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Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike slips into coma

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Mohammed Allaan, who has been on a hunger strike for 60 days, is now on mechanical respiratory support, his lawyer says.

The Red Cross warned last week that hunger-striking Mohammed Allaan's life is in immediate danger [AFP]

The Red Cross warned last week that hunger-striking Mohammed Allaan’s life is in immediate danger [AFP]

by Basma Atassi, Al Jazeera

A Palestinian prisoner who has been on hunger strike for the past 60 days has now entered into a state of coma, his lawyer told Al Jazeera.

Mohammed Allaan, an alleged “Islamic Jihad” member, stopped eating in June to protest against being held by Israeli authorities without charge.

Israeli authorities have transferred Allaan from one hospital to another after they struggled to find a medic who would feed or examine the prisoner without his will.

Medics at Barzilai Medical Centre, where Allaan is being cared for, have refused to force-feed him, but are injecting his body with supplements essential for his survival.

“Mohammed slipped into a coma last night,” his lawyer Jamil el-Khatib told Al Jazeera on Friday. “He is on mechanical respiratory support now,” he said.

Allaan’s mother is at the hospital along with a few activists, but no one is allowed to see him.

The Red Cross last week warned that Allaan’s life is in immediate danger, and called upon Israeli authorities to allow his mother to visit him in hospital.

Allan was arrested in November 2014 and placed under administrative detention for two six-month periods.

He has been on hunger strike to protest his administrative detention, a controversial measure that allows Israel to detain suspects without charge for long periods.

There were fears by human rights organisations that he would be force-fed after Israel’s parliament last month passed into law the ability to force-feed prisoners on hunger strike.

Israeli group Physician for Human Rights said the government’s sanctioning of force-feeding “pushes the medical community to severely violate medical ethics for political gains, as was done in other dark regimes in history”.

The UN labelled hunger strikes “a fundamental human right”.

Palestinian baby’s father also dies from settler attack

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Saad Dawabsheh, the father of Ali, dies from severe burns caused by firebomb attack, his brother tells Al Jazeera.

The UN says at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2015 [Reuters]

The UN says at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2015 [Reuters]

by Al Jazeera

The father of the Palestinian 18-month-old baby boy who died in last week’s settler arson attack in the occupied West Bank has also died from his wounds.

Saad Dawabsheh, the father of Ali, died early on Saturday, his brother told Al Jazeera.

The 32-year-old died in Soroka hospital, where he had been treated for second-degree burns to more than 80 percent of his body.

Al Jazeera’s Imtiaz Tyab, reporting from West Jerusalem, said Saad’s wife, Riham, and four-year-old son Ahmad remain in critical condition, in Tel Hashomer hospital.

“His mother and brother also remain at the hospital. They both remain in very serious condition.

“In fact the mother’s condition for several days was thought to be worse than the father’s so the fact that he succumbed to his wounds raises alot of concern about her,” Tyab said.

Early last Saturday morning, a firebomb was thrown into the family’s bedroom in a suspected settler arson attack, setting the house alight.

A funeral is expected to be held later on Saturday in Duma, where last week’s attack took place.

The Palestine Liberation Organization has said it holds Israel’s government “fully responsible” for the death of the 18-month-old baby and will lodge a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The attack was roundly condemned around the world, including by Israeli leaders, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ringing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and saying they must fight “terrorism” together.

The US state department condemned the “vicious terrorist attack” in “the strongest possible terms”, urging Israel to “apprehend the murderers” and calling on both sides to “avoid escalating tensions”.

According to the UN, at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the beginning of 2015.

A recent report by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organisation, showed that more than 92.6 percent of complaints Palestinians lodge with the Israeli police go without charges being filed.

Cafe built over Jerusalem Islamic graves sparks anger

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For centuries, the area housed the Maaman Allah cemetery, the oldest and largest Muslim graveyard in the country.

The owner of the restaurant said he did not know there was a grave under the cafe [Al Jazeera]

The owner of the restaurant said he did not know there was a grave under the cafe [Al Jazeera]

by Al Jazeera

The opening of a cafe in Jerusalem built over a revered Islamic cemetery has sparked condemnation and anger from the Muslim community.

The Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said on Tuesday that the construction of the site was part of an Israeli plan that aims to demolish “everything related to Arabic Islamic history on this land”.

Landwer Cafe’s Independence Garden branch opened on Sunday on part of an area of land located between occupied East Jerusalem, which is predominantly Arab, and West Jerusalem. The area was being transformed into a park.

For centuries, the land housed the Maaman Allah cemetery, the oldest and largest Muslim graveyard in the country, and is believed to contain the remains of some of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad.

The owner of the restaurant told Al Jazeera that he did not know there was a grave under the cafe, but refused to make further comments.

“It’s not just the loss of the cemetery that angers the Palestinians. The cafe’s selling of alcohol [forbidden in Islam] is seen as a grave violation of the sanctity of the Islamic site,” Al Jazeera’s Elias Karram, reporting from Jerusalem, said.

The cafe is just one part of a plan that includes the construction on the site of 192 housing units, a 480-room hotel, commercial spaces, parking and other elements, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported.

A Museum of Tolerance is also being built in the area.

The construction began in 2011, but after skeletal remains were found, the Islamic Movement, which aims to advocate Islam among Israeli Arabs, along with other entities, filed a petition to the High Court of Justice.

The work was interrupted but soon resumed after the court eventually granted permission.

“All these projects are being constructed over the skulls of Muslims buried in the cemetery … cemeteries are supposed to be protected in all religious beliefs and international conventions,” Amir Khatib, the head of the Umm al-Fahm-based Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage, said.

Maaman Allah cemetery has a historic and religious significance because it includes the remains of a number of revered Islamic figures who participated in the conquest of Jerusalem in the seventh century.

Clashes break out in Al Aqsa after Israeli flag is raised at holy site

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Israeli police regularly escort right-wing settlers through the Al Aqsa compound, violating the peace accord. (AFP/File)

Israeli police regularly escort right-wing settlers through the Al Aqsa compound, violating the peace accord. (AFP/File)

by Ma’an

Clashes broke out between Palestinian worshipers and and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Tuesday after an Israeli extremist attempted to raise the Israeli flag over the holy site, witnesses said.

Witnesses said that Palestinian worshipers asked Israeli police to stop the extremist but they were ignored.

Palestinian worshipers and compound security guards then stopped the extremist themselves and tore up the flag, witnesses said.

They added that the Israeli extremist assaulted the worshipers with a sharp implement, injuring two Palestinians identified as Muammad Badran and Suliman abu-Mayyala.

During subsequent clashes, Israeli police reportedly assaulted worshipers near the Chain Gate and detained Radwan Amr, Fadi Bakir, Raed Zughaier, Husam Sedir, and Majdi Abbasi.

The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound has seen rising tensions in recent days, with Jewish organizations seeking to celebrate unconfirmed reports that Israel is negotiating the reopening of the compound to non-Muslim worship.

At the end of June, International Crisis Group reported discussions between Israel and the Islamic Endowment that controls the mosque compound on allowing non-Muslim worship at the site, although the move has not yet been confirmed.

On Sunday, right-wing Jewish organizations were reported to have called for a “return to the Temple Mount,” urging participants to wear their Israeli army uniforms as they stormed the holy site.

Violent clashes the week before saw Israeli forces enter the mosque itself, causing the UN to issue a warning against “religious provocations” at the site.

Following Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has maintained an agreement with the Islamic Endowment not to allow non-Muslim prayer in the area.

Jewish prayer is allowed at the neighboring Western Wall, which is the last remnant of the Second Temple.

However, Israeli forces regularly escort Jewish visitors to Al-Aqsa, leading to anger among Muslim worshipers.

UN condemns arson attack by Israeli settlers

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Security forces inspect the West Bank house destroyed in an arson attack on July 31, 2015. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

Security forces inspect the West Bank house destroyed in an arson attack on July 31, 2015. (AFP/Jaafar Ashtiyeh)

by Andolu Ajansi

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday sharply condemned an arson attack by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank that killed an 18-month-old Palestinian boy.

Ban “calls for the perpetrators of this terrorist act to be promptly brought to justice”, read a statement issued from his office.

