21st January 2015 | Operation Dove | South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine
On January 20th, Israeli forces detained a Palestinian child near the village of Maghayir Al Abeed and demolished four structures in the Palestinian village of Ar-Rifa’iyya in the South Hebron Hills area.
Photo by Operation Dove.
At about 9.00 a.m. Israeli bulldozers started to tear down two houses and two animal shelters, belonging to the Palestinian Rabai family in Ar-Rifa’iyya. The demolitions affected a total of twenty-five people, included ten children.
Photo by Operation Dove.
The Municipality erected two tents to create temporary shelter for those effected, at least during the night. Only twenty days ago, on December 31, in the village of Ad-Deirat, close to Ar-Rifa’iyya, two settlers broke a window and threw a molotov cocktail inside a Palestinian-owned house, trying to burn it,
Ar-Rifa’iyya and Ad-Deirat villages are located in Area C, under full Israeli military and administrative control.
During the Ar-Rifa’iyya demolitions, Israeli army and police jeeps reached the area of Old Havat Ma’on Hill near the Palestinian village of Maghayir Al Abeed, where some young Palestinian shepherds were grazing their flocks. An Israeli soldier run to a Palestinian child, aged 14. The soldier chased away his flock, placed him inside the military jeep with one goat and detained him. After one hour, the Israeli army released him in a dangerous area between the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on and the illegal settlement of Ma’on. In this place several times, Palestinians, including children, were attacked by Zionist settlers.
Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies stated that during 2014, Israeli soldiers arrested 1200 Palestinian children, a 60% increase from 2013, when 750 children were arrested.
Despite demolitions and arrests, Palestinians from South Hebron Hills are strongly committed to nonviolent and popular resistance against the Israeli occupation.
Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.
[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]
2nd October 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
“The child are having problems concentrating on their school work due to their emotional state and the stress due to the daily attacks by the occupation forces, which are continuously escalating.” Stated Hebron teacher, Shukri Zaroo, to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
Children in al-Khalil (Hebron) are forced to pass through a military checkpoint each morning and afternoon in order to reach and leave their schools. International activists try to monitor these military checkpoints, both to document the events and to stand with the children.
ISM activists monitor the Salaymeh checkpoint (29) each school day morning and afternoon. Since school began on August 24th, this is what the ISM activists have witnessed:
August 25th: Israeli forces fired 15 tear gas grenades and canisters, as well as five stun grenades at children as they waited to go to school. Tear gas drifted into the courtyard and many children and teachers choked and spluttered in the playground. School was delayed for over an hour. At one point a Red Crescent ambulance had to be called as two teachers and two children, aged 10 and 12-years-old, required medical treatment for excessive tear gas inhalation.
August 27th: At Salaymeh checkpoint Israeli forces fired six tear gas grenades in the morning.
August 31st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, three tear gas canisters were fired at children on their way home from school. Similarly, children passing through the Qeitun checkpoint did not end their school day unharmed. A group of children threw stones towards the checkpoint from a rooftop. The soldiers fired a total of four tear gas canisters on the roof where the children were located.
September 2nd: Eight tear gas grenades were fired overall. Two young boys threw stones at the checkpoint. This was shortly followed by a short-range tear gas canister fired by one of the soldiers, which was aimed at the stone-throwing children but primarily affected those who needed to pass the cloud of tear gas in order to reach their homes.
As more tear gas canisters were fired, many of the smaller children became scared, crying and running in panic.
One tear gas canister landed in the path of three schoolchildren, no older than six-years-old, who were walking in the direction of the checkpoint, the ISM volunteers saw how one of the two girls was dragged away from the tear gas by the boy, however the other girl did not run away, seemingly too shocked and scared to move.
An ISM volunteer present said, “I ran into the cloud of gas to get the crying girl away and into safety. In a situation like that it is difficult to show a child, who is so terrified and wary of the world around her, that she can trust you. Especially as it becomes difficult to see and breath when surrounded by tear gas. Thankfully she took my hand and I led her to the other two children who she was walking with.”
September 8th: At Salaymeh checkpoint a seven-year-old child was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.
Israeli forces also threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.
September 10th: In the afternoon at Salyemeh checkpoint, Israeli border police officers fired two tear gas grenades towards schoolchildren. ISM volunteers present witnessed the assault and did not see any stones thrown beforehand towards the military. Everyone in the street suffered from the tear gas, especially two girls approximately (six-years-old), who were standing outside their house. Other children and teachers took shelter in a nearby shop.
