Israel greenlights housing construction in illegal West Bank settlements
The Israeli government essentially approving 3,500 housing units in three different illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank. This is the first time since the beginning of the war on October 7 that we have seen approvals for housing units in illegal settlements. Leading up to the war as well, in occupied East Jerusalem, 3,700 units in illegal settlements were approved.
This development comes after Israel’s finance minister and known ultra-nationalist Bezalel Smotrich said that there would be illegal settlement expansions in retaliation for a shooting that took place at one of these settlements in February.
It is worth mentioning that he is not just the country’s finance minister. He also holds a role within Israel’s Defence Ministry. So he is in charge of some civil affairs within the occupied West Bank and primarily those that oversee and approve settlement housing units. They can be approved at his demand.
Additionally, in comments from Smotrich that were made this morning, he said that in the last year, there have been 18,515 housing units in illegal settlements approved. So we can expect construction in the occupied West Bank to begin on those three illegal settlements totalling 3,500 housing units.
Israel’s illegal West Bank settlement plans face global condemnation
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/7/israels-illegal-west-bank-settlement-plans-face-global-condemnation
Israel’s plan to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank is facing widespread condemnation from several countries, including some of Tel Aviv’s staunchest allies. The settlement-planning authority greenlit permits for nearly 3,500 new illegal settlement housing units in the occupied Palestinian territory.
- Hamas has called the move “a confirmation of the Zionist plan aimed at controlling our land, restricting our people, and isolating them”.
- Jordan says the settlements were unilateral and illegal measures that violate international law and undermine peace efforts and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
- Saudi Arabia said there is a need to “provide hope for the Palestinian people, enable them to obtain their rights to live in safety, and establish their Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and relevant international resolution”.
- Germany has asked Israel to withdraw the plans, adding they are “a serious violation of international law”.
Qatar joins global condemnation of planned Israeli settlement expansion
Canada instead protects the illegal sale of occupied land, WTF.
Canada court bans pro-Palestinian protests near Montreal synagogue
A court in Canada’s Quebec province has issued a temporary ban on pro-Palestinian protests within 50 metres of a synagogue and four other Jewish community buildings in the city of Montreal, according to media reports.
The injunction, which took effect for 10 days starting on Tuesday, came after the Montreal chapter of Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) held a protest against an Israeli real estate event at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue. The IJV, one of the four groups that served the injunction, said the event was marketing property in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Sarah Boivin, a member of IJV, described the ban as “completely ridiculous”. She told CTV News, “It is pretending like these protests are against Jewish people while the Israeli military has just massacred 30,000 Palestinians. It’s completely devoid of context and they’re completely ignoring the fact that we as Jews are co-organising these demonstrations.”
The other groups served the injunction were Montreal4Palestine, Palestine Youth Movement Montreal and Alliance4Palestine, according to CBC News.
Israeli army detains female journalist, activist in West Bank raids
The Israeli army has raided dozens of homes in the West Bank and detained 20 Palestinians, including two women – journalist Bushra al-Taweel and activist Sumood Muteer. Quoting witness accounts, Quds News Network reported that al-Taweel was beaten up by an officer who insulted her before she was arrested.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said 57 journalists have been detained since October 7, with 38 of them still in jail. The organisation added that 22 of them were detained without charge. Since October 7, at least 424 Palestinians, including 113 minors, three women and 12 prisoners in Israeli custody, have been killed in the West Bank alone.
At least 7,450 Palestinians have been detained since the start of the war in Gaza.
Israeli forces shot and killed 16-year-old Mohammad Hisham Mohammad Shehada yesterday in the northern occupied West Bank, then confiscated his body. He is one of 28 Palestinian children whose bodies remain withheld by Israeli authorities.
Read more: https://t.co/8d0qGZIPi1 pic.twitter.com/VVV81RQumz
— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) March 6, 2024
Israel examined 400 bodies at Nasser Hospital looking for captives
Israel examined 400 bodies when it stormed the health facility in southern Gaza last month. None of the bodies it examined was of Israeli captives, reports Israel’s public broadcaster Kan.
Almost 130 Israeli captives remain unaccounted for in Gaza, but about 30 of them are believed to have been killed.
Hamas claims many captives have been killed by Israeli bombardment and says it cannot establish a full account of those who remain alive until Israeli military attacks cease.
‘We were telling them we surrender’: Gaza girl recounts Israeli bulldozer attack
A 15-year-old girl in Gaza has been rescued three days after being trapped in the rubble of a building that was bulldozed by Israeli forces.
Hala Hazem Hamada lost six relatives, including her parents and her sister, in the Israeli attack. She told AFP that the bloodshed began on Saturday when Israeli troops descended on the residential complex in Khan Younis where her family – originally from northern Gaza – had sought refuge.
“The Israeli soldiers shouted and asked us to evacuate, saying that the Hamad area is a military zone and they are here to free the captives. But we didn’t know where to go. My father said ‘Let’s wait for them to instruct us where to go’,” she said.
“After a quarter of an hour, the house started collapsing on us [levelled by bulldozers]. They started with the rooms, and we ran to other rooms and were telling them we surrender and lift our hands, get us out! But no one answered us back,” she said.
“All my family members were martyred except my sister Basant. She told me, ‘I’m scared, save me. If you have a room, save me.’ I tried to find a way to pull her out, but I couldn’t move, because the rubble is on my feet, and my father is on my leg. I couldn’t move.”
Then Basant went silent, leaving Hala alone to wait out the long hours before her rescue. Hala was finally pulled out of the rubble on Tuesday. “I survived, but I want to see my family for the last time,” she told AFP. “I saw my sister and father, but they have not been pulled out yet. They are still under the rubble. I want to see them to at least say goodbye.”
Hala Hazem Hamada was rescued on March 5 after being trapped under the rubble of a bulldozed building for three days
More aid seekers killed at the same location as ‘flour massacre’
There’s been an ongoing intense bombing campaign overnight and in early hours of this morning with constant artillery shelling of the eastern part of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military seems to be disregarding global pressure and continuing with its plan of establishing a buffer zone.
We were told by residents in eastern part of Rafah that the vast majority of their homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Their agricultural lands and farms have been razed all for the establishment of this Israeli buffer zone.
Air strikes seem to be concentrated these days on the central and eastern parts of Gaza. In Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat, 17 people were killed, mostly from displaced families from northern Gaza who were told at the time to evacuate to avoid being bombed.
Last night, at least five people were killed as they were waiting for aid at Nabulsi Roundabout, the same location where the flour atrocity took place earlier.
Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes buried in mass grave in Rafah
Thousands of children are on their own in Gaza
UNICEF estimates that at least 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied or separated, while 25,000 are reported to have lost at least one parent.
