Category: Reports - Page 4 - International Solidarity Movement

The Threat to the Existence of Palestinian Refugee Camps

Nur Shams – Tulkarm By Diana Khwaelid 1 November 2024

Has Israel Succeeded in Implementing the Voluntary Displacement Policy in West Bank Camps?

Israeli forces launched another incursion into the Nur Shams camp in the city of Tulkarm. A military operation by the Israeli occupying forces in the camp led to the destruction of infrastructure that had already been damaged during previous incursions.

The presence of Occupation forces mechanisms.

Almost a month after the last assault on the camp, the occupation returned to launch another military operation, further destroying infrastructure and the camp’s main entrance. Dozens of shops were damaged again after recent rebuilding efforts following the last assault.

Bulldozer used to destroy store fronts and infrastructures.

The camp’s main electricity distribution transformer was targeted, sewage pipes were destroyed, and internet lines were cut during the military operation. The Israeli incursion into the camp and city lasted 13 continuous hours.

The headquarters of the UNRWA office and camp services were also targeted and destroyed just three days after the decision to ban UNRWA offices in Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank was issued.

One of the martyrs was 30-year-old Hossam al-Mallah, a resident of Tulkarm camp. An Israeli special force infiltrated Tulkarm, specifically targeting his workplace in the camp and fatally shooting him on the evening of Wednesday, October 31. On the same night, Israeli forces re-entered Tulkarm around 3:00 AM, with helicopters stationed in Nur Shams camp.

Three Martyrs in Nur Shams Camp The Nur Shams refugee camp has continued to lose young lives, with the occupation repeatedly targeting Palestinian youth in camps across the northern West Bank. The martyrs include Mutassim Aisha, aged 32; Abdulaziz Abu Samin, aged 22; and Ahmad Fahmawi, aged 18. The Israeli forces killed them without warning.

Farewell to martyr Ahmad Fehmawi, 18 years old.

Medical and ambulance crews were also prevented from entering the camp to transport wounded Palestinians, some of whom died due to the occupation’s obstruction of medical aid. Displacement of Camp Residents Abu Ahmed, a 61-year-old resident of Nur Shams camp, reported that the entrance to his house was destroyed for the sixth time, and his shops were destroyed for the third time during the recent incursion. He said the occupation aims to displace residents of Palestinian camps in the West Bank, especially in Nur Shams camp. However, he added, “The policy of destruction in the camp will not succeed in displacing us. Where are we supposed to go? There’s nowhere else.”

Israeli forces destroy Nur Shams – Tulkarm.

A state of sadness has gripped the city of Tulkarm, especially in the camps, during the funeral of four martyrs who were killed by the occupation in less than 24 hours. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the West Bank has witnessed 766 martyrs since the beginning of the year, with 177 from the city of Tulkarm.

Fighting Until the Last Breath

October 26, 2024 | Tulkarem-West Bank | Diana Khwaelid

What does it mean to bring an entire army battalion with huge military vehicles storming into a neighborhood, to besiege a whole apartment building, in search of a single Palestinian? This is a report of resilience and defiance in the face of the Israeli occupation.

The Building that was surrounded and destroyed by Israeli forces.

On October 26 at 3:20 a.m. the Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Tulkarem, north of the Western apartment. This time, forces were stationed in Al-Salam Lane, a neighborhood located between the Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps.

Israeli military vehicles during the storming.

Israeli special forces known as Al-Yamamah were accompanied by three wheeled bulldozers and Israeli heavy military vehicles of type D9, D10. These forces, accompanied by soldiers, besieged a residential building in the Al-Salam neighborhood for 10 hours continuously, after receiving security intelligence about the presence of a Palestinian inside one of the residential apartments in building. Three Palestinian families, most of them women and children, were living inside the building.

The Palestinians who were living inside the building felt a state of fear and panic, especially the women and children. One of the residents of the building said, “My children are still under the influence of fear and shock even after the withdrawal of the army and the end of the Israeli military operation.”

