On the evening of Tuesday October 23, a 15 year old boy, Hamze Shweke, was detained by the Israeli army at the Tel Rumeida checkpoint. The soldiers approached the boy sitting at one of the checkpoints and told him that he had five seconds to leave. The night before Hamze had been assaulted by the same soldiers. Hamze told the soldiers that he wouldn’t leave. When Hamze remained seated the soldiers slapped his face, handcuffed him with plastic wires and took him up the hill, out of sight of the community and observers.
Outside the base, one of the soldiers forcefully dug his fingers into his shoulders and neck and slapped him whilst handcuffed. Throughout this ordeal, for over an hour, Hamze was not allowed to sit. Hamze was eventually released.
Whilst in custody, the captain in charge told Hamzes brother that they “knew” that International HRWs had paid Hamze to cause trouble and that the workers were recieving monetary gains from their films following bogus allegations from settlers.
This event follows repeated complaints of incidents involving soldiers assaulting the neighborhood youths as witnessed by Human Rights Workers.
Left on the Ground for Nearly an Hour, a Patient in a Serious Condition Dies Due to Restrictions at Erez Crossing
PCHR strongly condemns the unjustified complicated procedures adopted by Israeli occupation authorities at Erez crossing, which have led to the death of an old patient from the Gaza Strip, who was suffering from diabetes and hypertension, although they had already agreed to allow him to receive medical treatment at an Israeli hospital. PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, World Health Organization and the ICRC to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to allow access of patients from the Gaza Strip to hospitals in the West Bank and Israel through Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.
According to information available to PCHR , Nemer Mohammed Salim Shuhaiber, 77, from al-Sabra neighborhood in Gaza City, was admitted into the ICU at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on 21 October 2007 as he was suffering from an acute heart attack. Since he was in a serious condition, the Palestinian Ministry of Health decided to transfer him to an Israeli hospital. On Monday, 22 October 2007, the liaison officer at the Ministry was able to coordinate with Israeli occupation authorities his passage through Erez crossing. The patient’s sons, Nahidh and ‘Adnan, also obtained permits to accompany him to the Israeli hospital. According to Nahidh, 42, he accompanied his father to Erez crossing. The ambulance driver was permitted by Israeli occupation authorities to pass through the crossing. When the ambulance moved forward, Israeli occupation troops fired at it, so the driver was forced to drive back and the patient was not able to travel to the Israeli hospital on that day although he was in a serious condition.
Also according to Nahidh, he and his brother ‘Adnan accompanied their father in a Palestinian ambulance, which transported them to Erez crossing at approximately 09:30 on Tuesday, 23 October 2007, as the Palestinian Ministry of Health coordinated their passage again with Israeli occupation forces. However, they were forced to wait for nearly 3 hours. Israeli occupation authorities then allowed the ambulance to pass towards the Israeli side of the crossing. The patient needed additional oxygen, which was brought by the ambulance driver from Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Israeli occupation troops forced them to wait for two additional hours to conduct security checking on the ambulance. During the checking, Israeli troops placed the patient on the ground under the sun for nearly an hour, although his health condition was deteriorating. At the end of the security checking, Israeli troops ordered taking the patient back to Shifa Hospital, but he died soon.
Israeli occupation authorities have continued to close Erez crossing, banning free and safe passage of the Palestinian civilian population, including patients. The obstruction of the passage of patients through Erez crossing has caused 5 deaths in the past 6 months. For instance, on 3 August 2007, Wa’el Hasan Khalil Abu Warda, 27, from Jabalya village, died from a kidney failure when he was on his way to Ichilov Hospital in Israel. On 23 May 2007, Mohammed Ahmed Ibrahim Mansour, 23, died as Israeli occupation forces obstructed for 3 hours his passage into Israel to receive medical treatment. Mansour had been seriously wounded by several gunshots during internal fighting on 15 May 2007.
In a few examples, Israeli occupation authorities have allowed patients to pass through Erez crossing, but under unjustifiable complicated security procedures endangering the lives of such patients, especially as the majorities of cases transferred to hospitals in the West Bank and Israel are critical or serious. Such patients need advanced medical treatment, which is not available in the Gaza Strip. The closure of Rafah International Crossing Point has also precluded the transfer of patients to Egyptian Hospitals. Such restrictions imposed on the passage of patients are part of measures of collective punishment adopted by Israeli occupation authorities against the Palestinian civilian population, in violation of international law.
PCHR calls upon the international community, particularly the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, World Health Organization and the ICRC to exert pressure on Israeli occupation authorities to allow access of patients from the Gaza Strip to hospitals in the West Bank and Israel, and the entry of medicines and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli and Palestinian demonstrators blocked Highway 443 early Thursday morning to protest the ban on Palestinian vehicles from the road, which is a major artery connecting Jerusalem to Lod, Army Radio reported.
The protesters, a coalition of Jewish and Arab members of leftist organizations, carried signs which read, among other slogans, “Caution Apartheid Road” and “Paved Road on Pilfered Land,” Army Radio said.
“Highway 443 is an example of what is taking place in the territories,” one of the demonstrators told Army Radio. “[The authorities] are expropriating land from the Palestinians in order to build a highway which is then declared off limits to Palestinian traffic.”
