Palestine

20 Feb 2022; MEMO: It's winter but every morning in Gaza dozens of Palestinians wake up early, go to the beach and swim for 15-20 minutes.

This daily exercise, which takes place regardless of the weather, has had a positive effect on their bodies and their minds, they say.

On the beach participants complete a warm-up exercise, then they head into the water.

GAZA, Feb 17 (Reuters) - A 2,000-year-old Roman cemetery containing at least 20 ornately decorated graves has been uncovered near the shoreline in the northern Gaza Strip, with the antiquities ministry calling it the most important local discovery of the past decade.

Gaza is rich with antiquities having been an important trading spot for many civilisations, from as far back as the ancient Egyptians and the Philistines depicted in the Bible, through the Roman empire and the crusades.

17 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Israeli occupation authorities issued a demolition notice on Wednesday to Ras El Teen School in eastern Ramallah, Anadolu has reported. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, the Israelis are going to knock down the EU-funded school on the pretext that it lacks a building licence.

BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Palestinian militants scrambled out of the tunnel and attacked an Israeli tank in broad daylight as gunfire and explosions echoed across the Gaza frontier.

This time it wasn’t the start of another war, but an action scene filmed for a TV series produced by the territory’s militant Hamas rulers.

16 Feb 2022; MEMO: Hungary's ambassador to Palestine, Csaba Rada, was summoned to the Palestinian Authority Foreign Ministry yesterday to hear a complaint about a twinning deal signed by a Hungarian city with an Israeli settlement council. All of Israel's Jewish settlements are illegal under international law.

15 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine at the UN called on Monday for Palestinian families to be protected from Israel's forced expulsion programme in Sheikh Jarrah, Anadolu has reported. Riyad Mansour made the plea in a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the Security Council and the General Assembly.

15 Feb 2022; MEMO: The Imam of Al Aqsa Mosque and Head of the High Islamic Commission in Jerusalem described Israeli violations in Sheikh Jarrah on Monday as "an existential war and ethnic cleansing against Jerusalemites," Sama News has reported.

15 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israel has imposed a travel ban on Sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa said yesterday.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Zabarqa said that the decision was taken by Israeli Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked and that the one-month ban can be extended to up to six months.

"This is an arbitrary and illegal decision and is part of the political persecution by the Israeli authorities against Sheikh Raed Salah," Zabarqa said.

14 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israel's occupation forces and Jewish settlers, including extremist parliamentarian Itamar Ben-Gvir, have renewed their attacks on the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied Jerusalem. According to Wafa news agency, the Israelis have blocked the western entrance of the neighbourhood and assaulted local residents and solidarity activists with rubber-coated metal bullets, tear gas and sound bombs. Dozens have been injured, and seven have been arrested.

14 Feb 2022; MEMO: Israel's occupation forces shot and killed a Palestinian boy on Sunday evening as they moved in to demolish a house in Jenin. At least eleven other Palestinians needed hospital treatment following the clashes at the home of Mahmoud Jaradat, who is a prisoner in Israel.