One of the Residents of the targeted building.

The Israeli occupation operation focused on besieging the building, bulldozing the main entrance to the building, and evacuating the Palestinian families who were living inside, so that the building could be surrounded from all sides, with the addition of aircraft from above.

During the strike of Energa-type shells on the building which led to its burning.

The five-floor building was subjected to partial and total destruction throughout, and all this to kill the 29-year-old Palestinian Islam Odeh, from the Tulkarem camp. The Israeli occupation forces proceeded with a march onto the floor where he was located, and launched Energa-type missiles to murder him, but he kept fighting until the last moment and never gave up; he succumbed to an Israeli bullet in the end. That final bullet hit Islam Odeh directly in the head, and he fell as a martyr.

The shoes of the martyr, Islam, found in the location of his murder.

According to the Palestinian Civil Administration, the Israeli occupation forces killed the young Palestinian Islam, and have retained his body.

A Palestinian firefighter tries to put out the fire started by Israeli forces.

Palestinian medical and Civil Defense crews rushed to the site of the building immediately after the end of the military operation and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, in order to secure the building and dispose of any remnants of explosives and Israeli military equipment.

A Palestinian tries to clear the destruction from inside the building.

This operation imposed heavy material losses for the owner of the building, and heavy losses as well for the owners of cars destroyed by the occupation while at the entrance to the building, cars which belonged to the residents of the building.

There was a difficult psychological impact on the family of the Palestinian martyr Islam Odeh after receiving the news of their son’s elevation.

Father of the martyred Islam Odeh grieves.

There was also a profound psychological impact on the family of the martyr, Islam Odeh, after learning of their son’s death.

According to the Shirin Abu Aqla Observatory in Tulkarm alone, the number of martyrs since the beginning of 2024 has reached 173 so far.

Remembering Ayşenur

Beita – October 25, 2024

International volunteers have continued to return to Beita following the murder of Ayşenur, a member of the International Solidarity Movement, despite the Israeli army violently suppressing the peaceful demonstrations.

On Friday 25, the day began with tense confrontations from Israeli forces, which forced Palestinians and volunteers to evade soldiers and tear gas. After the army retreated, however, a group of international volunteers were finally able to gather at Ayşenur’s memorial. This moment was deeply emotional, honoring a young life stolen abruptly amid a broader struggle for freedom in Beita and all of Palestine.

Since 2021, this village in the West Bank has faced sustained aggressions, resulting in the Israeli forces killing 17 Palestinians. Known for its long-standing history of resistance against illegal Israeli settlement expansions, Beita has become a focal point of suppression. Residents of Beita continue to protest the seizure of land on nearby Jabal Sabih, a hill where settlers have established an illegal outpost (which recently became a settlement), strategically overlooking the village. Life on this land is integral to the community of Beita, and residents now protest at the hill weekly.

For many in Beita, the losses of recent years are a painful reminder of the enduring costs of occupation. The Israeli government has largely dismissed these protests as a “security” issue, but locals see them as a necessary stand against forced displacement. For Palestinians, the establishment of new settlements not only usurps their land but also deepens the sense of injustice and alienation felt under military occupation.

In this solemn space, surrounded by memories of Ayşanur and others lost in the struggle, volunteers and others sought comfort in the belief that she, like those before her, is at peace – and as one volunteer put it, “on her way to Jannah.”

Israeli Military and Police Raid International Home in Qusra

At about 20:00 Friday night, the Israeli army and police raided the international volunteers’ home in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus. This raid was conducted at gunpoint by a heavily armed force.

Leading the raid was the same military officer who had commanded a squadron that forced Palestinian harvesters out of their land in the village of Duma earlier in the day. During the raid, he pointed out specific volunteers to the police, saying he recognized them from earlier in the day.

The police broke into the house by destroying the door using a pneumatic hammer, and proceeded to search the premises without a search warrant, as well as the car of a Palestinian resident of Qusra who was there at the time. They demanded all the international activists present to show their passports, and photographed them.

