Tag Archive for Gaza

| October 30, 2014
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Egyptian families flee homes on Egypt’s Gaza border as army begins buffer zone moat

The attack that left 31 Egyptian security personnel dead, believed by Cairo to have been assisted by Hamas, was the last straw leading to the decision of a ‘tunnel free’, 13-kilometer (8-mile) buffer zone with Gaza.

 

Hundreds of Egyptians living along the border with the Gaza Strip evacuated their homes on Wednesday, after the army ordered them out to make way for a planned buffer zone meant to stop militants and smugglers, officials said.

Egyptian side of Rafah.

Egyptian security forces secure houses which were destroyed by the Egyptian army on the Egyptian side of the border town of Rafah, October 29, 2014.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , ,
| October 22, 2014
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UN chief promises investigation into rockets found at UN schools during Gaza operation

 

Secretary General Ban, at debriefing of the UN Security Council, “The scale of the destruction in Gaza has left deep questions about proportionality & the need for accountability.”

By MAYA SHWAYDER

 

NEW YORK — Fresh off a Monday meeting with Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon debriefed the UN Security Council on Tuesday morning on his recent trip to Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian territories, and said that he would push forward on an investigation into the destruction and damaging of UN-owned buildings, including incidents when Hamas weapons were found in UN schools.

Ban Ki-moon

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon .

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , ,
| October 17, 2014
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Gaza to receive Turkish floating power station for domestic energy

 

Allowing Turkey to deploy a Turkish ship off the coast of Gaza to serve as temporary power plant represents a goodwill gesture on the part of Israel.

By i24news

Israel allowed Turkey to deploy a Turkish ship off the coast of Gaza to serve as temporary power plant, until the Gaza power plant, damaged during the summer’s war with Israel, is repaired, Palestinian Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh said on Thursday according to Israel’s Ynetnews website.

Carolyn Kaster (Pool/AFP)

“Secretary of State John Kerry during the International Gaza Reconstruction Conference in Cairo, Oct 12 2014 – Photo: Carolyn Kaster/ Pool/AFP

It is understood the move represents a goodwill gesture on the part of Israel. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| October 13, 2014
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Cairo’s conference of donors pledge $5.4 billion for Gaza reconstruction

Int’l powers outperform Abbas’ expectations with generous donations from  EU, US, Qatar, Turkey, and UAE.

By the Associated Press

 

A donor conference in Cairo to raise money to rebuild the Gaza Strip after this year’s war between Hamas and Israel ended with pledges of $5.4 billion for reconstruction there, Norway’s foreign minister said Sunday.

Palestinians return to destroyed homes (Photo: Reuters)

Palestinians return to destroyed homes – Photo: Reuters

Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende offered the figure at the end of Sunday’s one-day conference, far beyond the $4 billion initially sought by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

“The message was clear to the international community that the Palestinian brothers are not alone,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri said. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags:
| October 10, 2014
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New Political Con Satisfies US & EU but Gaza Facing ‘Donor Fatigue’

Unparallelled deceptions & corruption by Palestinians escapes US & EU leadership, but int’l aid conference has shown global community become a little wiser to Hamas’s numbers game.

By Tova Dvorin

 

A conference that aims to raise billions of dollars to “rebuild Gaza” after Hamas’s latest terror war on Israel faces “donor fatigue,” an insider told AFP on Friday.

The United Nations’ Palestinian Arab “refugee” agency, the UNRWA, has described the financial needs as “unprecedented” ahead of the Cairo meeting, which follows Hamas’s third war on Israeli civilians in six years.

But it is unclear how generous the world is willing to be given the intractability of the conflict and other priorities in the region, such as the fight against jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , , , ,
| October 5, 2014
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Hundreds of Gaza pilgrims entered Jerusalem for 1st time since 2007

Israel eases travel restrictions for Muslim pilgrims as part Jerusalem’s new policy following the IDF’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’.

 

Some 500 residents of the Gaza Strip traveled Sunday to pray at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque, the first time residents of the Hamas-controlled territory have been allowed to the holy city since 2007.

