Day: August 24, 2024

His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, has sent a cable of congratulations to President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy on his country's Independence Day. HRH the Crown Prince wished President Zelenskyy continued good health and happiness, and the government and people of Ukraine steady progress and prosperity. Source: Saudi Press Agency

Ramallah - Ma'an - The International Academic Campaign Against the Israeli Occupation and Apartheid (IACA) said that the occupying state has used the tools of apartheid and oppression against the Palestinian people, with the aim of undermining and weakening the institutions of the Palestinian National Authority, and working to distort and marginalize the security establishment, with the aim of spreading chaos and weakening the capabilities of the official and security establishment to provide its services to citizens. In a report prepared by researcher Ahmed Taqatqa, on the reality of Israeli "apartheid" in the occupied Palestinian territories during the past months of June and July, she indicated that Israel aims, through this deliberate and systematic act, to undermine the Palestinian national project, represented by declaring the state under the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization. She explained that the occupation authorities have activated the apartheid systems and programs following the recognition of the Palestinian state by some European countries, such as Norway, Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland, through a series of measures implemented by Finance Minister Smotrich to combat recognition of the Palestinian state, impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, and strengthen settlements. According to the report, the Israeli authorities, following the State of Palestine's activity in the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice regarding accountability for Israel's crimes of genocide, and following Palestinian diplomatic pressure for recognition of the Palestinian state by various countries, have strengthened a number of racist punitive measures in response to this, including: declaring its intention to seize 20,000 dunams of Palestinian land in the West Bank, in order to pass settlement plans, as well as recognizing five settlement outposts, namely Evitar in the northern West Bank, Sde Ephraim-Binyamin, Givat Asaf-Binyamin, Shalitz-in Gush Etzion, and Adorim-in Mount Hebron. The report included a description of the crimes of the Israeli occupation in the occupied Palestinian territories, with regard to creating an apartheid system in the West Bank, through treating Palestinians in an inferior manner, which detracts from their basic rights to security, work, housing, movement, and other rights included in the international charter. He pointed out that the occupation authorities relied on three parallel political programmes, all of which aimed to create an apartheid regime in the West Bank, as follows: The first aggressive program: the use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians: From October 7, 2023 to July 1, 2024, 579 Palestinians, including 140 children, were killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 24 citizens were martyred by the settlers' gangs. During the period covered by this report, 74 Palestinians, including 14 children, were killed by the Israeli occupation authorities, and approximately 4,451 Palestinians were injured, most of them during ope rations carried out by the occupying power in the cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, and the refugee camps adjacent to them. Since 7 October, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has recorded 28 incidents of airstrikes that resulted in the deaths of 77 Palestinians, including 14 children, in airstrikes in the West Bank. Settlers have also launched 23 attacks on Palestinians, resulting in the injury of 24 Palestinians, damage to property and the displacement of Palestinian families. The second aggressive program: expanding the annexation and settlement plans, through the following measures: The policy of Judaization and land seizure: The occupying authority in the areas classified as 'C' has adopted a policy aimed at transferring the residents of these communities by creating difficult and unbearable living conditions, and oppressing them to the point of despair, which forces these Palestinians to leave their homes - as if they were doing so voluntarily - which is exactly what ha ppened in Masafer Yatta, Khan al-Ahmar and the Jordan Valley areas. Restricting freedom of movement and travel and paving bypass roads. While settlers enjoy freedom of movement and travel between the various areas controlled by Israel and have the right to leave and return to the country whenever they wish, Palestinian citizens must obtain a special Israeli permit in order to move between their enclaves (and sometimes within the enclave itself), and their travel outside the country is conditional on security approval. Accordingly, the occupation authorities have imposed restrictions on the movement and travel of Palestinian residents of the occupied territories, which is one of the central tools used by Israel to implement the occupation and 'apartheid' regime against them. These restrictions include limiting their ability to move within the occupied territories themselves, their movement between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, their entry into Israel, and their travel abroad. In this way, Israel restri cts the movement of only Palestinians, while settlers and other citizens - Israelis and foreigners - move freely. The third aggressive program: The oppressive measures of the colonists and the occupying authorities: The occupation authorities have ordered the army to protect the settlement outposts, and in other cases, they finance special protection for them, paved roads for them, and extended electricity and water networks to some of them. They also provide them with support through several channels, including: government ministries, the settlement department of the World Zionist Organization, and the regional councils of the settlers in the West Bank. They grant preferences to their economic projects, including: agricultural facilities, and allocate water quotas to them, and grant them legal protection against petitions demanding their evacuation. On the other hand, the occupation army armed more than half a million settlers in the West Bank, and encouraged the settlers to launch organized attacks on Pa lestinian villages. The settlers launched about 10 attacks in the West Bank during the reporting period. In addition, 217 Palestinian families in East Jerusalem are facing eviction cases filed against them in Israeli courts, most of which are filed by settler organizations, which exposes at least 968 people, including 424 children, to the risk of displacement. Source: Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM-Ma'an- Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek visited the Palestine Museum of Natural History, where he was received by Professor Mazen Qumsiyeh and his wife Mrs. Jessie Qumsiyeh, founders of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, Dr. Hernan Santos, Vice President of Bethlehem University, and Jack Curran, Vice President for Development Affairs. Minister Al-Hayek stressed the importance of this museum, as it is the best evidence that we, as a Palestinian people, belong to this land. We are its original owners, and the Israeli occupation will not change our connection to this land. He thanked Dr. Mazen Qumsieh and all those in charge of this museum for what it provides in terms of support and enrichment for scientific research in the field of biodiversity in Palestine, as Palestine possesses great biodiversity that deserves attention, preservation, and documentation for future generations. Al-Haik stressed the importance of continuing the deve lopment process of this museum, emphasizing the provision of all forms of joint bilateral cooperation in order to develop the work and attract school and university students and civil society institutions, in cooperation with various partners, to visit this important site and see what Palestine possesses in terms of unique natural biodiversity. In turn, Professor Mazen Qumsieh welcomed Minister Hayek, stressing the importance of achieving networking and cooperation between the museum and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to support and develop the museum's work. He spoke about the history of this museum and the importance of working in it, as it constitutes a center for research, education, and preservation of our natural world, in addition to our culture and heritage, and in order to benefit from the knowledge we have acquired to encourage responsible human interaction towards our environment. At the end of the visit, Minister Hayek inspected the museum facilities and was briefed on the daily work of the volunteers there. Source: Maan News Agency

