19-year-old Palestinian-American killed in West Bank, officials say
By MÉLANIE LIDMAN
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank killed a 19-year-old Palestinian-American on Wednesday evening, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.
The ministry said Nasrallah Muhammad Jamal Abu Siyam was shot dead by settlers in the village of Mukhmas, north of Jerusalem.
The Israeli military said soldiers responded to a violent clash in the area and tried to break up a riot. The army said suspects shot several Palestinians, who were evacuated to receive medical treatment.
Abou Siyam’s mother told The Associated Press that he also held U.S. citizenship. The U.S. Embassy did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Violence in the West Bank from extremist settlers has skyrocketed in recent years.
Palestinians and rights groups say authorities consistently fail to prosecute settlers or hold them accountable for their violence. Under National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, investigations into settler attacks have plummeted, according to Israeli rights group Yesh Din.
In a rare move earlier this week, Israeli prosecutors announced their intention to charge a settler with the murder of a Palestinian activist during a filmed confrontation.
More than 3.4 million Palestinians and 700,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories conquered by Israel in 1967 and sought by Palestinians for a future state. The vast majority of the international community considers that the construction of Israeli settlements in these areas is illegal and constitutes an obstacle to peace.
Report finds Palestinian journalists imprisoned in Israel tortured
The Committee to Protect Journalists said dozens of Palestinian journalists detained in Israel during the Gaza war experienced terrible conditions, including physical assaults, forced stress positions, sensory deprivation, sexual violence and medical neglect.
CPJ has documented the detention of at least 94 Palestinian journalists and one media worker during the Gaza war. It covers 32 journalists and one media worker from Gaza, 60 from the West Bank and two from Israel. Thirty of them remain in detention, CPJ said.
The report found that half of the detained journalists were never charged with a crime and were being held under Israel’s administrative detention system, which allows suspects deemed to pose a security risk to be detained for six months and can be renewed indefinitely.
Israel’s Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report, but in January dismissed a similar report on the conditions of Palestinian prisoners as “false allegations,” saying it operates legally, is subject to oversight and considers complaints.
UN development chief says clearing Gaza rubble will take 7 years
According to the United Nations Development Program, the widespread destruction across Gaza will take at least seven years just to clear the rubble.
Alexander De Croo, the former Belgian prime minister who recently returned from Gaza, said the UNDP had only cleared 0.5 percent of the rubble and that Gaza residents were experiencing “the worst living conditions I have ever seen.”
De Croo said 90% of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents live in “very, very basic tents” amid rubble, posing health hazards and the risk of weapons explosions.
He said UNDP has been able to build 500 improved housing units and has another 4,000 ready, but estimates the real need is between 200,000 and 300,000 housing units. The units are intended for temporary use during reconstruction. He called on Israel to expand access to goods and items needed for reconstruction and for the private sector to begin development.
Associated Press Writer Edith Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.
See more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
