Palestinian factions, including the rival Hamas and Fatah parties, met this week in Cairo as Israeli attacks and siege on Gaza leave 10 killed this week. These stories and more, coming up Stay tuned.

Nonviolent Activities

Lets begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's George Rishmawi:

The residents of Bil'in, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, marched towards the wall today following Friday prayers, in a protest joined by Israeli and international activists. Protesters called for national unity among Palestinians.

The protest headed towards the wall being built by Israel on Bil'in's farmland. An Israeli army unit was stationed at the site of the wall and prevented the crowd from passing through the gate toward their agricultural land. The army shot tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse the crowd, injuring three, while dozens suffered gas inhalation.

Meanwhile, scores of villagers from Nil'in, also near Ramallah, also held their weekly protest at midday on Friday.

Villagers, accompanied by international and Israeli demonstrators, protested against the illegal Israeli wall being built on the village's land. As soon as villagers and their international supporters arrived in the area where Israel is building the wall, soldiers showered them with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live rounds.

Five were injured by live rounds, and dozens received treatment for gas inhalation.

One Palestinian man was injured during a similar protest in the village of Al Ma'ssara near the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem. International and Israeli demonstrators, alongside local villagers, marched on Friday to the lands were the army is building the wall. Troops stopped them from walking further, before attacking the protestors with batons.

For IMEMC.org this is George Rishmawi

The Political report

Palestinian factions, including the rival Hamas and Fatah parties, met this week in Cairo, at a conciliation conference aimed at forming a unity coalition government. Representatives of donor countries also met this week, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, to discuss the rebuilding of Gaza. IMEMC’s Ghassan Bannoura has the story:

The two-year conflict between Hamas in Gaza and Fatah in the West Bank could come to an end, as representatives of a dozen Palestinian factions, including the two rival parties, met in Cairo to resolve their differences ahead of forming a national unity government that could put an end to the Israeli blockade and internationally-enforced embargo on the Gaza Strip.

Over the past week, both main parties traded blame for previous attempts to foil reconciliation efforts, as the ruling Hamas party accused the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah of continuing to detain Hamas members, and of leading media campaigns aimed at inciting unrest toward Hamas members in the West Bank. The Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah denied the accusations, blaming Hamas for disrupting the Cairo dialogue. Moheeb Salama is a spokesperson for Fatah in the West Bank:



"The Hamas accusations are baseless. President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas] gave instructions to end the issue of Hamas's prisoners. These accusations cast more than one question mark over Hamas's intention to make this conference succeed".

Meanwhile, a Hamas government spokesman confirmed this week that the Ramallah-based government has continued campaigns of arrest against Hamas members in the West Bank, despite the Cairo talks.

Donor countries also met this week in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Shiekh, to discuss rebuilding the war-torn Gaza Strip. Many countries, Arab and Western, as well as the United States, have pledged billions of dollars for the reconstruction of Gaza. The damage is estimated at at least 3 billion US dollars. Participants, however, stated that these funds must be channeled through the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and not through the elected Hamas party in Gaza.

Although it was not invited to the meeting, the Hamas party in Gaza welcomed the Sharm El Shiekh conference, but the party warned “some international players' attempts to politicize the issue” by forcing Hamas to meet the three demands of the international quartet: to recognize Israel, to renounce the right to militant self-defense and to accept past-signed agreements with Israel.

On the ground, several thousand Gazans, whose homes have been either completely or partially destroyed due to the recent three-week Israeli military campaign against Gaza, are eagerly awaiting the reconstruction process. Ahmad Alhersh is a newly-married 22-year-old from the Jabalya refugee camp. Ahmad had to begin his married life in a tent inside a new refugee camp in northern Gaza, after his family's three-storey home was destroyed during the war.



"I would like to send a message to the Arab and Islamic nations to help us by lifting the siege imposed on us, to relieve us and support us."

Despite pledges to reconstruct Gaza, the process faces one major obstacle on the ground: the Israeli closure of the coastal territory. United Nations agencies continue to complain of their inability to bring basic items into the besieged Gaza Strip, where housing has been severely lacking for the past 20 months. Sami Mosha'sha is a spokesperson for the United Nations Works and Relief Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).



"The key point is that all this money and all this good will amount to nothing if the borders remain closed."

The Israeli cabinet this week discussed a new list of Palestinian prisoners to be exchanged for the captured Israeli soldier, Corporal Gil'ad Shalit. No progress has yet been achieved regarding the issue, as Israel has consistently rejected the Hamas list of prisoners.

Hamas captured Corporal Shalit in June 2006, during a cross-border attack in southern Gaza. Since then, Egyptian mediations have failed to make progress.

Western governments, backed by the United States and Israel, have boycotted Hamas since the party won the 2006 parliamentary elections. In June 2007, Israel imposed a crippling blockade on the Hamas-ruled Gaza, while Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah party outlawed the Hamas movement.

For IMEMC.org this is Ghassan Bannoura.


Jerusalem

As the week concludes, the total number of Palestinian-owned homes in Jerusalem that Israel wants to demolish has reached 179, as local people continue to protest the decision. IMEMC's Mary Arthur has the story:

The Jerusalem municipality handed out demolition orders to an additional 36 Palestinian families on Thursday. The families live in two buildings located in the al-Abasiya neighborhood, just outside Jerusalem's old city.

