Tag: Night Raid - Page 18 - 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.

Five men imprisoned after night raids in Beit Furik

14th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Beit Furik, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

On Tuesday 7th of May the Israeli army invaded Nablus and the nearby village of Beit Furik and arrested 9 men. The men, between the ages of 18 and 22, are all members of the PLFP. One man from Beit Furik was released a few hours following his detention, the others remain held at the Huwwara military base without charge.

Faris' grandmother in the home where Faris was seized (Photo by ISM) — Faris’ grandmother in the home where Faris was seized (Photo by ISM)

In Beit Furik, families describe how Israeli soldiers surrounded their homes at approximately 2am before entering and seizing the men. A neighbor reports he saw the soldiers enter the village in a large group. The soldiers then split off into smaller units so that they could arrest the men simultaneously from their family homes.

The mother of Sadaam Salame Mohammed Hoanni, 19 years-old, says the family had been asleep and did not have time to properly dress when the soldiers began hammering at her door. 14 of the soldiers entered the home and herded her family into the living room so that they could search the house while the others remained outside, surrounding the home.

She describes the soldiers as extremely loud and aggressive as they shouted at her family. They took Sadaam with them to inspect the family home and seized documents and information from the family computer.

When Sadaam’s mother asked the captain why he was arresting her son, the captain assured her that Sadaam was only needed for questioning and that he would be returned to her soon. Sadaam, however, remains in detention four days on and the family has been unable to communicate with him. They still have no idea why he was detained or how he is being treated. They say there was no particular event or action precipitating his arrest.

The family is despairing and they want Sadaam back, but say there is nothing they can do until the Israeli army decides to release him or provide more information on the reasons for his arrest. This is the first time the Israeli army has invaded their home and arrested a member of their family.

A few minutes down the road from Sadaam’s house, Faris Reem Hamad, 22 years-old, was also taken from his family home (at 2am). Faris’ grandmother reports that nearly 50 soldiers surrounded her home in what she describes as a siege. 20 of the soldiers entered and forced the family to gather in their living room as they searched the home.

The soldiers seized a photograph of Faris’ grandfather, who was martyred by the Israeli army in the 1970s when Faris’ grandmother was only 22 and mother to three children, the youngest only 6 months old at the time. They also took Faris and denied his family the chance to say goodbye. Faris remains held at the Huwwara military base. His family still does not know why he was arrested and have not been able to speak with him since his detention.

The Oslo Accords – still dead in Nablus

8th May 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

Nablus was disturbed by two army jeeps driving in a circuit round the city centre and shooting tear gas at young men, with no clear intent other than to harass them for around three hours.
Shooting and sound bombs were heard beginning at 01:45. Two Israeli military jeeps circled around one block in central Nablus for three hours shooting tear gas and sound bombs at a group of 20 young people. The excessive shooting of tear gas at close range caused public property damage to surrounding buildings and street lights.
There were three arrests Azz Aldan Salha (22) and Raed Saig from Nablus and Ahmad Sorf (24), from New Askar refugee camp. Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Nablus is designated as Area A, which nominally is within full Palestinian Authority jurisdiction.
Nablus sees regular Israeli military incursions, typically to give armed support to night-time settler visits to Joseph’s Tomb or raids on Palestinian homes, often in the city’s refugee camps, but elsewhere too, such as the arrest of 17 students from al-Najjar University last week.

Night raids and arrests in Hares, Kifl Hares and Deir Istiya

1st May 2013 | International Women’s Peace Service, Salfit, Occupied Palestine

Yesterday night, at 21:40, an announcement was made over the mosque loudspeaker in Deir Istiya that settlers were planning an attack. Villagers were warned to stay wake and on watch for possible violence. At 22:45 IWPS began a night watch in Deir Istiya and learned that the Israeli District Coordination Officer had contacted Salfit municipality who in turn communicated to Hares, Kifl Hares and Deir Istiya’s councils that settlers were surrounding villages and to be on the lookout for possible attacks targeting the mosques from the illegal settlements of Yakir, Ariel and Revava. The men of Deir Istiya, Hares and Kifl Hares stayed up all night on the streets keeping watch over the village.
At 1:00, approximately 30 Israeli soldiers were seen along with two army vehicles on the main road outside of Hares. At 2:00 the soldiers entered the village. The 30 soldiers entered a house premises on foot and asked a 15 year-old for his 21 year-old brother by name. The brother of the young man stated the person they were looking for is a university student and not in the house. The military entered the home and forced the 10 members of the household to sit in one of the downstairs rooms as the soldiers searched the house four times. When the soldiers did not find the 21 year-old student they were looking for, they grabbed the 15 year-old brother who had answered their questions at the door. One soldier began to bind the boy’s hands and blindfold him but another stopped him, stating they would continue when they were out of sight of the family. The soldiers stated to the family that their son “had caused some problems” and they would return him in two hours after questioning. The soldiers left the family a handwritten note for the 21 year-old older brother to meet Captain Afiq at the Qalqiliya checkpoint at 9:00 on 9 May.

