Palestine

THE LEVANT – Surrounded by the rubble of a deadly war with Israel, Gazans marked a sombre Eid al-Adha festival Saturday with prayers and visits to the graves of relatives. Thabet al-Hamami pitched a tent by the ruins of his home – one of 60,000 totally or partially destroyed by …

THE LEVANT  – Israel has hit out at Sweden’s newly elected prime minister Stefan Loefven over his decision to recognise a Palestinian state. “Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that he regrets that the new prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a …

THE LEVANT – Israeli occupation military officer said that “the upcoming war on Gaza will be greater, and will down more victims,” Israeli sources say. Eyal Eizenberg, Israeli Occupation Army Home Front Command, in a lecture in The Institute for National Security Studies (Tel Aviv University), said that “the recent …

THE LEVANT – Israel is tightening security in flashpoint mixed Jewish-Muslim areas to ward off possible unrest this weekend when two important religious festivals coincide for the first time in three decades. The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur begins on Friday evening, followed on Saturday by Muslim Eid al-Adha, against …

THE LEVANT – In a blistering speech to the United Nations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Monday that Hamas and the Islamic State group are “branches of the same poisonous tree,” both bent on world domination through terror, just as the Nazis were. Netanyahu also lashed back at …

THE LEVANT – The current indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials focus on the humanitarian situation and are expected to solve the problem of the Gaza Strip, while the general Palestinian situation is a political issue, Palestinian Ambassador to Russia Fayed Mustafatold RIA Novosti Wednesday. “According to the ceasefire …

THE LEVANT – PLO Executive committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, stressed that, “It is time for the UK and other European countries to recognize the State of Palestine, Thursday said a press release issued by PLO Executive Committee Department of Culture and Information. Ashrawi called on the United Kingdom (UK) to …

THE LEVANT – Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement Wednesday, that the repeated raids on al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli settlers constitute a prelude for administering a temporal and spatial division of the mosque. The ministry condemned Israeli Government’s continuing support and financing of these raids – by settlers, …

THE LEVANT – A Palestinian teenager died on Sunday from injuries sustained when he was shot last week by Israeli border police in occupied east Jerusalem, his family and a hospital said. Mohammed Sinokrot, 16, was wounded by gunfire in the Wadi Joz neighbourhood where he lived, on August 31. …

THE LEVANT  – A lawsuit has been filed against the Israeli regime by actors, activists, politicians and pro-Palestinian solidarity groups in Argentina, a statement released by the Palestinian embassy in Buenos Aires said. The legal case was brought before the federal court of justice on Saturday in Argentine city of Cordoba. …

THE LEVANT – After two weeks with no water following Israel’s 50-day offensive, Abu Osama took matters into his own hands, and like hundreds of others, sank a well beside his Gaza home. After nearly two months of Israeli bombardment, power cuts and water shortages, he seized upon the ceasefire …

THE LEVANT – Standing in front of the crumbling control tower of Gaza’s devastated airport, one-time air traffic controller Anis Arafat dreams of the day planes will land and take off here again. Re-opening this airport, closed since 2001, and ending Gaza’s isolation is a key demand of the Islamist …

THE LEVANT –  The Palestinian leadership intends to seek a UN Security Council resolution setting a 3-year deadline for ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official said Tuesday, September 2. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the leadership of the PLO, acknowledged at a …

THE LEVANT – The popularity of the Hamas militant group among Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has spiked significantly following the 50-day war with Israel, according to an opinion poll released Tuesday. The poll, conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research and headed by …

THE LEVANT – It has been revealed that the remains of dozens of Palestinians killed during the Israeli-Arab in 1948 were found in six mass graves in the Jaffa district of Tel Aviv on Wednesday. The graves were found when ground subsided as builders carried out renovation work in the area, …

