Tag: Operation Dove

CPT: Armed man kills two animals near Maghayir Al-Abeed village; Escapes to Havat Ma’on settlement

24 January 2011 | Operation Dove & Christian Peacemaker Team

In the early afternoon of 23 January 2011, an armed man killed two animals near the South Hebron Hills village of Maghayir Al-Abeed. Two teenage shepherds reported that they were watering their family’s flock at a well just above their village when a man running through the area, carrying an M-16, fired four or five shots at the dog which accompanies their flock. The shooter proceeded to chase the flock, kicking a ewe and throwing rocks at its head. The dog died immediately from four gunshot wounds and the incapacitated sheep died approximately two hours after the beating.

The two teenage shepherds, Mohammed Mahmoud Mukahmri, 15, and ‘Awli ‘Ali Mukhamri, 13, ascended the hill, following the assailant from a distance, in time to see the man enter the grouping of trees which surrounds Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost. They reported the man had a dark brown beard and was wearing black pants, a black shirt, and a yarmulke.

Ninety minutes after the incident, Israeli authorities arrived to investigate the crime scene and take testimonies from those present during the incident.

Hani Salaami Mukhamri, the owner of animals who arrived at the scene mere moments after the shooting, reacted sharply to the police investigator’s doubts that Mukhamri could be certain the assailant that he saw was an Israeli settler, and not an Arab. “Palestinians in this area don’t have guns, never in my life have I seen a Palestinian civilian with a gun. Only settlers have guns here.” Mukhamri also lamented the utter disregard for the lives of his animals, “three lives were lost here today: my shepherding dog, a sheep, and the unborn lamb that the ewe was carrying.”

The well where the shooting took place is a main source of water for the families in Maghayir Al-Abeed . In early 2001, Mukamri’s mother was shot in the leg by an Israeli settler while she drew water from the very same well.

International peace activists from Christian Peacemaker Teams arrived at the scene after the shooting, taking testimony and photo and video documentation.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Operation Dove: South Hebron Hill Settlers attack Palestinian boy and internationals

21 October 2010 | Operation Dove

At-Tuwani – On Thursday, 21st October, at around 9.20 am, two Operation Dove volunteers, coming back to the village of At-Tuwani after having visited some Palestinian families in the village of Tuba, were attacked by Israeli settlers from the illegal outpost of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833).

While walking, the internationals received a phone call by a Palestinian shepherd who was with his flock on a upper hill and warned them about some settlers who were quickly approaching. A few minutes after the phone call, two settlers, faces covered by t-shirts, appeared  where the internationals were walking. They shot stones with slingshots at the internationals who quickly ran away.

Later on, a few minutes after 1 pm in the same area, there was a similar attack on a Palestinian boy walking back home through the path on Meshaha hill. Two Operation Dove volunteers were on the top of the close Kharrouba hill to monitor the afternoon military escort of the school children from Tuba and Maghayir al Abeed when they saw an Israeli settler quickly coming out from the outpost, covering his face and calling reinforcements. Few minutes later, three more masked settlers appeared on the top of Meshaha hill and, together with the first settler, started to throw stones against the Palestinian. The boy, after running down in the valley, joined the internationals on Kharrouba hill and stayed with them until the settlers disappeared inside the outpost.

Israeli soldiers, who arrived after being called by the settlers, asked the internationals what had happened and if, according to them, the problems were in some way connected with the Palestinian olive picking activity. The commander then declared he was not proud of the settlers behavior and suggested the internationals call the police every time anything similar happens.

After the settlers attacked At-Tuwani village on June 12th 2010, internationals living in the area documented no other aggression during the summer. These latest events, preceded by the aggression of October 12th when two Israeli masked settlers chased two Palestinian young men and threw stones at them, appear to be a significant renewal of settler violence.

These kinds of incidents are frequent in the South Hebron Hills area, where national-religious settlers from settlements and outposts used to attack shepherds and farmers to intimidate and drive them to abandon their land. These illegal actions usually remain unpunished and, in many cases, happen with the complicity of Israeli army and police. The Palestinian community of this area choose to resist the continuous abuses of Israeli settlers and military with nonviolence.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

CPT: Palestinian fence damaged in village in At-Tuwani area

Christian Peacemaker Team – At-Tuwani & Operation Dove

On the morning of Wednesday, 4 August, Palestinians from At-Tuwani found that their fence built between the village and the nearby Havat Ma’on settler outpost had been partially destroyed during the night. The fence, made from cemented metal supports and barbed wire, was funded by European Commission for Humanitarian Aid, Union of Agricultural Work Committee, and Save the Children UK. At-Tuwani villagers built the fence in March 2010 with the aim of protecting crops planted in the area, defining the borders of the agricultural land belonging to Palestinians, and as a response to the ongoing and rapid expansion of the nearby Ma’on settlement and Havat Ma’on outpost. The villagers also constructed the fence to help protect the village from Israeli settler raids (such as the events of 26 January, see press release “Israeli settlers and soldiers invade At-Tuwani, attack and injure villagers” and 12 June, see press release “Israeli masked settlers attack At-Tuwani Palestinian village”).

