All Stories Archive

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Israel released 34 year old Palestinian prisoner, Mohammed Abu Labadah, this month following his completion of a twelve year sentence. Labadah's is a harrowing story which includes having been subjected to savage beatings on the back and brutal torture at the beginning of his detention. The ferocity...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Islamic University of Gaza (IUG) is preparing for its 31st graduation ceremony; this year's theme is "creativity and distinction". Students from different faculties at the university, such as engineering, commerce, science and religious studies, will graduate. For the first time, they will be joined by graduates...

The Palestinian Islamic Scholars' Association has given its approval to exhume the remains of the late Yasser Arafat in order to take a tissue sample to see if it matches the samples of his clothes containing radioactive Polonium. The presence of the deadly chemical was revealed by Aljazeera TV's...

Israel has issued an official denial of any involvement in the murder of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, after tests conducted by a prestigious Swiss laboratory showed the presence of radioactive polonium in personal items used by Arafat shortly before his death. Avi Dichter, the former head of...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The National Committee for Supporting Detainees organised a demonstration on Wednesday in front of the International Red Cross office in Nablus in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike inside Israeli jails. The protest was attended by prisoners' families, elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Committee and independent...

The Israeli ambassador to Cyprus has been asked to leave an energy forum at the University of Cyprus following complaints by a Lebanese minister to the organisers. Ambassador Michael Harari was at the 2nd Levant Energy Forum by special invitation to discuss the energy situation in the River Litani...

Planning permission has been approved for the construction of a new military complex on Al-Zaytoun and Al-Mokabber Hills overlooking the southern side of Al-Aqsa Mosque. A site of around 10.5 acres has been earmarked for the project by the Israeli authorities. The new complex will include the HQ of...

After a five year freeze, the Israeli government is going to resume building the apartheid wall in the area of Gush Etzion settlement in the occupied West Bank. According to Colonel Ofer Hindi, construction will also restart around Ma'aleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, next year. The senior army officer was...

The chairman of the legal committee of the Freedom and Justice Party in Egypt has said that presidential powers will allow Mohammed Morsi to annul the military decision to dissolve parliament. Mukhtar El-Ashry added that the decision by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) only applied to...

Ismail Haniyeh, the elected head of the Palestinian government in Gaza, has said that Israel's concerns over the victory of President Morsi in Egypt is the strongest evidence that Palestine is the first to benefit from the Arab Spring. Speaking at the first graduation ceremony of the University of...

The Israeli authorities have released two members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Mahmud Al-Ramahi, the PLC secretary from Ramallah, and Nizar Ramadan from Al-Khalil (Hebron). Both men are elected representatives of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc, which is affiliated to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). They were...

The Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) has accused Palestinian Authority officials of obstructing an inquest into the death of the late President Yasser Arafat. Hassan Khreisheh said that Palestinian and Arabic officials refused to disclose important information about Arafat's death in 2004. Dr Khreisheh, who formed...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES A conference on Pluralism and Difference from an Islamic Perspective has concluded at An-Najah University in Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. The organising committee said that it was conducted in partnership with the British Council and the Faculties of Educational Science and Islamic Law. Participants addressed...

A former member of Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, Dr. Mohamed Abdullah Al-Zulfa, has praised the decision by Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi to go to the kingdom for his first overseas visit. The decision, said Dr. Al-Zulfa, reflects the nature of the relationship between Cairo and Riyadh, and the importance...

A Palestinian Authority report has recorded an increase in the number of prisoners suffering from loss of vision and deteriorating sight in Israeli jails as a result, it is claimed, of medical negligence. The report by the Ministry of Detainees' and Ex-Detainees' Affairs in Ramallah points to the number...

Egyptian writer and journalist Saleem Azzouz has described as a "brave decision" President Mohammed Morsi's decree ordering parliament to reconvene in defiance of the Military Council's dissolution order. Azzouz said that Morsi's decision was made in accordance with the powers conferred by the constitution to the president and not...

Reports in the Israeli media claim that the Israeli government intends to legalise the majority of the so-called outposts established across the occupied West Bank and encourage Jewish settlers to live on them. Such mini-settlements are illegal under Israeli as well as international law. Newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth claimed on...

