Amnesty international tells israel to end illegal blockade of Gaza

Source : http://www.tehrantimes.com/world/112499-amnesty-international-tells-israel-to-end-illegal-blockade-of-gaza-

Amnesty International has called on the Israeli regime to immediately end the illegal 5-year blockade it has imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has left many struggling for humanitarian supplies. “Israel must immediately lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, including by allowing the delivery of fuel and other essential supplies into the territory without restrictions,” Amnesty said in a statement issued on Sunday, Al-Alam reported.  The rights organization also warned of a prolonged humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to fuel shortage ahead of winter. Over 1.7 million people of Gaza are living without power since the territory’s sole power plant was forced to shut down last month due to fuel shortage, Amnesty said. “This latest harsh setback has exacerbated the assault on the dignity of Palestinians in Gaza and the massive denial of rights they have experienced for more than six years because of Israel’s blockade, together with restrictions imposed by Egypt,” said Philip Luther, the Middle East and North Africa director at Amnesty International. Luther added that the blockade “has collectively punished Gaza’s population in violation of international law.” “The power plant shutdown has further affected all aspects of daily life, and the Israeli authorities must lift the blockade immediately, starting by allowing urgently needed fuel supplies into the Strip and working with all relevant parties to avert a prolonged humanitarian crisis this winter.” Israel imposed an all-out land, aerial, and naval blockade on Gaza in June 2007.The siege has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the impoverished enclave, having turned the territory into the world’s largest open-air prison.In recent months, fuel and electricity shortages in Gaza have worsened as the Egyptian military has blocked supply tunnels leading into the region. The underground tunnels serve as a lifeline for the Palestinians in Gaza. The blockaded silver is now experiencing daily power outages of up to 16 hours. Hospitals, homes, water and sanitation plants as well as businesses have also been affected by the serious energy shortage. The power cut has caused the failure of sewerage and water plants. It has also put the lives of many hospitalized patients in danger. According to the UN, all 291 water and wastewater facilities in the Gaza Strip are now relying on standby generators, which are also affected by the fuel shortages. Prominent political thinker Noam Chomsky has described the Gaza Strip as “the world’s largest open air prison."

Source: Agencies

New European Union directive prohibits involvement in illegal Israeli settlements

Source : IMEC

On June 30, 2013, the European Union issued a directive forbidding its 28 member countries from funding or participating in projects that are located within the territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. The new directive, however, does not apply to trade between the EU and Israel, so businesses operating in the illegal settlements would not be affected.

The EU recognizes that Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are illegal. (Image from Wikimedia Commons)

The legally binding directive will come into effect in 2014, and it forbids EU member states from issuing grants, scholarships, funding, and prizes to Israeli non-governmental and governmental organizations operating beyond Israel’s 1967 borders. The directive requires that any agreements or contracts between an EU country and an Israeli organization include a clause stating that the project or institution is not located on occupied land in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Golan. The European Union recognizes that Israeli settlements on occupied land are illegal according to international law.

A statement issued by the EU explained that, “the purpose of these guidelines is to make a distinction between the state of Israel and the occupied territories when it comes to EU support." The Israeli government will have to stipulate in future agreements with the EU that the settlements in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, and the Golan are not a part of the State of Israel. Haaretz quoted an Israeli official as saying that the new EU guidelines are an “earthquake”, and Ze’ev Elkin, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, described the EU directive as a "big mistake.” Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi embraced the EU’s decision, saying that “[this] is the beginning of new era. Israel should listen carefully and should understand that this occupation cannot continue without any kind of accountability."

Israel demolishes Bedouin village for 53rd time

Source : Maan News Agency

BEERSHEBA, Israel (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished a Bedouin village in southern Israel for the 53rd time on Tuesday, as thousands protested a day earlier over plans to forcibly displace Bedouins in the Negev.

"It is the 53rd demolition since July 2010," Araqib chieftain Sheikh Sayyah Abu Mdeighim told Ma'an.

"They have brought down all the sheds we built for the summer so we can protect our land and defend ourselves against the oppressive policy of this tyrannical government."

Large numbers of Israeli police officers and officials from Israel's Land Authority accompanied the bulldozers.

Families in Araqib managed to re-build five of the sheds after the bulldozers left, Abu Mdeighim said, with Palestinian and Israeli activists due to visit to the village to help rebuild the rest of the structures.

