28 dec 2016
An Israeli court in Jerusalem Wednesday sentenced youngster Abdul Aziz Mer’i from the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, in the northwest of Salfit, to 35 years in prison and a reparation amounting to $130,000.
The court convicted Mer’i of serving as an accessory in an anti-occupation attack by slain Muhannad al-Halabi that killed two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City in October last year.
Mer’i was arrested days after Muhannad Halabi, from Ramallah, stabbed and killed two Israeli settlers in Occupied Jerusalem and charged him of giving assistance to al-Halabi to enter Occupied Jerusalem in order to carry out the anti-occupation attack.
The imposed fine will go as a compensation to the families of the two dead Israelis.
Lawyer Ahlam Haddad said the list of indictments included attempted murder, involvement in murder, planning murder, knife possession, entering the occupied territories without a permit, and photographing slain al-Halabi.
Mer’i had been subjected to harsh torture in Palestinian Authority (PA) lock ups in at least seven former arrests.
The occupation army broke into Mer’i’s family home in Qarawat Bani Hassan for at least three times, the latest of which occurred on January 20, 2015, and threatened the demolition of the home.
The court convicted Mer’i of serving as an accessory in an anti-occupation attack by slain Muhannad al-Halabi that killed two Israelis in Jerusalem’s Old City in October last year.
Mer’i was arrested days after Muhannad Halabi, from Ramallah, stabbed and killed two Israeli settlers in Occupied Jerusalem and charged him of giving assistance to al-Halabi to enter Occupied Jerusalem in order to carry out the anti-occupation attack.
The imposed fine will go as a compensation to the families of the two dead Israelis.
Lawyer Ahlam Haddad said the list of indictments included attempted murder, involvement in murder, planning murder, knife possession, entering the occupied territories without a permit, and photographing slain al-Halabi.
Mer’i had been subjected to harsh torture in Palestinian Authority (PA) lock ups in at least seven former arrests.
The occupation army broke into Mer’i’s family home in Qarawat Bani Hassan for at least three times, the latest of which occurred on January 20, 2015, and threatened the demolition of the home.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested 9,920 Palestinians since October 2015 till December 2016, the PA authority for prisoners’ affairs revealed Wednesday.
2,884 minors aged between 11 and 18 years old and 262 females were among the reported arrests, the sources added.
6,297 of those arrests took place in the West Bank, 3,192 in occupied Jerusalem, 250 in Gaza Strip, and 181 in the Green Line.
The rights activist Abdul Nasser Farwana said that all the detainees were subjected to torture and ill-treatment in Israeli jails and detention centers.
Farwana pointed out that Israeli arrests have notably escalated since the outbreak of Jerusalem Intifada in October 2015.
He called for shedding light on the serious implications of Israeli mass arrests on the Palestinian society.
There are approximately 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 64 women, 13 of them minor girls. There are approximately 400 children in Megiddo and Ofer prisons and 700 administrative detainees held without charge or trial.
2,884 minors aged between 11 and 18 years old and 262 females were among the reported arrests, the sources added.
6,297 of those arrests took place in the West Bank, 3,192 in occupied Jerusalem, 250 in Gaza Strip, and 181 in the Green Line.
The rights activist Abdul Nasser Farwana said that all the detainees were subjected to torture and ill-treatment in Israeli jails and detention centers.
Farwana pointed out that Israeli arrests have notably escalated since the outbreak of Jerusalem Intifada in October 2015.
He called for shedding light on the serious implications of Israeli mass arrests on the Palestinian society.
There are approximately 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 64 women, 13 of them minor girls. There are approximately 400 children in Megiddo and Ofer prisons and 700 administrative detainees held without charge or trial.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched at dawn Wednesday a large-scale raid and arrest campaign throughout the West Bank.
IOF claimed that 12 Palestinians were detained for being allegedly “wanted” for investigation.
According to the sources, four Palestinians were arrested in Nablus while five youths were kidnapped in Jenin, in addition to two other young men from Ramallah.
