PALESTINIAN President Mahmud Abbas has said that ‘We shall be taking the case of the martyrdom of the youth Muhammad Abu-Khudayr to all international forums, until the criminals are punished and we restore our rights in full.’
Abbas made these statements when he received at the Presidential Headquarters in Ramallah at noon on Monday the family of martyr Muhammad Abu-Khudayr and the youth Tariq Abu-Khudayr, whom the occupation forces ferociously attacked.
The president said: ‘I offer condolences to the family of the martyr Muhammad, to ourselves, and to the entire Palestinian people, because he is our son and the son of the whole Palestinian people. It is our destiny to go down this road and to exert effort and pay with blood. Unfortunately, however, we are dealing with people who understand nothing about humanity or what it means.’
His excellency continued: ‘We are steadfast and patient. We shall not remain quiet. This and other issues will get to the furthest corners of the earth, and then each one of us will take his rights back. We will also get back our rights and the rights of the youth Tariq, whose image they tried to distort and who will remain better than them, despite this attack. God willing, Tariq will grow up and demand peace because we understand more about peace and justice than they do.’
Abbas said: ‘This is a long march. We are holding out here forever. We will acquire our rights in the end. We are steadfast on our land and we shall not leave it. They must understand this no matter what they do. They will not affect our will and determination.’
He added: ‘We shall not remain quiet over this ugly crime. After today, we shall not remain quiet about these crimes that are being committed against our people, not only the crimes of murder and torture, but also the settlements, the attacks by the settlers, the abductions, aggression, uprooting of trees, and attacks on mosques.’
He continued: ‘I said yesterday that we will go to the international courts and they do not want us to go, which is why I told them that if they do not want us to turn to the international courts, they must stop their attacks on us.’
He said: ‘Jerusalem is the bride, crown, and capital of our independent state. It will remain our capital forever. For this reason, some time ago, we started to study all possible ways to support the holy city. Today, we discussed numerous ideas. We shall work on implementing these ideas in order to support the steadfastness of our people in the occupied city of Jerusalem, which is being subjected to the fiercest onslaught by the occupation.’
With respect to the cause of the prisoners, his excellency affirmed that ‘We have exerted huge efforts in order to release them. And in actual fact, the first, second, and third batches were released. When they refused to release the fourth batch of prisoners, we immediately took action to join 15 international organisations. We shall be joining another number of international organisations and agreements and we shall ensure activation of our membership in them. In the next few days, we shall confirm whether we will activate joining these organisations and agreements, because it is not enough to join them without activating our membership in them.’
On his part, Ishaq Abu-Khudayr, head of the Shu’fat Municipal Council, said that Shu’fat and the Abu-Khudayr family are proud to have offered martyr Muhammad to the homeland. He is not the first nor will he be the last.
He added: ‘Everyone knows that Muhammad was abducted by the begrudging settlers and was tortured and burned alive. This is their criminal behaviour. For this reason, we tell them that they must return to the history. They have implemented the holocaust on martyr Muhammad, but despite this ugly murder, we shall remain steadfast and we shall continue to cling to this homeland.’
Abu-Khudayr continued: ‘We ask your excellency to follow up on this ugly crime on all international levels, and in the international courts so that the criminals can be punished for their crime.’ He denied allegations by the occupation government regarding the martyr Muhammad and the contacts it held with his family.
The Shu’fat Village Council head said: ‘We deny that the Israeli prime minister contacted the family of martyr Muhammad. This is a false allegation, like the false allegations they made against the martyr Muhammad when they tried to level ugly charges against him in order to weasel their way out of the crime, until it was proven with categorical evidence that the murderers are the settlers.’
Isma’il Haniyah, the former prime minister of Gaza, has called for bolstering the unity of the Palestinian position politically and in the field and for deepening the coordination and cooperation among all our people in order to face this sensitive phase.
In a press release he issued at dawn on 8 July, a copy of which was obtained by the Palestinian Information Centre, Haniyah stressed the need for the temporary leadership of the Palestinian factions’ secretaries general to convene urgently to discuss the current state of affairs, adopt a united Palestinian stand, and take political measures and steps supportive of our people on the ground.
The Hamas leader also urged the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to hold urgent meetings to examine the aggression and its implications for the Palestinian people, to take actual steps to protect and express solidarity with our people, and to curb the Israeli aggression.
Haniyah further emphasised Hamas’ adherence to the Palestinian reconciliation at this moment more than ever before in light of the all-out aggression our people are facing.
