Israel 'worry' at settler attacks
W Bank settlement plan condemned
W Bank in 'grave' water crisis
'Jewish settler attack' on film
Gaza 'Fulbright three' lose visas
Tutu: Gaza blockade abomination
Israel 'has 150 nuclear weapons'
Family killed during raid in Gaza
Israel isn't creating basis for peace - U.N.
UN warns over Gaza economic woe
Israel 'worry' at settler attacks
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There were 429 incidents in the first half of 2008, against 551 in 2007.
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In July, an Israeli rights group published a report saying nine out of 10 investigations into alleged attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers ended without anyone being charged.
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Meanwhile, the Israeli defence ministry has said Israel has postponed the expected evacuation of the settlement of Migron, in the West Bank. No new date has been set.Migron has a population of about 200, and is the largest of about 100 Jewish settlements established without Israeli government permission.
All settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
There are thought to be around 430,000 Jewish settlers living in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
W Bank settlement plan condemned
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A US official said the expansion was not helpful to the peace process while UK Foreign Minister David Miliband expressed dismay at the reports.
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The latest plan is to initially build 20 new homes at Maskiot which will be occupied by religious Jewish families who had previously withdrawn from Gaza.
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(Source: BBC News, July 25/08)
W Bank in 'grave' water crisis
Excerpts:
The group criticises the distribution of joint water resources and limits placed by Israel on the Palestinian Authority's ability to drill new wells.
"It will have serious repercussions on the economy and health," B'Tselem said.
West Bank per capita water use is about 66 litres a day - just two-thirds of the recommended international minimum.
The accumulated effects of a series of dry years would make matters worse in the months to come, the group added.
Per capita water consumption by Israeli settlers in the West Bank is 3.5 times that of Palestinians, B'Tselem says.
Water consumption per head of the population is calculated by including the consumption of livestock.
In some parts of the northern West Bank, a largely agricultural area, consumption is far below the overall average, B'Tselem says.
"The chronic water shortage results in large part from Israel's discriminatory policy in distributing the joint water resources in the West Bank and the limits it places on the Palestinian Authority's ability to drill new wells," its statement says.
A recent United Nations report highlighted water shortages in the Gaza Strip, and said a lack of spare parts and fuel meant sewage plants could not function properly.
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Source: BBC News, July 1/08
'Jewish settler attack' on film
Excerpts:
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Over the brow of the hill walk four masked men holding baseball bats. To the right of the screen, in the foreground, stands a 58-year-old Palestinian woman.
Thamam al-Nawaja has been herding her goats close to the Jewish settlement of Susia, near Hebron in the southern West Bank.
Within a few seconds, she, along with her 70-year-old husband and one of her nephews, will be beaten up.
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Source: BBC News, June 12/08
