Tag: Israeli Army - Page 113 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli army demolish a house in the Salfit village of Deir Ballut

29th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Ballut, Occupied Palestine

On Thursday morning at five am, the Israeli army demolished a house under construction, and left the area before the owner Ghaneem Mahmoud Abdullah Al-Karim or other villagers were able to arrive at the scene. It is believed that the Israeli forces conduct these activities so early in the morning in order to avoid nonviolent resistance from the villagers. This was the first house to be demolished in Deir Ballut but there are over sixty houses that have been served demolition orders from the Israeli army.

The village is over five hundred years old, and within the Oslo Agreements the village was literally split between Area B and Area C. There are over a hundred and eighty houses that now fall within Area C and therefore are under threat of demolition. The inhabitants of Area C need permission from the Israeli government to even refurbish their houses, which is often impossible to get.

Deir Ballut (to the left of the map) is in risk of being surrounded by the annexation wall. The red line is the wall today while the black marks the planned route (source: OCHA).

The majority of Deir Ballut, as with other villages in the area, is classified as Area C and is controlled by the occupation forces. Many villages in the Salfit area have lost land to settlement and to the construction of the separation wall. Deir Ballut has lost 2,000 dunums which was confiscated when Israel built the Apartheid Wall, and the intended reassignment of the Wall which is to be carried out in coming years will mean that the village will lose even more land and is surrounded by the wall.

As Deir Ballut’s population increases, families are forced to build in Area C, as is the case for the Al Karim family. The villagers are committed to continue constructing homes on their land, and to help Ghaneem and his family to rebuild their house.

An unrelenting assault on the village of Deir Istiya’s farmland

28th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Deir Istiya, Occupied Palestine

The village of Deir Istiya has encountered severe disruption to its agriculture and water supply since 1990 from the Israeli authorities and nearby illegal settlements. This has culminated in the Israeli army’s planned action to uproot nearly 2500 olive trees in the very near future.

The army’s mandate to perform this action stems from a court ruling given in May 2013 that gave permission for them to cut down all olives trees in the Wadi Kana (a valley making up a large part of the village’s farmland) that are under two years old. However trees that were planted over five years ago have been included in the marking action over the last five months, a marking action typically precludes the actual uprooting process.

On the 26^th of November, four men in civilian clothing marked 157 more trees across the village farmland. Before the army actually begins the action, under Israeli law, they have to inform lawyers representing the village of the date that this will commence. Although from past experience, villagers across the West Bank have not received such prior warning in similar cases. If the army succeeds with its plan, the destruction of more than 2,500 olive trees will decimate the village’s agriculture and economy, destroying the livelihoods of many of the 4000 inhabitants of Deir Istiya.

This is the latest in a long line of aggressive acts that the Israeli government, army, court and nearby illegal settlers have inflicted upon the people of this village. In 1990 nearby settlers deposited sewage from three separate illegal settlements into the 12 springs that provided water for the village. This water was crucial for the irrigation of the traditional crops of the village, lemon and orange trees. As water became scarce for the village, the farmers abandoned the orange and lemon crops, replacing them with olive trees due to the fact they require far less water. This is typical of the Israeli state to dramatically reduce the Palestinians methods for survival only to attempt to snatch away the small ray of hope that they have managed to build for themselves in the face of such adversarial conditions.

Moreover, on the 23^th of November, illegal settlers from a nearby settlement trespassed on Palestinian land in order to steal 100 meters of fencing material. The purpose of this fence was to protect a number of olive trees from pigs that have infested the area since Israeli settlers began releasing them for the exact purpose of disrupting Palestinian olive farming.

Continuing harrassment of Izbat Tabib village

25th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Izbat Tabib, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday, November 24th, Israeli soldiers blocked the road at the entrance to Izbat Tabib and entered the village on three separate occasions during the night, firing tear gas canisters and intimidating residents.

At approximately 14:30, a military jeep carrying four soldiers set up a flying roadblock near the entrance to the village preventing the passage of traffic and pedestrians on the road to Qalqilya. The roadblock remained in place for one and a half hours. Only a few vehicles or pedestrians were permitted to pass according to the arbitrary judgement of the soldiers.

Shortly after sunset, an Israeli armoured jeep entered the village. Three soldiers aggressively searched the tent used as a community center, physically searching a 14-year-old Palestinian and threatening to return later in the night.

At around 22:00, a foot patrol of four soldiers stationed itself in the bushes near the entrance to Izbat Tabib.

On all three occasions, soldiers were confronted by international activists. When asked the reason for their presence, they made unfounded allegations that village children had been throwing stones and molotov cocktails onto Highway 55, a road shared by both Israelis settlers and Palestinians.

