Chronological Review of Events/July 2016 – DPR review

Division for Palestinian Rights

Chronological Review of Events Relating to the

Question of Palestine

Monthly media monitoring review

July 2016

July 2016 chron

1 July

A Palestinian man died from excessive tear gas inhalation after Israeli forces heavily fired tear gas at crowds, wounding some 40 others, as Palestinians attempted to cross the Qalandiya checkpoint from Ramallah into Jerusalem to attend prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.  (Ma’an News Agency)

An Israeli was killed and three others injured in a shooting directed at an Israeli family’s vehicle on the road between the illegal Israeli settlements of “Beit Hagai” and “Otniel”, in the occupied West Bank.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot dead a pregnant Palestinian woman who allegedly attempted to carry out a stabbing attack near Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.  (Ma’an News Agenc, IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers entered the town of Jaba’, south of Jenin, and searched a few homes and detained a young Palestinian man.  (IMEMC)

Israeli navy ships opened fire on a number of Palestinian fishing boats off the Gaza shore, causing damage and forcing the fishers back to shore.  (IMEMC)

In line with their decision announced in Munich on 12 February 2016, the representatives of the Middle East Quartet issued a report on the situation on the ground focusing on major threats to achieving a negotiated peace and offering recommendations to advance the two-state solution. In its statement, the Quartet invites both parties to engage with it on implementing its recommendations and creating the conditions for the resumption of meaningful negotiations that resolve all final status issues.  (un.org)

The Danish Foreign Minister Jensen has launched a new strategy for Denmark’s continued efforts in Palestine, which  will focus on building up public structures, the economy and a strengthening of human rights from 2016-2020. The Government of Denmark has also announced a contribution of US$ 4.46 million to UNRWA.  (UNRWA, chppost.dk)

In a statement on the release of the Quartet report, the Secretary-General underscored that that “there is a strong need for affirmative steps to reverse negative trends on the ground. These trends risk entrenching a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict which is incompatible with realising the national aspirations of both peoples.”  (un.org)

Three Palestinians, including a teenager, were shot and injured by Israeli forces when clashes broke out during the weekly-held protest in the village of Kafr Qaddum near Qalqiliya. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Israeli government announced a reduction in the amount of tax revenues that it collects and transfers monthly to the Palestinian Authority. According to Israeli and Palestinian officials, the tax revenues vary between $130 million and $155 million every month. Israel has cut or stopped the payments altogether in the past as a punitive measure against the Palestinians. (Middle East Monitor)

Hunger striking prisoner affiliated with the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) continued his hunger strike. Three other PFLP-affiliated Palestinian prisoners began three-day hunger strikes in solidarity. (Ma’an News Agency)

2 July

Israeli forces closed several checkpoints near Nablus as Israeli settlers organized a protest on the road leading to the Huwwara checkpoint, one of the main entrances into Nablus, and threw rocks at Palestinian cars. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel sent hundreds of troops to the West Bank and sealed off the city of Hebron, in response to a spike in deadly attacks by Palestinians. (Euronews)

Israeli forces wounded two Palestinians with live bullets during clashes in Doura, south of Hebron. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces arrested four Palestinian children at a military roadblock at the main entrance of their village, Zabbouba, west of Jenin. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces detained 10 Palestinians, including a journalist, in East Jerusalem, amid increasing tension on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the Old City. (Albawaba)

Israeli forces launched airstrikes at four sites allegedly used by Palestinian political factions in the Gaza Strip in response to a rocket fired from Gaza into the Israeli city of Sderot on 2 July. (Ma’an News Agency, Xinhua)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the continued and unabated construction of settlements, the judaization of Jerusalem and its imposed isolation, as among the causes that propagate tension and frustration among Palestinians. The Secretary-General of the OIC also expressed disappointment over the content of the recent report by the Middle East Quartet. (irna.ir)

3 July

In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry condemned the approval by the Israeli authorities of hundreds of new housing units in West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements. (kuna.net)

