Palestine

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Gaza Strip has few jobs, little electricity and almost no natural resources. But after four bruising wars with Israel in just over a decade, it has lots of rubble.

Local businesses are now finding ways to cash in on the chunks of smashed concrete, bricks and debris left behind by years of conflict. In a territory suffering from a chronic shortage of construction materials, a bustling recycling industry has sprouted up, providing income to a lucky few but raising concerns that the refurbished rubble is substandard and unsafe.

RAMALLAH, Jan 11 (NNN-WAFA) – Palestine yesterday slammed the Netherlands’ decision, to halt financial aid to a Palestinian NGO, blacklisted by Israel.

In an official statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said, it summoned the Netherlands’ representative, Kees van Baar, to express opposition to the “unjust and biased” decision to halt aid to the Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), that operates in the West Bank and Gaza.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Khader al-Najjar has been unable to leave the Gaza Strip since he returned to the Palestinian territory 25 years ago, not even to seek medical treatment for a spinal ailment or to bid farewell to his mother, who died in Jordan last year.

The reason: Israel refused to allow the Palestinian Authority to issue him a national ID. That made it virtually impossible to leave, even before Israel and Egypt imposed a punishing blockade when the Hamas militant group seized control of Gaza in 2007.

RAMALLAH, Jan 8 (NNN-WAFA) – Dozens of Palestinian protestors injured yesterday, during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank, medics and eyewitnesses said.

The clashes broke out near the West Bank city of Ramallah, witnesses said.

A local journalist was shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers, and dozens of protestors fainted after inhaling tear gas fired by the soldiers, medical sources said.

08 Jan 2022; MEMO: The Palestinian Authority (PA) on Friday condemned the racist remarks of Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and other Israeli politicians made in defence of illegal Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, Wafa News Agency reported.

07 Jan 2022; MEMO: Turkey, on Thursday, condemned Israel's approval of new plans to construct over 3,500 additional illegal settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem, Anadolu News Agency reports.

"The settlements built by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories contravene international law, including UN resolutions," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

RAMALLAH, Jan 6 (NNN-WAFA) – A Palestinian was killed this morning, during clashes with Israeli soldiers, near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian medics and eyewitnesses said.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a statement that, Bakeer Hashash, a 21-year-old from the Balata refugee camp, in the suburb of the city, was critically injured by Israeli soldiers and died later in hospital.

Eyewitnesses said that, clashes broke out in the refugee camp, after Israeli forces stormed the Nablus-area suburb of Balata.

06 Jan 2022; MEMO: The local committee for planning and construction of the Jerusalem Municipality yesterday approved plans for building 3,557 new settlement units in occupied Jerusalem, Peace Now revealed yesterday.

According to the Israeli NGO which monitors settlement activities, the construction of the new units forms part of five plans.

06 Jan 2022; MEMO: Israeli settlers yesterday uprooted and chopped down more than a dozen olive trees in one area of the central occupied West Bank Salfit district, reported Wafa news agency.

Saleh Shunnar, the landowner based in the Kafr Al-Dik village, said that settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of Alei Zahav uprooted 50 olive saplings after they razed a large area of his land to expand their illegal settlement.

05 Jan 2022; MEMO: Israeli occupation forces yesterday demolished a Palestinian health centre serving 20,000 Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem without prior notice.

Municipality bulldozers raided the Jabal Al-Mukaber neighbourhood after police cordoned the area off and demolished the health centre.