The orders gave the families 10 days to evacuate their homes. On Wednesday, when the Israeli municipality issued orders to demolish 55 further homes, householders near the old city set up a protest camp.

Akkram Joweless is a home owners staying at the camp:



"Our main goal is to get the attention of the entire world [to focus] on the issue of Israel's 'Judaization' of Jerusalem, and Israel's plans against us; the rest is in the hands of God."

Last week, Israel issued demolition orders for 88 homes in the al-Bustan neighborhood, located immediately south of the al-Aqsa Mosque, in Jerusalem's old city. Thousands of Palestinians could become homeless. Local activists fear that yet more orders will be issued for Palestinians soon.

The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, deemed the decision "unhelpful" to the peace efforts, and in violation of past agreements. She made her comments during a meeting with the Palestinian president this week in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
Hatem Abdel al-Qader, the Palestinian Prime Minister's advisor for Jerusalem affairs said that the US must take “real action”:

"We do not take much notice of what the American administration says, we want actions. Israel attacks, and we only hear words from the Americans. Therefore, when the United states is able to translate its promises into real action on the ground and stops Israel from destroying Palestinian homes and [stops] this policy of ethnic cleansing, then we can trust US promises."
The Israeli municipality says all of the homes slated for demolition were built without the required permission from occupying Israeli authorities.

Since Israel occupied the city of Jerusalem in 1967, the authorities have rarely given Palestinian residents permission to build homes. The Israeli government has continued to build Jewish settlements in and around Jerusalem and throughout the West Bank, an act which contravenes international law and all peace treaty agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinians since the 1993 Oslo Accords.

For IMEMC.org, this is Mary Arthur.


The Gaza Report

As the Israeli army continued to attack and lay siege to the Gaza Strip, this week 10 Palestinians were reported dead in the coastal region. From Gaza, IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports:

Five Palestinians died late on Sunday when a tunnel collapsed on them after heavy rain, Palestinian medical sources reported. The tunnel was located at the Rafah-Egypt border in the southern Gaza Strip. A medical source at Abu Yousef Al Najjar Hospital in Rafah said that the bodies of five local residents were taken to hospital. A Palestinian man died earlier on Saturday in a similar accident in Rafah.

On Monday night, a severely ill Palestinian from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip died after Israel prevented him from leaving the Gaza Strip to receive medical treatment abroad.

Two Palestinians who were injured during the Israeli “Cast Lead” offensive on Gaza died from their wounds at an Egyptian hospital on Tuesday. Also on Tuesday, Egyptian authorities allowed the return of 22 patients to Gaza after receiving medical treatment. Palestinian sources at the Rafah terminal reported that Egypt informed Palestinian border authorities that the border crossing will be opened in both directions for three days next week.

The Israeli Air Force shelled three tunnels at dawn on Wednesday along the Gaza-Egypt border. The Israeli Army stated that the shelling came in retaliation to homemade shells that were shot into Israel. Medical sources in Gaza reported that six Palestinians were wounded in the Israeli shelling.

Two members of armed resistance groups were killed in Thursday's Israeli air strike that targeted Al Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza, whilst a third later died of wounds sustained during the bombardment. A fourth is undergoing treatment at a local hospital, Palestinian medical sources reported on Thursday morning.

Abu Ahmad, a spokesperson of the Al Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, said that the men were in an area close to the eastern borders of the Gaza Strip. On their way home, an unmanned Israeli aircraft shot two missiles at them.

A senior leader of the Al Quds Brigades was also killed on Wednesday evening in an Israeli air strike that targeted an area north-east of Gaza City.

For IMEMC.org, this is Rami Al Meghari in Gaza.

The West Bank report

This week, the Israeli military conducted at least 31 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. IMEMC’s John Muller has the details:

During this week’s invasions, Israeli troops kidnapped 31 Palestinian civilians, including four children.

A bulldozer said to be driven by a Palestinian man crashed into an Israeli police car in Jerusalem, injuring two officers on Thursday afternoon. Israeli media reported that the two officers were moderately wounded and were moved to a nearby hospital after the driver was shot dead by police officers.

The Israeli authorities on Wednesday handed out military orders to fifteen Palestinian residents of Aqraba town, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, ordering the demolition of 15 homes, barns, tin-houses for sheep, and water wells located in Khirbit Al Taweel, an agricultural area nearby.

The Israeli authorities informed the residents that they have until March 26th to evacuate the properties in question. Khirbit Al Taweel is a Palestinian village known as one of the best grazing areas. Its inhabitants own mostly livestock and depend on their sheep as the main source of livelihood, especially after the village lost thousands of dunums to the construction of Israeli settlements and military camps in the eastern part of the village.

On Monday, a doctor near Nablus received treatment after inhaling tear gas shot by Israeli troops in the village of Kafer Qaliel. Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli soldiers stormed the village in the morning and shot tear gas at local homes.


For IMEMC.org this is John Muller.



Conclusion

That's just some of the news this week in Palestine. For constant updates, please check out our website, www.IMEMC.org. Thank you for joining us from occupied Bethlehem. This week's report has been brought to you by Dina Awwad.