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RAMALLAH: The Palestinian minister of local governance, Sa'eb 'Erekat stressed he saw no apparent signs that the Israeli government had eased choking restrictions on the West Bank which it claimed it would. Thousands of residents of seven West Bank cities, reoccupied by Israel last month, remain confined to the walls of their homes.

Israel has said it would release more frozen tax money due to the PNA and ease curfews, after drawing international furor when an Israeli F-16 fighter jet launched a deadly attack on one of Gaza's neighborhoods last week, killing 16 Palestinians, 10 of whom were children.

"I see all checkpoints and roadblocks that surround our towns, villages and refugee camps. (They) have tightened their siege and closure on the movement of goods and people." Mr. Erikat told reporters.

The Israeli announcements coincided with US plans to discuss with Palestinian officials in Washington next month, steps to reform the Palestine National Authority, media sources reported.

Alleging an easing of the siege on Palestinians, Israel's Finance Ministry said it would transfer 70 million shekels in frozen taxes to the PNA in the coming few days.

Media sources confirmed that the pending transfer of funds, part of two billion shekels in back taxes owed to the PNA, which were frozen by the Israeli government since September 2000, followed a 200-million shekel transfer last week.

However, President Yasser Arafat said in the West Bank city of Ramallah, "They gave us 14 million dollars, which is less than one percent of our frozen money and I hope they will release all our money."

Moreover, the Israeli prime minister's office claimed he had ordered cutting the duration of curfews, issuing work permits for 12,000 Palestinian laborers and dismantling some checkpoints.

However, facts on the grounds refute that claim. Palestinians in the West Bank City of Ramallah said the curfew, which was originally lifted from 6 am to 6 pm, was lifted yesterday, July 30, from 1 pm till 6 pm, leaving people with only five hours to attend to their jobs and buy foodstuffs.

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations will make public a report on events that unfolded in April during the Israeli deadly assault on a Palestinian refugee camp near the West Bank town of Jenin, according to diplomatic sources in the UN.

Many believe that Israel has committed a massacre in Jenin when it unleashed a deadly attack, leaving over 60 people confirmed dead, hundreds wounded, 800 homes destroyed and many missing.

After the release of the report, the UN General Assembly will reconvene the special session that voted overwhelmingly to direct the investigation and report on May 7.

Dr. Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinian observer to the United Nations, was quoted by the French News Agency saying: "I would prefer the session on Thursday, but it is not possible for practical reasons."

Dr. al-Kidwa said the it would likely be held on Friday

Palestinians and various rights groups accused Israeli forces of massacring civilians and committing war crimes between April 2 and 12 in the Jenin camp.

Israel has repeatedly denied the accusations, insisting that mostly Palestinian fighters died in battles when Israel was searching for Palestinian fighters.

US based Human rights investigators said there was no evidence of a massacre but said the Israeli army may have committed war crimes.

An attempt to send a UN fact-finding team to the spot was blocked by Israel.

Several Israelis Killed, Many Wounded by Hebrew University Blast, Hamas Claims Responsibility

JERUSALEM: Israeli authorities say there has been an explosion in the cafeteria at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The Israeli media says that the explosion was caused by a suicide bombing in a crowded cafeteria at the “Mount Scopus” campus of Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

Media reports however indicate that the blast might not be the result of a suicide bombing, but a large bomb that was planted at the scene.

Nine of the injured were in a serious condition, police said. Another 10 were suffering from shock.

The blast occurred shortly before 2:00 pm (1100 GMT) Wednesday, Israeli police said.

The Israeli newspaper Haaretz said that at least five people were killed in the blast and 35 others were wounded. Israeli Television's Channel 2 however put the dead at 7 and wounded at 45.

Israeli sources report that the rescue efforts were hampered by the location of the attack, inside a building on the campus.

Hamas military wing, Izz Din Qassam claimed responsibility for the explosion at the University.

Hamas made the claim on Al Jazeera Television, saying the attack was retaliation for Israel's assassination last week of Hamas leader and the killing and wounding of many innocent civilians.

"There are a number of dead and critically injured, it's too soon to say how many. This was a very serious attack," an Israeli official was quoted by Israeli television.

“Witnesses told Israeli media that the blast was the work of a suicide bomber,” the Jerusalem Post reported.

Retaliatory attacks inside Israel were expected following a deadly attack that killed 16 people, including 10 children and the wounded of 170 more last Monday.

PA Condemns Attack Against Hebrew University, Says Sharon’s Policy Thrives on Bombings

RAMALLAH: Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information condemned the attack on the Hebrew University Campus Wednesday. Below is a transcript of the Palestinian Authority (PA’s) statement as published by the Palestine Media Center:

"The Palestine National Authority (PNA) absolutely condemns the attack against the Hebrew University today.

The leadership considers Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon as being responsible for this cycle of terror. Sharon’s army is continuing its policy of destruction, killing and collective punishment, including curfews and siege, to paralyze the Palestinian society, government, and civil institutions, including the Palestinian security services.

This cycle of terror is a result of policies that are adopted [by Sharon’s government] which escalated with the assassination that took the lives of 17 Palestinians in Gaza, including 9 children, and the continuation of arrests of thousands of Palestinians in mass detention centers.

We call upon all forces inside Israel, who oppose this continuation of the cycle of terror, to join ranks with each other, so that we can put an end to terror, violence and mainly to policies that are behind them and provoke them. Sharon’s policies thrive on massacres, bloodshed and suicidal attacks."

Tuesday July 30, 2002

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Rev. Jesse Jackson called for an end to suicide attacks on Israelis in a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat yesterday.

Jackson, traveling with a US religious delegation, met with Arafat in his besieged headquarters a day after meeting with the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres.

After the meeting, Jackson spoke out against President Bush's call to replace Yasser Arafat, saying it wasn't democratic for the United States to choose who leads the Palestinians. ''That position does not have traction,'' Jackson said.

In the past, Jackson has supported Palestinian demands for an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. He said he appealed to Arafat to follow a policy of nonviolence.

Arafat has been confined to his headquarters by tanks since Israeli troops re-entered Ramallah in June. He reaffirmed his support for peace.

''I reiterate our commitment to the peace of the brave, away from violence, state terror, suicide bombers, bloodshed, and confusion, which don't serve the interests of Israelis and Palestinians,'' Arafat said.

NABLUS, West Bank - Thousands of Palestinians poured onto the streets of Nablus yesterday in defiance of a 40-day Israeli army curfew, the strongest challenge yet to the Israeli army restrictions on West Bank cities and towns.

If Nablus residents effectively lift the around-the-clock curfew on their own, such actions could spread to other West Bank cities. Nablus Gov. Mahmoud Aloul, who had urged his people to defy the curfew, said Palestinians should follow Nablus.

"People who can't find food and need medicine and treatment should break the doors of their jail," Aloul said.

Shops, banks and offices opened to accommodate the curfew-breakers, who filled the street

"I've been confined to my home for more than a month. I have eight children. We've eaten all we have," said Tamer Adnan, working at his falafel stand. "I'm just fighting to get food for my kids."

Israeli soldiers in armored vehicles ringing the city stood by without response, in contrast to tough reactions to earlier violations, in which troops have opened fire on people because of misunderstandings over the curfew's duration.

"There is a curfew, and we are aware of the violations," Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Olivier Rafowicz said yesterday of the situation in Nablus. "For the moment, we are not responding."

The restrictions, imposed when Israeli forces took over seven of the eight main Palestinian population centers starting June 20 in response to suicide bomb attacks, have worsened difficult conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank.

Preliminary figures from a U.S. government report show that 30 percent of Palestinian children suffer from malnutrition, up from 7 percent since the fighting began.

In response, Israel pledged to release $15 million to the Palestinian Authority yesterday, the first such transfer since fighting erupted in September 2000.

