22 oct 2014
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday and Wednesday stormed the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem, nabbed eight Palestinians in Jenin, and opened fire on a group of unarmed students in Ramallah. Local sources said at least ten Israeli occupation soldiers raided a hill set near Tekoa village, east of Bethlehem city, and deployed at a tree-covered tract, owned by native Palestinian families and covering an overall area of some 1,000 dunums, in an attempt to block Palestinian farmers’ access into their olive orchards, Tekoa mayor reported.
The Palestinian inhabitants of the area expressed concern that the move is most probably meant to pave the way for an Israeli bid to grab hold of the area and turn it into a new illegal settlement outpost.
Meanwhile, the IOF at dawn Wednesday stormed Jenin city and nabbed eight Palestinian citizens after having raided their family homes and rummaged through them.
A number of Palestinian citizens were physically assaulted by the invading IOF troops in Zababda, east of Jenin.
The IOF patrols further moved into Araba town, south of Jenin, and apprehended two Palestinian young men, identified as 19-year-old Montassar Abu Salah, and 20-year-old Fawzi Abdullah Abu Salah.
Scores of Palestinian civilians were treated for breathing problems after they inhaled tear gas heavily discharged by the IOF in Zabouba town, to the west of Jenin.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, the IOF arrested member of the Araba municipal council, Anwar Al-Arda, at a makeshift roadblock pitched along the Jenin-Nablus road.
In a related development, a PIC correspondent said a group of Palestinian unarmed students sustained critical wounds in the heavy barrages of rubber bullets and tear gas unleashed by the IOF throughout the round of clashes that burst out Tuesday afternoon in front of the Israeli Ofer jail, west of Ramallah city.
Palestinian medics said the ambulance crews received dozens of serious suffocation cases and rubber-bullet injuries.
The IOF attack came moments after a group of unarmed students initiated a peaceful demo, organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The Palestinian inhabitants of the area expressed concern that the move is most probably meant to pave the way for an Israeli bid to grab hold of the area and turn it into a new illegal settlement outpost.
Meanwhile, the IOF at dawn Wednesday stormed Jenin city and nabbed eight Palestinian citizens after having raided their family homes and rummaged through them.
A number of Palestinian citizens were physically assaulted by the invading IOF troops in Zababda, east of Jenin.
The IOF patrols further moved into Araba town, south of Jenin, and apprehended two Palestinian young men, identified as 19-year-old Montassar Abu Salah, and 20-year-old Fawzi Abdullah Abu Salah.
Scores of Palestinian civilians were treated for breathing problems after they inhaled tear gas heavily discharged by the IOF in Zabouba town, to the west of Jenin.
Earlier on Tuesday afternoon, the IOF arrested member of the Araba municipal council, Anwar Al-Arda, at a makeshift roadblock pitched along the Jenin-Nablus road.
In a related development, a PIC correspondent said a group of Palestinian unarmed students sustained critical wounds in the heavy barrages of rubber bullets and tear gas unleashed by the IOF throughout the round of clashes that burst out Tuesday afternoon in front of the Israeli Ofer jail, west of Ramallah city.
Palestinian medics said the ambulance crews received dozens of serious suffocation cases and rubber-bullet injuries.
The IOF attack came moments after a group of unarmed students initiated a peaceful demo, organized by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
UN Palestine: Israel responsible for settler assaults
Israeli colonial settlers, in the town of Huwwara, to the south of Nablus, torched approximately 100 olive trees on Wednesday, according to local activist Ghassan Douglas.
WAFA correspondence reports that a number of settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Yitzhar’ set fire to around 100 olive trees belonging to the Khamoos and Salim families, said Douglas, who is in charge of the settlements file at the Palestinian Authority, in the northern part of the West Bank.
Confrontations reportedly erupted between settlers and land owners who were harvesting their olive trees at the time; no injuries were reported.
Settlers target Palestinians each year during the olive harvesting season, either by destroying their cops, attacking farmers or by preventing them from accessing their land.
Such attacks are aimed at further disenfranchising and disposessing Palestinians from their land, in order to make way for increasing illegal settlement expansion.
The Permanent Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, this past Monday, stated that the Israeli government is responsible for all crimes committed by colonial settlers in the occupied Palestinian territorities, including East Jerusalem.
The statement came as head of the mission, Riyad Mansour, sent identical letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the President of the Security Council and the President of the General Assembly on Israeli Settlers terrorism against Palestinian people:
“On a nearly daily basis, Israeli settlers continue with their terror rampages, persisting with attacks on Palestinian civilians, destruction of properties, and theft of land and natural resources,” said Mansour, referring to the deliberate killing of 4-year-old Inas Dar Khalil, a Palestinian kindergartener who was killed Saturday, after an Israel settler ran over her with his car near Ramallah.