The Israeli Cabinet approved the expansion of Israeli settlements with an additional 800 new units in the West Bank in “Ma’ale Adumim” and East Jerusalem. Israeli officials say that the approval of 800 new housing units is meant to somehow ‘balance’ the implementation of a court ruling that 600 construction permits be approved for Palestinian families in Beit Safafa.( IMEMC)

The municipality of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik, voted for the boycott of all Israeli products and promised to continue the embargo “as long as the occupation of Palestinian territories continues.” The vote is part of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. (presstv.com)

4 July

Four Palestinian youths were wounded in clashes with Israeli forces who were demolishing the homes of two Palestinians who stabbed and killed an Israeli near Jerusalem’s Old City on December 23. (The National)

Israeli forces arrested at least 34 Palestinians, in different parts of the West Bank, including eight in Hebron, and 17 in East Jerusalem, including 12-year-old twin brothers. Furthermore, one Palestinian was injured in Israeli raids on Hebron. (IMEMC)

Israeli settlers destroyed several grapevines, a shed and uprooted plants, belonging to a Palestinian farmer in the Zeitouna area, south of Bethlehem. (IMEMC News)

Israel has demolished the Arab village of Al-Araqeeb in the Negev “for the 100th time since July 2010” and the second time since the beginning of Ramadan, locals and activists say.  Israeli authorities claimed the village because it was constructed on state land and didn’t have the necessary building permits.(Rt.com)

Israeli forces demolished two Palestinian homes in the Qalandiya refugee camp. Six Palestinian refugees were displaced as a result of the demolitions and four were injured as a result of clashes that sparked in the area. (Middle EAst Monitor, Fars News, PressTV)

Egypt closed Rafah,  its only crossing with the Gaza Strip, after a five-day opening to allow humanitarian cases through. (Ma’an News Agency)

Trucks carrying tons of aid from Turkey began arriving in the Gaza strip. (Deutsche Welle, Anadolu Agency)

The Secretary-General issued a statement strongly criticizing Israeli authorities decision to advance with settlement constructions in the settlement of “Maale Adumim” and East Jerusalem. (un.org)

5 July

Israeli forces arrested at least six Palestinians in different parts of East Jerusalem and two Palestinians in Nablus and Tubas. They also shot and injured a child and arrested two young men after storming Beit Fajjar town and Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. (IMEMC)

The Palestinian Authority decided to halt its cooperation with the Quartet on the Middle East following its report issued on 1 July. (Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli forces issued a demolition order to the family home of the young man who is accused of killing a 13-year-old girl in her home in the settlement of “Kiryat Araba” on 30 June. (Jewish Telegraph Agency, Xinhua)

Several Israeli military vehicles raided the West Bank town of Huwwara and imposed curfew, forcing the entire town under house arrest until further notice. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces arrested at least seven Palestinians during overnight raids across the West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

Almost 3,000 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip would have entered Egypt via the Rafah border crossing over the course of the last week. (Middle East Monitor)

Israeli soldiers stationed across the border fence fired several rounds of live ammunition at Palestinian homes in the al-Qarara area, northeast of Khan Yunis, in the Gaza Strip. (IMEMC)

6 July

Israeli forces arrested at least six Palestinians in raids in the West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

At least 10 Palestinian were injured in clashes with the Israeli Army in the West Bank village of Dura after troops attempted to arrest suspects in the Hebron area. (Times of Israel)

Three Israeli soldiers and a Palestinian man were wounded in a suspected car-ramming attack in the West Bank. (Xinhua, Ma’an News Agency, The Jerusalem Post)

Five Palestinians were injured with live fire and ten others with rubber-coated steel bullets, while several more suffered from tear gas inhalation when Israeli forces entered the city of Dura in the southern West Bank district of Hebron. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers raided Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, and arrested a wounded Palestinian man. (IMEMC)

Israel Police arrested hundreds of Palestinians who had entered the country without legal work permits since the beginning of the year. (Times of Israel, Breitbart)

