25th July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Israeli settlers in the H2 (under full Israeli military civil and security control) area of Hebron, forced entry into a basement and passage connected to the home of a Palestinian, Abed Sider, which is bordered by a sealed off building now occupied by settlers at around 15:00 on July 24th. Four International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists arrived following a phone call from Abed telling them that the neighboring settlers broke through a door into an unused part of Abed’s home.
Shortly after the ISM volunteers arrived, several Israeli soldiers, two police officers, and two plain clothed men, who appeared to be settlers, arrived. The police began to question Abed’s brother, Shaady, who also came to the house after receiving a phone call from Abed about the break in. After 30 minutes of questioning at the house, the police and army then took Shaady and Abed to Kiryat Arba police station. Abed’s wife had believed they were being taken to file a report as victims of the break-in.
A few hours after being taken by Israeli forces, family members of Abed and Shaady were informed that he had been arrested and interrogated.
Photo by ISM
They were being falsely accused of attempting to break into the neighboring settlement by the settlers who had forced entry into Abed’s basement. They were released yesterday morning.
23rd July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Vern | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At approximately 23:30 on the night of the 21st July, I noticed a group of Israeli soldiers detain four Palestinian men near our apartment. The men detained were Ahmed, Izzat, Anas, and Muhammad. They were ordered to sit on the ground by several armed soldiers. A settler male, armed with an assault rifle, was talking to one of the soldiers.
Ahmed told me that the settler had threatened to shoot them with the gun he carried. There were other Palestinians who were observing, and among them a woman who corroborated their statements, and who had a camera with her. Three TIPH observers (Temporary International Presence in Hebron) were also present. One of them confirmed that the settler was the one who started the confrontation, by pointing his gun at the unarmed men. According to Ahmed, after the settler threatened them, he asked nearby soldiers for help. The soldiers responded by detaining the three Palestinians whom the settler had threatened.
I asked the soldiers why they are detaining the men, and was told it was not my business.
Photo by ISM
They ordered me to move back. The soldiers grabbed the four men roughly and marched them away uphill.
Upon being asked what was happening, the soldiers claimed that the men were not being arrested, only taken “for a talk” to the military base. I asked them if they are aware that TIPH had documented that the settler was the one at fault, and if they were intending to detain the settler. I was told to move back or face arrest. Palestinians observers were also ordered to move back.
People were taking photos of the soldiers, so one soldier began taking pictures of us with his cellphone. A settler appeared with two children, and began shining a green laser light into people’s eyes. Some of the soldiers found that very funny.
Photo by ISM
About an hour later, Ahmed, Anas, and Muhammad were released. Izzat was not with them. Ahmad said that on the way to the base, one of the soldiers struck him across the back.
20th July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
At midnight this evening in al-Khalil (Hebron), a large group of settlers from nearby illegal settlements, attacked the home of the Al-Sharabati family.
Some of the settlers were intoxicated as they forcefully attempted to enter the Palestinian home; Israeli soldiers nearby watched the incident and made no attempt at intervention. Other Palestinians arrived as the settlers succeeded in entering into the house.
The settlers threw stones inside their house and attacked the family. Eventually the Israeli military arrived, and their response to the settler violence was to throw tear gas grenades and spray pepper spray at the Palestinians.
A 12-year-old boy was hit by a stone and knocked unconscious; he was rushed to hospital in H1 [supposedly under full Palestinian Authority civil and security control].
Four more people from the ages of 15 to 55-years-old were injured. Four of the people, including the 12-year-old child, had to be carried through a checkpoint as the Palestinian ambulance was not allowed to enter the H2 [under full Israeli military civil and security control] area of al-Khalil.
After 30 minutes the Israeli military finally allowed one ambulance to pass through and drive away with one injured person.
Photo by ISM
The Israeli military detained one youth for two hours. For an hour and 30 minutes the solders prevented Palestinians and internationals from walking near the Al-Sharabati family home.
Photo by ISM
Some of the solders appeared to make jokes with each other, posing for cameras, and when a Palestinian asked a solder if he would arrest the settlers if they attacked him, the solder responded, “no.”
2nd July 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Tel Rumeida, Occupied Palestine
For the past two days in al-Khalil (Hebron) Israeli soldiers have stopped and searched many Palestinians in Tel Rumeida.
Photo by ISM
At approximately 22:00 two nights ago, a colonial settler began aggressively photographing Palestinian children who were playing football in the street on Tel Rumeida hill. Two ISM activists began filming her. She then approached one ISM volunteer and pushed the camera very close to his face.
Other settlers arrived and began to harass the Palestinian children and tried to steal their football. The settlers also began to push some of the Palestinians. One settler tried to force entry into a Palestinian shop whilst shouting, “I’m going to butcher you”.
A group of Israeli soldiers initially tried to block the settlers and prevent them from attacking the Palestinians, but when this was unsuccessful, decided instead to force the Palestinians to move. They attacked the Palestinians using stun grenades and pushed a number of people. The settlers and soldiers then began attacking ISM activists who were filming. The soldiers cocked their guns several times and pointed them in the faces of ISM volunteers. A soldier stamped on the foot of one of the activists.
