Category: Press Releases

Israeli Settlers in the West Bank Brutally Attack and Injure Palestinians and International Volunteers Only One Day After ICJ Rules Israeli Occupation Illegal

The German volunteer after being attacked by settlers.

On the heels of the ICJ decision pronouncing Israeli occupation illegal as a whole and pointing out to systematic lack of accountability for settler violence, three international volunteers were evacuated to a hospital in Nablus after being attacked by settlers in the West Bank village of Qusra, south of Nablus. Israeli authorities on location failed to arrest the assailants.

Settlers who descended from the extremist Esh Kodesh south of Nablus, attacked Palestinian farmers tending to their lands, as well as international volunteers accompanying them for protection against such attacks. The Israeli settlers carried out the attack using metal pipes, batons and threw stones at the people from close range. Three of the international volunteers sustained wounds requiring hospitalization with suspected fractures. A German national was hit in the face and arm with a metal pipe, and two American volunteers were clobbered using wooden batons. A fourth American volunteer suffered more minor injuries after being hit by stones thrown at her by the settlers, who also stole her phone.

Soldiers who arrived at the scene failed to carry out any arrests. Additionally, the Israeli Police emergency hotline refused to dispatch forces, telling the volunteer who called them for help that “the army notified them there is no need to send forces.”

For more details: Jonathan Pollak +972-50-3010160; jonathan@defendpalestine.org
A Video of the assault is available here (You might need to to save the file to your device in order to view it)

The volunteers who were attacked were part of the recently-launched Defend Palestine campaign, organized by Palestinian grassroots organizers. The campaign calls on international volunteers to come to the West Bank en mass and be part of an organized international protective presence.

Mohammed Khatib, an organizer with the campaign said, “The attack today, not even 24 hours after the ICJ ruled that Israeli occupation is illegal and that settlers enjoy impunity when exercising violence, serves as further proof for the dire need for international civil protection in Palestine. 18 communities in the West Bank have been completely wiped out by such violence since October, and the Palestinian people have no more time to wait.”

The village of Qusra, surrounded by the settlement of Migdalim and settler outposts of Esh Kodesh, Bar Farm, Ahiya and Kida, has been the target of nearly daily attacks by Israeli settlers who attack villagers, vandalize farms and have even burnt several houses in the village with complete impunity. On October 11, four villagers were killed following such an attack and two more were killed in a subsequent attack the following day, on October 12.

The attack today took place as farmers were accompanied to their olive groves adjacent to the Israeli Esh Kodesh settlement by international volunteers. Unchecked settler violence has prevented farmers from accessing these groves and much more of their land since October. Despite these being privately owned lands in Area B, Israeli authorities have not made any attempt to reign in the settlers or act in any way to allow Palestinians to their lands.

Israeli State Files Indictment Against Anti-Zionist Israeli Activist

Jonathan Pollak arrested in Nabi Saleh. Credit: Oren Ziv/Activestills.

Jonathan Pollak, a long-time anti-Zionist activist from Jaffa, was slapped with an indictment for two counts of incitement to violence on Sunday (14 July, 2024). The indictment revolves around calls to join the Palestinian struggle against Israeli colonialism, made in a January 2020 article published in Israeli newspaper Haaretz, and in a June 2021 speech during the Yeshayahu Leibowitz Award ceremony. In both cases, Pollak called on those within the settler society who oppose Israeli Apartheid and colonialism to join the Palestinian struggle for liberation and integrate in it as a minority, under Palestinian leadership, and “march in the footsteps of the children of the stones and Molotov cocktails.”

Pollak has been the target of persecution by Israeli right-wing groups such as Ad Kan and Im Tirzu for several years, and this indictment is also the direct result of a campaign by these organizations. In 2018 Ad Kan used an esoteric judicial procedure and filed a private criminal complaint against Pollak and two other activists. He refused to attend hearings or cooperate with the proceedings in any way, and was wanted by the authorities for over a year before being arrested. In 2019, after Ad Kan published a post asking the public for help locating Pollak, he was attacked with a knife by two men who called him an anarchist. The article subject to the current indictment was published the day Pollak was apprehended, and the investigation into it for incitement was opened on his release after Ad Kan’s case was kicked out, in order to sweeten the pill.

