International Solidarity Movement - Page 6 - Nonviolence. Justice. Freedom.

A Child Witnessed His Father’s Murder

West Bank—Tulkarm By Diana Khwaelid

When will Israel stop spilling Palestinian blood in the West Bank?

On November 13, Wednesday evening, an Israeli special force called Al-Yamam, accompanied by Israeli occupation soldiers, assassinated and killed two Palestinian youths during the siege of a house in the Ezbet Jarad area of Tulkarm.

The martyrs Mammon an Thaer as seen in local news report

At about 6:15 pm this same Wednesday, an Israeli Special Force, accompanied by Israeli occupation soldiers, with more than twenty Israeli military vehicles and a bulldozer, stormed the Ezbet Jarad area in Tulkarm with intense air overflights.

According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces surrounded a house in Ezbet Jarad and demanded those inside surrender. Palestinian medical sources reported that “a Palestinian was injured by Israeli bullets in the shoulder, while the two-year-old child of the martyr Thaer was injured by shrapnel in the head. The child is in good condition, and they were immediately transported to Thabit Thabit Hospital in the city via ambulances.”

Thaer Amara, who spent nearly 17 years in Israeli prisons, was a husband and father of two. Arriving at the wrong time, he was surprised by the presence of Israeli forces. The 38-year-old was shot and killed, and his two-year-old son Baraa was injured by shrapnel in the head.

The mother of the martyr Thaer, Khitam Amara (Um Rashad), 64, said her son had been a rebel since he was 17 during the Second Intifada. Known as a political activist, he opposed the occupation, and Israeli forces had previously attempted to kill him. She added that her son had recently been threatened by an Israeli officer and had only been free from Israeli prisons for three years.

She described her son as kind and generous, deeply loving his family, including his children Baraa and his youngest daughter Rahiq, one and a half years old. She added that the Israeli forces shot him in the head, making him a martyr.

Another young man, Mamon Shrem, emerged from the besieged house and was immediately killed. Mamon, unaware of the Israeli forces’ presence, went out when he heard shooting and was shot, joining his friend Thaer in martyrdom.

Mamon Shrem, 37, who had also spent years in Israeli prisons, had been free for only seven months before being killed. His mother said her son had been chased by Israeli forces and was living in his house, meters away from his family’s home in Ezbet Jarad, where he was shot in the head. She added that they found remnants of his brain on the ground, which the family buried.

In the funeral home of the martyr Mammon

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the number of Palestinian martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 has reached 783, including 167 children. In Tulkarm alone, 180 people have been killed so far.

“The occupation not only killed the two young men but also kept their bodies even after their deaths, putting them in black plastic bags,” eyewitnesses reported.

What does it mean that the Israeli occupation kills two young men and detains their bodies, preventing the families from taking a last look and giving them a proper burial?

Who will hold Israel accountable for its bloody crimes against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza?

Where the piece of Mammon’s body was buried

Home in Kardala Demolished by Israeli Forces

November 13, 2024 | Kardala, N Jordan Valley

Today in the village of Kardala, in the North Jordan Valley, Israeli forces demolished a residential home. The short video below shows the demolition:

A resident of Kardala village remarked about the context of the demolition:

“Only a small number of people reside in this area, and suffer displacement and oppression for many years, from the demolition and destruction of property to the demolition of homes, with the aim of forcibly displacing the residents.”

On OCHA’s website dedicated to data on demolition and displacement in the West Bank, rolling figures which “reflect the demolition of Palestinian-owned structures and the resulting displacement of people from their homes across the West Bank since 2009” are updated every 48 hours. The numbers continue to grow as the project of colonial expansion increasingly saturates the occupied West Bank.

The equipment used in the demolition was manufactured by the South Korean international corporation Hyundai. The American Friends Service Committee has previously highlighted Hyundai’s involvement in West Bank home demolitions, and further profiled their involvement in colonial construction on Investigate.Info:

“The company’s track excavators and other machinery have been used in various construction projects in illegal Israeli settlements and industrial zones in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. For example, in 2017, Hyundai machinery was used to pave a settler-only road in the occupied West Bank, as reported by Who Profits. The construction of the road involved uprooting some 700 olive trees belonging to Palestinians in the area.”

When the Shoal Collective carefully compiled information on every demolition of a home or structure carried out by Israeli forces throughout 2022, Hyundai was found to be the bulldozer-and-crane supplier company involved in the largest number of demolitions, and furthermore it was one of top three companies for the number of children affected by demolitions using its equipment.