September 14th: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.
September 15th: Israeli forces fired two tear gas grenades in the afternoon.
September 17th: Israel border police fired two tear gas canisters towards two to three stone throwing children who were aged between eight and 10-years-old. Schoolchildren and other pedestrians who happened to be walking past were caught up in the gas. Some took refuge in a local shop. Tear gas was also deployed when children were walking to school this morning. At no time were the Israeli forces under any threat.
September 18th: In the afternoon at Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired three rounds of tear gas at schoolchildren. Israeli border police then prevented a horse & cart, several trucks and a car from passing through the checkpoint for 40 minutes, refusing to lift the barrier so that Palestinians could access the main road.
September 21st: Israeli forces fired one tear gas grenade in the afternoon.
September 23rd: At Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired 29 rounds of tear gas and 5 stun grenades at children going to school.
Two ambulances were called to the scene due to the immense amounts of tear gas fired and a Palestinian teacher stated that 30 school children and 15 teachers suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.
At Qeitun checkpoint clashes had erupted and were underway between unarmed Palestinian youths and Israeli forces. An excessive amount of tear gas was used in addition to rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades.
Israeli forces threw stun grenades and brutally grabbed and arrested two young Palestinian boys between the ages of 14 and 15-years-old. One of the boys whilst in a headlock and handcuffed was punched several times in the side.
September 22nd: Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades in the morning at Salaymeh checkpoint.
September 24th: Two tear gas canisters were shot at the children, one of which was fired directly at them instead of an arc (to lower the impact velocity). This practice is extremely dangerous and can cause severe injuries or death.September 25th: One tear gas grenade was thrown and four tear gas canisters were shot, one after another, at high speeds towards the children leaving school at Salaymeh checkpoint..
September 28th: At the Salaymeh checkpoint in the morning, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.
In the afternoon, Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school. Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.
An ISM activist present stated, “Four young girls were walking past the boys throwing stones. The boys deliberately stopped throwing stones so the girls could pass safely, but the border police fired tear gas anyway.”
At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.
October 1st: At the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli border police fired excessive amounts of tear gas at schoolchildren. ISM activists present counted at least 24 grenades fired.
28th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
This afternoon Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school.
Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.
Children running from the soldiers and the tear gas.
An ISM activist present stated, “Four young girls were walking past the boys throwing stones. The boys deliberately stopped throwing stones so the girls could pass safely, but the border police fired tear gas anyway.”
At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.
In a separate incident close by, nine-year-old Razain was walking near another local school when Israeli forces threw a stun grenade close to her legs. Shrapnel from the stun grenade injured her as it exploded in close proximity, stated Razain’s grandfather to ISM volunteers.
This morning at the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.
An ISM activist present stated, “Around three young boys ran towards the checkpoint and threw stones towards the armed Israeli soldiers. They then fired a tear gas grenade towards the the children walking to school, forcing them to run through clouds of gas. This continued for around 40 minutes, with several more children throwing stones and two more tear gas grenades being fired. At one point the soldiers entered through the checkpoint towards the schools and threw one stun grenade. Many of the children were very afraid, it’s clearly no way to begin a day of education. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to concentrate and learn when your day begins with military violence.”
8th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), through the Salaymeh checkpoint, a seven-year-old was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.
At 07:40, approximately six young children started throwing small stones towards the checkpoint. A few minutes later a group of Israeli border police emerged running from a road close to the schools, and more border police ran down from the checkpoint.
Israeli forces threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.
Two border police officers grabbed 12-year-old Yousef Hajajreh by the neck and walked him to the checkpoint where he was later arrested and driven away in a police car.
Two more border police officers forcefully dragged and carried Oday Rajabi, a seven-year-old boy, who was also on his way to school, and detained him for approximately 40 minutes.
Border police officers aggressively pushed Palestinian men, including teachers from the nearby schools, whilst they were trying to protect the children.
A teacher, Abd al-Aziz Hmad Rjob, from the UN school was forced into a headlock as he was trying to intervene with the crying seven-year old. He was also dragged up the road where he was arrested.
Palestinians and internationals then gathered at the Salaymeh checkpoint where an 18-year old man, Malak Salaymeh, working at the same school was also arrested as he confronted the soldiers. Another man was also briefly detained.
