Resolution 1701 ignores, apparently deliberately, the investigations held not only by the United Nations itself, but also independent investigations conducted by international organizations like Human Rights Watch, Greenpeace, and Amnesty International — only to name a few — which find Israel responsible for serious violations on many levels, some irreversible. Resolution 1701 equates between an act of invasion and aggravated damage to the Lebanese infrastructure, environment, and population both Lebanese and Palestinian, with the legitimate response and (in comparison to Israel’s military power) the microscopic military power of Hezbollah. Read more about UNIFIL: What are they here for? 

The Israeli army declared on Wednesday morning Beit Hanoun a closed military zone, demanding the residents to stay indoors. The Israeli army issued a warning thorough two local radio stations, Freedom Radio and Youth Radio, after they managed to occupy the signal for few minutes in the town of Beit Hanoun. The town is home to 28.000, only few miles a way from the Israeli city Sderot. It’s reported that the Israeli army conducted a large-scale offensive in Beit Hanoun at dawn, with combined air and ground forces including infantry, armored corps and engineer corps. Read more about "Summer Rains" linger on in Beit Hanoun 

Standing at 6’1, with strong build, a full beard, and long dark hair, Yehuda Shaul seems like an unassuming young man. Wearing dark cargo pants, and a long-sleeved blue shirt, he paces back and forth taking in the whole room. It’s hard to notice at first but his blue velvet kippa (skull cap) rests easily on his head. His voice is mellow and calm. He has a disarming smile that lights up his entire face when he’s happy and talking about the things he loves (one of which is football). But behind the smiles and the passion for the world’s most popular sport is a young man who has seen and done things no young person should ever have to endure. Read more about Interview: Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence 

Since Oslo, the Palestinians have been trying to establish and build sustainable institutions that would form the basis of an independent state. This necessitates investment by Palestinians in the diaspora both in terms of money and skills. Such a vital objective for Palestinians is now being severely undermined by the insistence of Israel and western countries on isolating and starving the Hamas-led Palestinian government that came into power in January 2006 after fair and democratic elections. Israel is currently withholding from the Palestinian Authority millions in Palestinian funds it has collected in the form of taxes and custom duties. Read more about Palestinian Brain Drain 

Yasmine is 11 years old, from a small village in the south of Lebanon and a good tour guide around her family’s garden as she shows you the remaining unexploded cluster bombs. Two to give a count — one is hiding high in the grape vine and the other next to a little rock. They look nonthreatening, just little odd metal canisters calling to be removed. But Yasmine is good at protecting you. She firmly asks you not to touch them nor get close to them, only to laugh later as she teases you that you can never know when the one on the grape vine would fall, “so you’d better be ready to run”. Read more about "Popcorn" bombs: The casualties continue 

I travel from Ramallah in a group taxi with several activists affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement to the agricultural village of Bil’in. We are here with Israeli activists as well. All of the major Israeli peace and justice groups are with us today, along with prominent members of their leadership. Peace Now (Gush Shalom), Rabbis for Human Rights, Israeli Anarchists against the Wall, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, Ta’ayush and There is a Law (Yesh-Din). This latter group was formed to document violence that settlers commit against Palestinians so that they can be prosecuted. Read more about Photostory: Each Friday in Bil'in 

Omri Evron, a 19-year-old from Tel-Aviv, is weeks away from earning his B.A. in ethical philosophy from the Tel-Aviv University. Omri is considered a criminal by Israeli authorities because he refused to enlist to the Israeli military, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF). National military service is compulsory for all Jewish citizens of Israel, which means every Jewish Israeli must enlist in the IDF at the age of 18. But Omri Evron decided early on at the age of 16 that he would not become “a soldier in the forces of the occupation”. He reached this decision after many visits to the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT). Read more about Refusenik Omri Evron: "Why I can't become a soldier in the IDF" 

When I finished teaching my English class in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Nablus a week ago, the most pressing thing on my mind was getting to an Internet cafe to check my e-mail. It’s impossible to walk the streets of this crowded city without running into someone you know. Had I realized what was in store for me that night, I might have lingered with the friends who insisted I join them for a cup of coffee. Instead, I hurried on my way. But before I could get to the cafe, I was grabbed by two men, forced into a car and driven off. Read more about Why I came to Nablus, despite my family's pleas to stay away