through transitional arrangements that preserve the unity of our people and their achievements, and put the economic and administrative remedies in the hands of a transitional unity government to heal people’s wounds and sufferings within a national framework that respects the citizenship, humanity and rights of people, and supports their ability to withstand In preparation for holding comprehensive general elections. Whoever wants to end the occupation, establish an independent state, and wrest the right to self-determination, his only compulsory path is to preserve the unity of the national entity, and not to slide towards separatist factional cantons and the privileges of the contenders over inheritance.

Addressing the suffering of our people in the Strip, and mobilizing their legitimate resistance against the occupation, settlement and Judaization of occupied Jerusalem goes through one way, which is restoring unity and restoring hope to our people. Unity itself is what closes the door to Israeli ambitions to monopolize our people and their cause, and opens the door to the Silk Road that China and other forces of the international system in the process of formation can play. Otherwise, just as we paid the price for the international system after World War II with the Nakba of 48, the failure of the dominant parties in the divisive scene in terms of extracting the lessons and lessons of history will be a new Nakba, so will our people allow it to pass again?

OPINIONS

Tue 20 Jun 2023 10:30 am - Jerusalem Time

The occupation massacres will increase our people's strength and determination

Jerusalem Hadith

Jerusalem Hadith

Opinion Writer

The all-out war imposed by the occupation forces and herds of settlers on our people in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the northern West Bank, in an attempt to resolve the conflict in their favour, can only increase the state of hostility and escalate the confrontation, especially since our people will not surrender and will not give up their inalienable national rights of return Self-determination and the establishment of an independent state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.


The massacre committed by the occupation army yesterday in Jenin and its camp, can only lead to reactions by the young men who see in these massacres occupation attempts to displace and subjugate them, and undermine their resolve, which prompts them to respond to that with all available means and means to thwart the occupation's plans.


What happened yesterday in confronting the occupation forces, destroying a number of its vehicles, and wounding a number of its soldiers who stormed Jenin and its camp, killing and capturing a number of young men whom it accuses of opposing the occupation, is evidence that our people, despite their limited capabilities, will continue their national march and defend their land and homeland with bare chests and what they can confront. The power and arrogance of the brutal occupation, which did not comprehend the lessons that our people taught it, and its failure to fulfill its saying, “Unless it acquiesces in force, then more force.”


With this more strength, it faces more steadfastness, challenge and resistance, despite the difficult conditions that our people live under the brutal occupation, which only knows the language of force.


The occupation has no choice but to recognize the national rights of our people and leave the occupied land. Thus, it shortens the path and saves itself the losses and failure that will be pursued by our people who are determined to defend their land and homeland, and the departure of the occupation.


This occupational escalation, accompanied by crimes of killing, wounding, abuse and collective punishment, will not deter and discourage our people from achieving their full national goals.


Hence, the national and moral duty is to support our people and provide them with all the capabilities available to them, so that they continue to stand firm, confront and thwart the plans of the occupation. This matter requires, first and foremost, the consolidation and expansion of the popular resistance and the provision of all its needs, in addition to strengthening the steadfastness of the citizens by providing all the requirements for this steadfastness.


What is meant by that is the Palestinian Authority and all factions of national and Islamic action, and the promotion of national affairs and the supreme national interest over other interests.


Our people made and are ready to make more sacrifices as is happening now, but they need the support and backing of all Palestinians to continue to successfully confront the Israeli aggression, which is taking advantage of the official and factional Palestinian situation to escalate its aggression and massacres against our people, but these massacres will increase our people’s strength and faith in their national cause and that victory will be his ultimate ally.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 10:11 am - Jerusalem Time

Israel puts Palestinian inmate in isolation for saying goodbye to brother killed in Jenin

Israel Prison Service put Palestinian prisoner Mohib Daraghmeh, from Tubas, in solitary confinement after he published a picture of himself on social media saying goodbye on video chat to his brother, Ahmad, who was killed on Monday in Israeli raid in Jenin.


According to the Hebrew newspaper Maariv, the prison service found the smuggled phone used by the prisoner, and he was transferred to solitary confinement.


Israel Prison Service also decided to file an indictment against Daraghmeh for phone smuggling, according to the newspaper.




PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:49 am - Jerusalem Time

EU to enforce stricter measures against settler products

The European Union recently published new guidelines intended to ensure that Israeli products from the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights do not receive a tariff exemption.


These directives, issued by the European Commission's trade department, are intended to enforce a 2004 agreement that would ensure that goods produced in areas occupied by Israel in 1967 would not receive customs duty relief.


In 1995, Israel signed a customs exemption agreement with the European Union, which came into force five years later. However, in a technical agreement signed in 2004, settlement products were excluded from the preferential trade terms. 


However, implementation has remained haphazard, and only a small amount of the imported products were inspected.