President Mahmoud Abbas called on the UN Security Council to reject the Quartet report on the conflict with Israel. (The Jerusalem Post, Ma’an News Agency)

7 July

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian woman carrying a knife outside the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. (Times of Israel, Ma’an News Agency)

The family of a Palestinian teen from eastern Jerusalem killed in a revenge attack by three Jewish extremists asked Israel’s Supreme Court to order the demolition of the murderers’ homes. (Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Forward News)

The Israeli High Court of Justice rejected a petition against Israel's slated demolition of the West Bank home belonging to a Palestinian man accused of assisting in the shooting that killed Border Police officer Hadar Cohen, 19, in Jerusalem in February. (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli Soldiers detained three Palestinian children, all eleven years of age, in the town of Huwwara near Nablus allegedly for throwing stones on an Israeli settler’s car. (International Middle East Media Centre)

During a bilateral meeting with her French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in Paris, Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said that her country will continue to support Palestine as part of international efforts to boost peace between Palestine and Israel. (Jakarta Globe)

Speaking in an interview with Hamas's Palestine newspaper, Deputy Head of the Palestinian National Council Taysir Kubaa called on the Palestinian Authority to abandon negotiations with Israel which, he said, didn’t lead to progress towards a solution. (Aretz Sheva)

8 July

Israeli soldiers detained a Palestinian man, confiscating mobile phones and computers from his property in Husan town, west of Bethlehem. The soldiers also entered the town of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem and searched many homes. (International Middle East Media Centre)

Around 50 trucks carrying 2,000 tons of Turkish humanitarian aid arrived in the Gaza Strip on 7 July via Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing.  (Anadolu Agency)

Israeli soldiers arrested two young Palestinian men near Jenin in the West Bank. (IMEMC)

9 July

The Israeli Government plans on adding 40 million shekels ($10.3 million) to the sum already allocated for protecting Jewish settlers in East Jerusalem. (Haaretz)

Israeli forces arrested a Palestinian man in Hebron and shot another in the leg. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces blockaded the town of Yatta and fired tear gas at pedestrians trying to leave, amid ongoing restrictions on movement across Hebron district. (Ma’an News Agency)

The PLO released a statement criticizing the international community for their complicity in Israel’s continued annexation and occupation of the Palestinian territory on the 12th anniversary of the ICJ’s decision that deemed Israel’s separation wall illegal under international law. (Ma’an News Agency)

10 July

Four teenage Palestinians were arrested by Israeli police in East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces arrested two Palestinians in Bethlehem district. (IMEMC)

Egypt's Foreign Minister Shoukry met Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in Israel to discuss reviving peace efforts with Palestine, the first such visit in nearly a decade and the latest sign of warming ties. Egypt proposes to host direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians in Cairo with the participation of senior Egyptian and Jordanian officials. (France24, Haaretz)

Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayid proposed to end his hunger strike if Israel agreed to free him after serving four more months of administrative detention. (Ma’an News Agnecy)

Prime Minister Netanyahu informed Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry that he was willing to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Cairo for talks hosted by Egyptian President Sisi. (The Times of Israel)

The Israeli Cabinet approved $12.8 million in aid to the settlement of “Kiryat Arba” in Hebron in a move which anti-settlement group Peace Now condemned as part of Prime Minister Netanyahu's plan to “prioritize the most extreme settlements.” (Ma’an News Agency)

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released new data about the population in the occupied Palestinian territory, which it said now totalled 4.81 million people. (Ma’an News Agency)

11 July

Israeli forces raided homes in Hebron, Nablus, and several towns across the West Bank, arresting at least 14 young men. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli security arrested four Palestinians, including two Palestinian Authority intelligence personnel, suspected of weapons manufacturing and dealing in the West Bank. (The Jerusalem Post)

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, Michael Lynk, is undertaking his first official mission on 10-15 July to gather firsthand  information on the current human rights situation in Palestine. He will visit Amman but not enter the Occupied Palestinian Territory due to Israel’s lack of response to his travel request to travel. (United Nations)