On receiving the indictment, Pollak said: ” The only exceptional thing about this indictment is that, this time, Israel filed it against one of its Jewish citizens. In practice, it is merely one in hundreds such politically motivated indictments filed against Palestinians, both those who hold Israeli citizenship and those living as subjects under military rule. In contrast, the innumerous Israeli citizens, journalists and politicians regularly and blatantly calling to starve babies, indiscriminately kill innocent civilians, commit war crimes and genocide, go completely unscathed. It would suffice to examine the list of prosecution witnesses to understand who truly stands behind the indictment and what its purpose is. It is unabashed political persecution in service of Israel’s extreme right, meant to silence any support for the Palestinian struggle for liberation, and is part of the attempt to stifle the Palestinian struggle itself.”

The trial is set to open in October.

Huge Destruction Suffered by Nur Shams Refugee Camp

*Tulkarm – Nur Shams Refugee Camp*
June 9, 2024
By Diana Khwaelid*

At midnight on June 9, occupation forces stormed the city of Tulkarm and stationed themselves in the Nur Shams camp, northeast of Tulkarm. A military operation that lasted for more than 13 continuous hours ensued, during which the Israeli occupation forces vandalized and destroyed the camp on the orders of Israeli military officials.

According to the residents of the camp, “this incursion was the most difficult and dangerous of the Israeli military incursions,” despite the exposure of the residents of Nur Shams camp to dozens of previous incursions.

Dozens of Israeli military vehicles stormed the camp and the Manshiyeh neighborhood. D9 and 5 bulldozers sabotaged and destroyed the main road of the camp, Nablus Street. They also destroyed the camp’s infrastructure, including the water network and power lines.

Dozens of shops were damaged, including a pharmacy, restaurants, and private shops for cellular devices. Many Palestinian homes were destroyed as a result of the vandalism and destruction of the camp.

The Israeli occupation forces conducted the destruction accompanied by military vehicles, especially bulldozers, while Palestinian civilians, including women and children, were inside their homes. The occupation forces did not ask or care about those inside the houses or whether they were physically harmed.

Medical and Palestinian Civil Defence crews rushed to the camp immediately after the withdrawal of military vehicles at around 3 pm, following more than 13 hours of continuous destruction. The medical staff stated that they had not received any reports or dealt with any injuries inside the camp. It was like a miracle that the occupation entered and left without causing physical injuries.

Palestinians inside the camp said: “في المال ولا في العيال”, good it happened “to the money and not to the families,” meaning that at least the destruction was only to material things (homes, streets, and camps) and no life was taken. 

After the Israeli Hebrew media published a special report on Tulkarm, especially the Nur Shams camp, Israeli news agencies, citing Israeli security sources, stated that the city of Tulkarm, particularly the refugee camps, must end. According to the statements of the Israeli army, “Tulkarm city is a city of terrorism.”

The people of the Nur Shams refugee camp refused to leave the camp. The majority decided to stay, no matter what happened. A Palestinian survivor whose house was destroyed said, “I will build a better house than the one destroyed by the occupation.”

The Israeli occupation forces continue to carry out incursions, destruction, murder, and arrests in the West Bank, especially in the city of Tulkarem.

Palestinians and international human rights observers arrested in Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank

July 7, 2024

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Israeli forces arresting 14 year old Palestinian child.

 