On Monday, thousands of people demonstrated across Israel and Palestine to protest a controversial plan which would see the forced displacement of nearly 40,000 Bedouins in the Negev.

The Israeli government approved the Prawer-Begin plan in 2011, in what it says was an attempt to address the problem of unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev desert of southern Israel.

The 2011 proposal was formulated without any consultation with the Bedouin community and rights groups slammed it as a major blow to Bedouin rights.

According to the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the plan will forcibly evict nearly 40,000 Bedouins and destroy their communal and social fabric, condemning them to a future of poverty and unemployment.

Israel refuses to recognize 35 Bedouin villages in the Negev, which collectively house nearly 90,000 people.

The Israeli state denies them access to basic services and infrastructure, such as electricity and running water, and refuses to place them under municipal jurisdiction.

Israel army unveils new cyber defense unit

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, July 8 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military offered Monday a peek into one of its most secretive bases, which houses a newly established unit tasked with defending its own networks against mounting attacks launched in cyberspace.

Teams of programmers and computer experts, aged 18 to 22, man the "Cyber War Room," situated at an undisclosed site in central Israel, where malicious cybernetic activities occurring worldwide are monitored around the clock.

Long gone are the days when cyber was the exclusive domain of computer "geeks" spending their nights and days hacking into data bases in the privacy of dimly-lit bedrooms. In the Israeli military, it has already received recognition as another dimension of warfare, alongside the bombers, ships and tank battalions.

"Cyber isn't just another means, but a dimension that exists all the time between and during wars," Brig. Gen. Ayala Hakim, commander of the Israeli Defense Forces's (IDF) Lotam Unit, which oversees cyberdefense operations, told Israel's Channel 10 during an interview Monday.

Israel is investing vast human and financial resources in defending against the immediate threat posed by computer network attacks launched daily on its strategic infrastructure, government ministries, military and intelligence community. The fear is that a major cyberattack could cripple the country's critical infrastructure, including utilities, banking and cellphone networks, among others.

To illustrate the scope of the phenomena, the government revealed it deflected a staggering 44 million attacks on its main online sites during a nine-day war with Islamist group Hamas in Gaza last November.

Last year, the IDF publicly acknowledged for the first time, in a post on its official blog, that it was engaged in both defensive and offensive cyberwarfare. On the defensive end, efforts are mainly focused on repelling attempts by enemy states, global militant networks and lone hackers from overseas to penetrate the military's computers, either for espionage or sabotage.

"The operations room enables us to monitor the great breadth of the Internet at a single focal point," explained the Israeli military official. "We look at what is happening to us via a proactive approach and by gathering open intelligence. We assess our situation."

Like other cyber units operating in Israel's defense institution, including in the intelligence community, the soldiers of the new Cyber War Room constantly seek to increase the nimbleness of their response to identify and prevent an attack, and exploit it to launch a counterattack.

E

New Arab-Israeli Battalion to Fight Hezbollah

Source : Almanar.lb

The Zionist entity has recently formed an Arab battalion within its military ranks called 'Arabs of the Israeli army' dubbed as "Horv", particularly designed to fight Hezbollah in a future confrontation.

According to Syria Truth website, the Zionist army command revealed that officers of the new military unit are "Druze supporters of Walid Jumblatt and Wahhabi Bedouins known for their dogmatic hostility to the Shiites."

In this regard, the website recalls the statements of Muslim Brotherhood or Salafist leaders of the insurgence in Syria who showed affinities with the Zionist entity.

"Israel and the Sunni Muslims in Syria are in the same front against the Shiites, the Nasserists and the Majous who all have a joint project to eliminate the Jews," said a member of the so-called Syrian National Council (SNC) Khaled Khoja for the Zionist Channel 2, asking what he dubbed "Israel" to bomb Syria.

Regarding the battalion, the Zionist entity has sought to make a large propaganda and shed light on its recent maneuvers. This would reassure the Israeli public, which has not yet forgotten the heinous defeat its army suffered in the July 2006 war on Lebanon.

The unit commander, Shadi Abu Fares, told the Zionist army radio that the battalion has completed intensive training in the Syrian Golan Heights, revealing that the unit has developed new methods and tactics to fight the enemy in Lebanon as efficiently as possible."