The transfer, the first of three planned installments, is a small fraction of the estimated $600 million in taxes and customs revenues Israel has collected on behalf of the Palestinians.

Monday July 29, 2002

WASHINGTON: US displeasure over Israel’s use of a American-built F-16 fighter last week has been muted, but not silent. The attack in which an Israeli fighter jet dropped a one-ton bomb on a crowded Gaza City apartment block killing a leader of the Palestinian group Hamas, 14 civilians and wounding over 150 people, has angered US officials.

Administration officials told Suadi newspaper, Arab News, on background, that although there has been no public or official accusation that Israel’s use of American weapons in the Gaza attack is in violation of US arms sales laws, the State Department has put Israel “on notice,” told Tel Aviv it is monitoring its actions carefully, and warned it of “consequences” if it misuses US-provided arms.

The 1976 Arms Export Control Act (US Public Law 90-829) prohibits the use of US weapons sold to foreign countries for anything other than “legitimate self-defense or internal security.” This specifically means US weapons cannot be used against civilian targets.

The State Department is required to report to Congress if it believes there has been a “substantial violation” of the terms of sale.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters last week that no such report to Congress resulted from the Gaza attack. But he did say there is deep concern in Washington about Israeli tactics in the operation, which the White House described as “heavy-handed.”

“We’ve not made a report like this since the current violence began,” said Boucher. “But we’ve made it quite clear that we’re seriously concerned about some of the Israeli tactics, some of the Israeli actions, including targeted killings and actions like this that endanger civilians. So we continue to watch and monitor Israeli actions very carefully. We urge Israel to consider the consequences of actions such as these.”

Two members of Congress, John Dingell, D-Michigan, and Rep. Nick Rahall, D-West Virginia, sent a letter to President Bush late last week requesting an explanation as to whether this Gaza City attack constituted a violation of US law.

Last Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and other Arab states requested a UN Security Council held debate on the Gaza. The United States attended the discussions.

“It was an open debate with no outcome. It was one of these debates where countries have an opportunity to state their positions, but nothing is expected as a result of the meeting,” Stephan du Jarric, associate spokesman for the Secretary General at the United Nations, told Arab News yesterday by phone.

Du Jarric said the council met again Friday in a closed consultation session to discuss a draft resolution put forward by Syria on behalf on the group.

During the three-hour debate, many speakers noted that Israel is obliged, according to international humanitarian law, to refrain from violence against civilians.

They said Israel’s recent actions were “unjustifiable and counterproductive” because they undermined trust between the parties and bred new violence. Speakers called on both sides to refrain from violence and to return to the negotiating table.

The UN observer for Palestine, Nasser Al-Kidwa, said the Israeli assault on Gaza City represented the first blatant war crime committed by the Israeli occupying forces since the International Criminal Court entered into force this month, and since the attack fell within the court’s jurisdiction, measures should be taken to bring the perpetrators to justice.

Al-Kidwa said that the crime had been committed when serious efforts were being undertaken to curb violence and restore some cooperative measures between the two sides. He said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who had initially labeled the attack a “great success,” was once more trying his utmost to prevent any progress towards restoring a meaningful peace process.

The council is scheduled to meet and re-examine the debate yet again today. But a senior official told Arab News that if the issue was put to a vote, the United States would likely oppose an Arab draft resolution condemning Israel.

Meanwhile, Arab and Muslim-American organizations are calling on the State Department to protest what they call “US complicity in Israel’s most recent attack on Gaza.”

Representatives have requested a meeting with Ambassador William Burns, Undersecretary of State for Near East Affairs, to discuss the need for an investigation into Israeli violations of US law.

PARIS: Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has reportedly endorsed a French plan Monday for an international conference on the Middle East that is also backed by some Arab countries. Peres was holding talks with political leaders in France, before flying to the United States.

Peres told reporters in Paris that an international conference should be held on the Middle East as soon as feasible. Proposed by France, the plan was also backed by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak last week as a way to help end the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and its violent outcomes.

Peres also offered fresh details of a new Israeli agreement to lift certain restrictions against Palestinians, including unblocking millions of dollars in frozen Palestinian assets, increasing the numbers of Palestinian workers in Israel, and expanding fishing zones for Gaza fisherman.

"On top of all those gestures or decisions - and they are already being achieved, implemented - we told the Palestinians in every zone where they will be able to calm the situation, tranquilize it, we shall move out and let life come to normalcy," he said.

Past Israeli promises to ‘ease restrictions’ on Palestinians are yet to be actualized.

Peres held talks with French President Jacques Chirac, and also met with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.

Relations are prickly between France and Israel. Paris has generally adopted a stance sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinian people, and in accordance with ‘moderate’ Arab leaders like President Mubarak. As a result, members of Sharon's government accused France earlier this year of anti-Semitism.

But Peres appeared confident relations between the two countries would improve. He said Paris was a critical player in the new international quartet made up of the United Nations, Russia and Western countries that is searching for peace in the Middle East.

"Let's face it, President Chirac may have the strongest voice in Europe, and the voice of Europe is extremely important," he said, "because the quartet, with all its problems, is a source of new hope. It's an attempt to harmonize the policies of the United States, of a united Europe, of Russia."

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the French president said Mr. Chirac told Peres he hoped a conference on the Middle East would take place as rapidly as possible.

NABLUS: Palestinians in the West Bank town of Nablus have defied an Israeli army curfew for the second day. Palestinians took to the streets of Nablus to stock up on food, as shops and banks opened to serve them in open defiance of the Israeli military curfew. Israeli troops in armored vehicles surround the city in response.

Continuous curfews are part of the Israeli new occupation policy of the West Bank, a policy that claimed many Palestinian lives.

This is reportedly the first time Palestinians have refused to abide by curfew terms laid down by Israel.

Nablus is one of the seven major population centers in the West Bank under Israeli occupation. Only Jericho is not subject to the Israeli occupation, which began more than five-weeks ago.

The harsh reality on the ground proves that a recent statement issued by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon inaccurate. Sharon claimed in his statement Sunday that his government is easing restrictions on Palestinians.

Israel has also said that its releasing to the Palestinian finance minister 15-million dollars in frozen tax money. The money is a fraction of the Palestinian tax revenue Israel has withheld since the Palestinian uprising began 22 months ago. The Palestinian Authority said that it received none of its funds.

RAMALLAH (LAW): Israeli forces raided the village of al-Mizra'a al-Sharkiya in the Ramallah district, killing 18-years old Mamon al Zibin and wounding 17-years old Ahmad Abu Alia. Mamon al-Zibin was shot in his back.

Eyewitnesses told LAW that two Israeli soldiers in two military jeeps raided the villages at 8 o'clock in the evening ON Sunday. They assaulted Palestinian civilians with stun and teargas grenades. Then they opened automatic machinegun (M16) fire, wounding Mamon al-Zibin in his back with a dumdum bullet, shot from close range.

They held him for more than thirty minutes before allowing him to be evacuated. He died on arrival at the village's medical center. Doctors managed to save Abu Alia and he was taken to Ramallah hospital where he currently receives medical treatment.

Eyewitnesses told LAW that Israeli soldiers shot Al-Zibin after they held him and he fell on the ground.

Dumdum bullets burst into many small fragments in the body. The use of dumdum bullets, which shatter within the body, are banned by international law. This killing resulted from a wanton disregard for human life and principles regarding the use of lethal force.

LAW believes that the use of lethal force was unnecessary and disproportionate to the situation and could have been prevented.

Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention classifies such killing as a 'grave breach'. This killing was intentional and unlawful. LAW believes that the abuse of lethal force by the Israeli occupation forces against unarmed Palestinian civilians in the Occupied Palestinian Territories reveals a cynical and contemptuous disregard for human life.

More than a flagrant violation of international law, it constitutes a policy of lawless disregard for the most fundamental human rights, the right to life.

