BEQAA, WESTBANK, 19 February (IRIN) - A small, overcrowded Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, under threat from Israeli-conducted house demolitions and land confiscations, is rapidly becoming poorer. “Every house here has one child at least who left because we can’t build new homes. Some went to Hebron, but others left for Amman [Jordan] and places abroad” said Ghassan, a young man from Beqaa village, who is a refugee registered with the UN. Read more about House demolitions force Palestinians from village
On Thursday, 13 February, Fawzia Abd al-Fattah al-Darak (59) from Deir al-Ghosoun north of Tulkarm died when Israeli forces prevented an ambulance from taking her to a hospital in Tulkarm. Mohammad al-Darak, her husband, testified that his wife started to experience severe chest pain. They called the emergency department of the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Tulkarm in order to transport her to a hospital. Read more about Woman dies after being denied passage through Israeli checkpoint
The undersigned civil society organizations utterly condemn an attack on the YMCA headquarters in Gaza City in the early hours of the morning of 15 February 2008. Unidentified militants broke into the YMCA headquarters, planted explosive devices and subsequently completely destroyed the library. The undersigned organizations ask the dismissed government to conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into this crime, which is a continuation of a number of similar attacks targeting national, cultural and civil society organizations in the Gaza Strip. Read more about YMCA headquarters attacked in Gaza City
GAZACITY, 16 February (IPS) - Human remains mix with debris following the latest Israeli assault Friday on Bureij camp in Gaza Strip. Early reports listed nine dead and more than 50 injured. A targeted leader was killed, but many others were killed too. “It’s very hard for us to rescue, or even locate bodies beneath the building,” said a medical relief worker from the local Bureij hospital. Israel has not confirmed responsibility for the missile attack by F-16 aircraft. Read more about Gaza civilians die along with assassinated leader
“On behalf of the landowners, the Shahadeh family, and the residents of the village of al-Mashhad, I want to send a message to people everywhere — the Jewish National Fund, to the Nazareth Illit Municipality, to the Members of Knesset and the government, and to the residents of Israel. We don’t want the [Land Day] events of 1976 to repeat themselves, but I have to say that not one meter of land will be taken from us unless we die on our lands.” Read more about "I feel as if I were living in South Africa"
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stepped up their attacks against the Gaza Strip, launching aerial attacks on different parts of the Strip. The IOF launched two raids on Rafah, killing a policeman and causing considerable material damage in al-Shaboura refugee camp in Rafah. Read more about Israeli forces kill one, injure 24 and destroy property in Gaza
On 7 February 2008, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed seven Palestinians, raising the number of victims from its military attacks to seventeen persons since the beginning of this month, and 96 persons since the beginning of 2008 in the Gaza Strip. The IOF launched seven attacks in different parts of the Gaza Strip since last night, of which the most affected areas were Khan Younis, al-Nuseirat, and other areas in northern Gaza. Read more about Seven Gazans killed in day of Israeli air, shelling attacks
Beginning tomorrow (Thursday, 7 February), Israel will reduce supplies of electricity it sells to Gaza, as part of punitive measures taken against Gaza’s civilian population, with the approval of Israel’s high court. The cutbacks to electricity were permitted after the court last week rejected a petition by ten Israeli and Palestinian human rights organizations challenging Israel’s planned reductions to the supplies of electricity and fuel it allows Gaza residents to purchase. Read more about Rights orgs: Israel escalating Gaza collective punishment measures
After Fathi’s son had been attending a child daycare center for several days, the daycare worker telephoned him and said: “We have a problem with your son … and after the other parents found out, some of them have removed their children from the center.” Read more about Toddlers not immune from discrimination in Israel
Israeli leaders, incensed that Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had not resurrected the felled border wall and stopped the Gazans from entering, began suggesting that they would relinquish control of the strip altogether, leaving Egypt responsibile for the 1.5 million inhabitants of Gaza. “We need to understand that when Gaza is open to the other side, we lose responsibility for it,” said Israel’s deputy defense minister Matan Vilnai. “So we want to disconnect from it.” Read more about Israel threatens further supply cuts to Gaza
