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AL-AWDA-News
SettlersSettlers raid Nablus villageNABLUS (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli settlers on Sunday stormed a Palestinian village near Nablus and uprooted 80 olive trees, a Palestinian Authority official said. Settlement affairs official Ghassan Doughlas said dozens of residents of the illegal Esh Kodesh outpost raided Qusra and destroyed trees belonging to locals Rabi Abu Bakr, Samir Hasan and Jabali Abu Reida.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414956Israeli forces - WB raids, detentionIsraeli forces detain 120 Palestinians in West BankHEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli forces detained 120 Palestinians, mostly Hamas supporters, overnight Saturday in the southern West Bank, witnesses and officials said. More than 100 military jeeps stormed Hebron from three directions and deployed in several neighborhoods in the largest detention campaign in the city since 2003, locals and Palestinian security officials told Ma‘an. Hamas lawmaker Muhammad Mutliq Abu Juheisha was among more than 120 Palestinians detained across the district as soldiers raided the surrounding towns of Dura, Surif, Beit Ula, Nuba, Yatta and As-Samu ... Palestinian security sources said troops fanned out across the southern West Bank in an overnight operation which kicked off just hours after Hamas's armed wing in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israelhttp://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414897Bethlehem Mufti says soldiers ransacked homeBETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli forces assaulted and detained a Palestinian man during a raid on the home of the Mufti of Bethlehem overnight Saturday, the sheikh said. Sheikh Abdul-Majid Ata Amarna said troops raided his home in Duheisha refugee camp shortly before dawn prayers searching for his son Usayd, a journalist for Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV. "When the soldiers raided my home, I asked them to wait before entering the different rooms so women could put on their headscarves and change their sleeping clothes, but instead of waiting they started firing inside the house injuring my brother-in-law, 27-year-old Bakr Badarin," the cleric told Ma‘an. He said Badarin was hit by a live bullet to his thigh, but soldiers refused to allow Palestinian Red Crescent medics to treat him and detained the injured man and the sheikh's son Usayd Amarna.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414918Israeli forces raid Hebron homeHEBRON (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli forces raided the Hebron home of Hasan Ali Darwish Al-Qawasmi on Sunday evening, witnesses said. Around nine Israeli military vehicles surrounded the house before storming it and harassing family members, locals told Ma‘an. Al-Qawasmi had been previously detained 10 days ago by Israeli forces. [End]http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415174Flying checkpoints erected in West BankBETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- The Israeli military erected flying checkpoints in the West Bank on Sunday morning, witnesses said. Army checkpoints were installed near Qabir Hilweh, east of Bethlehem, and close to Eizariyya in East Jerusalem, where drivers said they had waited for three hours to pass. Meanwhile, hundreds of cars were queuing at the container checkpoint near Bethlehem as Israeli soldiers inspected Palestinian vehicles. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414914Jerusalem on high alert as security campaign beginsBETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli police raised alert levels in Jerusalem after receiving information about a possible attack in the city, an Israeli police spokeswoman told Ma‘an on Sunday. Luba Simmari said that Israeli police have put the city on high alert, with reinforcements being drafted in. Israeli police are checking cars and identity cards as part of security procedures, she added. The police have started a security campaign in Jerusalem and have closed parts of the old city as they carry out searches, a Ma‘an correspondent reported. Police raided the Ras Al-Amud neighborhood of Jerusalem on Sunday, detaining Amjad Arafej, Ma'an's correspondent said. Local witnesses said police had found weapons in his house. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415134Israeli police prevent afternoon prayer in al-Aqsa MosqueJERUSALEM (WAFA) 21 Aug -- Israeli police Sunday prevented Muslim worshipers from entering al-Aqsa Mosque, inside the Old City of Jerusalem, to perform al-‘Asr prayer, the Muslim daily afternoon prayer, according to local residents. They said that Israeli police stationed at two of Al-Aqsa Mosque’s gates told the women and the elderly to enter from another gate without giving any explanations. The police allowed the entrance of a limited number of Palestinians after al-‘Asr prayer was over, checking the identity cards of young Palestinians while they were leaving the mosque, which is an Israeli measure to find specific names they have on their list. [they allowed young ones in?]http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17078Teenage prisoner sexually, physically assaulted to [get him to] admit charges against himRAMALLAH (WAFA) 21 Aug -- A Palestinian teenager prisoner in Etzion prison was sexually and physically assaulted during interrogation, while he was handcuffed and eye[blind] folded, to force him to admit the charges against him, said Palestinian Prisoners’ Club (PPC) on Sunday. The teenager said that the officer interrogating him, after threatening him, brought someone to sexually abuse and beat him. He was abused and beaten against the wall and thrown to the floor, which finally led him to admit the charges.http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17072GazaIsrael's Iron Dome shoots down 3 rockets over Ashkelon; Grad