Sunday July 28, 2002

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: The Palestine National Authority has not received any tax money due to its institutions, which the Israeli government is withholding, Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Minister of Culture and Information, told the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam.

In a press release yesterday he confirmed, "The PNA has not yet received or been informed of any transfer of the tax money [due to the PNA] frozen by the Israeli government."

Media sources reported Wednesday that the Israeli foreign minister, Shimon Peres, announced his government would transfer NIS 200 million of frozen tax revenues withheld by the Israeli government since September 2000.

This amount represents only 10% of the money due to the PNA, which Palestinian officials say is NIS 2 billion.

The Palestinian minister further stressed that the Israeli talk of releasing some of this money due comes in a bid to score PR points, in light of the warnings of an expected humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian territory, humanitarian agencies and bodies are making.

"They [the Israelis] are constantly saying they will ease restrictions for the Palestinians…but these are all propaganda bids the Israeli government is using for the foreign public opinion." He highlighted.

RAMALLAH (PMC): Ro'obin Abtsor, the former Chief of Israeli Force, called upon Israeli pilots to refuse conducting any air raids against civilian targets in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, relayed the London-based Arab newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awssat.

Abtsor also condemned the latest Israeli F-16 warplanes attack on a crowded residential neighborhood in Gaza City, which killed 15 civilians and injured at least 150 others. "There is no doubt that they [Israeli government] had known that the shelling of Salah Shihada's home, with a one ton bomb, would result in the killing of civilians and the destruction of near by buildings," he added.

Moreover, Abtsor, who described the Israeli air raid as "immoral", further called upon Israeli pilots to disobey such orders.

Meanwhile, Abtsor's call received criticism from various Israeli figures, especially those presenting right wing parties, who accused him of enticing mutiny of Israeli air force pilots.

DUBLIN: The Israeli embassy in Dublin said Friday it is firing a press officer who wrote a letter to Irish newspapers condemning the Israeli air strike on the Gaza strip Tuesday, which left 15 dead, 10 of whom were children, media sources relayed.

"I am sick at heart at this, as I am at each and every attack on Israeli citizens," wrote Dr. Noreen O'Carroll, an Irish citizen working in the embassy, in a letter published in the Irish Times.

Fifteen Palestinians were killed and hundreds more injured when an Israeli F-16 fighter jet dropped a one-ton bomb on a dense, poverty-stricken residential neighborhood in Gaza City.

Moreover, Dr. O'Carroll's letter read, "a missile attack on an apartment building, after midnight when children and adults are asleep in their beds, is no more justifiable than a suicide bombing. I am appalled and ashamed of the current Israeli government for sanctioning this and other similar operations."

She further added in her letter, "I am also appalled and ashamed of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cold-hearted response to it, stating that it was 'one of our greatest successes'. Has he any heart, any moral sense at all?"
Dr. O'Carroll concluded that there is a huge divergence of opinion within both the political establishment and civil society in Israel about the policies of the current Israeli government. "I want to put it on record that such divergence of opinion also extends to the 'local staff' of Israeli embassies," she emphasized.

On Friday, the Israeli chargé d'affaires in the Dublin embassy, Boaz Rodkin, said Dr. O'Carroll had been suspended and further action would follow after consultations with the Israeli foreign ministry- "at the end of the day she will not be able to come back to work", he said.

HEBRON: A Palestinian girl was shot dead yesterday as enraged Jewish settlers rampaged, guns ablaze, through this West Bank city following the funeral of an Israeli killed by Palestinian fighters, Palestinian witnesses and hospital sources said.

Nivin Musa Jamjoum, 14, was shot in the head as she stood on her balcony near a shrine, the hospital sources said.

Her brother was also wounded, they said. At least another 11 Palestinians were injured in the rampage, including a family of six riding a horse-drawn cart which was rammed by settlers in a car on a bypass road, the sources said. The family members were said to be seriously injured.

Two others, one of them a man in his 20s, were suffering from gunshot wounds, while a nine-year-old was beaten up, they said.

Another Palestinian youth was reportedly stabbed and later evacuated for medical treatment by the Israeli army.

Witnesses said the settlers also took over a three-story Palestinian house, confining the Abu Nagiba Al-Sharbati family to a single room, while a second Palestinian house was torched and badly damaged. The burned house belonging to the Abu Samir Al-Sharbati family and contained a large collection of antiques, witnesses said. The family was evicted before the house was torched.

Settlers were also shooting and throwing stones at Palestinian houses near the Jewish enclave of Avraham Avinu after the funeral of an Israeli soldier and resident of the area who was killed Friday in a Palestinian ambush.

The rioting came as politicians moved to restore contacts between Israel and the Palestinian Authority officials, after an Israeli air raid on Gaza City on July 22 killed 15 people, including a militant leader and 13 civilians, and threatened to derail fragile talks that had resumed last weekend. A senior Palestinian official said Israeli Finance Minister Silvan Shalom was to meet today with his Palestinian Authority counterpart Salam Fayad.

The Palestinian leadership, meanwhile, asked the UN Security Council yesterday to pass a binding resolution ordering Israel to withdraw its troops to positions occupied before the outbreak of the intifada. “The Security Council must ... pass a binding resolution for a cease-fire, a withdrawal of Israeli forces to the lines of Sept. 28, 2000, and send international observers” to the Palestinian territories, the leadership said in a statement released after meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The meeting, chaired by Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, called on the “international community to adopt a firmer and more effective position and to be totally involved in peace efforts.” It said the observers should be under the control of the so-called diplomatic “quartet” of the United States, European Union, Russia and the United Nations, trying unblock the Middle East peace process.

Saturday July 27, 2002

Air strike devastates Gaza family

GAZA (CNN) -- At the beginning of this week, 19 members of the extended Matar family lived together in a modest, two-story house in Gaza.

But in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday, an Israeli F-16 fighter dropped a one-ton bomb on their neighborhood. Since then, the Matars have no home and they have buried five children and a mother -- bombing victims that Israel calls collateral damage.

The Matar family said it had no idea that their next door neighbor was Hamas militant leader Salah Shehade -- one of Israel's most wanted suspected terrorists.

Shehade was the target of the Israeli attack. He was killed, along with 14 others, including nine children.

Dunia, the 2-month-old infant of Hanaa Matar, was the youngest victim. The mother and child were on the second floor at the time of the attack: Hanaa Matar survived with a broken arm and back and leg injuries.

"I was standing next to her, playing with her, and I heard the sound of a missile and then there was fire -- bright red fire. The house fell on top of me," Hanaa remembers.

"After that, I was in a tomb. I was in a grave and could barely breathe," she said.

Hanaa remembers being under the rubble for 20 minutes. But what followed her rescue was even worse for the young mother.

For almost two days, nobody would tell her that her that Dunia was dead or that it was her little girl that mourners carried through the streets of Gaza.

"The whole house knew my daughter had been killed. This whole time, I thought she was in the hospital. I would send my relatives to go check on Dunia. I described what she was wearing so they knew how to recognize her. They said she was fine. They were all afraid to tell me," Hanaa said.

But finally, they told her that Dunia had been killed. Hanaa passed out when they told her.

Her brother-in-law, Raed, was also on the second floor that night when the bomb fell. In that instant, he lost his wife, little girl and two young boys -- including Mohammed, killed on his third birthday.

Three days after the airstrike, the family were still digging out parts of his children from the rubble.

The Matars are typical of many in Gaza, where brothers, sister, nieces and nephews frequently all live under one roof with their parents. Times are tough here, and jobs are hard to find. But together, they get by.

Now, like many others, they are left asking how Israel could strike such a built-up area.

Israel said the civilian casualties -- especially the deaths of children -- were a tragic mistake. But the Matar family doesn't accept that explanation.

"They know it is a residential area, and children will die, women will die and old people will die," said Mahaa. "This is normal for them -- there's no humanity, no mercy in their hearts."

