State of Palestine, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Media Unit / Fella Zeid

Israel 'failed to minimize civilian toll in Gaza war'
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli conduct during last summer's war in the Gaza Strip increased the number of civilian casualties, an independent report has said, by failing to differentiate between military targets and civilian populations.

Despite claims to the contrary, the military did not give sufficient warning for civilians to evacuate residential areas before striking them, according to the report partly commissioned by Physicians for Human Rights and carried out by eight independent medical experts.

The report also cited potential violations of humanitarian law and indiscriminate strikes that led to the deaths of medical workers, and called for a full inquiry into the 50-day conflict.

The war between Israel and Hamas killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians, mostly civilians, and has caused growing instability in Gaza, where 100,000 people whose homes were destroyed or damaged remain displaced.

Another 73 died on the Israeli side, mostly soldiers,

"Attacks were characterized by heavy and unpredictable bombardments of civilian neighborhoods in a manner that failed to discriminate between legitimate targets and protected populations," said the report, which was published Tuesday.

"In numerous cases, double or multiple consecutive strikes on a single location led to multiple civilian casualties and to injuries and deaths among rescuers."

The 237-page report was based on visits during and after the war, using interviews with 68 people wounded during the fighting, autopsies on 370 people killed and the review of dozens of medical files.

The army accused the report as "based on one-sided and incorrect data assumed from biased sources," saying its "credibility should be questioned."

"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces), in accordance to international law, went to extensive and unprecedented lengths in order to minimize civilian collateral damage," a statement said.

"Many of the practices of the IDF have far exceeded its obligations under international law."

The report said Israel's "early warning" procedures -- including phone calls, text messages and dropping preliminary non-explosive missiles on buildings before striking them -- were inconsistent and often did not provide enough time for evacuation.

Only seven percent of interviewees reported receiving early warnings.

Palestinian NGO Al-Mezan has said the ineffective use of preliminary warning strikes could constitute a war crime.

The Palestinians are attempting to sue Israeli officials over alleged war through the International Criminal Court, having formally joined the body earlier this month.

The report added that in Khuzaa, in southern Gaza, the "reported conduct of specific troops in the area is indicative of additional serious violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."

It recommended a "legal determination of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, whether through local or international justice mechanisms."

12 injured in Tel Aviv stab attack by Palestinian
TEL AVIV (AFP) -- A Palestinian attacked passengers with a knife on a bus in Tel Aviv on Wednesday wounding at least 12 people before being shot by a passing prison officer, Israeli police said.

Twelve people were wounded in the attack, including three who were in serious condition, four in moderate condition and five who sustained light injuries, hospital sources said.

Another seven people were treated for shock.

"The terrorist stabbed the bus driver several times but the driver fought back until he fled on foot and was neutralized by a guard from the prisons' service," a police statement said.
He was shot in the leg then taken to hospital for further investigation.

It was the first attack in Tel Aviv since mid-November when a young Israeli soldier was stabbed to death by a Palestinian.

The Hamas movement's leadership praised the attack, calling it a "natural reaction" by people suffering under occupation.

Deputy head of Hamas Mousa Abu Marzouq said that "there is no bigger terrorism than occupying people, stealing their lands, freedom and dignity."

Ahmad Bahr, deputy head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, also praised the attack, which he described as self-defense.

Bahr said in a statement that the "negotiations path" followed by the Palestinian Authority was a waste of time and a chance for Israel to "Judaize" what is left of Jerusalem and expand its settlements.

He called on the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah to abandon negotiations and return to resistance.

The Popular Resistance Committees also applauded the stabbing attack, which it described as a "natural reaction to all Israeli crimes against Palestinians, their lands and religious sites."

The PRC added in a statement that "resistance attacks will not stop."

The statement called for a complete intifada inside Israel and to support Palestinians in the Negev.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the attack as a direct result of incitement by the Palestinian Authority of president Mahmoud Abbas.

"The attack in Tel Aviv is a direct result of poisonous incitement from the Palestinian Authority towards Jews and their state. This is the same terror which tried to harm us in Paris, Brussels and everywhere," he said on his Facebook page.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman issued a statement blaming the attack on Abbas, Hamas, Israeli Bedouin and Arab Israeli politicians, saying it was part of a broader plot to kill Jews.

"They are all parts of the same branch whose aim is to destroy the Jewish state," he said.

"So we must work determinedly against all of these people, who... have the same aim: to kill Jews and to destroy Israel."

Palestinian security sources identified the attacker as 23-year-old Hamza Muhammad Hasan Matrouk from Tulkarem refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

Locals from the camp told Ma'an that Hamza was not affiliated to any political faction. They said that Israeli forces summoned his father and other family members for questioning at offices of the Israeli military liaison department.

"Last night Hamza and I hung out with friends in the camp until 11 p.m. and we had fun," a friend of Hamza's told Ma'an. He added that he didn't notice anything unusual with Hamza.

"He was laughing and kidding and I know very well that he isn't affiliated to any faction."

Israeli settlement asks Hebron man to pay property tax
HEBRON (Ma'an) -- The council of the Jewish-only settlement of Kiryat Arba in Hebron has ordered a Palestinian local to pay property tax, claiming that his house is located on land belonging to the settlement.

The Hebron-based group Youth Against Settlements told Ma'an that Abdul-Karim al-Jaabari received warrants demanding he pay 88,200 shekels ($22,000) in Arnona, or property tax, to the Jewish-only settlement's council.