Gaza pilgrims

Palestinian pilgrims crossing the Beit Hanoun checkpoint on their way to the Erez border crossing and then to Jerusalem, during the holiday of Eid al-Adha, Oct. 5, 2014. – Photo: AP

The three-day Muslim Feast of the Sacrifice, known as Id al-Adha, commenced Friday evening.

Israel issued the permits to Gazans aged 60 and over as part of a policy to ease restrictions on Gaza residents following the end of its 50-day war with Hamas.

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Category: Israel News | Tags: , , , ,
| October 2, 2014
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Is Gaza Palestinian fulfilling Isaiah’s prophesy?

Palestinian resident of Gaza doesn’t beat swords into ploughshares, but he is converting Israeli tank shells into colorful flower vases.

 

A Gaza refugee camp dweller has fulfilled a modern version of beating swords into ploughshares by converting Israeli tank shells into flower vases, Agence France Presse reported Thursday.

Gaza art

Adorned used and diffused ammunition rounds painted by Palestinian artist Mohammed al-Zamar at his home in the Bureij refugee camp, September 24, 2014. – Photo: AFP

“I wanted to keep a souvenir, but my relatives and neighbors felt uncomfortable with them around, so I had the idea of painting them to make them beautiful,” Hossam Al-Dabbu, of Jabalya, told AFP, about finding remnants from Israel’s 50-day summer offensive against Gaza.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| September 29, 2014
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Armed Palestinian terrorist caught 8 kilometers inside Israel

Knife-wielding Palestinian who infiltrated into Israel from Gaza was caught by alert security officer.

By Orli Harari, Gil Ronen

 

The Security Officer for the Sdot Negev Regional Council, Rafi Babiyan, told IDF Radio Sunday about the arrest of the terrorist who infiltrated from Gaza to one of the region’s communities.

Palestinian caught on Gaza border - Photo: Radi Babian

Palestinian caught on Gaza border – Photo: Radi Babian

“We received an alert about a possible infiltration from Gaza,” he recounted. “The security men and the Military Security Officers started to roll out the emergency preparedness squads, in order to protect the communities. As we combed the area, we received word that a suspect was identified east of the community in an open field. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: , ,
| September 28, 2014
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Pro-Hamas protesters block Israeli-owned ZIM cargo-ship at Oakland port

Last month, BDS protesters obstructed cargo from being unloading off the Zim Piraeus for nearly 5 days before the vessel departed for L.A. port.

 

 

Officials say a group of pro-Palestinian protesters are again blocking an Israeli-owned commercial ship from unloading its cargo at a port in California.

A woman marches with a 'Block the Boat' sign to the Port of Oakland, August 16, 2014.

A woman marches with a ‘Block the Boat’ sign to the Port of Oakland, August 16, 2014. – Photo: Steve Rhodes/Demotix/Corbis

International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokesman Craig Merrilees says longshore workers did not unload cargo from the Zim Shanghai docked at the Port of Oakland on Saturday morning because of safety concerns raised by the presence of police and protesters.

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Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , , ,
| September 22, 2014
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Exposé: Gaza Palestinian’s hatred for Hamas and resentment & anger of the West Bankers

The Gazans may be too scared to speak publicly against Hamas, but the hatred is seen & felt, and they haven’t forgotten that protests from their compatriots during Israel’s Operation Protective Edge, were conspicuous in their absence.

By Francesca Borri

 

In the time that has elapsed since the end of the war, Gaza has been trying to return to normal – if you can ever call life in Gaza normal. But under the surface, the suppressed emotions are bubbling.

Central Gaza building hit by the IDF during Protective Edge (Photo: AFP)

Central Gaza building hit by the IDF during Protective Edge – Photo: AFP

The tap water is the same salty sea brine – there has been no potable water coming out of the taps in Gaza for a very long time. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| September 20, 2014
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2 untrained Hamas operatives killed when disassembling unexploded Israeli ordnance

Hamas police explosives teams working to detect & disarm unexploded Israeli bombs are hamstrung by lack of training & experience.

