Chronological Review of Events/September 2012 – DPR review

Division for Palestinian Rights

Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

September 2012

1

Israeli military aircraft struck two targets in the northern Gaza Strip after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a house in Sderot in southern Israel.  Palestinian medical sources in Gaza reported that two people had been injured in the air strike.  (Ynetnews)

Dozens of Israeli settlers hurled stones at Palestinian homes in the Shu’fat neighbourhood, in East Jerusalem, injuring one resident in the head.  (IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers invaded a village near Jenin and detained a resident who was a former political prisoner.  (IMEMC)

2

Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel.  Both rockets exploded in open areas south of Ashkelon, causing no injuries or damage.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli soldiers stationed in military towers along Israel’s border with Gaza opened fire on Palestinian shepherds herding their sheep in central Gaza, killing 30 sheep.  The shepherds were not harmed.  (IMEMC)

A 20-year-old Palestinian man in Gaza died after dousing himself with gasoline and setting himself on fire.  His family said that he had been frustrated at being unable to find a job.  (IMEMC)

Israeli forces detained five Palestinians in the West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli settlers began moving into a portion of a house in the Ras Al-Amud neighbourhood in East Jerusalem after the police enforced a court order requiring the Palestinian family living in the house to vacate a part of it.  The process was the culmination of a years-long battle over the house which had pitted a Palestinian family against Irving Moskowitz, a millionaire and supporter of Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem.  (Ynetnews)

The Israeli military said that settlers had begun leaving the unauthorized outpost of “Migron”, obeying an Israeli Supreme Court order to vacate their homes.  (Reuters)

Settlers physically assaulted a group of Palestinian workers paving roads in Nablus.  (Ma’an News Agency)

A human rights organization, Operation Dove, said that Palestinian children in the south Hebron Hills were still exposed to regular attacks by Israeli settlers.  (WAFA)

3

The Israeli Air Force fired several missiles into a training centre belonging to the armed wing of Hamas in the central Gaza Strip.  Damage was reported but no injuries.  (IMEMC)

Palestinian medical sources in Ya’bod village near Jenin reported that several residents, including children, suffered from the effects of tear gas inhalation after the Israeli army invaded the village.  One of those affected was moved to a hospital after she suffered an asthma attack.  (IMEMC)

Israeli forces arrested 14 people across the West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers stopped the vehicle of a Palestinian activist, who was a spokesman for the Youth Coalition Against Settlements, forced him out of the car and kicked and punched him.  Tamer Al-Atrash said that he recognized the soldiers as he had previously filmed them during an assault on a number of residents in the Tal Rumeida neighbourhood in Hebron.  “This is an act of revenge,” he said.  (IMEMC)

Israeli authorities handed residents of Khirbet Tuba, south of Hebron, demolition orders for several houses.  (WAFA) 

Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq released a report entitled “Pillage of the Dead Sea: Israel’s Unlawful Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”, which examined Israel’s responsibilities with respect to the treatment of natural resources in the Dead Sea area and reiterated that, under international humanitarian law, Israel was obliged to administer the natural resources belonging to the Occupied Palestinian Territory without damaging or diminishing them.  (WAFA, www.alhaq.org)

4

Israeli forces raided a Palestinian house in Hebron, brutally battered a seven-year-old boy, and took him to a police station where he was detained for two hours.  (WAFA)

Two Molotov cocktails were thrown at an IDF base in the Abu-Dis region, north of Bethlehem.  No injuries were reported.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported that one resident was killed and another was injured in a tunnel collapse accident south of Rafah.  (IMEMC)

Following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), its leadership warned that Israeli policies in Jerusalem and the West Bank posed an "unprecedented and serious threat – in the short term – to the two-State solution".  It further said that Israel's policy of "Judaizing" Jerusalem and "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank "paved the way for the possibility of the establishment of one racist state where Israel would retain its occupation of Palestinian lands and prevent the creation of an independent Palestinian State on the 1967 borders."  (The Jerusalem Post)

According to a press release, PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat said that "all Israeli goods produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territory from illegally exploited Palestinian land and other natural resources constitute theft and contravene international law".  He added that "the settlement enterprise's profiteering from Palestinian natural resources violates our people's inalienable right to self-determination.  It must be stopped."  Mr. Erakat welcomed the report published by the human rights organization Al-Haq entitled “Pillage of the Dead Sea: Israel's Unlawful Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.  (Palestine News Network)

Vandals set fire to the doors of the Christian Latrun Monastery in the West Bank and daubed pro-settler graffiti on its walls in a possible retaliation for the eviction of families from the “Migron” outpost.  (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the "price-tag" attack by right-wing extremists against a monastery in Latrun.  "This is a criminal act and those responsible must be severely punished," he said.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli settlers from “Yizhar” settlement hurled stones at Palestinian vehicles at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus.  (WAFA)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Palestinian Authority (PA) condemned in a statement a decision by the Israeli Ministerial Committee on Settlement Affairs to put the vegetable market in the Old City of Hebron under the Hebron Settlement Council’s control.  (WAFA)

Israeli soldiers arrested five Palestinians from the village of Kufr Qaddum, east of Qalqilya.  (WAFA)

Israeli forces arrested three Palestinian teenagers in the central Gaza Strip near the border fence.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

5

Gunmen killed a colonel in the Palestinian security forces, Hisham al-Rukh, when they raked his car with gunfire in Jenin.  Jenin Governor Talal Dweikat said that an investigation was being undertaken to find out who had been behind the incident.  (Reuters)

Israeli navy boats opened fire on Palestinian fishermen off the coast of the Gaza Strip.  No injuries were reported.  (WAFA)

According to the Israeli military, an Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip killed three Palestinians as they tried to launch short-range rockets.  (Ma'an News Agency, Gulf Times)

Seven Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in the West Bank.  (IMEMC)

According to a Royal Palace statement, King Abdullah II of Jordan, in a closed-door meeting with visiting PA President Mahmoud Abbas, stressed the need for the international community to restart Palestinian-Israeli peacemaking, despite regional conflicts and tensions.  President Abbas then proceeded to Cairo to attend the 138^th regular meeting of Arab Ministers for Foreign Affairs at the Headquarters of the League of Arab States.  During his two-day visit, he was to meet with Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy and Arab Ministers for Foreign Affairs.  (The Washington Post, IMEMC) 

“I am going this month to the UN General Assembly in light of the latest decision in Doha, the Islamic Summit and the Non-Aligned Movement Summit,” PA President Abbas told reporters at the Headquarters of the League of Arab States, referring to securing recognition as a non-member observer State.  (Reuters)  

Egyptian President Morsy emphasized the need for full Palestinian membership at the United Nations during his speech at the meeting of the Arab Ministers for Foreign Affairs.  He also said that the Palestinian issue was “pivotal for Arabs’ progress”.  (www.alarabiya.net)

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Emigrants of Lebanon, Adnan Mansour, who assumed the chairmanship of the League of Arab States for six months, said:  “Lebanon will not refrain from offering all possible help to the Palestinian cause, as it has always done.”  (www.dailystar.com.lb)

Addressing the meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the League of Arab States in Cairo, PA President Abbas said that the "Palestinian Spring" had begun, as Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank in protest over rising prices and unpaid wages.  (Ma'an News Agency)

"The international community must consider how to relate to the import of goods that are produced in the settlements, 'which we consider illegal according to international law',” Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre told Haaretz on the eve of his visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah.  He added: “Norway is very closely watching the Israeli policy in Area C, especially in the south Hebron Hills.  […]  The idea of Area C was part of the interim period.  It was not meant to give Israel an opportunity to expand settlements in 60 per cent of the territories at the expense of the Palestinians who live in this Area,” he said. (Haaretz, WAFA)

In a statement, the PA Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called upon The Vatican and Pope Benedict XVI to condemn the attack on the Latrun Monastery by Jewish settlers.  The Ministry urged The Vatican to immediately recognize the State of Palestine based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to link its relations with Israel to Israel’s adherence to the peace references, international legitimacy and the Palestinian people’s rights.  (WAFA)

In a statement, European Union missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah reiterated “the European Union's condemnation of continuous settler violence and deliberate provocations against Palestinian civilians”, expressing particular concern “about the increasing number and the severity of recent incidents against Palestinian civilians by extremist settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem”.  (eeas.europa.eu)

Settlers from “Yizhar” settlement destroyed dozens of olive trees in the south Nablus area village of Burin.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel freed Hamas lawmaker Mohammed Abu Tir after holding him prisoner without charge for a year.  (AFP)

PA Minister for Prisoners' Affairs Issa Qaraqe said that the recent Israeli media campaign against the PA’s aid to Palestinian prisoners’ families in the form of stipends was part of Israeli incitement against the PA and President Abbas.  His statement came in response to accusations that the PA was “supporting terrorists”.  (WAFA)

Following the recent death of a young Palestinian who set himself on fire after months of desperately looking for a job, the International Labour Organization (ILO) once again drew attention to the precarious situation of workers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  “The situation of workers in Gaza is one of the worst in the region and the world,” said Nada al-Nashif, ILO Regional Director for the Arab States.  “Gaza’s growing youth population has a right to better work opportunities and growth with equity. They need decent jobs, a minimum of social protection and respect for their basic rights to ensure a life of dignity.”  (ILO News)

The just-released annual report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on assistance to the Palestinian people warned that long-term prospects for economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had worsened.  (UNCTAD) 

Israel’s Supreme Court instructed the Government to release a document that sets the minimum nutritional requirements for sustaining the residents of the Gaza Strip between the years of 2007 and 2010. (Haaretz)

Three French judges were preparing to travel to Ramallah to seek the exhumation of Yasser Arafat's body as part of an investigation into whether he was murdered by poison.  "We welcome the visit of the French committee," said Tawfiq Tirawi, head of the Palestinian committee investigating the circumstances of Mr. Arafat's death, in a statement.  (Reuters, AFP)

