All Stories Archive

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ramallah has called the UN Human Rights Council's adoption of resolutions on Palestine, with a large majority, "another achievement for Palestinian diplomacy", and said that UN agencies stand with the Palestinians' right against the occupation and its gross violations of international law. A...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES On Sunday 25-03-2010, students at Jerusalem University's Media Faculty organised a festival attended by the Minister for Prisoners in the Ramallah government alongside a number of national and Islamist figures as well as freed Palestinian prisoners. The festival was organised to express solidarity with the hunger strike...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Dozens of Palestinian families are currently being forced to live on a plot of government land to the south of Gaza City in makeshift accommodation. Most of these families live in extreme poverty and are unable to find adequate shelter as a consequence of the five-year old...

The Shura (Consultative) Council of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood is holding an extraordinary meeting to discuss whether or not to participate in the country's presidential election. A decision is due by the end of this week. There are reports of a split within the movement on this issue, with some...

Media sources are reporting that jailed Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouti has called on the Palestinian leadership to end all forms of economic and security coordination with Israel. In a letter written from Israel's Hadarim Prison, where he is serving a life sentence, Al-Barghouti said, "I call on the National...

The government of Israel has decided to cut ties with the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) a week after the council declared its intention to open an investigation into Israeli settlements across the occupied West Bank. The announcement was made by a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, who...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES According to the Ministry of Agriculture in Gaza, fishermen in the beleaguered territory are complaining bitterly over the escalating effects of the fuel and electricity shortages on their ability to make a living for themselves and their families. Their boats are now nearly all confined to port....

Dozens of Israeli soldiers, all in uniform, accompanied a group of illegal Jewish settlers and stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque and its courtyards on Wednesday morning. This was part of a massive mobilisation of the Israeli occupation army. Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage said that soldiers and settlers entered the...

Lawyer Shaul Mofaz has defeated his rival Tzipi Livni in the election for the leadership of Israel's opposition Kadima Party. His victory was announced on Wednesday morning. The final results of the leadership ballot showed that Mofaz had won a landslide victory, obtaining 61.7 per cent of the total...

The Deputy Chairman of the Civil Service Union in the West Bank, Ma'en Ansawi, has threatened to begin protests and strikes if Salam Fayyad's government in Ramallah doesn't respond to his members' demands "and provide a decent life for them". In a press statement, Mr. Ansawi said that living...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES An Egyptian parliamentary delegation arrived in the Gaza Strip late on Wednesday via the Rafah Crossing for a short official visit during which they will meet with government officials and civil society leaders. Following a meeting with Palestinian parliamentarians this morning (Thursday 29 March), the delegation met...

It has been disclosed that the Israeli occupation authorities have seized hundreds of acres of agricultural land in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem for the benefit of illegal settlement and Judaisation projects. A report prepared by the Palestine Liberation Organisation to coincide with Land Day also claims that...

Fatah has declared that purchasing goods and produce made on Israeli settlements constitutes "a national crime against the rights of the Palestinians". Spokesman Osama Al-Qawasmi added that a boycott of such produce is a "national duty" for all Palestinians. "The Israeli occupation is trying to break the will of...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Thousands of Palestinians gathered earlier today at Jerusalem's Damascus Gate to take part in a rally to commemorate Palestinian Land Day. Protesters were attacked by thousands of armed Israeli forces, some of whom were on horseback. Tear gas was fired into the unarmed crowds while dozens of...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Demonstrations in the Gaza Strip held as part of the Global March on Jerusalem have attracted huge crowds on the streets of the beleaguered Sector. After today's Friday congregational prayer, thousands of came out onto the streets of Gaza in solidarity with Jerusalemites. The protesters held aloft...

Will a 62-year-old engineer, businessman and father of 10 sons, who was removed from his university post by former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and was arrested by ousted President Hosni Mubarak five times, but is still considered to be a symbol of moderation in the Muslim Brotherhood, be the...

The Palestinian Prisoner Society has said that female prisoners in Israel's Hasharon Prison are suffering from difficult, and deteriorating, medical and living conditions which cannot be tolerated. Israel, claims the society, is now mixing Jewish criminal prisoners with Palestinian political detainees to the extent that only a plastic door...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Israeli occupation authorities decided yesterday to expel Hana Al Shalabi to the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian administrative detainee, who has been on hunger strike for 43 days, will have to spend at least three years in Gaza before being allowed back to her home village in...