See: TV Report On Palestinian Child Rammed To Death By A Settler’s Car
“It should also be mentioned, that this so-called 'hit and run' accident has become a reoccurring deadly practice by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian civilian population,” noted Mansour.
In his letter, Mansour further addressed similar “hit-and-run” incidents carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.
The Palestinian diplomat also referenced the continuing Israeli incitement and provocative actions against holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, the most recent of which involved violent confrontations which erupted following a provocative visit by the Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Moshe Feiglin.
Mansour called on Israel to “hold the perpetrators of such crimes accountable and to act to avert the continuation of these criminal, provocative attacks, which are aggravating tension and religious sensitivities between the two sides, further stoking anger and rage and deepening mistrust.”
Such acts of settler provocation are often overlooked and even facilitated by Israeli authorities, in addition to their own violations against the Palestinian people, who now make up the largest refugee group in the entire world, according to UN statistics.
WAFA further reports that, in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday, Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians in the districts of Jenin and Hebron, as well as five fishermen offshore the coasts of Gaza, according to local and security sources.
In Jenin, Israeli forces conducted invasions into several areas in the region, where they abducted two Palestinians aged 19 and 20 from the town of Araba, following a search raid on their homes. The two have been identified as Jaafar and Fawzi Abu Salah.
Two others were also taken from Jenin City. They were identified as 20-year-old Mu’min Arqawi, who was kidnapped from his house after it was ransacked by soldiers during another raid. The other, one Fuad al-Sayyid, age 40, was reportedly detained for several hours before being released.
Later on Wednesday, the army took Ahmad Abu Zaid, 24, and Bashar al-Qasrawi, 21, after raiding their houses in Jenin, while 50-year-old Isam Hammad was abducted from the nearby town of Arraba, after Israeli soldiers broke into his house.
Israeli soldiers additionally stormed the town of Zababdeh, to the south of Jenin, where they stationed military vehicles in its streets, raided and searched two houses before arresting one Ahmad Sharqawi.
To the west of Jenin, in the village of Zaboba, forces stormed the village while firing tear gas and sound bombs in the direction of local residents, causing many cases of suffocation. No arrests were reported, however.
In occupied Hebron, forces kidnapped Mohammad Sbatin, 21 years old, from the village of Hosan, to the west of Bethlehem, while he was trying to enter Jerusalem for work, under the pretext that he was trying to enter without a permit.
WAFA notes that Palestinians require permits to enter the city of Jerusalem, either for work or for leisure. Israeli authorities rarely issue such permits, forcing Palestinians to search for alternative ways to enter the city.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces additionally raided and searched several homes in the town of Taqou, to the east of Bethlehem, though no arrests were reported.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli naval boats abducted five Palestinian fishermen from the Bakir family as they fished offshore of al-Sodaniyeh, to the northwest of Gaza City. Thedetainees were identified as Majed, the father, his three sons; Omar, Faris, Fadi, and their cousin Ahmad.
Israeli forces target Gaza fishermen on a near-daily basis, even despite recent ceasefire agreements between Palestinian resistance and the Israeli military which call for expansion of the 6 nautical mile limit for fishing in the Gaza Sea.
Israeli colonial settlers, in the town of Huwwara, to the south of Nablus, torched approximately 100 olive trees on Wednesday, according to local activist Ghassan Douglas.
WAFA correspondence reports that a number of settlers from the illegal Israeli settlement of ‘Yitzhar’ set fire to around 100 olive trees belonging to the Khamoos and Salim families, said Douglas, who is in charge of the settlements file at the Palestinian Authority, in the northern part of the West Bank.
Confrontations reportedly erupted between settlers and land owners who were harvesting their olive trees at the time; no injuries were reported.
Settlers target Palestinians each year during the olive harvesting season, either by destroying their cops, attacking farmers or by preventing them from accessing their land.
Such attacks are aimed at further disenfranchising and disposessing Palestinians from their land, in order to make way for increasing illegal settlement expansion.
The Permanent Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, this past Monday, stated that the Israeli government is responsible for all crimes committed by colonial settlers in the occupied Palestinian territorities, including East Jerusalem.
The statement came as head of the mission, Riyad Mansour, sent identical letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, the President of the Security Council and the President of the General Assembly on Israeli Settlers terrorism against Palestinian people:
“On a nearly daily basis, Israeli settlers continue with their terror rampages, persisting with attacks on Palestinian civilians, destruction of properties, and theft of land and natural resources,” said Mansour, referring to the deliberate killing of 4-year-old Inas Dar Khalil, a Palestinian kindergartener who was killed Saturday, after an Israel settler ran over her with his car near Ramallah.
