Israeli forces destroy a camp where farmers live and work

11th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Jawana, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday morning at approximately 7am, the Israeli army destroyed five tents donated by the Red Crescent to a group of farmers in the area of Jawana, between the village of Beit Furik and the ruins of Tana.

Five military jeeps and two civil administration vehicles arrived with a demolition order and proceeded to destroy all the tents. Farmers reported that the Israeli soldiers told them they had to leave the land where the camp was located, claiming that it was in Area C [under full Israeli security and civil control]. They also said the area was being used as a military training ground.

Jawana is actually in Area B [Palestinian civil control, joint Israeli and Palestinian security control], and sources close by have said that there are no military training areas close to the village. There were three families living in Jawana’s camp, with a total of 22 children. The Red Crescent was supporting the families by donating the tents, but after this recent attack, it does not seem possible to replace them. The families are now in a very difficult position, Israeli soldiers have also threatened to take away their water tank if they continue to stay in the area.

This is not the first time Israeli forces have entered Jawana to destroy tents and farmers have been told by Israeli forces to make enquiries at Beit El check point in Ramallah and discuss the situation with the DCO [District Coordination Office]. Haled Khald Hanani, a 46-year-old man, lives in this camp with his wife and eight children, normally spending five months a year in the nearby valley and the rest of the year in Jawana. Three years ago, the Israeli army confiscated his tractor and he was forced to go to Beit El and pay 3000 NIS to reclaim it. Haled and his family have lived in this area for generations, however since 2013 the Israeli army has systematically destroyed and confiscated his property, approximately every three months.

Reports from local Palestinians say that Israeli soldiers destroyed more tents located one kilometer away from the Hanani family. Moreover, settlers from the nearby illegal settlement of Itamar have been entering the village of Beit Furik, provoking and harassing the local population.

Photo by ISM
Photo by ISM

One man shot and arrested by Israeli Border Police in Huwwara village

10th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Huwwara, Occupied Palestine

On Sunday 6th of April, a 35-year-old Palestinian man was shot with live ammunition and then arrested by an Israeli Border Police Officer. This was after the man had thrown a Molotov cocktail against a passing military jeep on the main street of Huwwara, causing no injuries.

On Sunday evening, Ashraf Abu al-Huda, 35 years old, was shot by several live ammunition bullets by the Israeli Border Police in the village of Huwwara, south of Nablus. The police arrived from the Yitzhar checkpoint after the man had thrown a Molotov against a Israeli army’s jeep that was passing by the main street. At the moment, there is no information available about Ashraf’s injuries or current state of health.

The street and a nearby market were closed after the arrest for “security reasons”. However according to local villagers, this occurs between two and three times a week with no explanations provided.

The village of Huwwara is just two kilometers away from the illegal settlement of Yizhar, which occupies a hilltop overlooking Palestinian land. Although the rest of the hill is located in Area B, the settlers from Yizhar have cut many olive trees from the nearby land.

Villagers from Huwarra reported that two weeks ago, two young men were seriously injured after a vicious attack from several settlers from Yizhar. One of the two men, Foad, had both of his legs broken and was transferred to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem. Israeli forces witnessed this attack and made no attempt at intervention. Reports from the hospital have described Foad’s injuries as so severe that he may never be able to walk on his own again. The second man, Ahmed, received a large head wound and a painful cut on his ear.

The illegal settlement of Yizhar regularly harasses the people of Huwwara, and the nearby village of Burin, with settlers often throwing stones and wastewater as a form of intimidation and aggression.

Arrests and stolen land in Osarin village

10th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Osarin, Occupied Palestine

In the last month, the Israeli army has arrested 10 boys under the age of 16 from Osarin village. As of today, they all remain in the prison.

This is the latest in a long line of tactics employed by the Israeli military to intimidate the people of Osarin the surrounding villages. According to a member of the village’s local council, the Israeli army approached the village around six months ago demanding that Osarin and three other neighboring villages sell three dunams (3,000 square meters) of land to the Israeli government. The threat was that if they did not comply the army would simply take the land. Despite this pressure, the people of the village collectively chose to refuse and have had to live with the consequences of this choice ever since.

The land the army asked for originally was intended to build three watchtowers, one of which would be just outside Osarin. The other two would be near the villages of Yatma and Qabalan, who also had demands from the Israeli army to sell their land. In total the army was trying to obtain 320 dunams of important farmland, containing olive trees, other crops and grazing areas from the three villages.

The village’s decision to refuse was met with a new plan by the army to build a wall on either side of the main road (route 505), running adjacent to the village, all the way to Za’tara checkpoint. This would be roughly 10km in length and would unsurprisingly require the confiscation of land on either side of the road, which belongs to the village of Osarin. The reasoning for this intrusion into Palestinian land was allegations that boys from the village had been throwing stones onto the main road, where settlers from the illegal settlements pass by in their cars and sometimes on foot. In fact, the Israeli army used these allegations to call a meeting with four villages, one of which was Osarin, the others being Beita, Beit Furik and Madama. In this meeting the army told the representatives from the villages that unless the alleged stone throwing ceased they would make all four of the villages into closed military zones. In other words, force out the inhabitants of all four villages and make it impossible for them to return.