strikes Be'er ShevaHaaretz 21 Aug 08:20 -- The escalation in southern Israel continued Sunday morning when six rockets and a barrage of mortars hit near the city of Ashkelon. The Iron Dome system successfully shot down three rockets. Rockets also fell in several open areas, and hit a school building in Be'er Sheva, causing no injuries as students are currently on summer break.http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-s-iron-dome-shoots-down-3-rockets-over-ashkelon-grad-strikes-be-er-sheva-1.3797817 injured as Israeli forces raid northern GazaGAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Aug 15:57 -- Israeli forces launched another round of fierce airstrikes on the northern Gaza Strip Sunday afternoon causing explosions which rattled Gaza City. Gaza medical official Adham Abu Salmiya said Israeli warplanes fired two missiles at a Hamas military site in Beit Lahiya injuring seven Palestinians including three children. The attack came hours after an Israeli missile strike hit a group of children in the same area seriously injuring a 12-year-old boy, Abu Salmiya said.Israeli forces have killed 14 Palestinians in the coastal enclave since Thursday, and wounded dozens more. Tensions in and around the Gaza Strip have soared and residents fear Israel is planning a major offensive in the coastal enclave. Israeli Knesset members on Sunday urged the cabinet to respond to dozens of rockets fired from Gaza with an extensive military campaign.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415067Hamas: Gaza militant groups agree to cease-fire with IsraelHaaretz/AP 21 Aug 18:45 -- Official in Gaza says Egypt helped broker cease-fire to go into effect on Sunday evening, which would end the three-day round of violence with Israel ... He spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because the agreement had not officially been made public. Earlier on Sunday, AP reported that Israeli officials arrived in Cairo. Moreover, Israeli sources confirmed that the reduced IDF strikes on Gaza in the last 24 hours was an intentional move aimed at allowing Egypt to mediate a cease-fire, as well as out of fear for the defense and diplomatic relationship with Egypt.http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/hamas-gaza-militant-groups-agree-to-cease-fire-with-israel-1.379852Projectiles fired at Israel after Gaza ceasefire announcedTEL AVIV, Israel (Ma'an/AFP) -- Four projectiles and several mortars have been fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip, an Israeli army spokeswoman said Sunday. Two projectiles were launched at Ashkelon and two others landed in the Hof Ashkelon regional council. No injuries were reported.The latest escalation comes as a Hamas official had told AFP on Sunday that Palestinian factions had reached an "informal" agreement on a halt to projectile attacks ... The projectiles were reportedly fired at 8.30 p.m. winter saving time, but 9.30 p.m. Israeli time, Haaretz reported, noting that it is still unclear as to whether the ceasefire will be implemented. Islamic Jihad claimed the attacks which came before the report of the "informal" deal to halt attacks.A spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committee [PRC] said, however, that they would not accept the ceasefire, Israeli news site Ynet reported. "Our stance is clear. We have no connection to the ceasefire agreement with the Zionist enemy," Ynet quoted Abu Mujahed as telling a Palestinian news agency. Israel must take responsibility for its actions, Abu Mujahed said, referring to the assassination of PRC leaders in the Gaza Strip. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415090Gaza residents donate blood as tensions escalateGAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Gaza residents responded to a call to donate blood in anticipation of further Israeli attacks following three days of intensive airstrikes on the coastal enclave, hospital officials said Sunday. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in southern Gaza appealed for blood donations as Israeli ministers urged the cabinet to launch an extensive military campaign on the coastal enclave. Head of the blood unit at the hospital Dr Dia Miqdad said the hospital was already suffering from a shortage of blood due to the high number of injuries in the last 48 hours. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415002Ministry: Gaza running out of medicineGAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are running out of medicine, a spokesman for the Hamas health ministry warned Sunday. Ashraf Al-Qudra said hospitals stores had already run out 150 medicines and 160 types of medical equipment. The shortages were particularly critical in light of Israel's recent bombardment of the coastal enclave, he added. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414919Air raids exact heavy toll on Gaza infrastructureGAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- A physiotherapy clinic, sewerage pump, civil society organizations and government buildings have been damaged in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since Thursday, witnesses and officials said ... A specialist physiotherapy clinic in Gaza City funded by the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries was amongst the buildings seriously damaged in the assault, witnesses said. The clinic was the first of its kind in Gaza and run by the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. An electricity generator and four water pumps for the sewerage system in An-Nuseirat refugee camp were destroyed on Friday, causing power cuts in central Gaza. The offices of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation sustained damages in air raids at dawn on Friday. The Gaza City office was opened to provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza residents in the wake of Israel's Operation Cast Lead offensive in December 2008. The same building was also bombed in July 2010. Officials said the damage would affect the organization ability to provide humanitarian services. Israeli forces also shelled a library located in a residential area and among government buildings, the Gaza government said. The Hamas-run Ministry of Justice, civil servants' bureau and government media office were severely damaged, the ministry said. In a statement, the justice ministry said Israeli forces deliberately targeted civil institutions in what it described as a war crime. