Tag: Israeli Army - Page 124 - International Solidarity Movement

Settlers from Bracha attack and harass farmer on his land

13th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Al Rujeib, Occupied Palestine

On Friday 7th June five settlers from the illegal settlement of Bracha attacked a farmer on his land, using sling shots to throw stones at him near Huwwara checkpoint. The same settlers continued to harass the farmer in the following days as he tried to graze his sheep and gather his crops, unprotected by the Israeli authorities.

Salah Sukamel Deweket rents 70 dunums of land between his home in Al Rujeib and the occupation forces’ checkpoint at Huwwara. The land is mainly used to plant crops for his sheep to graze upon.

On Friday 7th June Salah was working hard to enable his sheep to feed when he was surprised by five settlers, thought to be an old man and his four sons who brought their own sheep to eat Salah’s wheat. The settlers threw rocks using slingshots at Salah and his flock. Salah had no one who could help him as he had no number for the District Coordination Office (DCO) – the Palestinian liasion with Israeli authorities or other organisations. Unable to get the number, he returned to his land to find that the settlers had ripped apart his bales of wheat.

The settlers resumed throwing stones at him in full view of soldiers stationed at the Israeli occupation forces checkpoint at Huwwara. The soldiers did nothing but watch as the Palestinian farmer was attacked. As an occupying power the Israeli military are meant to protect all citizens in the territory.

Salah asked the older settler why he had destroyed his wheat. “People who stay in Israeli land have to be good Israeli people”, the settler replied. “If this is Israeli land, where’s Palestinian land?” Salah asked. “There is no Palestinian land” the settler shouted back. The settlers continued to graze their sheep on Salah’s land and then encouraged their sheep to eat the olive trees of another Palestinian farmer who came to protect his land. It was only then that army jeeps came to intervene – asking why the Palestinian farmers were there. Salah tried to explain the problem with the settlers to the army, who told him to take photos and go to DCO. Salah then asked the soldiers if they were going to arrest the settlers, to which they said, ” we don’t know, it’s up to the judge.” When the soldiers were asked why they did not come earlier, they replied that it wasn’t their problem. The next day Salah tried to fix his wheat bales but the settlers kept coming and causing problems. Soldiers eventually came and told both Salah and the settlers to leave but said that the Palestinians must leave first.

Palestinians face many attacks by settlers of varying severity. Religious extremists living in illegal settlements attack Palestinian people, lands and crops. Palestinians have almost no means of legal recourse or protection from settler attacks but are routinely targeted by the army in mass arrests in the alleged defence of the Israeli occupation and settlements. Even when Palestinians can contact the DCO, the coordination office can often not solve issues with settlers who generally are treated with impunity under Israeli law. Settlements are illegal under international law under the fourth Geneva convention.

Wheat fields (Photo by ISM) — Salah Sukamel Deweket’s wheat fields (Photo by ISM)

School’s out; harassment continues in Hebron

11th June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

The Hebron street where the Israeli army and Police have recently been regularly intimidating schoolchildren and teachers was today the scene of harassment of a different nature.

Israeli military stopping cars in Hebron (Photo by ISM)

Tareq Bin Ziyad Street in Hebron was the scene of a mass arrest of schoolchildren earlier this year and intimidation continued until the end of the school year. Now that school’s out for summer, soldiers have found another way to harass the local Palestinian population – using a large military presence to check for cars that, as one soldier said, ‘might have been stolen from Israel.’

Today, four jeeps and a dozen soldiers stopped cars, demanded to see IDs, and chased one driver down the street menacing him with their guns. Children playing in the street were ordered to clear the area around where soldiers were harassing drivers. After a couple of hours, the Israeli army and police removed one vehicle from the street ‘for further investigation’.

Stopping people going about their daily business by car is one of many ways that the vast military presence in Hebron harasses the local population. Others include arbitrary arrests, ID checks and detentions at the multiple checkpoints that hinder movement by Palestinians through their own city.

Israeli soldiers and Police running at one car with guns ready (Photo by ISM)

Israeli military remove one car ‘for further investigation’ (Photo by ISM)

Two men arrested and a woman hospitalised in Hebron house raid

3rd June 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

A 58 year-old Palestinian man and his 28 year-old son were arrested and his wife hospitalised after Israeli soldiers invaded their home, smashing furniture and breaking electronic goods over a three hour period. Four more houses within the same building were also ransacked.

Yesterday at around 2.30pm, at least ten soldiers invaded the home of Mohammed Fathi Jabari (58) on the Western Prayer Road in the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron. During the incident, the soldiers forced the residents all into one room and compelled them to give up their phones. Mohammed Fathi Jabari and his son were then arrested in their home. Despite numerous police and army personnel remaining in the area, the family was given no information regarding the whereabouts of their father and son or the reason for their arrest. Mohammed was released hours later but his son is still being held. Mahera Jabari (49), Mohammed’s wife, who already had heart problems, was hospitalized due to the stress of the situation.

