Category: Reports

19 year-old law student Anwar Al-Malouk from Gaza City shot dead

11 January 2013 | Jabalia, Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestine

The fragile ceasefire announced on 21st November, following Israel’s eight-day offensive on Gaza, was yet again violated by the Israeli military today after a fatal attack on a group of Palestinian civilians east of Jabalia. 19 year-old Anwar Al-Malouk, a law student from the Shajaia district of Gaza City was shot dead and 21 year-old Omar Wadi from the Jabalia refugee camp, north of Gaza City, was injured as he came to Anwar’s aid.

Omar Wadi (21) sitting in his house in Jabalia refugee camp, still recoverig from wounds in both legs after being shot by Israeli soldiers on January 11th 2012, while he was in the "Buffer Zone". He was injuried by the shrapnel of a hollow-point bullet when he was trying to help Anwar Almalouk (19), who was shot in the stomach. Anwar would later die while being transferred to the hospital.
Omar Wadi (21) sitting in his house in Jabalia refugee camp, still recoverig from wounds in both legs after being shot by Israeli soldiers on January 11th 2012, while he was in the “Buffer Zone”. He was injuried by the shrapnel of a hollow-point bullet when he was trying to help Anwar Almalouk (19), who was shot in the stomach. Anwar would later die while being transferred to the hospital.

At about 2.30pm on 11th January, Omar was in a local cemetary visiting the graves of friends killed under the occupation. He noticed a group of around 30 Palestinians a few hundred metres away to the east, between the cemetary and the fence marking the eastern border of the Gaza Strip.

From the cemetary, which was over half a kilometre from the border fence, Omar approached the group to investigate the situation. Four Israeli military jeeps were positioned on the other side of the fence and around 12 Israeli soldiers were present, firing tear-gas canisters towards the group of Palestinians.

At this point, the group was at a distance of approximately 100 metres from the fence but then fled a further 100 metres back, amid the tear-gas attack. By around 4pm, Anwar had been separated from the group and remained alone about 40 metres from the fence, when he was shot by the soldiers and fell.

Three of the group, including Omar, went back to assist Anwar. Omar says he acted instinctively at the sight of a fellow Palestinian in danger and didn’t consider his own safety – despite not having previously known Anwar. As he arrived to where Anwar lay, he was hit in both legs by shrapnel from a hollow-tip bullet which exploded on impact with the ground nearby and showered metal fragments in his direction.

The two others managed to evacuate Omar and Anwar from the scene to safety but Anwar had sustained a serious gunshot wound to his abdomen and died en route to hospital. Anwar had to be driven from the area to the main road in a toc-toc, where he was then transferred to an ambulance. Unfortunately, by this time he had already passed away in the toc-toc.

At Kamal Adwan Hospital in Jabalia, Omar was treated for ankle injuries. He has since been released but the shrapnel remains embedded in his bones. As an outpatient of the osteological department, he must return next week for assessment regarding the possibility of surgery to remove the shrapnel. It is understandable that Omar was terrified during the attack. He has been traumatised by the experience and has not been able to sleep due to reliving the memory of it.

An X-ray showing the piece of shrapnel embedded in Omar´s leg (white spot).
An X-ray showing the piece of shrapnel embedded in Omar´s leg (white spot).

Omar has two brothers and six sisters. His 18 year-old brother, Mohammed, was seriously injured during an Israeli incursion in the east of Jabalia five years ago when he was only 13 years old. Mohammed underwent treatment in Egypt for four months and is still receiving treatment in Gaza to this day.

The young mens’ father expressed concern about Omar ever visiting the cemetary again, whilst their mother said she feared one day all her sons would be killed. The Wadi family yearn for a genuine ceasefire yet anticipated from the outset that Israel would never respect it. Omar’s principal hope is that Israel’s crimes against Palestinians will end.

Anwar was the youngest son of the Al-Malouk family and the only one still living at home due to his older brothers being married. His 55 year-old mother hopes he is now at peace.

The first Palestinian killed after the ceasefire announcement was also named Anwar. On 23rd November, just two days into the agreement, Anwar Qudieh was shot dead, this time in the rural area of Abassan, east of Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

There have been numerous Israeli attacks against Palestinian civilians in Gaza during the ceasefire. One can only imagine the response had it been the other way around.

 

Photos courtesy of Desde Palestina

Settlers attack Urif and Qusra with guns, knives and stones

January 10th, 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Urif and Qusra, Occupied Palestine

As the villages around Nablus woke up to the rare scene of a snow-covered landscape, Israeli settlers violently attacked groups of youngsters playing with snow in the villages of Urif and Qusra. Two people were both hit in the leg by live bullets fired from settlers’ guns and six people were hospitalized because of rubber-coated steel bullets shot by the Israeli army.