According to eyewitness accounts, an Israeli settler torched bales of wheat and alfalfa in Ein al-Duyuk, north of Jericho.  (Ma'an News Agency)

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network issued a statement criticizing a recent decision by the European Union to strengthen relations with Israel.  (Xinhua)

6

The Israeli military said that soldiers and aircraft had fired on Palestinian militants planting explosives along the border with Gaza.  A Palestinian health official said that three men had been killed.  (AP)

Israeli soldiers opened fire at a funeral procession east of Gaza City and injured one of the mourners.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

A 28-year-old Palestinian man from East Jerusalem was hospitalized with a broken leg after a group of Jewish youths beat him in the Katamonim neighbourhood in West Jerusalem.  (AFP)

Israeli forces arrested two young Palestinians from the Dheisheh refugee camp, south of Bethlehem.  (Palestine News Network)

The armed wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that it had fired Grad rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.  (Ma'an News Agency)

According to witness accounts, at least two Palestinians were killed by a shell fired by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) near Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.  (Ynetnews) 

Ligia Maria Scherer, Head of the Representative Office of Brazil to the Palestinian National Authority, affirmed her country’s full support for the Palestinian bid to seek observer State status at the General Assembly.  (WAFA) 

Sources close to PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said that he intended to submit his resignation to President Abbas.  (IMEMC)

Hamas authorities said that Palestinians would be able to use the Rafah crossing for the following day to cross into Egypt without registering with them in advance.  It was not immediately clear if the restrictions would be reinstated after the one-day access.  (Ma’an News Agency)

The Al-Aqsa Institute issued a statement saying that Moshe Feiglin, a member of the Likud Party, escorted by settlers and Israeli forces, entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to perform “Talmudic rituals”.  (Palestine News Network) 

Amnesty International said that Israeli authorities must release or admit to a hospital Samer al-Barq, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, who had been held without charge or trial since July 2010.  He had been on hunger strike for 139 days.  (www.amnesty.org)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of James W. Rawley, of the United States, as UN Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.  Mr. Rawley will also serve as UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  He will succeed Maxwell Gaylard of Australia, who completed his assignment on 31 August 2012.  (UN News Centre)

7

Two rockets fired from Gaza exploded in an open field in the Sderot region in southern Israel.  No injuries or damage were reported.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israel’s Defense Minister Ehud Barak said, “If the cabinet will want the IDF to conquer and control Gaza, this is something that is possible today.”  Speaking of Operation Cast Lead conducted in Gaza in 2008, he said that the Army “didn’t need to drag that out for 22 days…   we could have left 10 days earlier with the same results.”  (The Jerusalem Post)

The IDF detained four Palestinians, including two children, Palestinian sources in Hebron said.  Nidal al-Oweiwy, 12, and Karam Shahin, 14, were detained while playing near the Hebron City Council.  (IMEMC)

An official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Greece was quoted as saying to Israeli and Palestinian journalists in Athens that the European Union was considering instituting a ban on imports of products made in Israeli settlements or implementing the use of special labels for those products.  (The Jerusalem Post)

A group of settlers from the “Eli” settlement set fire to an orchard in the northern West Bank village of Qaryut, torching olive and almond trees.  Settlers also set fire to some 130 olive trees in another village in the northern West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

8

Four Palestinian workers were injured when they tried to go to Israel to their construction jobs when the IDF stopped their car in South Hebron and beat them, causing injuries.  They were moved to a local hospital.  (Ma’an News Agency)

During a press conference in Ramallah, PA President Abbas said that he would go to the General Assembly on 27 September “to consult with friends” about upgrading the  Palestinian status at the United Nations to a non-member State.  He clarified that no date had been set for filing the application.  “We are going to the UN to say that we are a State that is subject to the Fourth Geneva Convention and there are 133 countries that recognize a Palestinian State, with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.  (The Jerusalem Post)

After recent demonstrations by Palestinians protesting rising prices of basic goods and calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Fayyad, PA President Abbas said that he bore the ultimate responsibility for Government policies.  He added that he had asked Mr. Fayyad and the cabinet to meet with the private sector and business groups to examine ways to lower the cost of living.  He said that the PA was facing a cash crisis because of a shortfall in donor contributions, particularly from Arab States.  Mr. Abbas also said that Israel’s policies in the West Bank, including restrictions on movement and access to resources, had hampered the PA’s ability to manage the economy.  “We are not free to bring in whatever we want, goods or people, or to export,” he said. “They control the borders.”  (The Washington Post)

The PA Ministry of National Economy met with private sector representatives to discuss solutions to the ongoing financial crisis.  PA National Economy Minister Jawad Naji said that the discussion focused on improving the coordination between the public and private sectors, adding that the PA had also contacted donor countries to ensure that they fulfil their financial commitments.  (Ma’an News Agency)

PLO Executive Committee member Erakat called upon the US Administration to lift the ban imposed by Congress on $200 million worth of financial aid to the PA, saying that the Palestinian bid at the United Nations reinforces peace and maintains the two-State solution within the 1967 borders.  The call was made during two separate meetings with UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry and US Consul General Michael Ratney.  (WAFA)

According to Ghassan Daghlas, PA official in charge of monitoring settlement activity in the northern West Bank, 30 Israeli settlers entered the northern West Bank village of Qusra where they clashed with Palestinians for hours, injuring 15 from the village.  They also uprooted several olive trees and destroyed water wells before Israeli forces arrived and fired tear gas and rubber bullets.  (Ma’an News Agency)

9

Two Grad rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel damaging two buildings in Netivot and lightly injuring seven Israelis.  The second Grad rocket was fired at Beersheba, but there were no reports of damage.  The Mayors of Beersheba and Ashdod closed the schools in their cities, keeping some 100,000 schoolchildren at home.  (Haaretz)

Germany’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle began a visit to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  He had an intensive exchange of views with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defense Minister Barak.    Minister Westerwelle made clear that the Middle East peace process must not be forgotten amidst the pressing questions of current events in the region.  Mr. Westerwelle’s meeting with PA Prime Minister Fayyad focused on the Middle East peace process.  He praised Mr. Fayyad’s policies, saying that they were policymaking in the interest of peace.  He said that the aim was a two-State solution as the outcome of negotiations.  (www.auswaertiges-amt.de)

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu told visiting German Minister for Foreign Affairs Westerwelle that he would not tolerate the ongoing rocket fire from Gaza: "I'm absolutely committed to making clear to these terrorists that they can't do this with impunity.  They have paid a price in the past for these crimes and they'll pay a price again."  (DPA)

PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh said, "Eighteen years of the Paris economic agreement have become a heavy burden on the Palestinian people and led to very difficult financial and economic conditions.”  Mr. Sheikh said that he had sent a letter, at PA President Abbas' request, to Israel's Defense Ministry "demanding they open the Paris Protocol” and offering to form joint technical committees to negotiate its amendment.  Senior Israeli Defense Ministry official Amos Gilboa told Israel Radio: "We have to examine exactly what they [Palestinians] are proposing and to see if it's practical."  (Reuters)

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu criticized PA President Abbas for saying that the Israeli Government’s condemnations of the “price-tag” vigilante attacks against churches and mosques were disingenuous.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Vatican’s Custodian of the Holy Land, said that the Israeli Government’s failure to respond adequately to attacks by Jewish extremists against churches and monasteries was fostering a climate of intolerance towards Christianity in the country.  Police inaction and an educational culture that encouraged children to treat Christians with “contempt” had made life increasingly intolerable for many, said Father Pizzaballa.  (The Telegraph)

10

The IDF bombed four targets injuring five Palestinians, witnesses said.  The Israeli military said in a statement that a weapon manufacturing facility, a training site, a tunnel dug by militants in northern Gaza and a tunnel used for smuggling in the south were targeted.  A Gaza security official said that when an Israeli missile hit the smuggling tunnel in Rafah, shrapnel struck a nearby house, wounding two Palestinians.  In Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, three Palestinians were injured when a missile landed near their home.  (DPA)

The IDF shot a Palestinian who hurled firebombs at an Israeli army outpost in Hebron, a military spokesperson said.  The Palestinian's condition was "stable" and he was being treated at a hospital in Jerusalem.  (AFP)

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior in Gaza, Ihab Ghussien, confirmed that an agreement had been signed to form a joint security committee with Egypt. The committee would cover common security issues, especially along the Palestinian-Egyptian border. The agreement was built upon issues discussed during the meeting between Egyptian President Morsy and Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in June. (Xinhua)

Israeli Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon told Israel Radio, “There is no room to fix [the Paris Protocol] when there is no progress in the political channel, and the Palestinians have huge debts to Israel for transferring gas and electricity" and are working against Israel in international organizations.  (The Jerusalem Post)

More than 3,400 preschoolers will benefit from the $1 million grant by the Dubai Cares philanthropic organization to American Near East Refugee Aid in support of the early childhood development sector in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank.  (Gulfnews.com)

Japan’s Representative to the PA, Junya Matsuura, and Head of the Red Crescent Society Hospital in East Jerusalem, Abdallah Sabri, signed a $91,810 grant from the Government of Japan for equipping a new emergency room.  (WAFA)

In a press release, the Minister of the Palestinian Water Authority, Shaddad Attili, said that “The Israeli Civil Administration continues to intentionally delay and obstruct Palestinian water and other infrastructure projects in Area C, which ensures that Palestine’s water sector remains underdeveloped and inadequate to meet current needs,” adding that Israel had reduced the Joint Water Committee, set up to implement the Oslo Accords on water, to "a forum for blackmail". (Ma’an News Agency, WAFA)

