Asian Lite News Archive

Category: Palestine

  • Israeli warplanes hit Hamas targets in Gaza

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    Israeli warplanes on Friday struck military facilities of the Islamic Hamas movement in Gaza in response to the firing of six projectiles into southern Israel. Hamas security sources told Xinhua news agency that the Israeli warplanes targeted a training facility that belonged to al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, south of Gaza city, with…

  • Hamas warns Israel over Gaza attacks

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    Hamas has threatened Israel, saying that it won’t hesitate to engage in a battle if the latter continues striking posts, facilities and other sites that belong to the Islamic movement in the Gaza Strip. In a statement sent to Xinhua news agency on Friday, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that “the armed resistance (Hamas and…

  • Palestine gets ICC observer status

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    Palestine has secured observer status at the International Criminal Court (ICC), paving the way for the Palestinians to sue senior Israeli officials for war crimes. The position was granted to Palestine at the summit meeting of the 122 ICC member states in New York Monday, Press TV reported Tuesday. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to…

  • Will not recognise Jewish state: Abbas

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      The president of the Palestinian national unity government says Palestinians cannot and will not recognize Israel as a “Jewish state”. Palestinians “cannot recognise a Jewish state”, Press TV quoted Mahmud Abbas as saying in an interview with the Egyptian daily Akhbar Al-Yawm. “We will stand against this enterprise, not out of obstinacy, but because…

  • Arafat death anniversary ceremony opens old wounds

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    By Saud Abu Ramadan   The decision to suspend a ceremony in Gaza commemorating the 10th death anniversary of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has reopened old wounds between the Fatah and Hamas movements, threatening the reconciliation agreement they reached last April. The Central Committee of Fatah, headed by Mahmoud Abbas, cancelled a ceremony due to be…

  • Outrage in Israel over shooting of Arab youth

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    Hundreds of Israeli Arabs  protested across the country in a second day of clashes with the police over a video footage showing Arab youth being shot at while retreating from the police. Dozens of masked protesters set tires on fire and hurled stones at the police near the northern village of Kafr Kana, where policemen…

  • Fresh clashes erupt in Jerusalem

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    Fresh clashes have erupted between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police in the Arab neighbourhoods of east Jerusalem. At the Shuafat refugee camp , scores of Palestinian youth threw rocks at the police and burnt tires and trash bins, Xinhua reported. Police fought back with tear gas canisters and stun grenades. Earlier, a symbolic funeral procession…

  • Palestine has India’s full commitment

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    India  reiterated its “unfailing and long standing commitment” to the Palestinian cause and stressed that there “has been, and can be no change in this position”. Secretary (East) in the ministry of external affairs Anil Wadhwa, addressing the first session of the India-Arab League Senior Officials meeting, also said that India is “watching with great…

  • Israel block Jewish access to Temple Mount

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     Israeli police blocked access for Jews to the Temple Mount following clashes earlier in the day between Palestinian demonstrators and security officers. A police spokesman told Efe news agency that access to the Temple Mount which is holy for both Jews and Muslims was shut after dozens of young Arabs threw stones and firecrackers at…

  • Israel approves new houses in east Jerusalem

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    Jerusalem’s municipal committee  approved the construction of 400 housing units in an east Jerusalem neighbourhood, media reports said. The 400 housing units are set to be built in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramat Shlomo. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and retiring Interior Minister Gideon Sa’ar both agreed to promote the construction in the neighbourhood in…

  • Palestinians arrested for Jerusalem riots

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    Seventeen Palestinians have been arrested for their involvement in recent riots in east Jerusalem, Israeli police said. A total of 111 people have been arrested in the city over the past 10 days for disturbing public order, Xinhua reported. Five Jewish men were Sunday detained in Jerusalem’s Old City for attempting to enter the Temple…

  • Israel beefs up security in Jerusalem

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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said  that security forces have been increased significantly in East Jerusalem to prevent further violence by Palestinian youths. He told the weekly cabinet meeting that an additional 1,000 police and paramilitary border police, including special forces, have been deployed in Arab neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, Xinhua reported. “We will not…

  • Egypt closes Rafah crossing

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      Egypt  shut down the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip following the deadly attack in Sinai, officials said. The Gaza-based corporation for crossings and borders said in an e-mailed press statement that Egyptian authorities have officially informed the Palestinian side about the closure of the main crossing for the coastal enclave, Xinhua reported.…

  • Israeli settlers occupy homes in east Jerusalem

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    A large number of Israeli settlers took over two buildings in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem overnight , Israel Radio reported. The buildings, which contain nine apartments, were allegedly seized by members of Ateret Cohanim, a far-right Jewish organisation dedicated to moving as many Jews as possible to the Palestinian neighbourhoods of…

  • Palestinian statehood through negotiations: US

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     The US has insisted that a Palestinian state should be created through negotiations with Israel. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki  reiterated the US’ stance on the issue as the British Parliament passed a non-binding resolution Monday offering diplomatic recognition to Palestinian statehood as Sweden did earlier this month. “… while we still support the Palestinian…