The Israeli sources claimed that a shooting took place at dawn today when Israeli forces stormed Jenin where a weapons workshop was allegedly discovered.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed in large numbers the city of Nablus and arrested three young men and injured three others.
Violent raids were carried out in the city which led to the outbreak of clashes during which three local youths were injured with rubber bullets.
Military checkpoints were also erected throughout the city, while a blacksmith was stormed under the pretext of looking for weapons.
Dozens of local houses were violently stormed and searched including ex-prisoners’ houses.
Similar raids were reported in Qalqilia where a number of locals were investigated.
IOF claimed that 12 Palestinians were detained for being allegedly “wanted” for investigation.
According to the sources, four Palestinians were arrested in Nablus while five youths were kidnapped in Jenin, in addition to two other young men from Ramallah.
The Israeli sources claimed that a shooting took place at dawn today when Israeli forces stormed Jenin where a weapons workshop was allegedly discovered.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces stormed in large numbers the city of Nablus and arrested three young men and injured three others.
Violent raids were carried out in the city which led to the outbreak of clashes during which three local youths were injured with rubber bullets.
Military checkpoints were also erected throughout the city, while a blacksmith was stormed under the pretext of looking for weapons.
Dozens of local houses were violently stormed and searched including ex-prisoners’ houses.
Similar raids were reported in Qalqilia where a number of locals were investigated.
A four-month prison sentence was handed down on Tuesday by an Israeli military court to a 13-year-old Palestinian child, whose family was also ordered to pay a financial penalty.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), the military court in Ofer sentenced Bahauddin Shakarneh, a child from Nahalin town in Bethlehem, to four months in jail and fined him 10,000 shekels.
PPS lawyer Mohamed Shahin said that the Israeli prosecution office had been stalling the submission of an amended indictment against Shakarneh since his detention two months ago in order to fabricate other charges and wait for him to become over 14 years old to extract a more severe court ruling against him.
He pointed out that the military law which is used by Israeli courts against Palestinian children under age 14 specified a maximum of six months in prison for them, but the jail penalty would be more than that if the kid was older.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), the military court in Ofer sentenced Bahauddin Shakarneh, a child from Nahalin town in Bethlehem, to four months in jail and fined him 10,000 shekels.
PPS lawyer Mohamed Shahin said that the Israeli prosecution office had been stalling the submission of an amended indictment against Shakarneh since his detention two months ago in order to fabricate other charges and wait for him to become over 14 years old to extract a more severe court ruling against him.
He pointed out that the military law which is used by Israeli courts against Palestinian children under age 14 specified a maximum of six months in prison for them, but the jail penalty would be more than that if the kid was older.
Israeli plain-clothes soldiers on Tuesday evening kidnapped four Palestinian young men from Beitunia town west of Ramallah in the West Bank.
Local sources reported that military soldiers wearing civilian clothing rounded up four young people during their presence near Ofer army base, west of the town.
The detainees were identified as Mohamed Barakat, Jad Rajeha, Tharaa al-Barghouthi and Tareq Namer. Their whereabouts is still unknown.
Local sources reported that military soldiers wearing civilian clothing rounded up four young people during their presence near Ofer army base, west of the town.
The detainees were identified as Mohamed Barakat, Jad Rajeha, Tharaa al-Barghouthi and Tareq Namer. Their whereabouts is still unknown.
The Israeli Central Court released, Tuesday, Arab Member of Knesset (MK) Bassel Ghattas, after ordering him under strictly-monitored house arrest for ten days, in the town of ar-Rama, in the Galilee, for the ‘crime’ of visiting Palestinian prisoners.
The Israeli prosecutor’s office demanded the court to hold Ghattas under house arrest for 45 days, but the court decided on ten days instead.
His wife and daughter had to pay a 50.000 Shekels bail, and signed legal documents promising to monitor him and ensure he remains at home during the house arrest period.
The court also appointed Ghattas’s parliamentary adviser as a legal guardian to ensure he complies by the terms of his release and house arrest.
