During the monthly report on the state of press freedoms in September 2023, the Journalists Support Committee monitored more than (88) violations against media freedoms and journalists, including (61) Israeli violations, and (14) violations by Palestinian internal parties and unknown persons, in addition to recording more Of (13) cases of violations by social media companies, within the framework of combating Palestinian digital content.

The Israeli occupation forces committed a total of (18) cases of attacks on journalists, as sixteen journalists were injured in the Gaza Strip, including the injury of freelance journalist Ashraf Abu Amra, who was seriously injured in his hand, as a result of the Israeli occupation directly throwing poisonous and incendiary gas bombs at them. Two cases were also recorded. In the West Bank and in the city of Jaffa in the occupied territories.

While the occupation forces arrested, detained and deported more than (10) journalists, including the arrest of the Jerusalemite photographer Ahmed Abu Sobeih, Dujana Ali Abu Al-Rub, and journalist Abdul Rahman Al-Alami, and the deportation of media activist Alaa Al-Sous for two weeks from Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Old City of occupied Jerusalem.

In continuation to obscure the occupation’s crimes against citizens, the occupation forces, with the participation of settlers, prevented a number of journalists from practicing their work. The committee recorded more than (25) cases of preventing and obstructing journalists’ coverage.

In addition, the report showed that it monitored a number of (5) cases of confiscating journalists’ identity and press cards while preventing them from practicing their professional work and exposing the crimes of the occupation. It also recorded (1) a case of threats with weapons, (2) a camera being destroyed in the occupied West Bank, and a journalist’s vehicle in the Gaza Strip.

Regarding the fight against Palestinian content, activist journalists and their media sites were subjected to an attack on digital media through the applications of “WhatsApp,” “Tik Tok,” “Facebook,” “Instagram,” and other social media sites, after accounts were closed and restricted and social media site administrations banned. Under pressure by the Israeli occupation on more than (13) accounts and pages for journalists and media sites, it varied in deleting and restricting “WhatsApp” for more than (8) journalists and media sites, recording (2) cases of deletion on Tik Tok, and (1) case of closure on the platform. Instagram, in addition to recording (2) cases on Facebook, which included deleting the page of journalist Tamer Al-Mashal, who later restored his page.

Knesset member Ram Ben Barak from the “There is a Future” party announced on Monday evening his intention to compete with his party’s leader, Yair Lapid, for the leadership.

According to the Hebrew website Ynet, the party will hold internal primaries to elect its leader next December.

Ben Barak, the current party leader, will face Lapid, who founded the party in 2012, the first elections held since its founding.

No other party figure announced her intention to compete for the presidency.

At the end of September 2023, the General Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held its regular meeting, the “Sabra and Shatila Martyrs’ Session,” in which it discussed political developments at various local, Arab, regional and international levels.

In its final statement, the committee stressed that the issue of prisoners will remain among the priorities of the Front’s work, as it is a national and popular issue, and that it will continue to work to release the prisoners by all means, internationalize their cause, and support them in all forums.

The committee reviewed the internal Palestinian situation and the effects of the continued division and its economic and social consequences, and the failure of the meeting of the General Secretaries in El Alamein, as the statement stated, in addition to the escalation of Israeli aggression.

The Central Committee of the Popular Front said, "The failure of the El Alamein meeting must constitute an incentive to activate the Front's vision regarding the formation of a national and popular coalition whose goal is to intensify pressure to end the division, restore unity, and confront the occupation."

The committee called on all Lebanese and Palestinian national parties to spare Ain al-Hilweh camp and the Palestinian camps the fate that the occupation and its allies desire by liquidating the Palestinian presence of these camps, and the refugee issue and their right to return.

She believed that what an occupying country is going through indicates that it is experiencing a structural crisis that will expand and take the form of racist practices and persecution of minorities, calling on the people of the occupied interior to stand up seriously against the organized crime behind which the occupation stands.

The Central Committee of the Popular Front criticized the normalization of Arab countries with the Israeli occupation, considering it a “treacherous step against the Palestinians,” as it put it, calling for the formation of an Arab front to resist normalization.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the occupation prison administration continues to escalate its aggression against prisoners, through raids on prisoners' sections and mass transfers.

The Prisoners' Club added that the prisoners of section (5) who were transferred from "Raymon" prison to "Nafha" prison yesterday, as well as the prisoners of "Raymond" prison, are in the process of taking protest steps against the aggression launched by the prison administration against them, and these steps may reach They will go on a hunger strike at the end of this week, unless they stop the torturous measures against them.

The Prisoners' Club stated that all the data in the prisons indicate the possibility of a renewed and escalating state of confrontation, with the continuation of raids and abuse of prisoners, in addition to mass transfers, through which the prison administration deliberately targets any state of "stability" that the prisoners are trying to create. Since the beginning of this year, it has carried out mass transfer operations, mainly targeting prisoners serving high sentences.

It is noteworthy that the number of prisoners in the occupation prisons is more than 5,200.

On Monday, a young man was injured by Israeli occupation forces’ bullets during confrontations in Aqabat Jaber camp in Jericho.

According to the Red Crescent, the young man was shot in the foot with live bullets and was taken to the hospital.

Today, Monday, the Ministry of Finance denied what was reported in Hebrew newspapers about the Israeli government providing financial facilitations to the Palestinian National Authority.

