Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share this article with your facebook friends

 

Palestinians March, Hold Funeral Processions, Pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque Despite Israeli Forces' Restrictions and Crack Down

May 21, 2016 

Editor's Note:

The following news stories are just few examples of the Israeli occupation government's violation of Palestinian human rights, which cannot continue without the full financial and military support from the US-EU.

 

Hundreds of mourners march in 2 slain Palestinians’ funerals in Qalqilia, May 21, 2016 pic	Over 60,000 Palestinians perform Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque, May 20, 2016 pic

 

Over 60,000 Palestinians perform Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque

May 21, 2016, OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Tens of thousands of Palestinian worshipers performed the Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque and listened to the weekly khutba (sermon), which was delivered by Sheikh Ikrima Sabri.

According to Quds Press, more than 60,000 Palestinian worshipers, including 300 elderly citizens from Gaza, observed the Friday prayer and khutba at the Aqsa Mosque.

Meanwhile, the Israeli police intensified their presence in different areas of east Jerusalem, especially around the Aqsa Mosque and the Old City, and embarked on checking the ID cards of some worshipers before allowing them to enter the Islamic holy site.

During his khutba, Sheikh Sabri talked about the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) in 1948 and the right of return, stressing the Palestinians' insistence on returning to their homes which they were expelled from by the Zionists.

Sheikh Sabri also warned against the gravity of selling Palestinian real estate to Jewish settlers and groups in east Jerusalem and its suburbs, and called for taking action against the "weak people" who do not hesitate to give away their homes.

He also refuted Israel's allegations about its keenness on maintaining the status quo at the Aqsa Mosque and accused it of violating the pre-war status quo that existed before June 1967 in east Jerusalem and allowing non-Muslims to visit the Mosque without consent from the competent Islamic bodies.

Dozens injured as IOF suppresses Friday peaceful marches

May 21, 2016, WEST BANK, (PIC)--

Dozens of injuries were reported Friday after Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) suppressed the weekly anti-occupation marches across the West Bank.

Several local youths and foreign activists suffered breathing difficulties after inhaling teargas which was heavily fired by Israeli forces against the anti-settlement march in Ni’lin town.

Local sources affirmed that IOF soldiers violently attacked the peaceful march once the participants reached a Palestinian-owned land threatened with confiscation.

The sources stated that fire erupted in the nearby olive trees due to the Israeli excessive use of teargas bombs south of the town.

Several children and women also choked on teargas as Israeli forces randomly fired teargas bombs at local homes.

Along the same line, dozens choked on teargas when Israeli forces brutally suppressed Bil’in anti-settlement march.

Israeli forces heavily fired rubber bullets and teargas bombs at the participants once they reached the Apartheid Wall.

During the march, the participants raised Palestinian flags and chanted slogans in support of resistance option and national reconciliation.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed in large numbers Kafar Qaddum town amid heavy firing of teargas bombs and violently attacked the weekly anti-occupation march.

A young man was transferred to hospital after being directly hit by a teargas bomb in his neck, while another was hit and injured in his foot and treated on the scene.

Dozens of locals including children and women also suffered from the effects of teargas inhalation.

The participants responded by throwing stones at the soldiers.

Residents of Kafar Qaddum stage weekly protests against land confiscations as well as the closure of the village's southern road by Israeli forces. The road, which has been closed for 13 years, is the main route to the nearby city of Nablus, the nearest economic center.

Many villages in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem participate in weekly Friday marches in protest against Israeli settlement expansion and Judaization schemes.

Israeli forces have come under repeated criticism for excessive use of force as well as lethal methods of crowd control that often result in death or injury of peaceful protesters.

Hundreds of mourners march in 2 slain Palestinians’ funerals

May 21, 2016, QALQIIA, (PIC)--

Hundreds of Palestinians marched last night in the funeral of two slain Palestinians whose bodies had been held by Israel for more than two months.

According to Quds Press, Israeli authorities handed over the bodies of Bashar Musalha, from Qalqilia, and Abd al-Rahman Radad, from Salfit, at a military checkpoint near Qalqilia where they were taken to hospital before being transferred to their hometowns.