Ghattas, a member of the National Democratic Assembly, will still be able to go to the Knesset to vote, but the police must accompany him to the Knesset without entering it with him.
The court ruling also forbids Ghattas from travelling, or contacting any person related to his case, in addition to denying him the right to visit political prisoners for 180 days.
Ghattas was detained by the police three days ago, and was interrogated for three hours under suspicion of what Israel called “conspiracy, and violating the Prison Authority terms” by visiting Palestinian political prisoners, and suspicion of “smuggling mobile phones, and sim cards, to detainees.”
His arrest and interrogation was approved by Israel’s Government Legal Councilor, and the General Prosecutor’s Office, in southern Israel.
The real reason why Basel Ghattas was detained
The detentions and harassment of Palestinians and their leaders in 1948 Palestine, including the Knesset member Basel Ghattas, are part of a strategy which Israel has pursed against its Arab citizens since the Nakba. This strategy is aimed at domesticating and defeating Palestinians and at punishing whomever is tempted to challenge the Jewish state.
Many Israelis believe that David Ben-Gurion made an historic mistake by failing to implement "Plan D," which would have meant the expulsion of all Palestinians from their homes. Instead, 85 percent of them were banished, leaving about 150,000 Palestinians in the country.
Israel treated these Palestinians as enemies or as time bombs, although they obtained Israeli nationality. In 2009, the Israeli historian Benny Morris blamed Ben-Gurion for not accomplishing his mission by cleansing the country of Palestinians. Morris said this posed a great danger to the future of Israel. Some Israeli leaders continue, to this day, to demand that Ben-Gurion’s "error" be rectified.
The Palestinians who remained in the country lived in a state of extreme fear. One-third of them were forced out of the towns in which they used to live and had to settle down in neighbouring towns. They became known as the "elephant in the room" and ended up being "like orphans sitting around the table of a miser," without leaders to direct them.
They felt powerless and helpless, threatened with banishment, displacement, theft and usurpation, horrified by the stories of rape and massacres in neighbouring towns, stories the Zionist gangs were keen to publicise in order to intimidate and drive them out.
Families were divided. Some members were forced to go abroad, while others remained inside the country. Mothers were separated from their sons and daughters, and tens of thousands of men were jammed inside detention camps; their sole concern was to earn a living.
After the fighting ended, Israel pounced on the Palestinians who remained in the country like a wolf on its prey, compounding the state of fear in which they lived and the psychological crisis precipitated by the Nakba. It dealt with them as if they were enemies on whom revenge should be exacted. Thus was military rule established, which lasted until 1966.
This restricted their movement and stripped them of their freedom. It banned them from communicating with each other. It turned their towns into ghettos. Leaving or entering those towns was not possible without an army permit. An extensive campaign was then launched to confiscate what remained of their lands, which had been their main source of subsistence.
Israel’s objective was to develop a new Arab personality, the personality of the defeated Arab who was powerless and helpless, one that did not believe in the ability of an Arab to change and who was willing to consider the Jews to be the masters of the land.
Bit by bit, the wounds of 1948 Palestinians started to heal, and they began to demand their rights. Israel was willing to listen as long as those demands addressed individual rights, such as the right to move and to work freely. But when it came to collective national rights, its response was violent.
Israel used detention and declarations of illegality as weapons. This happened to the Land Movement, which was founded in 1959 and demanded national rights for the Palestinians. On the eve of the 1967 war, Israel declared the movement illegal and exiled and banished some of its leaders.
The occupation of the rest of Palestine in 1967 had a positive impact on the 1948 Palestinians. It was the first time since the Nakba that they had communicated with another part of their people. They realised they were not alone in their battle, and their Palestinian identity started to re-emerge. Their voices grew louder, demanding the repatriation of those who were forced out of their villages and the cancellation of land-confiscation orders.
