Tag: International law - Page 68 - International Solidarity Movement

12 year old Palestinian killed in Bethlehem as violence explodes across the West Bank

5th October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | West Bank, occupied Palestine

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12 was still in his school uniform when he was rushed in a civilian car to Beit Jala hospital from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem today. The boy, from from a Al Kahder village, was shot in the heart during confrontations at Aida camp as violence explodes across the West Bank prompting the Red Crescent to declare a level 3 state of emergency across the occupied Palestinian territories. Another boy was shot in leg with live ammunition during the attack.

Abed al-Rahman Shadi Obeidallah, 12, just before being shot to death by Israeli forces in Bethlehem

Denouncing Israeli violations against humanitarian international law, the Palestine Red Crescent Society staff have endured 14 attacks on their emergency vehicles as Israeli forces and settler violence has sharply surged in a bloody three days. Attacks on PRCS have included medics being beaten by soldiers in Jerusalem, Israeli forces beating an ambulance crew with batons in the old city of Jerusalem and after one attack on an emergency crew in Jabal Al Taweel (Al-Bireh), two medics were injured. Israeli forces attacked an ambulance in al-Issawiya village in occupied East Jerusalem, before arresting an injured Palestinian who was being treated inside the ambulance. An ambulance windshield was also shattered by settlers in Burin village in Nablus. Burin underwent a frightening attack by settlers which left much of it in flames.

Reportedly 465 Palestinians have been injured thus far, including 28 shot with live ammunition and 68 injured with rubber coated steel bullets. Hundreds of others have been overcome by teargas that Israeli forces have been showering over villages and in cities where Palestinians have gathered to demonstrate against their murdering of several Palestinian youths since this past Saturday.

Young Palestinians martyrs recently murdered by Israeli forces.

Fadi Samir Mustafa Alloun, 19, from the East Jerusalem village of al-Issawiya, was shot to death by Israeli forces after allegedly attempting to stab a group of Israelis. 18-year-old Huthayfa Othman Suleiman was shot in the chest during clashes and died in the operating room. In a particularly heinous attack, Yousef Bayan al-Tabib, just six years old, was standing on the side of the road when a settler reportedly stopped his car, shot the child in the stomach, and fled the scene.

Across the occupied Palestinian territories, there have been reports of settlers slaughtering Palestinian’s sheep, attacking Palestinian cars with stones on roads and carrying out violent attacks on villages. As for Israeli forces, soldiers disguised as Palestinians assisting an injured Palestinian into a hospital in Ramallah, disabled security cameras and proceeded to arrest a Palestinian undergoing medical treatment. This is similar to other hospital raids in recent days where a variation of this tactic was repeated.

As for the Israeli government, Netanyahu today made an inflammatory statement to wage a “harsh offensive” against Palestinians; Zionist opportunism at its most typical. Collective punishment is the usual expectation when it comes to the illegally occupying force dealing with the civilian population whose land they are occupying. Israel launched three air strikes in the besieged Gaza strip targeting alleged Hamas ‘terror’ sites after two rockets were fired from Gaza, hitting nothing and injuring no one.

News reports of shootings, injuries, murders, arrests and raids continue to flood in as the situation unfolds at a lightning quick pace. For Palestinians enduring the brunt of Israeli incited race hatred and promoted retribution for the shooting of two Israeli settlers last week, the cavalierly imposed restrictions on al Aqsa Mosque, which have sparked outrage and violent confrontations- and the ensuing chaos, are yet another violent incursion into their lives.

Settlers continuously trespass on private Palestinian land with police protection

3rd October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Last night, a group of about two dozen Israeli settlers trespassed on private Palestinian land in al-Khalil (Hebron), protected by the Israeli police.

Firday evenening, a group of about two dozen settlers from the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba again came to private Palestinian land situated right opposite the entrance to the illegal settlement to pray.

Settlers trespass with protective police presence on Palestinian property/closed military zone

In the past, settlers have built a synagogue on this land that was demolished in April this year, after an Israeli court ruled that they had no right to build on this land owned by a Palestinian family. Since the demolition, settlers have repeatedly attacked the Palestinian families living in this neighbourhood.