The Director General of Customs, Excise, and Value Added at the Ministry of Finance, who is responsible for accounting with the Israeli side, Louay Hanash, said, “Contrary to what is reported in the Israeli press, the current Israeli government has doubled the illegal unilateral deductions from Palestinian taxpayer funds in an unprecedented manner, ranging from these deductions range from 240-260 million shekels per month, equivalent to 25% of the Authority’s revenues from the tax money collected by Israel, without any detail or explanation about these deductions.”

Israel also deducts 3% of the clearing funds as a collection commission, the monthly average of which exceeds 35 million shekels, as this commission for the past ten years has exceeded 3 billion shekels.

Hanash pointed to what Finance Minister Shukri Bishara demanded at the donors’ meeting, held in New York last month, where he stressed the previous Palestinian demands that require the necessity of completely abolishing this commission on fuel purchases, reinforcing his position with reports issued by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund on the necessity of canceling it, as all transactions for these purchases are carried out electronically and directly between Israeli companies and the Palestine Petroleum Authority, and reducing the commission to 1.5% is insufficient and shows the extent of the Israeli thefts in this file and that it must be completely cancelled.

Bishara also stressed, according to the Director General of Customs, his previous and ongoing demands for the necessity of reducing the collection commission that Israel generally charges on all other goods, so that it is based on the cost, which the World Bank estimated in one of its reports that it should not exceed a maximum of 0.6%. What clearly shows the extent of the Israeli thefts is in this file alone.

At the donors' meeting, the Minister of Finance said that Israel's solution to only 5 of the many outstanding financial files between the two sides would achieve financial balance in the Palestinian budget.

Hanash explained that the Israeli side has punitively and illegally deducted, in exchange for what the Authority provides to the families of those affected by the Israeli occupation and the families of the martyrs, prisoners and wounded, an amount of 2.8 billion shekels, and these deductions are still continuing.

In addition to its monthly deductions that have been ongoing for many years and that violate all agreements, Hanash said that the Israeli government recently added a monthly deduction at the rate of 20-30 million shekels, deducted from the debts accumulated by the Jerusalem Electricity Company, noting that it is a private company and the authority supports it in repaying its loans and supporting the price of electricity. And paying off camp debts.

Hanash stressed that these cuts clearly demonstrate that the occupation is responsible for the stifling financial crisis that the Authority is going through and the main obstacle to the development of the Palestinian economy.

Today, Monday, a number of male secondary school students were injured during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the village of Jalboun, northeast of Jenin.

According to local sources, these forces fired poison gas bombs at the school students, causing a number of them to suffer from suffocation while these forces were near the house of citizen Jihad Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Al-Rub, which they turned into a military barracks.

Today, Monday, after the visit of its lawyer Fadi Obaidat, the Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Authority revealed a group of medical conditions for a number of Palestinian prisoners held in the Negev prison.

Among the cases is the case of prisoner Munther Dhib (23 years old), from the town of Silwad/Ramallah, who has been suffering from pain in the right side of the back and abdomen for a month and a half and does not know the cause. He was informed by the detainee’s doctor that he needs to undergo tests in the hospital. However, the prison administration only gives him painkillers.

Meanwhile, prisoner Thaer Hasaniyeh (48 years old), from the city of Jenin, has been suffering from gum infections and tooth and molar tooth decay since 2005. This led to the loss of most of his molars and teeth because the necessary treatment was not provided to him. He is in need of treatment, and is still waiting until now, as the administration deliberately The detainee is neglecting his health condition. He also complains of middle ear infections and is only given drops. He needs to have x-rays taken and be shown to an ear and throat doctor. However, the prison administration is still practicing the policy of keeping the situation as it is, which increases the suffering of the prisoners, especially those with sentences. The high.

As for the prisoner Ibrahim Abbas (23 years old), from the city of Jenin, who is currently in the “Naqab” prison, he suffers from health problems, as he is exposed to frequent fainting cases on a daily basis, without any reason. He was transferred to “Soruka” Hospital, where he stayed for four days and underwent surgery. Numerous medical examinations, EEG, and x-rays, in addition to blood tests, where the results of the examinations showed that they were stable, noting that he was exposed to cases of fainting in the hospital, and complained of severe pains and aches in the head, which subsequently caused him to lose the ability to see and lose consciousness, but the prison administration merely gave him Painkillers and deliberately neglecting him medically.

While the prisoner Muhammad Haniyeh (21 years old), from the city of Tulkarm, suffers from a sharp increase in blood sugar levels, and two weeks ago it reached record levels and does not fall below (400 mg). This sudden increase led to a sharp drop in weight, and within just a week the prisoner Haniyeh ( 20 kilograms) of its weight.

The prisoner also vomits everything he eats and complains of abdominal pain. He was transferred to the prison clinic, and was given intravenous insulin needles to lower the sugar level, but to no avail. He was returned to the department, and as a result of his unstable health condition, he was returned to the hospital. Many medical examinations were conducted for him, and the doctors informed him. That his pancreas stopped working, in addition to problems with the thyroid gland and a weak heartbeat, his vision deteriorated, and the prisoner Haniyeh remained in the hospital for three days to be returned to the prison.

The authority held the Israeli prison administration fully responsible for the continuing series of medical negligence against Palestinian detainees, and called on international institutions, human rights organizations and the Red Cross to fully play their necessary role towards the issue of detainees.

Today, Monday, Israeli forces stormed sections (3, 2, and 1) of Gilboa prison.

According to the Prisoners' Club, these forces began searching a group of rooms, indicating that a state of tension prevails in the prison.

Citizens suffocated and a Palestinian teenager was arrested, today, Monday, during confrontations with Israeli occupation forces in the Arroub camp, north of Hebron.

The occupation forces fired live bullets, stun grenades and toxic tear gas towards the citizens, causing dozens of them to suffocate. The occupation soldiers also arrested another teenager whose identity was not known.

Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel Yitzhak Yosef has said that the mental faculties of secular Jews who eat unkosher food are "impaired," and therefore it is "difficult for them to comprehend things."

His comments were released by Israel's Channel 13 on Sunday. The rabbi added that, "I observe everything happening within the secular community. They are in a state of jeopardy. They do not find satisfaction in life; everything is driven by the desires of this world."

"They are poor souls...they are jealous of us. They see the haredi sector, with its holidays and children, it is all jealousy," the rabbi continued. "And the hate is developed from jealousy." He also called on religious organizations to promote the ultra-Orthodox lifestyle to secular Israelis.

Opposition outrage by chief rabbi's comments

His statements have sparked a political uproar, with strong condemnations coming from the opposition.

Opposition leader MK Yair Lapid commented that Yosef has misrepresented his role, saying, "he is not the Chief Rabbi of Israel but rather the rabbi of a vocal minority that condemns millions of Jews who serve in the army, risk their lives, work, and support this nation. In one aspect, he is correct - they felt somewhat foolish tonight when they realized they are the ones funding his salary."

Yisrael Beytenu chairman MK Avigdor Liberman, also commented, "The sole foolishness with your statements is the fact that the secular public is funding and paying a salary to someone as uninformed as you." A member of his party, MK Yulia Malinovsky, added, "Based on Chief Rabbi Yosef's statements, even consuming kosher food alone doesn't ensure profound wisdom.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces tightened their military measures around the city of Nablus.

According to local sources, these forces closed the checkpoint between the city of Nablus and the northern town of Asira, and the street linking Ignisnia and Zuata, and prevented citizens from passing through them, in order to secure the settlers’ incursion into the Mount Ebal area.

She pointed out that the occupation forces tightened their military measures at the military checkpoints at the entrances to the city, and impeded the movement of citizens, as vehicles were being searched.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi denounced Sunday any attempts by regional countries to normalize relations with its arch-enemy Israel as "reactionary and regressive."

The remarks came amid ongoing U.S.-brokered negotiations between Israel and Saudi Arabia to establish formal ties, with the United States saying Friday that the two countries are moving toward the outline of a deal.

"Normalizing relations with the Zionist regime is a reactionary and regressive move by any government in the Islamic world," Raisi said during an international Islamic conference held in Tehran.

An Israeli delegation is expected to arrive Sunday in Saudi Arabia, days after the first official visit by an Israeli minister to the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia also sent a delegation Wednesday to the occupied West Bank for the first time in three decades in a bid to reassure the Palestinians ahead of the prospective deal.

Raisi on Sunday further labelled any normalization attempt as the "foreigners' desire," while stating that "surrender and compromise" regarding Israel were not on the table.

"The only option for all the fighters in the occupied land and the Islamic world is to resist and stand against the enemies," he said, reiterating Iran's position that Jerusalem must be "liberated."

In 1967 Israel occupied and then annexed east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as the future capital of their proposed state.

An agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia would follow the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords which saw Israel establish diplomatic relations in 2020 with three Arab countries.

Last month, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Raisi said any "relationships between regional countries and the Zionist regime would be a stab in the back of the Palestinians."

Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia, two regional powerhouses, resumed relations, severed since 2016, under a China-brokered deal announced in March.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell announced on Monday that all of the bloc's foreign ministers are meeting for the first time outside its borders, in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

The meeting comes at a time when Kiev seeks to join the European Union in the future, in light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is now in its twentieth month.

“We are holding a historic meeting of European Union foreign ministers here in Ukraine, the candidate country and next member of the European Union,” Borrell said in a statement on social media. “We are here to express our solidarity and support to the Ukrainian people.”
He added, "Ukraine's future lies within the European Union."

For its part, Kyiv welcomed the meeting.

“This is a historic event because it is the first time that the Foreign Affairs Council meets outside its current borders, outside the borders of the European Union, but within the future borders of the European Union,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told reporters alongside Borrell.

As for French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, she saw the meeting as a message to Moscow that reflects the bloc's determination to stand by Ukraine.

"It is an expression of our firm and permanent support for Ukraine, until it is able to prevail," she told reporters in Kiev. "It is also a message to Russia that it should not rely on the possibility of exhausting us."

In turn, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Sloat stressed that "it is really important that we meet here today to express our solidarity with Ukraine."

In 2014, Ukrainians overthrew the pro-Moscow regime in a popular pro-EU uprising.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky pressed to accelerate Kiev's accession to the bloc as a response to the Russian invasion.