The IDF handed orders to six Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan to demolish their privately owned houses for lack of building permits.  (WAFA)

Two bulldozers under IDF cover destroyed two water tanks and stone walls belonging to Palestinians in the Joreish village, south of Nablus, PA official Daghlas said.  (WAFA)

The Israeli police will soon inaugurate a new unit aiming to target "price-tag" vandalism against Palestinian and military property, Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Minister of Public Security, said.  (Xinhua)

Speaking at the Twelfth World Summit of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Amos Gilad, the Israeli Defense Ministry's Director for Policy and Political-Military Affairs, referred to recent “price-tag” attacks against Palestinians and Israeli Arabs as criminal acts of terror that meant to “drag Israel into a religious Armageddon” with its neighbours, adding that Jerusalem must do everything it can to retain its peace treaty with Egypt.  (Haaretz) 

According to local sources, a group of Jewish settlers from “Yitzhar” settlement in Burin village south of Nablus attacked and severely battered two Palestinians as they passed a road leading to the settlement. (WAFA)

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague expressed disappointment at the Israeli Cabinet’s decision to upgrade Ariel College. “This would lead to the creation of Israel’s first university beyond the Green Line, in a settlement illegal under international law. It would further entrench the presence of settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and create an additional barrier to peace with the Palestinians,” he said. (www.fco.org) 

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights was able to secure a reparation settlement with representatives of the Israeli military for NIS 430,000 ($107,500) for the family of Kassab and Ibrahim Shurrab, who were killed by the IDF in January 2009 during Operation Cast Lead.  (Palestine News Network)

At the opening of the twenty-first regular session of the Human Rights Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he remained concerned about the unfulfilled human rights of the Palestinian people, in particular the right to self-determination.  He said, “A sustainable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires a negotiated agreement that ends the 1967 occupation and results in an independent, sovereign, democratic and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours.  This objective must be supported by developments on the ground, including respect for human rights and international law, and concerted efforts to build the foundations of a future Palestinian State.  The situation in Gaza remains tense and troubling with indiscriminate rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli air strikes and incursions.  Serious human rights, humanitarian and socioeconomic problems only add to the immense human suffering.  I urge Israel to lift its harsh restrictions in order to ease the plight of civilians and bring an end to the closure.  Keeping a large and dense population in unremitting poverty is in nobody's interest except that of the most extreme radicals in the region.”  (www.unog.ch)

11

Four bulldozers and three military vehicles of the Israeli army entered 300 metres into the Gaza Strip, east of the Deir al-Balah and Al-Bureij refugee camps.  (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israeli navy opened fire on Palestinian fishermen off the northern Gaza coast.  An Israeli army spokesperson said that navy forces had fired warning shots because the boats had deviated from the designated fishing area.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces attacked the funeral for a Palestinian child in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, injuring several Palestinians.  (WAFA)

A Qassam rocket fired from Gaza exploded in an open area in southern Israel.  No injuries or damage were reported.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Several Jewish extremists attacked and severely battered a 21-year-old Palestinian while he was at his work west of Jerusalem, according to the information centre in Wadi Helwa in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan. (WAFA)

During his visit to India, PA President Abbas met with Indian Minister for External Affairs S. M. Krishna at the headquarters of the Council of Ministers of India in New Delhi‏ and discussed bilateral relations and the peace process in the Middle East. The two sides were also to sign memorandums of understanding on collaboration in the field of information and communications technology. (WAFA) 

Explaining the stance of the United States on the PA’s plan to seek non-member status at the UN later in the month, State Department Spokesperson Victoria Nuland said "We continue to make clear that we believe that the only realistic path for the Palestinians to achieve statehood is through direct negotiations." (AFP)

In a joint press conference with PA President Abbas in New Delhi, India’s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, said, “India has played an active role in supporting the efforts of the State of Palestine to secure full member status at UNESCO.  We will continue to support Palestine’s bid for full and equal membership at the United Nations. … The Government of India will also contribute $10 million to Palestine’s budget for this year to help address its financial requirements.  Later today, President Abbas will inaugurate the new Palestinian Embassy building, which has been built with Indian support.”  (WAFA, www.mea.gov.in,Asian News International)

Protesters calling for an end to the Oslo Accords and the Paris Protocol marched from central Ramallah to the headquarters of President Abbas.  The march followed a public transportation strike that had paralysed the West Bank a day earlier.  PA Minister of National Economy Jawad Naji said that the PA was preparing to enact a law setting a minimum wage for workers in both the public and private sectors.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

PA Ministers met to discuss ways to ease economic hardships that had provoked growing protests across the West Bank. Several hundred demonstrators had gathered outside the PA Prime Minister’s office to protest rising prices and the Government's failure to pay full salaries to civil servants, with most of the protesters being Government workers or labour union activists. (AP, Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered, owing to the PA’s financial crisis, the transfer of a NIS 250 million advance to the PA from tax revenues collected by Israel.  (www.pmo.gov.il)

PLO official Daghlas, monitoring settlements in the northern part of the West Bank, told WAFA that the Israeli authorities had informed four village councils north of Nablus of its decision to take over 800 dunums of privately owned Palestinian land that extended along the bypass road near an Israeli military camp north of Nablus all the way to the settlement of “Shavei Shomron” and 675 dunums of land in other parts of Nablus.  (Ma’an News Agency, WAFA)

Jewish extremists sprayed graffiti reading “Price-tag Migron” on a mosque in Dura, near Hebron, and tried to set fire to several cars in the area, according to a Palestinian official.  (Haaretz)

Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians in the West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency)

12

Two mortar shells fired from Gaza exploded in Israel’s Negev Desert.  No injuries or damage were reported.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli forces arrested an activist in Jerusalem while he was painting anti-wall slogans.  They also arrested five Palestinians near Qalqilya for allegedly throwing stones at the wall.  (Palestine News Network) 

During a meeting with PA Minister for Foreign Affairs Riad Malki in Astana, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, affirmed his country’s support for the Palestinian bid to gain observer State status at the United Nations.  Mr. Malki and Kazakhstan’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Yerzhan Kazykhanov, also agreed to form a joint council to enable businessmen to contribute to the implementation of joint projects.  (WAFA)

More than 30 settlers broke into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, roamed its yard under the protection of Israeli police, and performed Jewish rituals and prayers.  (WAFA)

Three Palestinian prisoners on a long-term hunger strike were in immediate danger following a rapid deterioration in their condition, prisoners' rights group Addameer said.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Filippo Grandi, Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), called for more help and extra funding for Palestine refugees in Syria.  The agency said that it needed nearly $54 million to provide urgent aid to up to 225,000 Palestinians affected by the unrest.  (AFP)

13

Eyewitnesses said that two armoured military bulldozers and two tanks invaded the area near the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, uprooting lands amid gunfire.  No injuries were reported.  (IMEMC, Ma’an News Agency)

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that Israeli prosecutors had charged six Jewish minors with a hate attack on a Palestinian man in West Jerusalem the previous week.  (AFP)

Senior PLO official Ahmed Qureia said that the PA was willing to discuss the formation of a bi-national State with Israel if Israel gave up on the two-State solution, Israel Radio reported.  Speaking to Israeli reporters to mark 19 years since the signing of the Oslo Accords, Mr. Qureia said that he did not see any hope for the existing economic agreement with Israel, which placed Palestinians at a disadvantage.  (The Jerusalem Post)

PLO Chief Negotiator Erakat called upon the international community to “come up with … political decisions and concrete actions, which include holding Israel accountable for its violations of international law, boycotting settlement products, recognizing the State of Palestine, and supporting its admission in the United Nations.”  (PLO-NAD)

Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman lashed out at PA President Abbas, saying that he would not be able to last in office more than another year or two, and calling the Oslo Accords “the biggest diplomatic failure since the founding of the [Israeli] State”.  (Haaretz)

PLO Chief Negotiator Erakat met with ambassadors from Europe, the US and Japan on the nineteenth anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords.  Mr. Erakat said that Israel had been occupying Palestine since 1967 "and this is considered an offence to humanity.  Israeli authorities have signed many agreements, and never committed to them."  He called the occupation the main source of violence and chaos in the Middle East.  (Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews)

According to a press release, over 60 members of the British Parliament from seven political parties signed a parliamentary motion supporting United Nations recognition of Palestine.  (WAFA)  

Hamas Spokesperson Mohammad Nazal ruled out the resumption of reconciliation meetings with Fatah in Cairo in the coming weeks.  "Egypt needs more time to arrange its [internal] priorities," said Mr. Nazal.  (WAFA)

Hamas leader Haniyeh postponed a visit to Cairo for the following week, Hamas said.  Mr. Haniyeh had been scheduled to meet Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Qandil to discuss security issues and the Gaza blockade, Hamas said.  (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israel Nature and Parks Authority withdrew its consent to the construction of the wall near the Palestinian village of Battir, south of Jerusalem, known for its ancient terraced gardening.  (Haaretz)

Palestinian activists called for mass demonstrations in the West Bank to demand an end to the Oslo Accords and other agreements signed between the PLO/PA and Israel.  The call came as public transportation workers and social activists announced that they had suspended their protests against the high cost of living until 16 September.  (The Jerusalem Post)

US State Department Spokesperson Nuland said that the US Administration was working with Congress to release some $200 million in funds to help the PA through a crippling financial crisis.  (www.reliefnet.int)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said during a speech in the European Parliament:  “We need to make sure that we continue to move forward and recognize the additional challenges that are faced at the moment by Prime Minister Fayyad and the Palestinian Authority in financial terms.”  Ms. Ashton said that she and Mr. Fayyad would work together with the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee on Assistance to the Palestinian People (AHLC) and the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs to try and make sure that the PA work, which was well-recognized by Israel and by the World Bank and countries of the region and beyond, was not allowed to fail.  (WAFA)

