15 nov 2019
Summary
This week, Israeli occupation Forces (IOF) escalated the situation across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and committed war crimes. IOF started a two-day large-scale aggression on the Gaza Strip, deployed its naval, air and artillery forces and carried out 73 targeted airstikes against residential buildings, civilian establishments and agricultural lands, as well as many Palestinian armed groups’ training sites.
The Israeli extrajudicial execution of Bahaa Abulatta, senior leader of al-Quds Brigades – the armed wing of Islamic Jihad movement, at his home sparked the clashed, as both himself and his wife were killed in the attack and their children sustained wounds. Palestinian armed groups responded by firing rockets at Israeli villages, turning the Gaza Strip upside down as IOF launched an unhinged attack inflicting many civilian casualties.
As a result, 33 Palestinians were killed, including 14 civilians (6 women and 16 children).
Early Thursday morning, 3 hours before announcing a cease-fire, IOF warplanes bombed two tin-plated houses without prior warning, killing 8 members of a single family in Deir al-Balah, including 2 women and 5 children. IOF claimed that one of the victims was wanted for them.
Also, during the aggression 3 brothers, 2 of them are children, were killed; as well as, a father and his two sons, 1 is a child, in two separate attacks on Gaza city. 46 Palestinians sustained wounds, including 16 children and 6 women, and 7 houses were destroyed as well as many civilian establishments.
As part of the Israeli continued use of excessive force against the Great March of Return (GMR) protests in the Gaza Strip, 107 Palestinian civilians were shot and wounded at the 82nd protest, including 47 children, a woman and a paramedic. PCHR also documented several shooting incidents at agricultural lands on the eastern Gaza border, and 4 shootings against fishermen at sea. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian in Hebron after shooting him without reason and without him posing any danger to soldiers’ lives as the victim was helping put out a fire at his house during a student-led protest in commemoration of late Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat. IOF left the young man to bleed to death. In other incidents, IOF shot and injured 12 Palestinian civilians.
Under IOF incursions and house raids, 82 incursions into the West Bank were reported. Those incursions include raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, arresting and/or injuring many others. During this week’s incursions, 43 Palestinians were arrested, including 4 children.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out a limited incursion in eastern Khan Younis during which it levelled lands it had previously bulldozed. No injuries were reported.
Under the settlement expansion activities in the West Bank, PCHR documented 5 IOF violations as they demolished a tent in Nablus, 4 houses in Jerusalem, a house in Tubas and a residential caravan in Jericho. Furthermore, IOF issued military orders to seize an unidentified number of dunums in Bethlehem. Also, 9 settler-attacks were documented, some were against farmers in the olive-harvest season, and others included flattening tires and racist vandalizations.
In terms of the Israeli closure policy, the Gaza Strip still suffers the worst closure in the History of the Israeli occupation of the oPt as it has entered the 14th consecutive year, without any improvement to the movement of persons and goods, aggravating the humanitarian conditions and bearing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life. Meanwhile, the West Bank is divided into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the Second Intifada and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilians’ movement is restricted, and others are arrested.
Extrajudicial Execution Crimes:
In a new crime of extrajudicial execution “assassination”, on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, Israeli warplanes killed a leader of Palestinian resistance and his wife while 7 others sustained injuries, including 4 of the victims’ children, in an airstrike on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza. This attack was authorized by the highest Israeli military and political offices.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house (42), member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau which is the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, and he was in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity. Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta (38), were killed during the targeted airstrike on their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building, resulting in complete destruction. The victims’ bodies were extracted from the rubble at the UNRWA school across the street from their apartment due to the extreme intensity of the explosion: his body was found near the gates, while his wife’s was found within the school.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children (including two little girls): Salim (19); Mohammed (18); Fatima al-Zahra’ (13); Layan (11); two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles (26); Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles (21); and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta, victim’s bodyguard. The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
IOF and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by the Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services. He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
In response to the execution of Abulatta, Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at targets in Israel. Consequently, IOF escalated their aggression on the Gaza Strip and carried out 73 of airstrikes, during which it launched 112 missiles, against armed groups’ members and training sites, motorcycles, civilian targets, houses and agricultural lands. These attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, 13 November 2019, resulted in killing 33 Palestinians, including 14 civilians, among them 6 women and 16 children. Also 7 houses were destroyed and other civilian property.
IOF continued its excessive use of lethal force against GMR peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. On 08 November 2019, Israeli forces wounded 107 civilians, including 47 children, a woman, and a paramedic in the 82nd Friday titled: “We Shall Carry On.” Thousands of civilians took part in the GRM in the five encampments across the Gaza Strip, where some protestors raised the Palestinian flags and chanted national slogans and attempted to set tires on fire, throw stones, Molotov Cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces, who responded with excessive force.
The incidents were as follows:
According to PCHR investigations and eyewitnesses’ accounts, at approximately 09:00 that day, school students organized a peaceful protest in al-‘Aroub refugee camp to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian President Yasser ‘Arafat. The protesters marched the camp streets while a number of students approached the western entrance to the camp that leads to Bypass Road (60).
The students threw stones at the Israeli military watchtower next to the entrance; Israeli soldiers responded immediately with live bullets and tear gas canisters and chased the stone-throwers and stationed themselves at several entrances to the camp. The clashes between the stone-throwers and the soldiers, who opened fire randomly, continued until 13:00.
One of the Palestinian young men threw a Molotov Cocktail at the soldiers, but it hit a house belonging to al-Badawi family and caused a fire. ‘Omer Ahmed Haitham al-Badawi (22) came out of his house to put out the fire with a piece of cloth and was asked to bring water to put out the fire. As al-Badawi arrived at the entrance leading to the street, an Israeli soldier shot him from a distance of 15 meters with a bullet to the chest that exited his back. He fell on the house stairs to the street, and 2 minutes later, his family arrived after the Israeli heavy shooting stopped.
His family tried to take him to the street, where there was a car to transfer him to the hospital, but the Israeli soldiers shouted at them to stop and threw a teargas canister at them. He was then taken by a civilian car to the camp clinic, from which he was taken by a Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron. Doctors at the hospital declared his death due to severe bleeding.
In the evening, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a so-called “initial military probe” into the death circumstances of al-Badawi. The probe emphasized that al-Badawi did not pose any threat to the soldiers, based on a video documenting the killing of al-Badawi as well as the questioning of Israeli soldiers who opened fire at him. IOF claimed that it was yet to be ascertained whether or not al-Badawi was involved in throwing Molotov cocktails before the shooting.
Mohammed Abu al-Hums, Member of the Follow-up Committee in the village, who documents Israeli’s violations, said to PCHR’s fieldworker that hundreds of Israeli soldiers moved into the neighborhood and attacked civilians in the funeral of his nephew by pepper-spraying them as he and his family were heavily beaten, inkling women. Abu al-Hums emphasized: ” IOF beat us and pepper-sprayed us directly and then fired 4 sound bombs in the building targeting women and children to revenge from al-‘Issawiyah residents. As a result, I fainted and woke up at Makassed Hospital. I sustained bruises around my eyes.”