See: TV Report On Palestinian Child Rammed To Death By A Settler’s Car
“It should also be mentioned, that this so-called 'hit and run' accident has become a reoccurring deadly practice by Israeli settlers against the Palestinian civilian population,” noted Mansour.
In his letter, Mansour further addressed similar “hit-and-run” incidents carried out by Israeli settlers against Palestinian civilians.
The Palestinian diplomat also referenced the continuing Israeli incitement and provocative actions against holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem, the most recent of which involved violent confrontations which erupted following a provocative visit by the Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Moshe Feiglin.
Mansour called on Israel to “hold the perpetrators of such crimes accountable and to act to avert the continuation of these criminal, provocative attacks, which are aggravating tension and religious sensitivities between the two sides, further stoking anger and rage and deepening mistrust.”
Such acts of settler provocation are often overlooked and even facilitated by Israeli authorities, in addition to their own violations against the Palestinian people, who now make up the largest refugee group in the entire world, according to UN statistics.
WAFA further reports that, in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday, Israeli forces arrested eight Palestinians in the districts of Jenin and Hebron, as well as five fishermen offshore the coasts of Gaza, according to local and security sources.
In Jenin, Israeli forces conducted invasions into several areas in the region, where they abducted two Palestinians aged 19 and 20 from the town of Araba, following a search raid on their homes. The two have been identified as Jaafar and Fawzi Abu Salah.
Two others were also taken from Jenin City. They were identified as 20-year-old Mu’min Arqawi, who was kidnapped from his house after it was ransacked by soldiers during another raid. The other, one Fuad al-Sayyid, age 40, was reportedly detained for several hours before being released.
Later on Wednesday, the army took Ahmad Abu Zaid, 24, and Bashar al-Qasrawi, 21, after raiding their houses in Jenin, while 50-year-old Isam Hammad was abducted from the nearby town of Arraba, after Israeli soldiers broke into his house.
Israeli soldiers additionally stormed the town of Zababdeh, to the south of Jenin, where they stationed military vehicles in its streets, raided and searched two houses before arresting one Ahmad Sharqawi.
To the west of Jenin, in the village of Zaboba, forces stormed the village while firing tear gas and sound bombs in the direction of local residents, causing many cases of suffocation. No arrests were reported, however.
In occupied Hebron, forces kidnapped Mohammad Sbatin, 21 years old, from the village of Hosan, to the west of Bethlehem, while he was trying to enter Jerusalem for work, under the pretext that he was trying to enter without a permit.
WAFA notes that Palestinians require permits to enter the city of Jerusalem, either for work or for leisure. Israeli authorities rarely issue such permits, forcing Palestinians to search for alternative ways to enter the city.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces additionally raided and searched several homes in the town of Taqou, to the east of Bethlehem, though no arrests were reported.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli naval boats abducted five Palestinian fishermen from the Bakir family as they fished offshore of al-Sodaniyeh, to the northwest of Gaza City. Thedetainees were identified as Majed, the father, his three sons; Omar, Faris, Fadi, and their cousin Ahmad.
Israeli forces target Gaza fishermen on a near-daily basis, even despite recent ceasefire agreements between Palestinian resistance and the Israeli military which call for expansion of the 6 nautical mile limit for fishing in the Gaza Sea.
18 oct 2014
A number of extremist Israeli settlers invaded, on Saturday, Palestinian olive orchard in the al-Jab’a village, southwest of Bethlehem, and cut nearly 50 olive trees.
Resident Ibrahim Abu Lateefa said he went to his orchard in the al-Jamjoum area, east of the village, to find out that the settlers cut 14 olive trees, and around 36 olive trees belonging to residents Mohammad Ahmad Masha’la and Ali Abu Lateefa.
The al-Jab’a village has been subject to frequent Israeli settler attacks, and attacks by the army, including bulldozing agricultural lands, uprooting and cutting dozens of trees.
Although such attacks happen frequently around the year, and also include burning lands and trees and flooding them with sewage, they usually escalate during the olive harvest season.
Resident Ibrahim Abu Lateefa said he went to his orchard in the al-Jamjoum area, east of the village, to find out that the settlers cut 14 olive trees, and around 36 olive trees belonging to residents Mohammad Ahmad Masha’la and Ali Abu Lateefa.
The al-Jab’a village has been subject to frequent Israeli settler attacks, and attacks by the army, including bulldozing agricultural lands, uprooting and cutting dozens of trees.
Although such attacks happen frequently around the year, and also include burning lands and trees and flooding them with sewage, they usually escalate during the olive harvest season.
17 oct 2014
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Thursday stepped up their provocative persecution of Palestinian citizens and olive harvesters in Yabud town, south of Jenin city.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that Israeli soldier coming from Mabo Dotan settlement stopped a number of Palestinian farmers and villagers and interrogated them for several hours, without making arrests.
