Tag: Israeli Army - Page 125 - International Solidarity Movement

Sixteen-year-old boy blindfolded and arrested late at night without evidence

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

Following the events of the settler tour during yesterday afternoon Fuad Asem al Batsh, a sixteen-year-old minor, was arrested in Hebron without any evidence or court decision. He was released after about an hour.

It was at 10 pm in the old city that a group of around 15 heavily-armed Israeli soldiers invaded a family house stating they were looking for a boy who earlier the same day had thrown an object at a settler. In the presence of four international activists the soldiers forced themselves into three family houses before arresting Fuad Asem al Batsh in the fourth home, without any evidence against him.

After fifteen minutes discussion between the boy and the soldiers, they removed him from the house. Despite objections from the internationals present, as well as the family, he was put in a military van and driven away. The activists were threatened with arrest if they took any pictures and the family’s cries and logical arguments didn’t change the situation. Fuad’s younger sisters were witnesses to the event and were clearly afraid and shocked.

During the hour of detention the sixteen-year-old boy was blindfolded, brought to a police station and questioned over and over again about the events during the day, when he in reality was visiting his uncle in a village nearby Jerusalem. The photos and videos that the military claimed existed were never shown and no further suspicion is claimed by Israeli forces.

Life in Hebron disrupted by another settler “tour”

26th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Team Al Khalil | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday the illegal settlers of the city of Al Khalil/Hebron held a walk through the Palestinian souq and nearby neighbourhoods. Prior to this, Israeli forces entered Palestinian homes, occupying roof tops. Throughout the tour Palestinian movement was restricted, and the soldiers controlled the movement of some international observers, while about 50 Zionist tourists and settlers were being escorted by Israeli heavily armed soldiers and police, around the Palestinian neighbourhoods of the old city.

Zionist tourists and settlers marching through the old city of Hebron (Photo by ISM)

About half an hour into the tour, an object was thrown towards the illegal settlers resulting in one receiving a head laceration, briefly disrupting the walk, after which he was able to continue with the tour.

Although it was unclear where this object came from, some soldiers broke away from the tour group and increased the aggressiveness of their patrol, intimidating Palestinians by pointing guns and invading privacy by looking into residents homes. Eventually they entered a house, further away from the location of the incident. At the time of the intrusion three children were alone in the house. The children were scared as the armed soldiers marched into their home, occupied the roof top and remained there for about ten minutes. Human right observers stayed with the children, monitoring the soldiers, until they left the house.

This “tour” of Hebron happens every week and is a regular disturbance for Palestinians in the busy souq of Hebron. Since the closure of Shuhada Street – traditionally the busiest market street in the Old City – more trade has moved into the souq. Rather than close it, many Palestinians believe that the Israeli authorities are trying to make life as uncomfortable and unsustainable as possible, in the hope that Palestinians will move from the area.

Israeli forces escorting the settler tour (Photo by ISM)

Soldiers invading the roof top of a Palestinian house (Photo by ISM)

Urif under attack

26 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, Urif, Occupied Palestine

Over the past three days, the village of Urif, south of Nablus, has been under constant attack from Israeli settlers and soldiers. Soldiers invaded the village twice and numerous people sustained injuries from rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters. People in Urif said that settlers attack their village almost daily, especially now that Palestine has been granted observer member status in the UN.

The latest attack started on Monday, 24 December at 10 am when armed settlers attacked a school in Urif with stones. When youth from the village went to defend the school and confront the settlers, the Israeli military arrived and started shooting at people. Clashes continued until late in the evening, with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and sound bombs fired at the people of Urif. Two non-violent international activists at the scene of the clashes shouted at the soldiers that these actions by the Israeli army and settlers were completely illegal and inhuman, at which point the army started shooting rubber-coated steel bullets directly at the activists. At sunset the army came running down the hills toward Urif and stopped at the outskirts of the village, from where they continued shooting live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and tear-gas into the streets of the village.

Early on Tuesday morning, the Israeli soldiers invaded the streets of Urif and started shooting sound bombs and tear gas into the empty streets of the village.

Attacks resumed on Wednesday afternoon when settlers again attacked the school with stones. The same incidents which occurred on Monday were repeated on Wednesday, except that this time soldiers invaded the village at around 5 pm and shot tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets into the middle of the village. One person was hit in the head by a rubber-coated steel bullet.

