Photos Fady Adwan PalestineFreeVoice Images

February 1 2009

GAZA

During a citizen gathering on Sunday, in front of the As - Salam Mosque in Jabalaya refuge camp, more than 4 hundred thousand Euros was distributed by Hamas Authority in Gaza. The money was handed out to Palestinian residents who suffered from losing their homes during the 22 day-long Israeli offensive which began during the last days of December. The number of homes completely in ruins are estimated to be 1,885. Homes with partial damage number 2,200 and 5,000 homes were damaged to a lesser degree. In the coming days Hamas will also hand out aid to those residents whose houses were partially damaged. Each home owner will receive 2,000 Euros. Hamas will also pay out $1,000 to each family of the Martyrs. According to Abdul-Latif Al-Qanuhe, a Hamas spokesperson, 490 Martyrs, are only one third of the people who were killed in the northern Gaza Strip.

East Jerusalem

Floor collapsed in Al Quds Elementary School injuring 17 school girls

In East Jerusalem the ground collapsed beneath the classroom of a UNRWA ( United Nation ) school. Seventeen Palestinian schoolgirls was injured when the floor collapsed on Sunday after noon. The girls fell down into a deep trench when the floor collapsed; most of them sustained moderate to slight injuries. The school, Al-Quds Elementary, previously suffered structural damages due to the Israelis continuous excavations near the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Israeli antiquities authorities have been digging for artifacts, carrying out excavations under the Old City of Jerusalem, in particular nearby the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Al- Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, one of the most holy treasured of Islam, is located some 100 meters from the damaged school.

Israeli Antiquities authorities continuous digging beneath the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound causes destruction to the Islamic heritage in East Jerusalem - and the loss (i.e. theft) of Islamic treasures.

The Union of Palestinian Intellectuals claim that the continuous Israeli excavations underneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque are causing great damage to the entire area. The collapse of the UNRWA school on Sunday is just one of many indications of the danger of these Jewish excavations in East Jerusalem and Palestinian neighboring towns. Frequent reports reveal that Israeli authorities also have been excavating near the Al-Marwani Mosque inside the Al-Aqsa compound.

Several homes in the town of Silwan and the Old City of Jerusalem have sustained fractures in the foundations and walls, as a result of thes  excavations. According to the Union of Palestinian Intellectuals, the damage is a direct result of the Israeli officials removal of thousands years of foundation near a tunnel leading to the Western Wall, adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

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*Hiyam Noir is Axis of Logic's war correspondent in Gaza. She is a courageous writer, poet, editor and publisher of Palestine Free Voice. Read her bio and all her reports coming directly from Gaza in: 

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