Israeli Occupation forces arrested three Palestinians, including a 14 year old child, together with three international (including a US citizen) and one Israeli human rights observers in at-Tuwani, Masafer Yatta, in the South Hebron Hills area.
This morning, armed Israeli settler shepherds invaded Palestinian land with their flocks, provoked the family that was working on their land and attempted to steal one of their donkeys. The Palestinians tried to prevent them from going on their land and were attacked by the settlers. They called the police to remove the settlers, but the army and police chose to arrest three Palestinians, one of whom is a 14 year old child, three international and one Israeli human rights observers. No settlers were detained. They have all been taken to an Israeli police station. As of 5.45 pm (Jerusalem time), the family has been released but the human rights observers remain under custody.
The family, including the child, was already detained for around 3 hours on their land a couple of weeks ago and they have suffered numerous attacks over the years from violent settlers and the army. A couple of weeks ago, settlers cut newly planted trees and destroyed the water connections.
Land theft and ethnic cleansing have spiralled since October 7 in Masafer Yatta, and in other areas of the occupied West Bank. Israeli settlers who live in illegal settlements have been heavily armed and have escalated harassment and threats towards Palestinian communities, with the backing of the Israeli occupation forces. Umm al-Khair, one of the villages in Masafer Yatta, has lately come under almost daily attack from settlers and the army. On June 26, occupation forces demolished a dozen structures in Umm al-Khair displacing dozens of residents, including children. Since then, settlers have raided the village, shot live ammunition, erected a tent in the village and destroyed the water system, leaving the whole community of Umm al Khair without access to water.
On July 4, settlers carried out a pogrom in the village of Khalet a Dabaa. About 200 settlers reached the village at midnight, set agricultural land and trees on fire and attacked villagers, shot live ammunition and kidnapped a villager. An Italian activist from the NGO Mediterranea was also badly beaten. There are daily incidents in Masafer Yatta, with settlers coming on what remains of Palestinian land to herd in order to harass and push Palestinians further away from their land.
These are not isolated incidents. They are a part of a bigger plan of annexation of the West Bank/Area C. Between October 7 and July 1, over 1,050 attacks from settlers on Palestinians have been recorded by OCHA. At the beginning of March, Israeli authorities approved the construction of almost 3,500 illegal housing units in settlements around the West Bank. More recently, almost 5,295 new illegal housing units have been approved. This all comes amidst the biggest land seizure in the West Bank in over 30 years. Far-right Finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has vowed to bring a million more settlers under his expansion plan.
In a quiet move, about a month ago, more control was moved from the Israeli army’s civil administration to the recently established governmental body “Settlement Administration”, led by Smotrich. Last Thursday, Orit Strock, Minister of Settlements and National Missions, was reported praising a master plan to build over 100 housing units in the South Hebron Hills area, saying this was “a miracle time” and “a sacred mission,” highlighting her efforts to invest in the area.
All of this is happening while the Israeli authorities are repressing human rights solidarity in the area, with at least six more international and three Israeli human rights observers banned from the area in the previous few weeks, with the aim of isolating Palestinian communities and promoting their propaganda unchecked.

Violence Erupts in Massafer Yatta: Illegal Settlers Attack Villagers and Destroy Property

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Violence Erupts in Massafer Yatta: Illegal Settlers Attack Villagers and Destroy Property

By Dottie Lux, International Solidary Movement
Masafer Yatta, July 4, 2024

— A wave of violence swept through the village of Khalet Al Daba’a in Masafer Yatta as settlers launched a series of attacks on local palestinians, culminating in severe injuries, destruction of property, and the abduction of a palestinian by israeli forces.

Around midnight, up to 200 settlers initiated their assault by setting fire to olive, grape, and fig trees, vital sources of livelihood for the villagers. The violence escalated rapidly as settlers began shooting live ammunition directly at local palestinians, creating a scene of chaos and fear. In a brutal display of aggression, settlers beat villagers with sticks and one palestinian was subsequently taken by israeli forces. The violence did not end in Khalet Al Daba’a.

The settlers moved to the nearby area of Um Fagarah, where they continued their rampage by destroying three vehicles including the fire truck sent there to control the damage. They physically assaulted more villagers and prevented ambulances from delivering aid.

These violent acts occurred under the supervision of the occupation police and army, who did not intervene to stop the onslaught. As a result of this aggression, several palestinians have been injured along with two international volunteers. With the community reeling from the impact of this unprovoked brutality the situation remains tense. Local leaders and concerned internationals are calling for immediate local and international attention. Most imporatantly they are asking for intervention to prevent further carnage and ensure the safety and security of the residents of Masafer Yatta. This press release highlights the urgency and gravity of the situation, calling for immediate attention and intervention. Further details are to follow.