As Israeli refused this week to stop settlement activity in the west Bank, its attacks on the Gaza Strip this week has left five civilians dead. These stories, and more, coming up, Stay tuned.
Nonviolent Activities
Let's begin our weekly report with the nonviolent activities in the West Bank with IMEMC's Luke Peterson:
Bil'in
Three were injured and dozens were suffocated with tear gas on Friday during the weekly protest at the village of Bil'in in the central West Bank.
As has been the case each week for the past five years, local villagers along with international and Israeli supporters marched from the village to the Israeli Wall after midday prayers on Friday.
As part of the demonstration, activists dressed like builders and construction workers created a mock construction site near the Wall with signs declaring "Wall Removal in Progress" and "Illegal Wall Ahead."
As soon as they got to the gate of the Wall that separates the village from its agricultural lands, Israeli troops fired tear gas and rubber-coated steal bullets at the demonstrators.
In addition to these measures, an Israeli military vehicle spouted a foul-smelling liquid from a pipe mounted on the top of the truck.
Demonstrators reported that the smell of the chemical being expelled from this pipe was nauseating and intolerable. Protestors also reported hearing live ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers.

Three protesters: Rani Burnat, Omar Attamemi, and Zuhdya Al Khatib were lightly wounded. Dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Nil'in
Also in the central West Bank on Friday, one young man was injured and dozens of Palestinians and internationals suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation when Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall in N'ilin village.
After the midday prayers at the local mosque, villagers and their supporters marched toward the location of the Israeli Wall.
According to local farmers, Israeli soldiers attacked them and their international supporters as soon as they left the village by firing tear gas at them. One young man was taken to the hospital with an injury to his shoulder while dozens suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The village youth hurled paint bombs at the soldiers. The military reported no injures but the villagers reported that they were able to change the color of some Israeli army jeeps.
For IMEMC.org this is Luke Peterson.
The Political Report
As media reports suggest that Washington has backed down its demand that Israel should freeze settlement activities before peace talks are resumed, Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, reiterated his position that Israel won't recognize a Palestinian state until Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state. IMEMC's Jessica Hulsy with more details:
In his visit to Europe early this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed that his government wont' allow freeze of settlement activities in occupied Palestinian territories. Also, he said that more than 480,000 Israeli settlers have the right to live freely on what Netanyahu called ' land of Israel'.
The Israeli PM further told reporters that Israel wont' recognize a Palestinian state, until Palestinians recognize the Israel as a Jewish state. This week Daniel Ben Simon, a Member of the Israeli Parliament, from the labor party said that some of the settlements, that is deemed illegal by the Israeli government, will be evacuated in the coming few months.
Hagit Ofran , the head of the settlement watch unit at Peace Now, the largest extra-parliamentary movement in Israel, and the country's oldest peace movement, told IMEMC that the Israel will keep control over those settlements even after evacuating them.

"First of all, all settlements are illegal according to international law, those are specific outposts which are actually settlements but built unofficially without official approvals, this is why the government calls them illegal. Unfortunately I believe that most of them will stay under Israel control and Palestinians will not be allowed into evacuated settlements."
Netanyahu's remarks, according to analysts, would further prolong stalemate of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks that have been stuck since November2007's Annapolis conference for peace, sponsored by Washington.
In reaction to Netanyahu's statements, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said that no peace can resume until Israel stops all illegal settlement activities, including those for natural growth purposes.
On another issues, representative of the Hamas party to Beirut, Usama Hamdan, said that his party was about to reach a prisoner swap deal with Israel, yet President Abbas has obstructed such a deal.
Hamdan also praised a German mediation role in the swap talks, saying that they trust the Germans , who had similar previous successful experiences, referring to an Israeli-Lebanese swap deal following the Israeli 2006's war on Lebanon.

Egyptian President Husni Mubarak had earlier revealed that an Iranian intervention into the prisoner swap talks had blocked reaching the deal two months ago.
At the internal Palestinian level, Egyptian mediators were reportedly sent out an ultimatum to both Hamas and Fatah parties that if a unity agreement is not reached, the talks will be submitted to the Arab league for consideration.
Both parties have been at loggerheads since Hamas took over Gaza in June2007 amidst factional fighting with Fatah party of the Western-backed Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
For IMEMC.org this is Jessica Hulsy.
The Gaza Strip Report
The Israeli military attacks this week on the Gaza Strip has left five civilians dead among them one child. From Gaza IMEMC’s Rami Al Meghari reports:
On Monday Israeli troops positioned to the northwest of Beit Lahia town in the northern Gaza Strip -along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel- fired at two Palestinian civilians, including a child, who got close to the border.
The child was instantly killed by two bullets to the chest, and the other civilian was seriously wounded. They attempted to get close to the border to find metal wires to sell them. They were unarmed. Witnesses reported.
In the early morning of Tuesday an Israeli warplane fired a missile at a tunnel near the Salah al-Din Gate in the south of Rafah town on the Palestinian-Egyptian border.
Three brothers, Mansour ‘Ali al-Batniji, 30, and Na’el ‘, 20, and Ibrahim, 35 were killed. Another six civilians were injured in the attack.
Also on Tuesday, two Palestinian civilians were wounded when Israeli troops positioned at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel opened fire at Palestinian houses and farms in Beit Hanoun town.
Elsewhere, Palestinian sources announced that 85 Palestinian patients returned to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday through the Rafah Crossing from Egypt.

The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza announced that the patients were allowed to go to Egypt for treatment and had been stuck at the borders for months. The ministry added that hundreds more Palestinians are still stuck at the boarders waiting to re-enter Gaza.

The Israeli siege on Gaza that started in June 2006 has left the hospitals there unable to treat many patients. Israeli and Egyptian authorities rarely allow patients to leave Gaza for medical care.
A Palestinian fisherman was killed on Thursday afternoon and another injured as the Israeli navy opened fire on them off the Gaza City coastline.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that Mohamed Al Attar, aged 25, was killed after an Israeli shell separated his head from his body.
For IMEMC.org this Rami Al Meghari in Gaza
The West Bank Report
The Israeli military this week conducted at least 18 invasions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank. During those attacks Israeli forces kidnapped at least 25 Palestinian civilians, including two children, IMEMC’s Katharine Orwell reports:
This week military attacks were reports in Qalqilia, Nablus, and Salfit, northern West Bank, Ramallah, in central west Bank, Bethlehem and Hebron in the south in addition to Jericho City.
In June the Israeli military said it would stop its invasions into the cities of Ramallah and Qalqilia, as well as Bethlehem and Jericho. However, to date, attacks targeting those cities continue.
In one of the military attacks On Tuesday evening Israeli soldiers broke into the Radio Bethlehem 2000 station in Beit Jala, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, and confiscated its equipment.
Station manager, George Qanawati, stated that the soldiers seized all broadcast equipment, putting the station off-air. Qanawati slammed the Israeli attack and considers it an attempt to silence the media.
On Wednesday of this week, a Palestinian man was critically injured after Israeli troops shot him in the old city of Hebron, southern West Bank.
Palestinian sources said that the Israeli military sealed off the area and did not allow local medics and journalists to reach the man. They added that the man was left wounded on location for half an hour before an Israeli ambulance arrived and took him away.
The Israeli military announced that the injured man tried to attack a group of soldiers in the old city with a knife and the troops had opened fire on him before he managed to reach them.
For IMEMC.org this is Katharine Orwell.
Conclusion
And that's just some of the news of 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.