In Urif, a group of thirty-five settlers came down the hills from the nearby Yizhar illegal settlement and attacked youth engaged in a snow-battle. One settler, who was carrying a sword, went to slash one of them but was stopped in time by the villagers. Other settlers started shooting live bullets and attacked two houses, smashing their windows. Shortly after the attack started the Israeli army also came down the hills, openly protecting the settlers from people that were gathering to defend their village. International human-rights activists that arrived in Urif saw settlers throwing stones and filmed them uprooting olive trees while the Israeli army shot tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets, preventing the activists and villagers from approaching the settlers. As the attack went on, settlers again opened fire on people from Urif and hit one young person in the leg. Five other persons were taken to hospital because of injuries sustained from rubber-coated steel bullets shot by the Israeli military.

A similar scenario occurred in the village of Qusra, with settlers from the Esh Kodesh and Qida illegal settlements attacking at the same time the attack in Urif was underway, thus raising the possibility that these were coordinated attacks. Fifteen settlers gathered on the hill overlooking Qusra and five of them, three of whom were armed with guns, went down to the village. The five settlers first headed to one of the homes on the edge of the village, previously targeted in a number of other assaults. As youth who were playing with snow went running to defend the home, settlers started shooting at them with their M-16 guns. 21-year-old Ammar was hit in the leg after the bullet passed through the mobile phone in his pocket. Settlers continued shooting at friends of Ammar who were trying to carry him away from the scene. He is currently in hospital and will have to undergo surgery because of the wound caused by the bullet.

In the meantime, dozens of Israeli soldiers started gathering on the hills, while settlers went around fields breaking olive trees. Only this morning a total of 188 olive trees were destroyed, with some of the trees having up to 20 years-worth of toil invested in them. When villagers from Qusra went to confront the settlers in the act they were met by tear-gas and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli army positioned on top of the hills; resulting in one person being hospitalized, after a hit by a rubber-coated steel bullet in the leg.

Settlers and soldiers’ attacks are nothing new for both Urif and Qusra. Urif has been struck almost daily in the past month and a half, as settlers attacked the school and homes at the outer part of the village. This is often followed by soldiers’ incursions into the village, routinely shooting huge amounts of tear-gas in the streets and houses of Urif. Twenty women suffered miscarriages because of tear-gas inhalation in the last six weeks. Furthermore, soldiers frequently arrive at night, shouting through megaphones, throwing stun grenades and turning on their sirens, simply to deprive people of their sleep. Qusra has also been attacked four times in the past few weeks, when settlers uprooted thousands of olive trees, attacked a Red Crescent ambulance and beat up villagers. Recent offensive graffiti in Hebrew was still to be seen on the walls of the mosque there today, a year and a half after being subjected to arson.

 

 

Israeli soldiers violently break into five homes in the Al Ayn Camp

January 9th, 2013 | Al Ayn Refugee Camp, Occupied Palestine.

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers in 27 military jeeps Ransacking in Al Ayn 1violently broke in and ransacked five homes in the Al Ayn refugee camp, Nablus. They caused widespread destruction in the houses involved in the raid. No arrests were made.

Weam Reda Khaled, a woman whose house was ransacked, recounted how forty soldiers with dogs broke open the door of her home at three this morning. They came into the living-room and bedroom, shouting and intimidating her and her children. The family was forced to stay in the doorway while soldiers searched the house and broke everything that came to their hands. One of her sons was blindfolded, handcuffed and interrogated for two hours under the staircase. In the meantime, the army smashed furniture and electronic appliances in the kitchen, living-room and bedroom. They threw the television and some furniture on the roof, under the rain. Weam described how her four year old son was terrorised by the scene of the military violently breaking in and searching their house. Initially, soldiers even refused to let him go to the bathroom.  This is the second time in the last eight months that Weam received such a visit. In May, soldiers broke into her home and arrested her husband, who is still being held in administrative detention without any charge brought against him.

Four other families in the Al Ayn camp suffered the same fate of Weam. In one case, a family of eight was forced to stay outside in shivering cold and heavy rain for four hours. Here, soldiers raided the store of the family and ruined the food kept there by throwing bread and flour on the ground and spilling oil all over the floor. Most of the furniture and appliances of the home were damaged or completely broken. In another case a man and his son were tied and locked in one room while soldiers ransacked the house, damaged the sofa, broke the TV and washing machine. A 70-year old man with a heart condition had to be hospitalised because of the shock suffered from the army’s invasion of his house.

The Al Ayn Camp, home to 5,000 refugees from the 1948 Zionist massacres, is known for its fierce resistance to Israeli occupation and for its resilience during the second intifada. During this raid the Israeli army told the families that they were searching for weapons. However, none were found in Al Ayn Camp during yesterday night’s ransacking.