  • Under 60 barred from Al-Aqsa mosque

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    Palestinian pilgrims under the age of 60 were  barred from entering the Al-Aqsa mosque in Old Jerusalem, a day after clashes with Israeli police. Many worshippers trying to enter the compound were turned away by police, who prevented all but those aged over 60 from entering the site, forcing many Palestinians to offer their dawn…

  • UN chief launch reconstructions in Gaza

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    UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon  arrived in the Gaza Strip to launch a reconstruction process in the coastal enclave. Ban’s convoy passed through Erez crossing point between Israel and the northern tip of Gaza and is scheduled to stay in the territory for several hours, Xinhua reported. The UN chief headed to Jabalia refugee camp…

  • Palestinians clash with Israeli soldiers

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      Several Palestinians were injured and one was arrested  in clashes with Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian security sources told the local Maan news agency. Thirty five Israeli military vehicles entered Palestinian territory to escort a group of about 300 Jewish pilgrims who came to pray at the funerary monument,…

  • Palestinian PM wrap up Gaza visit

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    Palestinian unity government Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah and his 12 West Bank ministers wrapped up a one-day visit to the Gaza Strip, during which they held the first ever meeting of the cabinet in the besieged enclave. The visit was in general positive and included a series of understandings that would enable the government to…

  • Abbas warns Israel of conflict turning religious

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    Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas  warned that the Israeli measures in east Jerusalem and against al-Aqsa Mosque may turn the conflict in the Middle East into a religious one. “The Palestinian people will never accept the serious Israeli measures taken against al-Aqsa Mosque and the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron,” Abbas said in a statement to reporters…

  • UK minister visits Gaza Strip

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    British Foreign Office Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood visits Gaza and meets Palestinian Authority Minister for Labour. British Minister for the Middle East Tobias Ellwood MP visited the Gaza Strip .  He is the first British Minister to travel to Gaza since this summer’s conflict. “Today I saw first-hand the disastrous consequences of this…

  • Gazans let to pray in Jerusalem

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      Some 500 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip travelled  to pray at a Jerusalem mosque, marking the first occasion since 2007 that Israel allowed such visits from the Hamas-controlled Palestinian enclave. The holiday permits were issued to about 1,500 Gazans, aged 60 and over, a spokesperson for the Israeli army said in a statement. They…

  • Israel to summon Swedish envoy

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    Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday it will summon the Swedish ambassador to protest new Prime Minister Stefan Lofven’s decision to recognize the Palestinian state. “I regret that the Swedish prime minister was in a hurry to make statements on Sweden’s position regarding recognition of a Palestinian state, apparently before he had time even…

  • Israel approves new settlement in East Jerusalem

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    An Israeli committee has granted approval to the construction of a massive Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, Israeli settlements watchdog Peace Now said . The approval by Jerusalem District Committee came shortly before the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington for a meeting with US President Barak Obama. The move is expected to…

  • Jewish settlers seize houses in east Jerusalem

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      Dozens of Jewish settlers, escorted by heavy police force, took over at least seven empty buildings in the Palestinian neighbourhood of Silwan in east Jerusalem Tuesday. The buildings are located in the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan, only some 300 metres across from the volatile area of the Al Aqsa Mosque compound and the…

  • Israel to counter Palestinian claim in UN

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    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Sunday headed to New York to address the UN General Assembly (UNGA), pledging to expose the alleged “lies” stated by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his speech there. “In my address to the UNGA, I will refute all of the lies being directed at us and I will tell the…

  • India committed to Palestinian cause: Sushma

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    India has said that as a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) it has always supported the cause of Palestine and its commitment to the Palestinian cause has been a feature of its foreign policy. At the NAM Committee on Palestine here, Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said: “NAM has consistently reaffirmed its…

  • Israel approves rebuilding plan near Gaza

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    The Israeli cabinet Sunday approved a $360 million development initiative for the communities in the country’s south, near the Gaza border, who were hit hard in the recent bloody conflict between Israel and the Hamas. “This is the largest investment that Israel has ever made in this area,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a…

  • UN announces pact on rebuilding Gaza

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    The United Nations Tuesday announced an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip, devastated in the recent Israeli military offensive. The pact will allow urgent reconstruction work to be carried out in Gaza, while ensuring that materials entering the area will not be used for other purposes, Robert…

  • Hamas rejects direct talks with Israel

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     Deputy chief of the Islamic Hamas movement in Gaza, Ismail Haneya, said Saturday that his movement is not intending to hold direct talks with Israel. “Hamas won’t hold direct talks with Israel,” Haneya said in a meeting with Palestinian reporters in Gaza. Haneya was reacting to an earlier statement made by senior Hamas leader Musa…

  • Israeli storms Ramallah refugee camp

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    A Palestinian was shot dead early Wednesday when an Israeli army force stormed a Palestinian refugee camp near Ramallah in the West Bank, a source said. The medical source said that Eassa al-Qatari, a 23-year-old man of al-Am’ari refugee camp, was killed after a gun shot by Israeli soldiers hit him in the back. Witnesses…