29th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Israeli forces on Thursday night, 27th July, attacked a peaceful demonstration which was taking place outside Shuhada checkpoint, which leads to Shuhada street in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) . The demonstration was intended to protest the continued presence of heightened security measures at Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque.
The demonstrators, who numbered about 30, conducted the late afternoon prayers and some chants.
Palestinians pray at the checkpoint
After half an hour, a young boy began placing flags in the checkpoint fence as several soldiers watched from behind the gate.
Palestinian flag at Shuhada checkpoint
Shortly after, without any warning, around 40 heavily-armed soldiers stormed out of the checkpoint, shouting and throwing sound grenades.
The demonstrators scattered in order to avoid being hit by the stun grenades. Soldiers spent about 20 minutes patrolling the nearby area, which is supposedly under full Palestinian control, before heading back through the checkpoint.
Israeli forces in supposedly Palestinian controlled area
Soldiers refused to comment about the reasons for the attack. There were no arrests or injuries.
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of al-Khalil this Friday to protest Israel’s tightening of access restrictions to Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque. The protest was suppressed violently by scores of Israeli soldiers and police, who fired live ammunition indiscriminately into crowds of young men and boys.
Thousands march in Hebron against access restrictions at al-Aqsa mosque
At least 10 Palestinians were wounded with live ammunition, including one young man shot in the stomach, and another near the heart. Many more were wounded by rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas, with hospitals and ambulances struggling to hope. The situation was made worse by Israeli forces storming the nearby hospital once, and twice occupying its entrances.
Hussein Ben Ali stadium, capacity 30,000, overflows with worshippers
The demonstration followed the closure of Hebron’s mosques in solidarity with those unable to worship at al-Aqsa. Instead, worshippers prayed at Hussein Bin Ali stadium before marching down Ain Sarah street towards Bab al-Zawiye.
Demonstrators assemble in Bab al-Zawiya, before being dispersed by tear gas and sound grenades
Once the march reached the market, some children began throwing stones and fireworks at the gate of Checkpoint 56, which separates Palestinians from Shuhada street.
Israeli forces push up Ain Sarah street
Soldiers responded by storming out of the checkpoint, firing tear gas and throwing sound grenades. Hundreds of demonstrators retreated back up Ain Sarah street as soldiers regrouped in the square with various armoured vehicles. The soldiers then pushed up towards al-Manarah roundabout, meeting a crowd of young men and boys. Soldiers responded to stones with live ammunition, immediately hitting a 20-year old man in the leg.
Palestinians flee live ammunition fired by Israeli forces
Meanwhile, a similar confrontation was occurring on the neighbouring Ain Sarah street, with snipers shooting a 20-year old man in the foot and a 17-year old boy in the leg.
20-year old shot in foot by sniper on Ain Sarah street
Soldiers and police continued to fire tear gas and .22 calibre ammunition at the crowd, until a volley of stones forced them to retreat towards Bab al-Zawiye.
A man is bundled into an ambulance under live fire from Israeli forces
A second offensive, however, saw Israeli forces push back towards Alia mosque. Palestinian youths continued to throw stones at the heavily-armed soldiers and police, who then sent out a water cannon to spray the boys with chemically-treated, foul-smelling ‘skunk’ water.
Israeli forces shoot foul-smelling skunk water onto Palestinian teenagers
Soldiers pursued the water cannon, and chased protesters into Queen Alia hospital, surrounding it for more than half an hour.
Soldiers occupy hospital parking lot
In the mean time, around 60 soldiers and border police pushed forward and assembled with several vehicles at the intersection, while roughly 20 more occupied the roofs of nearby residential buildings.
Smoke billows above Ain Sarah street from a tyre-fire below
Three teenage boys who had been watching the protest from their roof were blindfolded, handcuffed and detained by soldiers that stormed their building.
Three boys are blindfolded, handcuffed and arrested
A group of young Palestinians continued throwing stones at the Israeli forces, as well as rolling flaming tyres down the hill towards them. As soldiers began to push up the hill, Palestinians watching from the hospital parking lot barricaded themselves in, but without success. Doctors asked the soldiers, who were now occupying hospital grounds for a third time in one afternoon, to leave.
Israeli forces assemble at the bottom of a hill
Eventually the soldiers retreated back down the hill, regrouping with the border police and other soldiers. Despite Palestinian teenagers continuing to throw stones and tyres down the hill, Israeli forces began to head back to their bases. Local youths followed them as they made their way back to Bab al-Zawiye and Checkpoint 56.
Army Jeep leaves Ain Sarah street following the clash
18th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Israeli soldiers have arrested 19 year old Ahmed Fayez in Hebron’s Old City. The teenager was working with friends when soldiers approached the group, demanding to see their IDs. When Fayez showed his, he was arrested and taken towards Beit Romano military base. He was not seen being taken into the base itself, but rather was taken to Shuhada street, where he was last seen.
The majority of Shuhada Street is ethnically cleansed of Palestinian presence and only accessible for settlers living in the illegal settlements in the heart of Hebron’s old city and international tourists. The once thriving Palestinian market connecting south and north of the city is now only “accessible” for Palestinians if they are arrested and brought to the military base there.
Immediately prior to the arrest, soldiers, border police and civil authorities had been conducting small detonations in a parking lot nearby. The purpose of these was unclear.
Early this morning, Israeli forces raided the al-Khalil headquarters of Al Quds media, kicking down doors to gain entry before confiscating computer hard-drives.
