Chronological Review of Events/September 2016 – DPR review

Division for Palestinian Rights

Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

September 2016

September 2016 chron

1 Sept

Israeli Forces detained 10 Palestinians, including a journalist, in raids across West Bank districts of Hebron and Nablus. (Fars News)

Israeli authorities returned the body of Palestinian Bahaa Elayyan, allowing his family to bury him 325 days after his death. Elayyan was killed alongside another Palestinian after they attacked an Israeli bus last October, killing three Israelis with knives and a gun. (Ma’an News Agency)

4 Sept

Palestinian prisoner Mahmoud al-Balboul was rushed into intensive care and was reported to be suffering from temporary blindness. Al-Balboul had been refusing food since 4 July to protest being held without charge by the Israeli authorities. (Ma’an News Agency)

An Omani research organisation, Middle East Desalination Research Centre (MEDRC), stated that it is working on setting up the largest desalination plant in Gaza to provide 150,000 Palestinians with fresh drinking water. (Muscat Daily)

Israeli forces launched at least two strikes at Hamas-affiliated sites in the town of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza, injuring at least three. The Israeli military claimed that assault was in retaliation for alleged gunfire by Hamas aimed at its forces along the border with Israel. (ABNA)

5 Sept

At least 12 Palestinians were detained by Israeli forces in raids across the districts of Jenin, Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot at a vehicle two young Palestinian men were travelling in with live fire, in the Shu’fat refugee camp in East Jerusalem, killing the passenger and injuring the driver. The Israeli forces claimed the Palestinians were attempting to commit a car ramming attack however, they were simply bringing home food and baby clothes, according to the survivor. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli Soldier entered Shoufa village, southeast of Tulkarem, in the northern part of the West Bank, and completely isolated it, after alleging that some Palestinians had hurled stones at a car driven by a settler. (IMEMC)

A total of 50 dunums of land were returned to a Palestinian resident of the village of al-Zawiya in the northern West Bank district of Salfit, after a 12-year legal battle following the declaration of his property and surrounding areas as “State land” by Israel. (Ma’an News Agency)

Egyptian authorities decided to open the Rafah border crossing with Gaza for humanitarian cases for one more day. (Ma’an News Agency)

6 Sept

At least 16 Palestinians were detained in raids across the West Bank districts of Ramallah, Hebron, Jericho and Nablus.

Israel returned the body of Palestinian teenager 200 days after his death and imposed severe conditions on its release, including forcing the family to pay NIS 20,000 bail, and limiting the funeral to 25 people. (IMEMC)

President Abbas said that he agreed to the Russian proposal for a meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Moscow this week but that Israel asked to delay it. Netanyahu did not deny that there was such a proposal but claimed that Abbas continues to pose preconditions. (Haaretz)

A delegation from the ICC will be allowed to visit Israel to assess whether the country’s leadership could be put on trial for alleged war crimes during the 2014 Gaza War. (The Independent)

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sent a letter of complaint to Brussels Airlines over the latter’s decision to continue using merchandise produced in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank, following an intense lobbying campaign by Israel’s Foreign Ministry to reverse the airline’s initial decision to stop serving the product. (Ma’an News Agency)

In the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem a Palestinian man demolished his own home to avoid the extremely high fines and fees after an Israeli court decided to destroy his property. (IMEMC)

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) issued its annual “Report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people: Developments in the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. The report finds that the Palestinian economy would double if freed from Israeli control. (UNCTAD)

The Belgian Ministry for Development Cooperation announced it would allocate more than €10 million ($11.23 million) in extra humanitarian aid to address the needs of the Palestinian people. (IMEMC)

7 Sept

At least 13 Palestinians were arrested by Israeli forces in overnight raids across the West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency, IMEMC)

Israeli artillery shelled homes in Deir al-Balah, in the eastern Gaza Strip, in retaliation to Palestinian sniper fire on one of its security forces stationed in the border area. (AhlulBayt News Agency)

Several Israeli bulldozers entered the Gaza Strip in northern Khan Younis, approximately 10 meters into the border line, and razed and levelled lands. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers uprooted more than 40 dunams (9.88 acres) of Palestinian agricultural lands and two water wells in Beit Ola, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. (IMEMC)

Undercover Israeli forces detained two Palestinians in the West Bank districts of Hebron and Bethlehem. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces levelled 40 dunams of Palestinian land, uprooted more than 800 trees, and soiled two wells in the southern occupied West Bank village of Beit Ula, northwest of Hebron. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Palestinian Ministry of Education accused Israel of distributing fake Palestinian history school books that contain incorrect information on Palestine. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israeli Supreme court temporarily suspended the administrative detention of Palestinian brothers Mohammed and Mahmoud Balboul, who have been on hunger strike for more than two months in Israeli jails. (Ma’an News Agency)

