23 mar 2020
Israeli occupation forces on Monday distributed notices for the evacuation and demolition of a number of Palestinian homes in Rakhma village in the Negev, south of Occupied Palestine.
Member of Rakhma's local committee Sulaiman al-Freijat said that the Israeli forces stormed the village, despite the state of emergency in the region due to the coronavirus outbreak, and ordered two Palestinian families to evacuate their houses.
Al-Freijat said that the Israeli authorities have not provided Rakhma village with any services to help the residents fight the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, they have stepped up their aggressive policies against the Palestinians there.
Member of Rakhma's local committee Sulaiman al-Freijat said that the Israeli forces stormed the village, despite the state of emergency in the region due to the coronavirus outbreak, and ordered two Palestinian families to evacuate their houses.
Al-Freijat said that the Israeli authorities have not provided Rakhma village with any services to help the residents fight the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, they have stepped up their aggressive policies against the Palestinians there.
A horde of extremist Jewish settlers on Monday attacked Palestinian citizens aboard a car traveling on a road near Silat ad-Dhahr town, south of Jenin province in the occupied West Bank.
According to local sources, settlers hurled a hail of stones at a car carrying citizens from the family of Silawi on a road near Silat ad-Dhahr town, causing damage to its windows and body.
The settlers also took over the car and drove away, but the owner had it back later after he reported the incident to the Palestinian Authority liaison office in the area.
According to local sources, settlers hurled a hail of stones at a car carrying citizens from the family of Silawi on a road near Silat ad-Dhahr town, causing damage to its windows and body.
The settlers also took over the car and drove away, but the owner had it back later after he reported the incident to the Palestinian Authority liaison office in the area.
A Jewish settler on Monday bulldozed plots of land belonging to Palestinian citizens in the northwest of Occupied Jerusalem.
Local official Ra’fat Awadallah said that the settlers bulldozed Palestinian swaths of land in an area between the towns of Rafat and Qalandiya, taking advantage of the presence of local residents in their homes because of coronavirus fears.
Awadallah added that the settlers started to cultivate the land and fenced it before employees from the Jerusalem province office and local youths showed up and forced him to leave the area.
Local official Ra’fat Awadallah said that the settlers bulldozed Palestinian swaths of land in an area between the towns of Rafat and Qalandiya, taking advantage of the presence of local residents in their homes because of coronavirus fears.
Awadallah added that the settlers started to cultivate the land and fenced it before employees from the Jerusalem province office and local youths showed up and forced him to leave the area.
Nearly 1,600 trees have been vandalized by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of 2020, according to United Nations OCHA.
According to the agency’s latest report, during the period 3-16 March, Israeli settlers vandalized at least 385 Palestinian-owned trees and vehicles in the West Bank.
Three such attacks involved settlers cutting down or uprooting some 200 olive trees and 150 grapevines “belonging to farmers from Al Khader and Khallet Sakariya villages that are planted next to the Gush Etzion settlement area (Bethlehem), and 35 olive trees next to Bruchin settlement (Salfit)”.
Meanwhile, five additional attacks in the Nablus governorate, in northern West Bank, “involved slashing the tires of 11 vehicles in Huwwara town, hurling stones and damaging two houses and four vehicles in ‘Einabus village, and vandalizing an uninhabited house in Burin village.”
In addition, UN OCHA stated, Palestinian residents of the ‘Ein ar Rashash herding community near Ramallah, in central West Bank, reported 25 lambs “stolen by a settler residing in an adjacent settlement outpost”.
On top of the numerous incidents of attacks on Palestinian-owned property and livestock, Israeli settlers “physically assaulted and injured three Palestinians”, including a woman, in three separate incidents in Al Auja town and the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city (H2), in southern West Bank.
“Additional settler attacks not resulting in injuries or damage were reported in the H2 area on 10 and 11 March, during celebrations of a Jewish holiday (Purim),” the UN OCHA report added.
The UN OCHA report is issued once a fortnight, and documents human rights violations by Israeli forces and settlers, and the impact of occupation for Palestinians.
Over the reporting period, UN OCHA documented the punitive demolition of two homes, as well as the demolition or seizing of an additional 14 Palestinian-owned structures on the grounds of a lack of building permits, displacing 29 people and affecting around 60 others.
Israeli forces also “bulldozed a section of a dirt road connecting five herding communities in southern Hebron to their main service center”, meaning that “residents must use a long detour to access their main service center and market in Yatta town”.
~ Middle East Monitor, United Nations-Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
According to the agency’s latest report, during the period 3-16 March, Israeli settlers vandalized at least 385 Palestinian-owned trees and vehicles in the West Bank.