Ransacking in Al Ayn 2

Israeli forces arrest man in Palestinian-controlled area of H1, Hebron [includes video]

by Team Khalil

8 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Hebron arrest 7 January 2013A Palestinian man was arrested in Tel Rumeida, Hebron. Soldiers invaded homes without permission, indiscriminately beating men and children and forcing the residents out onto the streets.

At around 22:30 pm on Monday 7 January Israeli occupation forces entered the Palestinian-controlled H1 area of the city for the second time in a week. The soldiers forcibly entered homes; in one house five soldiers kicked the front door and forced their way past a young boy. On hearing the disturbance Sabri Dwaik aged 29 got out of bed and went downstairs. The soldiers attacked Sabri, pinning him to the floor and hit him with a rifle butt on his head. Sabri was handcuffed and still in his pyjamas was dragged out onto the street. The soldiers then threw a sound bomb towards the front door to deter anyone from following them.

One of Sabri’s cousins, who had gone onto the street to see what was happening, tried to intervene. The cousin attempted to free Sabri but was beaten, thrown on the floor, and dragged away by the neck. The Israeli occupation forces detained both men against a fence, pushing them and pointed their guns at them. After talking amongst themselves the soldiers decided to release Sabri’s cousin but Sabri was dragged passed the road gate into the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Tel Rumeida. Thirty soldiers brought people out of their houses and lined them up against a wall just inside H2 making them stand in the cold, wet night. Sabri was arrested, marched to a police vehicle and taken to Kyriat Arba police station.

Sabri Dwaik was charged with trying to steal a soldier’s gun as the soldiers were beating him inside his house. He informed the police officers that he wanted to make a complaint about the soldiers’ treatment of him. Sabri was told by the police officer that if he wanted to make a complaint he would have to stay in custody at Kyriat Arba police station for three days before he could make a complaint. Sabri was told by the police that he must apologise to the soldier who accused him of trying to steal his gun. “I do not have to apologise to the soldier because I have not done anything wrong,” Sabri said. After one and a half hours Sabri was released from the police station and returned home.

Sabri’s mother who is in ill health was very distressed by the events of the evening. The peace and quiet of another Tel Rumeida night was destroyed by the violence of the Israeli occupation forces. Local residents conjectured that the increased levels of violence and aggression of the Israeli occupation forces in the area is a response to the two well publicised incidents recently in Qufr Kadoum and Bab al Zawia, Hebron, where the Israeli occupation forces were seen to be weak in the face of Palestinian youth and their unarmed resistance. If the Israeli military are trying to send a message of intimidation to peaceful Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida, then the message is clear: the Israeli military has no interest in peace, breaking into houses and forcing people out of their home in the middle of the night. Also the Israeli military has no interest in the due process of law, attacking people for no reason and when they complain, threatening that they will have to stay in custody for three days to do so. These increased levels of aggression and violence will not bring peace or stability to the troubled community of Tel Rumeida.

 

Video: Israeli forces arrest man in H1 Palestinian-controlled area of Hebron, 7 January 2013

 

 

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Qusra settler attack, two hospitalised

6 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Qusra, Occupied Palestine

At around 2 p.m. seven settlers attacked a farm on the outskirts of Qusra. The farm belongs to Abu Nasser and his wife Nedda who are both in their sixties.

NeddaNedda confronted the settlers after seeing them on their property cutting olive trees, warning them off with a solid wooden walking stick and a firm voice. At around 4 p.m. twelve settlers returned accompanied by around 12 jeeps and 60 Israeli Occupation Soldiers.

A small group from the local village confronted the settlers and soldiers to defend the farm and a conflict erupted. Consecutive rounds of tear gas were then shot onto the farm land and the settlers and the local youth (shabab) confronted each other.  During the skirmish two shabab were shot at close range with rubber bullets: one in the shin and the other in the upper thigh.  Both required hospital treatment, with the shabab who was shot in the upper thigh remaining in hospital for further treatment as the rubber coated bullet passed into the front of his thigh and out the side. One of the stones thrown by a shabab hit a settler in the head.  In addition to this the Israeli Army fired several rounds of live ammunition. The village Mayor rang

Olive-treesthe DCO to report the incident and the DCO warned him that the settlers would return for ‘‘revenge’’. As four volunteers from the ISM, we arrived at the village around 7p.m.  and were welcomed to stay overnight at the small farm house of Abu Nasser and Nedda. The following day the settlers were seen gathering across the valley with Israeli soldiers.  We were driven to the hilltop across from them and made our presence known, shortly after which they left. During our time in the village we learnt of other attacks on the village that occurred as frequently as 3-4 times a week. We were shown several olive fields where the olive trees had either been broken or cut. The villages estimate that in the previous 3-4 days around 400 olive trees had been killed in their surroundings by settlers from the illegal settlements Esh Kodish and Kida.

During a similar settler attack on the village on the 23/09/2011, the local villages went to stop settlers from cutting the trees and the Israeli Army arrived and shot dead a 32-years old father of 5, Islam Badram.