Israeli forces conducted large-scale raids in the northern West Bank district of Qalqilya, searching several homes and detaining a total of at least 28 Palestinians. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot and injured at least two Palestinians with rubber-coated bullets during clashes with Palestinian youths in the town of Sair in the southern West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Knesset passed a law compelling Israeli NGOs that receive more than half of their funding from foreign Governments or political organizations to report their main source of income to the NGO registrar, publish it on their website and state it in their publications. In a statement, the EU spokesman's office said the law limits the activity of civil society and endangers Israel's democratic fundamentals. (Haaretz)

12 July

Israeli military bulldozers entered Anata town, northeast of East Jerusalem, levelling sheds, a farm, a car repair facility and several walls. (IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers detained at least 10 Palestinians across the northern West Bank districts of Qalqilya, Nablus, and Jenin. (IMEMC)

During a Security Council debate on the Situation on the Middle East, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed that Israel’s plans to advance planning for approximately 560 housing units in the West Bank and 240 more in occupied East Jerusalem were unacceptable and in flagrant disregard of international law. (DPI)

A Palestinian was injured by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers arrested a Palestinian in Ramallah. (IMEMC)

Arab states are called on the UN Security Council not to endorse a report by the so-called Quartet on the Middle East since it is biased toward Israel, according to the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Mansour. (AFP)

Israel and the Palestine agreed to allow trucks into Gaza through the Erez Crossing for the first time since 2007. (The Jerusalem Post)

A technical study group from Turkey’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources arrived in the Gaza Strip to assess the coastal enclave’s energy needs. (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli authorities issued administrative detention orders against 34 Palestinian prisoners for periods between three to six renewable months. (Albawaba)

Following a successful appeal presented to an Israeli court  Israeli authorities released a 14-year-old Palestinian girl after holding her for three months in prison,. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian activist and former Arab Young Ambassador, Hasan Karajeh, at a checkpoint in the Ramallah district, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer. The man is a well-known activist who works on youth issues, prisoners' rights and the organization Stop the Wall. He was previously detained for almost two years for his social activism. (Ma’an News Agency)

Former PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad presented a plan to end the split between Fatah and Hamas. The plan foresees a prolonged ceasefire with Israel and an interim time-limited period intended to solve the political divisions, leading to a united leadership and elections.  (Times of Israel)

Palestinian Labor Minister Abu Shahla announced the start of the registration process for the first phase of a six-months employment opportunity hiring 4,000 university graduates and laborers in Gaza for positions in the health and education sectors and municipalities, as well as economic facilities affected by the 2014 war.  (Al Monitor)

13 July

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man and injured another, claiming they had attempted to carry out a car-ramming attack in Al-Ram, north of Jerusalem. (Haaretz)

Israeli forces arrested ten Palestinians during raids in East Jerusalem and the West Bank districts of Bethlehem, Hebron and Tulkarem. (IMEMC)

Israeli bulldozers demolished three houses under construction and a steel structure in East Jerusalem, after Israeli forces claimed the owners lacked proper licenses. (Ma’an News Agency, IMEMC)

Several Israeli military vehicles and bulldozers entered Palestinian agricultural lands in Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, and uprooted parts of them. (IMEMC)

Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound under police protection and attempted to perform religious rituals, provoking Palestinian worshippers. (Palestinian Information Center)

Palestinian leaders presented several preconditions for participating in a trilateral Israeli-Egyptian-Palestinian peace summit in Cairo, including a freeze on Israeli settlement construction. (Times of Israel)

Israeli forces detained a Palestinian photojournalist, known for his coverage since 2011 of weekly protests in the village of Kafr Qaddum in the West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel opened Gaza crossing after nine years: Israel opened a major crossing point between Israel and Gaza on Wednesday to allow the transfer of vehicles carrying goods for the first time in nine years. (Albawaba)