Israeli law and police regulations only allow for police to require identification on the basis of suspicion of having broken the law, or for several specific reasons, which must be stated to those identified. The police had refused to state their grounds for either the search or identification, even declaring before they left, “You have done nothing wrong; we were only here to see who you are.”

The raid on the international volunteer quarters directly followed the forced removal of harvesters from their lands in the village of Duma earlier in the day, under the claim that it is forbidden for Palestinians to access their lands anywhere in Area C – which comprises around 60% of the West Bank – without prior coordination.

Photos taken during and in the aftermath of the raid depict the destruction and mess visited upon international volunteers in Qusra

For Immediate Release: Israel targets internationals to facilitate ongoing crimes against Palestinians

*Photo: Portrait of Michael Jacobsen provided to the ISM.*

October 10, 2024 – Masafer Yatta | Israeli forces arbitrarily arrested 78 year old US citizen.

Veteran Michael Jacobsen was accompanying a Palestinian farmer this morning in the village At-Tuwani in Masafer Yatta (South Hebron Hills), in occupied Palestine, as part of the international delegation Meta Peace Team, which joined the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

When Israeli reservist soldiers came to demand IDs from the activists and Palestinian landowners, Jacobsen complied with the soldiers’ requests. The soldiers called the Israeli police, who arrested him and took him to the Israeli Central Unit for Investigation, which is near the Ma’ale Adumim colonial settlement in the occupied West Bank. This interrogation center is home to the special task force created by the notorious Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. The task force was created as a response to some states, including the U.S., sanctioning violent settlers. Since international activists were reporting settler violence that they witnessed to their governments, an Israeli governmental committee was created in March 2024 for the purpose of getting rid of the activists.

Jacobsen’s lawyer was told that he was suspected of “endangering the public due to provocation of disturbances” and of “entering the country illegally”; this absurd suspicion was based on the police’s assertion that Jacobsen supported the Palestinian Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement (BDS). The police could not explain to Mr. Jacobsen’s attorney how this was a criminal offense. Mr. Jacobsen was threatened with imprisonment and deportation if he did not leave the country immediately. Michael opted to leave, and the police transferred him directly from the interrogation center to the border with Jordan.

Israeli forces have intensified their crackdown on international activists and journalists: two German activists were arrested in the same garden in At-Tuwani in similar circumstances and de-facto deported last Sunday October 6th, after being imprisoned since October 2nd. This effort aims to isolate Palestinians from international solidarity, and is part of the ongoing barrage of harassment by Israeli settlers and soldiers of Palestinians and of human rights activists in the area. The effort also includes the murder of American and Turkish ISM volunteer Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi in the village of Beita during a peaceful protest against settlement expansion on the village’s land on September 6th.

It is worth mentioning that the Palestinian farmer whom the activists were accompanying faces daily harassment, attacks, and invasions of his private land by Israeli settlers and occupation forces, which all make it difficult for him to access his land, to cultivate it, and even to remain in his home.

This onslaught of harassment against Palestinian residents of the region of Masafer Yatta extends beyond At-Tuwani. Every village in the area is affected. In the village of Zanuta in this same region, residents have been forcibly displaced multiple times despite a court ruling in their favor. Residents of Um Durit have had their livestock and property stolen and destroyed, and their land abused by settlers. Last July, around 200 settlers launched a coordinated attack in which they destroyed vehicles, burned fruit trees and beat up residents in Khalet Al Daba’a and Um Fagarah. In the past year, at least 19 Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank have been forcefully displaced and wiped off the map by Israeli settlers, with the support of the Israeli occupation forces.

The nonsensical allegations aimed at International Human Rights Defenders would be laughable if they were not lethal. For similar vague and unsubstantiated accusations, Palestinians are frequently arrested and tortured in the West Bank, and in Gaza the accused are murdered along with their families.