This movement reached its zenith with the general strike of 30 March, 1976, which is the day that became known as Land Day. The aim of the strike was to demand the abrogation of the Israeli Authorities’ orders to confiscate Arab lands. Israel tried in a variety of ways to frustrate the general strike and treat it as a rebellion and civil disobedience. When all attempts failed, it sent the army into Arab towns killing, in cold blood, six 1948 Palestinians and wounding hundreds others.
In the 1990s, the 1948 Palestinians developed a new discourse, one that challenged Israeli claims of democracy and humanity, about which they boasted to the world. The Palestinians confined their discourse to what the Israeli law permits, but at the same time they exposed the fallacy in the argument that Israel is "a state for all its citizens".
The progressive and liberal discourse adopted by the Palestinians disturbed Israel and embarrassed it, for it is a state that truly believes it exists exclusively for Jews. The Palestinian discourse shed light on the feebleness of Israel's democracy and the hollowness of its claim to be a liberal democracy.
Although the 1948 Palestinians waged their struggle within legals bounds set by Israel, they continued to be harassed and detained. In a letter sent in 2007, Yuval Diskin, the head of Israeli Intelligence, admitted that the security agencies pursued Palestinian activists even when their activity was legal and within the bounds of what Israeli democracy permitted.
He said that this happened whenever those activities undermined the Jewishness of the state of Israel. He also admitted that the intelligence agency and the police in many instances arrested and detained Palestinians – who were citizens of the state of Israel – as a warning and a deterrence despite their having done nothing illegal.
In recent years, Israel has arrested and detained a large number of Palestine 1948 leaders in an attempt to "burn the conscience" and domesticate the Palestinian discourse and exact revenge on the Palestinian leaders who succeeded in disturbing or embarrassing Israel and in frustrating its plans. The list of detainees is topped by Sheikh Raed Salah, who was active in the preservation of Islamic and Christian holy places, and in particular al-Aqsa Mosque, something that annoyed the Israeli government.
The detainees also include Knesset member Said Nafa, who was arrested because of his activities among the Druze in the country with the aim of establishing links between them and the Druze in neighbouring Arab countries. The Israeli government was alarmed by his activity and feared he would incite Druze against the state of Israel.
This is the history behind the detention of Knesset member Basel Ghattas. It is an attempt to punish him for his wide-ranging national activities during recent years, especially those carried out at the international level.
His activities included participating in the Third Freedom Flotilla, which sought to break the siege imposed on Gaza, and his participation in the anti-Israeli Apartheid Week that was organised in Canada, in addition to his communications with international institutions.
Israel believes that engaging in such activities at the international level amounts to crossing a red line. They are legal activities. As usual, Israel looks for a legal clout for detaining, punishing and banishing such activists as Basel Ghattas.
-Jihad Abu Raya is a Palestinian lawyer and activist based in northern Israel. He is a founder of the Falastenyat Movement.
The Israeli prosecutor’s office demanded the court to hold Ghattas under house arrest for 45 days, but the court decided on ten days instead.
His wife and daughter had to pay a 50.000 Shekels bail, and signed legal documents promising to monitor him and ensure he remains at home during the house arrest period.
The court also appointed Ghattas’s parliamentary adviser as a legal guardian to ensure he complies by the terms of his release and house arrest.
Ghattas, a member of the National Democratic Assembly, will still be able to go to the Knesset to vote, but the police must accompany him to the Knesset without entering it with him.
The court ruling also forbids Ghattas from travelling, or contacting any person related to his case, in addition to denying him the right to visit political prisoners for 180 days.
Ghattas was detained by the police three days ago, and was interrogated for three hours under suspicion of what Israel called “conspiracy, and violating the Prison Authority terms” by visiting Palestinian political prisoners, and suspicion of “smuggling mobile phones, and sim cards, to detainees.”
His arrest and interrogation was approved by Israel’s Government Legal Councilor, and the General Prosecutor’s Office, in southern Israel.
The real reason why Basel Ghattas was detained
The detentions and harassment of Palestinians and their leaders in 1948 Palestine, including the Knesset member Basel Ghattas, are part of a strategy which Israel has pursed against its Arab citizens since the Nakba. This strategy is aimed at domesticating and defeating Palestinians and at punishing whomever is tempted to challenge the Jewish state.