Israeli forces carried out air raids in the central Gaza Strip with conflicting reports on the nature of the strikes. According to the Palestinian sources Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes targeting lands east of al-Bureij refugee camp, while the Israeli army defined the explosions as “controlled detonations”. (Ma’an News Agency)

14 July

A Palestinian youth was shot and wounded by Israeli forces at a checkpoint near the refugee camp of Shufat north of East Jerusalem, after he reportedly tried to help another Palestinian being detained by Israeli border police.(Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces completely surrounded and isolated the town of al-‘Eesawiyya, in East Jerusalem, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving it. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces raided two areas in the city of Bethlehem, searched homes, and arrested two Palestinians, while many suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation. (IMEMC)

Israeli forces raided  Deir Abu Mashal village, north of Ramallah, searched homes and injured three Palestinians during ensuing clashes. (IMEMC, WAFA)

61 Palestinian female detainees are currently held in Israeli jails, including 12 minors aged between 12 and 16 years old. (Palestinian Information Center)

In his first interview since the publication on 1st July of a report by the Middle East Quartet, Special Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov said the situation was approaching a point of no return. "The two-state solution) is perhaps the furthest away it's ever been, and in fact it is really worse than that — it is slipping away as we speak", he said, citing Israeli settlement building and Palestinian violence and incitement as among the most troubling obstacles. (Reuters)

UNRWA condemned the latest Israeli large scale demolitions in the Bedouin refugee community in Anata in the West Bank and urged respect for international law. “It is heart-breaking to see such shocking disregard for international law and the impact it is having on an entire UN-protected community”, the statement read. (unrwa.org)

15 July

Israeli forces injured four Palestinian with live fire near Bethlehem. (IMEMC)

Six Palestinians were wounded after the Israeli forces opened fire east of Gaza City, and in central Gaza. (IMEMC)

16 July

Israeli forces detained 10 Palestinians, including a woman, during overnight raids across the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)

17 July

Israeli police arrested a Palestinian man while attempting to board the Jerusalem Light Rail with a bag containing explosives and knives. (Times of Israel, Jewish Telegraph Agency)

The Palestinian Government is planning to amend the penal code, Palestinian Prime Minister Hamdallah said. He reiterated that Palestinian security services would continue to weed out criminal cells and “arrest all fugitives and put them to justice.” “Only one weapon and one legitimacy will be left,” said Hamdallah, referring to his goal that only security officers would possess weapons. (Maan News Agency)

18 July

Five Palestinian were injured by live fire when Israeli forces demolished the home of Palestinian prisoner in Jenin. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli soldiers arrested at least four Palestinians in Hebron. (IMEMC)

A Palestinian was shot and severely injured when he allegedly carried out a stab attack, lightly wounding two Israeli soldiers in Hebron. (Ma’an News Agency, Xinhua)

The ongoing crackdown on undocumented workers in Israel continued, with at least nine Palestinians being detained, in addition to a number of Israeli employers and foreign workers. (Ma’an News Agency)

The head of the Palestinian Central Election Commission Nasser said that Palestinian political factions have given “enough guarantees” that they will respect the results of the upcoming municipal elections, in both Gaza and the West Bank. He noted that there would be local and international observers. (Middle East Monitor)

19 July

Israeli forces detained 18 Palestinians, including 3 minors, during predawn raids into a number of West Bank districts, including occupied East Jerusalem. (WAFA)

Israeli naval ships opened fire on a Palestinian fishing boat sailing off the coast of Gaza, injuring a fisherman. Separately, Israeli bulldozers under military escort entered the central Gaza Strip and levelled land near the border fence. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli lawmakers on 18 July formally submitted a bill to the Knesset to annex the illegal settlement of “Ma’aleh Adumim” to Israel. The two MKs want to apply Israeli sovereignty to the settlement, located near Jerusalem and one of the largest settlements in the West Bank with about 40,000 residents. (DPA)

Israeli bulldozers escorted by police entered the Palestinian neighbourhoods of Silwan and Beit Hanina, in East Jerusalem, and demolished at least seven structures for lacking the required Israeli-issued permits. (Ma’an News Agency)

