Abbas receives HRW report on Israeli human rights violations

The ambassador had acknowledged the Duma case as “an important demonstration of Israel’s commitment to prosecute acts of terrorism, regardless of their source”, but insisted nevertheless that “too many attacks on Palestinians lack a vigorous investigation or response by Israeli authorities”.

Israel confirmed on Thursday it was planning to appropriate a large tract of fertile land in the occupied West Bank, close to Jordan, a move likely to exacerbate tensions with Western allies and already drawing worldwide condemnation. The statement urged the global community to move urgently to halt the settlement process and to agree on an worldwide mechanism to protect the two-state solution, end the ocupation and realize peace through negotiations.

The settlements are considered illegal under global law and the PA says they are one of the major obstacles to reaching an eventual peace deal. Israel’s top general, Lt Gen Gadi Eizenkot, said there have been 101 attacks so far, none of which had a prior intelligence warning.

The Otniel killing and an attack on Monday, in which a pregnant Israeli was stabbed and wounded in the settlement of Tekoa, south of Bethlehem, prompted Israel, fearing the possibility of copycat attacks, to bar Palestinians from entering all settlements in a move that affected some 26,000 labourers, mainly construction workers.

A Palestinian broke into a West Bank settlement home and fatally stabbed an Israeli woman before fleeing Sunday…

Ambassador Dan Shapiro’s supposed misstep was to observe in a speech to a security conference that Israel applies the law differently to Israelis and Palestinians living in the West Bank.

Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon’s office declined comment.

The Palestinian was been arrested by the security forces in a nearby village after two days of extensive searches.

HRW points to foreign firms operating in Area C of the West Bank to the benefit of settlements while “Israel all but bars Palestinians from building or extracting natural resources” in the zone. This government and previous Israeli governments have repeatedly expressed their support for a negotiated two-state solution – a solution that would involve both mutual recognition and separation.

Palestinians want to form an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as the capital. In the same period 148 Palestinians, most of whom were attackers, have been killed. “Israel enforces the law on Israelis and Palestinians”.

According to the report, most of those slain were killed in Hebron (al-Khalil) province, where 50 Palestinians have lost their lives since the latest round of violence began in October of a year ago. They added that Israel’s defense of its right to protect itself from terror is part of a campaign to negate the legitimacy of global criticism.