The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Britain (AOHR) has revealed that illegal Jewish settlers and the Israeli occupation forces let loose wild pigs on Palestinians in the occupied territories. The organisation notes that this is part of the settlers' efforts to drive the Palestinians from their land in...

Following the refusal of the Israel authorities to allow Palestinian and international medical teams into their prisons, a call has been made for an international inquiry into the conditions in which seriously ill prisoners are being held. A national Palestinian committee for prisoners' affairs said that the circle of...

The Egyptian Minister of Finance, Momtaz Saeed, has denied allegations that the Suez Canal has been mortgaged in return for huge loans. During the presidential election, a huge debate raged over reports that the former regime had mortgaged the Suez Canal and other sovereign resources to third parties in...

Dr. Essam El-Erian, the acting head of Egypt's Freedom and Justice Party, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee in Cairo, has described parliament's decision to refer the Constitutional Court ruling on the elected chamber's validity to the Court of Cassation as "showing respect for the judiciary". Dr....

Last Tuesday's visit to Amman of the head of the Political Bureau of Hamas, Khalid Meshaal, and a number of the Islamic Resistance Movement's senior leadership was completely different from the two previous occasions from many perspectives. The visit was the second in six months and the third since...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES Palestine has benefited from a special UNESCO scientific project, the first of its kind in the Arab world. The UN organisation has established the Chair in Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the Islamic University of Gaza in association with Al-Aqsa and Al-Azhar Universities in the besieged...

Tunisia's Reform Front has held its first general meeting since its recognition as a political party; the meeting slogan was, "Sharia' is our course and reform is our choice". Around 300 supporters attended the meeting, along with the secretary-general for minorities' affairs in the International Union for Muslim Scholars...

A lawyer acting for the Muslim Brotherhood has described the Supreme Constitutional Court ruling against President Morsi's decision to reconvene the Egyptian parliament as "equivalent to nothing". Abdul-Moneim Abdul-Maqsoud also revealed that he has filed a complaint with the Prosecutor General that because the ruling was published in the...

Case Study of the unilateral division of Al-Aqsa Mosque between Muslims and Jews A field study prepared by a Palestinian organisation which monitors Israeli human rights and other violations in Jerusalem has concluded that the Israeli occupation authorities are trying to impose a division of access to Al-Aqsa Mosque...

Israeli officials have reacted with anger to UNESCO's decision to endow an academic chair at the Islamic University of Gaza (IUG). This, claim the Israelis, is an "endorsement of terrorism". "The chair," said one Israeli official, "is seen as a stamp of approval from the international body, implying recognition...

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority is acutely embarrassed by the State of Qatar's decision to begin reconstruction projects in the Gaza Strip by the end of August, Palestinian sources said on Wednesday. Qatar has decided to cooperate with the Palestinian government in Gaza on the reconstruction of the besieged territory....

The PLO factions in Syria have condemned the killing of a number of young Palestinians from the refugee camps around Aleppo. They were murdered after being kidnapped on their way to the camps from the Palestinian Liberation Army training centre in Masyaf. In a press statement issued on Thursday,...

The acting head of the Freedom and Justice Party, Essam Al-Erian, has said that Egypt's President Mohammed Morsi is seeking to form a technocrat government that will be able to implement his programme and polices. In a press statement made on Thursday, Al-Erian added that Morsi is facing obstacles...

The head of the Political Bureau of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has praised the revolution of the Tunisian people which, he said, "paved the way for the Arab Spring". Speaking to the participants of the Al-Nahda Party conference in Tunis, Khaled Meshaal thanked the Tunisian people, "who embraced...

The Israeli Wall in the occupied West Bank has reduced access for thousands of Palestinians living in communities located behind the barrier to workplaces and essential services, a UN report claims. Around 7,500 Palestinians reside in areas between the 1949 Armistice (Green) Line and the Wall in the West...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Palestinian Prime Minister in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, gave a warm welcome on Friday to a South African solidarity delegation, led by Waleed al-Sa'di from Durban. The delegation brought humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza in an attempt to ease the effects of the Israeli siege...