The morning of August 4, Palestinian villagers found 17 poles supporting the fence pulled up and about 100m of barb wire fencing cut in pieces. They suspect that the perpetrators of this action are the Israeli settlers from the outpost. During this year the same fence had already been damaged on 11 May (see press release “Palestinian fence vandalized in At-Tuwani village”). After that incident, the owner of the land filed a complaint to the Israeli police but he never received any update from them concerning the progress of the investigation.

This property damage is just the last of several ongoing provocations carried out by the Israeli army and Israeli settlers which Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills have committed to respond to with nonviolent resistance.

Pictures of the incident:

For further information:
Operation Dove, 054 992 5773
Christian Peacemaker Teams 054 253 1323

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]

Operation Dove: Armed Israeli settlers steal a sheep from a Palestinian shepherd

Operation Dove

At-Tuwani – South Hebron Hills: Yesterday, on Wednesday, 21st of July 2010, three settlers, one of them armed, stole a sheep from a young Palestinian shepherd, a resident of the village of Tuba, while he was watering the flocks at a well situated in Umm Zeitouna valley, which is located between the Israeli settlements of Ma’on and Karmel.

According to the shepherd, at around 8 am two Israeli settler vehicles pulled over on the roadside. A settler exited from one of the two cars, walked to the shepherd’s flock, and after grabbing a sheep by the ear, dragged the animal a few yards before loading it on his shoulders. He then walked away towards the road, where two other settlers, one of them armed, were waiting for him. The animal was loaded into one of the vehicles with the help of two other settlers, while the shepherd remained at a distance filming the theft with a camera from the Israeli association B’Tselem, given to Palestinians in the area to document attacks by settlers.

The young Palestinian pointed out that during the theft, on the road not far from the settlers cars, there was an IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) military jeep. Although the soldiers were present during the incident, after a nod by the settlers they left the scene without intervening.

The shepherd then reported the theft of the sheep to Israeli police, who arrived on the scene with Ma’on settlement’s Security Guard and two other settlers identified as Havat Ma’on residents and responsible of previous attacks against Palestinians. The police refused to talk to the shepherd who wanted to make a complaint, saying they did not know Arabic or English and insisting on speaking with the boy’s father, although he was not present at the time of the robbery. A few minutes later the police went to the village of Tuba to pick the parent and bring him to the police station in Kiryat Arba. Then the young shepherd, accompanied by international volunteers, followed his father to the Israeli police station to make a complaint and bring the video of the incident.

See photos from this event here.

Episodes like this are frequent in the South Hebron Hills, where the national-religious settlers from the settlements and the outposts attack Palestinian shepherds and farmers to intimidate and force them to leave their lands. These kinds of illegal actions are usually left unpunished and many of them occur with army and police complicity. The Palestinian community of this area have chosen nonviolence to resist to the continuous abuses of the Israeli settlers and military.

Operation Dove and Christian Peacemaker Teams have maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and the South Hebron Hills since 2004.

Operation Dove: Israeli masked settlers attack At-Tuwani Palestinian village

Operation Dove

At-Tuwani – On the morning of Saturday, 12th June 2010, shortly before 11.00, about thirty Israeli settlers from Havat Ma’on oupost, masked and armed with slings and sticks, invaded At-Tuwani village, attacking the most exposed house of the village and throwing stones against Palestinian villagers.

The settlers approached the house and soon damaged the low stone fence and broke the glass of a window using an iron stick. At the time of the attack, only women and children were at home because all the men of the family were going to the near city of Yatta for a relative’s funeral. The women with the children soon left the house, running away scared. While running, one of the women, age 19, pregnant and with a baby in her arms, fell to the ground. Later in the morning, she has been transferred by a Palestinian Red Cross ambulance to the near hospital of Yatta.

When Operation Dove volunteers reached the place, together with many Palestinian residents of the village, the settlers were moving away from the house, without stopping throwing stones with slings. Some Palestinians have been hit and afterwards treated by paramedical staff.

See photos from this event here.

Israeli army, police and border police came about half an hour after the aggression began, when the settlers had already retired among the trees of Havat Ma’on. Shortly after the security forces had arrived, some settlers with uncovered face came out from the wood, provoking a lot of tension among the Palestinians. Some activists, belonging to the Israeli peace association Ta’ayush, who had arrived shortly before, interposed betweeen the Palestinians and the soldiers; one of them have been arrested.

In the meantime, some army vehicles blocked the main entrance to the village, in order to control the area. After the accident, the police collected testimonies from all the witnesses and took pictures to document the damage caused to the Palestinian property by the settlers aggression. Two Palestinian men who live in the house attacked by settlers went to Kiryat Arba police station to file a complaint. Two Operation Dove volunteers did the same in order to release their testimony about the events and deliver evidences (photos and videos).

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