December 11th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine
Friday, December 11th, in Kafr Qaddum, the Israeli occupation forces shot three young men in the legs with tutu, and a fourth youth was injured with a rubber coated steel bullet at a demonstration protesting the road closure. Two illegal Israeli settlements located between Kafr Qaddum and Jit have blocked the Palestinian road and the Israeli occupation forces have been shooting protesters that just want to travel from one village to the other. The protest has been happening every Friday at 12:30 pm and will also be every Saturday at 2:30 pm.
Standing at the end of the road, protesters started a fire. The Israeli occupation forces moved towards the protesters. Without using tear gas to disperse the crowd, as was done the week earlier, the Israeli soldiers simply began to shoot rubber coated steel bullets at the unarmed Palestinian boys. The crowd began to run away from the seven soldiers. Several boys carried the injured to the ambulance. The Meta Peace Team, press and ISM were there to witness the event.
There was one Israeli man standing against the Israeli soldiers and yelling in Hebrew “you are criminals using live ammunition against unarmed people” and “your commanding officer is sending you to hell.” Road closures near illegal Israeli settlements are just one example of how the Israeli settlers control the military and governmental policy to some extent. According to the mayor of Kafr Qaddum, over 70 Palestinians have been shot so far by Israeli occupation forces at demonstrations there.
On Friday the 11th of December, hundreds of protesters gathered in the village of Silwad, Ramallah area, in a demonstration demanding the return of the body of Anas Bassam Hammad who was killed on December 4th by Israeli soldiers. After the Friday prayer, the protesters marched towards the eastern entrance of the village near road 60 when Israeli forces attacked the demonstration using tear gas, live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, hollow point bullets and foam tipped bullets.
Protesters marching towards the eastern entrance of Silwad village.
22 Palestinians were injured according to International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC), seven of them injured with hollow point bullets – also known as “dum dum” – which detonates on impact causing severe damage and therefore are declared illegal under international law.
A young man was seriously wounded when shot in his abdomen having his liver penetrated by bullet fragments which afterwards came out through his back. Another young man suffered a moderate injure after being shot in his abdomen.
Injured youth carried towards ambulance by locals.
In addition, sources state that fifteen Palestinians at the demonstration were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets and many suffocated after tear gas inhalation.
In the village, a family of five suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation, after having a gas bomb fired by Israeli forces into the home of the family. A young female family member was severely injured in the retina of her eye as a consequence of the tear gas.
Demonstration attacked with tear gas shot by Israeli forces.
Furthermore, medics were targeted as Israeli soldiers opened fire towards a Red Crescent ambulance, damaging its windshield. Another ambulance was searched by Israeli forces while taking a wounded Palestinian to the hospital.
Palestinian journalists were also targeted with the wide range of weaponry, wounding a Palestine TV-reporter. In addition, many journalists suffered from tear gas inhalation.
Soldiers preparing to shoot at protesters in the village of Silwad.
The refusal of the Israeli government to return the dead body of Anas Hammad to his family follows a common pattern of violating both Israeli and international humanitarian law. Israel continues to evade it’s obligation to return the bodies of dead Palestinians to their respective families.
Locals gathering in the Friday prayer before the demonstration.
December 9th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Huwwara team | Deir Istyia, occupied Palestine
In the end of November we told the story of three families, living in the outskirts of Deir Istyia who were under daily threats and harassment from the Israeli forces. Now the threatening from the IOF has reached another level for these 3 families. Last week the soldiers cut both the electrity ground cable to the house and a couple of days later the powerline, one of the families was therefore without electricity for 7 hours. The family waited an hour and a half before they dared going out, see what happened and why the electrity went off. When they went out, the soldiers started shooting teargas towards them and their house, while shouting that they should leave the area. The Israeli forces also threw stones at the houses.
The electricity cables have been cut.
We visited the families twice last week. Both parents and children were traumatized after repeated attacks. We realized how Israeli Defence Forces are threatening vulnerable families to take over their houses and land that have been theirs for decades. One of the families who used to live there moved into the village of Deir Istyia last year. Now the army is trying to make these three families’ lives so unbearable that they too would decide to move out.
December 12th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, al Khalil team | al Khalil, occupied Palestine
On Tuesday, 8th December 2015, a delegation from the United Nations visited the H2 area of occupied al-Khalil (Hebron), ahead of the international Human Rights Day on 10th December.
The UN-delegation visited the H2 area, under full Israeli control, to understand the situation and get first-hand accounts of the life under Israeli occupation and the daily fight of Palestinian residents and human rights defenders. During their visit, they talked to various local and international human rights defenders and visited flashpoint areas in al-Khalil, such as the ‘closed military zone‘ in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. The delegation also went to two areas where school-children have to struggle each day to get to school past checkpoints, the Israeli army shooting tear gas, illegal settlers attacking them; trying to take their right to education.
International Human Rights Day is celebrated every year on the 10th of December, commemorating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was passed on this day in 1948. The Declaration declared fundamental human rights that enjoy universal protection. But still, to this day, these fundamental human rights need to be fought for.
After the visit, the UN-delegation came up with a statement stressing the importance and praising the work of human rights defenders that are non-violently struggling to achieve the universal human rights for Palestinians, particularly in the environment of Israeli occupation. They are voicing their great concern about the Israeli forces crackdown on human rights defenders work and their attempts to silence them completely.
December 11th, 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Karni border crossing, Gaza, occupied Palestine
Ahmad has to undergo a second surgery soon
Last week, during the demonstration at Karni Border Crossing, Ahmad Nabil El-Akhsham (28 years old) was shot in the leg. He was there, as he had been every Friday since the beginning of October. At some point he and the other protestors saw a female IOF soldier pointing her gun at them and immediately he felt a very intense pain in his leg, “it was as if I was receiving a 1000V electric shock”.
The next thing he remembers is that the other demonstrators where carrying him towards the road where the ambulances were waiting. The ambulance couldn’t reach them because the soldiers were shooting towards the medics if they approached the demonstrators.
He arrived unconscious to the hospital, due to the heavy loss of blood. After a first surgery, the doctors explained that the way ha was carried to the ambulance highly aggravated the injury, as he was carried by a group of unexperienced youth who were mostly trying not to get shot.
The shot blew away all of his calf and broke his bone in many small pieces. During the first surgery, they put 5 metal bars in order to try to save his leg. Next time the doctors will try to perform a graft in order to reconstruct the calf.
We asked Ahmad why he kept on going to the demonstrations, and this what he said: “We must show that the people in Gaza, West Bank and the 48 lands are all the same, we are all Palestinians and we are united. We fight together for our land. I’m not afraid of dying for my land”.