A Turkish ship carrying 2,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid arrived in Gaza (or the Gaza Strip). (Middle East Monitor)

8 Sept

Israeli police accused Ali Nimer, a Palestinian, of causing the death of his brother-in-law who was shot dead by Israeli forces, A day after admitting to his parents that they killed him by mistake, Israel now claims that Ali caused his death due to “negligence, driving without a driver's license, driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs, and endangering the life of a human.” (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces detained seventeen Palestinians, including two children, in the West Bank districts of Hebron, Ramallah, East Jerusalem and Jenin. (IMEMC)

The Israeli Defense Ministry began working on a NIS 2 billion project that would see a concrete wall, both below and above ground, built along the entire the 60 kilometer border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. (The Times of Israel)

Israeli soldiers, stationed on military towers across the border fence in Gaza, shot and injured an 18-year-old Palestinian. (IMEMC)

A Palestinian court postponed municipal elections set for 8 October following disputes over candidate lists between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements. The decision was made by a court in Ramallah (West Bank), where Fatah is in power. (AFP)

Israeli forces shot at Palestinian students as they left school in the Jalazone refugee camp, in the West Bank. One child was injured. (Middle East Monitor)

Israeli navy ships opened fire at a number of Palestinian fishing boats close to the shore in the besieged Gaza Strip, detained six fishermen and confiscated their boat. The detainees were released the following day (IMEMC)

Palestinians submitted their objections to the Civil Administration's plan to move the illegal outpost of Amona to the so-called absentees' property nearby. The Palestinians claim to own some two thirds of 35 plots the administration has allocated for Amona's new location. (Haaretz)

Palestinian resistance factions including Hamas and the Palestinian National Initiative movement condemned the decision made by the Ramallah-based Supreme Court to stop the municipal elections. (The Palestinian Information Centre)

9 Sept

Israeli soldiers entered the towns of Beit Fajjar and Za’tara, in the district of Bethlehem, searched homes and detained one Palestinian. The soldiers also detained a young Palestinian man in Shu’fat refugee camp, in East Jerusalem. (IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian farmers in two areas of the Gaza Strip, while Israeli navy ships opened fire on fishing boats in Palestinian territorial waters, in northern Gaza. (IMEMC)

250 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip headed to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, traveling via the Erez crossing in the northern Gaza Strip. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces raided Aida refugee camp near Bethlehem and fired tear-gas canisters and stun grenades at houses. Israeli soldiers then surrounded the Lajee Center – a community organization that provides refugee youth with cultural, educational, social, and developmental services – while some 40 children were inside, causing them to panic. (Ma’an News Agency)

An 18-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli troops during a confrontation near the Israel-Gaza border. (Ynetnews)

The NGO World Vision cancelled the contracts of 120 Palestinian employees in Gaza, amid Israeli allegations that its Gaza director had diverted millions to Hamas. (The Guardian)

At the European Parliament in Brussels, a photo exhibit tackling the issue of Palestinian political prisoners was shown on 5-9 September, hosted by MEP Ana Gomes (Portugal). In the exhibit 40 Members of the European Parliament from across the political and geographic spectrum posed behind mock prison bars to show solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners. The exhibit has been shown simultaneously at the Argentinian Forum of Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners on 5-6 September. (European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine)

UNRWA distributed 695 live sheep to 2,085 Palestine refugee families for the Eid al-Adha celebration, thanks to a US$ 250,000 contribution from Islamic Relief USA. Since 2013, the charity has contributed a total of US$ 12.6 million to Palestine refugees in Gaza through UNRWA. (UNRWA)

10 Sept

A six-year-old Palestinian girl was run over and killed by an Israeli settler south of Bethlehem, on a road to the illegal Israeli settlement of “Efrat” in the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

11 Sept 

Israeli naval forces opened fire at Palestinian fishermen’s boats off the Gaza coast, while Israeli forces also shot at Palestinian farmers in the eastern part of the blockaded enclave. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that a law that permits to force feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners is constitutional, rejecting petitions filed last year by the Israel Medical Association (IMA) and several human rights groups who argued the law contravened medical law and ethics regarding patients’ rights. The ruling comes after three Palestinian prisoners detained without charge by Israel have continued their hunger strikes for more than 60 days, despite each of their medical conditions having seriously deteriorated. (Ma’an News Agency)