Radad, 16, was shot and killed on March 8, 2016 for allegedly carrying out a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv, while Musalha, 22, was killed by Israeli gunfire for also an alleged stabbing attack in Yafa within the Green Line.

Israel is still holding a total of 13 bodies, including 11 slain Jerusalemites and two others from al-Khalil and Bethlehem.

With the Palestinian death rate climbing as Israeli forces continue their crackdown on Palestinian protesters across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip's border, Israel's controversial and secretive extrajudicial killings policy is once again being questioned. 

Amnesty International has recently released a report titled, "No Justification for deliberate attacks on civilians, unlawful killings by Israeli forces, or collective punishment of Palestinians". The report said that many of the Israeli killings come close to the definition of extrajudicial killings.

IOF opens fire at farmers and fishermen in Gaza

May 21, 2016, GAZA, (PIC)--

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Saturday morning opened fire at Palestinian farmers and fishermen in the Gaza Strip, with no reported casualties.

Local sources reported that Israeli soldiers at Kissufim military post opened fire at farmers and fields east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. Luckily, all farmers escaped unhurt from the area.

In central Gaza, farmers and shepherds were also exposed in the morning to a gunfire attack by soldiers during their presence in an agricultural area to the east of Deir al-Balah. No one was injured in the assault.

Meanwhile, the Israeli occupation navy opened machinegun fire at fishermen and their boats off the coast of Gaza City and forced them to return ashore.

Under an inhumane siege, the Israeli army keeps attacking, injuring and killing civilians, farmers and fishermen almost on a daily basis, without any shred of respect for the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire deal in Gaza or even the international law.

Two young men kidnapped, others summoned in W. Bank IOF campaigns

May 21, 2016, NABLUS, (PIC)--

The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Saturday kidnapped two brothers and handed two others summonses for interrogation from the Shin Bet.

Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that Israeli troops aboard military vehicles stormed at dawn an apartment building for university students in al-Ma'ajeen neighborhood in Nablus city.

They added that the invading troops violently broke into all apartments in the building and ransacked them before rounding up 35-year-old Anas Sundak and withdrawing from the area.

At the same time, another Israeli military force also kidnapped 20-year-old Ahmed Sundak, the brother of Anas, after a raid on their home in Jeeth village, east of Qalqiliya city.

In Bethlehem, the IOF stormed Nahalin village and handed 24-year-old Nizar Salah a summons from the Shin Bet in Gush Etzion settlement after ransacking his home.

A Palestinian family from Sa'ir town in al-Khalil was also handed a summons for its detained son ordering him to go to the Shin Bet office for interrogation immediately after his release from an Israeli jail in the next few days.

Palestinians mark the 68th anniversary of Tantura massacre

May 21, 2016, OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)--

Palestinians on Friday marked the 68th anniversary of the massacre of more than 200 Palestinian civilians carried out by Zionist gangs in the village of Tantura in 1948.

A march was organized in the evacuated village calling for the Palestinian people’s right of return to their hometowns.

Tantura village, located on the Mediterranean coast south Haifa, had been subjected to a barbaric massacre that targeted men, women, children, and elderly in the small village on May 22 and 23, 1948. 

More than 200 unarmed civilians were killed at the hands of Israeli gangs.

The massacre was carried out only a week after the establishment of Israel.

An Israeli parking and a tourist resort now lay on the ruins of Tantura.

Khudari: Israel's ban on cement entry paralyzed Gaza reconstruction

May 21, 2016, GAZA, (PIC)--

The Popular Committee against the Siege has said that Israel has been preventing the entry of cement shipments to the Gaza Strip for the private sector for over one and a half months, which paralyzed several reconstruction projects.

In a press release on Friday, head of the committee Jamal al-Khudari said that the entry ban on cement supplies for the private sector doubled the suffering of citizens who lost their homes in the 2014 war on Gaza and obstructed reconstruction efforts, except for the projects funded by Qatar and international organizations.

He affirmed that there are still about 100,000 homeless Palestinians in Gaza waiting for the entry of cement shipments for the reconstruction of their homes.

He called on the UN and the international community to necessarily pressure Israel to allow in building materials and end its blockade on Gaza completely.

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