Now, the piece of land has been declared a closed military zone, denying the family access to their own land, even though an Israeli court ruled that the land belongs to them. As the land is a closed military zone, settlers are forbidden from entering, yet Israeli police forces were present and protective of Israeli settlers trespassing on the land.

International human rights observers documenting the illegal use of this land were accosted and threatened by the group of settlers as they left the area.

Settlers accost and threaten ISM observers as they leave the area where they were trespassing

Israeli forces escalate restrictions and violence against Palestinians during Sukkot-holiday

2nd October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, the 28^th – 30^th September 2015 is the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. In the occupied West Bank city of al-Khalil (Hebron), while Israeli settlers from the many illegal settlements within al-Khalil celebrate their holiday, Israeli forces have escalated restrictions and violence against the Palestinian residents, further infringing on their most basic rights.

In preparation for the celebrations of Sukkot, already heavily restricted Palestinian freedom of movement has been almost entirely grinded to a halt by Israeli forces. Especially in the area around the Ibrahimi mosque, food-stalls and entertainment has sprung up for settlers not only from al-Khalil but also visiting from other West Bank illegal settlements. In order to completely barr Palestinians from this main venue of celebration for the settlers and Israeli forces, the mosque checkpoint leading to this area from the Palestinian market has been closed down for two days. Shopkeepers were handed notices by the Israeli army forcing them to again close their shops for the Jewish holiday, imposing more days of forced closures and lost income.

Palestinian schoolchildren forced to squeeze past armored Israeli jeep on their way to school

Families that for generations have lived in this neighbourhood directly next to the Ibrahimi mosque are also barred access. Even if not physically prevented from leaving their houses by closed checkpoints or soldiers randomly denying them entry into the area, large crowds of settlers and soldiers right outside their doorsteps pose an immediate threat for leaving the house. With settlers, at times ‘wearing’ machine guns or hand-guns just like an accessoire, known for their attacks on Palestinians, that seem to escalate especially during the Jewish holidays, Palestinian families are locked up in their houses as if under house arrest, caged inside their homes while right outside their doorsteps settlers and soldiers merrily celebrate their holiday together without even having to think about the local families hoping for the holiday to pass as uneventful as possible.

But in most of the cases, that was not the case, with huge groups of settlers flooding into al-Khalil, Israeli forces did everything possible to facilitate their movement. New checkpoints and road-blocks popped up randomly, leaving Palestinians with their cars parked on the wrong side of them without any possibility to access their cars, soldiers took over several Palestinian houses, using their roofs or even the whole house as a military base to ‘keep an eye’ on Palestinians’ every movement in the maze of obstacles, dead-ends and military checkpoints – almost impossible to navigate in every-day life in a militarily occupied city – further exacerbated by this holiday.

Israeli forces further restricting Palestinian freedom of movement with additional roadblocks

Even in the H1-area of al-Khalil, that is supposedly under full Palestinian control, Israeli forces evicted Palestinian civilians going about their everyday lives attacking them with stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets, to facilitate access exclusively for Israeli settlers. Sudden attacks like these didn’t allow even for a few minutes for shopkeepers and vendors to protect their produce from violent assaults by Israeli forces or for families and mothers to hurriedly whisk their small children to safety out of the range of indiscriminate fire. In the area around Bab al-Zawwiyya and Shuhada checkpoint, where Palestinian student Hadeel al-Hashlamoun was ruthlessly gunned down and killed by Israeli soldiers just last week, endless rounds of stun-grenades and rubber coated steel bullets fired at protectors have echoed throughout the days. Israeli forces’ fire has also been directly targeting Palestinian families, with tear gas and stun grenades continuously exploding on the roofs of their homes, leaving them scared and hurriedly closing windows to minimise tear gas slowly seeping into their homes.

Israeli soldier shooting rubber-coated steel bullet from a Palesitnian house

In this escalation of violence, harassment, attacks and restrictions, it doesn’t matter if you’re a small child, a grown up adult or an old person. The stepped up ‘security’ is only imposing further hassles and obstacles on Palestinians’ already severely restricted everyday life. Israeli settlers on the other hand, under the watch of the Israeli forces are free to attack Palestinian families and shops or keep them locked up in their home by blocking their front door. And age doesn’t matter in these cases either, while some of the settlers use their children to block international observers’ cameras, other parents encourage them to join the attacks and insults on Palestinian families. Soldiers idly standing by watching these incidents happen, just a few minutes afterwards, receive pizza delivered by the same settlers or giving them a hug on their way home after their shift is finished.

