Tag: Qusra

Israeli forces raid Qusra following murder of Palestinian

December 2017 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Nablus, Occupied Palestine

On Thursday the 30th of November, Mahmoud Ahmad Zaal Odeh, age 48, a Palestinian farmer from the village Qusra in the northern West bank was murdered by Israeli settlers from a nearby settlement. “Mahmoud was walking on his land when he noticed the settlers cutting down one of his trees. They were armed with guns,” a local Palestinian that spoke with Mahmoud only minutes before the attack says. “He ran towards them to stop them when they opened fire on him.“ Mahmoud died shortly after due to his immense wounds.

Soldiers from the Israeli forces run into the village in an attemt to arrest.

Later that same evening, soldiers from the Israeli military accompanied by settlers from nearby settlements entered the village. Clashes then escalated between the Israeli military forces and young Palestinian boys. The Israeli military fired tear gas at the entire village as a part of a larger collective punishment towards the village, injuring around 40 civilians.

Palestinian women looks for her son mids the group of soldiers from the Israeli military in Qusra

Among those injured was a 3 year old child, as well as the disabled and elderly, all of whom were unable to move quickly from the rounds of tear gas fired at some of the houses. Four Palestinians were also injured by live ammunition and 15 were shot with rubber coated steal bullets.

Teargas shot by the Israeli military affected the whole village.

The day after, soldiers from the Israeli military fired over 100 rounds of tear gas, set a field on fire and shot rubber coated steel bullets and live ammunition inside Qusra during the Friday demonstration, which was held because of the murder of Mahmoud Odeh.

At noon on Friday, the 1st of December, around 300 Palestinians and a few internationals gathered in the olive groves where Odeh had been murdered only a day before. After a prayer the group walked towards Odeh’s fields.

Around 300 Palestinians prayed in the olive grove where Mahmoud had been murdered only a day before.

The soldiers shot a few rounds of tear gas and some rubber coated steel bullets while some young Palestinians threw stones. Around eight civilians were injured, including press, by the numerous rounds of tear gas fired at the group, waving Palestinian flags towards the hillside. “You could still see his blood on the ground. It’s so shameful that the Israeli military does nothing to investigate his death – it just shoots at the whole village,“ one ISM activist said.

Mahmoud’s blood was still on the ground after the attack only a day before.

Around 1:00 AM, clashes began at the entrance of the village, where the Israeli military with Border Police had situated themselves, armed with military trucks and weapons. The soldiers proceeded to fire rounds of tear gas at the crowd, and after a while ambushed the village with four military jeeps.

Soldiers from Israeli military fire teargas in the center of the village.

For the next four hours, the Israeli military forces fired rounds of teargas and rubber coated steel bullets at houses in the village, which resulted in over 20 people being injured by gas coming into their homes. On the 2nd of December, clashes continued in the village with the Israeli military forces firing around 15 rounds of teargas and shooting rubber coated steel bullets. When the army collectively punishes a village in such a way, it affects all of its residents.

Medics assist people injured by the massive amounts of teargas fired at everyone.

Demolitions in Qusra

3rd February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

In the early morning of February 2nd, 2015, Israeli forces demolished a two-room structure, a water well, and damaged a stone wall in Qusra, Occupied West Bank. All of the destroyed property was on land belonging to brothers Anwar and Akram Tayseer.

Israeli forces, at approximately 5:00am, destroyed the property with bulldozers. When farmers went out into their fields at 5:00am, five Israeli military jeeps were still present at the site, loitering around the recently destroyed infrastructure. The occupying forces refused to speak with anyone. The water well and small concrete structure were built with money donated by the French Consulate, to facilitate agricultural development in the vulnerable region. Located in Area C, Qusra is subject to common attacks from nearby illegal Israeli settlements, mainly the Esh Kodesh outpost. Settlers living in the illegal outpost Esh Kodesh have been implicated in various ´price tag´ attacks throughout the West Bank (acts of violence against Palestinians by settlers). Settlers come after every time local Palestinians work their land, in day or night, sometimes armed with iron bars; families often wake up to destroyed trees, structures, or crops. Israeli soldiers are often present at these incidents, intervening only to protect settlers. An Israeli military watchtower was constructed on the hill overlooking the agricultural lands around ten months ago. In the past, village residents have received Israeli orders to stop building on their land, which they have always respected (despite their illegality). However, it is not uncommon, according to locals, for farmers to have their agricultural structures demolished shortly after receiving these orders, despite the lack of further development.

This is not the first time the Tayseer´s family land has been attacked by settlers. On one occasion two years ago, Akram Tayseer was taken by the settlers, and severely beaten. He sustained injuries which put him in the hospital for two months, in his head, face, and arm. He was unable to leave his home for one year. Since this incident, residents recount that they have not seen him smile, and perceive that he is broken inside. The family has documents indicating their ownership of the land and the property which once stood on it.