The Prisoners' Club held the occupation prison administration fully responsible for the life of prisoner Mahmoud Hassan Abu Dhari (55 years old), from the city of Dura/Hebron, who has been facing a deterioration in his health condition for several days, and to this day there is no final diagnosis of his health condition.

The prisoner Abu Dhari, who has been detained since 2003 and has been sentenced to life imprisonment, was transferred yesterday from Raymond Prison to Soroka Hospital urgently, and then the prison administration returned him late last night to prison, but his health condition deteriorated this morning. He was transferred again to the prison clinic.

The Prisoners' Club confirmed that the prisoners informed the prison administration that if he is not transferred to the hospital again and his health condition is seriously diagnosed and the necessary treatment is provided to him, there will be protest steps, as the prisoners continue to demand that he be transferred to the hospital since the morning.

The Prisoners' Club considered that what is happening to the prisoner, Abu Dhari, is only part of the process of the systematic crime of medical negligence (slow killing), which the prison administration continues to practice at several levels and with its various tools, most notably the processes of procrastination in diagnosing the disease and providing treatment.

It is noteworthy that Abu Dhari is one of hundreds of prisoners facing the crime of medical negligence (slow murder).

On Monday, the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem decided to reconsider the petition submitted against prisoner Kayed Al-Fasfous, who has been on hunger strike for the 61st day in a row.

According to the Prisoners and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs Authority, the court’s decision was based on the illegality of canceling the previous appeal and that the appeal must be heard despite the non-attendance of the appellant prisoner Al-Fasfous, due to his deteriorating health condition.

The Commission indicated that this decision is a retaliatory and arbitrary decision, despite the presence of the prisoner’s lawyer and legal representative.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces closed the Noble Mosque of the Patriarchs to Muslim worshipers, under the pretext of Jewish holidays.

The Director General of the Hebron Endowments, Nidal Al-Jaabari, explained that the occupation will close the Ibrahimi Mosque until ten o’clock in the evening tomorrow, Tuesday, considering this a blatant infringement on the sanctity of the Mosque, and a provocative attack on the right of Muslims to access their places of worship.

Al-Jaabari called on the international community in general, and the Islamic and Arab countries and institutions related to cultural, heritage and religious affairs, led by UNESCO, to put its decisions into effect, given the seriousness of what is happening in Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa and Ibrahimi Mosques.

The occupation forces also tightened their security measures and closed all military checkpoints and electronic gates leading to the Ibrahimi Mosque, to secure the settlers’ celebrations of the Jewish Throne Day in the Mosque and its squares.

Eyewitnesses confirmed that the occupation forces intensified their presence at all entrances leading to the Mosque to secure settlers’ access to the city of Hebron and archaeological areas, under the pretext of celebrating Jewish holidays, and closed some markets in the Old City.

This time around, the day is overshadowed by the 50th anniversary of the 1973 war known as the Yom Kippur War. Of all of Israel's wars, this was the most traumatic for Israelis, and the old Israel is searching for its soul now under that shadow.

The broader religious and traditional meaning of Yom Kippur and the days leading up to it are always a time of soul-searching, and above all a time when we seek forgiveness for sins we have committed. 

The ceremonial rituals are saturated with clichés, including the blessing of wishing others that they be "inscribed for a good year" - which is how people greet one another on the street, instead of saying "shalom" (peace) as the holiday approaches. 

Israel is supposed to atone for its collective sins on Yom Kippur and Jewish Israelis are supposed to atone for their individual sins - yet this has never properly happened in any year, and this year less so than ever.

It has never occurred to Israel to ask for the most significant forgiveness of all the kinds it ought to be seeking: that is, asking forgiveness from the Palestinian people. Israel has never asked forgiveness for its sins towards the Palestinians committed in 1948, nor for those committed against them continuously since 1948, nor even for the sins it has committed against them during this past year, as demanded by Jewish law and tradition every year.

Moreover, this past year was a very hard one for Israel and the Palestinians, a year in which Israel has been ruled by the most extreme right-wing government in its history. 

This is the year when not only is there nothing to be said about asking forgiveness from the Palestinians, but it is also the year in which Israel has lost all shame for the crimes it has committed against them.

This is the year when government ministers, referring to a Jewish criminal convicted of burning a Palestinian family alive as they slept in their home, have called the perpetrator a saint and a victim. The campaign demanding the release of Amiram Ben-Uliel went viral in Israel and in a matter of days raised more than $400,000 through crowdfunding to support action on his behalf.

This is the forgiveness many Israelis are seeking - for a man who willfully set a house on fire in the middle of the night and was convicted in a court of law, itself a rarity in the Israel of 2023 where Jews are almost never brought to justice, whether soldiers or civilians, for their crimes against Palestinians.

Some Israelis have already moved ahead a notch and are seeking forgiveness from the murderer rather than his victims. They not only deny that he is a murderer; some believe that, because the Palestinians he killed were innocents, including an infant, he is made holy by this act. This is what happens when all shame is lost.

A real spiritual self-examination for every Israeli, as Yom Kippur entails, or at any other time of the year, would necessarily involve an accounting for actions vis-à-vis the Palestinian people. On the national level, such an accounting has not even begun.

Even when Israel was signing agreements like the Oslo Accords, exactly 30 years ago now, there was no question of taking responsibility nor any request for forgiveness: these things were not even on the table.

