Overplaying Its Hand, Israel Still Holds Plenty of US Cards
Hamas security forces detain Gazan journalist
Hamas security forces on Wednesday detained a Gazan journalist several months after she wrote a report critical of the Hamas-run Ministry of Health, her father told Ma'an.
After journalist Mushira al-Hajj wrote the article, the Ministry of Health filed a complaint against her to the Hamas-affiliated attorney general, her father Tawfiq said.
Tawfiq, who is a local poet, said that both he and his daughter were asked to apologize about the report, but they refused. He said that his daughter's arrest on Wednesday followed as a result.
Gaza-based rights groups said in statements that she would initially be detained 48 hours for questioning in the coastal enclave's Ansar prison.
Mushira al-Hajj, 28, has worked with a number of local media outlets. She is married and has a daughter.
Why Palestinians fight back: The logic of life and death in Gaza
Another row is brewing between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas, over the release of Avraham Mengitsu, an Israeli citizen who, according to Israeli military sources, slipped into Gaza on September 7, 2014.
The circumstances of Mengitsus entry into Gaza remain unclear, especially since Hamas political leader, Khaled Mashaal, denied that the military wing of Hamas is holding the Israeli citizen.
According to Israels Defense Ministry, another Israeli is also being held in Gaza. A gag order on Mengitsus disappearance was just lifted, but another remains in effect regarding the other, allegedly, detained Israeli.
Palestinian rights group files lawsuit against PA 'torture'
A Palestinian rights group filed acivil lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority in request of one million dollars in compensation for a Palestinian that was allegedly tortured while in the custody of a PA detention center, a press release said Thursday.
The Civil Authority for the Independence of the Judiciary Body and Rule of Law (ISTIQLAL) said that their client,Ahmad Bilal Abd al-Malak al-Deek, had officially registered the lawsuit inNablus' First Instance Court.
Al-Deek, a student at Al-Quds Open University from the village of Kafr ad-Dik in the region of Salfit in the northern West Bank, was detained for five days in early July after he criticized the local government on his personal social media.
Are Israel and Hamas really talking about ending Gaza siege?
Israel and the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas may be close to a long-term truce for Gaza, an advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has said.
Although murmurs of a such a deal have appeared in media for months, the officials comments would appear to give them slightly more weight.
In an interview with Alresalah, a Gaza-based newspaper close to Hamas, on Monday, Yasin Aktay also said that Israel and Turkey were nearing a deal over Israels attack on the Mavi Marmara.
Israels May 2010 assault on the ship, part of a Gaza-bound flotilla, killed nine Turkish citizens and a Turkish teen who held US citizenship, badly damaging relations between the two countries.
The Turkish official said there had been significant progress toward a long-term truce that would end Israels 8-year blockade of Gaza.
Aktay, deputy chairman of Turkeys ruling AK party, said that the recent visit of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal to Ankara was related to the effort.
As many as 81% of the Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory believe there is corruption in Palestinian Authority institutions according to a recent survey, perceptions reinforced by the recently launched annual report of the Palestinian Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN), the Transparency International chapter in Palestine. These perceptions persist despite former Prime Minister Salam Fayyads much-touted state-building efforts to root out corruption - and are at variance with international reports finding that suggest improvement in good governance.
Tariq Dana makes the case that corruption is structural to the Palestinian body politic and pre-dates the establishment of the Palestinian Authority. He argues that the problem needs to be tackled at its roots and cannot just be addressed through conventional measures used in other countries, particularly against the background of prolonged Israeli colonization and occupation and the way in which Israel both reinforces and exploits corruption.
PA denies claims of $13 million personal presidential palace
Palestinian Authority officials on Thursday denied Israeli media reports released last week on plans for a $13 million personal presidential palace to be built with government funds.
Palestinian leadership sources from the PA headquarters in Ramallah denied the claims that the structure was a personal palace for President Mahmoud Abbas.
The sources said the palace is instead projected to be used as a leadership headquarters and a facility to receive guests and world leaders.
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Abbas holds 16 percent support rate among Palestinian pubic
As rumors spread that Mahmoud Abbas could soon step down as Palestinian president, a recent poll reveals that the leader holds support among just 16 percent of the Palestinian public.
Despite the low support rate, a continued decline in trust for the government and political leaders fails to surface any viable contenders for a potential successor, according to a poll carried out by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) in August.
Imprisoned Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti was the strongest contender for presidential elections, holding 10.5 percent of the vote.
Ismail Haniyeh, PM of the Hamas-run government in the Gaza Strip, trailed close behind Barghouti gaining 9.8 percent support.
Palestine's crisis of leadership: Did Abbas destroy Palestinian democracy?
The crisis of leadership throughout Palestinian history did not start with Mahmoud Abbas and will, regrettably, be unlikely to end with his departure. Although Abbas has, perhaps, done more damage to the credibility of the Palestinian leadership than any other leader in the past, he is also a by-product of a process of political fraud that started much earlier than his expired Presidency.
Palestinian 'collaborators' to sue PA in Israeli court
Twenty Palestinians have filed a lawsuit against the Palestinian Authority in an Israeli court, seeking up to $100 million in damages after they were detained for alleged collaboration with Israeli intelligence, a PA security officer told Ma'an on Sunday.
The officer in Qalqiliya, who wished to remain anonymous, said that 10 PA security officers were summoned to a Jerusalem court on Thursday last week to give testimony in the case.
Adnan Dmeiri, chief spokesman for the PA security forces, denied the report, saying he had not heard anything about the alleged case.
However, the security officer told Ma'an that the 20 Palestinians seeking damages had "fled" to Israel after they suffered harm during interrogations carried out by Palestinian security forces.
He said that a lawyer representing the Palestinians is asking that the PA award each of the plaintiffs 20 million shekels (around $5 million) in compensation for the harm they suffered, including psychological damage, as well as being denied contact with their families.
He said that the lawyer questioned all 10 PA security officers during Thursday's hearing. "(The officers) proved before the judge that the Palestinian judiciary found the suspects guilty of collaboration with the Israeli occupation," the officer said.
Dozens of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday held demonstrations for the third straight day to protest the coastal enclave's ongoing power crisis.
In the southern city of Rafah, protesters called for the resignation of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah's government over the crisis.
Meanwhile, in central Gaza, residents of the Bureij and Nuseirat refugee camps set tires alight in a demonstration held in front of Gaza's sole power station.