Fully detailed document available at the official website for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).
This week, Israeli occupation Forces (IOF) escalated the situation across the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) and committed war crimes. IOF started a two-day large-scale aggression on the Gaza Strip, deployed its naval, air and artillery forces and carried out 73 targeted airstikes against residential buildings, civilian establishments and agricultural lands, as well as many Palestinian armed groups’ training sites.
The Israeli extrajudicial execution of Bahaa Abulatta, senior leader of al-Quds Brigades – the armed wing of Islamic Jihad movement, at his home sparked the clashed, as both himself and his wife were killed in the attack and their children sustained wounds. Palestinian armed groups responded by firing rockets at Israeli villages, turning the Gaza Strip upside down as IOF launched an unhinged attack inflicting many civilian casualties.
As a result, 33 Palestinians were killed, including 14 civilians (6 women and 16 children).
Early Thursday morning, 3 hours before announcing a cease-fire, IOF warplanes bombed two tin-plated houses without prior warning, killing 8 members of a single family in Deir al-Balah, including 2 women and 5 children. IOF claimed that one of the victims was wanted for them.
Also, during the aggression 3 brothers, 2 of them are children, were killed; as well as, a father and his two sons, 1 is a child, in two separate attacks on Gaza city. 46 Palestinians sustained wounds, including 16 children and 6 women, and 7 houses were destroyed as well as many civilian establishments.
As part of the Israeli continued use of excessive force against the Great March of Return (GMR) protests in the Gaza Strip, 107 Palestinian civilians were shot and wounded at the 82nd protest, including 47 children, a woman and a paramedic. PCHR also documented several shooting incidents at agricultural lands on the eastern Gaza border, and 4 shootings against fishermen at sea. No injuries were reported.
Meanwhile in the West Bank, IOF killed a Palestinian civilian in Hebron after shooting him without reason and without him posing any danger to soldiers’ lives as the victim was helping put out a fire at his house during a student-led protest in commemoration of late Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat. IOF left the young man to bleed to death. In other incidents, IOF shot and injured 12 Palestinian civilians.
Under IOF incursions and house raids, 82 incursions into the West Bank were reported. Those incursions include raids of civilian houses and shootings, enticing fear among civilians, arresting and/or injuring many others. During this week’s incursions, 43 Palestinians were arrested, including 4 children.
In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out a limited incursion in eastern Khan Younis during which it levelled lands it had previously bulldozed. No injuries were reported.
Under the settlement expansion activities in the West Bank, PCHR documented 5 IOF violations as they demolished a tent in Nablus, 4 houses in Jerusalem, a house in Tubas and a residential caravan in Jericho. Furthermore, IOF issued military orders to seize an unidentified number of dunums in Bethlehem. Also, 9 settler-attacks were documented, some were against farmers in the olive-harvest season, and others included flattening tires and racist vandalizations.
In terms of the Israeli closure policy, the Gaza Strip still suffers the worst closure in the History of the Israeli occupation of the oPt as it has entered the 14th consecutive year, without any improvement to the movement of persons and goods, aggravating the humanitarian conditions and bearing catastrophic consequences on all aspects of life. Meanwhile, the West Bank is divided into separate cantons with key roads blocked by the Israeli occupation since the Second Intifada and with temporary and permanent checkpoints, where civilians’ movement is restricted, and others are arrested.
- Violation of the right to life and to bodily integrity
Extrajudicial Execution Crimes:
In a new crime of extrajudicial execution “assassination”, on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, Israeli warplanes killed a leader of Palestinian resistance and his wife while 7 others sustained injuries, including 4 of the victims’ children, in an airstrike on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza. This attack was authorized by the highest Israeli military and political offices.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house (42), member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau which is the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, and he was in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity. Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta (38), were killed during the targeted airstrike on their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building, resulting in complete destruction. The victims’ bodies were extracted from the rubble at the UNRWA school across the street from their apartment due to the extreme intensity of the explosion: his body was found near the gates, while his wife’s was found within the school.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children (including two little girls): Salim (19); Mohammed (18); Fatima al-Zahra’ (13); Layan (11); two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles (26); Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles (21); and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta, victim’s bodyguard. The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
IOF and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by the Israeli military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services. He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defense Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
In response to the execution of Abulatta, Palestinian armed groups fired rockets at targets in Israel. Consequently, IOF escalated their aggression on the Gaza Strip and carried out 73 of airstrikes, during which it launched 112 missiles, against armed groups’ members and training sites, motorcycles, civilian targets, houses and agricultural lands. These attacks on Tuesday and Wednesday, 13 November 2019, resulted in killing 33 Palestinians, including 14 civilians, among them 6 women and 16 children. Also 7 houses were destroyed and other civilian property.
- Excessive Use of Force against the Great March of Return in the Gaza Strip
IOF continued its excessive use of lethal force against GMR peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip. On 08 November 2019, Israeli forces wounded 107 civilians, including 47 children, a woman, and a paramedic in the 82nd Friday titled: “We Shall Carry On.” Thousands of civilians took part in the GRM in the five encampments across the Gaza Strip, where some protestors raised the Palestinian flags and chanted national slogans and attempted to set tires on fire, throw stones, Molotov Cocktails and firecrackers at the Israeli forces, who responded with excessive force.
The incidents were as follows:
- Northern Gaza Strip: demonstrations took part in eastern Jabalia. Protesters threw stones at IOF stationed along the border fence. It was noted that IOF installed surveillance cameras on the sand berms, 50 meters away from the border fence. These cameras were directed towards the protestors. IOF shot and injured 23 civilians, including a woman and 12 children; one was deemed in critical condition: 8 with live bullets and shrapnel, 11 with rubber bullets and 4 were hit with tear gas canisters. ‘Abed al-Rahman Talal ‘Abed al-Latif al-Hisami (16) was shot with an explosive live bullet, causing serious laceration in his legbones and cuts in the veins and tendons.
- Gaza City: protests took part in Malaka area in eastern Gaza City. IOF shot and injured 13 civilians, including 6 children: 2 with live bullets and shrapnel, 10 with rubber bullets and one was hit with a tear gas canister.
- Central Gaza Strip: protests took part in eastern al-Buriej Camp and the area witnessed several shows. Hundreds gathered near the border fence and attempted to throw stones and sound bombs at IOF, who fired live and rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at them. The Israeli shooting, which continued until 17:30, resulted in the injury of 12 civilians, including 5 children; one was deemed critical: 8 with live bullets, 3 with rubber bullets, and 1 was hit with a tear gas canister. Feras Walid Mahmoud al-‘Assar (21), from al-Nuseirat, was deemed critical after being shot with a live bullet to the abdomen.
