28th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
This afternoon Israeli border police entered through Salaymeh checkpoint and fired 14 tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at children leaving school.
Several teenagers threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers began firing tear gas.
Children running from the soldiers and the tear gas.
An ISM activist present stated, “Four young girls were walking past the boys throwing stones. The boys deliberately stopped throwing stones so the girls could pass safely, but the border police fired tear gas anyway.”
At one point two border police grabbed a 12-year-old boy by the arm, dragged him to the checkpoint, and detained him for 20 minutes.
In a separate incident close by, nine-year-old Razain was walking near another local school when Israeli forces threw a stun grenade close to her legs. Shrapnel from the stun grenade injured her as it exploded in close proximity, stated Razain’s grandfather to ISM volunteers.
This morning at the Salaymeh checkpoint, Israeli forces fired three tear gas grenades and one stun grenade at schoolchildren.
An ISM activist present stated, “Around three young boys ran towards the checkpoint and threw stones towards the armed Israeli soldiers. They then fired a tear gas grenade towards the the children walking to school, forcing them to run through clouds of gas. This continued for around 40 minutes, with several more children throwing stones and two more tear gas grenades being fired. At one point the soldiers entered through the checkpoint towards the schools and threw one stun grenade. Many of the children were very afraid, it’s clearly no way to begin a day of education. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to concentrate and learn when your day begins with military violence.”
23rd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Today at Salaymeh checkpoint in Hebron, Israeli forces fired 29 rounds of tear gas and 5 stun grenades at children going to school.
The morning started off peaceful as children passed through the checkpoint but as word spread that two Palestinians had been murdered by the Israeli army the night before, tensions began to rise quickly. Israeli forces had a clear presence at the checkpoint from the start. A few small stones were thrown by a small number of young boys, but landed nowhere near the checkpoint.
Three Israeli Border police proceeded to fire the first round of tear gas at the children. In total, 29 tear gas canisters and 5 stun grenades were fired. This was extremely excessive and unnecessary as the Israeli border police were clearly in no danger. Two ambulances were called to the scene due to the immense amounts of tear gas fired and a Palestinian teacher stated that 30 school children and 15 teachers suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation.
International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activists then left Salaymeh checkpoint and headed over to Qeitun checkpoint around 5 minutes away as they heard the firing of tear gas.
At Qeitun checkpoint clashes had erupted and were underway between unarmed Palestinian youth and Israeli forces. An excessive amount of tear gas was used in addition to rubber coated steel bullets and stun grenades.
A small group of older boys were throwing stones but they did not manage to reach the Israeli forces. However, the commander insisted on firing despite the presence of the many young children, some as young as 8 years old, in front of them attempting to get to school.
Later on the Israeli forces threw stun grenades and brutally grabbed and arrested two young Palestinian boys between the ages of 14 and 15 years old. One of the boys whilst in a headlock and handcuffed was punched several times in the side. ISM activists ran up to ask the boys their names and correct ages but the Israeli forces were very hostile. They were both forced through the turnstiles and were kept at the checkpoint for a few minutes before Israeli forces marched them to the police station near the Ibrahimi mosque.
8th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
This morning in al-Khalil (Hebron), through the Salaymeh checkpoint, a seven-year-old was forcefully detained and three more were arrested, including another child.
At 07:40, approximately six young children started throwing small stones towards the checkpoint. A few minutes later a group of Israeli border police emerged running from a road close to the schools, and more border police ran down from the checkpoint.
Israeli forces threw two stun grenades and fired approximately three tear gas canisters towards the children standing outside their schools.
Two border police officers grabbed 12-year-old Yousef Hajajreh by the neck and walked him to the checkpoint where he was later arrested and driven away in a police car.
Two more border police officers forcefully dragged and carried Oday Rajabi, a seven-year-old boy, who was also on his way to school, and detained him for approximately 40 minutes.
Border police officers aggressively pushed Palestinian men, including teachers from the nearby schools, whilst they were trying to protect the children.