12 Sept

Four Palestinians were injured during clashes with Israeli south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian at the Container checkpoint east of Abu Dis, which controls Palestinian travel between the northern and southern occupied West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli Defence Minister Liberman called for a peace deal with the Palestinians that is based on population and land swaps, calling for the borders of the two States to be drawn in such a way as to exclude the maximum amount of Palestinians and to include as many Israelis as possible. Such a plan would put the settlement blocs within Israel’s final borders, but exclude some Israeli-Arab areas. According to Liberman, such a solution would have to be part and parcel of a larger comprehensive agreement with the Arab world. (The Jerusalem Post)

Palestine and Israel signed a deal resolving longstanding debt issues between the Palestinian Government and the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). The Palestinian Energy Authority (PEA) will become the only Palestinian agency the IEC has to deal with, and will assume full responsibility for paying the electric company. The agreement will involve erasing hundreds of millions of shekels of the debt, which currently amount to around NIS 2 billion (US$ 530 million). Separately, Israel will also provide Palestine with NIS 1.14 billion (US$ 301 million) in fees it had withheld for health and other benefits. Foreign donors will commit to extra support to the power sector at the AHLC meeting on 19 September in New York. (The Jerusalem Post, Ma’an News Agency, WAFA)

13 Sept

Israeli forces detained three Palestinian youths for allegedly throwing rocks and paint cans at an Israeli settler’ bus near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, while two other rock-throwing incidents were reported in Bethlehem-area villages. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal to release hunger-striking prisoner Malik al-Qadi from administrative detention as the 25-year-old entered the 59th day of his strike. The hunger striker has reportedly slipped into a coma and is in an Israeli hospital. (Ma’an News Agency)

A senior Israeli official said that Hamas had rejected an offer to swap the bodies of two Israeli soldiers for those of 19 Palestinians and almost as many prisoners. Hamas denies this account, blaming Israel for the breakdown of negotiations. (AFP, Times of Israel)

14 Sept

Israeli forces detained at least five Palestinians in overnight raids in Hebron, Nablus and Qalqilya governorates. (Ma’an News Agency)

Several Israeli military vehicles entered Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and proceeded to level lands near the border. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli right-wing politicians are resuming a legislative effort to retroactively legalize some 2,000 unauthorized settler homes, including 40 in the “Amona” outpost ordered to be demolished by the High Court of Justice by 25 December. (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli forces detained a 19-year-old Palestinian girl and four of her relatives at a checkpoint north of Jenin. (WAFA)

The Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics (ICBS) released data showing that Israeli authorities had increased settlement construction in the West Bank by 40 percent in the first half of 2016. (Ma´an News Agency)

A Knesset subcommittee disclosed priority security budget allocations for the “Elon Moreh”, “Otniel”, “Karmei Tzur” and “Negohot” settlements considered to be the most threatened and in need of immediate defensive measures. (Ynetnews)

Palestinian Committee on Prisoners´ Affairs head Issa Qaraqe called on the UN Human Rights Council to interfere and save the lives of hunger-striking prisoners – Malik al-Qadi and brothers Muhammad and Mahmoud Balboul. (WAFA)

A World Bank report, published and to be presented to the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee on 19 September, warned that the finances of the Palestinian Government remain fragile and that the year’s financial gap may amount to US$ 600 million U.S. dollars. This was despite the Government’s fiscal consolidation efforts over the last decade managed to cut deficit by 15% of GDP, an achievement rarely seen in other places around the world. The report added that a prolonged period of slow economic growth has resulted in persistently high unemployment and stagnation in the average income of the Palestinian citizens. (Xinhua)

15 Sept

The Israeli Air Force fired missiles at alleged centres of the military wing of Hamas in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and in the Sheja´eyya neighbourhood east of Gaza City, after a mortar shell landed in an open area in southern Israel. The IAF airstrikes caused property damage and fires, but no casualties. (IMEMC)

The Allenby Bridge to Jordan opened for a continuous 24 hours, starting this morning until the end of the work day on Friday, to allow the crossing of Palestinians returning from the Hajj. (Ma´an News Agency)

Israel and the Palestinian Authority reportedly concluded a deal to lay a gas pipeline from Israel´s Tamar field to the Gaza Strip. There is no formal announcement of the deal, though Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for assisting in the negotiations. (NaturalGasEurope.com)

100 Palestinian prisoners in the Ofer, Negev, Nafha and Ramon prisons joined a mass hunger strike launched by Fatah and Islamic Jihad-affiliated prisoners in solidarity with comatose Palestinian prisoner Malik al-Qadi, currently in intensive care at the Wolfson Medical Centre after 61 days on hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention. (Ma´an News Agency)

Chief of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) Dr. Leonid Eidelman, in a letter co-signed by the IMA Ethics Committee Chief, urged Israeli doctors to refuse to take part in force-feeding hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, despite a recent Supreme Court decision backing the practice. (Middle East Monitor)