- Khan Younis: hundreds participated in Khuza’ah protests. Tens approached the border fence, set tires on fire, attempted to throw stones, firecrackers, and Molotov Cocktails. IOF fired live and rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at protesters, wounding 14 civilians, including 9 children and 1 paramedic: 8 with live bullets and shrapnel, 5 with rubber bullets, and 1 was hit with a tear gas canister. Moreover, many civilians sustained superficial rubber bullets wounds and suffocated due to tear gas inhalation. They received treatment on the spot. The wounded paramedic, Kamal Jawad Kamal al-Shehri (24), was shot with a rubber bullet in his head. It should be noted that some Palestinian young men flocked to today’s protests at 13:00 and were shot with live bullets and hit with tear gas canisters.
- Rafah: hundreds of protestors gathered in eastern al-Shawka neighborhood while others remained at the protest encampment, where speeches and theatrical performances were performed. Dozens attempted to approach the fence and throw stones and burnt tires. IOF fired live and rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at protestors and pumped wastewater at them. As a result, 45 civilians, including 15 children, were injured; one was deemed critical: 16 shot with live bullets and shrapnel, 24 with rubber bullets and 5 were hit with tear gas canisters. Mousa Fawzi ‘Ali Abu Hussain (12) was directly hit with a tear gas canister in his head causing fracture in his skull. He was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Gaza European Hospital in Khan Yunis.
- Excessive Use of Force against Protests in the West Bank
- At approximately 13:30 on Friday, 08 October 2019, Palestinians from Kufor Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyah launched their weekly peaceful protest and headed towards the village’s eastern entrance that has been closed by Israeli forces for the past 15 years in favor of “Kedumim” settlement. The demonstrators chanted national slogans demanding end of the occupation and protested the Israeli forces’ crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The protestors threw stones at the Israeli soldiers stationed behind sand berms while the soldiers fired live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, many civilians sustained tear gas inhalation.
- In a new crime of excessive use of force, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) shot dead a Palestinian civilian who was in front of his house in al-‘Aroub Refugee Camp, north of Hebron, on Monday, 11 November 2019. PCHR’s investigations emphasize that the shooting violated the principle of necessity and distinction, stressing that the force used was unjustifiable, especially that the Palestinian civilian was clearly seen by the soldiers and did not pose any threat to their lives.
According to PCHR investigations and eyewitnesses’ accounts, at approximately 09:00 that day, school students organized a peaceful protest in al-‘Aroub refugee camp to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the death of late Palestinian President Yasser ‘Arafat. The protesters marched the camp streets while a number of students approached the western entrance to the camp that leads to Bypass Road (60).
The students threw stones at the Israeli military watchtower next to the entrance; Israeli soldiers responded immediately with live bullets and tear gas canisters and chased the stone-throwers and stationed themselves at several entrances to the camp. The clashes between the stone-throwers and the soldiers, who opened fire randomly, continued until 13:00.
One of the Palestinian young men threw a Molotov Cocktail at the soldiers, but it hit a house belonging to al-Badawi family and caused a fire. ‘Omer Ahmed Haitham al-Badawi (22) came out of his house to put out the fire with a piece of cloth and was asked to bring water to put out the fire. As al-Badawi arrived at the entrance leading to the street, an Israeli soldier shot him from a distance of 15 meters with a bullet to the chest that exited his back. He fell on the house stairs to the street, and 2 minutes later, his family arrived after the Israeli heavy shooting stopped.
His family tried to take him to the street, where there was a car to transfer him to the hospital, but the Israeli soldiers shouted at them to stop and threw a teargas canister at them. He was then taken by a civilian car to the camp clinic, from which he was taken by a Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulance to al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron. Doctors at the hospital declared his death due to severe bleeding.
In the evening, Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a so-called “initial military probe” into the death circumstances of al-Badawi. The probe emphasized that al-Badawi did not pose any threat to the soldiers, based on a video documenting the killing of al-Badawi as well as the questioning of Israeli soldiers who opened fire at him. IOF claimed that it was yet to be ascertained whether or not al-Badawi was involved in throwing Molotov cocktails before the shooting.
- At approximately 13:00 on the same Monday, dozens of Palestinian young men gathered at the eastern entrance to Dura, which connects between Bypass Road (60), southwest of Hebron. They threw stones at Israeli military vehicles stationed near the military watchtower established there. Israeli soldiers fired sound bombs and tear gas canisters at the stone-throwers, chased them in the road leading to al-Hejrah village, and fired live bullets at them. As a result, a 19-year-old civilian sustained 3 live bullet wounds in the left leg and he was transferred to the governmental hospital in Hebron for treatment.
- At approximately 14:00 on the same Monday, dozens of Palestinian civilians launched a peaceful protest to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the center of Ramallah. They headed to the northern entrance to al-Birah. When the protestors arrived at the area, Israeli soldiers stationed at ” al-Mahkamah” checkpoint near “Beit Eil” settlement, north of the settlement, used force to disperse them by firing live and rubber bullets, sound bombs and tear gas canisters at them. As a result, 10 civilians sustained rubber bullets wounds in the lower extremities of their bodies. Field paramedic Ahmed Naji (27) was shot with a rubber bullet in the foot and a tear gas canister in the head. Moreover, dozens of civilians sustained tear gas inhalation. The wounded civilians were transferred to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah for treatment. Doctors classified their injuries as moderate.
- At approximately 11:00 on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, IOF suppressed a protest organized by students against the IOF’s offensive on the Gaza Strip. The participants launched their protest at the northern entrance to Bethlehem. When they arrived in the vicinity of Bilal Ben Rabah Mosque, Israeli soldiers fired rubber bullets and tear gas canisters at them and chased. They arrested Mahmoud Ahmed al-Moghrabi (17) and Ezz Eden Ayman Sarar (17).
- Shooting and other violations of the right to life and bodily integrity
- At approximately 11:00 on Thursday, 07 November 2019, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Sudaniyah shore, west of Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, heavily opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats sailing between 3 nautical miles and chased them. As a result, the fishermen were forced to flee fearing for their lives; neither casualties nor material damage was reported.
- At approximately 23:30 on Friday, 08 November 2019, Israeli gunboats stationed west of Khan Younis shore, in southern Gaza Strip opened fire in the vicinity of Palestinian fishing boats sailing within the fishing limited area. The shooting continued for few minutes. As a result, fishermen were forced to flee fearing for their lives; neither casualties nor material damage was reported.
- At approximately 07:30 on Saturday, 09 November 2019, Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, west of Khan Younis, opened fire at agricultural lands in eastern al-Fukhari and Khuza’a villages; no casualties were reported.
- At approximately 08:40 on the same Saturday, Israeli forces Israeli soldiers stationed along the border fence, west of Khan Younis, opened fire in the vicninty of a sanitation truck in al-Sanati area, east of ‘Abasan al-Kabirah; no casualties were reported.