Many Israelis believe that David Ben-Gurion made an historic mistake by failing to implement "Plan D," which would have meant the expulsion of all Palestinians from their homes. Instead, 85 percent of them were banished, leaving about 150,000 Palestinians in the country.
Israel treated these Palestinians as enemies or as time bombs, although they obtained Israeli nationality. In 2009, the Israeli historian Benny Morris blamed Ben-Gurion for not accomplishing his mission by cleansing the country of Palestinians. Morris said this posed a great danger to the future of Israel. Some Israeli leaders continue, to this day, to demand that Ben-Gurion’s "error" be rectified.
The Palestinians who remained in the country lived in a state of extreme fear. One-third of them were forced out of the towns in which they used to live and had to settle down in neighbouring towns. They became known as the "elephant in the room" and ended up being "like orphans sitting around the table of a miser," without leaders to direct them.
They felt powerless and helpless, threatened with banishment, displacement, theft and usurpation, horrified by the stories of rape and massacres in neighbouring towns, stories the Zionist gangs were keen to publicise in order to intimidate and drive them out.
Families were divided. Some members were forced to go abroad, while others remained inside the country. Mothers were separated from their sons and daughters, and tens of thousands of men were jammed inside detention camps; their sole concern was to earn a living.
After the fighting ended, Israel pounced on the Palestinians who remained in the country like a wolf on its prey, compounding the state of fear in which they lived and the psychological crisis precipitated by the Nakba. It dealt with them as if they were enemies on whom revenge should be exacted. Thus was military rule established, which lasted until 1966.
This restricted their movement and stripped them of their freedom. It banned them from communicating with each other. It turned their towns into ghettos. Leaving or entering those towns was not possible without an army permit. An extensive campaign was then launched to confiscate what remained of their lands, which had been their main source of subsistence.
Israel’s objective was to develop a new Arab personality, the personality of the defeated Arab who was powerless and helpless, one that did not believe in the ability of an Arab to change and who was willing to consider the Jews to be the masters of the land.
Bit by bit, the wounds of 1948 Palestinians started to heal, and they began to demand their rights. Israel was willing to listen as long as those demands addressed individual rights, such as the right to move and to work freely. But when it came to collective national rights, its response was violent.
Israel used detention and declarations of illegality as weapons. This happened to the Land Movement, which was founded in 1959 and demanded national rights for the Palestinians. On the eve of the 1967 war, Israel declared the movement illegal and exiled and banished some of its leaders.
The occupation of the rest of Palestine in 1967 had a positive impact on the 1948 Palestinians. It was the first time since the Nakba that they had communicated with another part of their people. They realised they were not alone in their battle, and their Palestinian identity started to re-emerge. Their voices grew louder, demanding the repatriation of those who were forced out of their villages and the cancellation of land-confiscation orders.
This movement reached its zenith with the general strike of 30 March, 1976, which is the day that became known as Land Day. The aim of the strike was to demand the abrogation of the Israeli Authorities’ orders to confiscate Arab lands. Israel tried in a variety of ways to frustrate the general strike and treat it as a rebellion and civil disobedience. When all attempts failed, it sent the army into Arab towns killing, in cold blood, six 1948 Palestinians and wounding hundreds others.
In the 1990s, the 1948 Palestinians developed a new discourse, one that challenged Israeli claims of democracy and humanity, about which they boasted to the world. The Palestinians confined their discourse to what the Israeli law permits, but at the same time they exposed the fallacy in the argument that Israel is "a state for all its citizens".
The progressive and liberal discourse adopted by the Palestinians disturbed Israel and embarrassed it, for it is a state that truly believes it exists exclusively for Jews. The Palestinian discourse shed light on the feebleness of Israel's democracy and the hollowness of its claim to be a liberal democracy.