THE LEVANT – An international organization involved in assessing post-conflict reconstruction says it will take 20 years under current levels of restrictions to rebuild the Gaza Strip’s battered and neglected housing stock following the war between Hamas and Israel. Most of the new building would be to make up for the …

THE LEVANT – Thousands of militants paraded in the besieged Gaza Strip Friday, defiantly saying they would rearm as the prospects of a final deal on a long-term Israel-Hamas truce looked shaky. Calm returned to the coastal enclave in a Tuesday ceasefire, and Gazans were gradually starting to rebuild their lives …

THE LEVANT – A seven-week war between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip has ended with an Egyptian-brokered cease-fire. Here is a look at the results of the war, the terms of the cease-fire and unresolved issues that are to be tackled in a future round of indirect negotiations …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Hamas of needlessly extending fighting in the Gaza Strip, causing a high death toll. Abbas told Palestine TV in remarks broadcast Friday that “it was possible for us to avoid all of that, 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses (damaged or destroyed).” …

THE LEVANT – More than 100 Palestinians from Gaza have been stuck at Cairo International Airport for more than three weeks after being prevented by Egyptian authorities from traveling to their final destinations. The stranded passengers told Ma’an that most of the group had escaped from Gaza during a five-day …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian and Israeli authorities have reportedly reached an agreement on a permanent ceasefire for the besieged Gaza Strip after more than a month of Israeli terror campaign on the coastal territory. According to Palestinian sources, the Palestinians and the Israelis agreed to a permanent ceasefire on Tuesday. “The …

THE LEVANT – Israel bombed two Gaza City high-rises with dozens of homes and shops Tuesday, collapsing one building and severely damaging the other in a further escalation of seven weeks of cross-border fighting with Hamas. In the past, the military has hit targets in high-rises in pinpoint strikes, but left …

THE LEVANT  – Egyptian mediators have proposed a new ceasefire in Gaza that would open the blockaded enclave’s crossings and allow in aid and reconstruction materials, a senior Palestinian official said on Monday. The Palestinians, including the de facto Hamas rulers of the enclave, would be willing to accept such …

THE LEVANT – A new round of Israeli airstrikes and tank fire pounded Gaza on Monday as officials in the coastal strip said two more Palestinian civilians died from the violence. There has so far been no end in sight for the war, which has already killed more than 2,100 Palestinians …

THE LEVANT – Two multi-storey buildings in Gaza have been completely destroyed by Israeli air strikes in less than 24 hours, possibly signalling a new tactic in Israel’s military campaign. A 12-storey apartment building in Gaza City was brought down on Saturday evening and a seven-floor office building in Rafah …

THE LEVANT – The Israeli military has been forced to retract a statement claiming that the mortar shell that killed a four-year-old Israeli boy on Friday was fired from or near a United Nations school in Gaza. After the death of Daniel Tragerman outside his home in a kibbutz near the Israel-Gaza …

THE LEVANT – The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has signed a proposal for the Palestinians to apply to join the International Criminal Court at which legal action could be taken against the Zionist entity, a senior official of the movement said Saturday. “Hamas signed the document which (Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud) …

THE LEVANT – Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh on Friday said that the Palestinians would not accept anything less than an end to Israel’s blockade of Gaza, as Israeli forces continued to attack the besieged enclave. Haniyeh accused Israel of using negotiations as a cover for their crimes and said it …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Islamic Jihad leaders including deputy secretary general Ziyad al-Nakhala and Khalid al-Batsh in Cairo on Friday evening, after arriving from Qatar earlier in the afternoon.The Islamic Jihad media office said the meeting aimed to discuss ceasefire initiatives that adhere to Palestinian demands. Abbas …

THE LEVANT  – Izzat Al-Risheq, member of the Hamas political bureau, issued the following statement: The attempt by Netanyahu and his spokesman Ofir Gendelman to link Hamas and compare us with other groups is a deception and disinformation campaign that will not fool anyone. We strongly condemn and reject how Netanyahu, Gendelman …