The cost of agricultural structure demolished is approximately 5000 NIS (~$1275USD). The water well served as a collection site, and an important reservoir to nourish the fields. Enclosing the plots of land, around 500 meters of a traditional Palestinian stone wall was dismantled. The fields are the main source of income for the family.

According to OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs), 82 Palestinian homes and agricultural structures have been demolished by Israel since the beginning of 2015. Under the Fourth Geneva Convention, it is illegal for occupying powers to destroy property; Article 53 states: “Any destruction by the Occupying Power of real or personal property belonging individually or collectively to private persons…is prohibited.” Since 1967, Israel has demolished over 27,000 Palestinian structures in the Occupied West Bank.

Military repression following a settler attack in Qusra

7th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Nablus District, Occupied Palestine

On the 7th of January in Qusra, two farmers working on their land were threatened by settlers carrying guns. Villagers helped them to chase the invaders away before being violently repressed by the army.

On Friday, at 10:30 a.m., two Palestinian farmers were working their land around the village of Qusra when they were ordered by two armed settlers to stop their work and leave the area. The two farmers refused to obey, and called members of the municipality. Soon, about 50 villagers reached the scene, immediately followed by seven Israeli military vehicles, most of them from the border police. They demanded all the Palestinians to leave the area within five minutes.

When the villagers refused to leave, the army began firing tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades. The attack lasted until 3:00 p.m. Seven Palestinians were injured; four of them were less than eighteen years old.

The two settlers responsible for the attack are from the illegal colonial outpost Raheir, totaling less than ten permanent residents.

Friday’s events mark the 65th recorded attack on the village of Qusra in the past two years. Since the beginning of January, 88 olive trees have been destroyed by the settlers and one young man suffered a severe head injury. In the year 2013, 870 olive trees were destroyed and 30 people were injured, five of them severely. 3,11 dunums of land were annexed and access to 500 more was declared forbidden for Palestinians for “security reasons .”

Photo by ISM — Israeli soldiers fire tear gas at the villagers of Qusra (Photo by Mohammed Abu Ridah)

Clashes in Qusra: olive trees destroyed and settlers beaten

08th January 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth erupted yesterday after settlers attacked villagers from Qusra on their fields. Palestinians captured a group of settlers on their way to Qaryut after they had destroyed a number of olive trees.

In the morning of the 7^th January 2014, several farmers from Qusra, a village south of Nablus, entered their fields close to the illegal outpost of Ashe Kodesh. At approximately 10am two illegal settlers, accompanied by three Israeli soldiers, entered the fields in order to destroy the olive trees. Palestinians witnessed one settler carrying a metal stick which he then used to beat a farmer, while the soldiers watched on refusing to intervene. The farmer received injures to his head and to his knee.

Villagers from Qusra heard of the attack and went to the fields to assist the farmers. While the farmers brought the injured man to the ambulance, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinian youth. Many Israeli soldiers and border police shot tear gas canisters at the protesters and moved to protect the illegal settlers. More settlers arrived at the fields in order to watch the clashes, while Israeli forces were extremely violently and shot tear gas canisters directly at Palestinian youth and journalists.

After approximately one hour the settlers ran towards the village of Qaryut, destroying more olive trees on the way, closely followed by Palestinian and international activists. The villagers of Jalud heard about the settler attack and witnessed them running in the fields. The villagers decided to surround the settlers and hold them accountable for the attack. The Palestinians beat the settlers and brought one by one to a shelter between Jalud and Qaryut, where they controlled their movement and stopped them from running away. After they succeeded catching several settlers, the others hid behind trees and stones close by. Four Israeli soldiers arrived at the shelter and were overwhelmed with the situation.

After approximately 30 minutes many journalists and members of the press arrived to document the incident. The injured settlers refused help from the Palestinian Red Crescent. After a short period of time, the Palestinian DCO arrived and handed over 17 settlers to the Israeli army, which by then had increased to around 40 soldiers. Further information about the settlers is unknown.

Qusra is a Palestinian village in Nablus, of approximately 4,500 people, that is hundreds if not thousands of years old. The village is no stranger to settler violence and harassment. The most infamous incidents of settler violence in Qusra occurred in September 2011, when a mosque in Qusra was vandalized and targeted for arson by extremist Israeli settlers, gaining international attention. Later the same month, a group of settlers invaded the village and when they met resistance, Israeli soldiers intervened, shooting and killing Essam Badran, a 35-year-old Palestinian man.

Israeli army confiscates land in Qusra

26th December 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Qusra, Occupied Palestine

Israeli soldiers have declared a road south of Qusra, in Nablus District, a security zone, thus denying villagers access to over 500 dunams of their farmland.

At 10:00 this morning, Israeli soldiers positioned themselves at various strategic points around the village. The commander then held a meeting on the farmland with the mayor of Qusra. It was in this meeting that the Israeli army officially appropriated the land, claiming “security reasons.”

Farmers have been told that they may apply for permits to access their land. However, Palestinian farmers state that these applications are frequently ignored. One farmer stated: “I’m sure they will not give anything to the farmers. This is a military order: it will pass.”