Ali Saeed Dawabsheh was burned to death early Friday when Jewish settlers attacked a house in Duma village in the West Bank’s southern city of Nablus. His parents and brother also suffered serious injuries.

Palestinian officials said the attack was carried out by Jewish settlers affiliated with the Price Tag militant group.

“Continued failures to effectively address impunity for repeated acts of settler violence have led to another horrific incident involving the death of an innocent life. This must end,” the UN statement said.

It said the absence of a political process and Israel’s illegal settlement expanding activities, as well as its demolition of Palestinian homes, had “given rise to violent extremism on both sides.

“This presents a further threat to the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people for statehood as well as to the security of the people of Israel,” read the statement.

International law views East Jerusalem and the West Bank as occupied territories and deems any construction of Israeli settlements on the land to be illegal.

Earlier Friday, UN’s top Mideast envoy Nickolay Mladenov also condemned the “heinous” attack, calling it an act carried out for a political objective.

“We must not permit such acts to allow hate and violence to bring more personal tragedies and to bury any prospect of peace,” said Mladenov, who is the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process.

“This reinforces the need for an immediate resolution of the conflict and an end to the occupation,” he added.

Direct peace talks between Israel and Palestinians remain deadlocked amid Israel’s unilateral settlement-building policies in occupied lands and Palestinians’ efforts on international recognition of their statehood.

Palestinian baby burned to death in Israeli settler attack

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Two homes set ablaze in Duma village in occupied West Bank, with graffiti left on the walls reading “revenge” in Hebrew.

A man shows a picture of 18-month-old Palestinian toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha who died when his family house was set on fire by Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Duma on July 31, 2015. The Palestinian toddler was burned to death and four family members injured in the arson attack on two homes in the occupied West Bank. AFP PHOTO / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

A man shows a picture of 18-month-old Palestinian toddler Ali Saad Dawabsha who died when his family house was set on fire by Jewish settlers in the West Bank village of Duma on July 31, 2015. The Palestinian toddler was burned to death and four family members injured in the arson attack on two homes in the occupied West Bank. AFP PHOTO / JAAFAR ASHTIYEH

by Al Jazeera

An 18-month-old Palestinian boy has burned to death after settlers set fire to his family house in Duma village, south of Nablus city, in the occupied West Bank.

The parents of Ali Saad Dawabsheh and his four-year-old brother were also injured in the attack, sources told Al Jazeera on Friday morning.

Up to 75 percent of their bodies suffered burns, according to medics in Nablus’ Rafidia hospital.

The Israel army issued a statement saying that they were trying to locate the suspects in the attack.

“This attack against civilians is nothing short of a barbaric act of terrorism. A comprehensive investigation is under way in order to find the terrorists and bring them to justice,” Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said in the statement.

“The [Israeli army] strongly condemns this deplorable attack and has heightened its efforts in the field to locate those responsible.”

The army told Al Jazeera that additional forces were deployed to West Bank, refusing to specify the number of soldiers.

Palestinian reaction

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, said on Friday that he wants the International Criminal Court to probe the attack as one of the first Israeli war crimes against Palestinians. “Every day we wake up to a similar crime. This is a war crime and a tragedy at the same time. Therefore we will not stay still. Absolutely not. As long as the settlement and the occupation are there,” Abbas said. Nabil Abu Rdeineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said earlier on Friday that the Israeli government was fully responsible for the crime as it continued to support illegal Israeli settlement activities and the protection of settlers. He also blamed the international community for silence over crimes against Palestinians. Abu Rdeineh said that verbal condemnation of the crimes was no longer acceptable and that taking practical steps to hold Israeli attackers accountable, as well as the end to the occupation, was needed. The Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) that is led by Abbas reacted to the attack on Twitter.

Two Palestinian houses were burned at the entrance of the village with graffiti left on the walls, reading in Hebrew “revenge” and “long live Messiah”.

Witnesses told Al Jazeera that they saw at least two settlers running away from the scene.

Lars Faaborg-Andersen, the European Union envoy to Israel also reacted on Twitter.

There are at least three illegal Israeli settlements near Duma village.

According to the UN, at least 120 attacks by Israeli settlers have been documented in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2015.

