Palestine

RAMALLAH, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas insisted on Sunday that there will be no general Palestinian election unless Israel allows Palestinians to vote in the heart of East Jerusalem.

Abbas made the remarks during his Fatah Movement's Advisory Council meeting, held at the Palestinian Presidency Headquarters in Ramallah, according to the Palestinian News Agency (WAFA).

"We won't hold any elections without having Jerusalem as part of it," said Abbas, adding, "Any resident of Jerusalem must go to vote in the heart of East Jerusalem."

RAMALLAH, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Revolutionary Council of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah Movement called on Saturday on the Palestinian factions to agree on "not to hold the elections without holding it in East Jerusalem."

"Holding the elections in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem constitutes a necessity to renew legitimacy, a national and constitutional entitlement, and a last way to solve the problem of the Palestinian internal division," the council said in an official statement at the conclusion of a three-day meeting held in Ramallah.

RAMALLAH, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday hailed the decision of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open the way for the Palestinians to sue Israel.

He made the remarks at an ongoing session attended by members of the revolutionary council of his Fatah party in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"This is a historic day, and now any Palestinian who gets injured by the occupier (Israel) can file a case to the criminal court," said Abbas, according to the Palestinian WAFA news agency.

GAZA, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel has banned the Christian minority who live in the Gaza Strip ruled by Hamas from visiting Christian holy sites and churches in the West Bank and Jerusalem to celebrate Christmas, a spokesman for the Christian community said Sunday.

Israeli media reported on Saturday that Israel bans 500 Christians in the Gaza Strip from travelling to the West Bank for Christmas and New Year holidays.

Meanwhile, the Israeli daily said the Israeli security only agreed to allow 100 Christians from the Gaza Strip to travel to Jordan only for Christmas.

RAMALLAH, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mahmoud al-Aloul, vice president of Palestinian Fatah party, on Thursday met with the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov in the West Bank city of Ramallah over steps to facilitate elections in Palestine.

They discussed the latest developments on holding general elections in Palestine, and the means to allow the elections to take place in East Jerusalem as they did in 1996, 2005 and 2006, according to a statement by al-Aloul's office.

GAZA, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Islamic Hamas movement denied on Tuesday some media reports alleging that it is holding secret talks with Israel on reaching a long-term truce in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas, which has been ruling the coastal Palestinian enclave since 2007, said in a press statement that "the movement denies what is being circulated in some media outlets about a long-term truce with the Israeli occupation."

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — For decades, the people of Bethlehem have watched tour buses drive up to the Church of the Nativity, disgorge their passengers for a few hours at the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and then return to Israel.

But in recent years a new form of tourism has taken root, focused on the West Bank town’s Palestinian residents, their culture and history and their struggles under Israeli occupation.

GAZA, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Hamas, ruler of the Gaza Strip, on Saturday warned Israel about violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.

The warning was issued by Abu Obeida, spokesman of Hamas' armed wing al-Qassam Brigades, in a short text message, where he held Israel fully responsible for the continuing violations at the mosque.

"What happens at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, whether attacks, provocations or dangerous practices against worshippers, will be a cause for an explosion in the face of the occupation," Obeida said.

"Our patience won't last too long," he added.

RAMALLAH, Dec. 1 (Xinhua) -- Palestine on Sunday slammed Israel's decision on building a new settlement in the southern West Bank city of Hebron, saying it is a "clear result" of U.S. backing.

"Israel's decision to build a new illegal settlement in occupied Hebron is the first tangible result of the U.S. decision to legitimize colonization; this cannot be taken out of the context annexation," said Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — A tiny wooden relic that some Christians believe to be part of Jesus’ manger arrived Saturday in its permanent home in the biblical city of Bethlehem 1,400 years after it was sent to Rome as a gift to the pope.

Cheerful crowds greeted the ornately encased relic with much fanfare before it entered the Franciscan Church of St. Catherine next to the Church of the Nativity, the West Bank holy site where tradition says Jesus was born.