Palestinians suffering

By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours | IPS | Jerusalem | 11 May 2012

With more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners weeks into an open-ended hunger strike in protest against worsening conditions in Israeli jails, including two that have gone without food for 72 days, human rights groups say many lives are in danger and are calling for urgent intervention.

"At that stage of a hunger strike, death can happen abruptly. Something can happen to the heart and this is the fear now," said Hadas Ziv, public outreach coordinator at Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I).

Source : Agencies | Gaza | 11 May 2012

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh warned Israel about the face of Palestinian prisoners who are in hunger strike for weeks, saying Israel must keep the promises it made when Shalit was released

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said on Thursday Reuters in an interview the grand coalition formed this week by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which gives him an unassailable majority in parliament, had been established for internal reasons but could also have "external motives".

Source : Xinhuanet | Westbank | 11 May 2012

Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor wants Israel to halt building beyond major West Bank settlement blocs it plans to annex in any final status deal with the Palestinians, according to local media reports on Thursday.

By Ali Sawafta | Reuters | Ramallah | 07 May 2012

Israel’s Supreme Court turned down on Monday an appeal by two Palestinians, who have been on hunger strike for the past 70 days, to free them from detention without trial.

But in its decision, released by the Justice Ministry, the court said security authorities should consider freeing them for medical reasons.

By Reuters | Jerusalem | 04 May 2012

Facing Israel’s highest court in their wheelchairs, two Palestinian prisoners on the 66th day of their hunger strike appealed yesterday for their release from detention without trial.

Thaer Halahla and Bilal Diab, suspected by Israel of security offenses, are among at least 1,550 Palestinian prisoners refusing food in Israeli jails in a protest against so-called “administrative detention.”

Source : The Guardian | 03 May 2012

Source : IslamTimes | 02 May 2012

"The West has some plans for Jordan to become the alternative country for the Palestinians, especially, of the West Bank," Jamal Wakim, professor at the Lebanese International University in Beirut said.

The analyst said the US envisages a certain solution for the Palestinians in Jordan at the expense of creating a state in Jordan that would host West Bank Palestinians.

Source : Middle East Online | Jerusalem | 02 May 2012

Israel has approved a further stage in plans to build 1,100 new hotel rooms in a settlement neighbourhood of annexed east Jerusalem, Israeli officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The hotel rooms are slated for construction in Givat HaMatos, an as-yet unbuilt neighbourhood on the southern flank of east Jerusalem, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

"The plans were presented to the Jerusalem district planning committee five years ago and approved for deposit then," interior ministry spokeswoman Efrat Orbach said.

Source : AP | Ramallah | 17 Apr 2012

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel launched a hunger strike on Tuesday, officials said, protesting their conditions and demanding an end to open-ended detentions without trial as the Palestinians marked their annual day of solidarity with the inmates.

Some 3,500 prisoners refused meals on "Prisoners' Day," and 1,200 of them said they would continue with an open-ended hunger strike, according to Israeli prison service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman.

By AP | Jerusalem | 16 Apr 2012

A senior Israeli military officer’s seemingly unprovoked assault against an unarmed pro-Palestinian activist drew sharp condemnations Monday, raising questions in Israel over whether the country’s heavy-handed approach to nonviolent protesters was exaggerated and causing damage to Israel’s image.