During a meeting of the Security Council discussing the Middle East, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Prime Minister Netanyahu´s remark in a video last week in which he had equated the eviction of Israeli settlements in the West Bank to ethnic cleansing was “unacceptable and outrageous”, adding that the settlements were in violation of international law and that their expansion must stop. New Zealand´s Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, the Council´s current President, said that he was “appalled” by reports that Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had decided to boycott UN Special Coordinator Mladenov. The Council meeting was originally set to be closed but diplomats told Haaretz that McCully had asked to open some of the meeting to the media so representatives of the different countries could come to Mladenov´s defence. (Haaretz)

Two boats with all-women crews from 15 different countries, including a Tunisian Parliamentarian, a Swedish Member of the European Parliament, a retired US Army Colonel, a former US diplomat and a Malaysian physician, set sail from Barcelona to Gaza to deliver medical supplies and break the Israeli blockade. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian and detained at least seven others in raids in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, and closed military checkpoints around occupied East Jerusalem due to “security threats.” (Ma’an News Agency, The Times of Israel)

Israeli bulldozers entered the eastern part of al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, razing and levelling Palestinian lands. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces on 15 September evicted a Palestinian family from their home in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem in order to make room for Jewish-only housing managed by right-wing settler group Ateret Cohanim. (Ma’an News Agency)

16 Sept

A Jordanian man in his 20s was shot and killed after trying to stab Israeli Border Police officers in at Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem. Reportedly, he had entered Palestine on 15 September via the Allenby Bridge. (Haaretz, Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot at a Palestinian car outside the illegal Settlement of “Kiryat Arba” near Hebron, killing the driver and critically wounding a woman who was also in the vehicle. Allegedly, they had carried out a car ramming attack on Friday that left three Israeli civilians injured. The driver was identified as Moussa Muhammad Khaddour, 18, while the wounded Palestinian woman, his fiancée of the same age, is the sister of Majd Khaddour who was killed by Israeli forces at the same junction in June after attempting a car ramming attack. (Ma’an News Agency)

An open letter signed by “500 eminent Israelis”, urging the Jewish diaspora to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is garnering attention on social media. The petition, sponsored by the "Save Israel, Stop Occupation" organization, includes Israeli luminaries such as author Amos Oz, Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman and 20 former Israeli ambassadors. (Jerusalem Post)

17 Sept

Israeli forces detained 18 Palestinians in overnight raids on 17 and 18 September across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)

25 of Likud’s 30 members of the Knesset signed a petition in support of the Regulation Bill, which retroactively legalises Jewish structures built on privately-owned Palestinian lands. Israeli Attorney General Mandelblit believed the Bill in its current form to be unconstitutional. (Middle East Monitor)

18 Sept

Palestinian President Abbas met with a number of Arab ambassadors and Venezuelan President Maduro at the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Venezuela, discussing the escalation in Israeli settlement activity and violence against Palestinian civilians. (Ma´an News Agency)

19 Sept

A 20-year-old Palestinian man was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers after he stabbed a reservist officer at guard post in the Israeli settlement “Efrat” in the occupied West Bank. (Ynetnews)

Two Israeli police officers and a Palestinian were wounded in East Jerusalem after the Palestinian carried out a stabbing attack on the officers. (Ma’an News Agency)

A joint Palestinian-Israeli action led to the arrest of a Palestinian man in Jenin wanted in connection with involvement in plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel. (The Jewish Press)

The European Union adopted a US$ 43.1 million development package for Palestine, targeting the needs of Palestinians in Gaza, Area C and East Jerusalem. (EU)

The union of employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) staged a temporary strike in four countries to protest low salaries and staff shortages, and suspended classes in UNRWA-affiliated schools in Gaza. (Ma´an News Agency)

The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Mladenov said that he was disturbed by the violence over the past week when at least six Israelis were injured and five Palestinians and one Jordanian national were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. (Xinhua)

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas discussed “constructive ideas” to advance a two-state solution with Israel. (The Times of Israel)

The annual meeting of the Committee on Palestine of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in New York, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, called on the international community to take all necessary steps to compel Israel to abide by international law. (Associated Press)

At a briefing held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, France said it wanted to organize an international conference before the end of the year to present incentives for Israelis and Palestinians to reach peace. (Associated Press)

On the sidelines of the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in Venezuela, Indonesian President Kalla and Iranian President Rouhani reiterated support for Palestinian independence. Indonesia, which backs the French Initiative, had earlier called on NAM countries to support a resumption of the Middle East peace process. (Antara News)

88 Republican and Democratic Senators sent a letter to United States President Obama urging him to veto any “one-sided” resolution brought before the UN Security Council before he leaves office on 20 January 2017. Any such resolution, whether focused on settlements or other final status issues, would make it more difficult to reach agreement for Palestinians and Israelis, they argued since agreement could only be reached through direct dialogue between the parties. (Haaretz)

