P.A Complains To The US Over Nablus Assassinations

Sunday December 27, 2009 09:50 by Saed Bannoura - 1 of IMEMC News Editorial Group

The Palestinian Authority in the West Bank filed a complaint to the United States after the Israeli army invaded the northern West Bank city of Nablus and executed three Palestinians on Saturday at dawn. The United States only demanded ‘explanations’ and called on both parties to continue their cooperation.

A number of US officials asked Israel’s “National Security Advisor”, Uzi Arad, for explanations about the attack and the assassination of the three men in Nablus city which is under the security and civil ‘control’ of the Palestinian Authority.

Arad claimed that the offensive came in self defense, and that it is related to the killing of a Jewish settler near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem.
Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that the United States asked both Israel and the Palestinian Authority to provide details on the issue, and called on the two parties to continue their security cooperation.

After the assassination of the three men, members of the Fat'h movement of President Mahmoud Abbas, the Hamas movement said that this execution is the outcome of such security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The three men were killed separately on Saturday at dawn, but the circumstances were nearly identical as the Israeli undercover forces and soldier broke into their homes and executed them in front of their families.
Several injuries were reported including the pregnant wife of one of the victims.

The army claimed that the weapons found in the homes of the three men are
identical to those used in the killing of the settler.

The Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank said in a letter to
the United States that this attack targeted Area “A” in Nablus, under the control of the Palestinian security forces, and that it is another Israeli violation against the Palestinian people.

Israel and the Unites States previously admitted that the P.A managed to control the city and managed to maintain law and order.

Hamas Accuses P.A Of Involvement In Nablus Assassinations

Sunday December 27, 2009 09:25 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

The Hamas movement accused the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, head by Mahmoud Abbas of Fat'h movement, of involvement in the assassination of three Palestinians, members of Fat'h’s Al-Aqsa brigades.

Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesperson of the Hamas movement, told the Palestine Information Center (PIC) that the three young men were killed after they were captured by the Israeli forces.

He added that the Palestinian Security Forces in the West Bank have direct cooperation with the Israeli Army, and that this coordination is always carried out just before any assassination or an invasion is carried out by Israel.

Abu Zuhri added that the Palestinian Resistance in the West Bank must activate its role and counter the “conspiracy against the fighters”.

Ismail Radwan of Hamas slammed the assassinations in Nablus and the killing of three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The three Gaza resident residents were killed by the army near a border fence in the coastal region. They had no weapons on them and were apparently trying to enter Israel seeking work.

Meanwhile, the three Palestinians killed in Nablus were executed by the Israeli forces in front of their families although they did not resist the invading forces.

The three are members of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fat'h movement headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. The Brigades were dissolved by direct orders of Abbas.

Yousuf Farahat, spokesperson of Hamas in Nablus, also accused Fat'h’s security forces of involvement in the executions.

He said that this issue is part of the Palestinian-Israeli security coordination in the West Bank, especially in Nablus.

Farahat added that Adnan Al Damiri, spokesperson of the Palestinian Security Forces threatened several days ago to punish anyone who was involved in the killing of an Israeli settler near Tulkarem.

It is worth mentioning that Israel claims that the fighters resisted arrest, and that they were directly involved in the killing of the settler near Tulkarem.

The Hamas movement said that a few hours after the Nablus attack, Palestinian security vehicles were seen leaving the Bracha Israeli settlement south of Nablus.

The movement added that eight Palestinian security vehicles left the settlement; one of them belongs to the Palestinian Preventative Security Forces.

Six Palestinians Killed in Nablus, Gaza

Saturday December 26, 2009 14:40 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli occupation soldiers shot and killed on Saturday six Palestinians in two separate attacks in the northern West Bank City of Nablus, and in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinians were executed in Nablus, and three were shot and killed near the ‘border fence’ in northern Gaza.

Palestinian sources in Nablus reported that three resistance fighters of the Al-Aqsa Brigades, the armed wing of Fat'h, were killed and seven residents were wounded when the Israeli occupation army invaded the city shortly after midnight and surrounded several homes in a number of neighborhoods in the Old City.

The sources added that the soldiers broke into a house that belongs to Abu Sharkh family and assassinated Ghassan Abu Sharkh in front of his wife, children and mother. He sustained several rounds of live ammunition in his chest and legs.

It is worth mentioning that his brother, Nayef Abu Sharkh, was assassinated by the Israeli forces several years ago.

The same method was used to assassinate Raed Abdul-Jabbar Al-Sarkaji, 38, also in the Old City as the Israeli forces broke into his home and shot him dead while his pregnant wife was wounded in her legs.

Furthermore, soldiers broke invaded Ras Al-Ain neighborhood, in the center of Nablus, and broke into the home of Adnan Subaih, 33, but he was not there.

Later on, the army torched his home and several hours on the soldiers managed to locate Subaih at a residential building and shot him dead. At least two Palestinians were wounded in ensuing clashes.

The bodies of the assassinated fighters were moved to Rafidia hospital in the city.

Ghassan Hamdan, head of the Palestinian Medical Relief, said that the slain residents were executed in cold blood and in front of their families.

It is worth mentioning that the three fighters were previously “pardoned” by Israel as part of a deal with Fat'h leader, Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas. The Al-Aqsa Brigades is the armed wing of Fat'h.

The Palestinian security forces, “fully controlling Nablus”, did not attempt to intervene or stop the Israeli invasion, local sources reported.
The invasion into the city lasted for several hours.

The Israeli army claimed that the soldiers did not execute the three fighters, and added that the fighters were shot when they refused to surrender. The army also claimed that the three are responsible for death of a settlers who was killed on Thursday. The settler was identified as Rabbi Meir Hai. In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers shot and killed three Palestinians and wounded another Palestinian near the Erez Terminal, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The three were identified as Mahmoud Al-Sharata, Hani Abu Ghazal, and Basheer Abu Dhail. All three were born in 1989 and are from the Bedouin village, in northern Gaza.

Israeli sources reported that the army spotted the three “crawling near the security fence” close to the Erez terminal, and shot them dead before they managed to infiltrate into Israel.

The three apparently bled to death as the Palestinians are not allowed to approach the border area, an issued that obstructed Palestinians medics from reaching them. Their bodies were not retrieved until the time of this report, while the fourth managed to return to the Palestinians side.

Local sources reported that the four were trying to infiltrate into Israel seeking work due to the extreme poverty in the Gaza Strip besieged by Israel since mid 2006.

Israeli Settler Killed In West Bank Shooting

Friday December 25, 2009 13:45 by IMEMC News

An Israeli settler was shot and killed on Thursday evening near the illegal Israeli settlement of Einav, near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, Israeli sources reported.

The army said that several rounds were fired at his vehicle while driving near the settlement.

The settler is a 45-year-old man; an Israeli medical source that he was shot in the head, and that several rounds hit the vehicle.

The shooting comes as illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank stepped-up their attacks against the Palestinians and their lands after the Israeli government agreed to a temporary freeze of illegal Israeli settlement activities.

The attacks included attacking farmers, burning farmlands, and burning a mosque in Yasouf village on Friday December 11th.

The settlers also attacked Palestinian villagers harvesting their olives in several parts of the occupied West Bank.

They also continued their government-supported takeover of Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem.