by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Amman : The Joint Jordanian-Palestinian Higher Committee opened its technical meetings in Amman on Sunday to look into prospects to enhance economic relations between the two sides.
The preparatory committee’s meetings, held at the ministry of industry and trade, were co-chaired by the Ministry’s Secretary General Yousef Al Shamayleh and Chief Executive Officer of the Palestinian General Authority for Industrial Cities and Free Zones Ali Shaath.
Al Shamayleh referred to the “modest” trade exchange between the two countries, which he attributed to measures and restrictions imposed by Israel on the Palestinian economy.
Extricating the Palestinian economy from the Israeli control will only be possible through enhancing economic and trade ties between Jordan and Palestine, he pointed out.
According to the secretary general, the trade exchange between the two sides rose by 14 percent standing at $178 million in 2016, compared to $156 million in 2015, Petra reported.
Al Shamayleh highlighted the need to strengthen economic ties and activate agreements signed between the two sides “in the interest of their peoples”. “Work is underway to complete requirements to establish the Jordanian-Palestinian free logistical zone that aims to strengthen trade exchange and increase transit of Palestinian goods via Jordan,” he added.
Shaath, for his part, stressed the importance of boosting Jordanian-Palestinian cooperation, mainly in the economic and trade fields, as well as activating work of joint committees to achieve this objective.
—SM/IINA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Riyadh, (IINA) – The Saudi Fund for Development (SFD) has deposited $60 million into the account of the Palestinian Finance Ministry on Tuesday, according to a report in a local publication.
The Saudi ambassador to Egypt and the Kingdom’s permanent representative to the Arab League Ahmad Qattan said that the amount represents the monthly contribution of the Kingdom to support the Palestinian National Authority. “The money deposited represents the contribution of the Kingdom for the past three months of January, February and March, an average of $20 million per month”, the ambassador said.
In his statement, ambassador Qattan said: “The Kingdom is a role model for the implementation of the decisions and commitments made to support the budget of the Palestinian Authority through the General Secretariat of the Arab League. The Kingdom will continue to support the Palestinian cause and people at all levels”. He added that since 2013, the Kingdom has increased its contribution to the Palestinian budget from $14 million to $20 million per month to support the Palestinian cause.
Palestinian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Basem Abdullah Al-Agha said that Riyadh had consistently performed its national and religious duties toward Palestine at all levels.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Geneva (IINA) – The United Nations said on Wednesday that footage purporting to show the shooting of a wounded Palestinian by an Israeli soldier in the occupied West Bank last Thursday showed clear “signs of extra-judicial execution”, media agencies reported.
“We are extremely concerned about the apparent extrajudicial execution of a Palestinian man,” spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) Rupert Colville said in a statement regarding the killing of a Palestinian man in Hebron.
“Two Palestinian men allegedly stabbed and wounded an Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron on Thursday morning, and were both shot during the attack. A video later emerged appearing to show one of the alleged Palestinian assailants, subsequently identified as Abd al-Fatah al-Sharif, lying injured but still alive on the ground. Medical staff were shown attending to the wounded soldier, who was driven away in an ambulance, but did not appear to offer any medical assistance to al-Sharif,” Colville said.
“The video then shows an Israeli soldier shooting al-Sharif in the head, killing him. What is particularly chilling is the way none of the 20 or so people at the scene, including medical personnel, appear to pay any attention to the wounded man while he was still alive, and also barely show any reaction in the immediate aftermath of his killing,” he added.
Noting that Israeli authorities had detained the soldier involved in the shooting and a military court has been questioning him, Colville said “A prompt, thorough, transparent and independent investigation is essential”.
“We are concerned this killing may not be a lone incident; a disturbing number of Palestinians, reportedly more than 130 in all, have been killed in recent months,” he said.
“This is not the first incident to be captured on video that raises concerns of excessive use of force. A major concern is that such cases appear not to have been systematically subjected to criminal investigations. This is particularly important in cases that may have involved disproportionate use of force, or possible extra-judicial executions,” Colville said.
UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Christof Heyns said on Wednesday that the killing of a Palestinian man by an Israeli soldier on 24 March in Hebron, West Bank, carried “all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution”.
“The images shown carry all the signs of a clear case of an extrajudicial execution,” said Heyns. “There does not appear to be any provocation on the side of the gravely wounded man”.
“Whatever legal regime one applies to the case, shooting someone who is no longer a threat is murder. It is furthermore troublesome that this was done to no apparent alarm to the other soldiers who were nearby,” Heyns said.
The UN rapporteur also criticized the decision of the medical personnel on the scene to ignore al-Sharif and treat only the seemingly lightly injured Israeli soldier. “Part of protecting the right to life is accountability where it has been violated,” Heyns added.
More than 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since a months-long wave of Israeli-Palestinian violence began last October, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
On its part, Israel said that 33 Israelis have been killed over the same period in alleged attacks by Palestinians.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Ramallah (IINA) – Four Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails have entered into a hunger strike in protest against their administration detention, while a fifth detainee embarked on a hunger strike in protest of being held in solitary confinement, WAFA reported.
Kareem Ajwa, an attorney with the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Commission, said the four detainees, namely Sami Janazreh, Imad Batran, Abdur-Rahim Tawayfeh, and Abdul-Ghani Safadi have recently embarked on a hunger strike in protest of being held under the Israeli administrative detention, without a charge or trial.
The fifth detainee, Nahar Saadi, has also begun a hunger strike to protest of being held in solitary confinement for two years.
There are more some 500 Palestinian detainees being held under administrative detention, a controversial Israeli practice that allows detention of Palestinians without charge or trial for up to six-month intervals that can be renewed indefinitely.
Palestinian detainees have continuously resorted to open-ended hunger strikes as a way to protest their illegal administrative detention and to demand an end to this policy, which violates the international law.
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Muslim World
Ramallah (IINA) – The Palestinian government on Tuesday ordered boycott of five Israeli food-makers, and assigned the competent authorities to put this decision into force immediately.
The government said the decision would come into force starting Tuesday, but it will take some time before the Israeli products already available in the Palestinian market are sold out.
During the weekly session of the cabinet, Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah explained that the decision comes in response to Israel’s decision to ban the products of five Palestinian companies from entering East Jerusalem, the predominantly Palestinian part of the city.
With immediate effect, Palestinian vendors were barred from buying from five Israeli companies, namely dairy firm Tnuva, Strauss Group Ltd., Tara, Soglowek and Tapuzina.