- At approximately 21:00 on the same Saturday, IOF moved into al-‘Issawiyah village, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, and stationed in ‘Obeid neighborhood. They surrounded a building of Abu al-Hums family, raided its external entrance, chased a number of Palestinian young men inside it, beat them with sticks and batons, fired sound bombs and pepper-sprayed womena dn children, who were in the area. The soldiers arrested Khader Rabah Abu al-Hums (31) and Ahmed Fathi al-Masri after heavily beating them. Meanwhile, dozens of young men gathered and threw stones, empty bottles and fireworks at the soldiers, who responded with rubber bullets and sound bombs. As a result, activist Hamzah Khader Abu al-Hums (62) was shot with a rubber bullet in the foot and he was pepper-sprayed by the soldiers, knowing that he is a cancer patient. Moreover, activist Mohammed Khader Abu al-Hums (57), sustained bruises around his eye after the Israeli soldiers beat him. The wounded men were transferred to Makassed Islamic Charitable Society hospital in al-Tour Mountain for treatment. Moreover, 15 civilians sustained tear gas inhalation and they received medical treatment in the field.
Mohammed Abu al-Hums, Member of the Follow-up Committee in the village, who documents Israeli’s violations, said to PCHR’s fieldworker that hundreds of Israeli soldiers moved into the neighborhood and attacked civilians in the funeral of his nephew by pepper-spraying them as he and his family were heavily beaten, inkling women. Abu al-Hums emphasized: ” IOF beat us and pepper-sprayed us directly and then fired 4 sound bombs in the building targeting women and children to revenge from al-‘Issawiyah residents. As a result, I fainted and woke up at Makassed Hospital. I sustained bruises around my eyes.”
- At approximately 20:50 on Sunday, 10 November 2019, Israeli gunboats stationed off al-Sudaniyah shore, west of Jabalia in northern Gaza Strip, heavily opened fire and chased Palestinian fishing boats sailing between 3 nautical miles. They also fired a number of artillery shells in the boats’ vicinity. As a result, the fishermen were forced to flee fearing for their lives; neither casualties nor material damage was reported.
- At the same time, Israeli gunboats stationed in northwest of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza Strip, heavily opened fire and chased Palestinian fishing boats sailing within 3 nautical miles. They also fired a number of artillery shells in the boats’ vicinity. As a result, the fishermen were forced to flee fearing for their lives; no casualties were reported.
- Settlement Expansion and settler violence in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem
- Demolition and Confiscation of Civilian Property for Settlement Expansion Activities
- At approximately 14:30 on Thursday, 07 November 2019, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with a vehicle of Israeli Civil Administration and a bulldozer moved into Kherbit Tana, east of Beit Foreek village in eastern Nablus. A tent and steel fence were bulldozed as well as a generator belonging to Waleed Mostafa Hanani was confiscated.
- On Monday, 11 November 2019, IOF demolished 4 tin-plated houses, facilities and livestock barns in several Bedouin communities, east of occupied East Jerusalem. Spokesperson of Bedouin communities, Dawoud Jahaleen, said that at approximately 06:00, the Israeli Civil Administration staff accompanied with IOF moved into “Sha’b Mosa” and “Um Rayan” communities in al-Mentar area, where they dismantled 2 tin-plate residential rooms belonging to Mohamed Hasan Hathaleen and Mohamed Omar ‘Abed al-Qader and confiscated them under the pretext of non-licensing. Following that, the Israeli Civil Administration staff and IOF moved into Abu Nuwar community in eastern al-‘Izariyia village, southeast of occupied Jerusalem, where they dismantled a tin-plate residential room and demolished an agricultural facility for breeding livestock belonging to Mohamed Salman ‘Ajarmah. They also dismantled a tin-plate residential house of Majed Suliman Sayaylah in Wadi al-Jamal community, east of al-‘Izariyia. Jahaleen added that the houses dismantled were sheltering at least 25 persons; majority were children. Jahaleen clarified that the Israeli Civil Administration vacated and confiscated the contents of the residential and agricultural facilities before demolishing them, pointing out that the residents did not receive any prior demolition notice. It should be noted that on 15 September 2019, Israeli settlers placed mobile houses “caravans” and water tanks on al-Mentar area lands in order to establish settlement outpost. Since 1948, thousands of Palestinians have been living in a Bedouin community, east of Jerusalem, after forcibly displaced by the Israeli authorities from the Negev desert. The three Bedouin communities are located in the middle of the Ma’ale Adumim settlements, east of the city. The Israeli government seeks to displace the Bedouin communities in order to establish a settlement project called Israel-1E. According to Palestinian observers, the project aims to seize 12,000 dunams of land stretching from East Jerusalem to the Dead Sea, and evacuate the area of any Palestinian presence, as part of a project to separate the southern West Bank from its center.
- On Tuesday, 12 November 2019, Israeli authorities issued several military orders to seize lands, extend the validity of a previous military order, and amend borders in Bethlehem Governorate for military purposes. Director of the office of the Wall and Settlement Authority in Bethlehem, Hassan Brijieh, said that the notices were issued by Israeli authorities in “Gush Etizon” settlement, which is established on Bethlehem’s lands. The areas where the land would be seized were mentioned, without specifying the areas. Brijieh said that the notices included: Bethlehem, Beit Sahour, Beit Jala, al-Khader, Beit Fajjar, Biter, al-Jab’a, al-Walajah, al-Qabou, Artas, Wad Rahhal and Wad al-Nayyis areas. He also stated the names of areas received military orders. (PCHR keeps the areas’ names).
- At approximately 05:30 on Wednesday, 13 November 2019, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with a bulldozer and a vehicle of the Israeli Civil Administration moved into ‘Atouf village, eas of Tamoun village, southeast of Tubas. The bulldozer demolished a 70-sqaure-meter under-construction house belonging to Khaled Naji Bani ‘Odah, under the pretext of construction in Area C without obtaining a permit from the competent authorities.
- At approximately 13:00 on Wednesday, 13 November 2019, IOF backed by military construction vehicles and accompanied with 2 bulldozers moved into ‘Ain al-Dayyouk al-Tahta village, west of Jericho. The bulldozers demolished 150-sqaure-meter residential caravan built of tin plates. The caravan, a property of Hamed al-Ka’abnah, sheltered 10 members. Following that, the bulldozers demolished an under-construction house belonging to Raja Mahalees, under the pretext of non-licensing in Area C. The house was built on an area of 200 square meters and comprised of 2 story. Al-Ka’abnah and Mahalees said that they did not receive any demolition notices and were shocked by the raid and the demolishing especially that they received no prior warning. It should be noted that Mahalees’s house was built in March 2017 and it cost NIS 200,000.
- Israeli Settler Violence
- At approximately 04:00 on Thursday, 07 November 2019, settlers from the “Price Tag” group attacked al-Hawwouz area, at the western entrance to Qablan village, south of Nablus. The settlers attacked Palestinians’ vehicles parked in front of the houses and on the village’s streets. They also vandalized houses and vehicles with racist slurs against Arabs and Muslims. The settlers punctured the tires of 2 vehicles and a bulldozer with sharp tools, in addition to damaging 6 water tanks. The affected persons were as follows:
- Rasmi ‘Ahed Emlah: vandalized his house and punctured his vehicles right-side tires (2).
