Tag: Israeli Army - Page 9 - International Solidarity Movement

UPDATE: Over 100 bullet fragments in brain of Palestinian child shot in northern West Bank

July 15 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Israeli soldiers shot a Palestinian child in the head with live ammunition on Friday during a protest against settlement expansion in the West Bank town of Kafr Qaddum, Palestine.

Abdul Rahman Yasser Shteiwi, 9*, was rushed to Rafidia Hospital in Nablus at around 3pm and was operated on immediately. On Saturday, Palestinian doctors told ISM that a scan of the boy’s brain showed over 100 bullet fragments lodged in his head. Yesterday Abdul was moved to Tel Hashomer hospital near Tel Aviv.

10-year-old Palestinian boy undergoing surgery in Rafidia hospital. Nablus

Rafidia hospital’s head of neurosurgery, Othman Othman, who operated on the 10-year-old for three and a half hours, claimed that the bullet fired at Abdul was a live round.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: “He had a penetrating injury in the frontal lobe on the right side. The injury was severe and there are more than 100 fragments.

“This is not a rubber bullet; this is a metal bullet. A rubber bullet will not enter because it does not have a sharp head. This is something that had a sharp head.”

Mr Othman added that he believes the bullet fired at Abdul was “not a normal bullet.”

“I have seen many gunshot wounds and they only break into a few pieces. Over 100 fragments is not normal.”

This disputes claims by the Israeli military that no live ammunition was fired during the Friday protest.

ISM activists also found a 5.56 bullet case on the ground where protesters had been standing some 15 minutes before. The case was hot to the touch suggesting it had been fired that afternoon. Dozens more bullet cases were also found by villagers following the protest.

The 9-year-old remains in critical condition, and is awaiting further scans. “This injury is a severe traumatic brain injury. He is in critical condition and there is a lot of blood in his brain,” Mr. Othman said. “We can’t yet say what is the real injury to the brain.”

The leader of the popular resistance committee in Kafr Qaddum, Murad Shtaiwi, told ISM: “I don’t have words to explain the sadness I feel.

“The army practised a very big fault if they think that what they did today will make the demonstration go down. No, never.”

Bullets and bullet casings found after the protest in Kafr Qaddum

Protester’s arm injured by rubber-coated steel bullets

Rubber-coated steel bullets were also fired at the crowds, as well as sound bombs. At least two people were injured by rubber bullets, including a child who was shot in the arm and a man who was also hit in the arm.

Mr Shtaiwi added: “I want to send a message to all the international community; if you care about the rights of children, come and protect them and share what happened today with the rest of the world.”

Another demonstration was held the following day on Saturday, July 13, at 4pm in Kafr Qaddum. One protester suffered a minor injury after he was shot in the stomach with a rubber-coated steel bullet by occupation soldiers.

The town has held weekly protests for 9 years against the closure of the main road to the city of Nablus due to the expansion of nearby settlements. Protesters are regularly met with tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets fired by heavily armed occupation forces.

Updated Monday, July 15, 2019

*Correction: Abdul is 9-years-old and not 10 as stated previously in report.

Settler tour exemplifies the difficult reality of occupation in the Old City of Hebron – a photo essay

July 7 | International Solidarity Movement | Hebron, occupied Palestine

Every Saturday, illegal Jewish settlers from around the West Bank take a “tour” of the busy souq (market) in Old City of Hebron, the busiest market street in the area since the closure of Shuhada Street. Local Palestinians believe that the Israeli authorities facilitate the tour as a deliberate method of intimidation, making life intolerable and unsustainable for them in order to prompt displacement.

On the tour, current and prospective settlers are given a skewed history of Hebron which disregards and contradicts the documented history of peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews in the city before 1948. Instead, it identifies the land’s heritage as solely Jewish. As shown, the settlers are escorted by numerous Israeli soldiers and Border Police officers, who randomly detain Palestinians for ID checks and prevent free movement in the souq during the duration of the tour.

Military and police can also be seen on the rooftops of Palestinian homes, many of which are now empty as a result of forced evictions for surveillance purposes. Palestinians living in the Old City are under constant threat of home invasions by the Israeli military and Jewish settlers, further contributing to displacement and the theft of Palestinian property.

Livelihoods destroyed in two days of demolitions in South Hebron Hills

Village elder Hajj Suleiman violently arrested during demolition of public park

July 4 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The South Hebron Hills have faced two consecutive days of demolitions starting early yesterday morning, with bulldozers destroying water wells and uprooting over 500 trees in two villages.

An elderly Palestinian activist from Um al-Khair was also hospitalised yesterday after being violently detained by occupation forces.

Five JCB bulldozers accompanied by Israeli Civil Administration vans began uprooting trees – some of which were over 14 years old – and demolishing water wells in a public park between the villages of Hashem Daraj and Um al-Khair at around 9am yesterday morning.

70-year-old man Hajj Suleiman, was aggressively dragged out of the road, where he had tried to stand in the way of the bulldozers, by soldiers and pushed to the ground. He was later seen unconscious before being taken to hospital for medical attention.

Some hours later, the village elder was discharged. Despite his ordeal, Suleiman was back the next day to try to disrupt the violence of the bulldozers. He was briefly detained again before being driven in a military jeep to Um al-Khair in a attempt by soldiers to prevent him carrying out further direct actions.

Unconscious village elder carried to safety after being aggressively detained and pushed to the ground by Israeli soldiers

Hajj Suleiman receives medical attention

His nephew Tariq described yesterday’s demolition spree by the Israeli Civil Administration – the body that governs Area C in the West Bank – as “brutal.”

“They don’t leave anything alone,” he told ISM. “They demolish the peoples houses, they demolish the animal barns and now they’re starting from this year to demolish trees and water cisterns.”

