17th September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
Today, the 17th of september, a young Palestinian man on the age of 22 was shot dead by Israeli forces in Tel Rumeida. Hatem Abed Hafez Shalludi is now the fourth Palestinian that has been killed by Israeli soldiers within the last 48 hours. Israeli soldiers committing extrajudicial killings of Palestinian civilians is nothing new under the sun.
This is yet another face of Israeli colonialism and the continuous genocide of Palestinian civilians living under occupation.
Hatem Abed Hafez Shlwdi death today follows three other Palestinians who have also been killed within the last 48 hours. Amongst them eightheen year old, Moussa Mohammed Khaddour and fifteen year old Mohammad Al- Rajabi who were both shot dead in Hebron. Video evidence show that Israeli forces used sound bombs in order to prevent pedestrians going near the body of Mohammad Al- Rajabi bleeding on the ground.
It should be mentioned that a common explanation Israeli soldiers give in order to justify direct unlawful killings of civilians is that the target was carrying a knife. The UN have expressed outrage over previous extra judicial killings of Palestinians, which Israeli forces have tried to defend by stating that they were attacked by knife. However, video-evidence clearly shows no signs of aggressive behavior from the civilian shot dead.
The killings that have happened within the last 48 hours must be understood in the context of the continuous oppression of Palestinians carried out in the name of the Israeli State. 226 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since october 2015. Some of the killed Palestinians tried to attack Israeli forces, while others were simply alleged to do so. In many of the cases Israeli forces have carried out collective punishments on the slain Palestinians families, by demolishing their houses, and hitherto leaving them homeless, actions illegal under the Geneva convention.
16th September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, al-Khalil team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
After a peaceful Eid holiday, violence surged in occupied Hebron today. Earlier today Israeli forces shot and killed Moussa Mohammed Khaddour, 18 and injured his fiancé Raghad Abdullah Abdullah Khaddour. The couple allegedly tried to ram settlers from the illegal israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, at the entrance of the settlement. Moussa Khaddour was killed at the scene, while Raghah Khaddour were severely injured and taken to a medical facility.
Elsewhere in Hebron, in the H2 neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, a young Palestinian man was shot dead by Israeli forces, the Palestinians identity is still unknown. The young Palestinian man allegedly tried to stab an Israeli soldier near the Gilbert checkpoint close to an illegal settlement in Tel Rumeida. The Israeli soldier suffered a minor wound in the face and was taken to a medical facility. Information about the incident is scarce, but testimonies from witnesses hearing the episode indicate that it might have been a extrajudicial execution. Locals explained ISM how they first heard 3 shots, and several moments after, heard 2 more.
After the killing of the Palestinian in Tel Rumeida, the whole neighborhood was declared a closed military zone, and the checkpoints leading in and out of the area were zealed off, preventing Palestinians from entering or leaving the area. The closure of the Tel Rumeida neighborhood created an assembly of Palestinians outside of the Shuhada street checkpoint, wanting to pass the checkpoint. The assembly subsequently led to a confrontation with Israeli forces. Palestinian youth threw glass bottles and stones and the checkpoint, approximately twenty Israeli soldiers and borderpolice responded by invading the H1 area. The Israeli forces threw a dozen stun grenades and fired tear gas into the Bab’a’zawie area just outside Shuhada street checkpoint. During the two hour long confrontation, three Palestinians were hurt with rubber coated steel bullets fired by the Israeli forces.
Hours after the confrontations the checkpoints were still closed, blocking Palestinians from entering or leaving Tel Rumeida.
224 Palestinians have been killed by Israelis since october 2015. Some of the killed Palestinians tried to attack Israeli forces, while others were alleged to do so. In many of the cases Israeli forces have carried out collective punishments on the slain Palestinians families, by demolishing their houses, and hitherto leaving them homeless, actions illegal under the Geneva convention. Several cases have also raised suspicion of extrajudicial killings, where attackers have been killed when they did not pose an immediate threat or could have been arrested through non-lethal methods.
3rd September 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza team | Khan Younis, occupied Palestine
According to the Council for European Palestinian Relations the Palestinian agricultural sector’s contribution to the GDP dropped between 1993 (Oslo Accords) and 2009 from 13% to 4.8%, due to the illegal practices of the zionist entity, such as land theft, confiscation of water resources and control over exports.
