29th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
On Friday afternoon, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian demonstrators during a protest by the Nahal Oz checkpoint east of Gaza City.
The demonstration followed a march from Palestine Square (al-Saha) organized by the Intifada Youth Coalition to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of the second Intifada and protest Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied east Jerusalem.
A boy wears his shirt as a mask to protect against tear gas. (Photo by Joe Catron)
Israeli troops fired after protesters entered, the “buffer zone,” an area imposed by Israel in 2005 that stretches for hundreds of meters from its separation barrier into the Gaza Strip.
Boys watch as Palestinian Red Crescent Society medics help a demonstrator suffering from tear gas inhalation into an ambulance. (Photo by Joe Catron)A field burns after a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces ignites it. (Photo by Joe Catron)Two demonstrators help a third suffering from tear gas inhalation retreat. (Photo by Joe Catron)Two demonstrators stand in a field ignited by tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces. (Photo by Joe Catron)A demonstrator walks toward the separation barrier. (Photo by Joe Catron)Demonstrators walk away from the separation barrier after the protest. (Photo by Joe Catron)
27th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Sarta, Occupied Palestine
Settlers burnt around 35 olive trees in the Palestinian village of Sarta late on Thursday night, following the area being declared a closed military zone in preparation for the construction of a new settler road.
Illegal settlers and Israeli army invading Sarta (photo by Nima Musleh)
Around 60 settlers from the illegal Bruchin settlement and surrounding area, many armed with guns, set fire to the trees late on Thursday 26th September. At around midnight, the settlers arrived in Sarta. The town mayor asked the Palestinian Authority to liaise with the Israeli army in order to intervene, but when Israeli forces arrived on the scene they informed villagers that the area had been declared closed and told them to leave.
Two days earlier, town residents witnessed four bulldozers arrive in the village to prepare the ground for the construction of the road, which will connect the settlement with road five and is part of an expansion plan for the settlement which will take it from 40 houses to around 550.
The proposed road and settlement expansion is a source of concern to local Palestinians, who stand to lose much of their land under new plans, including local features such as a 500-year-old cemetery.
24th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday, Monday 23rd September, a mob of Israeli settlers invaded the roof of a Palestinian family in Hebron, attacked several Palestinians and international activists and beat a 15-year-old unconscious, leading to hospitalisation.
At approximately 5pm a group of Israeli settlers and Jewish tourists entered the roof of the Abu Shamsiyeh family without permission after they had already tried to force their way into another family’s house in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. After international activists confronted the invading group and insisted that nearby soldiers remove the trespassers, they eventually left the roof but continued to verbally harass Palestinians and internationals present.
The verbal harassment quickly turned into a vicious assault with several settlers pushing, hitting and kicking Palestinians. Three teenage settlers brutally assaulted Abu Shamsiyeh’s 15-year-old son leaving him unconscious and requiring hospital treatment. He has since been released and is recovering in the care of his family.
In past years, several Palestinians in Tel Rumeida have been severely attacked, beaten and injured by settlers, have lost pregnancies due to attacks, have had their houses broken into and furniture and electrical appliances smashed, trees in their gardens cut down and plants uprooted and poisoned. On a day to day basis, Palestinians have to deal with minor incidents such as spitting, stone-throwing and insults by the settler community. Especially on Shabbat and during Jewish holidays, settler attacks against the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida take place.
This incident is particularly concerning in the light of Netanyahu’s recent announcement that settlers would be allowed to move into Abu Rajab house by checkpoint 209 as well as the pending court case decision on the Rajabeh house, which would connect Kiryat Arba with the Tomb of the Patriarchs. It is clear that settlement expansion in Hebron will have disastrous consequences and will come with a great humanitarian cost for the surrounding Palestinian communities.
23rd September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Sunday 22nd September, heavy clashes took place across Hebron, leading to the injury and arrest of numerous Palestinians as well as the death of an Israeli soldier. Hebron is currently declared a military zone with a curfew imposed and all entrances to the city sealed off. Throughout Sunday evening and night, the Israeli army has been raiding houses, searching all males and arresting hundreds in several neighbourhoods near the scene of the attack.
On Sunday, as part of celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the street outside checkpoint 56 leading to Yatta was closed by Israeli military and border police. Last Friday the army announced by military order that all shops on the street would have be closed and cars would have to be moved between 11am and 3pm, to ensure safe passage for settlers and Jewish visitors for a pilgrimage to what the settlers consider the cave of Otniel ben Knaz, located on said road.
The clashes in Bab Al-Zawiyeh began around 11.30 am when Palestinian youths began to throw stones at the invading Israeli army and border police. The occupation forces shot tear gas canisters, stun grenades and plastic-coated steel bullets at the protesters. Within the first few hours, internationals witnessed border police violently grab two young men from the crowds and drag them into checkpoint 56; it is unknown if they were detained or arrested. Internationals also witnessed several injuries in these clashes, including a Palestinian youth shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the back of his head. When his friends proceeded to carry him towards medical treatment, Israeli border police responded by firing more plastic-coated steel bullets at the wounded youth and his friends as they were crossing the street. The clashes in Bab Al-Zawiyeh continued well into the evening and became progressively more violent and volatile. Live ammunition was used against resisting protesters and there are reports of several Palestinian men being treated for gunshot wounds.