Captain Afiq came to the door of another house in Hares ordering the family to “count your sons” and then referencing one by name whom he wanted to see outside for “five minutes”. The 16 year-old was then blindfolded and handcuffed from behind. The arrested youth’s 20 year-old brother is currently serving a total of nine months in Megiddo prison (three months for a stone throwing charge, plus six additional months for it being his second offense). The entire 10 person household, the youngest being 12 years-old, were forced to stay in one room for two hours. The soldiers also broke the front gate and damaged the door by forcing it open.
Simultaneously, a 23 year-old was taken by the Israeli military for the second time. At 1:00 the mother of the household heard a noise, opened her window and saw an Israeli soldier jumping over the fence that surrounds her yard. Around 30 soldiers came into the family courtyard, some entered the house. The family of 11, with 9 children and a father with a neurological disorder who frequently loses consciousness, were pushed into one room. The soldiers had a slip of paper with one of the son’s name printed on it; the young man was woken up and brought to the next room where they would not let him retrieve his identification card nor would they allow him to dress. The soldiers blindfolded him and tied his hands behind his back while his mother attempted to give him clothing. This young man, who has previously been in prison for a year, was told that he was “again making problems” and will get a five year sentence.
Between 2:30 and 3:00 the army entered two separate houses in the village of Deir Istiya. The soldiers were observed entering from the illegal settlement of Yakir through the hillside olive groves. The soldiers took two minors outside and started questioning them about who was throwing stones and what the announcements from the mosque were. In one case the soldiers took the entire family outside and then searched their house while they were not present and then left. No arrests were made in Deir Istiya that night. Although a 22 year-old and an 18-year old were arrested in the village of Kifl Hares at 2:30 AM.

Israeli army raid four Palestinian villages inside firing area 918, South Hebron hills

3rd November 2012 | Operation Dove, West Bank

By Operation Dove www.operationdove.org

FRIGHTENING NIGHT FOR PALESTINIAN FAMILIES

On the 1st of November Israeli soldiers irrupted in Al-Fakheit, Al-Majaz, At-Tabban and Al-Mirkez, villages of the ‘Firing Area’ 918 in the West Bank. The soldiers surrounded the villages, and internationals’ phones started to ring continuously. One by one the first news from the Palestinians arrived to the internationals and pushed them to move quickly toward the area.
All the roads to reach them were closed by military jeeps and DCO (District Coordination Office, the section of the Israeli military that works for the civil administration in the Occupied Palestinian Territories), as was seen. They called some frightened inhabitants from the villages who told them what happened. The only way to reach the area was to arrive in Jinba and to check from a distance. A lot of military jeeps were also seen moving among the hills.
According to testimonies of Al-Fakheit, Al-Majaz and At-Tabban, collected on the field, around 7:00 pm in every village almost 30 soldiers got off helicopters, pushed the people out from their houses, even children and babies inside the cradles. The soldiers took pictures of each family and each building. They checked also the IDs. The Israeli army gave them a document which accuses the local inhabitants to help illegal workers who travel toward Israel, drugs and arms dealers. They asked a lot of questions about the number of the people in each village, their names, who the owners of cars and tractors are. They also checked in their houses and tents, looking for something. In every village the inhabitants witnessed how the children were scared by the Army behaviour. During the raid, Israeli soldiers threatened the Palestinian inhabitants, urging them to leave their land and ordering them to “shut up” when the Palestinians tried to ask the reason of the night raid.
A woman of Al-Fakheit said that the soldiers surrounded all the houses scaring children and women. At the moment the majority of the men were working in Yatta, the nearby Palestinian city situated in area A. Soldiers asked a Palestinian to show his ID, but he had it in another tent, when he offered to get it the soldiers forbade it to him. While his wife was going to take their ID’s, a soldier drew his weapon on her.
The Palestinian villages of A-Tabban, Al- Majaz, Al-Fakheit and Al-Mirkez are located a few kilometres away from the Green Line. Since the 1970’s a large portion of the area around the villages is used by the Israeli army for military training and it is called ‘Firing Area 918’. On November 1999 all the villages in the area were evacuated and the people deported north past the bypass road 317. They obtained the right to return back to their homes but since then they have continued to receive military aggression and harrassment.
Since 22nd July 2012, after several delays, the State Attorney submitted a response to the Court, based on a position formulated by the Minister of Defense, according to which “permanent residence will be prohibited” in most of the area declared as a firing zone. The result of this decision will be the evacuation of 8 villages and the expulsion of almost 1500 people from their homes. On the 8th of August the High Court of Justice allowed the Palestinian inhabitants to keep on living in this area until the 1st of November, then postponed on the 16th of December.
Some cases of military activities were registered this year in the villages inside the ‘Firing Area’: on January 20th 2012, two children of 11 and 13 years old, were injured by an unexploded device, while they were grazing their flocks on Palestinian land near Jinba.
On August 7th, 2012 at 10:00 am a group of 70 Israeli soldiers raided the Palestinian village of Jinba. The Israeli army reached the place by logistical support of two military helicopters and 6 military vehicles. The battalion entered in Jinba village and threatened the Palestinian inhabitants for one hour and half ransacked their homes, that were found damaged.
On the morning of September 16th, around 8:00 am nearby the Palestinian village of Majaz, a 38 years old man was attacked and injured while travelling on his car. According to Palestinian witnesses, 4 soldiers stopped him on the road and started to beat him and to damage his vehicle. The soldiers detained him for one hour near their hummer.

On the 30th of September two Palestinian shepherds from Halaweh village were detained and threatened by the Israeli army while grazing their flock in the area of Massafer Yatta, West Bank.
The two shepherds claimed that soldiers beat one of them, sequestered their mobile-phones and pushed them away from their own land maintaining to be a military zone. Moreover the soldiers ordered to the Palestinians not to come back there, threatening that otherwise they would have killed all the flock.

The Israeli Army keeps persecuting its isolation policy aimed to restrict Palestinians’ freedom of movement in that area.

Nevertheless the Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills are strongly involved in affirming their rights and resisting to the Israeli occupation choosing a nonviolent way.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Pictures of the villages: http://snipurl.com/25hogy8