During the successive aggressions against the coastal enclave, military bulldozers and Israeli tanks razed thousands of hectares of agricultural land, uprooting fruit trees and olive groves, destroying greenhouses and water wells in addition to bombing agricultural infrastructre with drones and warplanes. However, in Gaza, periods between wars are not much more peaceful for the peasants, as farmers from Khan Younis governorate, one of the most attacked by snipers and Israeli bulldozers can testify: “There is hardly any water and the water we have is salty. The option is to buy fresh water, but besides being too expensive its supply is almost nonexistent, we have only about 8 hours of electricity a day … how can we work, without electricity or water?”
Farmer showing gas canister that was shot by Israeli forces against his tractor
Mohamed A. T. adds, “We’re finally paying the zionists for the water that they rob us! But what choice do we have if our wells are salty and in many areas (within the so-called Buffer Zone) we are not even allowed to build wells. “
Additionally to the problem with water and electricity there are constant attacks on farmers by Israeli snipers and periodic incursions of military bulldozers to raze agricultural land. “My lands are relatively close to the fence, so I can not set foot in them between 6 pm and 6 am without getting shot at. What I can do if the electricity does not come before 6 pm? I have to leave my land without watering, risking the loss of the crop”.
Israeli sniper shooting against the farmers
Another obstacle that farmers in Gaza must overcome is the blockade, which prevents the entry of fertilizers and pesticides, increasing even more production costs and reducing, even more, productivity. “The blockade also prevents us from exporting, even to the West Bank. All these problems are destroying the economy of the peasants … we are all in debt. We all have debts with the municipality, with the water company, the electricity company. The lack of water and electricity is the final blow that’s killing us”.
After the latest massive attacks, Gaza’s farmers are afraid to re-invest in their land, as they know that in a future aggression these will be targeted again by the Israeli army. “Gaza survives thanks to charity… that’s the truth. It ‘s what our enemy wants for us. We hope that the people from Europe, America, Asia… listens to us and help us to end the blockade. Why they target peasants? We’re just normal people. Don’t we have the right to live in peace?”
Tuesday morning at 8:30 we received a call from Badee Dwaik, one of the co-ordinators of Human Rights Defenders, a Palestinian human rights group, about the unfolding situation in Al Fawwar refugee camp.
Around 2:00 that morning, hundreds of Israeli soldiers invaded the village. Claiming they were looking for weapons, they went from home to home, searching each one. In homes that they searched, the soldiers destroyed furniture and made a mess. Their invasion caused clashes, as young Palestinian men and boys rushed out to confront them with rocks.
As we drove close to the village, we could see a roadblock and multiple Israeli Army jeeps stationed and not letting any cars in. We saw a UN car and spoke to the drivers, they too were denied entry. X, my fellow activist, and myself, decided to try getting into the village. The soldiers at the roadblock stopped us and asked us who we were. Knowing that the UN were denied entry and that in greatest likelihood if they were denied entry then our group would face the same treatment, we told the soldiers we are tourists. One of them looked at us and asked “OK, but are you sure you want to go in? It’s not very quiet there”. We feigned ignorance and asked the soldier what is going on. He said he can’t tell us, but advised us not to go in.
We said we would like to go in anyways. I resisted the urge to tell the soldier that the reason things were “not very quiet” in the village was because he and his comrades were attacking it.
As we entered into the village, we ran into a group of soldiers from Hebron. We knew each other well from previous encounters, especially settler tours and their forays into H1. They were very hostile and tried to stop us from filming, by blocking and attempting to grab my camera. They snapped at Palestinians to get into their homes or to keep moving. We could hear gunshots and sound bombs exploding in further areas of the village.
Pretty soon, we saw some Palestinian men throwing rocks at soldiers. The soldiers opened fire on them with rubber coated steel bullets, we could hear the loud “bang” noises as we sat behind a wall and observed.
A Palestinian family invited us to their house, and we observed from the rooftop as Israeli soldiers entered people’s houses. Groups about a dozen armed soldiers would enter through the door. Of course the families were not consulted. We visited a home that just about 15 minutes before was searched by the soldiers. We came to room after room of upturned furniture, clothes strewn over the floor, beds and tables flipped over. We witnessed a group of soldiers come into a home of a Palestinian family, a big dog with them.
Sometimes the houses were searched, but not always. During other times the soldiers went on the rooftops and made themselves comfortable. They were using these people’s homes- with the families still inside- as impromptu military vantage points. Had there been any real fighting- ie the people being victimized actually having weapons and being able to shoot back- these families would have been in great danger. Deliberately endangering civilians is a war crime.