Similar harassment incidents took place in the areas of Al-Tarm, Daher al-Abd, and Zabda near Yabud as part of an Israeli campaign aimed at spoiling the olive harvest season.
Earlier on Thursday morning, the Israeli occupation soldiers confiscated the IDs of a group of citizens who volunteered to help the farmers harvest olives in Zabouba village, to the west of Jenin city.
Meanwhile, the IOF established a makeshift roadblocks at the southern entrance to Dura town near Kharsa and in Al-Harayek area to the south of Al-Khalil city and embarked on searching citizens and vehicles, while a group of military jeeps stationed themselves near al-Hawawer entrance, north of Halhoul city.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that Israeli soldier coming from Mabo Dotan settlement stopped a number of Palestinian farmers and villagers and interrogated them for several hours, without making arrests.
Similar harassment incidents took place in the areas of Al-Tarm, Daher al-Abd, and Zabda near Yabud as part of an Israeli campaign aimed at spoiling the olive harvest season.
Earlier on Thursday morning, the Israeli occupation soldiers confiscated the IDs of a group of citizens who volunteered to help the farmers harvest olives in Zabouba village, to the west of Jenin city.
Meanwhile, the IOF established a makeshift roadblocks at the southern entrance to Dura town near Kharsa and in Al-Harayek area to the south of Al-Khalil city and embarked on searching citizens and vehicles, while a group of military jeeps stationed themselves near al-Hawawer entrance, north of Halhoul city.
16 oct 2014
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On Monday, three Palestinians were picking olives in Burin. Their field was in a very exposed area, right between an illegal settlement, a military checkpoint, and a security detention centre. A group of ISM volunteers accompanied them as protective presence.
These are some of their stories: Ali, 10-years-old: ”The army keeps coming to our school and throws tear gas at us. One time a boy choked and was taken to hospital. Some children cry and scream.” Abu Ali, 40 years old: “Settlers from the settlements around us (Arusat, Brahay and Itshar) attack us while we are picking olives. We need international volunteers to help us reach our land and see the troubles the Palestinian farmers face. We don’t want our children to go through what we went through.” |
Tarek, 24 years old: “The army stops us young men at the checkpoint by the entrance of the village of Burin. They take us out of the cars. If one of us doesn’t follow their orders they beat us. Sometimes they make us take our clothes off. Even when other people are present.”
Tarek also told the story of losing both his brothers. One of them was killed by a shot in the head from an Israeli soldier, at the age of 16.
The close by security detention centre is notorious for their use of violence, and both Tarek and Abu Ali have been detained here. Addameer (Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association) wrote that since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel.
Tarek spoke of a story during his own detention, he and another prisoner were woken up in the middle of the night, by two aggressive dogs being locked into their room. Tarek was badly bitten by the dogs and had to go through surgery afterwards.
Tarek also told the story of losing both his brothers. One of them was killed by a shot in the head from an Israeli soldier, at the age of 16.
The close by security detention centre is notorious for their use of violence, and both Tarek and Abu Ali have been detained here. Addameer (Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association) wrote that since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestine in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel.
Tarek spoke of a story during his own detention, he and another prisoner were woken up in the middle of the night, by two aggressive dogs being locked into their room. Tarek was badly bitten by the dogs and had to go through surgery afterwards.
15 oct 2014
As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon toured the Gaza Strip, on Tuesday, urging a revival of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian political factions, armed Israeli aggression against Palestinians continued in the occupied West Bank, by both soldiers and civilians alike.
Palestinian youth Anas Na'ajeh was shot in the face, today, with a rubber-coated steel bullet, while several others suffered tear gas inhalation, during clashes which erupted in al-Fara’a refugee camp, northeast of Nablus.
Na’ajeh was transferred to a hospital to receive immediate treatment.
Witnesses told WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency that a large military force raided the camp, opening live fire and discharging both tear gas and sound bombs at a number of unarmed residents.
Soldiers raided several homes after blasting the front doors, using some residents as human shields. They also raided and ransacked several other homes in the area, turning one house into an investigation point.
Earlier today, Israeli forces turned a Palestinian home into a military barrack, while raiding and searching several Palestinian-owned homes in the town of Yabod, to the west of Jenin.
According to security sources, forces raided the home of one Walid Abu Bakir and turned it into a military observation point. Forces further raided several other houses and searched a shop, interrogating local residents.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces raided yet another house in Hebron, in systematic continuous Israeli violations of Palestinians privacy and human rights.
Forces, on Tuesday, abducted six Palestinians from the occupied West Bank districts of Hebron and Tulkarem, including a university student, while serving a youth from Bethlehem with a notice to appear for interrogation, according to reports by local and security sources.
