Tag: Live Ammunition - Page 3 - International Solidarity Movement

Protesters take the hilltop

April 19, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Soldiers shoot live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades at protesters in the weekly Friday demonstration in Kafr Quaddum. Several Palestinians, a minor and an international were shot by rubber-coated steel bullets and a French international was beaten and arrested by Israeli soldiers.

Around 150 protesters gathered in protest today in Kafr Quaddum to honor the 31st anniversary of the martyr Khalel Alwazer (Abu Jehad), a member of the central committee of the Fateh movement. They marched through the village towards the illegal settlement and in a demand to reopen the main road in and out of the village.* Protesters were joined by leaders from the PLO, Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, and Popular Resistance Committees in the West Bank. Even though it was the Christian holy day of good Friday, Father Abdalla Yolyo, who is an Orthodox Christian Leader, also joined the protest and showed his support to the villagers.

Almost immediately after the start of the protest the soldiers opened fire on the demonstration with of rubber-coated steel bullets. Soldiers were hiding on the roofs of Palestinians houses and on the hill. Many protestors were hit with rubber-coated steel bullets including several Palestinians, two international activists and a child who had to receive medical assistance.

At the same time several protesters were climbing the hill where the soldiers were firing from. The protestor managed to push the soldiers back and reached the top of the hill.

protesters climbing hill, soldiers in the background

As the soldiers left, the protester lit tire-fires, and the wind direction sent the smoke into the illegal settlement. Almost 10 minutes later the soldiers returned, charging into the demonstration and opened fire with live ammunition and eventually arrested a French international human rights defender.

*The main road into the village has been closed since 2003 by the illegal settlement. In 2010 the Supreme Court ruled the road block illegal, however the Israeli authorities refused to reopen the road. In February this year, Israeli authorities promised to reopen the road if the villagers protested peacefully for one month which the villagers complied with. However after a month of peaceful demonstration the road was not re-opened. As a response to the broken promise, the habitants of Kafr Quaddum and several internationals have been protesting ever Friday until the road is re-opened.

Soldiers invade Al-Khalil; fire live ammunition at protesters

April 5, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Israeli occupation forces storm into Al-Khalil and fire live ammunition at protesters after bombarding the city with tear gas, stun grenades, and rubber-coated steel bullets.

Around 1pm soldiers invaded Al-Khalil through checkpoint 56. The soldiers fired stun grenades at protesters. Immediately following the stun grenades, the soldiers fired tear gas into the street–forcing the protesters and press personnel to move. As the tear gas disappeared, protests continued. The Israeli soldiers then proceeded to shoot protestors with rubber-coated steel bullets while continuing to fire stun grenades at protesters.

At one point the soldiers switched from rubber-coated steel bullets to live ammunition. For approximately an hour soldiers fired live ammunition and stun grenades at Palestinian protesters until eventually retiring behind the checkpoint, which was closed to the public at this time.

The protests arose again and the soldiers fired several rounds of tear gas and shot rubber-coated steel bullets. During the invasion they also threw stun grenades at the press.

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian delivering legal documents at Rajabi House

March 13, 2019 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil team | Al-Khalil (Hebron), occupied Palestine

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian in Al-Khalil (Hebron) on Tuesday while attempting to distribute legal court documents. The Palestinian man was identified as 36-year-old Yasser Fawzi Shweiki.

After the shooting, Shweiki’s body was dragged into the Rajabi House. The army further prevented Palestinian Red Crescent Society’s medics from entering the scene to treat Shweiki.

Human rights workers were attacked by Israeli Police and arrested immediately after arriving on the scene.

The shooting occurred outside the Rajabi House (also called Beit HaMeriva or House of Contention by Israeli press; the Peace House, Beit HaShalom, or בית השלום‎ by Israeli settlers)–which was first occupied by illegal settlers in 2007.

In December 2008, the illegal settlers were forcibly removed from the Rajabi house following a Supreme Court order finding that the settlers submitted “large-scale forgeries of many documents” to the courts. In response to the ruling, Baruch Marzel (ברוך מרזל) (former spokesman for the terrorist organization Jewish Defense League and resident of Hebron) told Ynet “We must go to war.”