According to the new guidelines, when submitting a request for exemption from customs duties, importers will be required to enter a special code in the trade union's digital system to ensure that they were not produced in the settlements. If they fail to do so, they would be forced to pay the tax.


Some countries have already started publishing and updating these guidelines on their websites, including Spain and Belgium.


The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that its employees checked the details with their counterparts in the European Union, who clarified that this is only a technical change and not a change in policy regarding the export of products from Israel.


The EU delegation to Israel told Haaretz that this step is merely "technical," and does not reflect a change of policy toward settlement goods. 


According to Haaretz, this is the European Union's first technical change to products coming from Israeli settlements since the decision to label these products in November 2015.

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:36 am - Jerusalem Time

After decades, Israeli court rejects property claim for Palestinian residents of Negev village

The Israeli District Court in Beersheba rejected land claims on Tuesday by Palestinian residents of their lands in the Bedouin village of Al-Araqib in the Negev, one of the most demolished villages in historic Palestine. 


Ending a decades-long legal battle, the judge ruled against the claims by the Palestinian families' defense team that there were defects in the procedure to confiscate their lands in 1954, signed by Israel's then-Finance Minister Levi Eshkol.


The trial centered around the Land Acquisition Law of 1953, which was enacted with the express purpose of legalizing the Israeli expropriation of land from Palestine between 1948 and 1952. 


The judge denied the claim that the villagers left after April 1952 and that the state was not expropriated for "essential purposes," as stipulated by the law. The agricultural use of the land, she claimed, was necessary in the early days of state-building. 


Launched in the seventies and eighties, the trial only began around 15 years ago, and covered some 1,950 dunams of land, according to Haaretz.


From the 1950s until the 1990s, the Palestinian residents cultivated parts of these lands. Most had resettled nearby, but had moved back once the Jewish National Fund (JNF) began a reforestation project, rebuilding the community in order to prevent the seizure of their lands. 


The state filed multiple lawsuits against them, resulting in the authorities razing the structures 200 times. 


The claimants said that the state dispossessed them of their land through "deception, violence, intimidation and bribery."


PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:10 am - Jerusalem Time

Israeli forces arrest ex-Palestinian prisoner near Hebron

The Israeli occupation forces arrested Muhammad Mahmoud Awad, a Palestinian prisoner that was recently released, from the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, in a dawn raid on Tuesday.


According to local sources, troops from occupation army raided the home of the ex-prisoner. They combed through the house before arresting Awad and taking him to an unknown destination.


PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 8:01 am - Jerusalem Time

Guterres: Settlement expansion is a major driver of tension

Last night, a United Nations spokesman said that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to stop and reverse what he described as disturbing decisions regarding settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.


"The Secretary-General reiterates that the settlements are a flagrant violation of international law (...) they are a major obstacle to achieving a viable two-state solution and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace," said UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq, in a statement carried by Reuters news agency. .


He pointed out that "the expansion of these illegal settlements is a major driver of tension and violence and greatly increases humanitarian needs."


The United States, the European Union, and the United Nations announced earlier their opposition to the changes made by Israel in managing the issue of settlement construction, allowing it to accelerate its pace in an unprecedented way, and considered it "unilateral measures that constitute an obstacle to efforts to achieve peace."

PALESTINE

Tue 20 Jun 2023 7:54 am - Jerusalem Time

Father follows son: Sixth Palestinian dies after Israel's raid on Jenin

Jenin – 48-year-old Amjad Jaas from Jenin refugee camp died of wounds sustained during a raid by Israeli occupation forces on Tuesday, taking the death toll from the Israeli massacre to six.


Jaas was transferred to Al-Najah Hospital in Nablus in a critical condition.


Amjad is the father of Wassim Jass, who was martyred in January of this year when Israeli forces raided Jenin, killing ten Palestinians. 

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 11:13 pm - Jerusalem Time

The occupation storms the Al-Qibli prayer hall and expels those who are observing it

On Monday evening, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the Al-Qibli prayer hall in Al-Aqsa Mosque.


Those forces took the seclusion inside the mosque, confiscated their bags, and expelled Al-Aqsa Mosque guards and firefighting crews from the place.


The occupation forces spread in the region amid a state of tension.

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 11:10 pm - Jerusalem Time

Seriously injured by the occupation bullets in Bethlehem

A young man was wounded, on Monday evening, when he was shot by the occupation forces in the town of Husan, west of Bethlehem.


According to local sources, the young man was shot in the head and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.


The condition of the injured youth was described as serious.

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 9:07 pm - Jerusalem Time

The occupation sentences prisoner Alaa Qabha from Jenin to life imprisonment twice

The Prisoners' Club said that the military court of the occupation in (Salem) issued a ruling against the prisoner Alaa Ratib Qabha (32 years) from the town of Barta'a / Jenin, to life imprisonment twice, and compensation of one and a half million shekels.


The Captive Club stated that the prisoner, Qabha, was arrested in March 2018, after the occupation charged him with carrying out a run-over operation, which resulted in the death of two occupation soldiers.