- ‘Abdullah Mohamed Faieq Snobar, vandalized his house shops and punctured his truck’s tires (6).
- Naser Taleb Snobar, punctured 6 water tanks and drew the Star of David; they also climbed to the roof of his under-construction house.
- At approximately 18:00 on Thursday, Israeli settlers attacked a taxi on ‘Ain Samiyah road near al-Moghair village, northeast of Ramallah. The driver, Mohanad Mohamed Kamel Qawarieq (31), was coming from Hebron, meanwhile, a stone hit his taxi from the left side and broke the windshield. The stone fell on Qawarieq head causing a severe bleeding, fracture in his skull and above nose, and blur in the left eye. Qawarieq was taken to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah, where his injuries were reported serious.
- On Friday, 08 October 2019, settlers from the group of “Price Tag” moved into Tablas area in Hizmah villagem northeast of occupied East Jerusalem. The settlers attacked dozens of vehicles and vandalized houses. The residents of Hizmah village stated that the settlers punctured the tires of 30 vehicles and wrote racist slogans on them and on the houses’ walls. The municipality of Hizmah village vowed to file complaints in order to prosecute the settlers and their attacks. It should be noted that “Price Tag” group has committed similar attacks against civilians and their properties in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, without being pursued by the Israeli authorities.
- At approximately 05:00 on Friday, Israeli settlers, from “Himlish” settlement, which is established on Palestinians’ lands, northwest of Ramallah, attacked al-Ghabit area in the outskirts of Um Safa village, northwest of the city. The settlers cut the twigs of 10 olive trees belonging to Ayman Tanatrah.
- At approximately 17:00 on Saturday, 09 November 2019, Israeli settlers moved into al-Mahawer area, which belongs to Yasouf village, east of Salfit. The settlers damaged at least 37 olive trees and stole many tools. The damaged trees belong to ‘Abed al-Rahman Mousa Hussain and Marouf ‘Issa Hussain. ‘Abed al-Rhaman Hussain said to PCHR’s fieldworker that: “At approximately 15:00 on Saturday, 09 November 2019, six workers finished the harvesting of olive trees in my land and left their tools to complete their work next day. When they exited the land, they noticed four settlers approaching them, but they did not give them any attention and returnd to their homes. At approximately 07:30 on the next day, 10 November 2019, the workers arrived at the land and found that at least 37 olive trees of Ma’rouf ‘issa ‘Abed al-Rahman Hussain, were damaged.”
- At approximately 18:00 on Saturday, Israeli settlers, from ” Beit ‘Ayin” settlement, which is established on Jab’a and Nahaleen villages’ lands, southwest of Bethlehem, and on Safa and Sureef villages’ lands, north of Hebron. The settlers gathered at the eastern entrance to the village and fired fireworks at Palestinian civilians, who confronted them. Head of the Village Council, Diab Masha’lah, said that the settlers of “Beit ‘Ayin” settlement, recently intensified their attacks against the village and its residents, as they raided the eastern entrance to the village and fired fireworks at Palestinian civilians. They attempted to access to the residents’ houses in the center of the village in order to attack them and their properties, but the residents confronted them. Less than a week ago, settlers flooded 5 dunums planted with fruit and olive trees with wastewater. These dunums belong to the heirs of the late Mohammed Ibrahim Abu Loha.
- On Sunday, 10 November 2019, Israeli settlers, from “Rahlim” settlement, which is established on al-Sawiyia village lands, southeast of Nablus, attacked Palestinians’ lands in al-Harayiq area. The settlers cut 37 olive trees planted 60-70 years ago with saws. The damaged trees belong to: Fayiq Sa’ied Ab Ras (8 trees), Ziad Merwieh ‘Abed al-Jaleel (15 trees), Yousef Mohamed ‘Oda Deek (10 trees), and Mohamed Fawwaz Ahmed Khalil (4 trees).
- At approximately 17:00 on Sunday, Israeli settlers moved into Mohamed Mount area, which belongs to Kafur Qaddoum village, northeast of Qalqiliyia, and stole 4 bags of olives (about 100 kg) belonging to Nasser Darwish Baker Barham and stole olive harvesting tools from the above-mentioned land. They also stole another olive crop belonging to the heirs of ‘Abed al- Latif Suleiman Ali and damaged the olive harvesting tools belonging to Mohamed Rushdi ‘Amer and Mohamed ‘Abed al-Latif Ishtawi.
- At approximately 00:23 on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, settlers from the group of “Paying the Price” attacked the main street between ‘Oreef and ‘Inabous villages, south of Nablus. The settlers attacked Palestinians’ vehicles parked in front of their owners’ houses and on the village’s streets. They wrote slogans against Arabs and Muslims on the houses’ walls and on the vehicles’ structures. The tires of 6 vehicles, a bulldozer, a mounted-crane truck, and a tractor were punctured with sharp tools. The affected were as follows:
- Mansour Mohamed Omar Shehada: vandalized his house and puncture the tires of his vehicle.
- Mashhour Mohamed Salama al-Safadi: vandalized his house and shops as well as puncture the tires of his tractor.
- ‘Ali ‘Amer al-Safadi: puncture the tires of his vehicle and vandalized it.
- Dawwoud Hasan al-Safadi: puncture the tires of his 3 vehicles and vandalized it.
- Diyaa Moneer ‘Allan: vandalized his vehicle and punctured its tires.
Fully detailed document available at the official website for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).
13 nov 2019
Israel resumed its extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinians, as Israeli warplanes carried out a targeted attacks, one against a senior leader of a Palestinian resistance group at dawn, Tuesday.
As a result, the targeted Palestinian was killed along with his wife, while 7 others sustained injuries including 4 of the victims’ children in the attack on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza.
This attack reflects a decision by the highest Israeli military and political offices, PCHR reported.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house.
Abulatta, 42, member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity.
Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta, 38, were killed in their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children: Salim, 19; Mohammed, 18; Fatima al-Zahra’, 13; Layan, 11; two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles, 26; Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles, 21; and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta’s bodyguard.
The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services.
He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza attack was simultaneous with another targeted airstrike by Israeli warplanes against Islamic Jihad Political Bureau member, Akram al- ‘Ajoury, in the Syrian capital, Damascus. According to Islamic Jihad press release and Syrian media, al- ‘Ajoury’s son was killed in the attack.
Today’s attacks are worrying signs of a larger escalation against the Gaza Strip, as precedented in similar Israeli attacks that Palestinian armed groups responded to with a rain of retaliatory rocket fire at Israeli settlements and cities, as is the scenario today.
IOF warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on various targets in the Gaza Strip, some located within densely populated areas, causing great damage and destruction. PCHR teams and fieldworkers are working around the clock to document and investigate each incident.