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414778Rafah crossing open Monday for August 14 applicantsGAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- The Ministry of Interior in Gaza said Sunday that travel via the Rafah crossing on Monday will only be for passengers who registered to travel on August 14. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415157'Ground operation in Gaza possible'Ynet 21 Aug 15:02 -- Vice Premier and Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom toured the south on Sunday, as Gaza Strip's terror group continued their nonstop rocket fire on the area's communities. Shalom addressed the escalation in the south during a visit to Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba, where he looked in on those wounded in Saturday's barrage: "The deterrence of has exhausted itself. We'll need to respond, and we're not ruling out the possibility of a ground operation," he said.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4111845,00.htmlAhmad Tibi: Israeli military escalation to be expectedBETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Tibi said Sunday that further Israeli military escalations were to be expected. In an interview with Ma‘an, the MK said the latest violence was a way for Israel to escape its domestic crisis. Palestinian blood is a way for Israeli political parties to avoid confronting each other, he added ... The Palestinian people have always been an escape route for Netanyahu and the Israeli government when faced with an internal crisis, he noted.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415133Kulna Gaza - We are all Gazans[with photos] Intifada Palestine 21 Aug -- an article from young journalist and activist Vera Macht who is actually in Cairo, trying to get back to Gaza again, where she lived until April 2011 -- Fifteen people were killed so far, and no end in sight. Tomorrow the foreigners will be evacuated, Israel threatens with a “massive military attack”, a “ground invasion” is not ruled out. Fifteen killed people, including two children. I can give their names, Malek, two years old, and Mahmoud, thirteen years. I can tell how Mahmoud’s teacher has described him as an intelligent, bright student, or I can show photos of the two. As if that would create an outcry , as if the Western media would care enough for the lives of Palestinian children. No, Israel was attacked. Israel must defend itself.http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2011/08/kulna-gaza-we-are-all-gazans/Gaza: There was no calm before the stormISM 21 Aug -- For the last two days Gaza has been under heavy attack by the Israeli military. The calm has been shattered. That is what the international press would have you believe. Perhaps they should meet Hamouda Al Najjar from Khuzzaa. He was shot in the leg on August 15th, 2011, during the time that most people think of as the time of calm in Gaza. Gaza is never really calm, it is just that the dead and the injured are ignored. If an Israeli settler had been shot in the leg while gathering food for his sheep every newspaper in America would carry a story, nobody reported the shooting of Hamouda Al Najjar.http://palsolidarity.org/2011/08/19891/AL urges UN action on Israel Gaza raidsPress TV 21 Aug -- The Arab League (AL) has condemned the continuous Israeli airstrikes on the impoverished Gaza Strip, calling on the United Nations to intervene in order for the raids to be stopped ... The remarks come after the 22-member organization held an emergency meeting to examine the dire situation of the people of Gaza due to Israel's continuous airstrikes on the coastal sliver since late Thursday. http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195047.htmlPA condemns collective punishment 'tactics' in Gaza StripRAMALLAH (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- ...The PA called upon the Israeli government "to cease and desist in its use of its unjustified aggression against the Palestinian people in Gaza and to respect international law and refrain from revenge, terror, and collective punishment tactics," the statement said. Israeli tactics in the Gaza Strip are effectively the same as the "price tag" policy adopted by settlers in the West Bank, the PA said, and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak is carrying out "illegal and immoral actions against the people of Gaza."http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415033Report: Iran cuts Hamas fundingReuters 1 Aug -- Iran has cut back or even stopped its funding of Hamas after the Islamist movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, failed to show public support for Syrian President Bashar Assad, diplomats said on Sunday. Hamas has denied that it is in financial crisis but says it faces liquidity problems stemming from inconsistent revenues from tax collection in the Gaza Strip and foreign aid.http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4111974,00.htmlPolitical / Diplomatic / InternationalSpain expresses support for Palestinian recognitionBETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 21 Aug -- The Spanish foreign affairs minister said Sunday that she hopes the EU can push forward efforts for the recognition of a Palestinian state, Israeli news site Ynet reported. An upcoming September 2 meeting between European Union foreign ministers is an opportunity to show support for a Palestinian state, Trinidad Jiménez