Two ISMers, and an activist from Christian Peacemaker Teams were physically hit by settlers who tried to steal their cameras. One activist turned his back to a solider and began walking away as instructed by him and was kicked forcefully from behind in the testicles by the soldier. Soldiers then positioned themselves to prevent Palestinians from returning to their homes.
Shortly after this, around 40 Palestinians left the mosque at the top of Tel Rumeida hill and began walking down the hill towards their home. They were stopped and threatened by the soldiers. The soldiers eventually agreed to let people return home but insisted that people walk one by one. At the same time, soldiers allowed a large group of settlers to congregate at the junction. Palestinians were therefore forced to walk through the settlers alone, and were subject to intimidation and threats.
An ISM activist present: “The soldiers and settlers were very aggressive and frightening, so much was happening at one time, it was hard to know what was going on. They kept yelling at us in Hebrew and wouldn’t listen when we told them we didn’t understand. At one point a military jeep drove up a hill towards a group of Palestinians (who were leaving the mosque) and us. We were caught in a corner and couldn’t move. The jeep stopped in front of us, they threw a stun grenade first, and then several soldiers jumped out of the jeep, cocked their guns in our faces, and yelled at us in Hebrew. They were so angry, it felt like they wanted to shoot us.”
During this time, the Shamsiyeh family was attacked by settlers (15-year-old Awne Shamsiyeh was recently interviewed by ISM). The settlers entered their garden and forced cameras in their faces. One settler punched a Palestinian woman. Another female settler, who appeared to be around 17-years-old, hit an 11-year-old Palestinian child on the hand with a rock causing swelling and bruising.
Photo by ISM
The soldiers did nothing to prevent the attack, but instead shouted at the Palestinian family and ordered them back into their house.
At approximately 22:00, settlers from the illegal settlement Tel Rumeida erected a fence blocking a Palestinian home, preventing the family from reaching their house.
Following the declaration of finding of the bodies of 3 Israeli settlers who had been missing since 12 June 2014, Israeli forces have escalated their attacks against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Last night and this morning, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian civilian in Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank, destroyed 2 houses in Hebron in the south of the West Bank, and launched a series of air strikes against several targets in the Gaza Strip. Thus, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the disappearance of the three Israeli settlers has mounted to 12, including 9 civilians, one of whom is a child. This escalation, which has been ongoing since the disappearance of the three Israeli settlers, in accompanied by Israeli threats to expand the Israeli offensive against the oPt in retaliation for the deaths of the three settlers.
According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), in the early morning of Tuesday, 01 July 2014, an Israeli undercover unit moved into Jenin refugee camp in the north of the West Bank, traveling in a civilian car with a Palestinian registration plate. Members of the unit stationed in al-Samran quarter in the south of the camp. At approximately 03:05, Yousef Ibrahim Ahmed Ibn Gharra “Abu Zagha,” 20, was going back home after buying some foodstuffs for the pre-fast meal of Ramadan Month. Immediately, members of the Israeli undercover unit opened fire at him. He was instantly killed by 3 bullets to the heart and the left shoulder and forearm. A number of civilians evacuated the victim’s body to Dr. Khalil Suleiman Hospital in Jenin. According to eyewitnesses, the area was completely quiet when members of the Israeli undercover unit fired at the victims.
In a serious precedent, Israeli forces destroyed 2 houses belonging to the families of Marwan Sa’di al-Qawasmi and ‘Aamer ‘Omar Abu ‘Eisaha in Hebron, on the ground of suspicions that the two Palestinians were involved in the abduction of the three Israeli settlers, before arresting, questioning and convicting them. Al-Qawasmi’s house is a 110-square-meter flat located on the first floor of a 3-story building owned by his father and brothers, while Abu ‘Eisha’s house is a 100-square-emter flat in a building belonging to his father. PCHR stresses that the destruction of the two houses is part of the collective punishment policy and reprisals against Palestinian civilians in violation of Article 33 of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention Relative to Protection of Civilians in Times of War which provides that: “No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.”
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli warplanes launched 11 airstrikes, in which they fired 44 missiles, against paramilitary training sites, agricultural stores. The airstrikes were launched against targets in most areas in the Gaza Strip. Three Palestinian workers sustained bruises, and Palestinian civilians were extremely terrified by the sounds of the heavy explosions.
PCHR strongly condemns this crime, which further proves the use of excessive force by Israeli forces against the Palestinian civilians in disregard for the civilians’ lives. Moreover, PCHR condemns the destruction of the two houses in Hebron and the airstrikes against the Gaza Strip. Therefore, PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate and effective actions to put an end to such crimes and reiterates its call for the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and to ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances, and their obligation under Article 146 to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention. These grave breaches constitute war crimes under Article 147 of the same Convention and Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions.
