Category: Reports

Gaza Under Attack: International eyewitnesses call for action

November 14th, 2012, By International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Strip

Beginning at 3:35 pm today, the Gaza Strip has been shaken by several Israeli army attacks from drones, apaches, F-16s, and naval vessels. One of the first people killed was Ahmed al-Jabari, chief of staff of Hamas’ military wing. Palestinian factions vowed revenge, and their armed wings have fired dozens of rockets towards Israel. Since the first attack this afternoon, Israeli forces have carried out more than 50 airstrikes across the Gaza Strip resulting in at least eight fatalities, including two young children and a woman pregnant with twins. The Ministry of Health also reports that more than 90 people have been injured.

Fears are growing that Israel may launch a large-scale ground offensive, a fear fuelled by the dropping of Israeli leaflets in North Gaza warning of an imminent overland invasion in the area, as well as the ongoing attacks.

Israel launched its ‘Operation Pillar of Defence’ this afternoon with the targeted killing of al-Jabari in an airstrike on a car in the Thalatin area in the east of Gaza City. Al-Jabari’s aide, Mohammad Al-Hams, who was also travelling in the car, suffered injuries and later died in hospital. Following this attack, a series of airstrikes was launched, targeting civilian areas throughout the Gaza Strip.

In the early evening, Israeli warships encroached into the Gaza sea and took position close to the shore, firing towards land. At approximately 8:00 pm, Israeli naval forces fired between 12 and 15 shells northwest of Beach Camp in Gaza City.

Many expect that the offensive will continue for several days, since the Israeli Prime Minister has declared that he is prepared to expand the operation. In a news conference earlier today, Israeli Defence Minister, Ehud Barak, said, “[t]he provocations we have suffered and the firing of rockets to the southern settlements within Israel have forced us to take this action. I want to make clear that Israeli citizens will not suffer such actions. The targets are to hit the rockets and to harm the organisation of Hamas.” However, the majority of the victims of these attacks have been civilians. People in Gaza have stocked up on food and fuel and taken shelter in their homes, and the staffs of most international organisations have been placed under curfew.

Hospitals throughout the Strip have been inundated with victims of the attacks. Speaking in a press conference outside al-Shifa hospital, Dr. Mafed el-Makha el-Makhalalaty, the Minister for Health, explained that hospitals are suffering shortages due to the ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip and the increased attacks over the last week, in which several children were killed. Today’s attacks have left hospitals depleted of medicines and medical supply.

We call on people of conscience around the world to stand up against this unlawful aggression against Palestinian civilians.

The international community must take urgent action to put a stop to these violent attacks.

First published on Mondoweiss.net

Israel attacks on al-Shoja’iya, Gaza. 4 Palestinian civilians killed, 38 injured

11th November 2012 | Hussain News, Gaza Strip


For two days, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) bombed and shelled civilians in the Gaza Strip. Five Palestinian civilians including 3 children were killed. 52 civilians including 6 women and 12 children were wounded. Many of the injuries remain critical, some have amputations. 2 members of the Palestinian resistance were also killed in the attacks.

Four of these deaths and 38 of the injuries resulted from an Israeli attack on a football playground in al-Shoja’iya neighborhood East of Gaza City, many of whom had gathered for a funeral close to where the attack took a place . Some civilian facilities were also destroyed or damaged.

For more, see: http://hussienphotography.weebly.com/news.html

Thousands of zionists occupy Hebron – harassment, abuse and restriction of movement for Palestinians

By Ellie Marton

11th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Thousands of fundamentalist Israeli tourists from around the world arrived into Al Khalil (Hebron) on Friday, camping overnight in the centre of the city for a Jewish religious holiday. One Palestinian was punched and kicked and hundreds were denied access to daily life as settlers invaded the old city for five hours.

The thousands of Israeli tourists, who gathered in al-Khalil for two days, were gathered for the Zionist holiday, Abraham Day.

For the duration of the zionist visit, movement was even more restricted than usual for Palestinians – considering that in Al-Khalil there are already 113 checkpoints, roadblocks and closures. In the hilltop Palestinian neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, Palestinians were not allowed to walk their regular route down a gradual slope, as a Jewish cemetery is situated there. Residents, including one pregnant woman, were ordered by Israeli soldiers to walk down a dangerously steep hill.

Palestinians and international activists were not permitted to enter the vicinity of the Ibrahimi Mosque. When asked if this meant that only Jewish people had rights in the area, an Israeli policeman blocking the route replied “yes”, confirming the apartheid agenda of the Israeli authorities. The only two remaining Palestinian shops in the area were forced to close down for the two days of the zionist visit, and a checkpoint at the entrance to the Palestinian souq was completely shut down, making access very difficult.

The zionist visitors on the other hand were accommodated fully in their movement during their time in Al-Khalil and were in fact facilitated on tours of the souq. On Saturday morning, the souq was invaded by groups of over twenty soldiers on several occasions in preparation for these tours. Heavily-armed soldiers pointed guns through doorways and down alleyways in the market, intimidating shopping Palestinian families and children. Soldiers were then stationed in doorways and alleyways along the main path of the souq and remained there for many hours, blocking Palestinian access and once again, restricting movement.

After these preparations had been completed, the tours commenced. A tour for Israeli settlers happens every Saturday in the souq, on a much smaller scale – these are ostensibly regular guided tours, providing information about the area. The majority of the groups this Saturday however, seemed to aim only to be as loud and obnoxious as possible, obstructing Palestinian life and claiming that the souq should be a Jewish area.