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has chosen the members of its High Leadership Committee inside Israel's jails through a democratic process. Details have been provided by the Ahrar Centre for Prisoners' Affairs. Researcher Adnan Al-Khefish said that Adnan al-Sayyed was elected chairman of the Committee; his vice-chairman will be...

Media sources claim that the Israeli government is studying the possibility of "punishing" the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied West Bank by hindering its work. The pretext is that the UN has, alleges Israel, "committed violations of the law, and issued reports...

There were no economic, commercial, military or political ties between Turkey and the Gaza Strip before 2006. It seems that the ongoing humanitarian crisis has encouraged Turkey to put the beleaguered territory at the centre of its interests in the area since the start of Israel's siege. In 2006,...

The administration of Israel's Hasharon Prison detained minors and their legal representatives for three hours under the hot sun a few days ago. The incident took place after units of Special Forces broke into one of the sections of the prison, searched a room and destroyed its contents without...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES A solidarity delegation from Yemen has arrived in the Gaza Strip carrying symbolic support to show the country's concern for the Palestinians. The spokesman of the delegation said that despite their struggle with the Yemeni regime to obtain their freedom, the people of Yemen will not forget...

Sources close to the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, claim that he is angry with the failure of Arabic and Islamic states to support his plan to seek non-state membership at the UN for Palestine. The Palestinian delegation to the UN said that it has failed to...

The Israeli court in Ofer has decided to release the President of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Aziz Dweik, next Thursday. According to Baha' Farah, the director of Mr Dweik's office, the Israeli authorities informed his lawyer about the court's decision not to extend his administrative detention order beyond Thursday....

Tunisia's new President, Moncef Marzouki, has arrived in France for a 3-day official visit, his first since his election last December. Marzouki will meet French President Francois Hollande and the two leaders will hold a joint press conference to be followed by dinner at the Élysée Palace. During the...

The Egyptian ambassador to Palestine, Yasser Othman, confirmed on Monday that Egypt's intention to lift the Gaza siege completely is still on the new President's agenda. "It is an Egyptian duty," he said. Speaking about facilitating the movement of Gaza residents and the soft entrance of solidarity delegations through...

Sheikh Rashid Al-Ghannouchi was re-elected as the leader of Tunisia's ruling Al-Nahda Party on Monday during the 9th Convention of the party's General Committee. The convention was the first to be held in Tunis since 1988. Sheikh Al-Ghannouchi was declared to be the winner of the leadership election, with...

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has warned the Israelis not to provoke Arabs and Muslims by distorting the facts about Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. A spokesman for Hamas also called on the Palestinian resistance to defend the Islamic sites in the occupied territories. The call was made in response...

The French Ministry of Defence is to cancel an arms deal with Israel signed by the former Defence Minister, Israeli media sources have claimed. Through the deal, France would have got unmanned spy planes from Israel worth around €400m. Minister of Defence Jean-Yves Le Drian supports the decision. The...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Ministry of Education and Higher Education for Gaza and the West Bank has announced a 62.2 per cent overall pass rate in General Secondary Education examinations for 2011/2012. In a joint press conference between Gaza and the West Bank, the Ministry's deputy assistant in Ramallah, Jihad...

The Palestinian Authority's Minister for Prisoners' Affairs, Issa Qaraqe, has claimed that the Israelis arrest 700 Palestinian minors on an annual basis, including some as young as 12 and 13. In a press statement, Mr Qaraqe said that 90 per cent of the children who are detained by Israel...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Palestinian Ministry of Health has held a workshop to look into the need for a National Cancer Centre. The Ministry currently suffers from shortages in cancer staff and specialists, and there are very low rates and possibilities for the receipt of specialist cancer treatment. This lack...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES The Central Elections Committee held a graduation ceremony on Thursday for representatives of political parties and mass media personnel in the West Bank after their completion of its training course. Representative of the Committee, Hanna Nasser, confirmed that the course was intended to build the capabilities of...

The Israeli occupation authorities have demolished an agricultural project funded by the European Union near the village of Al-Khedr in the occupied West Bank. Israeli bulldozers smashed a well which was essential for watering the villagers' crops. Ahmed Salah, coordinator of the popular campaign against the occupation in Al-Khedr,...