Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Off the coast of the Gaza Strip nr. Rafah, Egyptian naval forces open fire on Palestinian fishermen, injuring 1. In the West Bank, IDF troops raid the offices of Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam in Ramallah, and order its staff to stop using their presses to print pro-Hamas publications Filastin, al-Risala and al-Istiqlal. The PA permitted the 3 publications to be distributed in the West Bank starting in late 4/2014, in accordance with the Hamas-Fatah reconciliation deal of 4/23. The IDF conducts house searches and arrest raids in Hebron and 2 nearby villages, 1 village and Aida r.c. nr. Bethlehem, and 1 village and al-Jalazun r.c. nr. Ramallah; patrols in 1 village nr. Jenin in the morning, 1 village nr. Jenin in the afternoon, and in 2 villages each nr. Hebron and Jericho at night. In East Jerusalem, groups of right-wing Jewish activists march through the Old City to celebrate “Jerusalem Day,” leading to clashes with Palestinians at Haram al-Sharif. In the clashes, Israeli security forces injure 4 Palestinians with rubber-coated metal bullets, and Palestinians injure 1 security officer with a thrown stone. Israeli police later arrest 2 Palestinian youth in connection with a clash involving several Jewish Israelis elsewhere in the Old City. (AFP, HA, MNA, YA 5/28; PCHR 5/29)

In response to low voter turnout in the Egyptian presidential election, polls are kept open for a 3d day. Following their close, provisional results indicate that al-Sisi won between 89% and 93.4% of the vote, with al-Sisi’s campaign and judicial sources estimating leftist candidate Hamdeen Sabahi won 2.9% and 5%. Judicial sources estimate turnout to be 44.4% of Egypt’s 54 m. eligible voters. Meanwhile, gunmen shoot and kill an Egyptian border guard in Rafah. (AP, MNA, REU 5/28)