For Palestinians, every day life is children coming home from school crying, coughing and choking from tear gas shot at them by Israeli forces at one of the many checkpoints they have to cross, passing heavily armed military. Every day life is mothers and fathers anxiously waiting for the return of their children from school if they’re late, hoping and praying they were not randomly snatched by Israeli forces and arrested for ‘dirty hands’ that would indicate they were throwing stones – just because children would never play and get dirty hands. Every day life is families having to endure Israeli settlers attacking a son, brother or father with Israeli forces standing by not intervening and later on arresting the person attacked.

Every day life is a struggle against the illegal Israeli military occupation of every aspect of Palestinian life, a daily struggle against the denial of most basic human rights.

When celebrating a holiday makes this struggle through every day life even more miserable and seemingly impossible, where is humanity?

Three young Palestinians arrested on violent settler’s allegations

1st October 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Today, October 1^st 2015, a 14-year old boy was arrested by Israeli forces in occupied al-Khalil (Hebron) after being accused of stone-throwing by a settler notorious for harassing Palestinians.

Mohammed Imad Abu Shamsiyye was taken by Israeli soldiers from right outside his home just after coming home from school. Even though he was taken from outside his family home and he is a minor, Israeli forces did not inform the parents. His father was only informed about the arrest of his son by neighbours. Mohammed was physically assaulted by one soldier while being detained at a checkpoint close to his house.

They then walked him to Shuhada checkpoint, were he was forced to sit with another teen that was arrested by Israeli forces after attempting to cross the checkpoint. Mohammed’s accuser, the extremist settler, Ofer, is infamous for his aggressive behaviour towards Palestinians and international observers. He immediately drove up to the checkpoint taking videos, ridiculing and insulting internationals and Palestinians.

Mohammed (right) and another Palestinian boy detained at Shuhada checkpoint

At the same time another 17-year old boy was forced to first sit outside in the baking sun and then in an army jeep for about twenty minutes before being taken to a police station. The young man, as well as Mohammed’s arrest were based on the allegations of this one settler, that was not even in the same location as any of the two boys for the time he accuses.

17-year old boy taken to the police station by Israeli forces

When Israeli forces walked Mohammed to the military base in segregated Shuhada Street, the two settlers went along ridiculing and berating the boy all the way up to the military base. The settlers, as well as soldiers at the base kept harassing and insulting internationals present outside the military base, until Mohammed was taken to the police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba about half an hour later. He was finally released from the police station after one and a half hours – in total an ordeal of over two hours of arrest for a minor child.

Settlers from the various illegal settlements in al-Khalil often posses an enormous amount of power over the Israeli army that will act upon their every whim and allegation. Palestinians on the other hand, when complaining about attacks by settlers are most often ignored or even arrested.

Hadil Salah Hashlamoun honoured by thousands in Al-Khalil

23rd September 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Today, 23rd September 2015, thousands of mourners gathered for the funeral of murdered teenager Hadil Salah Hashlamoun. The teenager was brutally gunned down in cold blood by an Israeli soldier at a military check point.

Tensions were high as Hadil’s body was taken from Al Hussein Mosque, through the streets of al-Khalil. Thousands paid their respects to the fallen martyr, and joined her final journey as she was taken to her final resting place.

The promising student who had been passing peacefully through a checkpoint early on Tuesday morning is believed to have been shot several times. Eye witnesses state that an Israeli soldier approached her and began shouting at her in Hebrew, which she was unable to understand, it is at this point that she was shot dead.

The teenagers funeral passed off peacefully, as per the wishes of her devastated family. After the funeral, a demonstration was organised later in the day at Bab iz-Zawwiya and attacked by occupying Israeli military firing hundreds of stun-grenades, tear gas and rubber coated steel bullets into the crowd. Several injuries were reported.