From PressTV
Israeli soldiers shoot, injure Palestinian teen in West Bank
Palestinian security sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said scuffles broke out between Palestinian youths and Israeli forces after the latter stormed Askar refugee camp on the outskirts of Nablus, located approximately 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of al-Quds (Jerusalem), on Wednesday morning.
The Israeli troopers fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and a 14-year-old Palestinian teenager, identified as Ahmad Mazin, was shot in the foot.
Israeli troops also raided downtown Nablus and the city’s eastern neighborhood of al-Makhfiyya, where clashes also erupted. There were no immediate reports on possible casualties.
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From PressTV
Israeli forces target Palestinian fishermen off Gaza, injure one
Head of the Gaza Fishermen’s Syndicate, Nizar Ayash, said the fisherman, identified as 32-year-old Fakher Nizar Abu Riyaleh, was critically injured in the head by shrapnel from Israeli shells on Wednesday.
Ayash added that the injured Palestinian fisherman was taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City to receive medical treatment.
On November 9, Israeli gunboats targeted a Palestinian fishing boat off the coast of the besieged Gaza Strip, injuring three fishermen.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Croatia giving Zagreb Jews $4 million property in Holocaust restitution
(JTA) — Croatia will give land and an office building in Zagreb collectively valued at about $4 million to the city’s Jewish community as restitution for property expropriated during World War II.
According to the World Jewish Restitution Organization, the community will receive a six-story building and a surrounding land parcel owned by the government in the central part of the capital to replace a building once owned by the local Jewish burial society.
The Nazi-allied government confiscated the original building during the war and it was nationalized by the Communist government.
The income from the property will help to fund the operation of the Zagreb Jewish community’s senior-care facility and other communal programs.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
Preliminary reading dissolving Knesset approved, new election date set
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A bill to dissolve Israel’s Knesset unanimously passed a preliminary reading and the parliament’s faction leaders set a date for new elections.
The bill passed Wednesday morning by a vote of 84-0 with one abstention, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he would move to early elections at the soonest possible time. The measure could pass its second and third readings as early as Monday.
Prior to the vote, the heads of the Knesset factions met in the office of Speaker Yuli Edelstein and agreed on March 17 as the date for elections.
The date makes the current Knesset, the 19th, one of the shortest at just over two years. Elections were supposed to occur next in November 2017.
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From PressTV
Israel regularly arrests Palestinian children
“Around 1,200 Palestinians have been arrested, mostly children. Many of them were assaulted during arrest,” said an activist on Wednesday.
He also said Tel Aviv was even breaking the Israeli law by the arrests.
“Even the method of arrest is facing severe criticism in all levels, even in the level of the Israeli law… (which) dictates that it is forbidden to arrest a child alone or to interrogate him alone. It has also forbidden the arrest of children at night. All these procedures exist today out in the open to frighten families and their children.”
From PressTV
Israel to spend millions for construction projects in settlement
The Jerusalem City Council made the announcement on Wednesday about construction projects in the illegal settlement of Har Homa, located on a hill originally called Jabal Abu Ghneim.
The council said 50 million shekels (USD 12.5 million, 10.2 million euros) would be spent over the projects, which include a park, children’s playgrounds, green spaces, and new street lighting.
The construction work will begin “in the near future,” said the council.
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From PressTV
Israel to hold snap parliamentary elections on March 17
The decision was made during a Wednesday meeting attended by faction leaders following talks with parliament (Knesset) Speaker Yuli Edelstein.
“After consultations between different parties, it has been decided to hold elections on March 17,” said Eran Sidis, the parliament’s spokesman.
Israeli lawmakers are set to vote on a bill to dissolve the parliament later on Wednesday.
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From the Jewish Telegrapic Agency
U.S. guidelines draft recommends male circumcision
(JTA) — Male circumcision should be recommended to parents of newborn boys because of its benefits, according to a draft of federal guidelines.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the recommendations released Tuesday, found that circumcision lowers the risk of getting HIV and other sexually transmitted infections, as well as other health issues.
“These recommendations are intended to assist health care providers in the United States who are counseling men and parents of male infants, children and adolescents in decision making about male circumcision,” the CDC said in its draft recommendations.
The recommendations also said, “Such decision making is made in the context of not only health considerations, but also other social, cultural, ethical, and religious factors.”
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