The Israeli Immigration Authority approved a quota of 5,000 Palestinian workers for the Israeli construction industry.  (The Jerusalem Post)

The Gaza health authorities stated that an Egyptian convoy had entered the Gaza Strip to deliver urgently needed medical supplies.  (IMEMC)

The Government of Japan will fund the construction of a new building at a private school in   Gaza City.  The Representative Office of Japan in Gaza said that the project  would be valued at $114,221.  (IMEMC) 

The Government of Prime Minister Netanyahu was seeking the approval of the Israeli Supreme Court for the expansion of more than 40 settlements and the legalization of all existing construction on privately owned Palestinian land confiscated for “military purposes”.  The Court had ruled such constructions illegal in 1979, saying that only State land could be used.  (Haaretz, IMEMC)

The Jerusalem District Court ruled that Israel must return a house in Hebron to settlers evicted in 2008 who had purchased it legally.  A judge said that the Palestinian owner's claim that the purchase agreement had been annulled before it was finalized was not credible.  He ordered the owner to pay about $13,000 in legal fees.  (IMEMC, Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews )

A number of extremist settlers occupied privately owned Palestinian lands that belonged to residents of the Al-Khadr town, near Bethlehem, a local activist said.  (WAFA)

The Israeli Supreme Court will rule on a petition filed by settlers of “Kfar Adumim” demanding the demolition of a Bedouin school built of mud and used car tires, attended by roughly 95 Bedouin children (grades one to four) from the nearby hut village Al-Khan Al-Ahmar.  (Palestine News Network)

PA Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe urged UN intervention as detainees in Israeli jails prepared to go on hunger strike to demand the release of prisoners detained before the 1993 Oslo Accords.  In Ramallah, demonstrators protested the continued detention of pre-Oslo prisoners.  (Ma'an News Agency) 

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported that detainee Hasan Safady had been moved to a hospital in Israel after his health suffered a sharp deterioration following 85 days of continuous hunger strike.  (IMEMC) 

Dirar Abu Sisi, a deputy engineer at the power plant in the Gaza Strip, currently imprisoned in Israel, went on a one-day hunger strike to protest against being held in solitary confinement.  (IMEMC)

UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly visited the Palestine refugee camp of Burj Barajneh in Beirut to see first-hand the humanitarian and living conditions at the site.  (www.un.org)

Dozens of Palestinians protested against an anti-Islam film in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, which housed UNRWA headquarters, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Health Organization (WHO).  International organizations shut their offices for one day as a precautionary measure.  (DPA)

14

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a rocket into southern Israel.  There were no reports of injuries or damage from the rocket, which landed in the Ashkelon region.  (The Jerusalem Post)

According to eyewitness accounts, dozens of Palestinians were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers attacked a weekly non-violent protest against the separation wall and settlements.  (IMEMC)

According to eyewitness accounts, Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian from Al-Khadr village, south of Bethlehem.  (Palestinian News Network)

Hundreds of worshippers leaving the Al-Aqsa Mosque after Friday prayers hurled stones at police officers and rioted near Jerusalem's Damascus Gate.  The demonstrators, protesting against an anti-Islamic film, started marching towards the US Consulate but were blocked by police who used shock grenades.  (Ynetnews)

Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti said that the Oslo Accords had turned out to be "a transition to nothing" and had been used as a cover by Israel "to consolidate a system of apartheid".  (Ma'an News Agency)

The absence of direct peace talks, in addition to the dramatic events in the Middle East, had moved the parties away from the search for a two-State solution into a "one-State reality", Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a report to the Security Council.  (DPA)

The European Union announced that it would double its aid for Palestinian development and for the PA to €200 million in 2012.  (Haaretz)

Mohammad Al-Agha, a Hamas agricultural official, said that the Gaza Strip was undergoing a real water crisis threatening people's lives, with 95 per cent of groundwater unfit for use.  (Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews)

Israel's National Security Council issued a report recommending that negotiations with the PA include compensation for Jews who had fled Arab countries.  (Haaretz)

Hundreds of settlers raided the village of Wad Abu al-Qamrah in the Hebron area and attacked Palestinian vehicles with stones.  (Palestinian News Network)

An Israeli military judge ruled that a young Palestinian from Hebron had been held in an Israeli jail for a month without any grounds after a soldier wrongly believed that he had cursed him. (Ma'an News Agency)

European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton issued a statement expressing great concern about the deteriorating health of three Palestinians on hunger strike.  (www.consilium.europa.eu)

Palestinian and German organizations protested as former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke at a campus symposium in Iserlohn, Germany.  (Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews)

15

According to security sources, Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians across the West Bank.  (WAFA)

The PA accused Hamas of exploiting peaceful protests against the high cost of living to spread anarchy in the West Bank.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Palestinians at the Shu’fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem threw Molotov cocktails and stones at Israeli border police.  No injuries or damage were reported in the incident.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli forces detained three Palestinians trying to cross into Israel from the Gaza Strip, according to the Israeli army.  (Ma'an News Agency)

According to eyewitness accounts, Israeli police arrested three Palestinian minors from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ras Al-Amud, south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  (WAFA)

Faysal Abu Shahla, a senior Fatah leader from the Gaza Strip, said that Jerusalem-based Fatah leader Qureia’s remarks about adopting a one-State solution did not represent an official view.  (Ma'an News Agency, Ynetnews)

According to reports, some 200 Gazans protested in Rafah against Egypt's closure of smuggling tunnels leading from the Sinai Peninsula into Gaza.  (The Jerusalem Post)

According to eyewitness accounts, a group of armed Israeli settlers stormed the village of Qusra, near Nablus, injuring one Palestinian.  (IMEMC)

16

According to eyewitness accounts, Israeli forces arrested an Al-Aqsa Mosque official at his East Jerusalem home.  (WAFA)

According to a Hamas official, a delegation from Hamas met with President Al-Bashir of the Sudan in Cairo.  (Ma'an News Agency)

According to security sources, Israeli forces handed three Palestinians residing near al-Haram al-Ibrahimi (Tomb of the Patriarchs) in the old city of Hebron, notices that their land would be seized.  (WAFA)

17

According to local sources, an Israeli warship opened fire on Palestinian fishing boats near Khan Yunis in Gaza.  (Palestine News Network)

Local sources said that Israeli forces raided the village of Yatta, south of Hebron, and set up military checkpoints in several neighbourhoods of the village.  (Palestine News Network) 

Dozens of Palestinians marched near the Qalandiya terminal in commemoration of the Sabra and Shatila refugee camp massacres in Lebanon in 1982.  Five protesters were later treated for the effects of tear gas bombs fired by the Israeli army.  (IMEMC)

Hamas leaders Haniyeh and Mashaal arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials, Hamas Spokesman Taher al-Nunu told reporters.  Mr. Haniyeh will meet with Egyptian Prime Minister Qandil to discuss security cooperation, ending the siege on Gaza, and the establishment of a duty-free zone at the Rafah crossing.  (Ma'an News Agency)

According to media reports, a new all-female list called "By Participating, We Can" was gearing up for next month's municipal elections in Hebron, with a campaign that aimed to both win at the polls and convince voters that women could lead just as well as men.  (Ynetnews)

According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, a Hamas court jailed four Palestinians for the 2011 kidnapping and killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, a pro-Palestinian Italian activist in the Gaza Strip.  (Xinhua)

According to eyewitness accounts, dozens of Palestinians blocked access to a West Bank school to protest overcrowding.  (Ma'an News Agency)

On the occasion of the Jewish New Year festival, dozens of settlers marched in Silwan, in East Jerusalem, under the protection of Israeli police and military forces.  (PNN)

Three Palestinian farmers were injured after being attacked by a number of extremist Israeli settlers in Aqraba village, south-east of Nablus.  (IMEMC)

Palestinian prisoner Samer al-Barq was hospitalized after he collapsed in the Ramla prison clinic on his 119^th day on hunger strike.  Earlier, PA Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs Qaraqe told Ma'an News Agency that Israel had agreed to Mr. al-Barq's request to be deported to Egypt, but no date had been set.  (Ma'an News Agency, Palestine News Network)

According to a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, three men currently on hunger strike in protest of their conditions in Israeli prison were near death.  (IMEMC)

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Serry told the Security Council in a briefing that the lack of progress on the political track and the continuing conflict and occupation put at risk the viability of the two-State solution.  Describing the PA’s fiscal situation as “very grave”, he called for “unequivocal support by the international community for the PA and collective intensified efforts to address the fiscal difficulties”.  He also called upon the Israeli Government to do more to alleviate the PA’s burden and provide the much-needed economic impetus.  “It is now even more important for the parties to further engage in positive steps, show restraint, and refrain from provocative acts,” he stated.  (UN News Centre)

18

Israeli soldiers took into custody a young Palestinian man close to the barbed-wire fence of “Karnei Shomron” settlement, near Nablus, “while carrying a knife”. The youth was transferred to an interrogation facility run by the Israeli Internal Security services. The army added that the soldiers had conducted a search campaign in the area and alleged that the youth intended to infiltrate the settlement to attack settlers. (IMEMC)

Hundreds of Palestinians protesting against an anti-Islam film clashed with Israeli border police in East Jerusalem, hurling stones and firebombs at a checkpoint, the military and reporters said. About 200 protesters marched from the Shu’fat refugee camp towards a crossing that connected East and West Jerusalem where they confronted Israeli security forces.  Police spokesperson Luba Samri told AFP that no police were injured and there had been no arrests. At least 20 demonstrators were wounded by tear gas and rubber bullets fired by border police. (AFP)