The park, which is now a heap of uprooted trees, was one of the few public spaces belonging to Palestinians in the region.

This morning, the bulldozers came again, destroying two water cisterns and uprooting more trees in Dkeika, a village close to the West Bank border.

The cisterns are vital during the summer months for shepherds to graze their sheep and goats.

While the villagers’ resources were being demolished, a drone belonging to far-right Israeli NGO Regavim was documenting the scene. The group, which receives Israeli taxpayers money, is dedicated to evicting Palestinians from Area C and within Israel through court petitions. It’s likely they played a direct role in the two day demolition spree.

A drone operated by Israeli far-right NGO Regavim hovers over bulldozers wrecking water cisterns

Many Palestinians in the South Hebron Hills, which is located within Area C, live with the constant threat of having their homes, water systems, roads and farms bulldozed by the Civil Administration.

Structures built by Palestinians in Area C without building permits (less than 1% are approved by the Civil Administration) are served demolition orders while illegal Israeli settlement outposts have free reign to build with impunity.

Olive trees, some 14 years old, unearthed by bulldozers

Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir fights against new demolition threats

The illegal settlement Carmel looks over the Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir

June 26 | International Solidarity Movement | Umm al-Kheir, south Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The Bedouin village of Um al-Kheir in the South Hebron Hills have launched a new bid to save their homes from demolition.

On Monday, activists from the village submitted a new master plan to the Israeli Civil Administration which, if accepted, would protect their community from the bulldozers.

Since 2011, 32 structures including houses, animal barns and a bread oven have been demolished in Um al-Khair with almost every family losing at least one home.

The village has been in crisis mode over the past week, going to bed each night with the fear that bulldozers could be rolling towards them in the morning.

An international presence (including people from the Good Shepherd Collective, Christian Peacemakers Team, All That’s Left and ISM) has been set up in solidarity with the people of Um al-Kheir and to provide a possible deterrence.

The community hopes to have a response from the Civil Administration in the coming days, which if given, will freeze the demolition orders for a few years.

But until a response is given, the village remains at risk of demolition.

The Civil Administration, the governing Israeli body in Area B and C in the West Bank, recently rejected the villagers’ previous master plan submitted three years ago. During this time period, demolition orders were frozen, giving the Bedouin community a brief respite. But now the freeze period is over and Um al-Kheir is once again at risk of demolition with orders against 45 homes.

The villagers are expecting a response from the Civil Administration tomorrow, which would begin the process again of freezing the orders while the master plan is deliberated.

Um al-Khair is one of the villages in the South Hebron Hills that is particularly at risk of expulsion.

It is gradually being surrounded by the illegal settlement of Carmel which is just feet away with a fence separating the two.

Villagers live in fear and uncertainty as four more homes demolished in South Hebron Hills

June 18, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | South Hebron Hills, occupied Palestine

The al-Dababsh family watch as their home is demolished. *Pic: Basil Adraa*

Occupation forces went on a demolition spree yesterday in the South Hebron Hills, bulldozing the homes of four families in two villages.

A convoy of border police, Israeli Civil Administration officials, soldiers and two JCB bulldozers arrived in the village of Khalet al Dabeh at around 9am to destroy a house belonging to Mohammad al Dababsh.

Twelve members of the al Dababsh family including seven children, who have lived in the region for generations, are now homeless and have been given tents to sleep in by the Red Cross.

“People used to live in tents and caves and they had their dream come true to live in a house – they came up from under the ground into the light,’ Basil Adraa, a youth activist from the neighbouring village of al-Tuwani, told ISM.

“Now they have gone back 10 years, living before without light and houses.”

Adraa along with other local activists and ISMers arrived to Khalet al Dabeh just ahead of the demolition.

Members of the al Dababsh family were shouting in distress and at one point attempted to run through the line of border police – who had announced a closed military zone around the house – in a bid to protect his home before it was raised to the ground.

Omar al Dababsh was thrown to the floor by soldiers as he ran. His injuries required urgent medical attention and he was taken to Hebron hospital.

Soldiers also shoved local activists and ISMers in the scuffle.

A Palestinian man lies injured after being thrown to the ground by occupation forces by his demolished home

Adraa was filming the demolition from a roof near the al Dababsh house when soldiers threatened to throw a sound grenade at him if he refused to get down.

A separate building storing solar panel batteries was also destroyed and the panels were confiscated.

After forcing a family of 12 into homelessness, the convoy moved on to the village of al Halawe where they destroyed a further three homes belonging to the Aram family.

Adraa told ISM that a ‘demolition day’ has happened every week this year, except during Ramadan when there were two demolitions in five weeks.

The region of the South Hebron Hills is in Area C of the West Bank where almost all construction by Palestinians is banned by the Israeli government.

Most of the region’s 30 Palestinian villages have demolition orders on at least one building meaning they could be bulldozed at any time.

Local activist group, the Good Shepherd Collective, which raises awareness about demolitions in the South Hebron Hills area stated on its Facebook page: “It is worth noting that these demolitions, injuries, and confiscations do not simply impact and traumatize the families and individuals immediately affected – demolitions, especially during the oppressive heat of the summer, force families to rebuild in order to meet their basic needs, and in the meantime rely on their extended family and community members.”

An Israeli border police aggressively pushes locals and humanitarian observers

Adraa added: “It seems like a Nakba for these people, because the biggest goal for the occupation is to evacuate the people from these villages to the cities. So in this kind of demolition, big demolition, it’s a serious step to evacuate the people and take them from their land which is illegal by international law. They want to demolish houses so that the settlement can expand.”

Despite the ban, which also forbids Palestinians to hook up to the electricity grid and water supply, illegal settlers in the region continue to construct new buildings unimpeded by Israeli forces.