"Fighting in Lebanon requires a severe camouflage style, given the need to slow the advance of the troops on the ground", he stressed, adding that "new battle techniques and tactics adopted by the battalion operated recently are perfectly adapted to the fight against the systems supported by Hezbollah, including the use of long-rage heavy fire."

"We worked on tactics and techniques of the battlefield adopted by the Israeli army, including open and associated combat zones. We have applied them with suitable modifications to the real ground against Hezbollah, as the battalion has rich experience, and we have a prior knowledge of what awaits us in the next war in Lebanon," he went on to say.

The Zionist radio has focused on what it considers the success of Horv while exercising its functions, noting that its troops have acquired operational experience, particularly during their task in Lebanon for many years.

"During the Second Lebanon War in 2006, it (Horv) was the first combat unit to cross the border into Lebanon, and the last to return. This is the reason behind the many medals of appreciation it gained," said the radio, knowing that the 2006 war on Lebanon was a major blow for the Zionist entity.

The radio correspondent quoted the commander of the northern front, Colonel Sion Ertson, as saying that "Horv should teach all the Israeli army how to effectively fight against Hezbollah."

"The maneuvers were held in the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, lasting for three consecutive days, where tanks and armored vehicles participated," the reported said, focusing on the role of special engineering forces in opening roads to facilitate the infantry movement.

As for the fighting methods, the Zionist journalist pointed out that the exercises were based on intensive fire shooting and the use of artillery "to prevent the enemy to raise his head."

For his part, Abu Fares voiced that the military cannot note that Horv battalion is ready for all situations.

"After completing training missions, Horv should be deployed on the border with Lebanon. We will work to prevent the infiltration of any incursion from Lebanon. We will also maintain its defensive position and activate it. At the same time, we will conduct additional activities which we can not reveal their details," he said.

Meanwhile, Ertson said "the changes in the region require us to be ready for war, but with the battalion Horv I'm much more confident than any other battalion in the IDF."

Maneuvers of Arabs in the Zionist army battalion attended by the commander of the northern region in the Zionist military General Yair Golan, and the brigade commander of the Galilee, Brigadier Hertsey Halevy.

Worthy to mention that the Zionist army has recently paved a new way at the northern border with Lebanon in an attempt to terrorize citizens and spread panic among them.

Since the 2006 July war on Lebanon, the Zionist entity has spared no chance to violate the Lebanese sovereignty in flagrant breaching of the UN resolution 1701.

Israel still tightens the Gazans' access to their land and sea waters: OCHA

Source : Ahlul Bayt News Agency

The escalating restrictions imposed by Israel on access to land along Gaza’s perimeter fence and to fishing areas along Gaza’s coast undermine the security and livelihoods of Palestinians, the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories stated in a recent report.

According to the report, Israel has tightened its restrictions on the Gazans' access to the sea and to land located near the fence since September 2000 at the pretext of security concerns.

Up to 35 percent of Gaza’s agricultural land and as much as 85 percent of its fishing waters have been affected at various points, the report said.

The Palestinian access to farming land within 300 meters of the perimeter fence separating Gaza from the 1948 occupied lands is largely prohibited and risky.

Fishermen are currently allowed to access less than one third of the fishing areas allocated under the Oslo accords, about six out of the specified 20 nautical miles from the coast.

There are currently 3,500 registered fishermen in Gaza and 2,000 people work in fishing-related industries, the report noted.

The fish catch lost as a result of access restrictions between 2000 and 2012 is estimated at approximately 1,300 metric tonnes per year.

The report pointed out that these Israeli restrictions caused 95 percent of Gaza fishermen to receive regular international aid.

Prior to November 2012, access restrictions resulted in a loss of approximately 75,000 metric tonnes of agricultural produce, valued at 50.2 million dollars per year.

12 percent of the homes destroyed during operation Cast Lead in 2008/2009 was located in access restricted areas.

13 schools with 4,800 students and staff are located within 1,500 meters from the fence and have had class sessions disrupted due to Israel's enforcement of access restrictions.

Since June 2007, 214 Palestinians have been killed, including at least 127 civilians, and 825 injured, including at least 761 civilians, in the access restricted areas.

During the same period, five Palestinian fishermen were killed and 25 others were injured when the Israeli naval forces opened fire at them to enforce access restrictions.

