At a time when the Corona virus crisis has crowded out other news, the Alliance is producing news briefs every two weeks to keep our members informed about the situation in occupied Palestine.
Brief for June 15, 2020
After Israel initiated a partial re-opening there was spike in Covid-19 cases, now totaling more than 19,000 and 300 deaths. In the West Bank/East Jerusalem there have been at least 573 cases and 2 deaths, and in Gaza 72 cases and 1 death.
The Palestine Authority
Signaling that it is serious about breaking ties with Israel, the PA on June 3 said it would no longer accept the tax revenues amounting to 60% of its budget that Israel collects on Palestinian goods. On June 9 Prime Minister Shtayyeh said the PA has given the Quartet (US, Russia, UN, EU) the PA’s response to the Trump plan. It calls for a demilitarized state with East Jerusalem as its capital and minor modifications to the 1967 borders. He said that Palestine will declare its ‘independence’ if annexation goes ahead and the PLO will rescind its recognition of Israel.
Annexation
The Times of Israel (June 10) reported that Netanyahu will start by annexing 3 settlement blocks (Ariel, Ma’ale Adumim & Etzion bloc) instead of the Jordan Valley. Settler leaders are pressuring Netanyahu to annex the entire West Bank, while on June 7 over 1,000 anti-annexation protestors staged a rally in Tel Aviv that Bernie Sanders addressed by videoconference. According to Haaretz (June 11), AIPAC told Members of Congress they can criticize annexation but “doing anything to weaken this vital relationship would be a mistake” – a reference to cutting aid. As the EU, Jordan, Egypt, and Gulf countries voice their opposition, Israel appears to be preparing for annexation by constructing new roads across the West Bank.
Occupation practices
In the first 10 days of June the Israeli army raided the West Bank and East Jerusalem at least 130 times, making hundreds of arrests. Tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets were used against June 5th protests marking the 53rdanniversary of the occupation and at other demonstrations drawing parallels with the killing of George Floyd. The army destroyed at least a dozen houses and irrigation networks while settlers bulldozed Palestinian land, punctured the tires of a dozen cars near Nablus and daubed homes with racist slurs. In blockaded Gaza, where the poverty rate has soared to 53%, the army shot at farmers along the eastern border and Israeli gunboats attacked fishermen near Rafah.
See these sources: Palestine Chronicle and Palestine Centre for Human Rights