A truth and reconciliation commission in the post-apartheid South African mode is completely far-fetched in Israel's case; no more than a fantasy, completely detached from reality. It is not difficult to imagine the potential positive impact on relations between Israel and the Palestinian people of a move on Israel's part to take responsibility for its crimes.

Cruel, discriminatory regime

After over 100 years of Zionism, which for the Palestinians has meant 100 years of dispossession, oppression, killing, destruction, humiliation, loss of rights and loss of dignity, in Israel there is no whisper of a thought about taking responsibility and seeking to atone, as Jews are bound to do by Jewish law on the holy day of atonement when these lines are being written.

On the contrary, just as the killer Ben-Uliel is the victim in the eyes of extremist Israelis, most Israelis see themselves as the victim, and only as the victim, in the context of their relations with their real victims, the Palestinians.

Only by falsely positioning themselves as the victims can Israelis cope with their past, denying and repressing it as few nations have managed to deny their past along with their present. A nation of immigrants took control of a land already inhabited for hundreds of years, suppressed its inhabitants, deprived them of their land and possessions, expelled some of them and oppressed the rest, seized control of the land and established a state which is by definition a state where Jewish supremacy exists. 

This year, Israel also lost any shame over defining Zionism as Jewish supremacy. As Israel is pushed into a corner by an extreme right-wing government, an impressive protest movement has taken to the streets month after month to fight for democracy.

Yet this impressive protest ignores the question of the society's inherent Jewish supremacy, and demands only a return to the status quo ante, meaning democracy for the Jews in the Jewish state controlling a land in which two nations of equal size are living.

One nation lives under a democratic regime that is currently in danger, and the other nation lives under one of the worst military dictatorships in the world. Few nations anywhere live under such a cruel, predatory and discriminatory regime. Yet this is ignored by the democratic protest movement so admired by nearly everyone.

Entire nation in denial

For more than 100 years we have been depriving the Palestinians of their land, their property, their way of life, their culture and their dignity. While the methods of operation have changed over the years, the intention remains constant. The aim was and continues to be to try to arrange for as few Palestinians as possible to stay here, if any at all.

This is the true meaning of a "Jewish and democratic" state. This is the only way to settle the contradiction between Jewishness and democracy in the reality of a binational state. In 1948, Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of people, and even if some of them technically fled in terror, in either case, they were never given an opportunity to return. Israel then imposed military rule on the remaining Palestinians residing within its domain, terming them "Israeli Arabs".

A few months after the military regime within Israel came to an end, in 1966, it was replaced by a military occupation of the Palestinian territories that has continued ever since. Nearly seven million Palestinians live under Israeli control in various ways, in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

Conditions of deprivation in all areas of life for Palestinian citizens of the state; military tyranny for the stateless Palestinian subjects in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and prison conditions for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the world's largest cage for human beings.

Brutality is the only means of preserving all of that. There is no nonviolent way to preserve such a violent reality.

The military regime employs cruel violence on a daily basis. War crimes are perpetrated hourly in cooperation with armed settler militias. And Israelis view all of that with denial and repression. They lie to themselves and remain complacent, or morbidly indifferent. Most do not know and especially do not want to know the reality, while most of the Israeli media does their part by not disturbing Israelis with a true portrayal of the reigning immorality they are refusing to see.

This is how we reached this state of affairs, in which an entire nation is living in denial. This is how we have ended up where we are now, so that when the day of atonement approaches, no one thinks about asking forgiveness from Israel's greatest victim.

Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said, “There is an attempt by the current Israeli occupation government and its predecessors to annex areas called “C,” stressing that they are an integral part of the territory of the entire State of Palestine.”

Shtayyeh indicated in his speech at the beginning of the government session today, Monday, in Ramallah, that the Council of Ministers will discuss today strengthening the steadfastness of our people in areas called (C), and empowering our infrastructure in those areas.

He said: "Since the beginning of our work, we have given these regions a major priority in various fields, and today we are renewing the launch of programs related to these regions, and all ministries are working to make them successful, each according to their specialty."

Shtayyeh indicated that the Council of Ministers will discuss the latest draft of the Civil Service Law to be a modern and advanced law that addresses some of the failures and some loopholes in the previous law, and it will be submitted to President Mahmoud Abbas for approval and issuance.

The Council also discusses the draft spatial plan for the lands of the State of Palestine, and the recommendations of the Ministerial Committee related to the project that has been working on for three years. It also discusses expanding trade horizons with brotherly Jordan via the Karama crossing, and relevant recommendations for discussion with the brothers in Jordan.

Today, Monday, the Ministry of Finance announced the date for disbursing the salaries of public employees for the month of September, tomorrow, Tuesday, 10/3/2023, at a rate of 90% of the September salary, with a minimum limit of 2,000 shekels.

The Ministry confirmed in a statement that the rest of the outstanding dues are owed to the employees and will be disbursed when financial capabilities allow.

A young man was injured today, Monday, after the Israeli occupation forces attacked him in the town of Arraba, south of Jenin.

According to the Red Crescent, these forces stormed the town and severely beat the young man, and he was transferred to Jenin Governmental Hospital.

Today, Monday, Israeli special forces kidnapped two young men from the Zahrat al-Fanjan landfill, south of Jenin.