Three such attacks involved settlers cutting down or uprooting some 200 olive trees and 150 grapevines “belonging to farmers from Al Khader and Khallet Sakariya villages that are planted next to the Gush Etzion settlement area (Bethlehem), and 35 olive trees next to Bruchin settlement (Salfit)”.
Meanwhile, five additional attacks in the Nablus governorate, in northern West Bank, “involved slashing the tires of 11 vehicles in Huwwara town, hurling stones and damaging two houses and four vehicles in ‘Einabus village, and vandalizing an uninhabited house in Burin village.”
In addition, UN OCHA stated, Palestinian residents of the ‘Ein ar Rashash herding community near Ramallah, in central West Bank, reported 25 lambs “stolen by a settler residing in an adjacent settlement outpost”.
On top of the numerous incidents of attacks on Palestinian-owned property and livestock, Israeli settlers “physically assaulted and injured three Palestinians”, including a woman, in three separate incidents in Al Auja town and the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city (H2), in southern West Bank.
“Additional settler attacks not resulting in injuries or damage were reported in the H2 area on 10 and 11 March, during celebrations of a Jewish holiday (Purim),” the UN OCHA report added.
The UN OCHA report is issued once a fortnight, and documents human rights violations by Israeli forces and settlers, and the impact of occupation for Palestinians.
Over the reporting period, UN OCHA documented the punitive demolition of two homes, as well as the demolition or seizing of an additional 14 Palestinian-owned structures on the grounds of a lack of building permits, displacing 29 people and affecting around 60 others.
Israeli forces also “bulldozed a section of a dirt road connecting five herding communities in southern Hebron to their main service center”, meaning that “residents must use a long detour to access their main service center and market in Yatta town”.
~ Middle East Monitor, United Nations-Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
21 mar 2020
Illegal Jewish settlers set up tents and a caravan today on a Palestinian land near the village of Khallet Hamad in the Jordan Valley region, the occupied West Bank, said a local source, seen as a prelude for taking over the land.
Aref Daraghmeh, a local Palestinian human rights activist, told WAFA that colonial Israeli settlers are making use of the ongoing coronavirus crisis in order to expedite their settlement enterprise in the region, the latest of whose manifestation was today's installation of tents and a caravan in that area.
He said Jewish settlers have further escalated their attacks against herders and farmers in the Jordan Valley in order to force them to leave the area.
Israel plans to evacuate the Jordan Valley, an important part of the occupied West Bank, of its original Palestinian residents in order to take it over and inhabit it with Jewish settlers.
It has already said that it intends to annex the Jordan Valley, a step strongly condemned by the United Nations and the international community.
Aref Daraghmeh, a local Palestinian human rights activist, told WAFA that colonial Israeli settlers are making use of the ongoing coronavirus crisis in order to expedite their settlement enterprise in the region, the latest of whose manifestation was today's installation of tents and a caravan in that area.
He said Jewish settlers have further escalated their attacks against herders and farmers in the Jordan Valley in order to force them to leave the area.
Israel plans to evacuate the Jordan Valley, an important part of the occupied West Bank, of its original Palestinian residents in order to take it over and inhabit it with Jewish settlers.
It has already said that it intends to annex the Jordan Valley, a step strongly condemned by the United Nations and the international community.
20 mar 2020
A Palestinian man was injured today after being beaten by Jewish settlers who broke into the site of abandoned Homesh settlement, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, according to a Palestinian official.
Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of the Israeli settlements file in the north of the West Bank, told WAFA that settlers attacked and beat up Mustafa Abu Za'bal, a local villager, while he was working in his farm located near the abandoned settlement of Homesh, causing him bruises.
Daghlas added that the settlers also stole a horse belonging to the man.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by the Israeli authorities.
Israel has repeatedly been blamed by rights groups for fostering a culture of impunity to settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank and for failing to hold perpetrators to account, as it does to Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli forces or settlers.
Ghassan Daghlas, in charge of the Israeli settlements file in the north of the West Bank, told WAFA that settlers attacked and beat up Mustafa Abu Za'bal, a local villager, while he was working in his farm located near the abandoned settlement of Homesh, causing him bruises.
Daghlas added that the settlers also stole a horse belonging to the man.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by the Israeli authorities.
Israel has repeatedly been blamed by rights groups for fostering a culture of impunity to settler terrorism in the occupied West Bank and for failing to hold perpetrators to account, as it does to Palestinians accused of attacking Israeli forces or settlers.
