7th March 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Nablus | Occupied Palestine
The video below shows the presence of Israeli flying checkpoints and roadblocks that impede Palestinian movement.
The trip from Ramallah to Nablus can take as long as 2 hours. Roadblocks and flying checkpoints along the road slow traffic for Palestinian travelers. The soldiers claim there was a bomb, but after some cigarettes and laughing they decide to open the road.
20th February 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine
On Thursday the 20th of February, the violent arrests of seven villagers occurred early in the morning in the village of Kafr Qaddum. Four of those arrested, including the coordinator of the weekly demonstration, were released after six hours. The three others are still under detention. One of them suffered a head injury during his arrest. 
Between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m., hundreds of Israeli soldiers surrounded then entered the village of Kafr Qaddum. The soldiers went to several houses and violently arrested seven villagers, including the coordinator of the weekly march. They handcuffed and blindfolded the villagers and physically and verbally abused them. One of those arrested, Faris Nidal, was injured in the head in the process.
The coordinator of the march has been pressured to put an end to the weekly demonstration taking place each friday in the village for more than four years. The goal of the demonstration is to pressure the army to open the road linking Kafr Qaddum and the whole Qalqiliya district to Nablus. The Supreme Court of Israel officially agreed to this demand in 2010, with no visible effect on the ground.
Later in the morning, around 8:00 a.m., four of the villagers, including the coordinator, were released. The three other villagers, including Faris Nidal, remain in detention in an uncertain location.
16th February 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Sunday, the 16th of February, Israeli soldiers and border police in Hebron fired tear gas and sound grenades at children on their way to school. The border police also chased the children, attempting to arrest them.
At Checkpoint 29, around 7:30 a.m., a few children on their way to school (there are three schools near the checkpoint) were throwing stones at the soldiers stationed there. In response to this two border police and a soldier appeared from an alley and threw a sound grenade at the kids close to the United Nations school on Tareq Ben Ziyad Street.
This frightened not only the children who had thrown stones but all the children on their way to school, causing them to flee. When they did not catch any children the two border police and the soldier stood in front of the school blocking the entrance and started firing teargas at those who had fled.
As the border police and the soldier returned to the checkpoint, three new soldiers came out of an apartment across the street, preventing the children from entering their school. The soldiers continued firing teargas towards the crowd of upset and frightened children.
Tear gas is a nondiscriminatory nerve gas which affects all persons nearby. The gas often takes a long time to disperse, forcing children to go through the half-dispersed gas clouds on their way to school, leaving them crying and coughing. The use of tear gas against schoolchildren is common in Hebron.
In total, seven soldiers and two border police were involved in the incident, firing six tear gas grenades and two sound grenades at the children.
15th February 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Tura, Occupied Palestine
On Saturday, February 15th, Demonstrators gathered at 11:30 a.m. by the village of Tura near the annexation wall to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the DFLP (Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine). People began chanting and marching in the direction of the checkpoint.
After 20 minutes of demonstrating, protesters decided to get back to the village, and the Israeli forces began shooting tear gas grenades and canisters, quickly followed by live ammunition. Several people suffered severely from tear gas inhalation. One man, close to the group of soldiers, was targeted and shot in the leg. He was immediately removed from the demonstration and taken to the hospital. As the protest was ending, another young man was shot in the stomach by a tear gas canister. The condition of those injured is unknown at this time.
Tura is located next to the two illegal settlements of Shaqed and Hinnanit. This proximity combined with the violence of the occupation brings weekly confrontations between the local population and the Israeli army. The Israeli forces occupying this area are known for their extremely violent repression.
14th February 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddom, Occupied Palestine
At approximately 10:00 a.m. on Friday, the Israeli army positioned themselves on top of the hill overlooking Kafr Qaddom and on the closed road that leads to the illegal settlement, Qedumim.
As they did last week, the Israeli army attempted to portray themselves as peacemakers with a megaphone asking residents to go to their homes. This recurrent event is for the Israeli government’s new promotional film about the presence of the army in the West Bank.
Shortly thereafter, the residents of Kafr Qaddom burned tires and the Israeli army started shooting a large amount of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets from the top of the mountain and from the road. One sniper with live ammunition was also placed on a large boulder among the olive trees. Residents responded with stones and were repeatedly forced back down the road by a bulldozer and the teargas. Many suffered from teargas inhalation and the canisters were often shot at head level which can cause serious injuries.
One person was hit in the neck by a rubber-coated steel bullet and was carried out of the demonstration unconscious and taken to the hospital. His condition is now stable. Another person was injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet in his leg and two persons by high-velocity teargas canisters in their legs.
The village of Kafr Qaddom has been holding a weekly Friday demonstration for over two years. The demonstrations in Kafr Qaddom are held in protest against the continued occupation of Palestine and for the right to access the land stolen by the illegal settlement of Qedumim. In addition, the village’s main road to Nablus has been blocked, adding 14 kilometers to the journey, which has caused two deaths when ambulances were not able to reach the village in time.