20 July

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemned in a statement the death sentences handed down by Gaza military courts to three individuals on charges of collaborating with Israel. (Gulf Today)

The Israeli NGO B'Tselem published a report stating that 1,394, or 63%, Palestinians killed by the Israeli army during the war in Gaza in 2014 had not taken part in the conflict. According to the report both Hamas and Israel broke international law; however, the main responsibility is on Israel, as its army "shirked" its duty to prevent large civilian casualties. (The Jerusalem Post)

21 July

Israeli forces detained at least 18 Palestinians across the West Bank. (Ma 'an News Agency)

Several Israeli army bulldozers entered the southern Gaza Strip. (Ma 'an News Agency)

United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov expressed concerned by reports of another arson attack on the home of the Dawabsha family in Duma in the West Bank. He urged Israel to ensure that vulnerable Palestinian communities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are protected in line with its obligations under international law. (UNSCO)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with his French counterpart Francois Hollande at the Elysee Palace in Paris. During their meeting President Hollande assured President Abbas that France was committed to leading international efforts to help secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians. (Ma 'an News Agency, Times of Israel)

In a live televised speech Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi said that his country was serious about pushing forward peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. (Times of Israel)

The Qatari Government announced that it will provide $30 million to help pay the salaries of thousands of Gaza Strip public sector workers left without a full wage package since 2013. (The Daily Star)

The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) reached an agreement with the German Government to rebuild 100 totally demolished houses in Gaza. (UNSCO)

The EU Missions in Jerusalem and Ramallah condemned the three death sentences handed down in Gaza on 19th July for individuals suspected of collaborating with Israel. (eeas.europe.org)

22 July
Israeli forces moved into the eastern part of the West Bank town of Beit Sahour after unknown persons fired shots at a vehicle driven by an Israeli settler near the settlement of Har Homa. (IMEMC)
Israeli soldiers entered the town of Kufur Qaddoum, in the northern West Bank district of Qalqilia, and assaulted the weekly protest, wounding two Palestinians and causing many others to suffer the effects of tear gas inhalation. (IMEMC)

Israeli soldiers detained five Palestinians, including an elderly man, in several areas of occupied East Jerusalem. The army also shot and injured a Palestinian in Teqoua, east of Bethlehem. (IMEMC)
23 July
48 Palestinian political prisoners began a hunger strike to support Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian detainee who has also been on a hunger strike since June 15. (AFP)
24 July
Israeli forces injured a Palestinian youth in the head by live fire in Ramallah, and detained three others. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces detained 14 Palestinians, including a minor, in raids across the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an News Agency)

Palestinian Minister of Public Works and Housing al-Hasayna declared that 1,000 new apartments are scheduled to be built in Gaza under the auspices of the Islamic Development Bank. He added that 70% of the damaged houses had been rebuilt. Over the past three months, the Ministry handed out keys of 1,154 apartments estimated at $19 million to Gazan families affected by the 2014 war. Since the war, the Ministry managed to rebuild 100,000 destroyed homes at a cost of $180 million. (Palestinian Information Center)

The Israeli District Planning and Building Committee in Jerusalem deposited a plan for the construction of 770 new settlement units between the settlement of Gilo and the West Bank village of Beit Jala, which is located over the Green Line. (IMEMC, The Jerusalem Post)

Israel’s Supreme Court rejected an appeal against the home demolition orders presented to the families of two Palestinians accused of carrying out a deadly attack in Tel Aviv the previous month, and told the families they have ten days to evacuate their homes. (Ma’an News Agency)
25 July
Israeli soldiers detained 11 Palestinians, including two women, in different parts of the occupied West Bank. (IMEMC)

Retired Saudi General Anwar Eshki recently visited Israel and met with Foreign Ministry Director-General Gold and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj.-Gen. Mordechai. Eshki, who headed a delegation of Saudi academics and business people, also met with a group of Knesset members to encourage dialogue in Israel on the Arab Peace Initiative. They also met with Palestinian President Abbas and other senior government figures in Ramallah. (Haaretz)

Israeli forces arrested 11 Palestinians, including a woman and two ex-prisoners from different cities and villages across the West Bank. (Fars News)

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, urged the Arab League to help the Palestinian Authority to sue the United Kingdom over the Balfour Declaration of 1917. (Ma’an News Agency, the Jerusalem Post)

The IMF is predicting economic growth of around 3.25% this year, slightly down on last year’s figure and far below the level needed to create all the jobs that are required. Unemployment is currently running at 27% across the two territories but it is worse in Gaza, where almost two-thirds of young people are jobless. (Forbes)

Israeli bulldozers entered the village of Qalandiya on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where they demolished 12 homes. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, strongly condemned Israeli decision to build 770 housing units in the settlement of Gilo, located on occupied Palestinian land between Bethlehem and East Jerusalem. (UNSCO)

UNRWA expressed its deep concern about the humanitarian impact of the closure applied by the Israeli authorities in the Hebron district, affecting in particular Fawwar refugee camp. (UNRWA)

The Consul-General of France in Jerusalem Magro stated that the recent Report of the Middle East Quartet “does not reflect France’s position, neither does it reflect the position of European countries.” However, he added that the Report did contain elements, notably regarding illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, which could be relied on during peace efforts.  (Ma’an News Agency)
26 July
Israeli prison guards raided and searched Section 5 of the Ramon prison and moved 100 Palestinian prisoners affiliated with Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) to the Ohalei Kedar prison. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli Special Forces, police, municipality crews, and bulldozers raided the village of Issawiya in East Jerusalem and demolished four structures. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces killed a Hamas fighter and injured five others in Surif, north of Hebron. Israel claims the man was responsible for an attack that killed a rabbi in a drive-by shooting on 1 July.  (Albawaba)

Israeli soldiers shot and injured, a 18 year old Palestinian woman near the Qalandia checkpoint, north of East Jerusalem, after she reportedly ran rewards them. Israeli officials claimed that she had carried a knife in her bag.  (IMEMC, The Times of Israel)

EU High Representative Mogherini questioned Israel’s intentions for the future, after progress was made on a controversial project to build 770 housing units in the East Jerusalem settlement of “Gilo”.  (Deutsche Presse Agentur)

Israel reopened the main entrance to the Fawwar refugee camp near Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, after keeping it closed for nearly a month in response to a series of attacks. On 25 July UNRWA had condemned the closure as collective punishment of the 9,500 camp residents.  (digitaljournal.com, UNRWA)

The PA Works and Housing Minister announced that the ministerial council in Ramallah has agreed to 80 per cent exemption of the Blue Fuel Tax for the Gaza Strip’s sole remaining electricity plant. (Middle East Monitor)
27 July
Israeli police arrested 52 Palestinians and summoned 28 for questioning during an overnight operation in the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods of Issawiya and Ras al-Amud.  (Xinhua)

Israeli forces arrested three Palestinians in the northern West Bank, in Jenin and Tulkarem districts.  (IMEMC)

Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinian fishermen off the coast of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip and detained two Palestinians.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel has reportedly agreed to allow cement imports to supply brick factories in the besieged Gaza Strip, following a more than three-month ban on cement imports for the private sector.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces demolished the Bedouin village of al-Araqib in the Negev region for the 101st time.  (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli police detained two Palestinian security guards at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and summoned another Palestinian for interrogation for allegedly assaulting Jewish visitors as they toured the compound under armed escort. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli police shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel in Tel Aviv, and detained three others during a reported drug-busting operation. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli human rights watchdog Peace Now announced that the Israeli government had opened tenders for 323 housing units in several Israeli settlements, paving the way for the expansion of the Israeli settlements of Gilo, Neve Yaakov, Pisgat Zeev, and Har Homa. (Ma’an News Agency)