The soldiers searched two press offices in the building, belonging to Ramsat and Pal Media news agencies. After scattering documents across the floor, they confiscated the hard-drives from all computers in the Pal Media office. The soldiers were seen by a neighbour at between two and three o’clock in the morning, having apparently walked from Bab al-Baladiya military base in Hebron’s Old City.
Soldiers searched through Al Quds’ documents during the raid
Israeli authorities had given no prior warning of the raid to Al Quds, and journalists working there said that there had been no recent increase in tensions with the military. The reason for the raid is unclear, as the military have not responded to Al Quds’ requests for a comment. The only explanation offered by Israeli forces was a note posted on the door, which charged that the agency had been working with unnamed ‘illegal organisations.’
Soldiers confiscated all computer hard-drives in Al Quds’ al-Khalil headquarters
While Al Quds are not concerned that any sensitive information was contained on the hard-drives, some believe that the purpose of the raid was to scare journalists into conducting self-censorship. Akran Natsheh, a reporter for Al Quds, believes that this raid is simply part of an ongoing pattern of harassment.
“Two years ago they began shooting at reporters when they were covering clashes, and it made them much more afraid to cover what was happening”, Natseh explained. “When Israel starts attacking journalists, you know they are about to make a large violation that they don’t want the world to see.
“Our mission is the same as all journalists – to deliver the truth about what is happening. If they have something against our organisation, why don’t they take us to court? If they had solid reasons they would do that, but they don’t. You say something they don’t like and they shut you down. This is the occupation – when the army is control, this is how they deal with disagreement.”
The raid comes at a time when media laws are tightening under the Palestinian Authority, with a new law on ‘digital crimes’ set to restrict freedom of speech online.
While this is the first time that Al Quds’ Hebron office had been raided, such intimidation of journalists has been a common occurrence in occupied Palestine, where 383 such incidents were recorded in 2016 alone. Notable incidents include the storming of Trance Media offices across the West Bank in 2014, the forced closure of three local radio stations in al-Khalil in 2015 and the arrest of four journalists at a radio station in Dura last year.
6th July 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Tuesday, 4th July 2017, Israeli forces were conducting a ‘military training’ in a civilian Palestinian neighborhood near Gilbert checkpoint in Tel Rumeida in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron). The result of this ‘military training’ was a fatal shot by one Israeli soldier to the other. The injured commander was immediately evacuated to hospital by an Israeli ambulance, and was later confirmed dead. The Israeli forces immediately closed the whole area to Palestinians by closing all the checkpoints, collectively punishing the civilian Palestinian population. The army, after the incident, announced that these ‘military trainings’ will be suspended in al-Khalil.
The whole incident, though, needs to be contextualized: an occupying army conducted a ‘military training’ near a checkpoint installed for the control and humiliation of the occupied population, in a civilian residential neighborhood. Immediate medical assistance to the injured occupying soldier, with an ambulance that, without any problems, was granted immediate access to the injured.
Military trainings, under international humanitarian law, are prohibited in civilian areas. The Israeli occupying army in al-Khalil, and all over the occupied territories, though, conducts trainings in civilian areas. This serves two functions: for one, it is more ‘real’, a training in the area where the perceived ‘enemy population’ is living, and second, the intimidation of the population. Israeli forces in al-Khalil are sometimes seen ‘practicing’ the ‘neutralization’, as it is called in Israeli rhetoric, of Palestinians at checkpoints. In those cases, a Palestinian that allegedly carries a knife is seen as a threat to the life of the heavily armed and armored occupation forces – and thus has to be shot and, as documented in so many cases, left to bleed to death on the ground without any medical assistance. The idea is always to shoot to kill.
Whereas an Israeli soldier or settler from the illegal settlements would immediately receive medical assistance, as Israeli ambulance are free to pass, Palestinian ambulances, and actually any Palestinian vehicles (often including donkeys and bicycles) are not allowed to drive on one of the roads in al-Khalil – which conveniently connects the settlements in down-town al-Khalil with the Kiryat Arba settlement on the outskirts of the city. Palestinian ambulances, as they are not allowed on this street, instead, are often detained by Israeli forces at the checkpoints, denied to pass and thus denied access to give first aid.
Immediately after the incident, the Israeli forces closed all the checkpoints in the area, effectively putting the area under curfew – for Palestinian residents. Any Palestinian civilian inside the area, thus, was prevented from leaving, and anyone outside trying to reach their homes, was prevented from coming back home. This is clearly collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians, who are not involved in the incident at all – other than living in an area that the Israeli forces are trying hard to rid of any Palestinian presence. Whereas Palestinian movement was completely restricted and Palestinians trying to film the incident and it’s aftermath were stopped and harassed by soldiers. Settlers, however, from the illegal settlements, were allowed to move around freely. In a separate incident, a settler beat up a Palestinian young man, causing his face to be unrecognizable as it was covered in blood. The settler though, can be sure that he’ll enjoy full impunity under the protection of the Israeli forces.
These kind of military trainings in the aftermath were declared ‘suspended’ in the city of al-Khalil. However, only because a soldier was killed, not because of their illegal nature in civilian areas or a possible threat to the occupied population.
This incident illustrates the apartheid system installed by the Israeli occupying forces in al-Khalil, and all over the occupied Palestinian territories. An apartheid-strategy that aims to displace the Palestinian population from their homeland in favor of illegal settlements.
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