Although the 1948 Palestinians waged their struggle within legals bounds set by Israel, they continued to be harassed and detained. In a letter sent in 2007, Yuval Diskin, the head of Israeli Intelligence, admitted that the security agencies pursued Palestinian activists even when their activity was legal and within the bounds of what Israeli democracy permitted.
He said that this happened whenever those activities undermined the Jewishness of the state of Israel. He also admitted that the intelligence agency and the police in many instances arrested and detained Palestinians – who were citizens of the state of Israel – as a warning and a deterrence despite their having done nothing illegal.
In recent years, Israel has arrested and detained a large number of Palestine 1948 leaders in an attempt to "burn the conscience" and domesticate the Palestinian discourse and exact revenge on the Palestinian leaders who succeeded in disturbing or embarrassing Israel and in frustrating its plans. The list of detainees is topped by Sheikh Raed Salah, who was active in the preservation of Islamic and Christian holy places, and in particular al-Aqsa Mosque, something that annoyed the Israeli government.
The detainees also include Knesset member Said Nafa, who was arrested because of his activities among the Druze in the country with the aim of establishing links between them and the Druze in neighbouring Arab countries. The Israeli government was alarmed by his activity and feared he would incite Druze against the state of Israel.
This is the history behind the detention of Knesset member Basel Ghattas. It is an attempt to punish him for his wide-ranging national activities during recent years, especially those carried out at the international level.
His activities included participating in the Third Freedom Flotilla, which sought to break the siege imposed on Gaza, and his participation in the anti-Israeli Apartheid Week that was organised in Canada, in addition to his communications with international institutions.
Israel believes that engaging in such activities at the international level amounts to crossing a red line. They are legal activities. As usual, Israel looks for a legal clout for detaining, punishing and banishing such activists as Basel Ghattas.
-Jihad Abu Raya is a Palestinian lawyer and activist based in northern Israel. He is a founder of the Falastenyat Movement.
27 dec 2016
A horde of 59 Israeli settlers defiled the plazas of the holy al-Aqsa Mosque on Tuesday via the Maghareba Gate.
Israeli mass break-ins at al-Aqsa have been ongoing for the fourth consecutive day to mark the so-called Festival of Lights (Hanukkah).
The number of Israeli fanatics who forced their way into the holy al-Aqsa Mosque since start of the Hanukkah has hit 321.
Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa are expected to see a hike during the afternoon shift.
At the same time, two Palestinian children were kidnapped by the occupation cops from the plazas of the holy site on allegations that they disturbed the Israeli settlers during the break-in.
Last year, such Israeli break-ins at the al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s incessant attempt to impose a spatio-temporal division on the site fanned the flames of an anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October, 2015. 270 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation army in that period on allegations of involvement in anti-occupation attacks.
Israeli mass break-ins at al-Aqsa have been ongoing for the fourth consecutive day to mark the so-called Festival of Lights (Hanukkah).
The number of Israeli fanatics who forced their way into the holy al-Aqsa Mosque since start of the Hanukkah has hit 321.
Israeli break-ins at al-Aqsa are expected to see a hike during the afternoon shift.
At the same time, two Palestinian children were kidnapped by the occupation cops from the plazas of the holy site on allegations that they disturbed the Israeli settlers during the break-in.
Last year, such Israeli break-ins at the al-Aqsa Mosque and Israel’s incessant attempt to impose a spatio-temporal division on the site fanned the flames of an anti-occupation intifada, which started in early October, 2015. 270 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli occupation army in that period on allegations of involvement in anti-occupation attacks.
The PA committee for prisoners’ affairs warned Monday against Israeli Prison Service’s deliberate medical negligence policy against Palestinian sick prisoners.
The committee warned of a severe deterioration of the situation of 21 sick prisoners held in Ramla prison hospital due to the Israeli systematic and deliberate policy of medical negligence.
It also pointed to the cases of Mutasam Radad and Youssef Noajah as they both suffer extremely difficult health conditions in light of the Israeli policy of medical neglect.
The committee said that the IPS deliberately restricts the treatment of the sick prisoners and deprives them of their most basic rights guaranteed by all international norms and laws including family visits and medical care.