Israel Claims Palestinian Group Responsible For Attack On Navy Ship

Source : IMEC

Israel TV, Channel 2, has reported that Palestinian fighters were behind the attack against an Israeli Navy ship, paroling the Gaza shore on Wednesday at night.

The TV said that the shells detonated near the ship, without any direct impact, leading to no injuries on damage.

The fighters also apparently fired several rounds of live ammunition.

It added that the soldiers noticed six shells fired at their ship, and responded by firing dozens of rounds of live ammunition at the source of fire; no clashes have been reported.

The Israeli fire also failed to hit any of the fighters who managed to escape unharmed.

UK grants judicial immunity to Israel army chief suspected of war crimes

Source : Al Akhbar English

Israel’s army chief arrived in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, after the European nation decided to grant him judicial immunity during his official visit, Ma’an news agency reported.

Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, the chief of staff of the Israeli Occupation Forces, is the first Israeli army chief to visit the UK since 1998. According to The Times of Israel, Gantz is to meet with UK Chief of the Defense Staff General David Julian Richards and othersecurity chiefs to discuss military cooperation.

The British government granted Gantz's trip the status of “special mission,” thus giving him immunity from prosecution by the UK's criminal justice system, according to a statement by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.

Gantz is suspected of involvement in the commission of war crimes, particularly in the November 2012 assault on the Gaza Strip, codenamed Operation Pillar of Defense, PCHR said.

The eight-day attack on Gaza led to the death of 162 Palestinians and 5 Israelis.

“The Palestinian Center for Human Rights and Hickman & Rose Solicitors, who represent the victims of Lieutenant General Gantz’s actions, condemn the decision to grant immunity to a suspected war criminal. This decision sends the dangerous message that political considerations will be placed ahead of the rule of law,” PCHR’s statement read.

According to the center, “the UK is under a binding legal obligation to search for and prosecute those suspected of committing war crimes, including before their own national courts.”

"Credible evidence exists indicating Mr. Gantz's involvement in the commission of war crimes: these allegations should be investigated and, if appropriate, Mr. Gantz should be prosecuted," PCHR added.

"He should not be pre-emptively granted immunity by the UK Government, circumventing normal criminal justice procedures."

A week earlier, the UK government also extended special mission status to the visit of Israeli Major General Doron Almog, a retired army official suspected of war crimes, similarly shielding him from British judicial enquiries.

Almog canceled his scheduled UK visit at the last minute for unknown reasons.

In 2005, a British court issued an arrest warrant for Almog in relation to the 2002 destruction of 59 Palestinian homes in the Rafah refugee camp as part of a sustained policy of house demolitions in Gaza, PCHR said.

British police were preparing to arrest Almog on suspicion of war crimes after he and his wife flew to the United Kingdom in 2005, but he refused to leave his plane at Heathrow airport following a tip-off about the arrest warrant and was allowed to return to Israel.

The decision to grant immunity to both Israeli officials "sends the clear message that Israel can commit war crimes in the Gaza Strip with impunity," PCHR said.

There is a risk, the group said, that special missions will be used to protect allies of the government and undermine the "basic principle of equal application of the law and the UK’s international legal obligation to seek out and prosecute suspected war criminals."

(Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

Report: “1790 Palestinians Kidnapped, 16 Killed, In First Half of 2013”

Source : International Middle East Media Center

The Ahrar Center for Detainees Studies and Human Rights have reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped 1790 Palestinians in the first six months of this year, including 300 who were kidnapped in June, and added that 16 Palestinians have also been shot and killed by Israeli military fire in six months.

The Ahrar Center said that dozens of women, children, elderly, legislators, intellectuals and journalists were among the kidnapped.

The center added that the arrests took place in every part of the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem, in addition to 25 arrests in the Gaza Strip, including fishermen and five arrests on border terminals.

Most of the arrests have been carried out in the Hebron district, in the southern part of the West Bank. The second highest number of arrests was carried out in Jerusalem, followed by Nablus.

Ahrar said that February witnessed the largest number of arrests as the soldiers kidnapped 382 Palestinians, while 350 have been kidnapped in January, 300 in June, 263 in May, 259 in April and 236 in March.

The center further reported that the army also kidnapped 7 Palestinian legislators identified as Ahmad Attoun, Hatem Qfeisha, Abdul-Jabbar Foqaha, Imad Nofal, Basem Za’areer, Mahmoud Ramahi, and Mohammad Jamal An-Natsha.