Four Palestinians from the town of Beit Ummar, to the north of Hebron, were also taken following a raid on their homes. The kidnapped were identified as Sami abu Jodeh, age 19, Sofyan and Mohammad Ikhlil, and Mahmoud Abu Ayyash. Forces also took into custody, again, previously released prisoner Ihsan Dababseh, age 30, a woman from the town of Noba, to the west of Hebron.
Meanwhile, in Tulkarem, university student Kamal Azim, 29, was kidnapped after forces raided and thoroughly searched his home.
21-year-old Mohamad al-Masri was also served with a notice to appear for interrogation before the Israeli intelligence in 'Gush Etzion', a cluster of illegal Israeli settlements located near Bethlehem.
WAFA further reports that Israeli police assaulted, onTuesday, Director of al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar Kiswani, in occupied East Jerusalem, and also arrested an Islamic Waqf (IW) staff member after beating him, according to IW department.
According to IW, an Israeli police unit intercepted IW Director, Azzam Tamimi, while touring the mosque along with Kiswani. Police then attacked Kiswani and violently assaulted him.
Another police force present at the location assaulted one Mohannad Idris, an IW guard, before abducting him as well.
This latest civilian assault by Israeli forces comes after a vigorous Monday marred by violence, which erupted as illegal settlers broke into the Mosque compound to celebrate the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. Angered by the obtrusive invasion, worshipers began chanting religious slogans to fend off the assault.
Shortly after this, police chased hundreds of protesting worshipers towards the southern main building of the mosque and attempted to raid it, damaging a number of historical gates and windows in doing so. Dozens of worshipers were reported to have suffocated after Israeli police guards fired tear gas canisters in the building, where they were seeking shelter.
Furthermore, in the village of Aqraba, to the south of Nablus, on Tuesday, Israeli settlers sprayed the walls of a local mosque with racist graffiti and intentionally set it on fire, according to local sources.
Hamza Dereya, of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the village, stated that several settlers invaded the village before dawn and set fire to the local Abu Bakr Mosque. Settlers then proceeded to spray anti-Arab and miscellaneous hate graffiti on the walls.
Additionally, Minister of Religious Affairs Yousef Id’es said that the incident was the result of an ongoing Israeli racial campaign, within a nurtured environment of hatred which allows settlers to insult the Muslim and Christian holy sites in the city of Jerusalem, with the aim of forcing a temporal division of al-Aqsa Mosque.
The incident is but one in a series of similar violent episodes carried out by groups of Israeli settlers, during recent months, as Israeli forces continue to back settler aggression and impose increasingly tighter restrictions on worshippers.
Meanwhile, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, said that further assaults on the holy sites, on top of those at al-Aqsa Mosque, could potentially turn the region into a vertiable time bomb, foreshadowing an impending religious war in the region, should such assaults continue.
“Divine religions prohibit assaulting worship places and ensure they are away from any rounds of conflict,” Mr. Hussein was quoted to say, as he called for the ‘criminals’ to face justice while praising the local residents of Aqraba for defending their mosque.
WAFA reports that incidents of property destruction and arson, attacks on vulnerable communities, and continuing seizure of large areas of land are but a few forms of the daily aggressions against the Palestinian population, and especially in areas adjacent to the illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Settlers, on Tuesday, plundered a privately-owned Palestinian harvest of olives near Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, according to WAFA correspondence.
AbdulRahman Rajab, owner of the crop, said that he was surprised to arrive in his land, only to find 10 large sacks that had been stuffed with olives now missing. He said that he had left the crop about two days ago, after being assaulted by illegal Israeli settlers.
In addition to Mr. Rajab's stolen crop, his donkey and agricultural tools were looted by the settlers, who apparently came from the nearby illegal settlement of ‘Avnei Hefets’.
Rajab additionally stated that he was on his land, along with his three sons and his wife, harvesting olive trees together, when three colonial settlers attacked them with stones, injuring the wife in her shoulder and his 8-year-old son in his legs.
The family was then forced to leave, to avoid any further physical injuries.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army further assaulted farmers in the village of al-Araqa, to west of Jenin, firing tear gas canisters at them while they were harvesting another crop of olive trees, causing them to suffocate.
Injuries reported during IOF attack on olive harvesters
Dozens of injuries were reported Tuesday evening among Palestinian farmers in Arqah village, west of Jenin, after being brutally attacked by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) while picking their olives. Local sources told a PIC reporter that IOF soldiers surrounded the olive groves near the village and started firing tear gas bombs towards the farmers, a lot of whom suffered breathing difficulties.
The soldiers brutally attacked the farmers in attempt to force them to leave their lands, however; the farmers refused, which forced the soldiers to retreat to the separation wall and monitor them from afar.