The commander of the IDF’s Duvdevan unit told Israel’s Channel 10 news that “We need to be alert and stay one step ahead," referring to the possible outbreak of a third intifada. “The potential for another uprising exists and we have to prepare ourselves for such an eventuality,” said the officer. According to the TV report, Duvdevan soldiers took to the streets of West Bank cities on a nightly basis to arrest terror suspects and foil plots before they can come to fruition. (The Times of Israel)

Israeli authorities kept the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron closed on the occasion of the Jewish New Year festival.  Similarly, the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City in Jerusalem remained restricted for Palestinian worshipers under 45 years of age.  (Palestine News Network)  

Palestinian Chief Negotiator Erakat said that the Palestinian leadership was considering cancelling the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 between the PLO and Israel, after failing to reach a final-status solution.  PLO' Executive Committee member Wasel Abu Yousef also revealed that PA President Abbas had addressed the possibility of cancelling the Oslo Accords during the meeting of the Palestinian leadership but that the issue had been postponed to the following meeting, after President Abbas’ return from the General Assembly in New York.  (Palestine News Network, Xinhua) 

The PA denounced remarks by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who told donors that Palestinians "have no interest" in peace with Israel. According to comments captured on video of his private remarks to wealthy donors, Mr. Romney said that Palestinians were "committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel" and that the prospects for a two-State solution to Middle East were dim. Chief Palestinian Negotiator Erekat said that Mr. Romney was wrong to accuse them of not seeking peace. "No one stands to gain more from peace with Israel than Palestinians and no one stands to lose more in the absence of peace than Palestinians," Mr. Erekat told Reuters. "Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace."  Presidential Spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said: "We are ready for peace that is based on the 1967 borders, a two-State solution and stopping settlement activities. Thus, it is not true that we are not ready for peace, but rather, it is the Israeli side that is not ready for peace. We think that these statements are part of the election campaign, but unfortunately, it will not help the peace process, but rather, will strengthen the voices of extremism and the voices of those who refuse to reach a two-State solution," Mr. Rudeineh said. PLO Executive Committee member Hanan Ashrawi accused Mr. Romney of "destroying the chances for peace" and called his remarks "irresponsible and dangerous and both ignorant and prejudiced". (Reuters)

Deductions made from PA civil servants’ salary payments in August would be repaid as soon as possible, PA finance official Rami Mahdawi said.  (Ma'an News Agency)

A former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, the armed wing of the Fatah movement, resumed his hunger strike at a Palestinian prison after the court refused to release him.  Zakaria Zubeidi was arrested by Israeli security forces in May 2012 and has never faced any charges as the prosecution keeps asking for more time.  A director and co-founder of Jenin's innovative but controversial Freedom Theatre, Mr. Zubeidi used to be the leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin and was one of many fighters of the Fatah movement who were “pardoned” by Israel. Human Rights Watch has criticized Mr. Zubeidi's continued detention. (IMEMC, The Guardian)

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails went on a one-day hunger strike in support of four prisoners who had been on hunger strike for more than two months, according to the head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, Qadura Fares.  (WAFA)

A pro-Hamas bloc won control of a union representing Palestinians working for UNRWA in Gaza after a vote.  (AP)

19

Palestinian medical sources reported that Israeli soldiers had invaded the Al-Fawwar refugee camp in Hebron, shot and injured one Palestinian youth and seized another resident.  (IMEMC)

Two Hamas border guards were killed when an Israeli drone fired a missile in the centre of Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.  At least two residents were injured, one seriously.  IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said that Hamas had full knowledge of a planned terrorist attack against Israel but refused to take action against it, forcing the IDF to launch the air strike, said.  (IMEMC, WAFA, Ma’an News Agency, The Jerusalem Post)

Four Palestinians were arrested during the night in the West Bank, Israel's army and locals said.  Israeli forces raided Al-Fawwar refugee camp and fired tear gas at residents. A 17-year-old Palestinian was severely injured by a gas bomb canister shot at him at close range. (Ma’an News Agency, WAFA)

Hamas sharply criticized the arrest of dozens of its members by PA police in the West Bank. The PA denied any political motives behind the roundup which saw as many as 71 people detained, and said that it had targeted criminals and that many had been freed after questioning. Adnan Dmeiri, spokesman for the PA security services, said that “arrests were made all over the West Bank in a legal fashion, involving cases of possession of weapons, incitement, money-laundering and attempts to transfer the Gaza takeover into the West Bank''.  (Reuters)

Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, made his first speech as a Vice-President of the General Assembly, saying that Israel opposed unilateral decisions regarding the Palestinians.  (Ynetnews)

Former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned that the prospects for a two-State solution were being undermined by "facts on the ground" created by Israel, Palestinian divisions, and the continuing "convulsions" of the Arab Spring.  (www.guardian.co.uk) 

PA President Abbas formally protested a decision by Egypt's Prime Minister to receive Hamas leader Haniyeh, PLO Executive Committee member Saleh Raafat said.  Mr. Haniyeh, Prime Minister of the Hamas Government in the Gaza Strip, met with Mr. Qandil in Cairo on 17 September. Mr. Raafat said that President Abbas had personally sent a letter to Egyptian President Morsy on 18 September that "included a protest and called officially on the Egyptian Government not to deal with Haniyeh as Prime Minister.  He said that President Abbas would soon meet with Mr. Morsy, without saying when, to "discuss the matter".  In a statement, Hamas Spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri slammed Mr. Abbas and his Government, accusing them of trying to impose a "political siege" on the movement under the banner of "unified Palestinian representation". "Hamas stresses that Mahmoud Abbas does not have any right to talk about unified Palestinian representation given that his legal term expired more than three years ago," Mr. Abu Zuhri said. (AFP)

A Palestinian-owned house in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, was totally gutted in what was believed to be arson caused by Jewish settlers from the “Karmi Tsur”settlement, adjacent to Beit Ummar, according to a local activist. (WAFA)

Israeli authorities issued orders to confiscate 60 dunums of land in the Wadi Fukin village, west of Bethlehem, local officials said. The village, located next to Israel's separation wall and overlooked by the “Beitar Ilit” settlement, are planted with trees and vegetables, with farmers tending them daily.  (Ma’an News Agency, Palestine News Network)

Israeli soldiers stationed at the “Bat Ayin” settlement near Bethlehem were instructed not to allow any non-Jews to enter the community.  (Ma’an News Agency)

A group of armed Israeli settlers from the “Avraham Avino” settlement invaded a Palestinian home in Hebron and attacked two family members including an eight-year-old.  (IMEMC)

Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein requested Defense Minister Barak to allow construction inspectors operating in the West Bank to prosecute settlers who build without permits.  (Haaretz)

The Jerusalem municipality handed two Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan notices to demolish their homes and a shop the families owned under the pretext that they had been built without a permit, according to the Silwan-based Wadi Hilweh Information Center. The homes and shop were built more than 10 years ago. (WAFA)

PA Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs Qaraque urged the European Union to intervene in the cases of four Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike being held by Israel during a meeting in Ramallah with European Union Representative John Gatt-Rutter. "Israel should respect the lives of Palestinian prisoners and respect their human dignity," Mr. Qaraqe quoted Mr. Rutter as saying. Mr. Rutter was in touch with Israeli authorities on suitable solutions to the situation, he added. The Red Cross had warned on 14 September that the prisoners were in critical condition and urged a prompt solution. On the same day, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton called upon Israel to "do all it can to preserve the health" of the prisoners. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Palestinian Prisoners' Society demanded that Israel release Kamal Salah Al-Husseini, 23, who, on 9 September, had been taken into custody by Israeli soldiers during clashes in occupied East Jerusalem.  He was shot and wounded by the army prior to his arrest.  It added that Mr. Al-Husseini was currently being held at an Israeli hospital, shackled and tied to his bed despite his bad health condition and the extensive presence of the Israeli army. He has never faced any charges. (IMEMC)

An Israeli military court found a Palestinian activist belonging to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine guilty of an attempted shooting attack. The activist was sentenced to 67 months in prison. (Ynetnews)

The Islamic-Christian Commission in Support of Jerusalem and Holy Sites condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque by settlers wearing priestly garments and performing Talmudic rituals.  In a press release, the Commission said that the excavation works around and beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque were aimed at building a temple on the ruins of the Mosque.  (Petra)

The World Food Programme (WFP) transported more than one million date bars produced in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, the second batch of locally produced school snacks to be sent by WFP.  A WFP press release said that the 76-metric-ton shipment of 1.2 million fortified date bars would benefit some 75,000 schoolchildren through WFP’s school-meals project in approximately 300 schools in the most food-insecure areas of the West Bank. WFP had previously purchased date bars for the school-meals programme from Egypt or Turkey until it identified a local factory in the Gaza Strip.  WFP’s purchases represented 50 per cent of the production of the Gaza factory and since WFP began working with the factory earlier in the year, the factory had reported hiring 40 additional workers.  (WAFA) 

In a report, the World Bank warned of a deepening fiscal crisis in the Palestinian territory and appealed to donors to act urgently to support the PA. Development of Area C was necessary for sustainable Palestinian economic growth, the World Bank said, calling for donor countries to pledge $400 million to fix a shortfall in the PA’s 2012 budget when the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians met in New York on 23 September. The World Bank said that the finances of the PA had been hurt by reduced donor funding, higher-than-expected spending on pensions and loans, and a revenue shortfall sparked by an economic slowdown, primarily in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. In the report, the Bank concluded that sustainable Palestinian economic growth required strong private-sector investment. But it warned that such development was badly hampered because Israel barred Palestinians from 60 per cent of the West Bank. (worldbank.org)

The World Bank said that it had transferred $14.3 million to the PA to help it resolve its crisis and rebuild the economy.  It said that the money, mainly granted by the Governments of Australia and the UK, would help the PA provide essential health, medical and social services, in addition to economic rehabilitation.  (IMEMC)