By

Two Palestinians were killed and three wounded on Friday when unexploded ordnance from the recent Gaza conflict blew up in the eastern Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical authorities said.

Witnesses said that a huge explosion was heard in the Shujaiya area and ambulances rushed to the area immediately.

Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, identified the two fatalities as Ayman Ziad Abu Jibba, 23, and Abdullah Jibril Abu Aser, 23, and said that their bodies were taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , ,
| September 18, 2014
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Karma: German family smuggled into Gaza is denied entry to Egypt

Egypt border officials say mother & children, who are German citizens, did not have Rafah-crossing entry stamps in their passports.

 

A mother from the Gaza Strip and her children were denied entry to Egypt because they had previously used smuggling tunnels to enter Gaza, a media report says.

Rafah crossing, August 27, 2014.

Palestinians at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip on August 27, 2014. – Photo: AFP

Egyptian authorities told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that the family members, who have German citizenship, were stopped at the border when they tried to enter Egypt.

Their passports did not have entry stamps to Gaza, indicating that they had entered through the tunnels instead of through the Rafah crossing, Ma’an reported.

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Category: Mid-East News | Tags: , , ,
| September 17, 2014
Comments Off on NBC Reports: 4 Million tons of rubble left in Gaza after Operation Protective Edge

NBC Reports: 4 Million tons of rubble left in Gaza after Operation Protective Edge

Environmental group claims it will take $30 million, 6-8 months to clear what turned out to be 5-times more rubble than the last conflict between Israel & Gaza.

 

Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip during Operation Protective Edge have left four million tons of rubble, five times more than in the last conflict between Israel and the Hamas-controlled enclave in 2012, an environmental advocacy group in the West Bank said on Tuesday.

Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 5, 2014.

Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza Strip, Aug. 5, 2014. – Photo: AP

Meanwhile, UN Middle East envoy Robert Serry said Tuesday that the United Nations, Israel and the Palestinian Authority have reached a deal to allow reconstruction work to begin in the Gaza Strip. Continue Reading »

Category: Mid-East News | Tags: ,
| September 14, 2014
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Hamas official warn Gaza landlords: Refusing to rent to Hamas could be dangerous

 

Non-Hamas Palestinian landlords in Gaza are worried that their buildings will be targeted by Israel if Hamas militants live inside. Hamas official calls this trend “a dangerous one.”

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH

Landlords in the Gaza Strip are refusing to rent out apartments to Hamas members and their families, a senior Hamas official revealed on Sunday.

Beit Hanun gaza

A Palestinian looks out from the remains of his house in Beit Hanun, a town in the northern Gaza Strip. – Photo:REUTERS

Musa Abu Marzouk, a political leader of Hamas based in Egypt, said that the phenomenon was “dangerous.”

Abu Marzouk, who recently toured the Gaza Strip, pointed out that landlords were afraid to rent out their apartments out of fear that they would be targeted by Israel in the future. Continue Reading »

Category: Israel News | Tags: ,
| September 14, 2014
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UEA donates 50 mobile homes to Gaza’s homeless

According to Hamas housing ministry, 9,800 homes were destroyed during Israel’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’. With some families beginning to enter newly donated mobile homes, the rehabilitation process is starting.

By AFP

 

 

Fifty Palestinian families made homeless by Israeli bombing during the summer’s fierce offensive on the Gaza Strip were rehoused Saturday in mobile homes in the southern town of Khan Yunis.

UEA gives 50 mobile homes (Photo: AFP)

UEA gives 50 mobile homes – Photo: AFP

During the 50-day conflict, 9,800 homes were totally destroyed and another 8,000 left uninhabitable, according to data from the housing ministry in Gaza.

Imad al-Haddad, Gaza head of a United Arab Emirates association providing these 50 mobile homes, told AFP that, in the town’s Khuzaa neighborhood alone 500 families lost the roofs over their heads. Continue Reading »

Category: The Diaspora | Tags: , ,
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