Palestinian children threw several more stones, and Israeli forces fired three more tear gas canisters.
An ISM volunteer who was present stated, “The situation was terrible, I felt like it was a planned operation where the aim was clearly to terrify schoolchildren and the soldiers were out to arrest.”
Yousef, Abd, and Malak were released at noon, roughly three hours after they were arrested.
Israeli forces have previously targeted extremely young children as they wait for school in al-Khalil; ISM has documented a number of these incidents while monitoring Salaymeh checkpoint as children pass through to go to school.
5th June 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
For children in al-Khalil (Hebron), the journey to school can be filled with fear, fear of Israeli soldiers, of military weapons, detentions, and arrests. The violence is all too real in this city, and it is unfortunately not an uncommon experience for children, some as young as four-years-old.
International activists try to monitor the checkpoints the children are forced to pass through on their way to school, both to document the events and to stand with the children.
ISM activists monitor checkpoint 29 each school day morning and afternoon. Over the last month, this is what the ISM activists have witnessed:
May 7th: A group of four Israeli soldiers tried to enter in the boys school and detained two young children. However, the teachers of the school were able to convince the soldiers to release both boys. After the soldiers ended the detention, they ran up the street and threw one tear gas grenade and two stun grenades at other schoolchildren. In cases like this it is clear how important the job of the teachers is in this area, and how difficult it is to is educate under military occupation.
13th May: In the morning one 12-year-old boy was stopped and searched by Israeli forces at the checkpoint, he was forced to empty his school bag before the soldiers would release him. After school ended, a 7-year-old boy was detained for 10 minutes with the accusation that he threw stones, he was released without charges.
14th May: Israeli soldiers went through checkpoint 29 in al-Khalil (Hebron), appearing from an alleyway and threw two stun grenades at the children waiting to go to school. No stones were thrown before their weapons were used. Some of the children then threw stones towards the soldiers, who then fired one tear gas grenade. One of the Israeli soldiers repeatedly aimed his gun at both an adult in the area, and the children outside their school.
15th May: One young child threw one stone towards the checkpoint and four Israeli soldiers entered through checkpoint 29. Several children then threw approximately four stones towards the soldiers, one of the Israeli soldiers drew the Star of David (symbol of Judaism) and a crescent moon (possibly symbolizing Islam) on a car window, and then wrote, ‘I want peace’.
‘I want peace’ photo by ISM
The same soldier who wrote ‘I want peace’, then threw a stun grenade at the children as they gathered to go to school.
19th May: Nine Israeli soldiers entered through checkpoint 29, several of the children then began to throw stones towards the soldiers. The soldiers then threw three stun grenades towards the children and fired one tear gas grenade. The second tear gas grenade was fired directly into Khadeagah Elementary School. An ISMer present said: “Today the children are writing one of their final year exams, it’s a terrible way to start the day and many of the kids were really afraid of both the soldiers and their weapons. This sort of aggression in the morning is common in Hebron, the soldiers don’t seem to care that they’re terrifying and tear gassing children, some as young as four-years-old”.
21st May:Several children threw stones towards checkpoint 29 on their way to school. At approximately 07:40, 13 Israeli soldiers and border police officers entered through the checkpoint and fired four tear gas grenades and four stun grenades at the children.
When the exams finished in the late morning and the teachers and school children were on their way home, the harassment began again. The Israeli military detained seven teachers for 20 minutes. One of the teachers spoke to an ISMer present: “We are used to this kind of violence and disturbance, the harassment is continuous and often twice a day”.
Photo by ISM
25th May: At approximately 07:50, three Israeli soldiers ran towards a group of children standing in front of their school. Some of the children threw several stones towards the soldiers. The soldiers then threw one stun grenade and fired two tear gas grenades at the children. Whilst the children was throwing stones, the soldiers were standing behind a group of internationals, seemingly trying to use them as some form of ‘shield’. The incident lasted for approximately 20 minutes, which prevented the children from entering their schools, delaying the start of their end of year exams.
27th May: In the afternoon as the children were leaving school, one Palestinian youth was detained for 20 minutes and five teachers, from the local schools, were detained for 15 minutes. No explanation was given for the detentions.
1st June: Several children threw stones towards checkpoint 29. Israeli forces then fired one tear gas grenade, dangerously close to several children standing to the side of the road.