We witnessed a group of Israeli soldiers throw sound grenades and gas grenades at school-age Palestinian children who were throwing stones at them. They also pointed their guns at these kids, as well as at us, in an attempt to intimidate. The soldiers swore at the Palestinian family who allowed us to stand on their roof and observe, yelling “sharmuta” (whore) at them.
Later, we witnessed clashes in another part of the village between older Palestinian youth and men, and the Israeli Army and a special unit of Border Police forces, who were shooting off round after round of rubber coated steel bullets and live ammo. There were three International Committee of the Red Crescent (ICRC) ambulances standing by, and very unfortunately they were kept busy throughout the whole day. By the time the “operation” was over, forty Palestinians were wounded and one seventeen year old boy was dead- shot in the heart with a live bullet. Some people later told us that the soldiers were stopping and detaining these vehicles as they rushed to take the wounded away… if so, it would be another war crime.
Being witnesses to the cruelty and brutality of the soldiers, we also were witnesses to the kindness of the people whom we met in the village. The Palestinian man who with his family allowed us to observe from their roof knew he was taking a big risk, since the military could target him next.
As the siege was progressing and one could hear gunshots and the explosions of sound grenades in the village, the first family we stayed with not only offered us cup after cup of coffee and tea, but later a delicious Palestinian breakfast. Their kids asked again and again to have their pictures taken.
As we walked through some parts of the village when it was safer to do so, people guided us to the places where the soldiers were engaged in their “action”. The second family we visited- whose furniture was trashed by the soldiers- also offered us drinks and warmly welcomed us.
How they were able to maintain their hospitality and kindness in the midst of this horrific event is beyond me. I really have no idea how I would have responded in their place if I had guests come at a time like this. Tragically, such raids happen there on more or less a regular basis. As traumatic as this particular attack was, it was nothing new.
After about six hours there, we had to leave. We could hear the sound bombs and gunshots continuing on our way out. We made sure to hide our memory cards prior to exiting, but the soldiers manning the checkpoint did not even check.
The “operation” was very military well planned out. The village was surrounded from all sides, with soldiers blocking the road leading into the village, and others being staked out in the hills. Small white drones buzzed overhead, taking photos. No one was able to get in (although after about a few hours the UN was allowed passage) and everyone was carefully screened on the way out.
The Army and Border Police I later learned pulled out the next morning, after spending about 24 hours in the village.
The Israeli military had tremendous success- forty wounded and one dead on the Palestinian side, and on the Israeli side, one lightly wounded soldier who was hit by a rock.
A truly resounding military victory. Except that the targets were not uniformed members of an enemy army, or even armed militants. The targets were civilians. Refugees. People already living a life that is economically difficult, who were now hit (again) by this type of calamity.
What happened three days ago was a criminal action. State ordered, and supported and sanctioned and even military made possible by certain powerful governments.
However, it was a crime nevertheless. Hopefully one day justice will come to this land, and events like this will be remembered as history of a tragic past, not the current and ongoing reality of today.
Israeli soldiers harass Palestinian and international human rights workers in Al Fawwar refugee camp.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us2tYpKWlXM
Israeli Army jeeps block off entrance to Al Fawwar refugee camp.A group of Israeli soldier in the camp.Palestinians watch from a rooftop as Israeli soldiers enter another Palestinian home.An Israeli soldier takes aim an internationals, in an effort to intimidate.
2nd August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Surif, occupied Palestine
At 10:30pm on the 26th of July the Israeli military entered the town of Surif, near Hebron, blocking all entrances and surrounding one house with tanks,bulldozers and dozens of soldiers. Surif was declared a closed military zone and electricity was cut out during the army’s entrance.
After raining live ammunition on the home for many hours the army took out one injured elderly woman, afterwards striking the 4 story house with air-borne missiles and finally demolishing it with bulldozers.
The attack lasted until 5:30 AM. During this time rubber bullets,tear gas and live bullets were shot at youths who appeared at the scene, 7 of whom were injured.
The target was Mohammad al-Faqeeh, a 29 year old who was not living in the house nor had been previously seen in the area. Following requests on the loud speaker for Mohammed to surrender, he appears to have fired shots from the building before it was shattered to the ground. His body was recovered from the ruins by soldiers and taken away in an army vehicle.
Bulldozer destroys family home already destructed by missiles
The Al-heeh family had been living in the building for 4 years. the father, Ibrahim, said luckily his pregnant wife and small children had been out when the army arrived and were informed by a friend of the situation, who called fearing the family were still inside the building. They are now staying with family and searching for a new home, a difficulty considering the lack of compensation and the loss of all their possessions.
Young boy stands in the ruins of his home of 4 years