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Friday arrested two Palestinian citizens and seized the car they were aboard in the east of Jenin City in the northern West Bank.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center's reporter that the IOF stopped a Palestinian car in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin City, searched it, interrogated its two passengers and scrutinized their IDs.
The IOF later detained the two passengers and confiscated the car, eyewitnesses reported.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center's reporter that the IOF stopped a Palestinian car in the eastern neighborhood of Jenin City, searched it, interrogated its two passengers and scrutinized their IDs.
The IOF later detained the two passengers and confiscated the car, eyewitnesses reported.
19 mar 2020
The follow-up committee in the Jerusalem district of Issawiya has warned of a Judaization plan underway aimed at separating the towns and villages in the holy city as well as the neighborhoods around the Aqsa Mosque from each other.
In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC), member of the committee Mohamed Abul-Hems explained that the Israeli occupation state started to carry out settlement projects as part of the E1 plan on the lands of Issawiya, at-Tur and Anata in the eastern areas of Jerusalem.
Abul-Hems said that the occupation state seeks to create besieged Palestinian villages and towns without contiguity or zoning and expansion plans as it had done already when it isolated Issawiya and at-Tur from each other with bypass roads for Jewish settlers.
He also affirmed that the occupation state seeks to isolate the Jerusalemite citizens from each other, demolish their homes, displace them from Jerusalem to the West Bank, and connect Jewish settlements and outposts with each other.
“The E1 project will separate the northern West Bank from its south and Occupied Jerusalem,” the Jerusalemite official pointed out, adding that all roads linking Jericho city with Jerusalem and its neighborhoods like al-Eizariya with Ramallah would change.
He called for necessarily supporting the Jerusalemite people financially, morally and politically and strengthening their steadfastness to protect their existence and curb the Judaization of the holy city.
In press remarks to the Palestinian Information Center (PIC), member of the committee Mohamed Abul-Hems explained that the Israeli occupation state started to carry out settlement projects as part of the E1 plan on the lands of Issawiya, at-Tur and Anata in the eastern areas of Jerusalem.
Abul-Hems said that the occupation state seeks to create besieged Palestinian villages and towns without contiguity or zoning and expansion plans as it had done already when it isolated Issawiya and at-Tur from each other with bypass roads for Jewish settlers.
He also affirmed that the occupation state seeks to isolate the Jerusalemite citizens from each other, demolish their homes, displace them from Jerusalem to the West Bank, and connect Jewish settlements and outposts with each other.
“The E1 project will separate the northern West Bank from its south and Occupied Jerusalem,” the Jerusalemite official pointed out, adding that all roads linking Jericho city with Jerusalem and its neighborhoods like al-Eizariya with Ramallah would change.
He called for necessarily supporting the Jerusalemite people financially, morally and politically and strengthening their steadfastness to protect their existence and curb the Judaization of the holy city.
Israeli authorities today demolished two residential structures and an animal barn in the village of al-Sawahreh al-Sharqiya, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, according to WAFA correspondent.
He said that Israeli forces raided the village and demolished an old residential structure and a barn for one resident before demolishing another shack and the foundation of a house that was demolished last year and owned by other village residents.
Younes Jafar, a member of Sawahreh municipality, told WAFA that Israeli authorities aim by these measures to expand nearby illegal Israeli settlements.
He said that Israeli forces raided the village and demolished an old residential structure and a barn for one resident before demolishing another shack and the foundation of a house that was demolished last year and owned by other village residents.
Younes Jafar, a member of Sawahreh municipality, told WAFA that Israeli authorities aim by these measures to expand nearby illegal Israeli settlements.
17 mar 2020
A letter signed by 64 members of the United States Congress and addressed to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called on the US administration to oppose Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and to determine whether materiel purchased from or funded by the US is being used to carry out these demolitions.
“We write with concerns over the ongoing home demolitions and forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including the recent demolitions in Wadi al-Hummus and other communities in East Jerusalem. We urge you to press the Israeli government to prevent more families from being forcibly transferred and having their homes destroyed,” said the letter led by Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).
“The Israeli government recently accelerated the rate of home demolitions. In the West Bank, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) recorded a 45% increase in the demolitions of homes and other civilian structures in 2019 compared to 2018,” it said.
The letter requests the State Department to examine Israeli compliance with the requirements applied by the Arms Export Control Act in order to ensure that US-supplied equipment is not being used to destroy Palestinian homes. The signers note that the United States “should work to prevent unlawful home demolitions and the forcible transfer of civilians everywhere in the world and prevent the use of US-origin equipment in this destructive practice.”
