Israel passes 'citizenship loyalty' bill

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172151.html

Israeli lawmakers have approved a law that will allow the revocation of the citizenship of anyone convicted of threatening Tel Aviv's security.

The Israeli parliament (Knesset) passed the law on Monday, enabling Israel's Supreme Court to strip anyone convicted of espionage, treason or aiding the enemy during war of their citizenship, Ha'aretz reported.

The so-called citizenship loyalty law also authorizes the court to revoke the status of any permanent resident convicted of assisting what Tel Aviv deems as a terrorist organization.

"Anyone who betrays the state and carries out acts of terror must know - citizenship and loyalty go together," said Yisrael Beiteinu MP David Rotem, who initiated the bill that passed in its second and third reading.

"There is no citizenship without loyalty," he insisted.

Hawkish foreign minister and Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, Avigdor Lieberman, welcomed Knesset's decision as serving to overcome “the phenomenon of exploiting democracy in order to subvert it."

Under the new law, people with dual citizenship would be stripped of their Israeli citizenship entirely. Others could still lose his Israeli citizenship, but would be given a status equivalent to foreign workers.

The bill also states that someone convicted of posing threats to Israel's security would lose their rights to all allowances, including child allowances or welfare.

On Monday, Israeli MPs also voted 29 to 8 for a bill to block the stipend of fellow lawmaker Azmi Bishara, who fled Israel amid allegations accusing him of a series of crimes against Israel's security.

Tons of cement awaits entry to Gaza

Palestinians arrive in the Gaza Strip from Egypt after passing through the Rafah border terminal

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171912.html

A number of prominent Egyptian civil activists have pledged to deliver ten tons of cement to the besieged Gaza strip through the Rafah border crossing.

A group called 'Egyptian-International Coalition for lifting the siege and rebuilding Gaza' says trucks carrying cement from Egypt are parked close to the border, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday.

A 15-member delegation is expected to accompany the shipment. The delegation consists of prominent lawyers, engineers, politicians and several civil activists.

The development comes weeks after a historic revolution ousted President Hosni Mubarak from power

Egypt has imposed a blockade on Gaza since the democratically elected Hamas government took control of the territory in 2007. Since then Israel has imposed a crippling blockade on the territory triggering what a humanitarian crisis.

A major Egyptian political party, the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), has recently demanded that the country's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces takes action in breaking the siege of Gaza.

In a separate development, an Israeli airstrike has killed at least two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip. Three other Palestinians were injured in the attack which took place east of Jabaliya.

Reports say the Israeli aircraft fired at least one missile into the region.

Israeli warplanes have repeatedly targeted the coastal strip during the past week. At least 10 Palestinians including a number of children were killed in the air raids.

Israel has frequently attacked Gaza from air, land and sea since the end of its 22-day war at the turn of 2009.

2 Gazans killed in Israel air strike

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171834.html

At least two Palestinians have been killed during a fresh Israeli air strike on the Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics say.

"Two Palestinians were killed and another wounded Sunday morning in an Israeli air raid on targets east of Jabaliya," Adham Abu Senmya, a spokesman for the Gaza emergency services, told AFP.

The attack came a day after several Palestinian factions, including the Hamas resistance movement, expressed commitment to a national agreement to restore calm with Tel Aviv.

After a week of deadly bombardments of the Gaza Strip, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tel Aviv was ready to act with "great force" against Palestinians.

Hamas announced on Saturday that it was committed like other factions to calm and that it would not give Israel "any pretext to launch another war against Gaza."

"Palestinian factions have discussed the recent surge in Israeli attacks on Gaza. They are all committed to remaining calm in order to prevent the occupation [Israeli] forces from committing any more crimes against humanity," said Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas official.

The Islamic Jihad movement, however, said it would not allow Israel to use the Gaza Strip for "target practice."

"We will not accept the situation that Gaza is used for target practice by Israeli forces to show the military skills. We have stated it clearly that any attack will be met with strong response from the Islamic Jihad," a prominent Islamic Jihad official Khalid al-Batsh said.

The meeting between Palestinian factions came amid fears that Israel might wage another war against the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces have carried out large numbers of ground and air attacks on Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead against the Gaza Strip at the turn of 2009.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver. The offensive also inflicted USD 1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

Israel laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas took control of the enclave.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas urges global move to halt Israel

Yousef Rizqa, a political advisor to the democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171156.html

The Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas has called upon international organizations to intervene as Israel intensifies its attacks on the blockaded Gaza Strip.

”In urgent messages conveyed to the United Nations, Arab League and a number of European Union nations, Hamas has disclosed the scope of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. The government in the Gaza Strip [Hamas] has asked for their immediate intervention to stop Israel's aerial attacks on the enclave,” the Palestine Information Center quoted Yousef Rizqa, a political advisor to the democratically elected Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, as saying on Monday.

Rizqa underlined that the recent surge in Israeli assaults on Gaza come in the wake of revolutions and popular uprisings in the Middle East. Such developments have seriously challenged Tel Aviv's expansionist policies in the region.

Israeli forces have carried out large numbers of ground and air attacks on Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead against the enclave.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver during the winter of 2008-2009. The offensive also inflicted USD 1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

A United Nations inquiry led by former South African judge Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators had described as Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during their offensive against the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli regime laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, after Hamas took control of the enclave.

The blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli airstrikes injure 17 Palestinians

A destroyed building after an Israeli strike in Gaza City on March 21, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/171113.html

The strikes occurred late on Monday night in the east of Gaza City.

Witnesses said the target of the raid was a car repair workshop, AFP reported.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon issued a death threat against Hamas leaders.

