EAST JERUSALEM, West Bank (IPS) - Palestinians from all ranks of society have pulled together to tackle the issue of AIDS, despite the increasing factional violence and chaos in the Palestinian territories. Hamas, which has authority in Gaza, and the Palestinian Authority in charge of the West Bank, and Christian and Muslim leaders, in conjunction with various UN organizations and non-governmental organizations, have worked together to ensure that the Palestinian territories retain a very low rate of HIV and AIDS infection. Read more about Unity has ensured low HIV and AIDS infection rates 

RAMALLAH, West Bank (IPS) - Only six percent of probes into offenses allegedly committed by Israeli soldiers and settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank yield indictments, a new report says. The report “Justice for All” released last week by the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din examined 205 cases of alleged assault by Israeli settlers that were reported over the years. Only in 13 cases were indictments filed, while 163 cases were closed. Read more about Report: Israeli violence enjoys impunity 

Dear Hisam, father of Ahmed, may he rest in peace: I learned of the death of your son, Ahmed Musa, through a one-sentence newsflash on the Palestinian news station Ma’an last Tuesday: “Ahmed Musa, a young boy, was killed by a bullet of the occupying forces in Nil’in.” I was immediately overcome with shock and grief and bitter tears. And above all, that relentless feeling of powerlessness that I know too well. Read more about An open letter: Father to father 

JERUSALEM (IRIN) - An Israeli parliamentary caucus has been formed to look at “solutions” to the Palestinian refugee problem, now in its 60th year. “The idea of the caucus is to look at the refugee problem from a humanitarian perspective, not to focus on why there are refugees, but to look at solutions,” a spokesman for member of parliament Amira Dotan, a co-chairperson of the group, told IRIN. Read more about Parliamentary caucus to mull refugee issue 

HERZELIYA (IRIN) - Environmental groups have expressed concern about plans to build a canal between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea — transferring water from the former to save the latter. They say not enough research has been done and alternative options have not been checked. “We are concerned about what will happen to the Dead Sea when this amount of marine water is pumped into it,” said Gidon Bromberg of Friends of the Earth Middle East, at a 30 July public hearing organized by the World Bank in Herziliya, which followed two others in Ramallah and Amman. Read more about Environmentalists concerned over Dead Sea canal plans 

In the past two weeks, the Hamas-dominated interior ministry in Gaza has closed scores of Gaza-based non-governmental organizations. According to Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza City, the Hamas-dominated government has closed 179 institutions in Gaza, including those providing services to women, children and people with disabilities. The Electronic Intifada correspondent Rami Almeghari reports. Read more about Gaza organizations caught in the crossfire 

In the first hours of dawn, Nader Elayan was woken by a call from a neighbor warning him to hurry to the house he had almost finished building. By the time he arrived, it was too late: a bulldozer was tearing down the walls. Jonathan Cook reports from Jerusalem. Read more about The struggle against Jerusalem's quiet ethnic cleansing 

On 29 July, Israeli forces shot and killed a ten-year-old boy in Nilin, Ahmed Mousa, in the head with live ammunition fired from an M16, on Tuesday evening. Around the time of the funeral procession for Ahmed Mousa last night, Israeli occupation forces returned to the village and opened fire on villagers, shooting another young Palestinian teenager in the head. Read more about Israeli forces mortally wound Nilin teenager after funeral