New Abasan village in South Eastern Gaza looks, and feels, almost haunted. Every third or fourth house is a mound of rubble, or else has been partially destroyed, and the village streets are dusty and devoid of life. Many local Palestinians have been driven out of New Abasan by relentless Israeli incursions into the village. The Israeli occupation forces have bulldozed huge tracts of land in and around New Abasan, and demolished dozens of local houses. Read more about "I still cannot farm my own land" 

The General Secretariat of General Union of Palestinian Teachers, which is aligned with the Fatah movement, declared a five-day strike at public schools throughout the Gaza Strip to be launched on 24 August, the first day of the new school year, in protest to what it described as “arbitrary decisions” taken by the Ministry of Education of the Gaza government. Read more about Palestinian political tensions impacting education sector 

Strawberry and cut flower farming are two of the most important productive agricultural sectors in the Gaza Strip. They contribute approximately US $25 million to the gross national product. In addition, both sectors employ thousands of farmers in direct and indirect employment. The export season for strawberries lasts from 20 November until 15 January and the export season for cut flowers is from 15 November until 25 April. Read more about Strawberry and cut flower farmers suffer under siege 

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the attacks on private and civil society organizations and the continued arrests by Palestinian security forces of Hamas members in the West Bank. PCHR points to the continuation of the detention policy despite the decision issued by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on 31 July 2008 to release all Hamas political prisoners apprehended on the backdrop of the latest events in Gaza. Read more about PA continues its West Bank arrest campaign of Hamas supporters 

On Saturday, 2 August 2008, al-Shoja’eya neighborhood in the east of Gaza City witnessed bloody clashes between security services of the Ministry of Interior and gunmen from the Helles clan. Eleven Palestinians, including two police officers and eight members of the Helles clan, were killed, and 103 others, including 17 children and six women, were wounded. Read more about Eleven killed in Gaza police arrest operation 

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights is gravely concerned over the continuous deterioration in the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory caused by Palestinian security services in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including attacks against civil society organizations, political arrests campaigns and attacks against journalists. Read more about Hamas-Fatah tensions bring increased rights violations 

PCHR strongly condemns Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) for closing several charities and humanitarian organizations in Nablus over the past two days. The Centre calls upon the international community to intervene to put an end to these measures. Read more about Israeli army ransacks, shuts down Nablus organizations 

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights published a new report entitled “Extra-judicial executions … Official, Declared Israeli Policy” covering Israeli extra-judicial executions against Palestinians during the period from 1 August 2006 till 30 June 2008. The report is the ninth of its kind in a special series. Read more about Report: 348 Palestinians extra-judicially executed since Sept. 2000