Mahaa was up late that night studying for a university exam. She was in another room with her mother, sisters and cousin. All of them survived -- but like the rest of the house, that room is now little more than rubble.

The family has moved in with an aunt. And even after losing so much, Mahaa said they're grateful to God for what they still have. Their survival she said, is proof that miracles can happen.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (IAP): Poverty and starvation are creeping menacingly throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip due to the harsh and suffocating blockade on Palestinian population centers imposed by the Israeli occupation army.

The nearly two-year closure, which is often accompanied by extremely severe restrictions on the movement of individuals and the flow of basic goods and services, is having a disastrous impact on all aspects of individual life of Palestinians.

According to statistical figures to be released this week, nearly one third of young Palestinian children are chronically malnourished-more than four times as many as before the Palestinian intifada against Israeli occupation and apartheid erupted 22 months ago.

The figures showed that at least 30% of Palestinian children under the age of 6 suffer from chronic malnutrition, up from less than 7 % registered before the intifada.

Palestinian sources argue that the real picture might be even bleaker, because many Palestinian families wouldn't tell strangers that they are starving because of cultural taboos.

"I would say that the figures of malnutrition among children exceeds the 50% figure," said Samir Yousef, an official at Dura Zakat and Charity committee which monitors the spread of poverty in the al-Khalil Region.

"Just imagine yourself without work and income for 22 months and you have ten mouths to feed three times a day, in addition to having to pay for other basic necessities such water, electricity, rent, schooling, clothing, and medication."

The released figures also showed that half the children under 6 and half of the childbearing-age women suffered from mild to moderate anemia, a red blood cell deficiency that reduces the amount of oxygen in the body. Furthermore, the figures showed that more than half the Palestinians depended on outside food assistance to meet their daily caloric intake.

Seeking to cope with poverty, many Palestinian families are forced to buy their children less nutritional powdered milk, cheaper infant formulas and inexpensive food.

"They go for junk food many times because it costs less, contains lots of calories and satisfies the hunger," said Suha Khoury, a Palestinian nutritionist from East Jerusalem.

Before the Intifada (Palestinian uprising), more than 150,000 Palestinian laborers commuted every day to Israel for work which pumped into the Palestinian economy more than $ 10 million dollars a day.

However, with the Intifada and Israeli's harsh measures against the Palestinian civilian population, not only employment within the Jewish state was terminated, but much of the employment within the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well.

Military checkpoints and curfews have prevented Palestinians from moving around or getting to jobs and places of work.

More to the point, the intermittent curfews imposed on major Palestinian towns and villages dealt a further blow to the Palestinian economy, forcing Palestinians into a situation where physical survival and food acquisition become their utmost priority.

"It is like incarcerating people for days and weeks without food, this is what the curfew looks like," said Yousuf, describing the effect of the protracted curfews on the Palestinians.

"It is a form of slow genocide."

Chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erakat said this week in assessing the impact of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and other actions in the 22-month-old conflict that the “situation is catastrophic."

A report by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) not yet officially released but widely distributed in diplomatic circles has provided disturbing figures.

Thirty percent of Palestinian children under five who were screened suffered from chronic malnutrition and 21 percent from acute malnutrition, up from 7.5 and 2.5 percent respectively in 2000.

"Due to diminished access to potable water, residence overcrowding and inadequate shelter, possible disease outbreak such as cholera is a growing concern," according to the text posted on the web site "miftah.org."

The USAID report quoted the Palestinian health ministry as saying its facilities were operating at 30 percent capacty.

Ambulance services were severely curtailed, chronic patients in rural areas cut off from treatment, and the availability of vaccines significantly reduced, it said, adding "the child immunization program is breaking down."

Mustafa Barghuti, head of the Palestinian Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute, said 75 percent of Palestinians were living below the poverty line.

"These Palestinians are living on two dollars a day while the poverty line is Israel is set at 20 dollars a day," he was quoted by Agency France Press this week.

Israel has demolished thousands of Palestinian homes, and daily struggles have also taken a psychological toll on the Palestinian population, experts say.

The European Union urged Israel to lift its blockade of the Palestinian territories, reiterating its position in an appeal to Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior.

"It's very important to give back some life to the Palestinian economy and to let the reform progress proceed," said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country currently holds the EU rotating presidency.

BERLIN: Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres is doubtful of his boss, Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s ability of leading a peaceful resolution to the Middle East crisis. Peres admitted in an interview with a German weekly that he is unsure whether Sharon could be a ‘credible partner for peace.’

Peres was responding to a statement that many Israelis doubt “whether Ariel Sharon could be a partner for peace." The Israeli foreign minister told the German weekly Der Spiegel: "Me too, I have my doubts."

"But what should I do about them? Collect them?" he asked Saturday, reported the Agency France Press.

AFP also quoted Peres saying during the interview: "As long as I feel able to change something and balance (the situation), I will stay" in the Sharon government.

Peres also criticized Sharon’s murder of 16 Palestinians in Gaza and the wounding of 170 more. Peres called it "an error of judgment, a 100-percent mistake."

"The result clearly shows that we used the wrong weapon. The bomb was more destructive than it was useful," he said.

Friday July 26, 2002

Dear Mr. President:

As you are well aware, late Monday Israeli F-16 warplanes launched a missile strike on a densely populated area of Gaza City, killing at least 17 Palestinians and wounding 150, many of them children.

We write to express our condemnation of this attack in the strongest possible terms. Furthermore, we request that the Administration examine whether the American-made and supplied military hardware employed in this attack was used in violation of the Arms Export Control Act, US Public Law 90-829.

On June 24, 2002, you offered a vision of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved in a fair manner, consistent with United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, that would result in security for Israel and full sovereignty and statehood for the Palestinians within three years. While your vision was welcomed by all parties as a constructive step toward resolution of this conflict, questions remain unanswered as to the sequence, timeline, and actions required of each party. We hope, through constant coordination and consultation with the Quartet, our regional Arab allies, and the parties themselves, that these questions can be quickly answered and the peace process can advance under balanced American leadership.

Mr. President, the first objective of US policy must be to restore hope and confidence in the peace process. The attack yesterday will beget more violence and represents yet another serious setback. We are pleased that the Administration has criticized this attack. The timing of the strike was most inopportune, given that representatives of the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority had held discussions earlier in the day aimed at easing tension in the Occupied Territories. The Israeli F -16 attack, which was described by Prime Minister Sharon as "a great success," has been widely condemned and is inconsistent with the "concrete steps" you called on Israel to take in your June 24 vision of peace.

As you know, the F-16’s used in the attack were American-made. We would appreciate an explanation as to whether Monday’s attack constitutes a violation of the Arms Export Control Act, US Public Law 90-829. The act prohibits the use of US weapons against civilian targets. As White House spokesman Ari Fleischer noted, the Gaza City attack was not only “deliberate” and “heavy-handed,” but was carried out with the knowledge “that innocents would be lost.” The use of US weaponry in this manner appears to violate US law. It also damages the ability of the US government to play its role as an honest broker of peace.

Mr. President, the continuing violence in the Occupied Territories threatens the lives of innocent Israelis and Palestinians on a daily basis, and continues to pose a grave threat to the region, the United States, and the world. Balanced, fair, and consistent American leadership is desperately needed if this problem is to be solved. The Administration must hold both Israelis and Palestinians accountable for actions taken that undermine the peace process and work against US interests. Accordingly, it is important that violent acts that target innocent civilians, regardless of who perpetrates them, must be condemned. There is no justification for the killing of innocent civilians.

We thank you in advance for your prompt attention to this matter. We also strongly encourage you to remain fully committed to peace and fairness, above all else because it is in our national interest.

