Israel demolishes steel structures in Jordan Valley

[Jefferson23]

JERICHO (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces demolished five steel Palestinian structures used for livestock and confiscated tractors in the Jordan Valley late Monday, locals told Ma'an.

Witnesses said bulldozers escorted by Israeli military forces entered the al-Jiftlik area of the Jordan Valley and destroyed structures belonging to Muhammad Abu Arram and Nader Abu Shahin.

A spokeswoman for COGAT, the Israeli defense ministry unit in charge of civil administration in the Palestinian territories, did not answer calls seeking comment.

Locals also told Ma'an that Israeli forces confiscated three tractors in the Wadi Baziq area of the Jordan Valley on Tuesday.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=734325

[Jefferson23]

1. Palestinians 'throw Molotovs' at new Silwan settler homes

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Palestinians threw Molotov cocktails at an apartment building in a flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood just hours after it was taken over by Jewish settlers, police said Tuesday.

No one was injured in the incident in the Silwan neighbouhood late on Monday, which saw a group of Palestinians firing flares and throwing Molotovs at the building, a police statement said.

No serious damage was caused and no arrests were made.

The building was one of two structures housing 10 apartments that were taken over by Jewish settlers before dawn on Monday, sparking fierce local opposition. Such takeovers have also been strongly condemned by the international community, including the US.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=734405

[Jefferson23]

2. Jordan exerting efforts to prevent division of Aqsa

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) – King Abdullah II and the Jordanian government are exerting efforts to prevent the ratification of a draft resolution in the Israeli Knesset to divide the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound between Muslims and Jews, an official said Tuesday.

In an interview with Ma'an TV, Ambassador of Jordan to Palestine Khalid al-Shawabka maintained that "the Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem are red lines" and what is going on in Jerusalem is "unacceptable."

"Jordan's foreign minister has sent strongly-worded messages to foreign ministers of member states of the UN Security Council and to the UN demanding an end to the systematic assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and on worshipers," the ambassador said.

He highlighted that employees of the Palestinian ministry of endowment who work in the Al-Aqsa compound receive their salaries from Jordan and follow Jordanian rules.

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=734378

[Jefferson23]

3. Israeli settlers construct 2 outposts near Nablus

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli settlers on Tuesday set up two new outposts in the northern West Bank after confiscating hundreds of dunams of land, an official told Ma'an.

Ghassan Daghlas, a Palestinian official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that Israeli settlers had constructed two steel structures in the al-Dawa area of Khirbet Yanun near the Palestinian town of Aqraba.

The settlers also started razing Palestinian lands in preparation to build a road, Daghlas said.

He accused the settlers and the Israeli government of using "all possible means ... to empty Khirbet Yanun of its (Palestinian) residents."

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=734386