Furthermore, Ahrar said that the army also kidnapped 33 women, including wives and relatives of political prisoners held by Israel, and that 17 of the kidnapped women are still imprisoned by Israel.

The Ahrar Center also said that 14 Palestinians, including 10 from the West Bank, and four from the Gaza Strip, have been shot and killed by the Israeli army since the beginning of this year, in addition to two Palestinian political prisoners who died in Israeli prisons.

Detainee Arafat Jaradat, 33, from Hebron, died of extreme torture by Israeli interrogators, and detainee Maisara Abu Hamdiyya, 64, died of an advanced stage of cancer resulting from the lack of medical treatment in Israeli prisons.

Four more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military fire in the Gaza Strip.

Head of the Ahrar Center, Fuad Al-khoffash, stated that the center documented daily Israeli military invasions; daily arrests and assaults, and demanded the International Community to act against the ongoing and escalating Israeli violations

Zionist Air Force Attacks Gaza Strip

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

The Zionist air force attacked the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday, following rocket fire from the Palestinian territory into the southern occupied territories.

"In response to the numerous rockets launched at Israel in the past several the hours, IAF aircraft targeted terrorist infrastructure including two weapon storage facilities in the central Gaza Strip and a rocket launch site in the southern Gaza Strip. IAF pilots reported accurate strikes on the targets," the Zionist army claimed in a statement.

Palestinian witnesses said the air raids hit uninhabited areas and caused no injuries.

Late Sunday, two Palestinian rockets “landed in southern Israel, without causing any damage or injury,” according to Israeli military sources. Two other rockets were intercepted by the "Iron Dome" system.

The Zionist army blamed Hamas rulers of Gaza for the rocket attacks, although no group claimed responsibility.

Syrian Electronic Army Reveals Documents of Haifa Hack

Source : Fars News Agency

The SEA hacked the main infrastructure system of Haifa, one of the most important ports in Israel, last month, disrupting the operation of the servers in charge of urban management systems and public utilities in the city.

A day later, the SEA said the hacking was done in retaliation for the recent Israeli strike on a research center in suburban Damascus.

FNA released the story, but to our much surprise Google's search engine blocked access to FNA report for over three days.

Yet, the western, including Israeli, media went to ask officials about the veracity of the report, in response to which some said they were uninformed, while others said there had been some minor hacking attacks which were repelled before they could cause any damage to the Israeli servers.

Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav said, "We are not aware of any such attempt by Syria, but we do know that Haifa, as the north's symbol, is a strategic target for our enemies and therefore we keep training and preparing for emergencies."

"Haifa was and stays strong," he added.

Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael, chairman of the National Council for Research and Development, said, "They attacked two weeks ago the Haifa water system because they apparently spotted an opportunity, which failed."

In response, the SEA sent FNA a set of documents to prove that the hack has been successful.

"Since Fars News Agency was the first media to release a report on our successful hacking attack and to prove that the recent allegations made by the Zionist regime officials about the failure of our cyberattack are nothing but empty words, we send you some documents that we have extracted from the Haifa servers in the hacking attack," said a part of the letter sent by the SEA to FNA.

"Sure, this is just a sample of the information and documents that we have gained in the attack, and for clear reasons, we cannot let the public know more about the more sensitive information that we have extracted in the cyberattack," the SEA letter added.

To the opposite and on the right hand side of the page, you may find the images of a number of documents sent to us by the SEA.

In addition, Hackers usually leave a couple of files for their colleagues to prove that their allegations are true. When the SEA declared that it had had a successful security breach and hacking into the Haifa SCADA system in early May, it left the following files on its website to show others in the hacking industry that its cyberattack had resulted in success.

Hack Screenshots:

https://cdn.anonfiles.com/1367855605244.pdf

https://cdn.anonfiles.com/1367851797457.gif

Cryptome mirror of the PDF and GIF: http://cryptome.org/2013/05/sea-haifa-hack.zip

When the SEA released a statement after hacking Haifa's SCADA systems in early May, it said, "We would like to announce that in response to the unfair and illegal attacks of Israel on DATE, the SEA has penetrated one of the main infrastructural systems (SCADA) in Haifa and managed to gain access to some sensitive data."