The letter posed several questions to Pompeo mainly having to do with the legality of the use of US-supplied defense equipment in the demolition of Palestinian homes and whether or not there were any restrictions for their use.
“We look forward to your response to these questions by April 30, 2020, and also urge you to take immediate action to press the Israeli government to prevent more home demolitions, and request that you provide Congress with the information necessary for proper oversight of the use of US-defense articles and other items purchased with foreign military financing for use in the West Bank,” demanded the US Congress members.
“US-supplied military equipment to Israel should only be used for legitimate self-defense against the very real security threats Israel faces,” said Khanna.
“Such military equipment should not be used to turn Palestinian homes into rubble, displace families, and tear apart communities. I look forward to the State Department providing the information necessary to ensure that U.S.-supplied military equipment in the West Bank is not being used in this destructive practice.”
The letter was also endorsed by J Street, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), and Win Without War.
“We write with concerns over the ongoing home demolitions and forcible transfer of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank, including the recent demolitions in Wadi al-Hummus and other communities in East Jerusalem. We urge you to press the Israeli government to prevent more families from being forcibly transferred and having their homes destroyed,” said the letter led by Representatives Ro Khanna (D-CA), Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Steve Cohen (D-TN).
“The Israeli government recently accelerated the rate of home demolitions. In the West Bank, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) recorded a 45% increase in the demolitions of homes and other civilian structures in 2019 compared to 2018,” it said.
The letter requests the State Department to examine Israeli compliance with the requirements applied by the Arms Export Control Act in order to ensure that US-supplied equipment is not being used to destroy Palestinian homes. The signers note that the United States “should work to prevent unlawful home demolitions and the forcible transfer of civilians everywhere in the world and prevent the use of US-origin equipment in this destructive practice.”
The letter posed several questions to Pompeo mainly having to do with the legality of the use of US-supplied defense equipment in the demolition of Palestinian homes and whether or not there were any restrictions for their use.
“We look forward to your response to these questions by April 30, 2020, and also urge you to take immediate action to press the Israeli government to prevent more home demolitions, and request that you provide Congress with the information necessary for proper oversight of the use of US-defense articles and other items purchased with foreign military financing for use in the West Bank,” demanded the US Congress members.
“US-supplied military equipment to Israel should only be used for legitimate self-defense against the very real security threats Israel faces,” said Khanna.
“Such military equipment should not be used to turn Palestinian homes into rubble, displace families, and tear apart communities. I look forward to the State Department providing the information necessary to ensure that U.S.-supplied military equipment in the West Bank is not being used in this destructive practice.”
The letter was also endorsed by J Street, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), and Win Without War.
13 mar 2020
A Palestinian family from Shuafat refugee camp in occupied Jerusalem embarked today on demolishing its own home after it was forced to do so by Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the municipality carries out the demolition.
Tareq Mohammad Ali said his family and he were forced to demolish their own home at the order of the Israeli High Court, under the pretext it was built without a permit. video
Ali said he had no option but to embark on the demolition in order to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.
Palestinians in Jerusalem are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing mayor and city council attempt to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum, while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements.
Rights group have argued that almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the municipality.
Tareq Mohammad Ali said his family and he were forced to demolish their own home at the order of the Israeli High Court, under the pretext it was built without a permit. video
Ali said he had no option but to embark on the demolition in order to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.
Palestinians in Jerusalem are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing mayor and city council attempt to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum, while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements.
Rights group have argued that almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the municipality.
12 mar 2020
Palestinian landowners in the occupied East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan today stopped an intrusion on their lands by a team from the Israeli Nature Preservation Authority, according to Saeed Abbasi, one of the land owners. video video
He told WAFA that members of the Israeli nature authority broke into his 4-dunum plot in Silwan, which is planted with olive trees, in an attempt to seize the land under the pretext of doing excavations and other activities in the area.
He said Israel wants to take over the entire 60-dunum area of Silwan, known as Wadi al-Rababa, and turn it into a public park in addition for other reasons.
Landowners of Wadi al-Rababa are in the process of waging a legal battle against attempts by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem and the nature authority to seize their land.
He told WAFA that members of the Israeli nature authority broke into his 4-dunum plot in Silwan, which is planted with olive trees, in an attempt to seize the land under the pretext of doing excavations and other activities in the area.
He said Israel wants to take over the entire 60-dunum area of Silwan, known as Wadi al-Rababa, and turn it into a public park in addition for other reasons.