Between the hours of one and five, hundreds of settlers were led repeatedly through the market, accompanied by over 30 soldiers each time. The groups were highly disorderly, shouting and chanting pro-Israel slogans and often threatening and yelling abuse at Palestinian shopkeepers and international observers as they passed. Several observers, Palestinian and international, were attacked for recording the disrespectful behavior of the crowd – cameras were grabbed, knocked to the ground and damaged. One Palestinian man was punched and kicked for trying to film as the group passed by him in the souq.

Merchandise and fresh produce were purposefully damaged and Palestinians were stopped from walking past the tour groups, or were forced to squeeze through the narrow gap between the wall and the crowds of sometimes aggressive zionists. One group’s guide pointed at a Palestinian flag in the souq and stated that it was “a flag of foreign anarchists and outside forces.”

There is a history of settler violence and restriction of movement for Palestinians in Al-Khalil, a city which is divided into Palestinian zone H1 and Israeli controlled H2, which includes the old city. The latter still has a majority Palestinian population of around 30,000, with around 700 Israeli settlers. The huge Israeli army presence within the city is justified by the presence of these settlers, whose residency is illegal under the Geneva Convention which states that “transfers of the civilian population of the occupying power into the occupied territory, regardless whether forcible or voluntary, are prohibited.”

An ex-Israeli soldier who was stationed in Al-Khalil claimed to Breaking the Silence that the mission statement of his unit was “to disrupt the routine of the inhabitants of the neighborhood”. This aim is being continually fulfilled by settlers, zionist visitors and the Israeli army. Despite this, the Palestinian population remain steadfast in their homes and continue to resist the occupation. While zionist tourists paraded through the souq one shopkeeper responded by waving her keffiyeh and blowing a trumpet in response to the harassment.

Checkpoint from the souq to the Ibrahimi Mosque closed down, severely restricting Palestinian movement
Palestinian shopkeepers look on as soldiers and Zionist tourists pass by
Palestinian boys look down on Zionist tour group
Soldiers and Zionist tourists invade the Palestinian souq

 

Ellie Marton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

Settler harassment at Khan al-Luban [Update: Video added]

By Stephen Alexander

11 November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Friday, the house at Khan al-Luban, south of Nablus was trespassed by settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’ale Levona. The settlers attempted to destroy the water supply at the house.

Settlers film and take photos at Khan al-Luban Friday
Settlers from the Ma’ale Levona take photos and video at Khan al-Luban

Earlier in the morning, house-owner Khalid al-Hamed, his two sons and two international activists spent some hours lifting rocks out of a pit outside the house where the major water pipes are. Settlers have previously thrown those rocks down into the pit attempting to break the pipes.

At around 12:15 one settler arrived and filmed this activity from the road.

Later, at around 14:15, the same settler returned with three others. The men filmed and photographed the house. They also made threatening moves towards the international activists.

One of the settlers, who was armed with an automatic pistol, then located the only other functioning water supply to the house and grounds and tried to destroy it by pulling the pipes from the wall. He also attempted to break the tap. The water supply for the house is an outside tap that sits around 50 meters up the hill from the house. Settlers have previously attacked and damaged the water supply and the other buildings on the property.

The settlers left the immediate area as the homeowner arrived on the scene.

Minutes later, two Israeli military vehicles arrived containing five soldiers. They continued to harass Khaled who was visibly distressed about this latest intrusion to his home and the damage caused. This harassment lasted another 45 minutes until the soldiers finally left, having taken no action.

For more background information on the situation at Khan al-Luban see here.

Stephen Alexander is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.

Settler attacks Palestinian man in Hebron – Israeli soldiers look on

9th November 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Police take photographs of injuries at Checkpoint 56 in Hebron
A group of soldiers and international activists surround Imad after the settler attack


On Thursday in Hebron, Palestinian activist Imad Al Atrash was beaten by an illegal Israeli settler whilst two soldiers watched, without intervening.

Imad reports that he was walking through an olive grove in Tel Rumeida when a man from a nearby illegal settlement shouted abuse at him. Imad called for a nearby Israeli soldier to witness the abuse, but two soldiers merely watched as the settler began attacking Imad, at one point using a stone as a weapon. Imad suffered blows to the head, back and leg. Following this, his attacker fled the scene.

(This attack follows a recent arrest of Imad by the army only a couple of weeks ago, see: https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/3-arrested-as-palestinians-attacked-by-settlers-and-soldiers-in-tel-rumeida/ )

A group of soldiers who then arrived at the scene denied that it was possible for CCTV footage of the attack to be reviewed. The two soldiers who had witnessed the attack would not provide their names or military identification numbers, to ensure that they could be called to provide evidence against the settler. Impunity for settler violence is compounded by soldiers refusing to testify against the Israeli attackers, or testifying falsely. According to the Geneva Convention of 1949 and the Hague Convention of 1907, ‘in any area under military occupation, responsibility for the welfare of the population falls on the occupying power’, an obligation which Israel is clearly neglecting.

Imad required medical attention and was taken to a hospital in Hebron, where he was monitored for three hours. There has been a long history of settler attacks on Palestinians in Tel Rumeida, where some of the most extreme Zionist settlers in Hebron are based. The violence is often random and extreme – for example, in the last month alone, there were attacks by settlers and soldiers in Tel Rumeida during the olive harvest. See:

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/settlers-attack-and-injure-palestinians-harvesting-olives-in-tel-rumeida/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/3-arrested-as-palestinians-attacked-by-settlers-and-soldiers-in-tel-rumeida/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/palestinian-collapses-while-detained-at-checkpoint-during-eid-holiday-in-hebron/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/11/colonizers-ruin-olive-trees-in-hebron/

By Team Khalil