“There is a policy here of apartheid,” Hadar Grievsky, another protester, told Army Radio. “Highways are built on roads that were seized from Palestinians and is only permitted to Jewish drivers.”
Organizers of the protest said that 70 demonstrators participated, most of them Palestinian residents of nearby towns. Israel Defense Forces soldiers and police arrived at the scene to disperse the crowd approximately 10 minutes after the road was blocked. Seven people were taken into custody for questioning, according to Army Radio.
The commander of the Binyamin police station, Chief Superintendent Benny Har-Nes, told Army Radio that law enforcement received information on the demonstrators’ plans to block the highway, enabling authorities to deploy the necessary amount of force.
“We knew of the plan to [block the road] and we prepared accordingly,” Har-Nes said. “We arrived at the scene within five minutes from the start of the event, and after trying to persuade them to evacuate willingly, we declared the matter an unlawful gathering and we cleared them out.
Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals came together in the village of Bil’in for another non-violent demonstration against the internationally-recognized as illegal segregation Wall built on Palestinian land.
Israeli soldiers responded to the peaceful protesters with the usual onslaught of tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated steel bullets. Two internationals were injured by the rubber-coated steel bullets, one receiving a bullet to his face, resulting in substantial bleeding. He was immediately rushed off to hospital. The other international was wounded by a rubber bullet to his inner thigh, while two Palestinians suffered from tear gas inhalation.
As this is olive harvesting season, villagers attempted to symbolically harvest olives in the groves which have been ravaged by fires and gas throughout the year. While harvesting, Israeli soldiers continued to fire tear gas at the unarmed demonstrators.
The demonstration, numbering over 100, including internationals from Italy, North America, Spain, Denmark, the UK, and Israel as well as the steadfast Bil’in villagers, lasted for over an hour, another in a nearly three year peaceful struggle against Israel’s illegal annexation of Palestinian land, which has seen 60% of vital agricultural land rendered off-limits to the 1600 Bil’in residents. In the past three years, over 800 activists have been injured, including two injuries resulting in brain damage due to the close-range firing of rubber-coated steel bullets.
Friday’s demonstration followed a successful roadblock demonstration the day before, in which local Palestinians were joined by Israeli and international supporters in blocking highway 443, the Israeli-only highway inaccessible to the Palestinians whose West Bank land it dissects.
Palestinian residents in Hebron protesting the Ketziot prison attack were subject to an all-day onslaught of rubber bullets, tear gas and sound grenades by the Israeli soldiers.
The protest took the form of a strike, organised by the Islamic National Forces in response to the killing of one Palestinian prisoner and the injuring of up to 250, by Israeli prison guards at the Ketziot prison, three days ago.
Israeli soldiers started firing into the crowds in response to Palestinian children throwing rocks at the bulletproof checkpoint leading into the Tel Rumeida settlement – the checkpoint that controls movement of Palestinians from Palestinian Authority-controlled areas into Israeli-controlled areas, areas of residence for both Palestinians and illegal Israeli settlements.
The checkpoint is a daily frustration for the people of Hebron, who are often delayed for long periods or denied entry altogether. It also serves as a potent symbol of the illegal annexation of Palestinian land by Israeli settlements in Hebron, contravening the 4th Geneva convention.
Soldiers fired from rooftops – shooting rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs into the crowded marketplace, wounding a 15 year old boy in the neck. Other children were also hit with rubber bullets, and an elderly man was hospitalised after being struck in the chest. Approximately 15 people were hospitalised, with more people suffering the effects of tear gas.
The checkpoint remained closed throughout the day – stranding school children and residents.
——————————–
Update, the next day
In the backlash of yesterdays clashes between Hebron youth and Israeli soldiers, the latter responded to stone throwing with even heavier agression, replacing rubber bullets with live ammunition.
Yesterday, when the citizens of Hebron demonstrated for better treatment of prisoners, children from the age of seven were shot at with rubber bullets, tear gas and sound bombs, some which were in need of medical treatment.
Today in the afternoon, soldiers stormed into the Palestinian run market place, firing live ammunition down the streets.
The main checkpoint separating the areas under Palestinian administration and Israeli occupied territory closed for several hours, hindering people from reaching their homes.
The checkpoint serves as a base for soldiers firing into groups of people, thus being the main target of young Palestinians frustration.
——————————–
Conditions of Ketziot Prison
According to a reliable source associated with Ketziot Prison, 700 out of 2500 prisoners are solely held under administrative detention, which means they do not have a determined time sentence. The prison is surrounded by eight metres of concrete and fence wall with additional barbwire fences separating each section. The prison appears more like a camp, hidden away in the Negev Desert and subjecting the inmates to live in plastic tents.
It is reported that the prisoners live under heavy tension. They are guarded 24 hours a day by surveillance towers and if the prison guards suspect any movement, they’re ready to shoot.
The prisoners are denied simple utilities, such as cleaning supplies which they are forced to buy on their own with money which must be deposited into Israeli banks. The only people allowed to send money are family members, many of them not able to go to Jerusalem in order to visit an Israeli bank. Along with poor conditions, they are denied medical treatments and given aspirin to cure anything, including high blood pressure and diabetes. Even after the raid by the Metzada (Israel Prison Service) some of the injured detainees were denied medical treatment for injuries caused by rubber bullets and tear gas. International third parties such as the Red Cross have been denied intervention.