Eyewitnesses reported to Al-Quds.com that these forces used vehicles with a Palestinian license plate, ambushed the two young men, and immediately upon their arrival to their workplace, they surprised and arrested them.

According to local sources, the detainees are Suhaib and Ali Al-Saadi.

The occupation forces stormed the area, detained the workers present, and subjected them to field investigation.

The Israeli occupation authorities inaugurated a Judaism museum beneath the Umayyad palaces, dozens of meters away from the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied city of Jerusalem, with the aim of promoting the false Biblical narrative.

The museum is an old building seized by the occupation authorities, near the wall of Old Jerusalem. It was restored and opened recently, under the supervision of the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Judaization of Jerusalem, and the occupation municipality, in addition to the Temple Heritage Fund.

It contains a clear Judaization of the features of the city and the surroundings of Al-Aqsa Mosque, and a promotion of the alleged so-called “Temple”, with the aim of changing the features of Al-Aqsa Mosque and changing the identity of Jerusalem, and it is dozens of meters away from Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The museum leads to a photo exhibition that the occupation claims is the history of the city of Jerusalem, and claims that ancient Al-Aqsa was a passageway to the alleged “Temple.” It also displays a picture showing the placement of offerings in the Dome of the Rock Mosque, and then passing through the Way of David, according to their alleged narrative. The tour includes a screening of a film in three languages. , Arabic, English and Hebrew, promotes the alleged “temple”, and hints at the presence of a Christian church around the Dome of the Rock Mosque.

The Central Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, “The population in Palestine reached 5.48 million people, as of the middle of this year.”

On the occasion of World Housing Day and Arab Housing Day, which came under the slogan: “Humanizing cities is one of the pillars of mental health for members of society,” the “Statistics Office” reviewed the most important indicators of housing conditions in Palestine related to indicators of sustainable development.

78% of the population resides in communities classified as urban, 14% in the countryside, and 8% in camps, while the estimated population density in the middle of this year reached 910 individuals/km2 in Palestine (575 individuals/km2 in the West Bank compared to 6,102 individuals/km2 in the Gaza Strip). Gaza).

81% of families live in homes owned by a family member

81% of families have their homes owned by a family member, 87% in the West Bank, and 70% in the Gaza Strip in 2022.

The percentage of families who live in rented homes in Palestine reached 7% (5% in the West Bank, compared to 10% in the Gaza Strip), while the percentage of families who live in homes without compensation or in exchange for work is 12% (7% in the West Bank, compared to 20% In the Gaza Strip), during the year 2022.

More than half of families live in apartments

The total number of families in Palestine who live in apartments reached 54%, while 43% of families live in dwellings classified as a house, less than half a percent of families live in a “villa,” and 3% of families live in other dwellings such as a separate room, or One tent, or another in 2022.

On average, 1.5 people reside per room in Palestinian housing

The average housing density (number of people per room) in Palestine reached 1.5 people/room in 2022 (1.5 people/room in urban and rural areas, compared to 1.8 people/room in camps), while the average housing density at the region level was 1.4 people/ A room in the West Bank, compared to 1.7 persons/room in the Gaza Strip.

5% of families in the West Bank live in crowded housing, compared to 9% in the Gaza Strip

5% of families in Palestine live in housing units with high housing density (3 or more individuals per room), (5% in the West Bank, compared to 9% in the Gaza Strip), and at the level of type of settlement, it reaches 6% in urban and rural areas, and increases To 9% in the camps in 2022.

The average number of rooms in a dwelling will reach 3.5 rooms in 2022 in Palestine, while the average is 3.5 rooms in urban areas and 3.6 rooms in the countryside, compared to 3.2 rooms in camps. As for the number of rooms in a dwelling in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it will reach 3.5 rooms, during Year 2022.

Only 4% of the population of the Gaza Strip have access to safe, pollution-free water

Regarding safely managed water sources (defined as improved sources, used in the home, available when needed, and free of contamination (free from E-Coli bacteria)), data indicate that 40% of the population in Palestine have access to safely managed water. (66% in the West Bank, compared to 4% in the Gaza Strip). This percentage, depending on the type of community, reached 36% in urban areas and 67% in the countryside. This percentage decreased to 25% of the population in the camps in 2020.

59% of families live in homes connected to a sewage network

28% of Palestinian families in 2020 reside in homes connected to cesspits, and 12% of families rely on closed pits to dispose of wastewater, while a sewage network is available to 59% of Palestinian families, and 2% of families use other methods of sanitation. This percentage reached 96% in camps, 64% in urban areas, and 10% in the countryside, respectively.

Most residences have improved sanitation

99% of Palestinian families in 2020 have improved sanitation, which includes (a toilet connected to a public sewage network, or a toilet connected to a cesspit, or a toilet connected to a closed pit). As for the type of community, 99% of families residing in urban areas and camps have sanitation. Improved health compared to 97% in the countryside.

The number of licensed residential units will increase in 2022

The number of licensed housing units in Palestine (new and existing) reached 23,148 licensed housing units, with an average area of 167.3 m2, distributed among 21,447 licensed housing units in the West Bank, with an average area of 167.0 m2, and in the Gaza Strip, 1,701 licensed housing units with an average area of 171.0 m2, according to administrative records. Building permit statistics for 2022

NATO announced that about 600 British soldiers will be deployed in Kosovo to strengthen the bloc's presence in the former Serbian province, which witnessed armed clashes last week.