Urif has a long history of attacks by illegal Israeli settlers. Some years ago a person was shot by Jacob, the guard of the Yizhar settlement, who is notorious for attacks on Palestinians in the area. In May this year Jacob violently attacked a farmer in Urif, tied him up and shot him in the back. In the last few weeks, attacks on Urif have intensified as settlers, with the protection of Israeli soldiers, attacked the village on most days of the past month.

Christmas day in the firing zone

by Team Khalil

25 December 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

The residents of two villages in the Israeli firing zone 918 in the South Hebron Hills experienced a fearful Christmas day as the Israeli soldiers and a tank conducted firing exercises in close proximity to their homes.

From late afternoon on 25 December the villagers were shocked as an Israeli tank fired several practice shots near the villages of Mirkez and Jinba. Shortly afterwards around forty soldiers from the Israeli army fired blanks as they simulated a skirmish. The soldiers staged an attack on a hillside which lasted for around an hour, during which the sound of gunfire echoed around the hillside barely fifty metres away from Mirkez. One Jinba resident remarked that the Israeli army had not held training exercises this close to the villages in twelve years and the villagers shut their doors in fear of another night raid.

The soldiers stayed in the area into the early hours of the morning and sporadic bursts of fire could be seen and heard throughout the night. The Israeli tank fired two rounds late in the evening, the booming noise of the tank fire could be heard throughout the firing zone causing distress to the nearby communities.

Two international activists walking between the villages during the night were stopped by a soldier and were only allowed to pass once he realised they were not Palestinian.

Local and international groups working with the affected communities have started a campaign to raise awareness of the routine infringement of the villagers’ human rights and the harassment they receive from soldiers and settlers alike. Details and a petition to the Israeli government can be found here.

Backgound

The area was declared a ‘firing zone’ for military training in the 1970s. The villagers, many of which have lived in the area for generations, live with the constant threat of eviction and home demolition as well sporadic water shortages and violence from the illegal Israeli settlers surrounding the area.

Earlier this month Israeli soldiers entered Jinba during a nighttime excursion and forced a terrified family to leave their home and stand in the cold for two hours while they destroyed the door to another cave in the village for no apparent reason.

Also in early December Israeli forces demolished the mosque in al Mufaqara which they claim was built illegally despite the fact that the settlements in the West Bank, all of which are illegal under international law, remain untouched.

Team Khalil is a group of volunteers of International Solidarity Movement based in Hebron (al Khalil)

Palestinian youth attacked in Hebron – 1 man in critical condition

18th Novemeber 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Update: Hamdi Alfalah, 22, shot and killed today in Hebron.

Ibrahim Abu Eisheh, a Palestinian youth was hit in the head by a tear gas canister at around six in the afternoon. He is in critical condition at a hospital and is currently undergoing surgery.
For the third consecutive day in Hebron there has been a large amount of Palestinian resistance in the old city against the Israeli occupying forces. Two streets in particular were hardest hit by the conflict.
One being one of the main streets in the souq where most of the fresh produce is sold in the city. The other road intersects the market street and runs north of the military gate that is used for entry during Saturday settler tours. This area is known as Bab Baladia and was the main fighting ground for the shabab; which is the name for young Palestinian males.
Today not only were multiple tires burned but a couch was set aflame. Firecrackers are also a favorite for these demonstrations, which briefly give the tiring struggle a whimsical edge.
Though rocks are obviously dangerous when used as projectiles it’s extremely rare that one gets close enough to the soldiers to be considered dangerous, plus they have armor and padding.
The Israeli army responds to the relatively symbolic acts with rubber coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters that are shot at high speeds from their machine guns. Yet apparently this isn’t enough to combat untrained civilians that are predominantly in their teens. A skunk water truck came out of the Israeli installation and went into H1, which according to the Oslo accords is supposed to be in full Palestinian control.
The disgusting material was sprayed into the food market and the Palestinian homes that reside above it. Israeli army personnel have also been trying to break into private residences so as to gain access to the roof for tactical advantage. At one point six border police raided a building, as they shut the front entrance door other border on the outside broke off the handle so nobody else could enter. There have also been several detainments of Palestinian youth that are given no reason as to why they are held while they are blindfolded and cuffed.
All of this activity inevitably ends up in injuries, today was certainly no exception.

By Team Khalil