Palestinian prisoners held in Hadarim prison have repeatedly complained of the poor detention conditions, citing insect and rat infestations, according to the committee.
Human rights groups have always warned of Israeli medical negligence policy which resulted in the death of more than 280 Palestinian prisoners in prison or shortly after their release.
The committee warned of a severe deterioration of the situation of 21 sick prisoners held in Ramla prison hospital due to the Israeli systematic and deliberate policy of medical negligence.
It also pointed to the cases of Mutasam Radad and Youssef Noajah as they both suffer extremely difficult health conditions in light of the Israeli policy of medical neglect.
The committee said that the IPS deliberately restricts the treatment of the sick prisoners and deprives them of their most basic rights guaranteed by all international norms and laws including family visits and medical care.
Palestinian prisoners held in Hadarim prison have repeatedly complained of the poor detention conditions, citing insect and rat infestations, according to the committee.
Human rights groups have always warned of Israeli medical negligence policy which resulted in the death of more than 280 Palestinian prisoners in prison or shortly after their release.
The Israeli Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court extended on Monday the remand of the Arab MK Bassel Ghattas for two days for phone-smuggling allegations.
The decision was made after Israeli police requested that he remain in remand for additional days pending investigation.
Dozens of the Democratic Party’s supporters and Arab MKs had gathered since the morning hours outside the court in solidarity with Ghattas.
Ghattas was arrested last week over allegations that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Ktzi'ot prison.
Ghattas has earlier agreed to surrender his parliamentary immunity so that he might be investigated by Israeli police over the allegations.
Standing in solidarity with Ghattas, fellow Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka said that Ghattas’ arrest came as part of Israeli ongoing incitement against Arab political leadership in Israel.
No member of the Knesset has been before arrested, he pointed out.
Along the same line, Israeli Security Minister called for questioning Arab MK Hanin Zoabi over incitement allegations after posting a tweet in solidarity with MK Ghattas.
The decision was made after Israeli police requested that he remain in remand for additional days pending investigation.
Dozens of the Democratic Party’s supporters and Arab MKs had gathered since the morning hours outside the court in solidarity with Ghattas.
Ghattas was arrested last week over allegations that he smuggled cell phones to Palestinian prisoners held in Israel’s Ktzi'ot prison.
Ghattas has earlier agreed to surrender his parliamentary immunity so that he might be investigated by Israeli police over the allegations.
Standing in solidarity with Ghattas, fellow Joint List MK Jamal Zahalka said that Ghattas’ arrest came as part of Israeli ongoing incitement against Arab political leadership in Israel.
No member of the Knesset has been before arrested, he pointed out.
Along the same line, Israeli Security Minister called for questioning Arab MK Hanin Zoabi over incitement allegations after posting a tweet in solidarity with MK Ghattas.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, overnight and at dawn Tuesday, eleven Palestinians from their homes in different parts of the occupied West Bank.
The Ramallah office of the PPS said the soldiers stormed and searched many homes in the district, and abducted five Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Barakat, Adham Amira, Jad Rajha, Tareq Rajab Nimir, 19, and Thara’ Ali Barghouthi, 19.
The soldiers also invaded Qabatia town, south of Jenin, and abducted Ahmad Kamil, Anas Kamil, Walid Kamil, and Khaled Saho, after invading their homes and searching them.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers also searched homes and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Yousef Mohammad al-Allami and Mohammad Abu Turki.
All of the abducted Palestinians were taken to several detention and interrogation centers, in military bases, in the West Bank.
In related news, several army vehicles invaded Wadi al-Nees village, south of Bethlehem, and photographed a few under-construction Palestinian homes that are facing demolition by the military.
Owners of four of the homes have been identified as Anwar Saqer Abu Hammad, Mohammad Mahmoud Abu Hammad, Amran Abu Hammad and Hasan Yousef.
IOF arrests 7 Palestinians in pre-dawn raids
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Tuesday seven Palestinians after breaking into their houses across the West Bank.
