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4<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian farmers as they were working on their land near the border east of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. No injuries were reported. (WAFA<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli forces broke into an elementary school in Nablus and forced teachers and students out of the building at gunpoint, without providing any explanation. (WAFA<\/i>) <\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli forces detained 11 Palestinian teenagers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Ma’an News Agency)<\/p><\/div>\n
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The Israeli army is reportedly planning to indict five soldiers on charges of looting Palestinian homes during the 2014 Gaza operation. (Haaretz<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
5<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\n
Three Palestinian security officers were injured in armed clashes with gunmen in the Balata refugee camp east of Nablus. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli forces apprehended two young Palestinian men and a teenager in the Hebron district, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>) <\/p><\/div>\n\n
Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahhar told reporters in the Gaza Strip that Lebanese and Syrian branches of Hamas’ armed wing should launch attacks on Israel “to help us liberate Palestine.” (Al-Akhbar<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire Daniel Kablan Duncan affirmed his country’s absolute support for Palestinian independence and statehood as well as reaching a just and comprehensive solution to the conflict in the Middle East. He said during a meeting with the Ambassador of Palestine that his country wishes to sign bilateral agreements in the political, economic and cultural fields. (WAFA<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah met with a representative of the EU and demanded the Union put pressure on Israel to release Palestinian tax funds. Palestinians believe Israel will not transfer the tax revenues until after the March election. (Ynetnews<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Foreign Ministers of Egypt and Norway wrote an open letter to Gaza donors to remind them to keep their pledges of providing $5.4 billion in aid. “It’s not my role here to have a ‘name and shame’ list, but we do have an overview of this and we will specifically follow up on the countries that have not been able to deliver so far,” Norway’s Foreign Minister Brende said. (Haaretz<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
UNRWA said it had begun distributing its 2015 emergency food assistance to needy refugee families in the Gaza Strip. (UNRWA<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
A group of Israeli settlers stormed an outskirt of village of Beita south of Nablus and set up a new settlement outpost, a PA official said. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that the current number of Palestinians, held by Israel under administrative detention without charges or trial, has reached 500. (IMEMC<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
At least 151 Palestinian children are currently being held as “security prisoners” in Israeli jails, Palestinian legal monitor, Military Court Watch said in a statement. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli forces for the third time have dismantled the symbolic village of “Jerusalem gate”, hours after it was rebuilt in the morning. The tent village was set to protest the new settlement project “E-1” which confiscates thousands of dunums from East Jerusalem for settlement expansion. (IMEMC<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Robert Serry, the United Nation’s outgoing Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said during a farewell speech he delivered at the Netanya Academic College that Israel and the Palestinian territories have months to avoid a one-state reality. “If we do not advance matters in the coming months, we will reach despair and a reality of one state,” Serry said while addressing a crowd of Israelis. “I believe you have a partner in Ramallah. You must formulate a strategy regarding the topic of Gaza.” (JTA<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Nickolay Mladenov of Bulgaria as his Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and his Personal Representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. In this capacity, Mr. Mladenov will also be the Envoy of the Secretary-General to the Quartet. Mr. Mladenov brings with him extensive experience in public service and international affairs. He is currently Special Representative for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). He served as Minister for Foreign Affairs of Bulgaria (2010-2013) and Minister of Defence of Bulgaria (2009-2010). Previously, he was a Member of the European Parliament (2007-2009) and a Member of the Parliament of Bulgaria (2001-2005). Mr. Mladenov held several positions in the inter-governmental and non-governmental sectors, including at the World Bank and the European Institute. (United Nations<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Hamas said that the continuation of Israel’s eight-year blockade will force the political movement to take action, according to a spokesman for the group. Demonstrators had gathered in the southern city to protest against Egypt’s closure of the border crossing and the decision to label Hamas’ military wing as a “terrorist” group. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
The Palestinian Minister of Public Works said that around $12 million of aid donations will be distributed by UNDP to Palestinians displaced by Israel’s military offensive on the Gaza Strip last summer, $6 million in $300 payments to those affected by the conflict and another $6 million to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed. Rent payments will be covered for a further four months for those who had already been receiving support, while rent for those yet to have received money will be covered for eight months. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
6<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\n
The Belgian Parliament voted to recognize Palestine “at the right time”, taking into account several parameters: the positive impact of this recognition to restart a negotiation process between Israel and Palestine, the evolution of cooperation within the European Union and the existence of a fully functioning Palestinian Government. The opposition, voting against the text, demanded the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine without any conditions. (dpa<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Egypt and Norway urged donors, including Gulf States squeezed by low oil prices, to keep promises of providing $5.4 billion in aid for the Palestinians after the devastating war in Gaza last year. The two nations, who led a donors’ conference in Cairo in October when the cash was pledged, wrote an open letter to donors and said people in Gaza were suffering with a slower-than-expected pace of reconstruction. (The Cairo Post<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Over 400 rabbis signed a letter calling for an end to the demolitions of Palestinian homes that fall outside Israeli zoning laws. Addressed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the letter sought to find a solution by having Palestinians plan the development of their communities jointly with administrative bodies so that they comply with legal frameworks. (PNN)<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli settlers opened fire at Palestinians participating in a peaceful protest near Beit Ummar, near Hebron in the West Bank, a local official said. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Israeli authorities released Ashraf Ali Awad, 32, a Palestinian prisoner from the Gaza Strip who had spent eight years in Israeli jails, family told Ma’an. Awad had been forbidden by Israeli prison authorities from seeing his family for the last five-and-a-half years. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
7<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\n
An Israeli settler opened fire at several Palestinian cars near the village of Aqraba south of Nablus. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
President Mahmoud Abbas ordered the formation of a committee to oversee cases to lodge with the International Criminal Court. The new committee will be headed by chief negotiator Saeb Erakat and include various figures from the Palestinian political scene, universities and human rights organizations. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n\n
The Palestinian Environment Quality Authority said that any individual found responsible for exporting hazardous waste from Israel to Palestinian lands will be sentenced to lifetime imprisonment and hard labor. The statement comes amid increasing concern over Israeli companies dumping toxic materials in Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank, with implicit Israeli government support and the use of local Palestinian collaborators. (Ma’an News Agency<\/i>)<\/p><\/div>\n
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