While the Israeli army demands that children stop throwing stones, they are also at the same time increasing attacks on the civilian population of Osarin. During these periods physical force has been used, including punching individuals with no just cause and firing live ammunition into the air to intimidate the local population. Also during these incursions, the roads are closed around the village even when ambulances need to either enter or leave the village, endangering lives in the process.

The village has attempted to go through the court system to block the Israeli authorities’ plans for the area, but have lost each court battle numerous times. This is despite the fact that the village is located in Area B (Palestine Authority and Israeli control) and therefore any seizure of land, including for the purposes of military building construction, is illegal. The area has long been an area of high activity for the Israeli military, where in November 2013 witnesses report that military training took place involved up to 1,000 Israeli soldiers. During the weeklong action villagers were told to stay in at night, creating a curfew, and at times local groups of boys were used to provide training with how to deal with stone throwing.

When a local representative was asked if he felt matters had gotten worse in terms of Israeli military interference and intimidation, his answer was an unequivocal yes. The construction of the wall along either side of Route 505 has yet to begin but will most probably commence in the near future. In the meantime, arrests of children and physical violence towards the villagers continue.

Photograph of Route 505 where the wall will be built (photo by ISM).
Photograph of Route 505 where the wall will be built (photo by ISM).

Settler shoots Palestinian as he tries to repair his car

9th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Urif, Occupied Palestine

On Sunday 30th March on the road to Madama (near Nablus), 25-year-old Nidal, from the village of Urif, was fixing his car when a settler with a handgun shot him in the leg. 12 years ago, in the same area, Nidal and two friends were kidnapped and held for 17 hours by settlers from a nearby illegal settlement.

At approximately 9:00 pm, Nidal and a friend attempted to drive from their village of Urif to the city of Nablus. Before reaching the Huwarra checkpoint, they discovered that one of the tires on the car had a puncture. While they were fixing the tire, another car arrived on the other side of the road and stopped across from them. Nidal assumed it was a Palestinian stopping to offer his help, as he walked over to the car he realized that it was a settler, carrying a handgun. The settler shot Nidal in the calf and fled the area.



Nidal was losing a lot of blood, so his friend drove to the hospital without fixing the puncture, damaging the car. They arrived at Rafidia hosptial approximately15 minutes after the event. Nidal stayed in hospital for two days and will need to rest for at least three weeks to heal correctly.

This not the first time Nidal has suffered from settler violence. Twelve years ago, Nidal was 13-year-old and was playing outside Urif School with two friends. A group of settlers from what would become the illegal settlement of Yezhar arrived at the school and kidnapped the three children. The families and the Palestinian Authority worked hard to have the children released; while they were illegally detained settlers beat the children.

They were held in the settlement for 17 hours, denied food, water, and access to the bathroom. Eventually the President of the Palestinian Authority made a call for their release, and after 17 hours the Israeli army entered the settlement and finally released the children back to their families.

Photo by ISM
Photo by ISM

Young family threatened by house demolition

8th April 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Idhna, Occupied Palestine

Photo by ISM
Photo by ISM

After just three weeks in their new home, the Slemiah family from the village of Idhna have received a demolition order from the Israeli army. The newly built house is on land which has been owned by the family for centuries, and the family has now been forced to pay large sums of money to organise many legal documents for the upcoming court hearing.

Wesam Slemiah (28), Ansar (22) and the children Line (2) and Laith (4) live in the outskirts of the city of Idhna, west of Hebron in the West Bank. Wesam borrowed money from his cousin to be able to build the house, and the land he was buliding on has been owned by his family for many years. Shortly after moving in, they received a demolition order from the Israeli army saying that the land did not belong to them. This is something that also has happened to many of their neighbors in the past six years.

In order to prove ownership of the land, the family has had to pay large sums of money to different authorities. Altogether, the costs exceed one month of income for the family. They now have all the papers necessary to prove their ownership, and on 24th April their documents will be taken to a court for further decisions.

During the last six years, two houses in the area have been demolished. The families usually have to pay the charges for the bulldozer to destroy their homes. If they do not have the money, Israeli forces confiscate their ID’s to force them to pay. This has happened to a neighboring family to the Slemiah family, their house has been demolished twice. Partly with money from the UN, that family managed to rebuild their house, a project which ISM took part of, and today their third house is still standing.

As well as demolitions orders that are extremely costly when the case goes to court, many structures used to house sheep and other animals have also been demolished by the Israeli military.  Residents in the area also speak of night raids from the Israeli army, and reoccurring harassments that are making everyday life extremely difficuly. The house raids have been occuring in the village since the start of the First Intifada [1987].

Wesam has been forced to stay home from his job since the demolition order arrived. The Slemiah family is worried about what will happen to their new home, and are frightened that the Israeli army could arrive at any moment.  When an ISM activist asked Wesam and Ansar what they think of their future, they answered: “There’s an occupation here, what can we do?”.