20 Sept

A16-year old Palestinian youth was shot dead by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in the Hebron district. While the IDF claimed that the Palestinian had attempted to stab soldiers near a checkpoint, an eyewitness stated that he was killed after stepping out of a bus. (Ma’an News Agency)

The IDF reportedly carried out raids and search operations in different parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, taking into custody 33 Palestinians, including children. (International Middle East Media Center)

An Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter shot down a drone, believed to be controlled by Hamas, off the coast of Gaza. (Arutz Sheva)

At least 120 prisoners held in Israel reportedly began a hunger-strike to demand the release of three fellow Palestinians held under administrative detention and the end of this type of detention. (AhlulBayt News Agency)

During his address at the inauguration of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, outgoing Secretary-General Ban said that prospects for the creation of a Palestinian State alongside Israel “are being lowered by the day,” adding that “It pains me that this past decade has been lost to peace. Ten years lost to illegal settlement expansion. Ten years lost to intra-Palestinian divide, growing polarization and hopelessness,” and calling settlements “obstacles to progress.” “This is madness. Replacing a two-State solution with a one-State construct would spell doom: denying Palestinians their freedom and rightful future, and pushing Israel further from its vision of a Jewish democracy towards greater global isolation,” he said. (The Times of Israel)

US President Obama said during his speech at the UN General Assembly: “Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land.” (whitehouse.gov)

French President Hollande told the General Assembly: “No one could impose a solution on the parties. But nothing is worse than the status quo.” The objective was to meet by the end of the year for a conference where both sides could negotiate. (United Nations)

King Abdullah II of Jordan said that “No injustice has spread more bitter fruit than the denial of a Palestinian State. […] Israel has to embrace peace o eventually be engulfed in a sea of hatred in a region of turmoil. Safeguarding Jerusalem is a key concern […] As the Custodian of Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem, I will continue my efforts to protect these places, and stand up against all violations of their sanctity, including attempts for temporal and spatial division of Al Aqsa Mosque / Al Haram Al Sharif.” (United Nations)

Turkish President Erdogan told the General Assembly that “We will try to benefit from our normalized relations with Israel to facilitate the peace process and solving the economic and humanitarian problems faced by our Palestinian brothers and sisters. In this direction we continue our efforts for sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza.” (United Nations)

During the inauguration of the General Assembly, Egyptian President al-Sisi said that “Egypt continues to pursue its utmost efforts to achieve peace in the region and end the Israeli occupation through negotiations and progress in the peace process, in order to reach a final settlement and sustainable and just peace on the basis of the two-state solution. We thus welcome current efforts based on a genuine desire to improve the situation in the Palestinian territories. […] Egypt affirms that the hand of peace remains extended in the form of the Arab Peace Initiative, and stresses the necessity of working to take constructive steps to end Israeli settlement-building and initiate negotiations for the ultimate resolution, while simultaneously halting all acts that bring harm to the Arab heritage in Jerusalem.” (United Nations)

Israeli authorities released Palestinian journalist Samah Dweik after she served six months in prison for “incitement” charges over her Facebook posts. (Sawt al-Asra)

21 Sept

Overnight, Israeli forces detained at least 23 Palestinians, including two minors, across the occupied West Bank, mainly in the Hebron governorate, while a raid in the Shuafat refugee camp in East Jerusalem sparked hours-long clashes. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot and injured a 13-year-old Palestinian girl near the settlement of “Alfei Manashe” in the northern West Bank, after she was ordered to stop by border guards and continued walking. (Ma’an News Agency)

Palestinian municipal polls scheduled for 8 October were postponed after the Palestinian High Court in Ramallah put off its ruling until 3 October. Two weeks of campaigning are usually allotted for Palestinian elections and had been set to begin on 23 September. In response, the electoral commission confirmed that the 8 October date “is no longer applicable,” but set no new date. (AFP)

As of this week, the Nablus-based Palestine [stock] Exchange was listed by global financial index provider FTSE Russell. The status is a milestone for the exchange, whose market capitalization was $3.3 billion as of August 2016. (Bloomberg)

Palestinian prisoners Malik al-Qadi and brothers Muhammad and Mahmoud Balboul ended their hunger strikes, begun in July in protest of being held by Israel without charge, following a decision by Israeli authorities not to extend their administrative detention. (Ma’an News Agency)

US President Obama expressed concerns over Israeli settlement activity in his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in New York. (Times of Israel)

Addressing the UN General Assembly on 21 September Kuwait’s Prime Minister Sheikh Jaber Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah announced that his country will host an international conference to highlight Israeli violations and abuses against Palestinian children. (The Middle East Monitor)