Sincerely

Nick J. Rahall II and John D. Dingell, members of Congress

Thursday July 25, 2002

Australia on Wednesday condemned the Israeli missile strike as an “over- reaction” and urged Israel to show more restraint in the future. Australian Prime Minister John Howard joined the United Nations, the European Union and the United States in condemning the offensive.

“It was an over-reaction. It was heavy handed. It doesn't help Israel's cause,” Howard told Adelaide radio station 5DN.

“There is a lot of sympathy for Israel in dealing with the suicide bombers (but) some of that sympathy is understandably lost when children and innocent civilians are killed in retaliatory action.”

He added that world leaders who condemn Israel should also remember the suicide bombing” campaign against Israel that has killed dozens of Israelis in the past two years.

“Sadly, when things deteriorate to the extent that they have in the Middle East, innocent people, including children, do get killed,” Howard said.

“There does have to be restraint shown by everybody, including by the Israelis.”

NEW DELHI: India and Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the Israeli Air Force attack in Gaza. “India regrets the excessive use of force resulting in indiscriminate loss of life of innocent people, including women and children,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement.

“The Israeli attack runs counter to the ongoing international moves to deescalate the situation and would contribute only to renew and exacerbate the spiral of violence in the region,” it added.

New Delhi has traditionally enjoyed close relations with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, although recently it has also increased ties with Israel, especially in the fields of defense and antiterrorism.

Pakistan condemned Israel's missile attack, terming it a “fresh provocation” which aggravates tensions between Israel and the Palestinians.

“The latest military attacks constitutes a fresh provocation and further aggravates the tense situation in the region,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

“Israel's deliberate policy of use of excessive force against the unarmed Palestinians amply demonstrates the implacable hostility of the extremist Israeli elements toward the Middle East peace process.”

Pakistan urged the international community to take immediate steps to end Israel's military campaign and reoccupation of Palestinian-controlled areas and “to resume meaningful negotiations leading to a permanent peace in the area.”

Wednesday July 24, 2002

NEW YORK: The United Nations Security Council has scheduled a debate on the Middle East Wednesday evening as Israel undergoes more criticism for an air strike in a heavy populated area of Gaza City.

The Monday night attack using a one-ton laser-guided missile killed 17 Palestinians, including 11 children, three women and three men. A top Hamas activist, along with his family were also killed.

The bodies of three of the youngsters were recovered from the rubble of smashed homes Wednesday.

Countries around the world have condemned the Israeli crime, with the US expressing concern and declaring that the massacre was “heavy handed.”

In addition to their efforts to condemn the Israeli crime at the United Nations, Palestinians have already filed a complaint at the International Criminal Court.

Israelis are debating the wisdom of the attack, some saying that the attack was a bad publicity for Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon initially called the attack one of Israel's biggest successes. Sharon congratulated his army for the successful attack only a few hours after the toppling of the Gaza neighborhood.

GAZA CITY/WASHINGTON: The Israeli air strike on a crowded Gaza apartment building demonstrated a "clear failure to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian casualties," Human Rights Watch said in a statement issued yesterday.

Human Rights Watch, a leading US-based rights group, said that attack was a "violation of international humanitarian law".

17 Palestinian civilians were reported killed and some 170 injured in the attack. At least 11 of the civilians killed were children.

"An attack that killed thirteen civilians (now 17) and injured scores was clearly not carried out in a manner that minimized casualties. It should never have gone ahead," said Joe Stork, Washington director of the Middle East and North Africa division of Human Rights Watch.

"In such a crowded civilian area, these deaths and injuries were absolutely foreseeable," he stated.

Human Rights Watch has numerously criticized Israel's "liquidation policy as a form of killing in circumstances when the suspect could have been arrested" in the past and called for an immediate halt of such illegal operations.

Tuesday July 23, 2002

RAMALLAH: Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, president of the Palestinian Medical Relief Committees and the Director of the Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (HDIP), condemned the recent Israeli attack on a Palestinian crowded neighborhood, which has resulted in the killing of at least 15 civilians and the injury of 150 others.

In a press conference held at the Palestine Media Center (PMC) in Ramallah today, 23 July, Dr. Barghouthi stated, "The assassination, which took place today Gaza, represents in our opinion state terrorism. The use of F-16's fighters against population areas in Gaza means that the [Israeli occupation army] practices discriminate killing and we are very worried because we think that this provocation reflects a pattern adopted since 1996 by the Israeli army when they assassinated Yehia 'Ayash [top Hamas Activist] provoking series of suicide bombings."

"That means one of two things, [Israeli prime minister] Sharon is provoking a reaction or Sharon is establishing a continuum alliance with extremist from the Palestinian side because he does not wont peace. This is a very dangerous escalation that will have a very serious reflection on regional stability," Dr. Barghouthi said.

The director of the HDIP also presented updated figures showing the suffering of the Palestinian civilian population during the past 22 months which witnessed Israeli aggression against them.

"There is a pattern, which that the number of death in the first two months of Intifada was the highest before the last invasion when had a peaceful Intifada in an attempt to create a reaction. During the months of March and April we had one of the highest rates of death, 253 and 245 people were killed during these months", he relayed.

"The age distribution of the victim's shows that 21 % are children below the age of 18, 13% of them are children below the age of 15. 6,3% of the people killed are above the age of 50, which means that the attacks are indiscriminate", Dr. Barghouthi stressed.

According to Dr. Barghouthi, most of these casualties happened as a result of the use of live bullets by the occupation soldiers, including "133 people were killed in assassinations, 48 of them were not even targeted, and most were children like the ones killed in yesterday's attack in Gaza".

Dr. Barghouthi warned that the Israeli government is aiming at achieving four strategic agendas, which are reoccupation of the Palestinian cities and towns, widening of Israeli illegal settlements activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, destruction of the social base of the Palestinian community, and the establishment of an unprecedented apartheid system in West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The following report contains official and non official statements made in response to the Israeli attack on Gaza City, which resulted in a massacre, where 15 people were killed and 150 were wounded.

UN spokesman Fred Eckhard: "Israel has the legal and moral responsibility to take all measures to avoid the loss of innocent life."

Russia’s foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko:: "Moscow is seriously concerned by the news. .. this action was taken at the very moment when official representatives of Israel and the Palestinian Authority resumed dialogue concerning security matters."

Spokesman for the European Commission: "The military operation cannot be justified in any circumstance and is a disproportionate attack.”

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana: "This extra-judicial killing operation, which targeted a densely populated area, comes at a time when both Israelis and Palestinians were working very seriously to curb violence and restore co-operative security arrangements."

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: "This action, to my knowledge, is one of our major successes and it necessitates all of us being on top alert."

Britain's Foreign Office: The raid is "unacceptable and counterproductive".

A French foreign ministry spokesman: Paris "firmly condemns the raid" which "in no way contributes to a solution" for peace.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher: "What happened yesterday in Gaza is a war crime. I demand that Washington condemn this action strongly and take the necessary measures to stop these attacks."

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer: "The president has said before that Israel has to be mindful of the consequences of its actions. (Bush) believes that this heavy-handed action does not contribute to peace."

UN human rights chief Mary Robinson: She condemned the "reckless killing of civilians" and urged Israel to respect "its core standards and values" and international humanitarian law.

TEL AVIV (PMC): According to the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, the Israeli deputy minister of "defense", Dalia Rabin-Pelossof, is resigning her post as second-in-command to defense minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer in protest over the Labor Party remaining in the present government.

Ms. Rabin- Pelossof, who is the daughter of the late Labor party leader, Is'aq Rabin, handed in a letter of resignation to Benjamin Ben- Eliezer two weeks ago, and said she "intends to run an institution [she] established to sustain [her] father's political legacy."

The secretary general of the Israeli Labor party, Ophir Pines-Paz praised Rabin-Pelosoff's decision Tuesday in an interview to Army Radio, and said, "[Dalia] could no longer be part of this government which tells the Israeli public that there are no solutions to our problems."

Meanwhile, Ms. Rabin-Pelossof told Ha'aretz Monday night that she had decided to remain as an MK in the Labor party for the time being, while continuing her activity at the Rabin Center for Peace.

In addition, the Israeli daily reported that in her previous letter to Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Ms. Rabin-Pelossof wrote that she could not "in all good conscience" remain in a government that did not continue the legacy of her late father and that she felt that the national unity government "had reached its end."

She also stressed she did not agree with the policy adopted by the Israeli government and the simultaneous lack of "a political horizon" that prevented negotiations with the Palestinians.

Monday July 22, 2002

Fifteen Palestinian civilians were killed, nine of which were children and three were women, while 145 others were wounded late last night in an Israeli jet strike on Gaza City, medical sources and witnesses said.

An F-16 fighter plane rocketed a building in the city in an attempt to assassinate the Gaza head of the armed wing of the Hamas movement, Salah Shehade, who is believed to be one of the three adult men who died in the carnage.

Witnesses said the warplane fired a missile that leveled five houses in a Gaza City neighborhood. CAIR reported that two of the slaughtered civilians were babies aged between two months and 18 months.

Five children aged between three years and five years also died as well as an 11-year-old boy, CAIR reported.

A 15-year-old girl who was killed in the attack turned out to be the youngest daughter of Salah Shehade who was with her father at their house when the assault took place, according to BBC Radio.

TEL AVIV: Rev. Jesse Jackson is coming to Israel, the Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported Monday, quoting the Israeli Radio. Jackson is visiting as part of an international interfaith mission of Christians, Muslims and Jews.

Jackson’s aim from the trip is to ‘strengthen the connection between the two sides,’ the newspaper stated.

Jackson requested to meet with the right-wing Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.

He also asked to meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

But Israeli officials are also asking Jackson to meet with the right wing Jerusalem mayor, and “family of victims of terror“, the Israeli radio report stated.

The report didn’t indicate whether Jackson has agreed to take part of the Israeli political ploy. Palestinian Authority officials are yet to comment on Jackson’s visit.

Friday July 5, 2002

Ramallah July 5^th Wafa; President Yasser Arafat received yesterday in the presidential HQ in Ramallah, Mr. Miguel Angel Muratinos the European envoy to the peace process in the Middle East.

They discussed the latest developments in the Palestinian arena under the Israeli terrorist occupation especially the siege around the presidential HQ.

H.E also received Mrs. Epsuid Mullin the Irish representative to the PNA who paid a visit before ending her term. H.E. briefed her with the latest events in the region.

Gaza July 5^th 2002 Wafa; Medical sources in Gaza hospital said that two Palestinian citizens were assassinated yesterday, by the Israeli occupation forces, while they were in a public vehicle passing near the Gaza hospital.

Eyewitnesses said that the vehicle exploded at the same time when an Israeli aircraft was hovering the skies of the city. One shop owner said that while closing his shop he heard a very loud explosion and then a great number of Palestinian security and medical staffs arrived and commenced investigating.

Jericho July 5^th 2002 Wafa; Meeting with Dr. Saeb Erekat the Palestinian Minister in Jericho yesterday, Mr. Miguel Angel Muratinos the European envoy to the peace process in the Middle East, reiterated the European stand towards the Middle East crisis of rejecting the Israeli occupation to the Palestinian Lands, demanding it to stop it.

Mr. Muratinos also stated that the EU does not refuse dealing with President Arafat, emphasizing the European positive position towards the peace process that will lead to establishing the independent Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its Capital according to the International legitimacy.

Alabama, USA, July, 5, 2002, Wafa - A United States Air Force report asserts that Israel is building a nuclear naval force.

It is the first time a U.S. military institution has stated that Israel has produced a hydrogen bomb. The number of purported Israeli nuclear weapons cited in the report is double that of previous assessments.

The report, sponsored by the air force's Counter proliferation Center, asserts that the navy can deploy any of what it asserts is Israel's 400 atomic and hydrogen weapons, Middle East News line reported. The center is located in the Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama.

In a report entitled "The Third Temple's Holy of Holies: Israel's Nuclear Weapons," U.S. Army Col. Warner Farr said Israel's nuclear arsenal has grown from an estimated 13 nuclear bombs in 1967 to 400 nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. Farr said Israel's navy could deploy nuclear weapons on the fleet of three German-built Dolphin-class diesel submarines.

"Israel will then have a second strike capability with nuclear cruise missiles, and this capability could well change the nuclear arms race in the Middle East," the report, which Farr said is based on unclassified sources, read. "Israeli rhetoric on the new submarines labels them 'national deterrent' assets." The report said these nuclear missiles could have a range of 350 kilometers.

JERUSALEM, July, 5, 2002, Wafa - The district court of Jerusalem yesterday ruled against the three international peace activists and human rights workers: Josie Sandercock (UK), Darlene Wallach (US) and Mikoto (Japan) and confirmed their deportation by the Israeli Ministry of Interior.

The judge in the case, who had appeared to be reasonable on the first day of the trial did not give the plaintiffs verbal reason for confirming their deportation and stated that it “was not [her] job to ascertain the facts.” Josie brought up the fact that the reason given by the soldiers for their deportation was the same lie used against another American and two Reuters journalists 3 days ago when they were detained by Israeli soldiers – that they were shown papers by the Israeli army, that they were in a closed military zone and they refused to leave (video footage clearly shows that the internationals were not denied entry into Nablus, from where they were detained/arrested.

Josie and Darlene are working on having the papers given to them in Hebrew translated and will decide whether or they will appeal the decision to the Israeli Supreme Court.

“It’s not about the decision or what’s being done to us, rather it’s about what the Israeli military is doing to the Palestinians and doesn’t want the world to see. They are shooting at seven-year old boys in the streets and think that if they prevent us (foreign civilians) from entering Palestinian areas, they can keep the world from knowing.”

Thus far the Israeli Ministry of Interior has deported upwards of 50 foreign peace and human rights workers and has denied hundreds entry into the country. The only way you can get to Palestinian cities, towns and villages (all under Israeli occupation) is through Israel. And yet, we will not by deterred. We will keep resisting the brutal and inhumane Israeli occupation and the illegal policies of the occupation forces. We reaffirm our call to all good people around the world not to stay silent. Keep coming to Palestine – We need you, International Solidarity Movement, ISM, activists said.

Ramallah, July, 5, 2002, Wafa - The Israeli occupation army carried out arrests in Qibya village, west of Ramallah during an invasion of the village and an imposed curfew on the residents. At least 12 civilians were arrested from the village.

The Israeli terrorist army continues to impose a curfew on the village and the neighboring Shaqba village, which was invaded at an earlier stage of the day. Similar attacks were carried out in Shaqba where several of the residents were arrested.

In Ramallah, Israeli soldiers invaded the civil service building for the fifth time and arrested four workers after causing terror and destruction to the building.

The Israeli unleashed army yesterday invaded Sanirya village southwest Salfeet, imposed a curfew on the residents and carried out collective arrests. The Israeli occupation army continues to occupy Salfeet and a number of its surrounding villages. An intense Israeli military presence was reported in residential areas.

Bethlehem, July, 5, 2002, Wafa - The Israeli wild army devastated agricultural land near Wadi al-Nar route near Bethlehem. Over 500 fruitful olive trees, the source of living for several of the residents, were destroyed on the road, which links north and south the West Bank.

The Israeli occupation forces continue their terror using wide range of weapons against our people causing more deaths and sufferings.

[26] Palestinians were injured and [60] were arrested. [415] Trees were burnt or uprooted and [100] acres were bulldozed. [21] Houses, [4] economic establishments, [42] vehicles, [3] security posts and [5] institutions were destroyed or damaged. [4] New military posts were erected. Palestinian areas were invaded [8], shelled [34] & bombarded by machinegun fire [52] times.