The head of Tunisia's Al-Nahda (Renaissance) movement, Rashid Al-Ghannouchi, has said that his country's January 14 revolution was not only against injustice, tyranny and corruption. It was also, he said, against what he called the "suspicious links" of the former regime, especially with Israel. This was a reference to...

A human rights organisation has reported that the Israeli occupation forces have stepped up what it calls their "racist and aggressive practices" against the Palestinian people over the past month, during which Israel carried out dozens of operations and military incursions in the occupied Palestinian territories. "Thirty Palestinians were...

More than 22,000 security officers in Algeria have decided to stage a sit-in in protest at their conditions of employment. The protest will take place from the 20 April in front of government offices. They are seeking their employment rights and a basic law to regulate their profession. The...

The Israeli occupation authorities have isolated Marwan Al-Barghouti for a week in solitary confinement inside Hadarim Prison. The Fatah leader will also be subject to sanctions imposed by the Israelis. Hebrew Radio quoted sources in the Israeli prison administration on Monday, saying that Mr. Al-Barghouti was moved to solitary...

An international symposium on the thousands of Palestinians still detained in Israeli jails has been held in Gaza. The event was attended by European parliamentarians, human rights activists and journalists, in addition to Arab experts on prisoners' affairs. The European Network for the Defence of Palestinian Prisoners' Rights, which...

The organisation for Palestinian refugees and their right of return, Thabet, has expressed grave concern that the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) has deleted 169,000 refugees from its records for 2011. Thabet condemned the move. In a statement sent to Quds Press, the organisation explained that the statistics...

Quds Press International News Agency has expressed its gravest concern over the fate of its West Bank correspondent, Muhammad Anwar Muna, after he was detained by the Israeli occupation forces yesterday. On Tuesday, Israeli forces raided the home of Mr Muna in the eastern suburb of Nablus and arrested...

Media sources in Israel have revealed that the country's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, intends to send a message to the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, inviting him to resume negotiations as soon as possible without preconditions. According to Haaretz newspaper, an Israeli official said, "The message, which includes an...

Newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi has learnt from informed sources within the Islamic movement that Hamas has completed its preparations for internal elections to elect a new consultative (Shura) council and political bureau. The process is expected to take place later this month. One change from previous elections is that the...

Ex-vice president Omar Suleiman has announced his withdrawal from the race for the Egyptian presidency. Suleiman, who served under ousted Hosni Mubarak, cited his inability to provide the administrative, organisational and financial requirements for the election campaign. In the first reaction to Suleiman's decision, his supporters announced that they...

Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has announced that he will continue to support Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank in general, and in the city of Hebron in particular. His statement was made after the eviction of a group of settlers from a house in Hebron owned by...

The Bureau of Statistics at the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Prisoners has revealed that the Israeli occupation authorities are still detaining nearly 190 Palestinian children, "in circumstances that are similar to those under which adults are detained, in terms of location, cruelty and inhuman treatment, as well as poor...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Tens of thousands of Palestinians have turned out in the West Bank city of Nablus to attend the funeral of the Hamas leader Sheikh Hamid Al Bitawi. The elected Member of Parliament died on Wednesday, aged 68. Representatives from all Palestinian factions and fellow parliamentarians were present...

The Israeli government has threatened to launch military operations in the Sinai Peninsula in order, it claims, to prevent attacks from the Egyptian territory. According to Haaretz newspaper, the authorities in Cairo have been sent a "strongly-worded message" about the responsibility they have for the situation in Sinai. Israel,...

The spokesman for the Islamic movement in Israel, Zahi Nujeidat, has described the legal case won by Sheikh Raed Salah as "a victory for the major principles being held on to by the Palestinians". Mr. Nujeidat confirmed that the movement's leader is expected to return to his homeland "soon"....

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Britain's Vice-Consul in Jerusalem, Mr Benjamin Saul, has visited the Al-Jazeera Athletics Club in Gaza City to see the conditions and facilities available to Gaza's disabled athletes. During his visit, Mr. Saul met with the Gazan Paralympians set to attend the Olympics Games in London later this...

