Palestine

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Thousands of Palestinian protesters took part in a “day of rage” across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, with some groups clashing with Israeli forces to protest the U.S. announcement that it no longer believes Israeli settlements violate international law.

Around 2,000 people gathered in the West Bank city of Ramallah by midday, where they set ablaze posters of U.S. President Donald Trump as well as Israeli and American flags. Schools, universities and government offices were closed and rallies were being held in other West Bank cities.

RAMALLAH, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian officials on Sunday declared launch of protests against the latest remarks by United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on the legality of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Officials of various factions and parties said that the protests will kick off with a "Day of Rage" on Tuesday, a day of protests to take place at military checkpoints throughout the West Bank.

GAZA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas chief, said on Sunday that the battle with Israel is "not over" although the new wave of violence in the Gaza Strip is over.

Haniyeh made the remarks after he gave his condolences to the Abu Malhous family which lost eight of its members in the last round of violence between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel said its aircraft hit military sites for Gaza’s Hamas rulers early Saturday after two rockets were fired from the Palestinian enclave.

This was Israel’s first strike against Hamas since the start of this week’s cross-border fighting with another Gaza militant group, the Iran-backed Islamic jihad. The shooting ended in a shaky cease-fire announced Thursday.

The worst bout of fighting in months began Tuesday after Israel’s targeted killing of a senior Islamic Jihad commander in an airstrike.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Residents say the airstrike came without warning: With fighting raging between Israel and Islamic Jihad militants throughout Gaza, two loud blasts shook the night, destroying the Abu Malhous home and killing eight members of the family in a split second.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel and the militant Islamic Jihad group in Gaza appeared to have reached a cease-fire on Thursday to end two days of heavy fighting that killed at least 34 Palestinians and paralyzed parts of Israel.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Musab al-Berim said the Egyptian-brokered deal went into effect at 5:30 a.m. There was no immediate confirmation from Israel, which rarely acknowledges deals with Gaza militant groups, but some restrictions were lifted on residents of the south, despite the continued fire of several rockets.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel killed a senior Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza early Tuesday in a resumption of pinpointed targeting that threatens a fierce round of cross-border violence with Palestinian militants.

Minutes after the Iranian-backed group confirmed the death of the commander, Bahaa Abu el-Atta, at dawn, barrages of rockets could be heard fired toward southern Israel from Gaza.

The Islamic Jihad said Abu el-Atta, 42, was undergoing “a heroic act” when he was assassinated. It did not elaborate, but vowed revenge.

HEBRON, West Bank (AP) — A young Palestinian man who was shot in the back by Israeli forces in an incident caught on video last year says the footage shows just a small part of what was a horrifying day for him.

Speaking to The Associated Press after the video emerged last week, Karam Qawasmi said he was run over by a military jeep, then beaten for several hours before troops released him, only to shoot him in the back with a painful sponge-tipped bullet as he walked away. He said Israeli investigators have never contacted him.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed a Palestinian man Saturday as aircraft pounded militant sites in response to barrages of rockets launched toward Israel from the seaside enclave.

The exchange of fire shattered a monthlong lull across the volatile frontier.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Ahmed al-Shehri, 27, died from shrapnel injuries during the Israeli bombings that continued through the early hours of Saturday.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian government's plan for economic disengagement from Israel faces grave challenge, including Israeli threats to impose sanctions on the Palestinians.

The plan comes in line with the resolutions of the Palestinian National and Central councils to suspend the recognition of Israel, until it recognizes the state of Palestine on the borders of 1967.