Israeli occupation army continues occupying almost all the West Bank cities, towns and villages, tightening its control over the Palestinian population, imposing curfews that put Palestinians in all the reoccupied cities, under virtual house arrest.

The occupation forces attacked a Palestinian vendor, robbed him and confiscated his goods in Bab Al Amood.

The occupation forces continued to impose a tight siege on the two cities including the presidential HQ.

The occupation forces opened fire at Palestinian vehicles injuring seven Palestinians and prevented ambulances from reaching them and Itamar Jewish settlers attacked Yanoon village, closed the roads, destroyed water net, opened indiscriminate fire injuring a number of Palestinians and ransacked their property.

The occupation forces invaded the neighborhoods of Khalet Al Soha, Arraba, Al Basateen, Al Zahra and Jenin refugee camp and searched & ransacked Palestinian houses, attacked & arrested Palestinians, demolished several houses and property and beat up several individuals.

The occupation forces invaded the towns of Al Ras & Khirbet Jbara and searched & ransacked Palestinian houses, arrested six Palestinians, imposed curfew on the towns and fires stun grenades at Palestinian houses.

The occupation forces stormed Al Rabawat and bulldozed tens of Dunams of Palestinian land, searched & attacked Palestinians at Al Matahen military checkpoint and bombarded Palestinian houses west of Khan Younis. They also penetrated into Al Faraheen area, destroyed one water well, two rooms, a mosque and a police post and opened fire at Palestinians.

Thursday July 4, 2002

NABLUS, July, 4 2002, Wafa - At 4pm Monday July 01, 2002 Israeli soldiers took Eric Levine, an American human rights worker, Brian Dominick, an American medical worker, and Peter Blacker, a British medical worker to an army occupied house near Nablus where they were made to stay under inhuman conditions, with no explanation, for over 45 hours.

They were put in a small unfinished room, out in the open. They remained in the open day and night without adequate shelter from the heat or nighttime cold. They were given one meal a day consisting of canned food and not allowed to use toilet facilities. The men repeatedly asked why they were being held and requested to make phone calls to their family and consulates, but were denied. Soldiers yelled at them, pushed them and told them that if they tried to leave they would be shot.

Yesterday at approximately 4pm the men were released in a remote location near Nablus, whereby they made their way into Nablus on foot. The two medical workers are now with the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees (UPMRC) in Nablus, and Eric is due to be on a flight back to the United States.

The Israeli occupation Army has thus far not given either the International Solidarity Movement, ISM, or consular officials any explanation as to why these men were abducted, treated inhumanely and held incommunicado for two days.

Tel Aviv, July, 4, 2002, Wafa - As the Israeli army continues to invoke “the war on terror” as guise for its so called Operation "Determined Path" in defense of the illegal outposts and settlements, resorting to emergency orders to call up ever more reservists, there are still those who have chosen the determined path of refusal. Four more reservists have been imprisoned during the past week for refusing to take part in the Occupation.

New in Prison Lt. Udi Orr, (29) was sentenced on June 24th to 28 days at Prison 6. Udi, a student, is married and lives in Jerusalem. He serves in the infantry.

Corporal Plato Melinovski, (30) was sentenced on July 1st to 28 days. Plato is married and a student in Tel Aviv. He serves in the armored corps.

Tel Aviv, July, 4, 2002, Wafa - Israel has denied entry to 18 Americans and put them on a flight back to the United States. The Israeli government said the group was sent home as part of a policy to refuse entry to foreigners trying to show solidarity with Palestinians.

An Israeli government spokeswoman said the Americans arrived at Tel Aviv airport, and were planning to visit the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Two Americans in the group who also have Israeli citizenship were allowed to enter, while a British citizen traveling with them was put on a plane to Britain.

Ordinarily, Americans are given automatic 90-day tourist visas on arriving in Israel. But Israel has been refusing entry to supporters of the Palestinian Authority since March, when the Israeli military moved in to occupy many Palestinian cities.

Previously, Israel denied entry to a group of 20 American Muslims and expelled eight other foreigners after they were found in a Palestinian refugee camp.

Another group of foreigners managed to get inside President Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah several months ago during a 34-day siege by Israeli occupation troops.

Others entered the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during a six-week standoff between Israeli occupation forces and Palestinians who had taken refuge inside. 13 of the Palestinians were deported to several European countries, and 26 were sent to Gaza. Most of the foreigners were deported, although several who fought their deportation orders have been sent to jail.

The Israeli occupation forces continue their terror using wide range of weapons against our people causing more deaths and sufferings.

[20] Were injured, among them [1] child, [70] were arrested. [600] Trees were burnt or uprooted and [200] Dunams were bulldozed. [7] Economic establishments, [3] security posts, [3] institutions were destroyed or damaged. [2] New military posts were erected. Palestinian areas were invaded [25], shelled [18] & bombarded by machinegun fire [30] times.

Israeli occupation army continues occupying almost all the West Bank cities, towns and villages, tightening its control over the Palestinian population, imposing a curfew that puts Palestinians in all the reoccupied cities, under virtual house arrest.

Wednesday July 3, 2002

Palestinian negotiator & 17 American peace activists refused entry at the Airport

Tel Aviv, July, 3, 2002, Wafa – Yesterday, Michael Tarazi, member of the PLO Peace Negotiations team was refused entry at Tel Aviv Airport upon his return from a visit to the United States. “Gush Shalom” official said: We spoke with him on his mobile phone, while he was in the police station of the Airport - but it was interrupted in the middle, and afterwards the phone was disconnected.
Tarazi, who has US citizenship, lives in Ramallah and works as the legal adviser for the PLO negotiating team. Many Israelis have heard him speak, in house meetings, but also in public halls where he gave his vision why the negotiations went wrong, inspiring Israeli peace activists with hope. Preventing this man from entering Israel is part of a war - not against terrorism, but against those peace seeking Palestinians who can prove that "there is a partner" and thereby constitute a danger for the Israeli propaganda machine.
For similar reasons also 17 members of Fellowship of Reconciliation from the US, were refused entry when they arrived at TA Airport. The members were to meet with Knesset members (e.g., Yosi Sarid) as well as with activist groups.

Already for a few months the Israeli army keeps the international press away from the Palestinian areas during its operations.

Johannesburg, July, 3, 2002, Wafa - The government of South Africa defended President Yasser Arafat, and the elected Palestinian leadership against George W. Bush's threats, in the strongest possible terms.

"It is up to the Palestinians to choose their own leaders; that's the essence of democracy," declared South Africa's Middle East hand, Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad, from Johannesburg International Airport prior to departing for Israel and Palestine. Leaders cannot be imposed, Pahad said, directly reacting to the Bush Administration's decision to abandon President Yasser Arafat and to call for a new Palestinian leadership.

Pahad was to visit the Palestinians and Israel on June 27, to hand over a consignment of medicines, hospital equipment, and food to the Palestinian people on behalf of the government and people of South Africa. Donations collected by "Gift of the Givers," and supported by many other civil society organizations in South Africa, were used to purchase the supplies. Additionally, the South African government was to hand over to the Palestinian Ambassador in South Africa, a check for 4 million Rand to be used to provide medical assistance to the Palestinian people.

The Israeli occupation forces continue their terror using wide range of weapons against our people causing more deaths and sufferings.

[1] Palestinians was killed [32] were injured, among them [3] children, [1] critically, and [171] were arrested. [120] Trees were burnt or uprooted and [150] Dunams were bulldozed. [59] Buildings, [27] vehicles, [10] economic establishments, [2] security posts, [5] and institutions were destroyed or damaged. [3] New military posts were erected. Palestinian areas were invaded [7], shelled [23] & bombarded by machinegun fire [10] times.