The statement which was also left for the Israeli operators of Haifa SCADA system, added that "the SEA is now able to cause irrecoverable damage to the Israelis' infrastructural systems."

The SEA warned that it could cause a major blast by continuing the attack on the servers of the Haifa infrastructural systems, but avoided further move due to inescapable human casualties as it did not want a story like the accident in Texas which claimed the lives of dozens of the people.

The statement asked Israelis "to do the best to express your objection to Israeli policies, since we do not like to see innocent people getting killed like in Texas, US, and this time in Haifa".

The SEA has recently gathered a name for itself in the hacking market by successful attacks on a wide range of the western media, most notably the hacking of AP Twitter accounts and sending of bogus messages which wreaked havoc on stock exchanges. The hackers tweeted that President Obama had been injured in a bomb attack at the White House, causing a temporary 143-point drop on the Dow Jones industrial average.

In an apparent effort to cause disruption and embarrassment in the West and to spread support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, the SEA has so far hacked the Guardian, the BBC (including BBC weather, BBC Arabic Online and BBC Radio Ulster), France 24 TV, the National Public Radio in the United States, al-Jazeera, the government of Qatar, E!, and Sepp Blatter, the president of football's governing body Fifa, whose Twitter account was hacked.

Cybersecurity experts told the Guardian that the SEA attacks are designed to disrupt and embarrass the West and pro-Israeli lobbies, states and entities.

But this last cyberattack is certainly a boost in the platform of SEA operations as it required much more sophisticated knowledge and capabilities compared with the previous hackings; giving the Syrian Electronic Army the opportunity to rise to a different level of fame.

SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) is a type of industrial control system (ICS). Industrial control systems are computer controlled systems that monitor and control industrial processes that exist in the physical world. SCADA systems historically distinguish themselves from other ICS systems by being large scale processes that can include multiple sites, and large distances. These processes include industrial, infrastructure, and facility-based processes.

Industrial processes include those of manufacturing, production, power generation, fabrication, and refining, and may run in continuous, batch, repetitive, or discrete modes.

Infrastructure processes may be public or private, and include water treatment and distribution, wastewater collection and treatment, oil and gas pipelines, electrical power transmission and distribution, wind farms, civil defense siren systems, and large communication systems.

Facility processes occur both in public facilities and private ones, including buildings, airports, ships, and space stations. They monitor and control heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems

Israeli rally calls on gov't to stop occupation of Palestinian lands

Source : Xinhua

JERUSALEM, June 1 (Xinhua) -- About 300 Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to call on the government to withdraw from the Palestinian lands that it has occupied for decades.

The demonstrators marched from the Ministry of Defense to Jabotinski House, the headquarters of the ruling Likud party, carrying placards saying "two states -- Palestine along Israel" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies."

A few right-wingers demonstrated in front of them in a spontaneous counter-demonstration, calling for keeping "the State of Israel to Israelis".

Dov Khanin, member of socialist Hadash party, which organized the rally, said Israel's occupation of the Palestinian lands is " dangerous, malign and expensive."

"The immense sum of money invested in building and securing the settlements and constructing apartheid walls, means less to welfare and education," Khanin said.

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration is currently make a lot of efforts, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, to help renew the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The U.S. diplomat visited the Middle East for the fourth time last month since he assumed into office in February.

Although Israeli officials have recently expressed their desire to resume the peace talks and their support of the two-state solution, many demonstrators said they have little trust in the government's announcements.

"Over the years, Israel did everything to prove that it isn't interested in peace," said Ma'ayan Dak, a leader of Coalition of Women for Peace and an organizer of the rally.

Dak said the ongoing Israeli control over the West Bank involves "many financial interests of companies which are involved in the construction of the settlements, building separation walls, operating the checkpoints, so Israel have no incentive to cease the occupation."

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 War. It withdrew its army from Gaza under the 2005 disengagement Plan but still keeps a tight blockade against it.

E

US Warns Russia of Sending S-300 Missiles to Syria: Puts Israel at Risk

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb/

US Secretary of State John Kerry strongly condemned Russia over its decision to sell an advanced missile system to Damascus, considering it puts Israel at risk.

Speaking from Washington, Kerry also warned that the planned delivery of S-300 air defense missiles to Damascus “was not helpful” as Russia and the US prepare for Geneva 2, to try to end the Syrian conflict.

