Fom Palestine

Israeli Soldiers Storm Media Centre in Tulkarem

(WAFA)- Israeli Occupation Forces(IOF) stormed Tuesday morning the site for Information Center& Palestinian Studies in the West Bank City of Tulkarem.

Head of the Center, Mohammed Shteiwi told WAFA that a group of Israeli soldiers broke the main door of the Center, which is an independent media institution, vandalizing its property.

He added that they confiscated eleven computers, files and robbed NIS550 (Israeli currency).

"This is a series of Israeli crimes against journalists and freedom of expression in an attempt to hide the truth," Shteiwi said.


Muhanna: Rafah Crossing to be Open Tomorrow

(WAFA) - Nazmi Muhanna, Director of Borders Directorate, said Tuesday that Rafah Crossing Point would not be open today, asserting it would reopen tomorrow for two days.
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He told WAFA that the crossing will be open just few hours and only to allow humanitarian traffic from Gaza Strip to Egypt.
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The Rafah border crossing has been closed for normal operations since June 25.
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EUBAM said its monitors remain on permanent standby and ready to open the crossing at short notice.


UNICEF Special Representative in OPT: "Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza on Verge of being Forgotten"
Mr. Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Special Representative in Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said Tuesday "as the international media is focused on the humanitarian disaster unfolding in Lebanon, sadly enough the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is on the verge of being forgotten".

For the 1.44 million Palestinians living in Gaza, out of which 838,000 are children, the humanitarian situation is a daily reality, he added.

"Having just returned from Gaza it is clear that children are living in an environment of extraordinary violence, fear and anxiety," Rohrmann said in a statement "over the last month, some 35 Palestinian children were killed in Gaza almost a quarter of whom were less than 10 years old".

He stated that this figure brings the total number of Palestinian children killed this year due to the conflict in West Bank and Gaza to 65 children.

"These figures are the second highest since the beginning of the current crisis in September 2000," he added.

Given the humanitarian crisis in Gaza UNICEF is stepping up its support in health, education, water and sanitation, psychosocial counseling, and activities for adolescents and younger children.


HR Organisation Condemns Israeli Killing of Woman and Child north of Gaza
(WAFA)- Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemned the IOF killing of woman and child, today in the north of Gaza.

In a press release issued Tuesday expressed its concern over the Israeli "around-the-clock artillery bombardment" against the north of the Gaza Strip.

"This bombardment has cost the lives of tens of Palestinian civilians, and forced hundreds of others to leave their homes," it said.

PCHR's preliminary investigation indicates that at approximately 13:40 on Tuesday, 1 August 2006, IOF stationed to the east of the northern district of the Gaza Strip fired several artillery shells at the Nada Buildings area, west of Beit Hanoun. One of the shells fell near building #8. Shrapnel from the shell killed the child Aref Ahmad Abu Qeida (14). The child was in his grandfather's house near building #8. Three other civilians were injured, including a woman from Rafah who was visiting relatives in the area. This woman, Mervat Fayez Abu Sharikh (24), was pronounced dead one hour after reaching a hospital.