For its part, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din published updated figures highlighting that 96.6 percent of investigations into settlers' attacks on Palestinian olive trees were closed due to Israeli police failings.
Between 2005 and September 2014, Yesh Din documented 246 incidents in which complaints regarding deliberate damage to fruit trees in the West Bank led to the opening of a police investigation. “This does not account for all such incidents, but only those brought to the organization’s attention and processed by it”, according to the organization's report.
“Of 246 investigation files opened by the SJ Police District between 2005 and 2014 and monitored by Yesh Din, just four have ended in indictment; 223 files were closed in circumstances pointing to investigative failures. This represents 96.6 percent of the files in which processing has been completed and where the outcome is known to Yesh Din”.
The Palestinian village that has suffered the greatest number of attacks on trees is Burin, Yesh Din pointed out.
“In Burin alone, over the years Yesh Din has documented 35 incidents of damage to trees that were reported to police. Only one of these complaints led to an indictment”.
Palestinian youth Anas Na'ajeh was shot in the face, today, with a rubber-coated steel bullet, while several others suffered tear gas inhalation, during clashes which erupted in al-Fara’a refugee camp, northeast of Nablus.
Na’ajeh was transferred to a hospital to receive immediate treatment.
Witnesses told WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency that a large military force raided the camp, opening live fire and discharging both tear gas and sound bombs at a number of unarmed residents.
Soldiers raided several homes after blasting the front doors, using some residents as human shields. They also raided and ransacked several other homes in the area, turning one house into an investigation point.
Earlier today, Israeli forces turned a Palestinian home into a military barrack, while raiding and searching several Palestinian-owned homes in the town of Yabod, to the west of Jenin.
According to security sources, forces raided the home of one Walid Abu Bakir and turned it into a military observation point. Forces further raided several other houses and searched a shop, interrogating local residents.
Earlier this week, Israeli forces raided yet another house in Hebron, in systematic continuous Israeli violations of Palestinians privacy and human rights.
Forces, on Tuesday, abducted six Palestinians from the occupied West Bank districts of Hebron and Tulkarem, including a university student, while serving a youth from Bethlehem with a notice to appear for interrogation, according to reports by local and security sources.
Four Palestinians from the town of Beit Ummar, to the north of Hebron, were also taken following a raid on their homes. The kidnapped were identified as Sami abu Jodeh, age 19, Sofyan and Mohammad Ikhlil, and Mahmoud Abu Ayyash. Forces also took into custody, again, previously released prisoner Ihsan Dababseh, age 30, a woman from the town of Noba, to the west of Hebron.
Meanwhile, in Tulkarem, university student Kamal Azim, 29, was kidnapped after forces raided and thoroughly searched his home.
21-year-old Mohamad al-Masri was also served with a notice to appear for interrogation before the Israeli intelligence in 'Gush Etzion', a cluster of illegal Israeli settlements located near Bethlehem.
WAFA further reports that Israeli police assaulted, onTuesday, Director of al-Aqsa Mosque, Omar Kiswani, in occupied East Jerusalem, and also arrested an Islamic Waqf (IW) staff member after beating him, according to IW department.
According to IW, an Israeli police unit intercepted IW Director, Azzam Tamimi, while touring the mosque along with Kiswani. Police then attacked Kiswani and violently assaulted him.
Another police force present at the location assaulted one Mohannad Idris, an IW guard, before abducting him as well.
This latest civilian assault by Israeli forces comes after a vigorous Monday marred by violence, which erupted as illegal settlers broke into the Mosque compound to celebrate the Jewish holiday, Sukkot. Angered by the obtrusive invasion, worshipers began chanting religious slogans to fend off the assault.
Shortly after this, police chased hundreds of protesting worshipers towards the southern main building of the mosque and attempted to raid it, damaging a number of historical gates and windows in doing so. Dozens of worshipers were reported to have suffocated after Israeli police guards fired tear gas canisters in the building, where they were seeking shelter.
Furthermore, in the village of Aqraba, to the south of Nablus, on Tuesday, Israeli settlers sprayed the walls of a local mosque with racist graffiti and intentionally set it on fire, according to local sources.
Hamza Dereya, of the Anti-Settlement Committee in the village, stated that several settlers invaded the village before dawn and set fire to the local Abu Bakr Mosque. Settlers then proceeded to spray anti-Arab and miscellaneous hate graffiti on the walls.
Additionally, Minister of Religious Affairs Yousef Id’es said that the incident was the result of an ongoing Israeli racial campaign, within a nurtured environment of hatred which allows settlers to insult the Muslim and Christian holy sites in the city of Jerusalem, with the aim of forcing a temporal division of al-Aqsa Mosque.
The incident is but one in a series of similar violent episodes carried out by groups of Israeli settlers, during recent months, as Israeli forces continue to back settler aggression and impose increasingly tighter restrictions on worshippers.