The soldiers are from a reserve force placed at the disposal of "KFOR" (the NATO force deployed in Kosovo) at the end of the week, to confront developments and renewed tension in the region.

NATO spokesman Dylan White said: "The United Kingdom is deploying about 200 soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment to join a British unit of 400 soldiers currently training in Kosovo, and this will be followed by additional reinforcements from other allies."

He added, "The decision comes in the wake of the violent attack on the Kosovo police on September 24 and the increasing tensions in the region," without explicitly referring to a statement issued by Washington on Friday in which it warned of a Serbian military buildup on the Kosovo border.

White said that NATO again called for calm on Sunday and called on Belgrade and Pristina to resume dialogue as soon as possible as “the only way to achieve sustainable peace.”

Last Sunday, a Kosovo police officer was killed in an ambush carried out by a group of Serbs, followed by gunfire between police special forces and the armed group that killed three of the gunmen who had taken refuge in an Orthodox monastery in the village of Banjska near the border.

The incident is the most serious escalation in Kosovo in years.
Serbia does not recognize Kosovo's independence declared in 2008, after a bloody war during the 1990s between Serbian forces and Albanian rebels that ended with NATO intervention.

The Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported on Monday that the Israeli government is considering taking a series of measures with the aim of preventing a security escalation with the Gaza Strip, for fear of harming the ongoing talks with Saudi Arabia to reach a normalization agreement mediated by the United States.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, among what is being studied is increasing the share of Gaza Strip workers who are allowed to work in “Israel,” and easing the conditions for bringing goods into the Strip.

Haaretz pointed out that Israel is holding talks with Qatar, with the aim of transferring financial aid to the Hamas government in Gaza, to pay the salaries of its employees.

The newspaper says that in recent weeks, Hamas has increased its pressure on Israel through violent marches on the border fence.

A Western diplomat who recently visited the Gaza Strip told the Hebrew newspaper, “These pressures come due to the worsening economic distress in Gaza, the cut off of international aid transferred to the population, and the increasing difficulties facing the Strip,” noting that the United Nations bodies working in Gaza, including UNRWA , is facing difficulties in collecting donations from the international community.

The Israeli security establishment estimates that Hamas initiated the marches and encouraged them to pressure Israel to take immediate measures to improve the economic situation, whether in the form of decisions to increase the workers’ share or in the form of the flow of financial payments from Qatar.

The newspaper says that since Operation “Guardian of the Walls” (Saif al-Quds) in May 2021, it has refrained from launching missile attacks towards “Israel,” and has not participated in any of the rounds of fighting between Islamic Jihad and “Israel,” due to economic considerations, including The decision of the previous Israeli government to allow the entry of workers from Gaza for the first time in more than a decade. The current government continued the same policy and increased the number of workers, and is currently studying increasing them from 15,000 to 20,000 workers as a first stage if calm is maintained.

According to the Hebrew newspaper, the Qatari ambassador, Mohammed Al-Emadi, has made extensive contacts in recent days to try to prepare solutions that will calm the region, and perhaps one of his achievements is the reopening of the “Erez” checkpoint, for the passage of workers from Gaza to “Israel.”

The newspaper pointed out that the continuation of the current Israeli government, with the same policy as the previous government regarding the entry of workers, and the possibility of strengthening other economic measures to improve the situation in Gaza, has so far been accepted by the pillars of the government, including the extreme right wing led by Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, but not It is clear how long they will continue to support this line, but it is expected that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will insist on this if the matter is put up for discussion in the government due to the desire to maintain calm in the Palestinian territories, especially in light of continued contacts with Saudi Arabia.

US President Joe Biden told Netanyahu during their meeting in New York last week that preventing violent escalation against the Palestinians will help the US administration strengthen communications with Saudi Arabia, and senior officials in the Biden administration during the past months sent similar messages emphasizing linking the situation with the Palestinians to achieving progress. In normalization with Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries.

Today, Monday, the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority published painful details to which the two brothers, Haroun Alqam (16 years old) and Mahmoud (12 years old) from the Shuafat camp in occupied Jerusalem, were subjected to them while the occupation forces arrested and interrogated them.

The Commission’s lawyer, Heba Agbariyah, said that on 07/03/2023, forces from the Alimar Police stormed the two prisoners’ house at four o’clock in the morning, arrested them, tied them up, blindfolded them, then took them to the military jeep, and brutally beat them with their hands, feet, and sticks on the head. And all over the body without taking into account their young age.

She added: "They took them down to the Al-Mascobiyya interrogation rooms, forced them to kneel for about 3 hours, and prevented them from talking to each other. If they tried to communicate with each other, they were punished by beating them. At around eight o'clock in the morning, they brought each one into an interrogation room."

In this context, the lawyer quoted Haroun as saying: “They interrogated me from eight in the morning until five in the afternoon. I did not confess to anything, so they beat me as punishment. The next day, they brought me and Mahmoud into the same investigation room, and they interrogated us at the same time. Because I did not confess, they started beating Mahmoud in front of me and threatening me.” If I did not confess, one of them put the sword in my brother’s head and shouted at me, saying, “Confess, or we will kill your brother Mahmoud.” Then I broke down and cried and told them that I would confess on the condition that you leave my brother and release him. Then they took Mahmoud out of the investigation room and returned him to the Al-Mascobiyah rooms, and the investigation continued with me. Until nine at night.”