PA Prime Minister Fayyad met in Ramallah with Jordanian Minister of Agriculture Ahmad Al-Khattab, who headed Jordan's delegation to the meetings of the Joint Jordanian-Palestinian Agricultural Committee.  (Petra)

At a press conference, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “I believe that the Middle East peace process should be addressed in a comprehensive way.  At the same time, Israeli and Palestinian reconciliation should also play a very important role.  Now that there is no such progress at this time, I am deeply concerned, together with the continuing political instability in the region, and this will be one of the key issues again during this General Assembly when I will be engaging with key concerned leaders.”  (www.un.org)

20

Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians in Qalqilya and Hebron.  (Petra, Palestine News Network)

Three IDF soldiers were reported to have accidentally entered Nablus.  They were detained by PA security forces and then taken out of the city.  (Ma’an News Agency, Ynetnews)

Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs Kamel Ali Amr denied reports that Hamas had opened a bureau in Cairo, adding that Hamas officials were welcome as visitors, Egyptian media reported.  Egypt continued to support Palestinian reconciliation, he said.  (Ma’an News Agency, Xinhua) 

Fatah Central Committee member Jamal Muhaisen denied reports that PA President Abbas was set to resign and stressed that Mr. Abbas would continue in his current role until the next elections.  He stated, however, that Mr. Abbas would not be seeking a second term.  (Ma’an News Agency, Ynetnews)

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Erakat denied that seeking an upgraded status at the United Nations was a unilateral step, speaking after a meeting with a number of European Union envoys in Jericho.  "We never said our right to self-determination is subject to negotiation,” Mr. Erakat told reporters, saying that the upcoming UN bid was meant "to preserve a two-State solution."  The US and the European Union should support the diplomatic move, he continued, adding that he did not know if a resolution would be introduced to the General Assembly before or after the upcoming US presidential elections.  (The Jerusalem Post)

An Israeli official said that military authorities had approved a host of measures to facilitate the entry and exit of goods at Gaza crossings, as long as border violence remained under control.  Israel had approved the entry of NIS 100 million from the West Bank to ease a liquidity crisis and would allow furniture and clothes to be exported from Gaza to the West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency)

The European Union and the PA Ministry of Social Affairs, at a ceremony attended by PA Prime Minister Fayyad and the European Union Head of Operations, Sergio Piccolo, honoured the Ministry's employees who had excelled in an European Union-supported training programme on social administration, strategic planning and delivery of social services.  (www.reliefweb.int)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a report for the upcoming meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians on 23 September in New York that warned that the Palestinian economy was facing serious risks while the PA was experiencing a severe financial crisis.  (www.imf.org)

An IMF report said that Saudi Arabia had provided $280 million in budgetary support to the Palestinians between January 2011 and June 2012.  (www.imf.org)

A number of armed Israeli settlers illegally confiscated six dunums of privately owned Palestinian lands south of Al-Khadr, near Bethlehem.  (IMEMC, WAFA)

A female former prisoner released in a deal between Hamas and Israel in 2011 tried to set herself on fire in Ramallah to protest the high cost of living.  She was stopped by the police.  (Ma’an News Agency, Palestine News Network)

PA Minister for Prisoners’ Affairs Qaraqe said that arrangements were being made to transfer the ailing hunger-striking detainee, Samer al-Barq, to Egypt after a sharp decline in his health condition at the Israeli Al-Ramla Prison Clinic.  (IMEMC, WAFA)

One Palestinian was injured and several others received treatment for the effects of tear gas inhalation after Israeli soldiers attacked a protest in solidarity with Palestinian detainees held at the Israeli Ofer prison, near Ramallah.  (IMEMC)

21

Palestinian youths hurled stones at a settlers’ bus near the “Gush Etzion” settlement, north of   Hebron.  The Israeli army then invaded the nearby Arroub refugee camp and searched several homes.  (IMEMC)

The IDF’s Kfir Brigade was redeployed to the Gaza borders for the first time since Operation Cast Lead.  (www.idf.il)

Three Britons and an American were detained by Israeli forces at a protest in the northern West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum, the army and activists said. They were charged with throwing stones and being in a closed military zone, the International Solidarity Movement, of which they were members, said.  Weekly protests are held in Kafr Qaddum against Israel's movement restrictions and land confiscation for the benefit of the nearby “Kedumim” settlement.  (Ma’an News Agency)

PA Minister for Foreign Affairs Al-Malki told the Al Quds newspaper: “If we seek to obtain a simple majority of supporters for our draft resolution we can do that tomorrow….  However, our determination is focused on obtaining world support through the voting of a decisive, overwhelming majority … We have to include other countries in the drafting, the language and content.”  Asked about the benefits of joining the UN, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said: “Today, we are hostages of the Oslo Accords …   However, once we obtain non-member State status at the UN … we will turn into a State under occupation … and the point of reference will be international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.”  He added that the State of Palestine would easily become a member of all international agencies and institutions, the International Criminal Court and all UN-affiliated organizations.  (BBC)

Fatah official Azzam Ahmad urged the European Union to support Palestine's request for recognition as a non-member State in the United Nations.  He made the remarks while attending the European Conference of Presidents of Parliaments in Strasbourg, France.  (Ma’an News Agency)

"Amidst a fiscal crisis and related social unrest in the West Bank, the stakes are growing," said UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry.  A report from his office, released ahead of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians donor meeting, called upon donors to increase aid to the PA.  It also stressed the need to reduce obstacles to Palestinian movement in the West Bank, to facilitate private-sector growth.  Area C, currently under full Israeli control, was essential to a viable Palestinian State, the report said.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel had approved over 550 international projects to aid the Palestinian population in Gaza and West Bank Area C since 2010, the Ministry of Defense reported.  (www.idf.il)

The Group of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament objected earlier in the week to an upgrade in Israel's trade agreement with the European Union, saying that it could give preferential trade status to products from settlements.  The second largest political bloc proposed delaying a decision on the agreement for two years.  It said that it intended to request that the European Commission clearly state that Israeli products produced in the Occupied Palestinian Territory could not be "lawfully traded" and therefore could not be a part of the agreement.  (The Jerusalem Post)

A Palestinian expert in international law, Hanna Issa, said that the number of Israeli settlements stood at 469, of which 29 were in Jerusalem.  The settlements outside Jerusalem housed more than 500,000 settlers.  (Middle East Monitor)

A group of 30 international aid, development and human rights organizations warned that 13 Palestinian villages in the Hebron hills in Area C were under threat of demolition.  They called upon the Quartet to visit the affected communities and press the Government of Israel to immediately reverse the policies that violate international law.  (www.oxfam.org)

Israeli authorities freed a Hamas activist from Nablus after 10 months in custody, a human rights group said.  Sheikh Samih Eleiwi had joined the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike for 20 days while in custody.  (Ma’an News Agency)

The Gaza-based Al-Mezan Centre for Human Rights‏ expressed its concern for the health and lives of Palestinian detainees, particularly two prisoners on hunger strike who were under administrative detention, and called upon the international community to take steps that would guarantee the release of all prisoners, especially those held without charge or fair trial.  (WAFA)

Dozens of Palestinian youths protested outside the Ramallah offices of the European Union mission training the Palestinian police.  The European Union should issue a clear statement demanding that Israel immediately release Palestinian detainees on hunger strike, the group insisted.  They also called upon the European Union to review partnership agreements with Israel while investigating European companies that support Israel's occupation and settlements.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Nabil Elaraby. Mr. Ban’s spokesperson noted that both leaders acknowledged the “lack of progress in peace negotiations and the alarming economic situation, as well as the absence of hope in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” (www.un.org)

22

A Palestinian worker was killed and another injured when an underground smuggling tunnel underneath the Gaza Strip's borders with Egypt collapsed, medical sources said.  (Xinhua)

PA Chief Negotiator Erakat said that there was no connection between Palestine refugees and Israelis whose families were from Arab countries, but "we are not against any Jew who wants to return to Morocco, Iraq, Libya, Egypt, and elsewhere.  I believe no Arab State rejects the Jewish right of returning to their native lands," he said.  (Ma’an News Agency)

23

A 32-year-old Palestinian woman was detained in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan after she tried to stab an Israeli police officer, a police spokesman said.  The woman indicated that she was motivated by the recently circulated video insulting the Prophet Muhammad, police said. (Ma’an News Agency)

At the meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians, PA Finance Minister Nabil Qasis warned that the two-State solution was in jeopardy if the PA did not get a major infusion of cash, noting that donors had not paid $300 million in pledges to the Palestinians. Some $200 million was owed by the US.  The Liaison Committee called on donors to fulfil their outstanding pledges and increase their contributions for 2012 to assist the PA so that it can "make the transition towards economic independence for a Palestinian State." (AP)

During the meeting of the Liaison  Committee, France announced its forthcoming disbursement of €10 million in aid to the PA’s budget and called for the lifting of Israeli restrictions on Area C and the Gaza Strip, according to a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France. (WAFA)

The Palestinian Water Authority issued a report entitled “Palestinian Water Sector: Status Summary Report”,  distributed to members of the Liaison Committee who met in New York.  The report highlighted the severe water shortages and water quality problems that were not caused by environmental factors but were attributable to the discriminatory water policies Israel had instituted across the Occupied Palestinian Territory.  (www.pwa.ps)

Israel agreed to open talks with the PA to develop and operate the marine natural gas field off the shore of Gaza, according to an official Israeli report to the Liaison Committee.  (The Jerusalem Post)

In a press release, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights “condemned in the strongest terms possible the continued policies practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities … to Judaize occupied East Jerusalem, the latest of which was the closing of the Ras Khamis checkpoint, north-east of the city, and the start of the construction of a section of the annexation wall in that area.”  The Centre also condemned plans to build a bridge to the “City of David” archeological site in Silwan.  (Palestinian Centre for Human Rights)