A teacher, Abd al-Aziz Hmad Rjob, from the UN school was forced into a headlock as he was trying to intervene with the crying seven-year old. He was also dragged up the road where he was arrested.
Palestinians and internationals then gathered at the Salaymeh checkpoint where an 18-year old man, Malak Salaymeh, working at the same school was also arrested as he confronted the soldiers. Another man was also briefly detained.
Palestinian children threw several more stones, and Israeli forces fired three more tear gas canisters.
An ISM volunteer who was present stated, “The situation was terrible, I felt like it was a planned operation where the aim was clearly to terrify schoolchildren and the soldiers were out to arrest.”
Yousef, Abd, and Malak were released at noon, roughly three hours after they were arrested.
Israeli forces have previously targeted extremely young children as they wait for school in al-Khalil; ISM has documented a number of these incidents while monitoring Salaymeh checkpoint as children pass through to go to school.
2nd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
ISM watched over two different checkpoints in al-Khalil (Hebron) on the 31st of August, Qeitun (209) and Salaymeh (29), both separating the H1 and H2 zone in this occupied city (H1 is supposedly under full Palestinian Authority control, H2 under full Israeli military control).
At the Salaymeh checkpoint, three tear gas canisters were fired at children on their way home from school. One child threw a stone in the direction of the checkpoint, and due to apparent problems with the gun, the soldier at the checkpoint did not fire.
A few moments later, a child approached the checkpoint in order to pass it and the soldier fired a tear gas canister right at the child’s feet. The gas filled the street and schoolchildren, some as young as six-years-old, had to flee the area coughing while their eyes streamed.
Later a group of three Palestinian children threw stones towards the checkpoint and the soldiers fired another tear canister at the children. The same routine repeated moments later. The tear gas lingered in the air for several minutes, irritating bypassing schoolchildren, teachers, and others residents walking in the street.
Similarly, children passing through the Qeitun checkpoint did not end their school day unharmed. A group of children threw stones towards the checkpoint from a rooftop. The soldiers fired a total of four tear gas canisters on the roof where the children were located.
This afternoon, September 2nd, two ISM volunteers watched over Salaymeh checkpoint at school closing time. Two Israeli soldiers were stationed at the checkpoint to begin with, and as usual, children started walking home after a day at school. At one point two young boys threw stones at the checkpoint. This was shortly followed by a short-range tear gas canister fired by one of the soldiers, which was aimed at the stone-throwing children but primarily affected those who needed to pass the cloud of tear gas in order to reach their homes.
As two more tear gas canisters were fired, many of the smaller children became scared, crying and running in panic. Minutes later, two more soldiers arrived at the checkpoint. One boy threw five or six stones towards the checkpoint, as with other stones, none of them reached the checkpoint or the soldiers. Two more short range canisters of tear gas were fired, as well as three or four long range canisters, one landing inside the school yard and the others landing in the middle of a group of approximately 80 children, exiting the UN school further down the street.
One tear gas canister landed in the path of three schoolchildren, no older than six-years-old, who were walking in the direction of the checkpoint, the ISM volunteers saw how one of the two girls was dragged away from the tear gas by the boy, however the other girl did not run away, seemingly too shocked and scared to move.
An ISM volunteer present said, “I ran into the cloud of gas to get the crying girl away and into safety. In a situation like that it is difficult to show a child, who is so terrified and wary of the world around her, that she can trust you. Especially as it becomes difficult to see and breath when surrounded by tear gas. Thankfully she took my hand and I led her to the other two children who she was walking with.”
The groups of children affected by the teargas were more than hundred meters away from the checkpoint and were no threat to the soldiers in any way. This resulted in children being delayed on their way home, either because they had to wait for the gas to clear or because they were forced to take a detour home. It is clear to see how the Israeli army’s tactic of collective punishment is carried out in the daily lives of Palestinians, and children suffering from tear gas inhalation before and after school is not an unusual occurrence in Hebron.