The IOF claimed that seven “wanted” Palestinians were detained for being allegedly involved in anti-occupation attacks.
According to Israeli media sources, four arrests were carried out in Qabatia refugee camp, south of Jenin, while three others were reported in Ama’ri camp, south of Ramallah, and Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil.
Violent clashes broke out in Jenin following the Israeli raid and arrest campaign, the PIC reporter quoted local sources as saying.
Several homes were stormed and searched during the campaign while surveillance cameras were confiscated.
Israeli sources claimed that a shooting attack was earlier carried out at Jalama checkpoint, north of Jenin. No casualties were reported during the alleged attack.
Since then, severe military restrictions were imposed throughout the city.
Meanwhile, five Israeli patrols stormed at dawn today Deir Hatab town east of Nablus. No arrests were carried out.
Beit Ummar town was also stormed for the second time within 24 hours, where Israeli forces broke into and violently searched a local house.
A young man was also arrested during the raid.
Similar raids were reported in occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The Ramallah office of the PPS said the soldiers stormed and searched many homes in the district, and abducted five Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Barakat, Adham Amira, Jad Rajha, Tareq Rajab Nimir, 19, and Thara’ Ali Barghouthi, 19.
The soldiers also invaded Qabatia town, south of Jenin, and abducted Ahmad Kamil, Anas Kamil, Walid Kamil, and Khaled Saho, after invading their homes and searching them.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers also searched homes and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Yousef Mohammad al-Allami and Mohammad Abu Turki.
All of the abducted Palestinians were taken to several detention and interrogation centers, in military bases, in the West Bank.
In related news, several army vehicles invaded Wadi al-Nees village, south of Bethlehem, and photographed a few under-construction Palestinian homes that are facing demolition by the military.
Owners of four of the homes have been identified as Anwar Saqer Abu Hammad, Mohammad Mahmoud Abu Hammad, Amran Abu Hammad and Hasan Yousef.
IOF arrests 7 Palestinians in pre-dawn raids
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested at dawn Tuesday seven Palestinians after breaking into their houses across the West Bank.
The IOF claimed that seven “wanted” Palestinians were detained for being allegedly involved in anti-occupation attacks.
According to Israeli media sources, four arrests were carried out in Qabatia refugee camp, south of Jenin, while three others were reported in Ama’ri camp, south of Ramallah, and Beit Ummar town, north of al-Khalil.
Violent clashes broke out in Jenin following the Israeli raid and arrest campaign, the PIC reporter quoted local sources as saying.
Several homes were stormed and searched during the campaign while surveillance cameras were confiscated.
Israeli sources claimed that a shooting attack was earlier carried out at Jalama checkpoint, north of Jenin. No casualties were reported during the alleged attack.
Since then, severe military restrictions were imposed throughout the city.
Meanwhile, five Israeli patrols stormed at dawn today Deir Hatab town east of Nablus. No arrests were carried out.
Beit Ummar town was also stormed for the second time within 24 hours, where Israeli forces broke into and violently searched a local house.
A young man was also arrested during the raid.
Similar raids were reported in occupied Jerusalem and Ramallah.
The Israeli Supreme Court on Monday set mid-June 2017 as a deadline to end the hunger striker Ammar Hamour’s administrative detention.
Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) Ahmad Safiyya clarified that the court decided that it will keep Hamour in administrative detention for four more months after he completes his current six-month administrative detention order, which will end in February 2017.
The 28-year-old Ammar Hamour, from Jenin, began an open hunger strike for 32 days in protest at his administrative detention.
Israel has been widely condemned for its use of administrative detention policy without charge or trial.
Lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) Ahmad Safiyya clarified that the court decided that it will keep Hamour in administrative detention for four more months after he completes his current six-month administrative detention order, which will end in February 2017.
The 28-year-old Ammar Hamour, from Jenin, began an open hunger strike for 32 days in protest at his administrative detention.
Israel has been widely condemned for its use of administrative detention policy without charge or trial.