The Israeli High Court of Justice criticized the State for its inability to answer basic questions about the status of six West Bank outposts designated for evacuation.  On 22 June, the State had asked for a seven months’ delay for evacuating various outposts, including “Givat Assaf”.  (The Jerusalem Post)

The Israeli authorities handed residents of the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Silwan notices to demolish nine privately owned Palestinian houses.  (WAFA)

People from around the world will gather at The Freedom Theatre in the Jenin refugee camp to join Palestinian actors, musicians, writers and activists in a "Freedom Ride" to key sites of resistance and oppression in the West Bank.  (Palestine News Network)

24

Israeli forces rolled into Gaza, east of the Maghazi refugee camp, and razed Palestinian lands. The Israeli navy also opened fire on fishing boats in the north of Gaza. No injuries were reported. (Petra)

A 50-year-old Palestinian woman was shot in the leg by Israeli gunfire as the soldiers were pulling out of the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, according to witnesses. (WAFA)

Israeli Defense Minister Barak called for a unilateral pullout from most of the West Bank if peace efforts with the Palestinians remain stalled.  He called for uprooting dozens of settlements but said that Israel would keep major settlement blocks, mostly near the Green Line, and maintain a military presence along the border with Jordan.  His remarks came in an interview with the Israel Hayom newspaper.  He said that it would be preferable to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians but after four years of deadlock, Israel must take "practical steps”.  In response to Mr. Barak’s plan, Vice-Prime Minister Silvan Shalom expressed doubt that the Defense Minister would influence Government action on the settlements.  (www.,dailystar.com.lb, The Jerusalem Post)

PLO Executive Committee Member Wasel Abu Yousef said that Israeli Defense Minister Barak had regurgitated an old plan proposed by former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and that the proposal would be rejected by the Palestinian people and their leaders. "It seems as if they are talking about a temporary State based on small separated areas whose valleys are controlled by Israel … they are avoiding talking about Jerusalem and the wall which is confiscating Palestinian lands and giving legitimacy to settlements," he said. (Ma'an News Agency)

Hamas Political Bureau Chief Mashaal stepped down from his post.  He told a recent meeting of the Hamas leadership in Cairo that he would not run in upcoming elections for the top position. Izzat Risheq, a confidant of Mr. Mashaal, and Moussa Abu Marzouk, Mr. Mashaal's deputy, both confirmed the decision.  Mr. Mashaal will remain in his post until a new leader is chosen. Although a successor has not been named, the two leading candidates are Abu Marzouk, and Gaza Prime Minister Haniyeh. (AP, The Guardian)

The Gaza Ministry of Agriculture said that Israeli fruit imports would no longer be admitted into the Gaza Strip.  With the exception of bananas and apples, the ban would affect at least seven kinds of fruits and constitute around a 50 per cent cut in 2011 imports totalling $26 million. (Reuters)  

Fuel smuggled to the Gaza Strip through tunnels with Egypt had declined within the last five days to 70 per cent, leading to a deterioration of the fuel crisis in the coastal enclave, said Mohamed al-Abadela, spokesman of the Gas Stations Association in the Gaza Strip.  (Xinhua)

Israeli authorities began the construction of new settlement units in the Al-Khadr village, west of Bethlehem, according to Palestinian sources.  Ahmad Salah, coordinator of the settlement resistance committee of the village, said that this action came within the Israeli decision to transfer 40 military camps in different places of the West Bank into settlements in order to link the "Efrata" settlement with the "Ma’ale Adumim" settlement.  (Petra)

The Syrian Information Ministry denied reports that Government troops had shelled the Neirab camp for Palestine refugees in Aleppo. (Xinhua)

A group of Palestinians left the Gaza Strip to visit family members detained in Israel, Gaza spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross Ayman Al-Shehabi said. Fifty family members would visit 37 prisoners in Israel's Nafha jail. (Ma'an News Agency)

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights made a written submission to the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, drawing attention to the issue of the internal displacement of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli actions. The Centre announced that it would submit such memorandums or individual complaints biweekly to UN working groups and Special Rapporteurs. (www.reliefweb.int) 

The Israeli High Court of Justice ruled against four female university students from the Gaza Strip who had been seeking to study at the Birzeit University in the West Bank. (Haaretz) 

Permanent Observer of Palestine to the UN in Geneva Ibrahim Khraishi, speaking at the twenty-first Session of the Human Rights Council, called upon the UN to accept Palestine as a Member State. “The Palestinian people very soon are due to meet the dawn of their freedom,” Mr. Khraishi said. “The occupying force must take into account this reality. We are going to stay on Palestinian land.” (The Jerusalem Post) 

The Human Rights Council heard the presentation of the report of the Secretary-General on progress made in the implementation of the recommendations of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict [the “Goldstone report”] by all concerned parties, including United Nations bodies, in accordance with paragraph 3 of section B of Human Rights Council resolution S-12/1 (A/HRC/21/33) and then started its general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories.  There was a "need to more earnestly pursue accountability for the serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law that were documented by the Fact-Fnding Mission," Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang told the Council. "It has been nearly three years since this council endorsed the fact-finding mission's recommendations. Yet, not one person has been indicted for any of the incidents documented." (www.unog.ch)

25

An Israeli army spokeswoman said that 12 Palestinians had been arrested in Nablus and four in Hebron during the night.  (Ma'an News Agency)

All crossings in and out of the West Bank and Gaza were closed from the previous night until midnight Wednesday owing to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, the Israeli army said in a statement. (Ma'an News Agency, Petra)

According to local sources, Israeli forces arrested five Palestinians after they raided their houses in Deir Samet village, West of Hebron, as well as two Palestinians at a military checkpoint at the entrance of Zabouba village. (PNN)

At least 500 protesters in the Gaza Strip called for Hamas to be toppled in a rare demonstration triggered by the death of a three-year-old boy in a fire during a power outage. (Reuters, The Jerusalem Post)

Prominent US lawyer Alan Dershowitz said that he had secured PA President Abbas’ agreement to a formula for the resumption of negotiations, according to which Israel will stop all settlement building in the West Bank as soon as the Palestinians sit down at the negotiating table and the freeze will hold as long as talks continue in good faith.  (AP, Haaretz)

The chairperson of the Meretz party, Zahava Gal-On, told Haaretz: “Without determining who is to blame for what, the Oslo process must be replaced by a new paradigm. … A Palestinian State is an Israeli interest, so Israel must be the first to recognize it and support its acceptance by the UN.”  She hoped to have a plan approved by the party before the next elections, under which Israel would declare that the conflict must be solved by ending the occupation based on the 1967 borders, with 1:1 land swaps.  Jerusalem would be divided based on the proposals by former US President Bill Clinton – Jewish neighbourhoods going to Israel, Palestinian neighbourhoods to Palestine, with a special status for the Holy Basin.  (Haaretz)

Speaking at the outset of the general debate of the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the Palestinians must be able to realize their right to a viable State of their own after decades of harsh occupation and humiliating restrictions in almost every aspect of their lives, while Israel must be able to live in peace and security, free from threats and rockets. “The two-State solution is the only sustainable option. Yet the door may be closing, for good. The continued growth of Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian territory seriously undermines efforts towards peace. We must break this dangerous impasse.” (UN News Centre)

In a statement before the General Assembly, Brazil’s President, Dilma Rousseff, reiterated her Government’s support for the recognition of the Palestinian State as a full UN Member, stressing that only a free and sovereign Palestine would be able to fulfil Israel’s legitimate desires for peace, security and regional political stability.  (www.un.org)

King Abdullah II of Jordan, in his address before the General Assembly, said that continuing illegal settlement building by Israel and unilateral actions directly threatened a negotiated peace. He added that any invasion or division of the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest place, would not only be a breach of Israel’s obligations but a profound religious transgression. (www.un.org)

PLO Executive Committee Member Ashrawi said that PA President Abbas would likely ask the General Assembly to vote on accepting Palestine as an observer State in November.  Sources at a meeting in New York between US Jewish leaders and Mr. Abbas said that Mr. Abbas had assured US President Obama’s Administration that he would not press for a vote before the US elections.  (AP, Haaretz)

In a statement following the meetings of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton stressed that the achievements in building Palestinian State institutions, and the economic viability of the PA were crucial for the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She called on all donors to step in and help the PA, stressing the importance of moving forward on all political issues, addressing the dire economic situation, and security issues of concern to both parties. (www.consilium.europa.eu)

A 52-year-old Palestinian mother of two detainees from East Jerusalem was arrested by Israeli soldiers for attempting to smuggle a mobile phone to one of her sons during a scheduled visitation at the Israeli Eshil Prison in Beersheba. (IMEMC)

The Palestinian territories will see, for the first time since 1995, women running in the municipal elections. Two lists, which include female candidates, have been established in Hebron and Safa village near Ramallah, and will compete in the West Bank municipal elections in late October. (Xinhua)

Dozens of parents reportedly withdrew their children from an UNRWA-run girls' school in Battir, near Bethlehem, complaining about overcrowded classrooms where there were 48 children in each class. (Ma'an News Agency)

Around 80 settlers performed religious rituals at the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, while Israeli forces banned dozens of Muslims under 45 years of age from entering the Mosque. Minister of Waqf and Islamic Affairs Abdul Salam Abbadi condemned settlers entering the Mosque, saying that such acts, which had increased during the Jewish holiday seasons, were an attempt to create a new reality in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, as had happened at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. (Petra, PNN)

A group of settlers dug up 200 dunums of agricultural land in the Nablus village of Yanun.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

