Palestine

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.

GAZA, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 49 Palestinians were injured on Friday afternoon during clashes between hundreds of Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli soldiers in the eastern Gaza Strip close to the border with Israel, an local official said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, told reporters that 49 demonstrators were injured, including 14 children.

Clashes broke out on Friday afternoon between the Palestinian demonstrators and the Israeli soldiers during the weekly anti-Israel protests, better known as the Great March of Return.

RAMALLAH, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday chaired a meeting of his Fatah party's central committee to discuss preparing for holding elections in the Palestinian territories.

"We will discuss the elections, preparing for holding it and measures that will be taken to achieve this goal," Abbas was quoted by the official WAFA news agency as saying during the meeting.

GAZA, Sept. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 63 Palestinians were injured on Friday during the weekly anti-Israel protests in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the health ministry in Gaza, said that among the injured, 32 were shot and wounded by Israeli soldiers' gunfire in eastern Gaza.

GAZA, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two Palestinians were killed on Tuesday night in an explosion southwest of the Gaza City, medics and security officials said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Health Ministry in Gaza, told reporters that the two killed Palestinians are security officers, adding that three other people were injured.

An official press statement of the Hamas-run Ministry of Interior said that the security forces are investigating the explosion.

GAZA, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military opened fire at a group of Palestinians as they tried to cross the Gaza border, killing three men and injuring another, local media reported on Sunday.

The Israeli military said an attack helicopter and a tank fired at the "armed suspects adjacent to the security fence in the northern Gaza Strip."

Palestinian officials confirmed the casualties, according to the reports.

GAZA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- At least 63 Palestinians were injured on Friday afternoon during clashes with Israeli soldiers in eastern Gaza Strip, close to the border with Israel, medics said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Health Ministry Spokesman in Gaza, told reporters that 63 Palestinian demonstrators were injured, including 32 who were shot by live ammunition and taken to hospitals for medical treatment.

He said that among the casualties, there were 17 children and three women.

GAZA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli war jets struck early on Saturday facilities of militant groups in the Gaza Strip in response to earlier rockets attack from the coastal enclave into southern Israel, security sources and local media said.

The sources and the Gaza-based local media said that Israeli war jets struck a military facility that belongs to Islamic Hamas movement in eastern Gaza, and another one in central Gaza Strip.

Residents in eastern and central Gaza Strip heard the noise of the Israeli fighter jets and the bombings. No injuries or damage were reported.