Thus, among private corporations, Hyundai makes an significant contribution to perpetuating Israel’s ongoing illegal settlement expansion and colonial destruction of Palestinian homes and buildings.

Gallery: Additional photos taken around the time and place of the demolition.

There is no more life in Tulkarm camps

Israeli armored vehicles during the Israeli incursion

West Bank – Tulkarm
By Diana Khwaelid

When you enter the camps of Tulkarm, you realize that thousands of Palestinians have been killed.

Sections of Tulkarm’s refugee camps have been decimated once more, with several martyrs in the latest attack on November 5. Dozens of Israeli military incursions have completely disfigured the camps.
In recent weeks attacks against Tulkarm’s refugee camps have increased. On November 5, dozens of Israeli military armored vehicles stormed the city of Tulkarm and the incursions were concentrated in both refugee camps.

Israel’s objective is the complete elimination of the West Bank’s refugee camps, especially in the north, along with martyring those who defend the people in the camps. This is as long as the refugee issue will be part of the Palestinian struggle for liberation.
The infrastructure of both Tulkarm and Nur Shams Camps, already destroyed by previous incursions, has been further destroyed with dozens of houses and shops completely burned down.
The main power transformers of the camps were destroyed and the sewage pipes were damaged, making for a more dangerous environment in the camp, especially for the sick, the elderly, and children.
Dozens of Palestinian families in both camps have been expelled due to the loss of their homes or extreme fear for their families’ and children’s lives.
Mahmoud Radwan, a 79-year-old from Tulkarem camp who witnessed the destruction of his house, said: “I’m not leaving the camp. I grew up here and I’ll stay here no matter what. How could I give up on my home?”

Mazen Huaiti, a 22-year-old from Tulkarem camp who lives in the Abu al-full neighborhood, which was destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, said: “No matter how long the occupation continues its policy of destroying houses and streets, we will build it again.

“We are steadfast in the camp and faithful. The main goal of the occupation with the destruction of the camps is to eliminate the Palestinian fighters who defend the camps and who confront the occupation during the incursions… The occupation has taken away our strength… but we believe in God and we will take our strength from God.”
The latest Israeli incursion lasted for 13 continuous hours, causing the residents of the camps to wait it out in a state of terror.

A shop was burned down by an Israeli armored vehicle in the Tulkarm camp

A Palestinian woman cleans the remnants of destruction in Tulkarm camp

A Palestinian family witnesses the destruction caused by the occupation

One of the houses how’s have been destroyed in the AL-Manshiyya neighborhood – Nur shams

A child plays with the Soil of the destroyed street in Tulkarem camp

Two Months Later: Solemn Visit to Ayşenur’s Grave

1 November 2024 Didim, Turkey by Sam

The walk to the graveyard where Ayşenur is buried made me feel as though I was back in rural Palestine: the olive groves on either side of the dirt road, the farmers harvesting olives using the same methods I’d seen them use in the West Bank as well as simply the serene beauty of the landscape.

It felt strange visiting her grave when exactly two months ago today I met her for the first time in Ramallah four days before she was brutally murdered by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), and I almost feel a sense of guilt for being able to visit her hometown in Didim, Turkey while she is unable to. Why was it her who was shot and not me?

In the wake of her death, numerous well-meaning people have said to me “any one of you could have been killed like Ayşenur was” but I think this misses the point: many Palestinians ARE shot like Ayşenur was, many more are bombed and burnt to death and unfortunately, as Ayşenur herself would say, their deaths receive a fraction of a fraction of the attention her death received.

The grave itself was incredibly peaceful. I was the only one in the graveyard apart from the birds above me, whose chirping added to the serenity of the scene. The peacefulness brought me comfort as it stood in stark contrast to the chaos of the days following her death. Those who attended the protest with her were speaking to journalists non stop for days while the rest of us were doing our best to support them as much as we could and her funeral in Palestine was plagued by diplomatic issues between the Turkish and American governments over where she would be buried. We never got a chance to mourn her in the midst of all this.

Of course, Ayşenur is but one out of hundreds of thousands who have been killed by the IOF in the last year alone. Now, two months after her murder, settler attacks and deportations of foreign activists have ramped up in the West Bank, the north of Gaza has been under siege and has been subjected to massacre after massacre, many parts of Lebanon have been bombed (along with Syria, Iraq and Yemen) and the IOF shows no signs of slowing down any time soon.

It can be easy to feel hopeless and helpless in the face of such monstrosities, but if the Palestinians on the ground haven’t given up the popular struggle for an end to the occupation then we shouldn’t either. I think Ayşenur would have said the same thing.

Rest in power.

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.