31st January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Saturday, 30th January 2016, large groups of settlers, accompanied by heavily-armed soldiers, entered the Palestinian market at night and took it over for about an hour during night-time in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).
Israeli forces blocking the entrance to the Palestinian market
Around 9:30 pm, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlements throughout al-Khalil gathered at Bab al-Baladiyya, from where they walked into the Palestinian souq, the market, surrounded by heavily-armed Israeli forces. The group of more than 50 settlers started a ‘tour’ of the Palestinian market, with Israeli forces ‘guarding’ them throughout the Palestinian market. Palestinian residents were not allowed to pass and forced to wait at a distance, with soldiers repeatedly pointing the lasers from their guns at them to indicate they have to stop. The walk home at night took almost an hour for some Palestinians, instead of the usual 10 minutes.
Settler clogging up the Palestinian market
This kind of ‘settler tour’ through the Palestinian market used to take place regularly on Saturday afternoons. During the ‘tour’ Palestinians are often denied to pass, stopped, ID-checked and detained. In the recent months, no ‘settler tours’ took place, but last week they started again with a nightly-tour at 11pm. For the Palestinian residents of the souq, these tours have become a regular form of intimidation and harassment in the past.
31st January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Sunday, 31st January 2016, Israeli forces fired large amounts of tear gas at school-children on their way to school in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron).
Heavily-armed soldiers approaching the students
In the early morning, as children were walking to their schools located past the Salaymeh checkpoint, three school-boys picked up some small stones and tossed them in the direction of the checkpoint. The children are forced to go through this checkpoint on their daily walk to school, and are often subjected to body-searches, bag-searches and random detentions by Israeli forces.
Israeli forces shooting tear gas canisters at students
Even though the soldiers were standing safely behind a fence, one of the soldiers immediately picked up a stone throwing it back at the children. After a while, the soldiers crossed the checkpoint and started shooting tear gas at the children. They were shooting both tear gas grenades and tear gas canisters in rapid succession at the same time. Israeli soldiers forced two international human rights defenders to move away from them in order to stop them from documenting, thus forcing them to move into the clouds of tear gas lingering outside the schools.
Despite only three boys were throwing stones, Israeli forces attacked the whole neighbourhood with more than a dozen tear gas grenades and canisters. This is clearly unproportional and a form of collective punishment, aimed not at anyone in specific, but instead affecting all the students and residents in the neighbourhood. Teachers tried to bring the children, who were coughing badly, to safety inside the school-building, but were tear-gassed even there as soldiers were shooting tear gas directly into the school-yards. 4 tear gas canisters landed straight in the Khadiga school yard, while 6 more were shot into the Hebron school yard. As teachers were calling ambulances, the majority of the children went back home in order to escape from the noxious tear gas.
Tear gas clouds lingering in the school-yard and on the streets
In the afternoon, the few children that were left at the school were forced to have their bags searched by heavily-armed Israeli forces on their way home.
This is not a uncommon occurrence on the regular way to school for Palestinian children in occupied al-Khalil. Children are often facing tear gas, stun grenades and violence from Israeli soldiers. The right to education for Palestinian children in this environment is not guaranteed and often schools are forced to close early due to violence. While passing the checkpoint, many children are accompanied by their parents or elder siblings since they are afraid of the heavily-armed Israeli forces and some of them run past the checkpoint quickly to escape from anticipated intimidation and harassment.
24th January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm team | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine
On the 22nd of January, when villagers of Kafr Qaddum carried out their weekly demonstration against the surrounding settlement of Kedumim, Israeli forces attacked them with the use of tear gas and live ammunition. Two men got shot in their legs and 9-year old Ayat Zahi Ali was shot in her arm, all of them with live bullets. Earlier that morning in the same village a farmer was ambushed and beaten when he was going out to work his land.
Since 2011 the people of Kafr Qaddum have protested the theft of their land and the Israeli closure of the village main road with weakly demonstrations. The villagers stated that they had a strange feeling on the night between Thursday and Friday, suspecting that Israeli forces may have entered the village in the cover of the dark to prepare for an ambush during Friday demonstration. Their worries were verified in the morning when a farmer that was walking onto his land got ambushed and beaten by soldiers that were hiding in the bushes.
In fear of more soldiers hiding in the village the route for the demonstration was changed and people were extra cautious. One hour after the protest started Israeli soldiers showed up and immediately started shooting live ammunition towards the crowd. Two men, Hamza Abu Khaled, 21 and Abd Allah Anwar, 40, were shot in their legs. According to villagers one of the bullets shattered the bone.
Ayat Zahi Ali, 9 years old, was shot in her left upper arm with live ammunition while she was inside her father’s house. Her uncle and family members carried her to a red crescent ambulance. Israeli forces entered the village with a military bulldozer armed with snipers and continued to fire tear gas and live ammunition at the protesters and nearby the houses.
Ayat Zahi Ali is being carried after being shot by Israeli forces. Photo credit: ISMA bullet fired at villagers. Photo credit: ISMMilitary bulldozer entering the village, with a sniper in the right window. Photo credit: ISM
Ayat is not the first young girl that has been injured by Israeli live bullets in Kafr Qaddum in recent times. In September 2015, Israeli soldiers shot the 3 year old Maram Abed al-Latif al-Qaddumiwaa in her head while she was standing on her balcony. When her father rushed to help her he was also shot in the head.
The main road that leads to Kafr Qaddum is cut off by a permanent roadblock, making the journey to the main road three times longer than necessary. This again is illegal according to an Israeli court decision from 2010, but the road is still kept closed.