It is noteworthy that the prisoner, Qabha, was previously arrested before his current arrest, and is now in (Jilboa) prison.

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 8:49 pm - Jerusalem Time

Al-Arouri: The resistance in Jenin provided a clear answer to the threats to the West Bank

The deputy head of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, considered the resistance, which he described as "heroic", that the resistance waged in Jenin and its camp against the Israeli aggression, as a clear answer to the continuous threats of the occupation to the West Bank.


Al-Arouri said, in a press statement, that the occupation must take into account any folly that it thinks of committing.


Al-Arouri expressed his pride in the unity of the resistance fighters of all factions in the field of battle with the occupation, stressing that the sacrifices of the Palestinian people, including martyrs and wounded, will not be in vain.


He said, "Netanyahu warned us that harming the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque is playing with fire, and that our people and their valiant resistance will continue to defend Al-Aqsa, regardless of the sacrifices."

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 8:46 pm - Jerusalem Time

Haniyeh meets with the Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council in Iran

Ismail Haniyeh, head of the political bureau of Hamas, and a delegation of his movement's leadership met, Monday noon, in Tehran with the representative of the Iranian guide, Brigadier General Ali Akbar Ahmadian, Secretary General of the Supreme National Security Council, where they discussed political developments in Palestine and the region.


During the meeting, Haniyeh reviewed the overall developments in Palestine and gave an explanation about the situation in Gaza and the Israeli policy of blockade and aggression. He talked about the details of what is happening in the West Bank in terms of Israeli plans and the escalation and growth of the resistance project and program, referring to the steadfastness of the people of Jerusalem, their jihad and their defense of Al-Aqsa and the sanctities, stressing The Palestinian people and their resistance are always ready to repel any aggression and thwart any plan of occupation. As stated in the text of a statement by Hamas.


He stressed the unity of the resistance factions and their joint decision, also considering the unity of the nation as a strategic weapon to confront its enemies, praising the Iranian-Saudi agreement, which comes within this framework. According to the statement.


He called for the need to invest in the regional and international scene and the retreat of the enemies of the nation in strengthening regional relations.


He added: "The escalation of resistance, the decline of the entity and its preoccupation with its crises are an indication of our approaching victory, which requires the nation to fulfill its duty towards Palestine and Jerusalem."


Haniyeh expressed his thanks to Iran for its efforts, role, and standing by the Palestinian people and strengthening their steadfastness, and said: "Without the Republic's support for our people and their resistance, the resistance would not have been able to achieve victories." He also congratulated Major General Ahmadian on his new position, praising his predecessor's role towards Palestine. As stated in the statement.


For his part, Ahmadian stressed the importance of the resistance project, and said: "The strategic path to the liberation of Palestine is the resistance," praising the unity of the resistance factions, considering that the victory of the resistance in Saif al-Quds constituted a strategic and historical shift for the cause and a pivotal importance for the nation. According to the Hamas statement.


And he considered that the consolidation of the unity of the Islamic world, especially the regional players, within the framework of the resistance project has strategic repercussions, stressing that the unity of the resistance constitutes a protection for it, which was evident in the recent battle in Gaza, as the support for jihad and the unity of the factions together thwarted the plans of the occupation.

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 8:25 pm - Jerusalem Time

Two young men were wounded by the occupation forces, west of Jenin

This evening, Monday, two young men were wounded by the occupation bullets, one of them seriously, at the roundabout of the village of Toura, southwest of Jenin.


According to local sources, the identities of the two injured youths are unknown, and that the occupation forces prevented the ambulance crews that rushed to the scene of the accident from treating him.





PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 5:58 pm - Jerusalem Time

European Union: Israeli settlements are illegal

The European Union reaffirmed that the Israeli settlements are illegal under international law, constitute an obstacle to peace and threaten the viability of the two-state solution.


A spokeswoman for the European Union said in a statement, Monday evening, that the Union is concerned about the changes adopted by the Israeli government to the settlement planning and management process, which will accelerate the planning and approval of settlements, calling on Israel not to proceed with that.


And she continued: These unilateral steps contradict the need to ensure calm and defuse tensions on the ground, and she said: The European Union continues to support the statements of Aqaba and Sharm el-Sheikh, and urges all parties to recommit to de-escalation, and pave the way towards a political horizon.


The European Union also expressed its concern "about the recent events in Jenin, which led to a number of civilian casualties."

PALESTINE

Mon 19 Jun 2023 12:47 pm - Jerusalem Time

A journalist was wounded by the occupation bullets in Jenin

Colleague journalist Hazem Emad Nasser was wounded by Israeli bullets while covering the events in Jenin.


Nasser was shot in the side, and his condition was described as between moderate and serious, and he was admitted to the operating room.


Since the start of the Jenin storming operation at dawn today, the occupation has deliberately targeted journalists, their vehicles and equipment more than once.