22 Sept

Israeli forces carried out overnight raids in East Jerusalem and the Shuafat refugee camp, uncovering ammunition and weaponry and detaining 23 Palestinians. (Ma´an News Agency)

Israeli worshippers entered Joseph´s Tomb in Nablus at dawn under protection of Israeli security forces, sparking violent protests by Palestinians. A number of Palestinian civilians were injured. (Palestinian Information Center)

Israeli soldiers were photographed beating a Palestinian man in Hebron whom they claimed was resisting arrest. (Haaretz)

Israeli forces raided homes in the occupied West Bank village of Bil´in, confiscating cell phones and computers belonging to activists from the Bil´in Popular Resistance Committee against the Wall and Settlements. (Ma´an News Agency)

Five Jewish youth were arrested in Jerusalem on suspicion of having kicked a Palestinian youth and stolen his cellphone in what is believed to be a nationalistically-motivated attack. (Ynetnews)

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Palestinian President Abbas called on Israel to completely and unequivocally accept the Arab Peace Initiative and on the United Nations to provide protection to the Palestinian people from Israeli acts of aggression. (United Nations)

Addressing the UN General Assembly, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu implored the international community to stand against the “inhumanity of Hamas” and to denounce the incitement to violence and glorification of terrorists amongst Palestinian children. He further called on the international community to cooperate with Israel. (United Nations)

At the UN General Assembly, Norwegian Prime Minister Solberg called on Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to implement the recommendations in the Quartet report. (United Nations)

Following talks with Palestinian Foreign Minister Malki on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Greece and Cyprus issued a joint communique affirming their support for the creation of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. (WAFA)

The European Court of Justice took a step toward confirming the removal of Hamas from the EU list of terrorist organizations following a recommendation by its advocate general. (Haaretz)

Bowing to pressure from “T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights”, a Jewish human rights organization, the Jewish National Fund office in the United States has for the first time included in its annual financial report a detailed breakdown of its investments in projects overseas, including money given to Israeli entities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, indicating a clear defiance of official US foreign policy. (Haaretz)

UN Women, with the support of the Government of Japan, opened the first international seminar on “Gender-based Violence in the Humanitarian Context of the Gaza Strip” in Gaza. (Palestine News Network)

UNRWA and the Danish Representative Office in Ramallah opened a three-day exhibition featuring unpublished photos from the UNRWA Film and Photo Archive at the Danish House in Palestine in Ramallah. (UNRWA)

Addressing the UN General Assembly on 22 September Secretary of State of the Holy See Cardinal Pietro Parolin bemoaned that failed attempts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had “dampened the hopes and promises of all who consider the region sacred and holy”. (United Nations)

Addressing the UN General Assembly on 22 September Iranian President Hassan Rouhani noted that “oppressed Palestinians were still afflicted by a web of apartheid policies and atrocities set by the usurping Zionist regime”. (United Nations)

Addressing the UN General Assembly on 22 September Norway’s Prime Minister Solberg stressed that “more needed to be done to find common solutions to common challenges”. He urged President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu “to address the imminent threats to the two-state solution by implementing the recommendations in the Quartet report”. (United Nations)

In a statement released to the media on 22 September shortly after President Abbas´ speech, Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon said "President Abbas´ claim of Israeli aggression against our Muslim and Christian holy sites" and "hateful words are like a ticking time bomb. Abbas chose the UN pulpit to represent Palestinian terror. His dangerous words are sure to lead to even more terror attacks against Israel. The Palestinian youth listening to his speech today will be the terrorists of tomorrow." (United Nations)

Knesset members from Israeli opposition parties, including Ksenia Svetlova from the Zionist Union Part and Meretz leader Zehava Galon criticised Prime Minister Netanyahu´s speech to the UNGA, calling it "hypocritical", "theatre" and an attempt at lip service. (Times of Israel)

In a report, UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women Dubravka Šimonović stated that the Palestinian Government must take a tougher stance against gender-based violence and promote equality for women. “The occupation does not exonerate the State of Palestine from its due diligence obligation to prevent, investigate, punish and provide remedies for acts of gender-based violence under the areas and persons under its jurisdiction,” Šimonović wrote.  In a press conference in Jerusalem she said that the Palestinian legal system is “outdated” particularly with regard to “honour crimes”. “I would like to call on both sides to start a new peace process in which women would fully participate and even take the lead,” she said at the end of her visit to Israel and Palestine. (Human Rights Watch, OHCHR)

23 Sept

Israeli forces carried out predawn raids in the West Bank city of Bethlehem and in the Deheishe refugee camp, south of Bethlehem, detaining 8 Palestinians. (IMEMC, Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers shot and injured a Palestinian man east of the central West Bank city of Ramallah, while a number of soldiers reportedly assaulted a physically challenged man at a military roadblock near Jenin, in the northern part of the West Bank. (IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian near the settlement of Keryat Arba, east of Hebron after he reportedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier. (AFP, Breitbart, IMEMC)

Security footage obtained by Israeli Channel 2 allegedly shows two Israeli soldiers setting a Palestinian storehouse in the West Bank city of Nablus on fire.