When specific details were asked for to clarify these claims, the Israeli soldiers gave conflicting and inconsistent accounts. For instance, one soldier even claimed that a molotov cocktail had been thrown at 15:00 near the entrance to the village. This was impossible as soldiers had been blocking the road and international activists were present during this time.

Finally, at 00:30, soldiers entered the village for the fourth time that day and fired tear gas amongst the houses.

Izbat Tabib, population around 250, is located within Area C. Several years ago the village, east of Qalqiliya, was served with demolition orders by the Israeli Army. The orders would mean destruction of 33 houses (73% of the village) and the village school. Two houses have already been demolished, and the school, which has 52 students, is vital to the village and its future.

The harassment is part of an ongoing campaign of intimidation and collective punishment to pressurize residents into dropping popular resistance to these demolition orders and to the occupation as a whole.

Israeli soldiers and the flying checkpoint outside the village

Morning settler attack triggers clash with serious injuries in Qusra

18th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Early yesterday morning, a Palestinian family was attacked by approximately 20 settlers on their fields in Qusra village, southeast of Nablus. 30 olive trees were also destroyed. Following this incident, a clash broke out between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth in the village where a house was raided and Israeli soldiers fired many tear gas canisters, rubber-coated steel bullets and injured eight Palestinians.

At 10:00 yesterday morning a family from Qusra entered their olive grove. Shortly afterwards a group of approximately 20 settlers from the illegal settlement of Migdalim arrived and began to threaten the family, uprooting between 30-50 olive trees. This land stretches across 50 dunams and borders the Israeli controlled Area C portion of the West Bank, it is the fifth time this family’s land have been attacked by settlers. Half an hour passed before Israeli soldiers arrived and removed the settlers to limit the damage, however when an international activist arrived to document the incident, Israeli forces had already entered Qusra village.

A group of 50 young Palestinians threw stones to try and prevent an Israeli military vehicle from invading the village; however Israeli forces then began firing tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets. After one hour passed, five Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets and the Israeli soldiers were extremely aggressive in their attack. They then withdrew from the village only to enter from another part of Qusra, proceeding to raid a house in the centre of the village and from the roof of this house continuing to fire many rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters.

The invaded house belongs to the same Palestinian family who was attacked by settlers early in the day, whether this was a sign of warning to the family is unknown, however much tear gas entered the house during the raid and several family members suffered from tear gas inhalation. Two children, ages six and seven, were unconscious for several minutes and required medical treatment from the Red Crescent ambulant service that was present during the raid. Muhammad Nashad, the uncle of these two children, was beaten by the Israeli soldiers, who forced him to his knees and fired a stun grenade directly in front of him. 21-year-old Ali Farid, another family member, attempted to block the soldier’s entrance into the home when he was shot in the arm with a rubber-coated steel bullet.

Israeli forces eventually left the village, leaving behind damaged property and at least 8 injuries, including 18-year-old Hamada Rida who was shot in the chest with a rubber-coated steel bullet and was taken to hospital to receive medical treatment.

Israeli forces injure 8 Palestinians during aggressive Kafr Qaddum demonstration

15th November 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Today, Friday 15th November, the Israeli army detained four children before the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qaddum. Israeli soldiers then invaded the village during the protest, firing many tear gas canisters and injuring 8 Palestinians.

At approximately 9:00 this morning, a group of children were playing in the village, when Israeli forces arrived with military jeeps. The soldiers threw stun grenades and detained the four children, all of whom were extremely young, 5, 7, 8 and 9-years-old. After questioning them about their family and who sent them there, the soldiers released the children.

When Palestinians and international activists began gathering for the demonstration before the Friday prayers, the Israeli army once again stormed the village from the main road leading towards the illegal Israeli settlement of Qedumim. As they entered the village, they fired tear gas canisters directly at the group before the demonstration had even began.

At 12:00 when the demonstration officially started, Israeli soldiers were already in the village, accompanied by three military jeeps and a bulldozer. Many tear gas canisters and stun grenades were fired directly at demonstrators while another group of soldiers moved to a position on the top of the hill overlooking Kafr Qaddum. The Israeli forces then began to shoot tear gas canisters directly into several homes. Six children of the same family suffered from tear gas inhalation; three were evacuated by ambulance. They are between 8 and 14-years-old.

As the local media were filming the scene, a journalist from Palestine TV was injured by a tear gas canister. Seven other Palestinians were injured and one of them was evacuated to hospital in Nablus to receive medical treatment.