She continued: "Mahmoud spent another night in Al-Maskobiyya prison, and on the third day in the morning, Haroun and his brother Mahmoud were taken to court. During the session, Mahmoud was released and Haroun's detention was extended."

She added: “After the court ended, they returned Haroun to Investigation 4, and threatened him if he did not complete his confessions as they wanted, they would re-arrest and torture his brother. He remained in Al-Maskobiyya Prison for 25 days, after which he was transferred to the Cubs Section/Damoun Prison.”

Haroun says: “The conditions in Al-Maskobiyya Prison are very difficult, as we are often beaten by the jailers. My son, Malek Deeb, and I were beaten because we asked for food. The jailers dragged us from the room to the clinic, where there are no cameras, and there we were beaten arbitrarily and without... Mercy".

It is noteworthy that the young man, Haroun Alqam, is currently detained in Damoun Prison, and no judgment has been issued against him yet, as a court is scheduled to be held for him on 10/17/2023.

Today, Monday, the Israeli occupation forces arrested three citizens north of occupied Jerusalem.

According to local sources, these forces stormed the town of Al-Issawiya and arrested: Karim Ahmed Obaid, Muhammad Fawzi Obaid, and Majd Wadih Obaid.

The civil trial of Donald Trump and two of his sons, who are accused of massively inflating their real estate assets for years, begins Monday in New York, threatening his economic empire and paving the way for a legal marathon for the candidate to obtain the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential elections.

The 77-year-old former president and his lawyers have hinted that he may attend at least the first hearings before the New York State Supreme Court. Trump was called as a witness.

Trump announced that he would appear in court on Monday. “I will go to court tomorrow morning to defend my name and reputation,” he said on his “Truth Social” platform on Sunday, describing the New York prosecutor as “corrupt” and the judge as “deranged.”

Trump cannot be sentenced to prison in this case, but this trial will provide a preview of the legal events that are likely to derail his campaign for the Republican nomination.

Trump is criminally accused in four different cases that have not yet affected his popularity with the Republican base. In particular, he must appear as of March 4 before a federal court in Washington. He is accused of trying, while in the White House, to overturn the result of the 2020 presidential election, which Joe Biden won.

He will then face trial in New York State on charges of tax fraud, and then in Florida because of his negligent handling of secret documents after his departure from the presidency.

Judge Arthur Engoron said that Trump and two of his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, committed "repeated" financial "frauds" in the first decade of this century by inflating the value of the financial and real estate assets of their company, the Trump Organization, by between $812 million and $2.2 billion. Between 2014 and 2021.
He stressed that the documents presented by the Public Prosecutor “clearly” show “fraudulent assessments” by Trump of the assets of his group, which includes various companies that include residential real estate, luxury hotels, golf clubs, and many others.

As a result, the judge ordered the withdrawal of business licenses in New York State from Donald Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Jr., in addition to the confiscation of the companies targeted in the case.

Will Thomas, a professor of commercial law at the University of Michigan, said that implementing these sanctions “would represent a massive blow to Donald Trump’s ability to do business in New York State.”

Trump made his fortune during the 1980s in the real estate sector, gambling and casinos. If these licenses are withdrawn from him, he will be at risk of losing control over many of the leading companies in his empire, such as Trump Tower (“Trump Tower”) located on the famous Fifth Avenue in New York.

This building is at the heart of the charges brought against Trump by Attorney General Letitia James, as he is suspected of inflating the area of his three-story apartment in Trump Tower three times, and raising the value of Building No. 40 on Wall Street from 200 to 300 million dollars.

The plaintiff also requests that Trump be found guilty of other violations of financial laws and be fined $250 million.

The former Republican president has always rejected these accusations, and considered Attorney General James, an African-American Democrat, “racist,” while Judge Engoron described him as “deranged.”

According to the indictment, the billionaire and his two sons deliberately “inflated” the value of these assets in order to obtain, among other things, loans on better terms from banks between 2011 and 2021.

Trump responded via Truth Social, saying that the banks had never complained about the loans they provided to him.

He stressed that he repaid these loans “in full, with interest, without default, and without any victims.”
It is expected that the trial will be largely technical and that dozens of witnesses will be called to it, including three of Trump’s children, Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka, who were initially included in the case but will not be prosecuted in the end.
It is also expected that the list of witnesses will include the former CFO of the Trump Organization, Alan Weisselberg, who spent time in prison after admitting to tax evasion in another case affecting the group, and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who has become one of his fiercest opponents, in addition to employees of the banks that lent to him. And others.
These legal troubles do not prevent Trump from being far ahead of his rivals in opinion polls to obtain the Republican Party nomination for the 2024 presidential elections.

Today, Monday, a group of settlers demolished an agricultural room east of the town of Yatta, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, settlers demolished an agricultural room owned by citizen Ghassan Dhaher Daajneh in the Al-Maraba area in Ain Al-Bayda, east of the town.

The sources indicated that the occupation forces stormed the villages of Susiya and Manizil in the town of Yatta, and the town of Al-Samou, and set up strict barriers on the roads leading to their entrances, and obstructed the passage of citizens.