The old Muslim cemetery in Ashkelon has been turned into a car park by the Israeli municipality. Reports in the Hebrew media have revealed that the facility provides parking spaces for a new commercial market built nearby. One resident told Maariv newspaper that the municipality had been informed about...

The pipeline used to supply Egyptian gas to Israel and Jordan has been attacked for what is believed to be the fourteenth time since the overthrow of the Mubarak regime in Cairo. Egyptian security sources in North Sinai said that an unidentified group of armed men had planted explosive...

A Palestinian member of the Israeli Knesset, Jamal Zahalka MK, has warned the Israeli authorities about their plans to tamper with a cemetery in Balad al-Sheikh near the city of Haifa. The cemetery contains the tomb of the historic leader of the Palestinian resistance against the British, Izzedine al-Qassam....

Agreement has been reached that the venue for the forthcoming talks on Iran's nuclear programme will be Istanbul. The European Union, Iran and the so-called "5+1 Group" (the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany) will meet together in the Turkish city on 14th April. It was...

Sudan has asked the UN Security Council to fulfil its responsibilities with regard to what it calls "attacks by South Sudan" in the Heglig region near the border between the two countries. In a press statement released on Wednesday, 11 April, and broadcast by the Centre for Press Services,...

The General Secretariat of the Arab League has expressed its alarm over the aggravated situation between the Republic of Sudan and the newly formed Republic of South Sudan. The League's "deep" concern follows the recent military attack by Southern forces against Sudan's oil-rich Heglig region. A communique from the...

The Greek Orthodox Archbishop of Sebastia, Atallah Hanna, has denounced Israeli actions in occupied Jerusalem imposed due to Jewish holidays. In a press statement released on Thursday, Archbishop Hanna said, "During these days in which we live a week of pain in preparation for Easter, we have witnessed the...

The government in Tehran has announced that it has halted oil exports to Greece and Spain, and confirmed that it is looking into taking similar action against Italy and Germany. These steps come ahead of a US and Western oil embargo set to be implemented against Iran on the...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES To mark World Heritage Day, which falls on 18th April each year, the Islamic University in Gaza has organised a heritage exhibition on the Palestinian Cause, which will last for four days. Discourse on Palestinian heritage is critical to the Conflict with the Israeli Occupation. Palestinians possess...

Reports in Algeria claim that Israeli television has suggested the need to investigate the North African state's "nuclear weapons". In a programme entitled, "Are Algerians making nuclear weapons?" produced by Matti Zohar, the political analyst apparently shed light on Algeria's nuclear capability and its impact on the region's stability....

The Israeli occupation authorities have arrested a number of foreign nationals who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport to take part in solidarity events in the occupied West Bank. The Europeans were arrested when they arrived on Sunday from airports across Europe, despite attempts by Israel to block the airlines...

Jewish settlers have cut down 250 olive trees belonging to Palestinians from the village of Beitillu, west of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. In a telephone statement to the local media, Hajj Fawzi Dar Bazaar said that he was surprised to see the destroyed trees when he was...

Israel's Knesset (parliament) is due to hold a special session on Wednesday to discuss a bill which would authorise Jewish settlers to build on private Palestinian land, especially in the Migron settlement outpost and other such places. All Jewish settlements, "outposts" or not, are illegal under international law. That...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Hundreds of supporters and members of the Islamic Movement turned out last night to welcome Sheikh Raed Salah upon his return to his homeland. He was met at Al Lod ("Ben Gurion") airport by the head of the Higher Arab Follow-up Committee, Mr Muhammad Zaidan; the Mayor of...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES A joint appeal has been made by international human rights and legal aid groups for solidarity with Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in protest against their prolonged detention without trial and inhumane treatment. The NGOs from Europe, North American, Africa and Asia praised the detainees for their...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Palestinians across the occupied West Bank have held a number of activities to mark Prisoners' Day. Events were held in several cities, with Ramallah witnessing the largest. It was there that a 24-hour solidarity vigil was held; another was organised in front of the Ofar Military Prison....