The United States observed that Israeli plans to build hundreds of new settlement homes in east Jerusalem were ‘proactive’ and seriously undermined the prospect of the peace process. The European Union ambassador to Israel also criticized Israel for destroying Palestinian homes in Area C of the West Bank. (AFP, Haaretz)

The Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Abul Gheit urged a "fair" solution for the Palestinian crisis and said the pan-Arab body is committed to continuing efforts to reach a fair and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian crisis. (MENA)

A representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said Israeli policy in Area C is “systematically” emptying the area of its Palestinian residents. (Times of Israel)
28 July 

Dozens of Israeli soldiers entered the city of Nablus, conducted extensive searches of homes, fired live rounds, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas bombs as they detained 7 Palestinians and injured several others. (IMEMC)

Israeli police forces detained 10 Palestinians working in Israel without permits and demolished a camp in which the workers were residing. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli Navy arrested 7 Gaza fishermen and confiscated their boats for straying from coast after leaving 9 nautical mile limit. (The Times of Israel)

Israeli forces detained at least 18 Palestinians across the West Bank during predawn raids. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his support for Egypt's efforts to mediate peace with the Palestinians. He also expressed his belief that the best outcome in the conflict with the Palestinians is a two-State solution (The Jerusalem Post, AFP)

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody have been going on hunger strike to protest a decision by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to reduce family visits to prisoners from two to one visit each month. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israel’s Ofer military court sentenced seven Palestinians to detention without charge or trial for periods between three to six months. (Ma’an News Agency)

The United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, expressed his concern over Israel’s systematic policy of expanding settlements, designating land for exclusive Israeli use and preventing Palestinian social and economic development is destroying prospects for a viable Palestinian State.” (UNSCO)
29 July
Israeli soldiers arrested four Palestinians after stopping them at military roadblocks, in the West Bank  districts of Hebron and Nablus. (IMEMC)

Armed Israeli settlers, escorted by Israeli forces, raided the village of al-Badhan in Nablus. (Ma’an News Agency)

The United States is deeply concerned about Israel's reported plans to build an additional 323 units in settlements in East Jerusalem on top of 770 units previously announced in the settlement of Gilo, the State Department said on 27 July. (Reuters)

More than 200 Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip travelled to East Jerusalem to attend Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque. (Ma’an News Agency)

In view of supporting Palestinian unity, the conflict resolution non-governmental organization, “In Transition Initiative”, is hosting in Cape Town a week-long intra-Palestinian dialogue with Palestinians from across the political spectrum to “hammer out their differences and forge a common political vision for the future,”. The event is in partnership with the Institute for Palestine in South Africa. (Jewish Telegraph Agency)

Israeli human rights group B’Tselem released a report on 28 July revealing that Israeli authorities have steadily increased their use of administrative detention on Palestinian minors since October, going from 4 to 13 minors held in April 2016. (Ma’an News Agency)

Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians with live fire during clashes east of Gaza City. (Ma’an News Agency)

30 July
A 15-year-old Palestinian boy sustained a broken hand and heavy bruising after being assaulted and arrested by undercover Israeli police officers in the Issawiya neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)

The Palestinian Football Association announced that the Palestinian Football Cup Finals between Ahli al-Khalil (Hebron, West Bank) and Shabab Khan Yunis (Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip) would be postponed after Israeli authorities had prevented several team members from passing the Erez Crossing. (Ma’an News Agency)
31 July
A Palestinian worker was shot and injured with a rubber-coated steel bullet fired by Israeli forces toward Palestinian workers who attempted to enter Jerusalem in order to reach their workplaces. (WAFA)

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man after he attempted to stab Israeli soldiers stationed at a checkpoint in Nablus. (Ma’an News Agency)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Paris, after which he reiterated his support to the French Initiative and said that any reboot of peace talks with Israel should happen within a clear time-frame and under international supervision, after meeting with. (The Jerusalem Post)

Israeli authorities forced a Palestinian to demolish his privately-owned house in East Jerusalem, which had been built without an Israeli permit. (WAFA)

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