Wednesday, November 26, 2014

In the Gaza Strip, Egyptian authorities open the Rafah border crossing, which has been closed since 10/25, the day after 30 Egyptian security troops were killed by Sinai Province of the Islamic State (then known as Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis). In the West Bank, the IDF conducts house searches and raids in and around Hebron; closes the Hawara checkpoint at the s. entrance to Nablus; patrols nr. Hebron. In East Jerusalem, a mentally disabled Palestinian woman is detained and taken to the Russian compound detention center for questioning during a court hearing for her daughter, who was arrested for defending her mother from Israeli security forces on 11/25. Israeli forces conduct raids in Shu‘fat r.c. and Issawiyya. At a prison nr. Beersheba, Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian mother and her 2 infant children while they are visiting their incarcerated father. (The infants are released on 11/27 and their mother on 11/30.) (MNA, REU, WAFA, YA 11/26; MNA, PCHR 11/27; MNA 11/30; PCHR 12/4; OCHA 12/5)

Senior Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuq criticizes the UN’s Gaza reconstruction mechanism, saying that its architect, UN Special Coordinator Robert Serry, did not reach out to confer with Hamas and that the group rejects the mechanism. Abu Marzuq also describes the mechanism as a way for PA Pres. Abbas to sidestep Hamas. (MEMO 11/26)

Israeli interior minister Gilad Erdan cancels the residency of the widow of 1 of the 2 Palestinians who attacked a West Jerusalem synagogue on 11/18, effectively deporting her and her 3 children back to the West Bank. The woman remains in East Jerusalem while she appeals the decision. (TOI 11/26, 12/3; PCHR 12/4)

The UNGA overwhelmingly approves 6 new res. relating to Palestinian rights, methods for achieving justice for the Palestinians, and Jerusalem. (IMEMC 11/26)