Meanwhile, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, said that further assaults on the holy sites, on top of those at al-Aqsa Mosque, could potentially turn the region into a vertiable time bomb, foreshadowing an impending religious war in the region, should such assaults continue.
“Divine religions prohibit assaulting worship places and ensure they are away from any rounds of conflict,” Mr. Hussein was quoted to say, as he called for the ‘criminals’ to face justice while praising the local residents of Aqraba for defending their mosque.
WAFA reports that incidents of property destruction and arson, attacks on vulnerable communities, and continuing seizure of large areas of land are but a few forms of the daily aggressions against the Palestinian population, and especially in areas adjacent to the illegal settlements in the West Bank.
Settlers, on Tuesday, plundered a privately-owned Palestinian harvest of olives near Tulkarem, in the northern West Bank, according to WAFA correspondence.
AbdulRahman Rajab, owner of the crop, said that he was surprised to arrive in his land, only to find 10 large sacks that had been stuffed with olives now missing. He said that he had left the crop about two days ago, after being assaulted by illegal Israeli settlers.
In addition to Mr. Rajab's stolen crop, his donkey and agricultural tools were looted by the settlers, who apparently came from the nearby illegal settlement of ‘Avnei Hefets’.
Rajab additionally stated that he was on his land, along with his three sons and his wife, harvesting olive trees together, when three colonial settlers attacked them with stones, injuring the wife in her shoulder and his 8-year-old son in his legs.
The family was then forced to leave, to avoid any further physical injuries.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army further assaulted farmers in the village of al-Araqa, to west of Jenin, firing tear gas canisters at them while they were harvesting another crop of olive trees, causing them to suffocate.
Injuries reported during IOF attack on olive harvesters
Dozens of injuries were reported Tuesday evening among Palestinian farmers in Arqah village, west of Jenin, after being brutally attacked by Israeli occupation forces (IOF) while picking their olives. Local sources told a PIC reporter that IOF soldiers surrounded the olive groves near the village and started firing tear gas bombs towards the farmers, a lot of whom suffered breathing difficulties.
The soldiers brutally attacked the farmers in attempt to force them to leave their lands, however; the farmers refused, which forced the soldiers to retreat to the separation wall and monitor them from afar.
For its part, the Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din published updated figures highlighting that 96.6 percent of investigations into settlers' attacks on Palestinian olive trees were closed due to Israeli police failings.
Between 2005 and September 2014, Yesh Din documented 246 incidents in which complaints regarding deliberate damage to fruit trees in the West Bank led to the opening of a police investigation. “This does not account for all such incidents, but only those brought to the organization’s attention and processed by it”, according to the organization's report.
“Of 246 investigation files opened by the SJ Police District between 2005 and 2014 and monitored by Yesh Din, just four have ended in indictment; 223 files were closed in circumstances pointing to investigative failures. This represents 96.6 percent of the files in which processing has been completed and where the outcome is known to Yesh Din”.
The Palestinian village that has suffered the greatest number of attacks on trees is Burin, Yesh Din pointed out.
“In Burin alone, over the years Yesh Din has documented 35 incidents of damage to trees that were reported to police. Only one of these complaints led to an indictment”.
13 oct 2014
Israeli settlers have noticeably increased their attacks against olive fields in Salfit this year in comparison to last year. The Palestinian expert Khaled Maali said that Yassuf town in Salfit has witnessed the highest number of settler attacks against olive trees and Palestinian farmers.
The town is expected to witness mass attacks and vandalism campaigns during the olive harvest more than the other towns for being surrounded by an Israeli military camp and settlements, he added.
Five settler attacks were reported against local farmers in the town since the beginning of the olive harvest this season, he pointed out.
The town is expected to witness mass attacks and vandalism campaigns during the olive harvest more than the other towns for being surrounded by an Israeli military camp and settlements, he added.
Five settler attacks were reported against local farmers in the town since the beginning of the olive harvest this season, he pointed out.
12 oct 2014
Village of Yasuf
Israeli forces notified residents of al-Khader, to the south of Bethlehem, Saturday, of their intention to seize about 80 dunams of Palestinian-owned cropland, according to local activist Ahmad Salah. Also on Saturday, Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian olive harvesters in Yasuf, near Salfit.
Mr. Salah, who coordinates the al-Khader local committee against the wall and settlement, said that forces announced their decision to seize 79 dunums (approximately 20 acres) of cropland in Ras Salah and al-Thaghra area, located just adjacent to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of "Daniel".
The seized lands are intended for the construction of settlement units, parks, a synagogue and agricultural roads, according to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency.
Furthermore, Israeli forces gave Palestinian landowners 60 days to appeal at the Israeli Supreme Court to stop the decision.
