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Palestinians Accuse Israel of Waging War on ‘Reconciliation’

Hassan Yousef speaks to the media after his release from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 19, 2014 (Majdi Mohammad/AP)
Hassan Yousef speaks to the media after his release from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 19, 2014 (Majdi Mohammad/AP)
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Palestinians Accuse Israel of Waging War on ‘Reconciliation’

Hassan Yousef speaks to the media after his release from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 19, 2014 (Majdi Mohammad/AP)
Hassan Yousef speaks to the media after his release from an Israeli prison, in the West Bank city of Ramallah on January 19, 2014 (Majdi Mohammad/AP)

After Israeli authorities arrested West Bank Hamas leader Hassan Youssef and Fatah’s Jerusalem Governor Adnan Ghaith, the Palestinian Authority accused the Israeli government of seeking to undermine Fatah-Hamas reconciliation efforts.

Dozens of field officials in both Hamas and Fatah were also arrested.

Fatah Secretary-General Jibril Rajoub condemned these arrests, accusing Israeli authorities of what he called “tampering” with the ongoing Palestinian reconciliation talks.

“This arrest is a continuation of the occupation’s approach to arresting dozens of our Palestinian people every day, and a continuation of the constant aggression against our people for decades. It comes within the framework of attempting to tamper with Palestinian affairs and influence the achievement of national unity,” Rajoub said.

“We hereby affirm that the arrest Sheikh Hassan Youssef by the occupation will not stop the path of unity for which he worked for the past two months,” Hamas said in a statement.

Fatah and Hamas movements have been at odds since 2007, but after reconciliation talks in Istanbul in late September, the two rival movements agreed to set a date for Palestinian legislative elections within the next six months.

The arrests coincided with an announcement by a government source in Tel Aviv that the Israeli Higher Council for Planning and Building will meet tomorrow, Sunday, to approve the construction of 5,400 settlement units in the West Bank.

Israel Hayom, which reported the news, revealed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had instructed approval for the planned construction.

Almost half of the new homes will be built in Beitar Illit, south of Jerusalem. The council will approve 2,929 housing units in the Haredi city.

Palestine condemned on Friday the Israeli plan to build 5,400 new units in the settlements in the West Bank.

Expanding Jewish settlements "is part of the (Israeli) unilateral moves to implement the US Deal of the Century" and its plan to "annex large parts of the West Bank," the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said in an emailed press statement.

This "disproves Israeli claim that it has frozen settlement to enable its normalization with Arab states" and "reflects the systematic American and Israeli violations of the international law and resolutions," the ministry added.

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Arab World

Beirut Blast Investigator Resumes Work After Two Years

An aerial view shows the massive damage at Beirut port's grain silos and the area around it on August 5, 2020, one day after a massive explosion hit the heart of the Lebanese capital. (AFP)
An aerial view shows the massive damage at Beirut port's grain silos and the area around it on August 5, 2020, one day after a massive explosion hit the heart of the Lebanese capital. (AFP)
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Beirut Blast Investigator Resumes Work After Two Years

An aerial view shows the massive damage at Beirut port's grain silos and the area around it on August 5, 2020, one day after a massive explosion hit the heart of the Lebanese capital. (AFP)
An aerial view shows the massive damage at Beirut port's grain silos and the area around it on August 5, 2020, one day after a massive explosion hit the heart of the Lebanese capital. (AFP)

Lebanese judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port blast on Thursday, charging 10 people including security, customs and military personnel, a judicial official said.

The fresh charges come after a two-year hiatus in the investigation into the August 4, 2020 explosion that killed more than 220 people, injured thousands and devastated swathes of Lebanon's capital.

Authorities said the explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been haphazardly stored for years.

But nobody has been held responsible for the blast, one of history's largest non-nuclear explosions.

The probe stalled two years ago after Lebanese group Hezbollah had accused Bitar of bias and demanded his dismissal, and after officials named in the investigation had filed a flurry of lawsuits to prevent it from going forward.

The resumption comes with Hezbollah's influence weakened after its recent war with Israel.

It also follows the election of a Lebanese president after the top position had been vacant for more than two years, with the new head of state Joseph Aoun last week pledging to work towards the "independence of the judiciary".

The judicial official told AFP that "procedures in the case have resumed", speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

The official said that "a new charge sheet has been issued, charging three employees and seven high-ranking officers in the Lebanese army, in the General Security, (and) in customs" with negligence and "possible intent to commit murder". Their interrogations would begin next month.

In March and April, "investigating sessions" would resume for those previously charged in the case, including former ministers, lawmakers, security and military officers, judges and port management employees, after which Bitar would ask public prosecutors to issue indictments, according to the judicial official.

Analysts say Hezbollah's weakening in its war with Israel last year allowed Lebanon's deeply divided political class to elect Aoun last week and back his naming of Nawaf Salam as premier on Monday.

Salam, until recently the presiding judge at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, on Tuesday promised "justice for the victims of the Beirut port blast".

Hundreds of individuals and organizations, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, had previously called for the United Nations to establish a fact-finding mission on the disaster -- a demand Lebanese officials have repeatedly rejected.

Cecile Roukoz, a lawyer whose brother died in the explosion, said she was optimistic after "the promises made by the president and the prime minister, then the probe resuming".

"There is hope that the rights of the victims, for whom we never stopped fighting, won't be forgotten," said the attorney, one of several representing the relatives of those killed.

Visiting Lebanon on Thursday, UN rights chief Volker Turk called for the "resumption of an independent investigation into the explosion".

"I repeat that those responsible for that tragedy must be held to account and offer the support of my office in this regard," he said.

The probe has been repeatedly stalled since 2020.

In December of that year, lead investigator Fadi Sawan charged former prime minister Hassan Diab -- who had resigned in the explosion's aftermath -- and three ex-ministers with negligence.

But Sawan was later removed from the case after mounting political pressure, and the probe was suspended.

His successor, Bitar, also summoned Diab for questioning and asked parliament, without success, to lift the immunity of lawmakers who had served as ministers.

The interior ministry also refused to execute arrest warrants issued by Bitar, further undermining his efforts.

The public prosecutor at the time, Ghassan Oueidat, thwarted his attempt to resume investigations in early 2023 after Bitar charged him in the case.