Israel regularly carries out attacks on Gaza, killing and injuring Palestinians. Tel Aviv launched a deadly war on the strip at the turn of 2009.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal enclave. The offensive also inflicted $1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

Some 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education.

Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent in the Gaza Strip respectively, reports say

Israeli jets bombard Gaza Strip

An Israeli F16 fighter jet (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/167083.html

Israeli warplanes have once again targeted the Gaza Strip by bombarding two sites in the coastal enclave, Palestinian sources say.

Israeli jets early Saturday bombed two training camps in the southern town of Khan Yunis and the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, AFP reported.

There are no immediate reports of casualties.

The Israeli military refused to comment on the move as Tel Aviv escalated its ground and air strikes on the besieged territory, killing civilians and destroying property.

On Thursday, an Israeli unmanned plane reportedly launched a missile attack on the southern Gaza Strip, inflicting injuries on six Palestinians.

The drone strike hit a vehicle that was travelling in the southern city of Rafah along the coastal sliver's border with Egypt.

It followed several aerial assaults across the besieged enclave, which was reported to have caused no casualties.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israel's F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters carried out multiple airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.

In June 2007, Israel and Egypt placed the territory under siege and imposed an unprecedented blockade on nearly all movement and supplies in and out of the coastal strip.

Poverty, unemployment, lack of medicine and medical equipment are the main issues in the Gaza Strip, while most Palestinian children are physically stunted from malnutrition.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a humanitarian crisis for Gaza's 1.5 million residents.

Human rights groups have also criticized the international community for its silence on the siege on Gaza and the 22-day Israeli war in December 2008 that shattered the stagnant economy of the territory.

The offensives killed more than 1,400 Gazans and inflicted a damage of above $1.6 billion on the territory's economy.

Israeli airstrikes injure 15 Gazans

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166754.html

Israeli fighter jets and helicopters have once again attacked the Gaza Strip, injuring 15 civilians, witnesses and security sources say.

Israel's F-16 warplanes and Apache helicopters carried out a series of airstrikes on Thursday across the Gaza Strip, a Press TV correspondent reported.

No further details was available on the possible casualties and damage to property caused by the attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, more than 13 Palestinians, including children, were injured in two separate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, medics said.

The incident took place during a brief incursion by Israeli forces into the east of Gaza City.

Israeli fire injures 13 Palestinians

A number of Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza on Wednesday

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166680.html

At least thirteen Palestinians, including children, have been injured in two separate Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, medics say.

The incident took place during a brief incursion by Israeli forces into eastern Gaza City on Wednesday, a Press TV correspondent reported.

Eleven Palestinians were injured after an Israeli tank shell hit eastern part of the Gaza City.

The incident came shortly after a number of Israeli tanks and bulldozers rolled into the Palestinian territory in an apparent effort to destroy agricultural lands along the occupied border zone.

Three members of the Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, and three children are among the injured.

"Three of our fighters were injured while firing two mortar shells towards Israeli tanks which were operating inside the (Gaza) border," a statement released by the group said.

Some of the injured are reported to be in critical condition, Gaza emergency services Chief Adham Abu Selmeya said, adding that they had been taken to the city's Shifa hospital.

Separately, two Palestinian workers were shot and injured by Israeli gunfire as they were collecting cement particles left behind from the houses that were destroyed in north of the town of Beit Lahiya near the border during the Israeli war on Gaza at the turn of 2009.

Due to a crippling Israeli blockade, Palestinians living in Gaza have no other choice but to obtain the required material for construction work from other buildings that have been destroyed in Israeli attacks.

Since March 2010, more than one hundred Palestinians have been shot by Israeli soldiers while collecting construction material.

Israel laid an economic siege on the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after Hamas took control of the enclave.

The Israeli-imposed blockade has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the Gaza Strip.

Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80 percent and 60 percent, respectively, in the Gaza Strip.

More than 1,400 Palestinians were killed during the three-week Israeli land, sea and air offensive in the impoverished coastal sliver during the winter of 2008-2009. The offensive also inflicted $ 1.6 billion damage to the Gazan economy.

A United Nations inquiry led by the former South African judge, Richard Goldstone, detailed what investigators called Israeli actions "amounting to war crimes, possibly crimes against humanity," during Israel's offensive against the Gaza Strip.

Israel destroys tents, wells in WB

Israeli bulldozers destroying tents and wells near the West Bank city of al-Khalil on February 22, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/166600.html

Israeli troops have demolished 12 tents and two wells, including one from the Roman era, near the West Bank city of al-Khalil, witnesses say.

The incident happened on Tuesday near al-Khalil's Sussiya village where Azmi Shiyuki, a village official, said one of the wells dated back to the Roman era, AFP reported.

The United Nations has repeatedly condemned Israel for defying international calls to halt its demolition and settlement construction activities.

On February 1, the United Nations Organization for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs condemned Israel's demolition of cisterns and wells.

"It is difficult to understand the reasoning behind the destruction of basic rain water collection systems, some of them very old, which serve marginalized rural and herder Palestinian communities where water is already scarce and where drought is an ever-present threat," said Maxwell Gaylard, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory.

He added that such deliberate demolitions in the occupied territories are also in contravention of Israel's obligations under the international law.

In October 2010, Oscar Fernandez Taranco, the assistant UN secretary general for political affairs, criticized Israel for jeopardizing efforts to resolve the impasse in talks with the Palestinian Authority.

“We have a brief and crucial window to overcome the current impasse. The UN secretary general continues to believe that if the door to peace closes, it will be very hard to reopen,” Taranco told the UN Security Council.

Israel has been persistently proceeding with the demolition of Palestinian structures and construction of its settlements in the occupied territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds (Jerusalem).