Settler violence followed, setting fire to Palestinian fields, olive groves, homes, shops, and cars. At least 2 Palestinians were shot by settlers, including Hosni Abu Saither–shot in the chest at point-blank range on December 4th, 2008. B’Tselem published a video of the shooting:

Israel claims that Shweiki had a knife when he was shot on Tuesday.

Ofer Yohana (עופר אוחנה)–the infamously violent settler that was caught on video in 2016 kicking a knife towards the body of Abdel Fattah al-Sharif after he was shot by Israeli soldier Elor Azaria (אלאור אזריה)–was on the scene of Shweiki’s shooting on Tuesday; he can be seen attempting to stop the filming of the human rights workers’s camera in the first video above.

Two Palestinians and an International shot at non-violent Protest in Kafr Qaddum

November 23, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Fourteen years ago the Israeli Government closed the road between Kafr Qaddum and Nablus, extending the distance to 14 km, effectively making what would be a 15 minute journey for the villagers, into 40 minutes. The protests began in 2011 to reopen the illegal roadblock, and have continued every Friday and Saturday since then.

Israeli snipers inside the village — Israeli snipers were inside the village

Today’s protest, as always, began after prayer. Immediately, the soldiers started firing live rounds, rubber bullets, and tear gas.

The coordinator of the demonstration, Murad Eshtewi, was hit with a live round in the right thigh. After being transferred to an ambulance, a fellow demonstrator took his place, speaking into the megaphone.

In response to the tear gas and gunfire, the youth began throwing stones – deemed by Israel as a crime punishable up to 20 years in prison.

Several internationals were present, including those from ISM, IWPS, and the Press. A 65-year-old Italian national – a volunteer with ISM – was shot in her left thigh by a rubber-coated steel bullet. “I was just standing there,” she recalls, “It was good that I was turned away. I could’ve been shot in the knee.” Another young boy was also shot in the leg, and was carried off into an ambulance, reportedly in shock.

This attack on another peaceful demonstration against the illegal road block, only confirms the increase in aggression by the army. Discouraging protest by the Palestinians, and international solidarity thereof, is the only take-away from an attack like this. “They used less bombs and tear gas… But they used more bullets,” another demonstrator states.

Demonstrations by Palestinians and Internationals are expected to continue for this Saturday, and the following weekends.

Settler tourists given weekly armed escort through the streets of Al Khalil

On Saturday May 19th, over twenty soldiers escorted armed settlers through the souq

Every Saturday, Zionist settler tours take place in the narrow alleys of the souq in Al Khalil’s (Hebron). These guided tours usually last for about an hour, and settlers are always accompanied by armed Israeli forces, intimidating local Palestinians who are trying to make a living by selling their goods in the market.

The tours began in 2008. At the moment they are usually made up of 50 or more settlers, accompanied by around 30 armed soldiers and border police.

Palestinians often have to stop and wait as the tour makes its way down the narrow streets of the souq. If they are allowed to pass at all, pedestrians are forced to walk through a crowd of settlers, soldiers and border police. Businesses in the souq are affected, as shopping streets are brought to a standstill.

On recent Saturdays, ISM volunteers have seen small children attempting to get past the tour, but repeatedly being told to wait by the army escort.

Each week international volunteers from ISM, the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) and Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) walk ahead of and behind the tour, in an attempt to monitor and observe the situation. These observers often face harassment from Israeli forces. For example, on Saturday 5^th May, after the tour had finished, six international volunteers were surrounded and detained by 13 paratroopers. The commander of the group demanded IDs from the internationals, and threatened that if they ‘made problems’, they would be imprisoned for one month, barred from Al-Khalil, or from entering Israel in the future. This is one small example of how the Israeli military works to prevent any scrutiny of its illegal occupation.

One shopkeeper in the souq told ISM, “We don’t know the settlers’ intentions in coming into our streets, why do they have to come here? Perhaps they are wanting to take over this area.”

Another shopkeeper told us, “I really feel distressed and unsafe during the tours. Even though they have army units with them, some of the settlers carry shotguns. I think they come here [on the tours] because they think think this is their city. It puts a lot of pressure on us Palestinians. I have even seen the people on the tours spitting at international volunteers.

We never know when they are going to come, sometimes they come late afternoon. Sometimes, when there are hard times here, they even come at night.”

Read more about the settler tours here and here.