Human Rights

18 Aug 2020; MEMO: Israeli soldiers have demolished a Palestinian residential building that was under construction, located in Jabal Al-Mukabber in the as-Sal’a neighbourhood, because it allegedly lacked the necessary construction permit, reports Wafa news agency.

Palestinians are rarely granted building permits by Israel, especially in occupied East Jerusalem.

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) The Supreme Court Monday said it would consider certain larger questions in the 2009 contempt case against activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan and journalist Tarun Tejpal as the issue before it has wide ramifications.

The top court said it would like to hear arguments from the lawyers as to what should be the process which should be followed in contempt cases where allegations are being levelled against judges.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Secret talks and quiet ties: That’s what paved the way for last week’s deal between the United Arab Emirates and Israel to normalize relations.

Touted by President Donald Trump as a major Mideast breakthrough, the agreement was in fact the culmination of more than a decade of quiet links rooted in frenzied opposition to Iran that predated Trump and even Barack Obama, as well as Trump’s avowed goal to undo his predecessor’s Mideast legacy.

Gorakhpur (UP), Aug 18 (PTI) An elderly woman was allegedly gangraped in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharthnagar district, police said on Tuesday.

The 60-year-old woman belonging to the Shohratgarh area of the district was found injured and unconscious on the outskirts of a village on Saturday, they said.

Two people have been arrested on the rape charge.

Police said they were informed about the incident by some villagers after which the woman was rushed to a community health centre of the area.

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: Secretary of Fatah Central Committee, Jibril Al-Rajoub, said yesterday that the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) ambassador had left the UAE and will not return, Anadolu reported.

His remarks came during an interview with Al Jazeera news network on Saturday. “Our ambassador has left the UAE and will never return back to it,” he said

He added: “Mohamed Dahlan, the dismissed Fatah leader [who lives in the UAE], is part of the normalisation deal between the UAE and Israel.”

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: After two years under house arrest, Palestinian resistance icon Raed Salah yesterday began a 17-month jail term on incitement charges, Anadolu reported.

The sentence was scheduled to start in March, but was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: The UAE State Security Agency has secretly arrested scores of Emiratis, Palestinians and Jordanians living in the UAE for opposing Abu-Dhabi’s peace deal with Israel.

The Emirates Leaks website quoted human rights sources as saying that the Emirati citizens were arrested after expressing their opposition to the deal either in private meetings or on social media.

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: Fuel shortages in the besieged Gaza Strip are forcing the enclave’s only electricity plant to shut down tomorrow morning, the Palestinian Power Authority announced yesterday.

In a statement, the Power Authority said the plant “will completely stop as its fuel is expected to run out.”

The Power Authority said that the Israeli occupation “stopped fuel supplies for the electricity plant entering on Wednesday.”

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: Two US helicopters today attacked a Syrian army checkpoint in northeastern Syria near the Kurdish-held city of Qamishli, killing one soldier and injuring two others, Reuters reported state media saying.

The incident happened shortly after a US patrol was prevented from passing by an army checkpoint in the area, state media said.

17 Aug 2020; MEMO: Israeli authorities have revealed a mega settlements plan, Arab48 reported yesterday, which will connect major illegal settlement blocs.

The Arabic news site reported Israel’s Ynet News as saying that one of the settlement projects aimed to connect the settlement bloc of Benyamin in occupied Ramallah with the occupied city of Jerusalem.