An Israeli missile targeted and destroyed a residential apartment on the third floor of Khayal Building, on al-Rasheed Street; no injuries were reported.
Another missile hit the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) office in Harara Building in Gaza City center, causing grave damage.
The missile hit the 5th floor of the Gaza office, destroying it. The floor was empty as all staff were in a meeting on the sixth floor, which sustained partial damage on the eastern side. Bahjat Ibrahim al-Helou, Head of ICHR Training and Awareness Unit, sustained wounds due to shattering glass.
PCHR team will continue to document, investigate and report on all airstrikes and attacks.
PCHR reminds and stresses that it is always Palestinian civilians who pay the price for the Israeli attacks and military escalations and warns that this policy retains 2 million Palestinian hostages to aggression, fear, anxiety and direct targeting.
Palestinian Government Press announced the activation of the emergency state in all government office, and suspension of education until further notice.
Additionally, in another act under the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians, IOF closed Kerm Shalom Commercial Crossing, east Rafah, which is Gaza’s only crossing for goods; and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing, in northern Gaza, dedicated for movement of individuals.
IOF also announced reducing the fishing area to 6 nautical miles until further notice, according to Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), justified by the security situation in Gaza.
PCHR strongly condemns the Israeli extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinian activists and expresses its concern for a dramatic deterioration of the security situation, warning that the situation is susceptible to a deterioration on all aspects.
As such, PCHR:
Reminds all parties of the need to protect protected civilians under the international humanitarian law (IHL), especially that Gaza Strip civilians and their property have been subjected to direct targeting by IOF in grave violations of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, that amount to war crimes.
Calls upon the international community to move immediately and urgently to pressure Israel to cease its attacks against Palestinians and to remind it of its obligations under international law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
As a result, the targeted Palestinian was killed along with his wife, while 7 others sustained injuries including 4 of the victims’ children in the attack on their house in al-Shuja’ya neighborhood in Eastern Gaza.
This attack reflects a decision by the highest Israeli military and political offices, PCHR reported.
According to PCHR investigation, at approximately 04:00 on Tuesday, IOF warplanes fired a missile at Bahaa’ Salim Hassan Abulatta’s house.
Abulatta, 42, member of the al-Quds Brigades’ military bureau, the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad movement, in charge of its northern Gaza Strip activity.
Abulatta and his wife, Asmaa’ Mohammed Hassan Abulatta, 38, were killed in their apartment, on the second floor of a residential building.
Furthermore, 7 others sustained shrapnel wounds in the airstrike, including 4 of the victims’ children: Salim, 19; Mohammed, 18; Fatima al-Zahra’, 13; Layan, 11; two women from the neighborhood: Hanan Shehda Mohyaldeen Helles, 26; Shereen Fouad Khalil Helles, 21; and Mahmoud Fouad Abdulrahman Abulatta’s bodyguard.
The injuries were reported to be minor and moderate.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and the Israeli Security Agency (Shin Bet) announced in a press statement by military spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, that the targeted attack against prominent Islamic Jihad Leader in Gaza was a joint operation between the Israeli military and the intelligence services.
He also reiterated that Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, authorized the attack, which is the first extrajudicial execution carried out by Israeli airstrikes since the 2014 Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza attack was simultaneous with another targeted airstrike by Israeli warplanes against Islamic Jihad Political Bureau member, Akram al- ‘Ajoury, in the Syrian capital, Damascus. According to Islamic Jihad press release and Syrian media, al- ‘Ajoury’s son was killed in the attack.
Today’s attacks are worrying signs of a larger escalation against the Gaza Strip, as precedented in similar Israeli attacks that Palestinian armed groups responded to with a rain of retaliatory rocket fire at Israeli settlements and cities, as is the scenario today.
IOF warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on various targets in the Gaza Strip, some located within densely populated areas, causing great damage and destruction. PCHR teams and fieldworkers are working around the clock to document and investigate each incident.
An Israeli missile targeted and destroyed a residential apartment on the third floor of Khayal Building, on al-Rasheed Street; no injuries were reported.
Another missile hit the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) office in Harara Building in Gaza City center, causing grave damage.
The missile hit the 5th floor of the Gaza office, destroying it. The floor was empty as all staff were in a meeting on the sixth floor, which sustained partial damage on the eastern side. Bahjat Ibrahim al-Helou, Head of ICHR Training and Awareness Unit, sustained wounds due to shattering glass.
PCHR team will continue to document, investigate and report on all airstrikes and attacks.
PCHR reminds and stresses that it is always Palestinian civilians who pay the price for the Israeli attacks and military escalations and warns that this policy retains 2 million Palestinian hostages to aggression, fear, anxiety and direct targeting.
Palestinian Government Press announced the activation of the emergency state in all government office, and suspension of education until further notice.
Additionally, in another act under the Israeli policy of collective punishment against Palestinians, IOF closed Kerm Shalom Commercial Crossing, east Rafah, which is Gaza’s only crossing for goods; and Beit Hanoun “Erez” Crossing, in northern Gaza, dedicated for movement of individuals.
IOF also announced reducing the fishing area to 6 nautical miles until further notice, according to Major General Kamil Abu Rokon, Coordinator of the Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), justified by the security situation in Gaza.
PCHR strongly condemns the Israeli extrajudicial execution policy against Palestinian activists and expresses its concern for a dramatic deterioration of the security situation, warning that the situation is susceptible to a deterioration on all aspects.
As such, PCHR:
Reminds all parties of the need to protect protected civilians under the international humanitarian law (IHL), especially that Gaza Strip civilians and their property have been subjected to direct targeting by IOF in grave violations of the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949, that amount to war crimes.
Calls upon the international community to move immediately and urgently to pressure Israel to cease its attacks against Palestinians and to remind it of its obligations under international law, especially the 4th Geneva Convention of 1949.
12 nov 2019
After being targeted by Israeli missiles, the Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine (IHCR), issued a statement denouncing the military escalation, and calling for an international investigation at the highest level.
At approximately 09:50 AM on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, the headquarters of the Independent Commission in the Gaza Strip, which occupies the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of a multi-story building near the Palestinian Legislative Council in the center of Gaza City, was targeted by Israeli missiles.
Mr. Bahjat Al-Helu, ICHR’s Coordinator of the Awareness and Training Unit in the Gaza Strip, was slightly injured.
It was a fortunate coincidence that the colleagues on the targeted floor just left the place a few minutes prior the shelling to participate in a meeting on the seventh floor, otherwise, they would have been directly hit.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights condemns the attacks on its offices in Gaza City and calls upon the international community to take urgent action to stop the aggression carried out by the occupying power since the early morning of today, Tuesday.
The Israeli army targeted the house of Baha’ Abu Al-Ata in the neighborhood of Al-Sheja’eya in Gaza, assassinated him and his wife, and wounded his children.