Landowners of Wadi al-Rababa are in the process of waging a legal battle against attempts by the Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem and the nature authority to seize their land.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Thursday demolished Palestinian house in the east of Bethlehem in the West Bank at the pretext of unlicensed construction.
Local official Hasan Bureijia reported that one-story house belonging to Hazem Abu Muhaimid was razed by the IOF in al-Badya ash-Sharqiyya area, east of Bethlehem.
He added that the IOF broke into and ransacked another house in Fureidis village, with no known reason.
Local official Hasan Bureijia reported that one-story house belonging to Hazem Abu Muhaimid was razed by the IOF in al-Badya ash-Sharqiyya area, east of Bethlehem.
He added that the IOF broke into and ransacked another house in Fureidis village, with no known reason.
11 mar 2020
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A state of anxiety and fear in the families of Idris and Taha in Beit Hanina, north of Jerusalem, with the approach of a session to discuss the lawsuit filed by the occupation’s “Absentee Property Guardian", which demands the land on which their houses are built claiming that the settlers owned the land before the occupation of the city of Jerusalem.
The "Absentee Property Guardian" delivered legal notices to Taha and Idris families about 3 years ago, asking them for the land on which the houses are built, but they rejected the allegations and confirmed their ownership of the land. In addition, Jamal Idris explained that his family and the Taha family purchased the land in 2000, and they built the house and expanded on it. |
Today, it has 10 residential homes for the two families, and it houses about 50 individuals, most of them children. video
Idris added that they were surprised in 2017 by receiving judicial notices demanding the land, where they have lived for years, and a new session will be held next month in court to consider the case and make a decision.
He called on family members to support them and provide them with support from officials and human rights institutions to preserve the land and homes.
The two families affirmed that the danger of eviction and confiscation threatens the entire 8000-square meter land, where several other families live as well, and the matter will not stop with the eviction orders of only the two families.
Idris added that they were surprised in 2017 by receiving judicial notices demanding the land, where they have lived for years, and a new session will be held next month in court to consider the case and make a decision.
He called on family members to support them and provide them with support from officials and human rights institutions to preserve the land and homes.
The two families affirmed that the danger of eviction and confiscation threatens the entire 8000-square meter land, where several other families live as well, and the matter will not stop with the eviction orders of only the two families.
10 mar 2020
Israeli forces today seized a large amount of money and gold during raids into homes of Palestinians southeast of the occupied West Bank city of Tubas, according to a local source.
Aref Daraghmeh, a local rights activist, said that Israeli forces raided, searched and wreaked havoc to the house of Abdullah Daraghmeh and the house of his mother, searched both homes and seized money and gold worth over $4,000.
Aref Daraghmeh, a local rights activist, said that Israeli forces raided, searched and wreaked havoc to the house of Abdullah Daraghmeh and the house of his mother, searched both homes and seized money and gold worth over $4,000.
Israeli settlers today uprooted vine trees in the village of al-Khader, to the south of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to a local source.
Hasan Breijieh, from the Committee of Wall and Settlement Resistance, told WAFA that the settlers uprooted a number of trees in village land owned by local residents located near illegal Israeli settlements.
He warned that the settlers could be making use of the current emergency state declared in the West Bank in order to seize more Palestinian land.
Over the past two weeks, Israeli settlers uprooted about 800 trees al-Khader and 400 others in nearby Wadi Fukin village.
Hasan Breijieh, from the Committee of Wall and Settlement Resistance, told WAFA that the settlers uprooted a number of trees in village land owned by local residents located near illegal Israeli settlements.
He warned that the settlers could be making use of the current emergency state declared in the West Bank in order to seize more Palestinian land.
Over the past two weeks, Israeli settlers uprooted about 800 trees al-Khader and 400 others in nearby Wadi Fukin village.
9 mar 2020
Israeli forces today uprooted hundreds of olive saplings in the village of Wadi Fukin, to the West of Bethlehem in the south of the occupied West Bank, according to a local source.
Nidal Manasra, member of Wadi Fukin village council, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers raided the village and uprooted about 400 olive saplings planted in land belonging to a local Palestinian resident.
It is worth noting that illegal Israeli settlers uprooted during the last couple of weeks about 800 olive and vine tress from al- Khader land, located to the south of Bethlehem.
Nidal Manasra, member of Wadi Fukin village council, told WAFA that Israeli soldiers raided the village and uprooted about 400 olive saplings planted in land belonging to a local Palestinian resident.
It is worth noting that illegal Israeli settlers uprooted during the last couple of weeks about 800 olive and vine tress from al- Khader land, located to the south of Bethlehem.