THE LEVANT – Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir Abdollahian, lashed out on Wednesday at Egypt for delaying its humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza. “Egypt has not issued a permit for Iranian planes carrying aid to Gaza despite the fact that it is now a long time Tehran has asked …

THE LEVANT – A Gaza security official says Hamas has killed 11 suspected informers for Israel. Friday’s killings came a day after Israel killed three top Hamas military commanders in an airstrike on a house in southern Gaza Strip. Hamas has vowed revenge for the targeting of its leaders. The security …

THE LEVANT  – The explosions rocking the Gaza Strip may seem far removed from the flashy cars and skyscrapers of ultra-rich Qatar, but efforts to end fighting between Hamas and Israel could hinge on how the tiny Gulf Arab state wields its influence over a Palestinian militant group with few friends …

THE LEVANT – An Israeli airstrike in Gaza killed three senior commanders of the Hamas military wing Thursday, delivering a likely blow to the organization’s morale and highlighting the long reach of Israel’s intelligence services. The pre-dawn strike leveled a four-story house in a densely populated neighborhood of the southern town …

THE LEVANT – Palestinian resistance group Hamas said it fired two rockets at an Israeli gas installation about 30 km (19 miles) off the coast of Gaza on Wednesday in the first apparent attack of its kind. The Israeli military said no missiles had struck any gas platforms at sea. The …

THE LEVANT –  Several thousand mourners on Wednesday joined the funeral procession for the wife and baby son of Hamas’s military commander Mohammed Deif, angrily demanding revenge against Israel. Firing Kalashnikovs into the air, they carried the bodies of 27-year-old Widad and her seven-month-old son Ali, who were among at …

THE LEVANT – A two-year-old Gaza girl and a woman were killed in an Israeli air strike on Monday, making them the first Palestinian deaths in the conflict since the breakdown of a truce earlier in the day, Palestinian health officials said. Charging that Israel had “opened a gateway to hell”, Hamas’s armed wing vowed to …

THE LEVANT – Around 30,000 out of Gaza’s total of 330,000 workers have been left without work because of Israel’s latest offensive on the Palestinian territory, Gaza’s Labor Union said. It added on Sunday that the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by Israel since 2007 had also made additional 170,000 …

THE LEVANT – A Hamas leader said Wednesday that the wife and daughter of the commander of Ezzeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the group’s armed wing, were among the victims of an Israeli airstrike that targeted a house in Gaza City on Tuesday. According to Moussa Abu Marzouq, the wife and daughter of …

THE LEVANT – The announcement that the two sides had agreed to extend the ceasefire for another day came shortly before it was set to expire at midnight local time on Monday. “Palestinians and Israelis agreed on extending the ceasefire by 24 hours to continue current negotiations,” said a statement released by the …

THE LEVANT – The Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem demolished on Monday a two-storey building in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of al-Tur/ Mount of Olives, leaving a family of 17 homeless, according to media sources. WAFA correspondent in Jerusalem said Israeli Police demolished a house belonging to a local Palestinian …

THE LEVANT – Three weeks on, Rami Qaddih can still easily recall Israeli troops’ “war crimes” of mass-executing Palestinians outside their homes in his battered Khuza’a town in the Gaza Strip. “I saw with my own eyes Israeli troops shoot displaced residents who had been trying to flee the town under …

THE LEVANT – Feriel al-Zaaneen hasn’t had a shower in more than a month. Like thousands of Palestinians, she doesn’t have enough water to wash, adding to the miseries of life in war-battered Gaza. In searing summer heat, where temperatures can reach 34 degrees Celsius, (93 Fahrenheit), Feriel is one …

THE LEVANT – Several demonstrations took place today all over the West Bank and in Jerusalem to support the Palestinian resistance and in solidarity with Gaza. In Hebron, the march started right after Friday Prayers and shortly afterwards the protesters clashed with the Israeli Occupation Forces. At the moment of …