WAFA notes that forces have denied landowners from accessing their lands for the last 20 days.
To the northeast of Salfit, in the vilage of Yasuf, seven Israeli settlers descended from the illegal Israeli settlement of Tafuh, built on land seized from the villagers, and assaulted several Palestinian farmers who were harvesting olives in the Khallet al-‘Ayn area.
Settlers brutally assaulted 30-year-old Hana’ Fathi ‘Atyani, inflicting injuries in her leg, in addition to vandalizing her husband’s vehicle.
An armed settler shot three bullets in the air, in an attempt to intimidate the harvesters, but no further injuries were reported.
The attack comes less than a week after Israeli settlers destroyed about 100 olive trees in Yasuf, as the Palestinian olive harvesting season gets underway, this month.
Settlers have been systematically assaulting Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, WAFA further reports. The attackers often set fire to entire orchards or chop them down and release wild pigsonto the lands, causing extensive destruction to crops. Such assaults are ignored by Israeli forces, who frequently protect the settlers or simply stand by watching.
The attacks are meant to intimidate Palestinian farmers, disenfranchise and dispossess them in order to expand and facilitate further construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements.
Israeli forces notified residents of al-Khader, to the south of Bethlehem, Saturday, of their intention to seize about 80 dunams of Palestinian-owned cropland, according to local activist Ahmad Salah. Also on Saturday, Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian olive harvesters in Yasuf, near Salfit.
Mr. Salah, who coordinates the al-Khader local committee against the wall and settlement, said that forces announced their decision to seize 79 dunums (approximately 20 acres) of cropland in Ras Salah and al-Thaghra area, located just adjacent to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement of "Daniel".
The seized lands are intended for the construction of settlement units, parks, a synagogue and agricultural roads, according to WAFA Palestinian News & Info Agency.
Furthermore, Israeli forces gave Palestinian landowners 60 days to appeal at the Israeli Supreme Court to stop the decision.
WAFA notes that forces have denied landowners from accessing their lands for the last 20 days.
To the northeast of Salfit, in the vilage of Yasuf, seven Israeli settlers descended from the illegal Israeli settlement of Tafuh, built on land seized from the villagers, and assaulted several Palestinian farmers who were harvesting olives in the Khallet al-‘Ayn area.
Settlers brutally assaulted 30-year-old Hana’ Fathi ‘Atyani, inflicting injuries in her leg, in addition to vandalizing her husband’s vehicle.
An armed settler shot three bullets in the air, in an attempt to intimidate the harvesters, but no further injuries were reported.
The attack comes less than a week after Israeli settlers destroyed about 100 olive trees in Yasuf, as the Palestinian olive harvesting season gets underway, this month.
Settlers have been systematically assaulting Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank, WAFA further reports. The attackers often set fire to entire orchards or chop them down and release wild pigsonto the lands, causing extensive destruction to crops. Such assaults are ignored by Israeli forces, who frequently protect the settlers or simply stand by watching.
The attacks are meant to intimidate Palestinian farmers, disenfranchise and dispossess them in order to expand and facilitate further construction of illegal Jewish-only settlements.
11 oct 2014
A group of Israeli settlers have burned and vandalized Friday evening a number of olive trees in Yassouf town in Salfit under Israeli occupation forces protection. Local sources confirmed that Palestinian farmers confronted the settlers and prevented further damage to their olive groves located near Tafuh settlement.
Israeli settlers and forces have daily carried out systematic attacks against olive groves especially during olive harvest in order to prevent the farmers from picking their own fruits.
Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed Friday morning Suleiman pools south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, local and media sources said.
The sources pointed out that the settlers performed Talmudic rituals in the ancient pools area in total provocation to the local residents.
WAFA news agency quoted a Palestinian security source as saying that 70 settlers from Efrat settlement stormed the pools area under heavy Israeli forces protection and started performing their rituals.
Israeli settlers used to storm Suleiman pools in an attempt to impose a status quo in the area.
The pools, which were built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman, are located between Artas and Al-Khader villages south of Bethlehem.
Israeli settlers and forces have daily carried out systematic attacks against olive groves especially during olive harvest in order to prevent the farmers from picking their own fruits.
Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli settlers stormed Friday morning Suleiman pools south of Bethlehem in the West Bank, local and media sources said.
The sources pointed out that the settlers performed Talmudic rituals in the ancient pools area in total provocation to the local residents.
WAFA news agency quoted a Palestinian security source as saying that 70 settlers from Efrat settlement stormed the pools area under heavy Israeli forces protection and started performing their rituals.
Israeli settlers used to storm Suleiman pools in an attempt to impose a status quo in the area.
The pools, which were built by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman, are located between Artas and Al-Khader villages south of Bethlehem.