Meanwhile, clashes also took place outside checkpoints 209 and 29 in the Quatoum and Salaymeh neighbourhoods. As part of the preparations for the Sukkot celebrations and in order to accommodate the large flux of Jewish tourists, the Israeli military had moved the roadblocks outside these two checkpoints approximately 200 metres further down the road and re-directed Israeli tour buses down this route. This move effectively enlarged area H2 under Israeli military control and disrupted life for Palestinians, as well as constituting provocation and humiliation. During the riots, stone-throwing youths and children were confronted with large amounts of teargas, sound grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and several rounds of live ammunition shot by the Israeli military, who also invaded several roofs of Palestinian houses to fire from there. During the clashes, one man was beaten by border police, and two youths were arrested and released after about an hour.
At around 6pm, international activists saw soldiers who had been shooting at the protestors suddenly run back up the road towards checkpoint 209 (Abu Rish/Quatoum). When they followed them, they saw a soldier lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding from his neck. After attempts to resuscitate him failed, the soldier, identified later as Gabriel Kobi, was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital in a helicopter, where he died of his wounds sustained. The Israeli army claims he was hit by a bullet shot by a suspected Palestinian sniper, however none of the international activists present at the scene heard any gunshots.
Following the soldier’s injury and later death, hundreds of soldiers invaded the neighbourhoods surrounding checkpoints 29 and 209, conducting searches throughout the evening and into the night, apparently in an attempt to find the sniper they claim killed the soldier, and in retaliation for his death. International activists witnessed the army combing through house after house, forcing out all males above the age of 16, and frisking them one by one. They also saw a group of about 50 detained men with their hands behind their heads being marched down towards checkpoint 29. International activists also accompanied an ambulance which took a woman in labour to the hospital after it had initially been blocked by the army. Meanwhile, clashes continued in the area, and the army heavily used rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition against stone-throwing youth.
Hebron has been completely sealed off, with all entrances to the city being controlled by the army, and a curfew imposed within Hebron. Tomorrow, 50,000 Jewish settler visitors were expected to descend upon Hebron for Sukkot celebrations and a music festival, according to the settler community’s spokesperson; however the events of today will most likely lower this number. In any case, it is clear that Monday 23rd September will be yet another intense day for Palestinians, as they face high levels of army violence and settler attacks in retaliation for the soldier’s death.
Israeli soldiers and border police before the clashes began
21st September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Sukkot is a joyful festival in Judaism; however its impact upon day-to-day life in Khalil has only caused greater problems for the Palestinians. Many residents of Khalil have commented that it is during this holiday period every year where daily life in the city becomes all the more difficult.
Last week soldiers began preparations for taking over a house next to the container checkpoint 209 (Quatoum/Abu Rish), which belongs to a Palestinian family. The family received a military order informing them that this house would be occupied by the Israeli army until Tuesday 24th September, the end of Sukkot. Due to the large number of Jewish tourists visiting Hebron during Sukkot, reinforcement brigades have been sent to Hebron, and due to lack of accommodation for these additional soldiers, the army decided to take over this Palestinian house and use it as a military base for the duration of the holiday. Residents of this area have stated that since the soldiers began occupying the house, child detainments and arrests have increased, and there are further concerns that checkpoint 209 may be moved in an attempt to increase control in the surrounding area.
Today, Saturday 21st September, several clashes and attacks took place between settler youth and Palestinian children and teenagers in Tel Rumeida. Additionally, as on every Shabbat, settlers invaded the roof of the Abu Shamsiyeh family and verbally attacked international activists who, at the request of the family, were monitoring the entrance to the roof as it is often entered without family permission. In the past, settlers have attacked the family by throwing stones, spitting at, beating members of the family and urinating into their garden.
On Friday 20th September, clashes erupted in the afternoon as Palestinian youths threw stones at checkpoint 56. After the PA (responsible for this area of Hebron which is part of H1) chased away the stone-throwers, the clashes moved into the OldCity and souq of Hebron, which is part of H2 and thus under Israeli military control. Throughout Friday evening and most of Saturday, Palestinian youths were throwing stones and Molotov cocktails, whilst Israeli soldiers responded with sound grenades, teargas and rubber-coated steel bullets. International activists witnessed border police shooting teargas canisters directly at protesters, as opposed to shooting it in an arch as they are supposed to under Israeli army regulations. Further clashes are expected tomorrow as settlers and Jewish tourists invade area H1.
On Sunday 22nd and Monday 23rd September, tens of thousands of Jewish tourists are expected to descend upon Hebron for Sukkot celebrations. On important Jewish holidays, there is a tradition of the settler community, alongside Jewish tourists, visiting a house in H1 (the Palestinian-controlled part of Hebron) which they claim used to be the home of a rabbi and thus holds religious significance. The Israeli military has ordered the closure of the road outside checkpoint 56 leading to Yatta between 10am and 3pm on Sunday 22nd September. The house that the settlers and Jewish tourists pilgrim to is located on said road, however it is the first time ever that the Israeli military has formally ordered the closure of the road and the shops located there. This order is a clear violation of the Hebron Agreement, signed in 1997 by the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, which divided the city into areas H1 and H2 under Palestinian and Israeli military control respectively.
Soldiers preparing to take-over house by checkpoint 209 (Photo by ISM)