Kerry said the delivery would have a “profoundly negative impact on the balance of interests and the stability of the region, and it does put Israel at risk”.

It is “not helpful to have the S-300 transferred to the region while you are trying to organize this peace and create peace," he added, questioning whether Russia was “fully committed to ending Syria's conflict”.

Turkey and Israel can't agree on Flotilla compensation

Source : middleeastmonitor.com

Three rounds of discussions over the amount of compensation to be paid for the victims of Israel's assault on the 2010 Freedom Flotilla have not resolved the issue, media reports claim. Turkey's Sabah newspaper claims that there is still a big gap between the compensation demanded by Ankara for the nine Turkish citizens killed by Israel on the Mavi Marmara and the amount offered by Israel.

Turkey is demanding $1 million for the family of each of the nine men killed by Israeli commandos when they stormed the flotilla vessels in international waters as they were taking humanitarian aid to break the siege of Gaza. Israel has said that it will only pay $100,000 to the victims' families; it has already issued an official apology for the deaths.

Israeli Military Vehicles, Bulldozers Enter Gaza

Source : Fars News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- Israeli military vehicles escorted bulldozers into a border area in central Gaza on Wednesday, locals said.

Seven bulldozers flanked by four military vehicles crossed into a border area near al-Bureij refugee camp at around 6 am, penetrating 300 meters into fields and leveling agricultural lands, witnesses told Ma'an.

Israeli drones were hovering at a low distance during the incident, locals added, with Israeli forces firing smoke bombs.

An Israeli army spokesman said there was "routine activity along the fence," without providing further details.

UEFA urged to boycott Israel as Euro U-21 champs host

Source : islamicinvitationturkey.com

Over 50 international footballers have joined anti-apartheid protesters in London to demand that the European football’s governing body, UEFA, calls off the planned under-21 European football championships in Israel, Press TV reports.

The hundred-strong protesters, who gathered in central London where UEFA is holding its annual congress, said the body is complicit in whitewashing the Israeli regime’s crimes if it allows Tel Aviv to host the tournament.

Meanwhile, Palestinian footballer and hunger striker Mahmoud Sarsak and Jewish comedian Alexei Sayle used the rally to hand a letter to the UEFA president Michel Platini, calling for cancelation of the under-21 event.

“Israel exercises apartheid and exercises a program of injustice against Palestinian sportsmen and women, carries out an extensive arrest policy of Palestinians with a sporting ambition and hope of representing their country in international events,” Sarsak told Press TV.

“Israel tries to kill our sporting hope by bombing stadium and sports facilities,” he added.

Sayle also condemned the move as part of efforts toward normalization of Israeli crimes.

Participants in the protest, organized by Innovative Minds campaign group who carried placards reading “End Israeli Apartheid” and “Kick Israeli Racism out of UEFA”.

They said the European football body should prevent the regime from hosting the under-21 tournament if it seriously seeks to end racism in football because the regime is an epitome of racism and a boycott by UEFA would send a strong message to racists.

Israel bars UN investigators from visiting Jerusalem

Source : Al Akhbar English

Israel on Monday barred a UN commission from visiting Jerusalem to investigate ongoing violations of religious freedom against Muslims and Christians in the Holy Land.

"Israel has cancelled the delegation," which was due to have arrived the same day, a foreign ministry official told AFP.

Israel in late-April agreed that the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization could assess the state of the Old City of Jerusalem, the first such monitoring mission since 2004.

Palestinians had urged for the visit after an escalation of Israeli attacks on non-Jewish worshippers in the Old City in recent weeks.

Israel said it decided to cancel the visit because it feared Palestinians wanted to “politicize” the issue.

"The Palestinians were not respecting the understandings. The visit was supposed to be professional, (but) they were taking measures that showed they were politicizing the event and not letting the delegation focus on professional sides of it," the official said.

Israeli forces as recently as Saturday used tear gas and rubber bullets to attack a demonstration after right-wing Israelis raided al-Aqsa mosque two days earlier.

Tensions have been high around the mosque in recent weeks, as Israel has limited access to Palestinian worshipers while allowing Israelis to tour the compound under armed guard.

And earlier this month religious groups condemned Israel for attacking Orthodox Christians celebrating their easter in the Old City.

Tens of thousands of Orthodox Christians had gathered in the streets around the holy sites where clashes erupted after police blocked them from entering certain areas.