said. "There's the feeling that now is the time to do something, to give the Palestinians the hope that a state could become reality," Jiménez said Sunday in an interview with Spain's El País newspaper.http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=415091Turkey wants to delay publication of UN report on Gaza flotillaHaaretz 21 Aug -- Turkey has requested that the publication of a UN report on the events surrounding Israel's raid on a Gaza-bound ship last year be delayed by an additional ten days, a diplomatic source in Jerusalem said Sunday ... The Israeli official noted that a delay of the report would allow the renewal of Israel-Turkey negotiations aimed at ending the diplomatic crisis between the two countries, and to try to word an Israeli apology to Turkey that would be acceptable by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/turkey-wants-to-delay-publication-of-un-report-on-gaza-flotilla-1.379872Egyptian 'Spiderman' becomes hero with Israel flag protestCAIRO (AFP) -- A lone protester became a hero to an exultant crowd of Egyptians and many more online by hauling down Israel's flag atop its embassy in Cairo after the border killing of Egyptian policemen. More than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the Israeli embassy early Sunday and let off celebratory fireworks when the man clambered to the top floor of a high-rise housing the mission, replacing the flag with an Egyptian one. [Al Jazeera video] Egypt's cabinet said an Israeli statement expressing regret for the deaths of the policemen was not enough, but stopped short of saying if it would recall its envoy from Tel Aviv. Tensions between Israel and Egypt have surged since the deaths on Thursday of the police officers, which occurred as Israeli troops pursued militants responsible for deadly attacks near Eilat. Rockets fired from Gaza early Sunday landed across the border in Egypt but caused no casualties, Egyptian state television reported, while a source said they could have been fired by mistake. "Several rockets from the Gaza Strip landed this morning in Egyptian territory in the region west of the Rafah terminal, without causing casualties," the television reported. The Gaza-based Popular Resistance Committees and the armed wing of Islamic Jihad said they had lobbed rockets at an Israeli army post near Kerem Shalom which lies on the Israel-Gaza border, some two kilometers from the Egyptian frontier. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=414860Fayyad's office denies US threats to PARAMALLAH (WAFA) 21 Aug -- The Office of the Prime Minister Salam Fayyad (PMO) Sunday rejected as outright falsification a Yedioth Ahronoth news report, which appeared on the newspaper’s website earlier today, regarding the existence of any US threats to the Palestinian Authority (PA) during a telephone conversation between Fayyad and the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, last Thursday eveninghttp://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=17073Other news'Israel prepares for war in Sinai Desert'PressTV 20 Aug -- The former head of Israel's National Security Council (NSC) urges military action by the regime in the Sinai Peninsula, following growing tensions with Egypt. Uzi Dayan told Israel's Channel 7 on Friday that Israeli military and security forces should prepare for a period different from the past in dealing with the new Egyptian government. He claimed that the military effort would aim to target those that represent a threat to the Israeli regime. "This is the time for the Israeli army to prevail its control inside Sinai," Dayan went on to say.Israeli troops are banned from entering the Sinai Peninsula under a 1979 peace treaty with Egypt.http://www.presstv.ir/detail/194803.htmlIsrael Aerospace Industries unveils unmanned aircraft 'Ghost'Haaretz 21 Aug -- Israel Aerospace Industries unveiled over the weekend its latest development in the field of secret unmanned aerial vehicles - a miniature aircraft weighing four kilograms known as GHOST - to foreign customers. In a Washington exhibition, the IAI showcased the unmanned aircraft that is able to provide intelligence imagery in real time to soldiers in urban areas, and is also suitable for civilian use. GHOST lands and launches vertically and is able to fly and hover while automatically maintaining its altitude.http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/israel-aerospace-industries-unveils-unmanned-aircraft-ghost-1.379853Opinion / AnalysisVideo: Israel exploiting attacks to sway UNPressTV 21 Aug -- “This [attack on Israeli soldiers] is going to give Netanyahu enough time to launch a diplomatic attack on the Palestinians and that the Palestinians do not deserve a state of their own as a result of the attack on Israeli soldiers and civilians in Eilat,” Mukhaimer Abu Saada, a professor at al-Azhar University, told Press TV.http://www.presstv.ir/detail/195061.htmlThe return of the generals / Uri Avnery19 Aug -- ...AT THE beginning of the week, Binyamin Netanyahu was desperately looking for a way out of an escalating internal crisis. The social protest movement was gathering momentum and posing a growing danger to his government ... And then it happened. A small extremist Islamist group in the Gaza Strip sent a detachment into the Egyptian Sinai desert, from where it easily crossed the undefended Israeli border and created havoc ... In a jiffy, the economics professors vanished from the TV screens, and their place was taken by the old gang of exes – ex-generals, ex-secret-service chiefs, ex-policemen, all male, of course, accompanied by their entourage of obsequious military correspondents and far-right politicians ... With a sigh of relief, Netanyahu returned to his usual stance. Here he was, surrounded by generals, the he-man, the resolute fighter, the Defender of Israel. IT WAS, for him and his government, an incredible stroke of luck.http://counterpunch.org/avnery08192011.html--