Furthermore, ICHR calls for stopping Israeli war crimes and spare civilians a high humanitarian cost in light of the deterioration of the Gaza Strip in its economic and social conditions.
It also considers targeting human rights institutions requires an urgent international intervention and investigation at the highest level. (ICHR) will continue its work in the service of human rights and expose Israeli crimes and will continue to follow up on the bombing of its headquarters with the relevant international and judicial bodies.
Also Tuesday:
Updated: Army Kills Five Palestinians, Injures 25, In Gaza
Israeli Missiles Kill A Third Palestinian In Gaza
Israeli Air Force Kills Two, Injures Nine, In Damascus
At approximately 09:50 AM on Tuesday, 12 November 2019, the headquarters of the Independent Commission in the Gaza Strip, which occupies the fifth, sixth and seventh floors of a multi-story building near the Palestinian Legislative Council in the center of Gaza City, was targeted by Israeli missiles.
Mr. Bahjat Al-Helu, ICHR’s Coordinator of the Awareness and Training Unit in the Gaza Strip, was slightly injured.
It was a fortunate coincidence that the colleagues on the targeted floor just left the place a few minutes prior the shelling to participate in a meeting on the seventh floor, otherwise, they would have been directly hit.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights condemns the attacks on its offices in Gaza City and calls upon the international community to take urgent action to stop the aggression carried out by the occupying power since the early morning of today, Tuesday.
The Israeli army targeted the house of Baha’ Abu Al-Ata in the neighborhood of Al-Sheja’eya in Gaza, assassinated him and his wife, and wounded his children.
Furthermore, ICHR calls for stopping Israeli war crimes and spare civilians a high humanitarian cost in light of the deterioration of the Gaza Strip in its economic and social conditions.
It also considers targeting human rights institutions requires an urgent international intervention and investigation at the highest level. (ICHR) will continue its work in the service of human rights and expose Israeli crimes and will continue to follow up on the bombing of its headquarters with the relevant international and judicial bodies.
Also Tuesday:
Updated: Army Kills Five Palestinians, Injures 25, In Gaza
Israeli Missiles Kill A Third Palestinian In Gaza
Israeli Air Force Kills Two, Injures Nine, In Damascus
It has been a week of appalling abuses committed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank – little different from the other 2,670 weeks endured by Palestinians since the occupation began in 1967.
The difference this past week was that several entirely unexceptional human rights violations that had been caught on film went viral on social media.
One shows a Palestinian father in the West Bank city of Hebron leading his son by the hand to kindergarten. The pair are stopped by two heavily armed soldiers, there to help enforce the rule of a few hundred illegal Jewish settlers over the city’s Palestinian population.
The soldiers scream at the father, repeatedly and violently push him and then grab his throat as they accuse his small son of throwing stones. As the father tries to shield his son from the frightening confrontation, one soldier pulls out his rifle and sticks it in the father’s face.
It is a minor incident by the standards of Israel’s long-running belligerent occupation. But it powerfully symbolises the unpredictable, humiliating, terrifying and sometimes deadly experiences faced daily by millions of Palestinians.
A video of another such incident emerged last week. A Palestinian man is ordered to leave an area by an armed Israeli policewoman. He turns and walks slowly away, his hands in the air. Moments later she shoots a sponge-tipped bullet into his back. He falls to the ground, writhing in agony.
It is unclear whether the man was being used for target practice or simply for entertainment.
The reason such abuses are so commonplace is that they are almost never investigated – and even less often are those responsible punished.
It is not simply that Israeli soldiers become inured to the suffering they inflict on Palestinians daily. It is the soldiers’ very duty to crush the Palestinians’ will for freedom, to leave them utterly hopeless. That is what is required of an army policing a population permanently under occupation.
The message is only underscored by the impunity the soldiers enjoy. Whatever they do, they have the backing not only of their commanders but of the government and courts.
Just that point was underlined late last month. An unnamed Israeli army sniper was convicted of shooting dead a 14-year-old boy in Gaza last year. The Palestinian child had been participating in one of the weekly protests at the perimeter fence.
Such trials and convictions are a great rarity. Despite damning evidence showing that Uthman Hillis was shot in the chest with a live round while posing no threat, the court sentenced the sniper to the equivalent of a month’s community service.
In Israel’s warped scales of justice, the cost of a Palestinian child’s life amounts to no more than a month of extra kitchen duties for his killer.
But the overwhelming majority of the 220 Palestinian deaths at the Gaza fence over the past 20 months will never be investigated. Nor will the wounding of tens of thousands more Palestinians, many of them now permanently disabled.
There is an equally disturbing trend. The Israeli public have become so used to seeing YouTube videos of soldiers – their sons and daughters – abuse Palestinians that they now automatically come to the soldiers’ defence, however egregious the abuses.
The video of the father and son threatened in Hebron elicited few denunciations. Most Israelis rallied behind the soldiers. Amos Harel, a military analyst for the liberal Haaretz newspaper, observed that an “irreversible process” was under way among Israelis: “The soldiers are pure and any criticism of them is completely forbidden.”
When the Israeli state offers impunity to its soldiers, the only deterrence is the knowledge that such abuses are being monitored and recorded for posterity – and that one day these soldiers may face real accountability, in a trial for war crimes.
But Israel is working hard to shut down those doing the investigating – human rights groups.
For many years Israel has been denying United Nations monitors – including international law experts like Richard Falk and Michael Lynk – entry to the occupied territories in a blatant bid to stymie their human rights work.
Last week Human Rights Watch, headquartered in New York, also felt the backlash. The Israeli supreme court approved the deportation of Omar Shakir, its Israel-Palestine director.
Before his appointment by HRW, Shakir had called for a boycott of the businesses in illegal Jewish settlements. The judges accepted the state’s argument: he broke Israeli legislation that treats Israel and the settlements as indistinguishable and forbids support for any kind of boycott.
But Shakir rightly understands that the main reason Israel needs soldiers in the West Bank – and has kept them there oppressing Palestinians for more than half a century – is to protect settlers who were sent there in violation of international law.
The collective punishment of Palestinians, such as restrictions on movement and the theft of resources, was inevitable the moment Israel moved the first settlers into the West Bank. That is precisely why it is a war crime for a state to transfer its population into occupied territory.
But Shakir had no hope of a fair hearing. One of the three judges in his case, Noam Sohlberg, is himself just such a lawbreaker. He lives in Alon Shvut, a settlement near Hebron.
Israel’s treatment of Shakir is part of a pattern. In recent days other human rights groups have faced the brunt of Israel’s vindictiveness.
Laith Abu Zeyad, a Palestinian field worker for Amnesty International, was recently issued a travel ban, denying him the right to attend a relative’s funeral in Jordan. Earlier he was refused the right to accompany his mother for chemotherapy in occupied East Jerusalem.
And last week Arif Daraghmeh, a Palestinian field worker for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, was seized at a checkpoint and questioned about his photographing of the army’s handling of Palestinian protests. Daraghmeh had to be taken to hospital after being forced to wait in the sun.