Tuesday July 2, 2002

Ramallah, July 2^nd 2002 Wafa; The Executive Committee (EC) of the PLO, expresses its absolute refusal to all attempts of de-legitimizing the elected Palestinian institutions and on top of which is the President Arafat. These attempts would lead to deviating attentions about the crimes being committed by the Israeli government. After the reoccupation of all the cities in the West Bank, tearing apart the Gaza Strip and transforming all cities into besieged cantons.

The EC affirms that the civilized world today can not accept any mandate on the Palestinian people or any attempt to appoint their representatives. For such matters are rejected by all laws and international fundamentals that were illustrated by the G-8 Summit in Canada, by the foreign ministers of the Islamic States in Sudan and by the Non - aligned Movement under the presidency of President Mbeki.

This campaign against the Palestinian leadership only paves the road for the implementation of the Cantons plan that Sharon and his government pursue to impose on our people.

The leadership that expressed readiness for a political dialogue and for the participation in the international conference reiterates its commitments and would not succumb to the dictations and blackmails of any party other than the Palestinian peoples’ decision.

The leadership is confident of the Palestinian people’s, the Arab’s and all peace seekers’ support for the sake of a just and enduring peace in the world.

Prodi: The EU will continue dealing with President Arafat if he is reelected

Copenhagen, July 2^nd 2002 Wafa: Mr. Romano Prodi, head of the EU commission, said yesterday that the EU will continue interacting with President Arafat when and if he is reelected in the coming Palestinian Presidential elections.

“If we seek free and democratic elections in the Palestinian lands, we are obliged to accept the peoples’ decision” he confirmed.

He also said: “We need to help the Palestinians to carry out such elections, that should be open, democratic and transparent”

Tel Aviv, July, 2, Wafa - The Israeli group, Peace Now, released results yesterday from their latest survey on settler activity. They found "that since the elections of February 2001 and up to the present time some 44 new settlement sites have been established in the West Bank. Nine of these new outposts (i.e. euphemism for new settlements) were erected in the period March - June 2002."

Furthermore a Peace Now spokesperson said "The creation of new settlements harms Israel's security and unnecessarily endangers still more soldiers and citizens. It is shameful that the Army Ministry continues to speak of taking down settlements when every day new ones crop up and Israeli soldiers continue to endanger their lives for this irresponsible endeavor."

Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi speaking from under curfew in the West Bank town of Ramallah said, "the issue of the settlements cannot be ignored as they are integral to the crisis here. The settlements and the military forces that protect them are the foundation upon which the Israeli occupation is built maintained."

It was written in the Israeli newspaper Ha'artez that according to the Interior Ministry's population registry there are twenty illegal settler outposts in the West Bank today, and that Army Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said he was determined to dismantle all of them.

However Dr. Barghouthi argues "we cannot merely focus on the dismantlement of these few settlements, nor the creation of 44 more, or give the statement of there being 20 illegal settler outposts in the West Bank real credence.

The fact is under international law there are 450,000 illegal settlers in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem, settlers who are living on land stolen from Palestinians.

It is important to discuss the new and not so new settlements, expansions and outposts, but not at the cost of limiting the debate and media focus to these. These settlements are like a cancer that is eating away the area that should be a Palestinian state - a network of over 200 settlement blocs, roads, and military bases; all of them illegal And they are the motive behind Sharon's full reoccupation of the West Bank, which is undermining any potential for peace built upon a two state solution".

Ramallah, July, 2, 2002, Wafa - The raid on the Amaari refugee camp in Ramallah resulted in the serious injury of an 18-month-old baby girl, Munia Adel Rehan. In the waiting area of nearby Sheikh Zayed Trauma Hospital, her mother gave a statement about the incident. "Soldiers entered the house about 12 PM. They locked the family in a room and watched television in another room. Around 4 PM, the soldiers received orders to leave the house, and when they rushed to leave, they bumped her Munia off the stairway. She fell off the stairway, into the stairwell, three flights down. The soldiers left her there. They did not help her. "We went out after the soldiers to try to get the child to the hospital, and the soldiers refused, saying they had to search the rest of the camp first. We had to go around in back to call the ambulance, through the alleys. The ambulance came within 10 minutes, but the soldiers would not let it through for a half hour. We reached the hospital around 7 PM" The child's head is bandaged and a laceration is visible right at the hairline, towards the top of the head.

She has been x-rayed, and the family is waiting for results of a CT scan. She looks lethargic and sleepy, so doctors worry she may have sustained some brain injury. She has been moved to the Ramallah Hospital.

Ramallah July 2^nd 2002 Wafa: Bellow Is a brief of the major events and developments of the past 24 hours on the Palestinian arena:

The Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression using wide range of weapons against our people causing more deaths and sufferings.

[3] Palestinians were killed [2] of them assassinated, [27] were injured, among them [8] children, [3] critically wounded, and [68] were arrested. [1738] Trees were burned or uprooted and [334] acres were bulldozed. [68] Buildings, [120] vehicles, [33] economic establishments, [14] security posts, [23] institutions, [4] mosques, [1] church, [3] medical institutions, [4] schools, [27] green house were damaged. [10] New military posts were erected. Palestinian areas were invaded [37], shelled [35] & bombarded by machinegun fire [48] times. An Israeli occupation army occupied most of the West Bank cities, towns and villages, tightened its control over the Palestinian population, imposing a curfew that puts Palestinians in all the reoccupied cities, under virtual house arrest.

The occupation forces imposed a curfew on Al’ezaria, Abu Deis and Al Sawahra, attacked Palestinians, broke into and searched houses and arrested three Palestinians.

The occupation forces continue to besiege the president’s office and the cities of Al Birah and Ramallah. The occupation tanks invaded Deir Ghasana, Aroura, Bet Reema, and Bani Zed, imposed a curfew, took over several governmental buildings and police stations and turned them into military bases. They also closed down dirt and main roads to these villages and arrested a number of Palestinians.

The occupation forces assassinated Mohanad Al Taher [26] and Imad Al Seen Darwaza [37] and wounded and kidnapped another one Palestinian. Two Palestinians and two “Reuters” journalists were arrested.

The occupation forces invaded several villages of the Jenin district, opened fire towards residential areas causing severe damages, took over a Palestinian’s house and turned it into a military base, erected a number of new checkpoints, attacked Palestinians and re-imposed the curfew on the city. Two Palestinian policemen were arrested.

The occupation forces continue imposing the curfew on the city and searching Palestinian houses.

The occupation forces invaded the city, broke into houses, arrested a number of Palestinians, and took over governmental buildings.

The occupation forces invaded Dora village and the city building and arrested six Palestinians.

Mohamed Ahmad Atta [18] was killed due to wounds sustained earlier in Al Dheshe refugee camp when the Israeli occupation forces opened their machinegun and tank fire towards the residential areas.

The occupation forces bombarded the Beit Hanoun passage, wounding one Palestinian and causing severe damages to Palestinian property. Meanwhile, the occupation forces continued bulldozing vast areas of agricultural lands belong to Palestinian families.

The occupation forces bombarded residential areas in Alrabwat causing severe damages to the houses, bulldozed more than [500] olive trees in Alqarara broke into four houses and arrested two Palestinians.

The Israeli occupation forces stormed Salah Edin area and Albarazil neighborhood, opened fire and wounded one Palestinian totally destroyed nine houses, caused severe damage to several other houses and bulldozed vast areas of land.

Wednesday July 31, 2002

Tuesday July 30, 2002

Monday July 29, 2002

Sunday July 28, 2002

Saturday July 27, 2002

Air strike devastates Gaza family

Friday July 26, 2002

Thursday July 25, 2002

Wednesday July 24, 2002

Tuesday July 23, 2002

Monday July 22, 2002

Friday July 5, 2002

Thursday July 4, 2002

Wednesday July 3, 2002

Tuesday July 2, 2002

Monday July 1, 2002