During the raid the soldiers kicked down the door to the building and ransacked the rooms of the five homes within. In the first home the soldiers invaded, they kicked down a door and threw a young boy of 10 years old against a wall, causing bruising to his shoulder. International observers interviewed family members from all the homes, who showed them the mayhem created: a broken laptop, a huge chest with the top torn clean off, rooms completely ransacked including one where six children slept, and many broken doors. Contents of drawers, wardrobes and cupboards were strewn across the floor, including clothes, bedding and children’s toys.

Five soldiers escort Jabari to the police van (Photo by ISM)

Broken furniture and clothes strewn across the floor by soldiers (Photo by ISM)

Increase in military and settler violence against Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills

31th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | South Hebron Hills, Occupied Palestine

During the last week Israeli military presence has increased dramatically in the area which Israel designates as Firing Zone 918, in the occupied West Bank. In recent days, military vehicles and helicopters have been surrounding villages in the area, including an incident on Sunday, when a helicopter landed in the village of Jinba, terrifying the inhabitants. International accompaniment of children from Al-Fakheit primary school continued until yesterday, 29th May, which was the last day of school and the final exam for the children. The Israeli military had previously threatened to confiscate the jeep which takes the children to school, stating that it was in a “closed military zone”.

Al-Fakheit primary school (Photo by ISM)

On Wednesday 29^th May, a group of armed soldiers came within close proximity of the school as the children were arriving for their exams. This made pupils and teachers extremely worried. The soldiers remained there until the end of the school day.

At the same time a large group of soldiers was camped outside of the nearby village of Jinba, where they appeared to be doing military training within only metres of the houses. The soldiers also stayed in Jinba during the night. The harassment of locals did not end with the intrusive presence of the Israeli military. Last Monday night, Israeli soldiers invaded Jinba and beat a shepherd from the village. Two more beatings of shepherds have been reported in the nearby villages of Mirkez and Halaweh, also in the “firing zone”.

Additionally on Wednesday, Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Ma’on tried to erect a tent on a Palestinian road linking the village of Tuba with At-Tuwani. Palestinians from nearby villages arrived to prevent the creation of yet another illegal outpost on their land. At the same time, the Israeli military demolished some settler structures in the illegal settlement of Ma’on, to partly comply with the court ruling about the illegal presence of settlers there. Later in the day, the settlers retaliated with a “price tag” attack, burning 5 acres of Palestinian wheat and barley crops.

On the same day the occupying forces, who are responsible for accompanying Palestinian children from At-Tuwani to their school – to prevent attacks by settlers – did not arrive, leaving school children at risk as they had to walk home alone pass the illegal settlement. In the past, Israeli settlers have violently attacked children on their way to school in this location. When international human rights observers asked the military commander why the accompaniment was cancelled, he answered that it was too dangerous for the soldiers, as they fear the settlers themselves (see also Operation Dove report here)

Soldiers near Al-Fakheit primary school (Photo by ISM)

The South Hebron Hills area has witnessed a lot of violence and oppression since the creation of Firing Zone 918 and the establishment of several settlements around it. There are twelve villages in Firing Zone 918, all of which have been threatened in the past with eviction and demolition in order to make way for a huge Israeli military training area, free of Palestinian villages. Eight remain under threat, with a temporary injunction by the Israeli Supreme Court having recently been extended in January 2013. The headmaster of the school in Al-Fakheit said “The Israeli authorities know it is illegal to evict people for military training, so they will try to make people’s lives very bad so they just leave. Then if we leave, they will use the land for settlements.”

The Israeli forces have stated that they wish to create a general military training area in Firing Zone 918. This would be a breach of the 4th Geneva Convention, which states that an occupying force should not destroy property unless it is “rendered absolutely necessary by military operations” – general military training is not deemed “absolutely necessary” in international law.

Settlers setting up tent and planning road in Palestinian owned land in Al Khalil

27th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

UPDATE 28th May: Settlers claim that they will return on 28th May to build a road on Palestinian owned land in Wadi al-Hussein, Al Khalil. No building has yet taken place and settlers have yet to provide any documentation or court order for the road.

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This morning, 27th May, settlers from Kiryat Arba, an illegal Israeli settlement in the city of Al Khalil (Hebron), started to place road markers for the construction of a road through the Palestinian olive groves of Wadi al-Hussein. They were accompanied by Israeli military and police.

Road marker placed by settlers (Photo by ISM)

Palestinians, including the owners of the land, gathered in the area to stop any attempt of illegal construction in their land and were confronted by armed Israeli settlers, police and army. A number of international observers were there to monitor the situation. The settlers claimed that they had a court order for road construction. However, they were unable to bring any official papers to back this claim.

A while later, some settlers who remained in the area started putting up a tent in the olive groves, unhindered by the police who have the legal duty to prevent them from land theft. They equipped the tent with chairs and surrounded it with Israeli flags.

Wadi al-Hussein is a Palestinian neighbourhood in Al Khalil, which, due to its proximity with the illegal israeli settlements of Kiryat Arba and Givat Ha’avot, has suffered a lot from settler violence and oppression by the Israeli forces.