The Egyptian authorities opened the Rafah border crossing for the final day to allow Palestinian worshipers returning from the Muslim pilgrimage of Hajj to return to Gaza. (Ma’an News Agency)

More than 250 Palestinian worshipers from Gaza, who were above the age of 50 were permitted to enter Israel through the Erez crossing for prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem (Ma’an News Agency)

At least three Palestinians sustained bullet injuries in clashes with Israeli forces along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. (Ma’an News Agency)

On the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York the Quartet held talks, including with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt and France. In a statement, the Quartet emphasized “its strong opposition to ongoing settlement activity […] and expressed its grave concern that the acceleration of settlement construction and expansion in Area C and East Jerusalem, including the retroactive ‘legalization’ of existing units, and the continued high rate of demolitions of Palestinian structures, are steadily eroding the viability of the two-state solution.” Further, it expressed serious concern for the continuing dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, reiterated that advancing Palestinian national unity on the basis of the PLO platform and Quartet principles remains a priority, and condemned the recent resurgence of violence and called on all sides to take all necessary steps to de-escalate tensions by exercising restraint, preventing incitement, refraining from provocative actions and rhetoric, and protecting the lives and property of all civilians. (AFP, Reuters, UNSCO)

24 Sept

Editors from two Palestinian news publications based in the West Bank say their Facebook accounts were suspended last week and that no reason was provided, alleging their pages may have been censored because of a recent agreement between Facebook and the Israeli Government aimed at tackling “incitement”. Facebook replied, saying the suspension had been “accidental,” and unblocked some accounts. (Al Jazeera)

Israeli authorities released former hunger-striking prisoner Malik al-Qadi to Palestinian medics to transfer him to a hospital in the West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

According to a report by the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs, since the beginning of the year more than 1,000 Palestinian minors have been detained by Israeli forces. (Ma’an News Agency)

25 Sept

In a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said that if elected, the US would recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. During the closed-door meeting, the Trump campaign said that Trump agreed with Netanyahu that peace could only be achieved when “the Palestinians renounce hatred and violence and accept Israel as a Jewish State.” (Reuters)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. In the meeting, Clinton stressed “her opposition to any attempt by outside parties to impose a solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “including by the UN Security Council,” according to a statement released by her campaign. (Haaretz)

An Israeli court sentenced a Palestinian Islamic preacher to eight months in prison over a sermon at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. On 28 November 2014, he had said that “I'm telling Jews explicitly – it's time to slaughter you, time to fight you, time to kill you.” (AFP)

After a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli jail died of a stroke, fellow Palestinian inmates announced a three-day hunger strike in protest and mourning. (AhlulBayt News Agency)

26 Sept

Over the weekend and into 26 September, Israeli forces detained over 60 Palestinians in raids throughout the West Bank including East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency, WAFA)

Over 70 American intellectuals and academics have published an open letter in the New York Review of Books calling for a “targeted boycott” of all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, as well as of goods and services from the settlements, and any investments that promote the occupation, until a peace is negotiated between Israel and Palestine. They opposed an economic, political, or cultural boycott of Israel itself. The signatories further called upon the US Government to exclude entities associated with settlements from trade benefits and tax exemptions granted to non-profit organizations. The signatories of the letter included academics Bernard Avishai, Michael Walzer, Peter Brooks and Deborah Dash Moore, author and journalist Adam Hochschild and Haaretz columnist Peter Beinart. (Haaretz)

In a report Human Rights Watch criticised FIFA for condoning football matches played on land taken from Palestinians in the West Bank, calling for Israeli clubs based in settlements to be forced to relocate. Six clubs in the Israeli football league play in settlements, the report said. By allowing games to be contested there, FIFA is engaging in business activity that supports Israeli settlements, contrary to human rights commitments undertaken by FIFA. (AFP)

Palestinian journalists imprisoned by Israel went on a one-day hunger strike to mark the Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Journalists, as 24 of them remained behind bars. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces opened fire into Palestinian homes in southern Gaza, while Israeli Navy ships fired on Palestinian fishing boats close to the Gaza shore. (IMEMC)

27 Sept

Israeli soldiers have detained seventeen Palestinians in different parts of the West Bank, including nine in Jerusalem. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces demolished an agriculture structure in the district of Nablus, and four water cisterns in the district of Hebron. (Ma´an News Agency)

