AFP
Published: 01 October ,2022:
Online travel agency Booking.com has added warning banners to both Israeli and Palestinian properties in the occupied West Bank, under a new policy on conflict zones, the company said Saturday.
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“Please review any travel advisories provided by your government to make an informed decision about your stay in this area, which may be considered conflict-affected,” the company’s website now says, in searches for accommodation in Jewish settlements or Palestinian locales.
The update comes as tensions see near-daily arrests and clashes in the West Bank, resulting in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians, many of them armed militants.
The warning, which went live on Friday, does not appear on properties in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem or Golan Heights, both territories which like the West Bank, were seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
According to Booking.com, similar messages have appeared for months on properties in breakaway northern Cyprus, while Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh and South Ossetia were included in the latest update, with plans to “roll out banner notifications in more than 30 regions over the next few months.”
The warnings are “to ensure that customers have the information they need to make informed decisions about destinations they are considering, which may be categorized as conflict-affected areas and which may pose risks to travelers,” Bookings.com said in a statement.
The West Bank warning was lauded by Human Rights Watch (HRW) as a “welcome step towards informing consumers that they are renting homes in occupied territories.”
But Omar Shakir, its Israel and Palestine director, said the fact that Booking.com operated at all in the West Bank constituted a “contribution to serious rights abuses.”
“The company should stop brokering rentals in illegal settlements in places like the occupied West Bank,” he said in a statement.
HRW has been pressuring international companies to cease their West Bank operations.
In 2019, online accommodation booking platform Airbnb announced it would remove listings in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but it reversed the decision as it battled lawsuits in Israel and the United States.
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In West Bank, soldiers raid, seize money, clash with residents, make arrests, and in Gaza attack fishermen
01/October/2022
Israeli army jeeps raiding towns in the West Bank.
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Saturday, October 1, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers raided and seized money, clashed with residents and made arrests in the West Bank while in Gaza, the Israeli navy attacked fishermen’s boats with shells and machine gunfire, according to various sources.
Soldiers raided Jalazon refugee camp, north of Ramallah, early this morning, broke into homes and seized a large sum of money, according to Palestinian security sources.
Residents clashed with the invading soldiers, who fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at the Palestinians causing one injury by a rubber bullet, who was admitted to hospital and reported in stable condition.
Confrontations were also reported near the village of Arraba, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, said local sources, after the army had set up a checkpoint today near the town and stopped and checked papers of Palestinians on the road. There were no reports of injuries in the confrontations despite the soldiers firing tear gas and sound bombs at the Palestinians.
At the same time, soldiers this morning blocked an access road to Jenin city and prevented people from using that road, forcing them to look for alternative routes to move around.
Similarly, soldiers this morning set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Deir Abu Mishaal, northwest of Ramallah, stopped vehicles and checked papers causing serious traffic jams and a long line of cars waiting to leave or enter the village.
Meanwhile, soldiers today detained Palestinians in the south of the West Bank after raiding their homes, three from various areas of the city of Hebron, and four others, including a 13-yar-old child detained in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, according to Palestinian security sources.
In the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli navy ships today fired shells and machine gunfire at Palestinian fishermen’s boats sailing in the northern coast of the Strip, reported WAFA correspondent.
He said the navy fired several shells and shot several rounds of machine gunfire and tear gas at the fishermen forcing them to return to shore without any reports of injuries.
Israel, as part of its 16-year-old air, sea and land blockade on the Gaza Strip, allows fishermen to sail for only three nautical miles in the northern coast and six in the southern coast.
M.K.
01/October/2022
Israeli army jeeps raiding towns in the West Bank.
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Saturday, October 1, 2022 (WAFA) – Israeli soldiers raided and seized money, clashed with residents and made arrests in the West Bank while in Gaza, the Israeli navy attacked fishermen’s boats with shells and machine gunfire, according to various sources.
Soldiers raided Jalazon refugee camp, north of Ramallah, early this morning, broke into homes and seized a large sum of money, according to Palestinian security sources.
Residents clashed with the invading soldiers, who fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas at the Palestinians causing one injury by a rubber bullet, who was admitted to hospital and reported in stable condition.
Confrontations were also reported near the village of Arraba, south of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, said local sources, after the army had set up a checkpoint today near the town and stopped and checked papers of Palestinians on the road. There were no reports of injuries in the confrontations despite the soldiers firing tear gas and sound bombs at the Palestinians.
At the same time, soldiers this morning blocked an access road to Jenin city and prevented people from using that road, forcing them to look for alternative routes to move around.
Similarly, soldiers this morning set up a checkpoint at the entrance to the village of Deir Abu Mishaal, northwest of Ramallah, stopped vehicles and checked papers causing serious traffic jams and a long line of cars waiting to leave or enter the village.
Meanwhile, soldiers today detained Palestinians in the south of the West Bank after raiding their homes, three from various areas of the city of Hebron, and four others, including a 13-yar-old child detained in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, according to Palestinian security sources.
In the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli navy ships today fired shells and machine gunfire at Palestinian fishermen’s boats sailing in the northern coast of the Strip, reported WAFA correspondent.
He said the navy fired several shells and shot several rounds of machine gunfire and tear gas at the fishermen forcing them to return to shore without any reports of injuries.
Israel, as part of its 16-year-old air, sea and land blockade on the Gaza Strip, allows fishermen to sail for only three nautical miles in the northern coast and six in the southern coast.
M.K.
Israel forces, settlers attacked 15 mosques in West Bank since start of year
September 30, 2022
Palestinians stage a protest against Jewish settlers' raid at Al-Aqsa Mosque
September 30, 2022
Palestinians stage a protest against Jewish settlers' raid at Al-Aqsa Mosque
in Gaza City, Gaza on September 25, 2022 [Mustafa Hassona - Anadolu Agency]
September 30, 202
Israeli occupation forces and right-wing Jewish settlers have attacked 15 mosques since the beginning of the year, Palestinian Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs Hatem Al-Bakri said in a statement yesterday.
Bakri explained that these violations come as part of the occupation's policy aimed at allowing settlers to carry out aggression without restriction, which could push the region into a religious war.
In 2021, the Palestinian Authority documented attacks on more than ten mosques in the West Bank, in addition to dozens of others that resulted from Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
September 30, 202
Israeli occupation forces and right-wing Jewish settlers have attacked 15 mosques since the beginning of the year, Palestinian Minister of Endowments and Religious Affairs Hatem Al-Bakri said in a statement yesterday.
Bakri explained that these violations come as part of the occupation's policy aimed at allowing settlers to carry out aggression without restriction, which could push the region into a religious war.
In 2021, the Palestinian Authority documented attacks on more than ten mosques in the West Bank, in addition to dozens of others that resulted from Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
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