The Palestine Liberation Organization last week denounced Israel for causing "countless difficulties" for Palestinian Christians and Muslims to reach their holy sites.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki on Thursday announced that the UNESCO would spend five days in Jerusalem before returning to its headquarters in Paris to submit a detailed report.

Maliki said that Israeli assaults against holy places in Jerusalem were part of a systematic policy crystallized recently.

(AFP, Ma’an, Al-Akhbar)

Palestinian group claims Golan attack

Source : Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Abdul Qader al- Husseini brigades on Thursday claimed responsibility for an attack from Syria on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The military wing of the Free Palestine Movement said it had received permission from Syria to launch the attack, following recent Israeli attacks on Syria.

The brigades said in a statement that militants fired projectiles at dawn on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the Nakba -- or catastrophe -- of Israel's founding in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced or fled from their homes.

"We are avenging all our martyrs that we lost in our war with the Zionist enemy," the brigades said in a statement.

The group posted a video online showing what it says is footage of the attack. Ma'an is unable to verify the  content of the footage.

Israel's military said several rockets fired from Syria landed in the occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday.

"Around 6 a.m. several rockets landed in the Hermon area on the Syria-Israel border," an Israeli army spokeswoman told Ma'an.

"As a result, the site has been closed to visitors and Israel has registered a complaint with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force. The incident is most likely related to the internal conflict," she added.

No injuries or damage were reported.

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said last week that Israel was not getting involved in Syria's internal conflict. It has, however, carried out several targeted strikes in Syria.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in a 1967 war and later annexed it in a move never recognized internationally.

Technically, Syria and Israel are still at war, but the Golan, a strategic plateau, has been largely quiet for decades.

Zionists Storm Aqsa Mosque on Nakba Anniversary

Source : http://www.almanar.com.lb

53 Zionist settlers stormed Al-Aqsa mosque Wednesday morning through the Moroccans Gate, under high police protection, while 50 other Israeli children concurrently broke into the mosque through King Faisal Gate.

The settlers made these escalatory moves as Palestinians were reviving the 65th anniversary of Al-Nakba (catastrophe).

The occupation has been calling on settlers to go on with their violations of Al-Aqsa mosque, and the biggest violation is expected to take place on the coming Thursday as Jewish youth and children will reportedly break into Al-Aqsa mosque to celebrate “Torah Revelation Holiday” in the “Temple Mount”, where they believe the Torah was revealed.

The call was published by Israeli settlers on social network and media, who said that Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Rabbi Yosef Elbaum will head a mass pilgrimage, and will move after that to a Jewish neighborhood in the old city to demand freedom of performing Jewish prayers in the courtyard of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Clashes as Israel detains 2 al-Aqsa brigade members in Jenin

Source : Maan News Agency

JENIN (Ma'an) -- Clashes broke out Monday morning in the Jenin refugee camp as Israeli forces detained two members of the Fatah- affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, locals said.

Locals said the fighting continued for two hours after Israeli forces raided the al-Jabaryat area of the camp at 4 a.m., detaining Raed Amin Dababa and Mohammad al-Amer.

A large military convoy was seen in the camp and two helicopters were overheard in the area, they added.

The two detainees are exempt from arrest by Israel under a deal with the Palestinian Authority signed in 2007, allowing Palestinian fighters who renounced violence against Israel and gave up arms immunity from detention.

Clashes also broke out after Israeli forces deployed near the local Martyrs' Cemetery. Locals threw stones and glass bottles at soldiers, who responded with live bullets and tear gas, locals said, reporting no injuries.

The camp residents said the sound of clashes reminded them of the second Intifada, when the camp was held under siege for 11 days during Operation Defensive Shield in which over 50 Palestinians were killed.

In a recent interview with Ma'an, commander of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Zakariya Zubeidi said Israeli forces were returning to the camp and targeting activists of the brigade who have full immunity from detention.

"I call on all the members of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade to be careful, and consider themselves [as being] chased by the Israeli authorities," he said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman did not immediately return requests for comment.

Meanwhile, the spokeswoman said two Palestinians were detained in two Jenin villages for 'illegal activity.'

The spokeswoman also confirmed the detention of 22-year-old Ahmad Fawzi Shahada from the Oref village in Nablus. Locals said he was taken to the Huwara military camp.