Israeli forces detained five Palestinians in raids across the West Bank, seizing weapons, munitions and explosives. (Israel Hayom)

Israeli settlers torched a Palestinian home under construction in the district of Nablus. (Palestine News Network)

Hamas official Ahmed Youssef said in an interview with Ma´an that the movement is planning to hold internal elections in the first half of 2017, and thereafter, elect a new chief. Current chief Khaled Mashaal hinted he will not run for re-election. (Ma´an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers with several military bulldozers partially demolished a Palestinian home in Beit Jala village near Bethlehem. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces demolished a new classroom made out of Zinc, in the Abu Nuwwar school, Khan Al-Ahmar, in East Jerusalem. This is the fourth time the school has been demolished by Israel, which refuses to give it permission to continue the construction in order to create territorial contiguity between the settlement of “Ma’ale Adumim” and Jerusalem. (IMEMC)

The Israeli Supreme Court approved an Israeli military decision to demolish the family home of an incarcerated Palestinian suspected of being involved in a drive-by shooting last year that left two Israeli settlers dead. (Ma’an News Agency)

More than 1,000 members of faculty have signed a petition against a website, the Canary Mission, that blacklists pro-Palestinian activists, students and educators who criticize Israel and is aimed at keeping them from getting jobs. (electronicintifada.net; forward.com)

Israeli Civil Administration forces demolished 22 structures in five Palestinian communities across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 56 people were left homeless, 30 of them minors under the age of eighteen. (B´Tselem)

28 Sept

Israeli forces have detained fifteen Palestinians in different parts of occupied East Jerusalem as well as additional Palestinians in parts of the West Bank, including five in Budrus, and five in Hebron. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces raided Shufat refugee camp in the Jerusalem area for the seventh consecutive day, searching homes and detaining at least 13 Palestinians. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces raided al-Khader town, south of Bethlehem, searched homes and detained one Palestinian. (IMEMC)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent his condolences to Shimon Peres’s family on the demise of Israel’s former president, describing him as a partner in peace, together with Yasser Arafat and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. (Ynetnews.com)

Israeli forces arrested Mohammad Al-Natshah, a member of the Palestinian parliament from Hamas, in his Hebron home.  Al-Natshah was released from Israeli jails seven months ago after serving three years under administrative detention. (Xinhuanet.com)

The Kingdom of Belgium has contributed EUR 7 million to UNRWA in support of the Agency’s efforts to meet the education and shelter needs of Palestine refugees. Of the total contribution, EUR 5 million will go towards the Agency’s pioneering Education in Emergencies (EiE) programme to support 314,900 Palestine refugee children in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Gaza and the West Bank through the first half of 2018. (unrwa.org)

Amnesty International sent a memorandum to Israeli Authorities expressing concerns about the use of lethal force by the Israeli army, Border Police, Israel Police and private security guards over the period from 22 September 2015 until 6 September 2016. It provides details of 20 cases of evidently unlawful killings of Palestinians, including 15 possible extrajudicial executions, carried out by Israeli forces, and seeks clarification about the investigations carried out by the Israeli authorities into these killings and the policies governing the use of lethal force by Israeli forces. (amnesty.org)

29 Sep

Israeli soldiers opened fire on Palestinian farmers in central Gaza. (IMEMC)

An Israeli military official told Maariv that the Army plans to flood underground tunnels along the Gaza border built by the Palestinians. (IMEMC)

The union of workers for UNRWA announced they were planning a one-day strike in Gaza and the West Bank to protest cuts in aid, salaries and services. (Ma´an News Agency)

30 Sep

Israeli forces arrested a young Palestinian in possession of a knife in Mount Hebron, after he reportedly approached the vehicle of an Israeli Colonel. (Ynetnews)

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, one Palestinian was killed and three others were injured while trying to defuse an Israeli missile in northern Gaza. (ABNA)

Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu shook hands at the funeral of Shimon Peres. President Abbas led a Palestinian delegation, including the PLO Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat, to the funeral after Prime Minister Netanyahu had approved his request to do so. (CNN, Palestine News Network)

In a statement, Hamas condemned President Abbas´ condolences for Shimon Peres and censured him for attending the funeral of the former Israeli President. (PressTV)

President Obama, at the funeral of Shimon Peres, said that President Abbas´ presence “is a gesture and a reminder of the unfinished business of peace.” (Times of Israel)

 President Abbas visited former prisoner and hunger striker Malik al-Qadi at a hospital in Ramallah, telling him that the cause of Palestinian prisoners was a priority for the Palestinian leadership. (Ma´an News Agency)

A 28-year-old Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces after stabbing and wounding a 20-year-old Israeli soldier at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem in the central occupied West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

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