Israel seals off entrance to West Bank's Ramallah

Al jazeera
December 24, 2017

Dec 24: Israeli forces have indefinitely closed down the northern entrance to the occupied West Bank twin cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh.

On Saturday night, amid ongoing protests over US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the Israeli Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) decided to close off the DCO checkpoint that connects Ramallah to the northern West Bank cities.

"Israel decides to close the DCO checkpoint until further notice due to the ongoing rioting that is taking place at the Citi Inn roundabout near Ramallah's entrance," noted a statement on Twitter by COGAT, the Israeli military body that administers parts of the West Bank.

"The ball is in the Palestinian people's court and the equation is clear - when peace is restored, normal conditions will resume, but as long as violence continues the border will remain closed."

The checkpoint usually offers a shorter route to travelers, who would otherwise be required to take a longer way that is adjacent to the illegal Beit El settlement.

It is frequently used by Palestinian Authority officials, foreigners, diplomats and journalists going in and out of the occupied West Bank near Ramallah.

Protests in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip erupted earlier this month, after Trump announced the US would be relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, declaring the holy city as Israel's capital.

Since then, Israeli forces have killed 12 Palestinians, including four during air raids in Gaza. At least 2,900 others have been injured and more than 400 arrested.

Last week, the United Nations General Assembly passed a non-binding resolution declaring Trump's decision "null and void". It was approved with 128 votes in favour.

Prior to the vote, Trump had threatened to halt aid to member states who voted against his Jerusalem decision, and his administration's ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, warned countries that Trump would be "taking names" of those who opposed his decision.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected US peace efforts and called on the European Union to take the lead in the Israel-Palestine peace process.

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News Network
November 7,2024

Udupi, Nov 7: In a tragic turn of events, a young woman, Prasanna, aged 29, allegedly died by suicide on Wednesday, struggling to cope with the demands of work and motherhood after the birth of her daughter, according to police reports.

Prasanna had married on December 2, 2022, and was the mother of a 10-month-old baby girl. Her husband works in Bengaluru, while she lived with her in-laws, who, according to her family, treated her kindly.

In a complaint, Prasanna's mother revealed that her daughter often called her, expressing deep concerns over her readiness for motherhood. Despite receiving supportive care from her family, Prasanna felt unprepared and overwhelmed by the balance of work and home life that early motherhood required.

Her family shared that she had been undergoing treatment, but between 10 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, she allegedly took her own life at her husband’s residence. The Karkala Rural Police Station has registered a case and is conducting further investigations.

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The Palestinian Hamas resistance movement says its fighters have killed at least 20 Israeli soldiers in northern parts of the besieged Gaza Strip in just two days, in retaliation for the occupying regime’s genocidal war on the Palestinian territory.

In a statement on Monday evening, Hamas said that fighters of its military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, “killed at least five occupation soldiers” in northern parts of the coastal territory earlier in the day.

It added that Hamas fighters also killed 15 Israeli soldiers in the war-ravaged region on Sunday.

The resistance movement’s “qualitative operation … confirms once again the failure of the criminal Zionist entity to suppress and eradicate the Palestinian resistance, which continues to direct qualitative strikes against its terrorist soldiers,” Hamas further said on its Telegram channel.

Palestinians have increased their resistance operations in the face of intensified Israeli aggression in northern Gaza that has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 over the past weeks.

“Our valiant resistance is waging a war of attrition with the criminal enemy, inflicting daily losses on its soldiers and vehicles, and all of [Israeli prime minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s bets and dreams of achieving any of his goals are failing,” the Gaza-based resistance movement added.

Hamas also vowed that Israel’s ongoing crimes and aggression against Gaza would be met with increased resistance and painful strikes, which will continue until the aggression against Palestinians ends and the regime fully withdraws from the blockaded territory.

As the war in Gaza enters its 14th month, the Health Ministry reports that Israeli attacks have killed at least 43,603 Palestinians and wounded 102,929 others.

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News Network
November 15,2024

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Union minister Amit Shah on Friday, November 15, said PM Narendra Modi will amend the Waqf Act despite opposition from leaders like Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar.

"Modi ji wants to change the Waqf Board law, but Uddhav ji, Sharad Pawar and Supriya Sule are opposing it," Shah said, addressing a rally at Umarkhed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district.

"Uddhav ji, listen carefully, you all can protest as much as you want, but Modi ji will amend the Waqf Act," he said. Shah said there are two camps in the November 20 Maharashtra assembly polls, one of 'Pandavas' represented by the BJP-led Mahayuti and the other of 'Kauravas' represented by Maha Vikas Aghadi.

"Uddhav Thackeray claims that his Shiv Sena is the real one. Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Aurangabad to Sambhajinagar? Can the real Shiv Sena go against renaming Ahmednagar to Ahilyanagar? The real Shiv Sena stands with the BJP," Shah said.

"Rahul Baba used to say that his government would credit money in the accounts of the people instantly. You were unable to fulfil your promises in Himachal, Karnataka, and Telangana," he said.

Shah said the Mahayuti alliance has promised that women will get Rs 2,100 per month under the Ladki Bahin Yojana. "Kashmir is an integral part of India and no power in the world can snatch it away from us," Shah said.

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