A recent report by Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organisation, showed that more than 92.6 percent of complaints Palestinians lodge with the Israeli police go without charges being filed.

Gaza still in ruins, a year after the war

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Besieged territory struggles to recover from last summer’s war with Israel, as pledges of aid fail to materialise.

Many families in Gaza have been living in the ruins of their homes [EPA]

Many families in Gaza have been living in the ruins of their homes [EPA]

by Al Jazeera

The people of Gaza are marking a year since the Israeli air raids that heralded the start of a war that left 2,251 Palestinians dead and thousands more wounded.

The anniversary on Wednesday of last summer’s war comes as the besieged territory struggles to rebuild its infrastructure, and tens of thousands of its people struggle to access basic amenities.

Al Jazeera spoke to Palestinians who said little was being done to help them recover and go on with their lives.

One survivor, Ibrahim Abdeldaem, lost his legs in an Israeli air strike while his family was sheltering at a UN school in Gaza City. His father and brother were killed in the attack and one year later he said he had no hope that his life would get any better.

“I am completely destroyed. I’ve lost my legs. I’ve lost my job. I can’t leave Gaza because we are under siege on all sides. All I want is at least one artificial limb to feel like a normal person again,” Abdeldaem said.

Continuing siege

More than 12,000 homes were destroyed in the war and 100,000 damaged.

International donors including the US and Arab Gulf countries have pledged more than $5bn to help rebuild Gaza.

The director of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Robert Turner, criticised the blockade, calling on Israel to end immediately.

“The blockade remains in place and its crippling effect on Gaza is undeniable, inexcusable,” Turner said during a press conference in the territory on Wednesday.

“I see a real willingness on the part of Israel to address some of its worst impact.”

Israel’s economic siege, which has lasted for years, means badly needed construction materials like cement have not been allowed in, despite offers by the United Nations to oversee the process.

Around 20,000 Palestinians still live in temporary shelters ranging from cargo containers to makeshift tents in what is left of their bombed-out homes.

Two-thirds of the 1.8 million population are recipients of UN aid in one form or another.

Turner said that help is needed for more than 7,000 homes to be rebuilt.

The UN official said payments would be issued for the first time on Wednesday for a limited number of families whose homes were destroyed, while repairs for damaged houses have occurred.

Seventeen hospitals, 56 primary health facilities, and 45 ambulances were either damaged or completely destroyed during the conflict, costing Gaza’s healthcare system an estimated $50m.

In addition to the Palestinian casualties, at least 73 people, including 67 soldiers, were killed on the Israeli side of the conflict.

Israel said it was conducting the campaign to put an end to rocket attacks launched by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, which together fired 4,881 rockets and 1,753 mortars during the war.

Palestine Delivers 'Evidence' of Israeli Abuses to ICC

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Israel's 2014 invasion of Gaza devastated the coastal enclave and left over 2,000 people dead. | Photo: Reuters

Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza devastated the coastal enclave and left over 2,000 people dead. | Photo: Reuters

by teleSUR

Palestinian leaders say they have solid evidence Israel has committed widespread human rights abuses.

Palestinians will hand evidence of alleged Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court Thursday as part of a preliminary investigation into the 2014 invasion of Gaza.

“The files to be presented to the court refer to war crimes and crimes committed by individuals of the Israeli leadership,” the Palestinian Liberation Organization said in a statement.

Prominent peace activist Mustafa Barghouthi, head of the Palestine National Initiative, said the files include hundreds of pages of evidence against Israeli forces.

“Our aim is to establish war crimes in order that an investigation by the chief prosecutor’s office is carried out and to remove immunity from Israel and its leaders, achieve justice, apply human rights conventions, protect Palestinians and hold criminals accountable for their crimes,” he said, according to Ma’an News Agency.

The ICC case is still in its early stages, but could potentially lead to indictments against Israeli officials if the court finds evidence of human rights abuses.

The Palestinian submissions to the ICC are unlikely to speed up the court’s preliminary investigation, but could reinforce United Nations allegations of Israeli war crimes during its assault on Gaza last year. Earlier this week a damning U.N. report accused both Hamas and Israel of human rights abuses stemming from the 2014 conflict that left over 2000 people dead – almost all Palestinian civilians.