He called on Fatah’s leadership to safeguard the reconciliation agreement as part of the partnership between the two sides and on all the factions to shoulder their historic responsibility to protect the Palestinian national enterprise at this decisive juncture.
Haniyah hailed the Palestinian people’s perseverance in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and the territories occupied in 1948, who are engaged in a heroic battle that expresses the nobility of this people, awareness, endless sacrifices, and ability to adapt to domestic and foreign changes in a way that consolidates its right to the homeland Palestine and the right to return there.
• Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday 8 July that the time had come to ‘take off the gloves’ against Hamas.
Netanyahu was speaking ahead of military consultations that he was holding with security officials at the Kirya Military Headquarters in Tel Aviv.
‘Hamas chose to escalate the situation and it will pay a heavy price for doing so,’ the prime minister said.
On 8 July, the PNA presidency spokesman Nabil Abu-Rudaynah condemned the Israeli decision to expand the scope of its aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.
Abu-Rudaynah said: ‘The decision of the occupation government to expand its aggression and to continue the policy of repression, abuse, and settlement construction in the West Bank is tantamount to declaring an all-out war on our people.
‘The Israeli government should be solely accountable for any repercussions, including the reactions it will prompt. The Palestinian people will not sit idly by as Israel commits a public massacre against our children, women, and elderly. Our people have the right to confront the assault and to defend themselves through all legitimate means.’
The spokesman added that the occupation government’s decision to expand the war is also a decision to destroy any opportunity for calm. It will plunge the region into a cycle of bloody violence, which will harm everyone.
Abu-Rudaynah said that the international silence, particularly that of the US Administration, is no longer acceptable. It will force the Palestinian leadership to make fateful decisions to defend our people in the face of such an aggression.
The Bethlehem-based, independent Ma’an News Agency in Arabic on 7-8 July carried several updates on the latest military and other developments in the Palestinian territories and Israel. On July 8 the ‘The National Resistance Brigades’, the military wing of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), claimed responsibility for shelling the periphery of the regional council of Eshkol in western Negev with three rockets this morning.
The brigades said in a statement that this is in response to the continuation of the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. For its part, the Al-Nasir Salah-al-Din Brigades and Abu-Ali Mustafa Brigades said in a joint statement that their rocket unit fired five rockets on the city of Al-Majdal and the settlement of Sedorot.’
Clashes continue in Hebron, with dozens suffering gas inhalation. Different areas in the Hebron Governorate have been witnessing night clashes for several days between youths and the occupation forces in protest against the murder and burning of teenager Mohammed Abu Khudayr by settlers and the continuation of terrorist operations carried out by the settlers against the Palestinians.
In this context, dozens of citizens suffered asphyxiation late last night and early today during clashes that broke out in Bab al-Zawiyah in the centre of Hebron and in Bayt Immar, Al-Arrub Camp, the area near Al-Fawwar Camp north and south of Hebron, the area of Kharsa south of the city of Dura, and the area of Zif south of Hebron.’
The report added: ‘Muhammad Ayyad Awad, coordinator of the Popular Committee for Resisting Settlements in Bayt Immar, said that clashes erupted in the area of Asidah in the town during which the occupation soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas on youths, causing asphyxiation as dozens inhaled tear gas. Meanwhile, youths threw Molotov cocktails on the occupation soldiers, but no injuries were reported.’
The occupation authorities at dawn on Tuesday launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the quarters and villages of the city of Jerusalem. The occupation forces launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the village of Sur Bahir, the town of Silwan, Al-Tur quarter, and the Old City. The Israeli forces, accompanied by their intelligence units, raided homes and carried out arrests.
Youths at Umm al-Safa village north of Ramallah succeeded in setting fire to a part of a camp for the occupation army close to the village during the clashes that erupted between dozens of youth and the occupation forces in the village.
The report says that the youth threw stones and Molotov cocktails on the camp, setting fire to part of it, while Israeli forces fired ‘live and rubber bullets’ on the youth. Large forces of the Israeli occupation army at dawn today raided the village of Dayr Nizam and the village of Abud north of Ramallah. Clashes erupted between the youths and the Israeli occupation forces in both villages.
The youths of the village threw stones at the occupation army, while the occupation forces fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades at angry youths.
The occupation forces at dawn on Tuesday raided the town of Baytuniya, west of Ramallah. The Israeli forces besieged a residential building in the area of Balu Baytuniya and forced all the occupants of the building to leave and started searching the building.
The military operation targeted the house of Muhammad Jamil Kifayah, a student at Al-Quds University who is currently held by the Israeli forces.