24 January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm Team | Lubban ash-Sharqiya, occupied Palestine
On Thursday night, 21st of January, Illegal settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the outskirts of Lubban ash-Sharqiya village. The Israeli settlers threw stones, destroyed surveillance cameras and the Palestinian family also suspects that the settlers poisoned their water tanks. Since there isn’t any surveillance on the farm, the family now fears for further attacks.
The family was asleep late Thursday night when settlers from the nearby Ma’ale Levona settlement entered the farm, climbed up on the roof of the house and started throwing stones towards the main door. During the attack settlers screamed humiliating words to the family and dared them to go outside. The only thing the family could do was to stay inside, hoping that the settlers wouldn’t try to break in.
Stones thrown at the family’s door. Photo credit: ISM
The morning after the family noticed that the lids to the 3 water tanks located on the roof were opened, so they now fear about poisoned water. The settlers also destroyed all 5 surveillance cameras on the farm. The Palestinians assume that the action must have been well planned, since the settlers were capable of locating all the cameras within a short amount of time.
Two of the broken cameras. Photo credit: ISM
The surveillance cameras had been donated to the family from European NGOs, in order to protect them against a large number of settler attacks. Additionally all windows of the family house are covered with metal bars. Every night the family closes both windows and doors thoroughly with rigid metal doors to keep attackers out. The family is living under constant threat and can’t even go to the toilet in the night, since it is located outside of the main building and it’s too risky for them to go out.
Sealed window. Photo credit: ISM
While settlers attacked the house the family called Israeli police who didn’t arrive on the scene until three hours later. What increases the family’s vulnerability is that there is no authority that will protect them from the illegal settlers. Since the house is located in Area C, the roughly 60% of the West Bank that is under complete Israeli control, Palestinian police are not allowed to support the house and Israeli authorities clearly show that they have no interest in protecting Palestinian lives or Palestinian property.
The farm is located in the outskirts of Lubban ash-Sharqiya village, next to the road leading towards Ma’ale Levona settlement. The house is surrounded by five settlements, of which Eli, Shilo and Ma’ale Levona are the closest. The illegality of these Israeli colonies have been confirmed by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations Security Council. In the past, the family has suffered a lot from the settler attacks. It is not uncommon that settlers are both violent and heavily armed. The threatening of family members has come so far, that medical treatment was required. At the age of 9, the youngest brother sustained cut wounds on his stomach after being attacked and thrown on the ground. They live under constant threat of further violence. Settlers have already shot and killed a dog and a horse belonging to the family. A cow succumbed two days after a settler attacked and the family believes that the cow was poisoned. Also a car belonging to the family has been destroyed, along with other property.
The settler attacks have left several scars on 15-year-old Mu’min. Photo credit: ISM
24 January 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Tulkarm Team | Kafr Addik, occupied Palestine
In the middle of the night on the 20th of January, the Israeli army entered the village of Kafr Addik, raided a family home and arrested a young man, Saleh Hemedan. The arrest is the latest of several arrests in the village.
The family’s front door. Photo credit: ISM
The Hemedan family was sleeping in their home when Israeli soldiers quietly surrounded their house Tuesday night. Noone knew what was going on outside until armed Israeli soldiers bashed through the front door and entered. The soldiers started to interrogate Saleh and his two brothers while they were forced to sit in an uncomfortable position. After two hours of asking questions the soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded Saleh. They also kicked in the door to the women’s bedroom, where Saleh’s mother and sister were kept during the interrogation of the Hemedan brothers. When the soldiers left, they took Saleh with them without telling the family why and where they were taking him. They left a shattered and frightened family behind, with two broken doors and a filthy house. The mother wasn’t allowed to speak to Saleh during the time of the arrest and wasn’t allowed to say goodbye.
Saleh’s mother, Um Mohammed. Photo credit: ISM
“Nobody can understand what went through my mind when they took Saleh away” she says.
Two days before Saleh’s arrest, in the early morning of the 18th, the Israeli military arrested another member of the family, Tareq Hemedan, during house raids in the same neighbourhood. Israeli soldiers first entered the house of Tareq’s uncle. After destroying the door, frightening family members and hitting the uncle’s head, the soldiers continued into Tareq’s home. 30 soldiers stormed the house destroying furniture and doors and arresting Tareq, just two hours into his 20th birthday.
He was taken to Beit Tatikva prison in Tel Aviv outside of the occupied West Bank, which is illegal according to international law. The reason for the arrest and the amount of time he will stay in prison is unknown.
Destroyed furniture from Tareq’s house. Photo credit: ISMTareq’s mother and sisters in front of cabinet destroyed be soldiers. Photo credit: ISM
These arrests of the Hemedan family aren’t the only ones. During the previous week a 17-year-old boy was arrested and a 13-year-old boy was detained. A villager says that the increased number of arrests is a form of collective punishment due to a recent attack on Israeli security guards in the nearby industrial zone of the illegal Ariel settlement.
Kafr Addik has lost land to expanding illegal settlements like many other villages in the Westbank. As reported previously, Palestinians from the village and the nearby area often demonstrate to protect the last hill that is not yet occupied by a settlement.
Palestinians in the area also suffer from the pollution caused by the factories in the Israeli industrial zones. Since the economical situation is so bad, Palestinians have no other choice but to work on the illegal industrial zones in order to make a living, even though the working conditions are bad and they will always be paid less than an Israeli worker would be payed inside Israel.
In the past the village was already bothered by settlers, who entered Kafr Addik on purpose to destroy the Palestinians’ property. The latest arrests are yet another among the number of threats that the village is facing due to the illegal occupation.