On 27 September 2012, the Minnesota Court of Appeals will hear arguments in an appeal brought by the Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign against the Minnesota State Board of Investment.  The Campaign and others, including the Palestinian village of Bil'in in the West Bank, had sued the State Board for violating Minnesota law by investing in Israel bonds. The appellants contended that Minnesota Statute 11A.24 restricted the Board's investment in foreign government bonds to Canadian bonds, which excluded Israel bonds. The appeal followed the dismissal of the lawsuit by Ramsey County District Court Judge Margaret Marrinan earlier in the year. (PNN)

WFP launched a new partnership with the Palestinian Civil Defence to strengthen emergency preparedness and disaster risk reduction efforts in the West Bank. The PA had prioritized improving its own preparedness efforts while WFP would provide support to emergency telecommunications, logistics and information management. (www.reliefweb.int) 

26

A 20-year-old man was killed and two others injured when a smuggling tunnel under the Gaza-Egypt border collapsed.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians in Jenin, Nablus and Hebron.  (Petra)

In his statement before the General Assembly, Egypt’s President Morsy said that the “the fruits of dignity and freedom must not remain far from the Palestinian people”. President Morsy called for “an end to the colonialism and the settlements and changes to the identity of occupied Jerusalem, adding that “It is shameful that the free world would accept that a party in the international community would continue to deny the rights of a nation that seeks independence.” (AP, The Financial Times, www.un.org)

On the sidelines of the General Assembly, PA President Abbas had meetings with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and with European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Ashton. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli bulldozers protected by soldiers began razing about 2,000 dunums of Palestinian land near the villages of Jiftlik and Aqraba in the Jordan Valley to be later planted by settlers with palm trees and vegetables.  (WAFA)

Israeli forces detained two Palestinians who were attacked by settlers south of Nablus, locals said. (Ma’an News Agency)

Dozens of settlers from the “Migron” outpost beat and injured a 57-year-old Palestinian farmer north of Jerusalem.  (Ma’an News Agency) 

27

Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians, one from Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, and the other from Ramallah. (PNN)

Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians from al-Tabaka village and reportedly assaulted another Palestinian in Hebron.  (Palestine News Network) 

In his address to the sixty-seventh session of the General Assembly, PA President Abbas called on the international community to do more to uphold its responsibilities. The Security Council should urgently adopt a resolution comprising the basis and foundations for a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict that would serve as a binding reference and guide to implement the two-State vision.  He said that Palestine would continue with its efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations.  He announced that Palestine had begun intensive consultations with various regional organizations and Member States aimed at having the General Assembly adopt a resolution considering the State of Palestine as a non-member State of the United Nations during the session. He expressed confidence that the vast majority of the countries of the world supported that endeavour aimed at salvaging the chances for a just peace. Palestinian officials said their bid was likely to be submitted on 29 November. (AP, www.un.org)

Addressing the General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said with reference to President Abbas’ statement before the Assembly: “We won't solve our conflict with libellous speeches at the UN… We won’t solve our conflict with unilateral declarations of statehood. We have to sit together, negotiate together, and reach a mutual compromise in which a demilitarized Palestinian State recognizes the one and only Jewish State.”  (FoxNews)

The Israeli-Palestinian question was high on the agenda of the UN Security Council high-level meeting on peace and security in the Middle East attended by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. (www.un.org) 

Head of Meretz Gal-On called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to "say 'yes' to a Palestinian State" in his speech to the General Assembly.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Liberman took aim at President Abbas’ speech before the General Assembly, calling it "incitement" and slamming Mr. Abbas’ use of the words "ethnic cleansing" and "Nakba" to describe the situation in the West Bank.  Vice-Prime Minister Ya'alon described the speech as proof that Mr. Abbas had no intention of making peace with Israel.  (The Jerusalem Post)
Sami Abu Zuhri, Hamas’ spokesman in Gaza, said in a press statement that PA President Abbas' move to ask for UN recognition of a Palestinian State "wasn't agreed upon or consulted by the entire Palestinians.”  (Xinhua)

According to a statement issued after the meeting between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Netanyahu, "the Secretary-General expressed his deep concern over the stalemate in the Middle East peace process and encouraged Israel to take more steps to bolster the Palestinian Authority and ease the restrictions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including Gaza.”  (The Jerusalem Post) 

In a press release, the World Bank  praised the performance of the Palestine Monetary Authority.  The World Bank stated that the Palestinian banking sector continued to show good performance under the supervision of the Authority. (WAFA)

The Israeli Government’s Socioeconomic Cabinet approved Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz's proposal to allow the entry of an additional 5,000 Palestinian workers into Israel to work in the construction and agriculture industries, bringing to some 46,450 the number of available permits. (The Jerusalem Post)

According to a local activist, settlers from the settlement of “Beitar Ilit” pumped wastewater into Palestinian-owned agricultural land in Wadi Fukin, a village west of Bethlehem.  (Ma'an News Agency) 

A group of settlers uprooted around 60 olive trees in Burin, a village south of Nablus, according to a local activist.  (WAFA)

According to a letter sent by Christine Chanet, head of the Human Rights Council fact-finding mission on Israeli settlements, the mission was seeking written submissions with documentation on the topic from all relevant parties, including Member States, international organizations, national institutions and non-governmental organizations. ''In the absence of a response from the Permanent Mission of Israel to my request, the fact-finding mission is planning to make alternative arrangements to obtain direct and first-hand information relevant to the discharge of its mandate and to travel to the region,'' she wrote. (The Jerusalem Post)

Palestinian prisoner Ayman Sharawna was almost totally blind and suffering from severe kidney problems and partial memory loss after 88 days on hunger strike in an Israeli jail, rights groups said.  Mr. Sharawna had been held without charge since 31 January after his release in the October 2011 prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. He had previously spent a decade in Israeli prison. (Ma’an News Agency)

28

According to medics, Israeli troops stationed on the border between the northern Gaza Strip and Israel opened fire and wounded two Palestinian civilians.  (Ma'an News Agency, Xinhua)

Palestinian security and medical sources said that two Palestinian fishermen were shot by Israeli naval forces in the northern Gaza Strip.  One of them later died.  The Israeli military said that its naval forces opened fire on a boat that had violated the fishing zone.  (WAFA, Xinhua)

Israeli forces raided Nablus, according to witnesses.  (Palestine News Network)

A group of six medical facilities serving Palestinians in East Jerusalem warned of an "unprecedented financial crisis" owing to unpaid bills owed to them by the PA totalling more than 67.5 million shekels ($17 million)  for the treatment of Palestinians whose bills were supposed to have been covered by the PA. (The Daily Star, www.reliefweb.int)

Gaza tunnel owners said that just 10 per cent of the tunnels under the border with the Sinai Peninsula were still in operation after Egypt moved to close the underground network in recent weeks.  (Ma'an News Agency) 

Abdul-Nasser Farawna, a Palestinian researcher and a former political prisoner, issued a report saying that Israeli soldiers had conducted more than 75,000 arrests and deported hundreds of residents since 28 September 2000, the start of the second intifada.  (IMEMC) 

29

The Israeli army killed a Palestinian near the fence on the border with northern Gaza, Israel Radio reported.  A member of Hamas' military wing was killed during an "important jihad mission", the Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.  (Ma’an News Agency)

PLO Executive Committee member Ashrawi predicted that at least 150 Member States will support the General Assembly resolution upgrading Palestine’s UN status.  She said that the vote would take place on 29 November.  (UPI)

A group of settlers threw rocks at Palestinians in a protest march in the Hebron area town of Yatta, according to a local activist.  (WAFA)

A group of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists gathered to demonstrate peacefully in front of the Israeli settlement “Karmi Tsur”.  They were blocked by a large group of Israeli soldiers.  (IMEMC)

Israel released two Palestinian lawmakers, Samir al-Qadi, from Hebron, and Rahman Zeidan, from Tulkarm, after over 15 months in administrative detention, a prisoners’ group said.  Israel extended the administrative detention of Muhammad Natsheh, who had been arrested in January, for four months.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Palestinian youth groups expressed outrage over plans to allow the participation of Israelis in the first-ever “Bethlehem Walk”.  Israeli and Palestinian organizers said that the event was aimed at promoting understanding.  The youth groups called for its cancelation because allowing the participation of Israelis was a form of normalization with Israel and accused the organizers of treason.  (The Jerusalem Post)

The “Miles of Smiles 16” solidarity convoy arrived in the Gaza Strip via Rafah carrying 38 solidarity activists from Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and South Africa, as well as medical supplies.  (IMEMC)

30

A Palestinian teenager was found dead near the Israeli settlement of “Beit Arye”, PA police said.  Investigations were ongoing to determine the cause of death.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Two Fatah members accused of involvement in the 2010 murder of senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai had been released by United Arab Emirates authorities after being held for two years, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades said.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Qatar said that it had opened an office in Gaza.  Qatari officials said that the office was not a formal embassy and instead would oversee aid projects Qatar was funding.  (AP)

Egyptian President Morsy told the Turkish ruling party congress in Ankara:  "We can never hesitate to lend a helping hand to the people of Gaza, our neighbours and brothers, as well as the people of the West Bank and all Palestinians everywhere.”  (The Jerusalem Post)

Hamas Political Bureau Chief Mashaal addressed the Turkish ruling party congress and said that his movement was committed to the liberation of Palestine and the foundation of a sovereign Palestinian State.  He stressed that resistance was the only way to reinstate the Palestinian people's rights.  (The Jerusalem Post)

Dozens of Palestinians gathered near Gaza's border with Egypt to protest against Egypt shutting down a tunnel network.  (Ma'an News Agency) 

A number of settlers set up mobile homes on privately owned Palestinian land in Al-Khadr, a village south of Bethlehem, as a step towards establishing another settlement outpost, according to a local activist.  (WAFA) 

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