It is a sign of Israel’s overweening confidence in its own impunity that it so openly violates the rights of those whose job it is to monitor human rights.
Palestinians, meanwhile, are rapidly losing the very last voices prepared to stand up and defend them against the systematic abuses associated with Israel’s occupation. Unless reversed, the outcome is preordained: the rule of the settlers and soldiers will grow ever more ruthless, the repression ever more ugly.
The difference this past week was that several entirely unexceptional human rights violations that had been caught on film went viral on social media.
One shows a Palestinian father in the West Bank city of Hebron leading his son by the hand to kindergarten. The pair are stopped by two heavily armed soldiers, there to help enforce the rule of a few hundred illegal Jewish settlers over the city’s Palestinian population.
The soldiers scream at the father, repeatedly and violently push him and then grab his throat as they accuse his small son of throwing stones. As the father tries to shield his son from the frightening confrontation, one soldier pulls out his rifle and sticks it in the father’s face.
It is a minor incident by the standards of Israel’s long-running belligerent occupation. But it powerfully symbolises the unpredictable, humiliating, terrifying and sometimes deadly experiences faced daily by millions of Palestinians.
A video of another such incident emerged last week. A Palestinian man is ordered to leave an area by an armed Israeli policewoman. He turns and walks slowly away, his hands in the air. Moments later she shoots a sponge-tipped bullet into his back. He falls to the ground, writhing in agony.
It is unclear whether the man was being used for target practice or simply for entertainment.
The reason such abuses are so commonplace is that they are almost never investigated – and even less often are those responsible punished.
It is not simply that Israeli soldiers become inured to the suffering they inflict on Palestinians daily. It is the soldiers’ very duty to crush the Palestinians’ will for freedom, to leave them utterly hopeless. That is what is required of an army policing a population permanently under occupation.
The message is only underscored by the impunity the soldiers enjoy. Whatever they do, they have the backing not only of their commanders but of the government and courts.
Just that point was underlined late last month. An unnamed Israeli army sniper was convicted of shooting dead a 14-year-old boy in Gaza last year. The Palestinian child had been participating in one of the weekly protests at the perimeter fence.
Such trials and convictions are a great rarity. Despite damning evidence showing that Uthman Hillis was shot in the chest with a live round while posing no threat, the court sentenced the sniper to the equivalent of a month’s community service.
In Israel’s warped scales of justice, the cost of a Palestinian child’s life amounts to no more than a month of extra kitchen duties for his killer.
But the overwhelming majority of the 220 Palestinian deaths at the Gaza fence over the past 20 months will never be investigated. Nor will the wounding of tens of thousands more Palestinians, many of them now permanently disabled.
There is an equally disturbing trend. The Israeli public have become so used to seeing YouTube videos of soldiers – their sons and daughters – abuse Palestinians that they now automatically come to the soldiers’ defence, however egregious the abuses.
The video of the father and son threatened in Hebron elicited few denunciations. Most Israelis rallied behind the soldiers. Amos Harel, a military analyst for the liberal Haaretz newspaper, observed that an “irreversible process” was under way among Israelis: “The soldiers are pure and any criticism of them is completely forbidden.”
When the Israeli state offers impunity to its soldiers, the only deterrence is the knowledge that such abuses are being monitored and recorded for posterity – and that one day these soldiers may face real accountability, in a trial for war crimes.
But Israel is working hard to shut down those doing the investigating – human rights groups.
For many years Israel has been denying United Nations monitors – including international law experts like Richard Falk and Michael Lynk – entry to the occupied territories in a blatant bid to stymie their human rights work.
Last week Human Rights Watch, headquartered in New York, also felt the backlash. The Israeli supreme court approved the deportation of Omar Shakir, its Israel-Palestine director.
Before his appointment by HRW, Shakir had called for a boycott of the businesses in illegal Jewish settlements. The judges accepted the state’s argument: he broke Israeli legislation that treats Israel and the settlements as indistinguishable and forbids support for any kind of boycott.
But Shakir rightly understands that the main reason Israel needs soldiers in the West Bank – and has kept them there oppressing Palestinians for more than half a century – is to protect settlers who were sent there in violation of international law.
The collective punishment of Palestinians, such as restrictions on movement and the theft of resources, was inevitable the moment Israel moved the first settlers into the West Bank. That is precisely why it is a war crime for a state to transfer its population into occupied territory.
But Shakir had no hope of a fair hearing. One of the three judges in his case, Noam Sohlberg, is himself just such a lawbreaker. He lives in Alon Shvut, a settlement near Hebron.
Israel’s treatment of Shakir is part of a pattern. In recent days other human rights groups have faced the brunt of Israel’s vindictiveness.
Laith Abu Zeyad, a Palestinian field worker for Amnesty International, was recently issued a travel ban, denying him the right to attend a relative’s funeral in Jordan. Earlier he was refused the right to accompany his mother for chemotherapy in occupied East Jerusalem.
And last week Arif Daraghmeh, a Palestinian field worker for B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, was seized at a checkpoint and questioned about his photographing of the army’s handling of Palestinian protests. Daraghmeh had to be taken to hospital after being forced to wait in the sun.
It is a sign of Israel’s overweening confidence in its own impunity that it so openly violates the rights of those whose job it is to monitor human rights.
Palestinians, meanwhile, are rapidly losing the very last voices prepared to stand up and defend them against the systematic abuses associated with Israel’s occupation. Unless reversed, the outcome is preordained: the rule of the settlers and soldiers will grow ever more ruthless, the repression ever more ugly.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) detained a total of 417 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and the blockaded Gaza Strip in the month of October, ALRAY reported.
Prisoner and human rights organizations released a fact sheet Sunday, that the IOF detained 75 children and 16 women.
The following is a breakdown of where the Palestinian detainees were arrested from;
Jerusalem – 188
Hebron – 60
Ramallah and al-Bireh – 30
Talkarem – 26
Jenin – 22
Bethlehem – 22
Nablus – 22
Qalqilya – 21
Tubas – 5
Salfit – 3
Jericho – 9
Gaza – 9
At the end of October 2019, there were approximately 5000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
This number included 40 women, 200 children, and over 540 administrative detainees. In addition, there were 85 new administrative detention orders.
Prisoner and human rights organizations released a fact sheet Sunday, that the IOF detained 75 children and 16 women.
The following is a breakdown of where the Palestinian detainees were arrested from;
Jerusalem – 188
Hebron – 60
Ramallah and al-Bireh – 30
Talkarem – 26
Jenin – 22
Bethlehem – 22
Nablus – 22
Qalqilya – 21
Tubas – 5
Salfit – 3
Jericho – 9
Gaza – 9
At the end of October 2019, there were approximately 5000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
This number included 40 women, 200 children, and over 540 administrative detainees. In addition, there were 85 new administrative detention orders.
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