Al-Jaabari said the move was unprecedented in the occupied West Bank and was intended to force his family from their land.
Settlers from Kiryat Arba have been attempting to expel him since 2001, he said.

Issa Amro, coordinator of Youth Against Settlements, denounced the demand.

"This is meant to give legal status to the illegal settlements which have been trying to claim legal custody over the lands under their control and the lands near these settlements."

Israeli settlements are built on land confiscated from Palestinians, either on privately-owned lands or those that were previously communal state land.

ICC and Palestine: A long way to go
JERUSALEM (IRIN) - On Jan. 16, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, announced it had opened a preliminary examination into possible war crimes committed in the occupied Palestinian territory since June 13, 2014, encapsulating last summer's conflict between Israel and Gaza.

But prosecutions are unlikely or at least a long way off.
Since the court began operating in 2002, it has opened 21 cases in eight countries but to date only two people have been convicted: Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and Germain Katanga.

It has issued 35 indictments, but three of the accused passed away before they could be apprehended while many others remain at large.

A preliminary examination is not an investigation; it is an examination of whether the court has a reasonable basis to proceed with a full investigation.

It considers issues of jurisdiction, admissibility, and interests of justice. Including the occupied Palestinian territory, the court now has nine preliminary examinations open and nine so-called "active" investigations.

Four previous preliminary examinations have failed to make it to "active" status, while others have been effectively suspended for years.

Among the four cases was one previous Palestinian bid in 2009 that was rejected because Palestine was not a "state" under the terms of the Rome Statute.

Following the UN General Assembly's recognition of Palestine as non-Member Observer State in 2012 and the Palestinian leadership's decision to join the ICC last month, the PLO have made a fresh bid.


Protests over killing of Palestinians in Israel
Palestinian citizens of Israel are holding a general strike Tuesday following the police killing of one and wounding of 22 during Sunday's funeral of Sami al-Ajar, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who was killed last week by police in the southern town of Rahat.

Municipal government institutions, schools and businesses in Palestinian towns and villages in Israel are on strike for the third day this week in protest of police violence which has resulted in the death of more than 45 Palestinian citizens of Israel since October 2000.

A torch light solidarity procession will be held Tuesday afternoon from 4pm local time, as Palestinian and Jewish activists march from the home of Sami Ibrahim Zayadn, who was killed by Israeli police during Sunday's funeral, to the home of Sami al-Ajar.

Protests took place Monday night in the cities of Rahat, Haifa and Jaffa, while demonstrations at Haifa, Tel Aviv and Hebrew universities were held Tuesday afternoon. Palestinian students at Haifa University held a minute of silence Monday afternoon for al-Ajar and Zayadn, although university administration refused to give permission for the event and broke up the gathering soon after it began.

Rahat Mayor al Qarnawi told the Israeli press that the police “tried to call me today (Monday) but I refused; the (Israeli) president spoke with me and I notified him of the dangers of the police actions against the people of Rahat”.

Government strikes in Gaza
All government offices in the Gaza Strip are on strike Tuesday in protest of the non-payment of salaries to public employees in the beleaguered enclave.

The strike, organised by the Union for the Defence of Workers' Rights, represents an escalation of ongoing protest actions which began two weeks ago by various and rotating government ministries.

Mohammed Siyam, chairperson of the Public Employees Union, told Palestinian press that such labour actions will continue until government workers in the Gaza Strip begin to receive salaries.

The move comes amid growing unrest over the uncertain future facing the 50,000 employees of the former Hamas government, who have not been paid in eight months since the Palestinian unity government was launched.

Since the signing of an April unity deal between Fatah and Hamas, Hamas been demanding the new government pay the salaries of the civil servants it recruited after its takeover of Gaza in 2007.

They replaced 70,000 workers who had been employed under the PA government that existed in Gaza prior.

Foreign Ministry Condemns Israel's Calls to Liquidate ICC
PNN/ Ramallah- Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned, in a statement Monday, statements made by Israeli cabinet ministers, in which they called for liquidating the assets of the International Criminal Court upon its launching of a preliminary investigation into potential Israeli war crimes committed against Palestinians, WAFA news agency said.

According to WAFA, the ministry described these threats as a "public terror act" aiming to pressure the ICC and compel it to stop its investigation, saying they are a blatant violation of international law and a slap to the international community and the United Nations.

The ministry voiced its astonishment over the "silence of the international community" over the Israeli threats to international peace and security, in addition to Israel's disregard to the impunity of international organizations.

It asked the international community to avert using "double standards" when dealing with international issues, calling upon the world to realize the threat and immediately act to protect international law and UN bodies.

Earlier Sunday, Israeli officials said Israel was lobbying State Parties of the International Criminal Court to cut funding for the tribunal in response to its launch of an inquiry into possible war crimes in the Palestinian territories, officials said on Sunday.

"Israel, which like the United States does not belong to the ICC, hopes to dent funding for the court that is drawn from the 122 member-states in accordance with the size of their economies," Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said.

Israeli Ofer court sentences child to two months in jail
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- The Israeli military court in Ofer has sentenced 14-year-old Malak al-Khatib to two months imprisonment and a suspended fine of 6000 shekels.

Khatib was arrested last 31st December on charges of throwing stones and having a knife in her possession, charges which her father described as “ridiculous”.

The Palestine prisoners center called on all those concerned to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities to release Khatib, who is from Beitin village in Ramallah.

The center warned of psychological effects on the child in jail, adding that she did not commit any wrongdoing.