BETHLEHEM-Ma'an- Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Hani Al-Hayek visited the Palestine Museum of Natural History, where he was received by Professor Mazen Qumsiyeh and his wife Mrs. Jessie Qumsiyeh, founders of the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University, Dr. Hernan Santos, Vice President of Bethlehem University, and Jack Curran, Vice President for Development Affairs. Minister Al-Hayek stressed the importance of this museum, as it is the best evidence that we, as a Palestinian people, belong to this land. We are its original owners, and the Israeli occupation will not change our connection to this land. He thanked Dr. Mazen Qumsieh and all those in charge of this museum for what it provides in terms of support and enrichment for scientific research in the field of biodiversity in Palestine, as Palestine possesses great biodiversity that deserves attention, preservation, and documentation for future generations. Al-Haik stressed the importance of continuing the deve lopment process of this museum, emphasizing the provision of all forms of joint bilateral cooperation in order to develop the work and attract school and university students and civil society institutions, in cooperation with various partners, to visit this important site and see what Palestine possesses in terms of unique natural biodiversity. In turn, Professor Mazen Qumsieh welcomed Minister Hayek, stressing the importance of achieving networking and cooperation between the museum and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities to support and develop the museum's work. He spoke about the history of this museum and the importance of working in it, as it constitutes a center for research, education, and preservation of our natural world, in addition to our culture and heritage, and in order to benefit from the knowledge we have acquired to encourage responsible human interaction towards our environment. At the end of the visit, Minister Hayek inspected the museum facilities and was briefed on the daily work of the volunteers there. Source: Maan News Agency

The Free Patriotic Movement confirmed via its official account on "X" that: "The fabrications and accusations circulated against the leadership of the Free Patriotic Movement regarding interference in the judiciary and a relationship with a banker are false and fall within the framework of the ongoing distortion and moral assassination of the movement's leader." Source: National News Agency - Lebanon

The Islamic Resistance issued the following statement: 'In support of our steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance, the Islamic Resistance fighters targeted at 08:30 am on Saturday 24-8-2024, a position of enemy soldiers in the Harum site with a suicide bomber and hit it directly.' Source: National News Agency - Lebanon