Israel has disputed the U.N.’s findings and argued Palestinians shouldn’t be entitled to petition the ICC for an investigation, as Palestine isn’t universally recognized as a state. Israeli officials have argued any international investigation into alleged Israeli human rights abuses will undermine peace talks – a stance widely dismissed by both Palestinian leaders and human rights groups.

Yet allegations of Israeli abuses don’t just stem from the Gaza invasion. Many of the documents set to be handed over to the ICC reportedly include details of allegations of Israeli violations of international law in the West Bank. One document alone from the think tank Applied Research Institute includes nearly 500 pages of concerns stemming from Israel’s controversial West Bank settlements. The settlements have been labeled illegal by the U.N., while Palestinians say they are a major hurdle for peace talks.

Palestine to submit first file to ICC for Israel investigation

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“It certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds," said Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Ammar Hijazi of the file Palestine plans to submit to the ICC. (Al Bawaba/File)

“It certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds,” said Palestinian Foreign Ministry official Ammar Hijazi of the file Palestine plans to submit to the ICC. (Al Bawaba/File)

by Press TV

Palestinian officials are planning to submit their first file to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open criminal proceedings against the Israeli regime.

The file will be sent to the ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, on June 25, and will focus on the violations of international law by Israel, Palestinian Foreign Ministry official, Ammar Hijazi, told reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Thursday.

The move is part of Palestinians’ attempt against the Tel Aviv regime and the crimes it has committed against Palestinian territories, including crimes committed during the latest Israeli war on the besieged Gaza Strip last year.

The file is “only general, it’s only statistical,” Hijazi said, adding, “But it certainly draws a grim picture of what Israel is doing and why we think that there are reasonable grounds… for the prosecutor to start (her) investigations.”

He further noted that Palestinian officials would submit the details of specific incidents if Bensouda decides to proceed with inquiries.

Bensouda’s office has already launched a preliminary examination into the crimes that took place since June 2014, when an Israeli-fueled unrest led to another war between Israel and the Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Authority officially joined the ICC on April 1, becoming the 123rd member of The Hague-based court.

The Palestinian decision to join the ICC was made in January after decades of negotiations with Israel failed to put an end to Tel Aviv’s policy of expanding illegal settlements on the occupied Palestinian lands.

Israel started its latest war on the Gaza Strip in early July last year. The offensive ended on August 26, 2014 with a truce that took effect through indirect negotiations in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians, including more than 500 children, were killed in Israel’s 50-day onslaught. Over 11,100 people were also injured.

Israel bars UN investigator from entering Gaza

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It was the second time Makarim Wibisono, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, had been barred entry by Israel. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

It was the second time Makarim Wibisono, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, had been barred entry by Israel. (AFP/Fabrice Coffrini)

by Press TV

As the prospect of a UN report on Israel’s 2014 bloodletting in Gaza draws nearer, the world body’s point man on human rights situation in the occupied territories is kept outside the Palestinian territory by Israel.

Tel Aviv once again prevented Makarim Wibisono from visiting the coastal enclave last week, with Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon saying outright on Monday, “We didn’t allow this visit.”

“Israel cooperates with all the international commissions and all (UN) rapporteurs, except when the mandate handed to them is anti-Israeli and Israel has no chance to make itself heard,” the official said, despite the age-old and unflinching US-led support for Israel on the international arena, most visibly at the United Nations.

Wibisono reports to the UN Human Rights Council. The council has been investigating the war and whose relevant report is expected to be published in the coming days.

Israel had also barred Wibisono from entering last year for a similar visit.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians lost their lives and some 11,000 were injured in the July-August 2014 assaults. Gaza Health officials say the victims included 578 children and nearly 260 women with more than 3,100 children injured in the offensive.

The UN has said Israel was responsible for the deadly bombing of several UN institutions, including schools, in which displaced Palestinian civilians were sheltering.

In a report released Sunday, Israel defended its conduct in the war, calling it both “lawful” and “legitimate.”

Israel has been invariably justifying its incessant attacks on the impoverished sliver by alleging it has a duty to defend itself against the rockets fired from Gaza. The projectiles are seldom known to have caused injury or damage.

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