Tag: Tear Gas - Page 11 - International Solidarity Movement

Two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces lead to clashes with over 30 injured

23rd September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

Violence broke out on the streets of Hebron’s university district (al-Khalil) this morning when Israeli soldiers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators who had been protesting the murders of two Palestinians earlier that day.

Protestors took to the streets after Marwan Kawasme, 29, and Amar Abu Aisha, 32, were killed and burned by Israeli soldiers in the very early hours of this morning. The Israeli military alleged that the two men were behind the deaths of the three settler teenagers in June of this year.

The soldiers used tear gas canisters and live ammunition bullets during the clashes, with numerous injuries including a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head and is now in a critical condition in hospital. A representative of the Red Cross stated to ISM that there were over 30 injuries, though the exact number is still unknown.

The building where the murders took place was also set on fire and destroyed.

Tensions had been high all morning as word of the two dead Palestinians spread throughout the area. By 8 am around 200 Palestinian residents had gathered to show their frustration at the senseless taking of life. Although stones were thrown, the protesters were unarmed and did not pose a threat to the violent occupying military. The Israeli army, still present after the earlier incident, unleashed dozens of canisters of tear gas leaving many people unable to breath and in need of medical help. Hemmed in and with nowhere to escape to, the protestors hid behind what ever they could find.

The situation further deteriorated when the Israeli soldiers, without warning began to fire live bullets at the protestors, hitting one boy in the head and injuring a number of others.

After an hour of further violence by the Israeli soldiers, the protestors cleared and the injured were taken away.

Throughout the earlier afternoon however similar incidents of unrest were reported around Hebron (al-Khalil).

Tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets, and arrests

19th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine

Every week, several villages across the West Bank demonstrate against the Israeli occupation of Palestine. This week, ISM activists attended protests in the villages of Bil’in, Ni’lin, and Nabi Saleh.

During the demonstration in Bil’in, Israeli soldiers shot mass amounts of tear gas at peaceful protesters. Many Palestinians and internationals suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation. An Israeli activist, and a Labour Party Councillor traveling withChi Onwurah, the British Member of Parliament for Newcastle, were arrested.

In Ni’lin, north of Ramallah, the Israeli military shot tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets at protesters. The army began shooting unprovoked at Palestinians and internationals as soon as the Friday prayer had finished and people and children as young as five year olds were walking in the area. Several Palestinians were still praying when the military attacked.

The Israeli military shot approximately ten tear gas canisters at a time and also fired rubber coated steel bullets and stun grenades. No one was injured in the demonstration today. For the past weeks the military has moved closer to the residential area of the village, locals have raised concerns that the army will soon enter the village during a demonstration.

During the Nabi Saleh demonstration protesters attempted to reach the gate at the entrance to the village which Israeli forces use to close the village off from the rest of the West Bank. Israeli forces fired many rubber-coated steel bullets at demonstrators and used excessive amounts of tear gas. Several people were injured by rubber coated steel bullets. Many protesters also suffered from the effects of the tear gas, which resulted in a Palestinian women being taken to hospital for tear gas inhalation, she was later released.

VIDEO: Seven-year-old violently detained, one child and two adults arrested

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.

One injured in Kufr Qaddum protest

7th September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus team | Kufr Qaddum, Occupied Palestine

Since 2011, villagers from Kufr Qaddum demonstrate each Friday against the Israeli military. The village of Kufr Qaddum has had much land stolen by the nearby illegal settlement of Qedumim and in 2003 the main road connecting Kufr Qaddum to city of Nablus was closed to Palestinians. It is this road that villagers attempt to march down every Friday, regularly facing extreme violence from Israeli soldiers and border police offices.

During the protest on Friday, 5^th September, a Palestinian youth was shot in the leg and rushed to a hospital in a Red Crescent ambulance.

Dozens of protesters and solidarity activists suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation, which soldiers fired in large quantities. Later on in the protest, multiple tear gas canisters were repeatedly fired from a military vehicle.

Many of the tear gas canisters were fired directly at demonstrators, both highly dangerous and in contravention to Israeli military procedure, which is shooting them up into an arch to lower the impacted velocity.

Throughout the protest villagers burned car tires, the thick black smoke enveloping the illegal Qedumim settlement as well as Israeli army vehicles positioned at the closed road, which included a bulldozer and a ‘skunk’ (chemical) water vehicle.

At the start of the protest, dozens of soldiers took to the hill above the village, splitting into smaller groups, some moving through the olive grovess towards the edge of the village and then retreating back under the stones thrown by the village youth. This lasted till after 15:00 when the occupying soldiers left the hill.

The villagers continued to protest at the top of the blocked road and this is when the army bulldozer, followed by the skunk water vehicle, moved in towards the village to clear the lines of rocks blocking the road and douse protesters in the foul smelling liquid. The villagers responded by throwing paint and more stones at the advancing vehicles.

When the school day ends with tear gas

2nd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine

ISM watched over two different checkpoints in al-Khalil (Hebron) on the 31^st 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 2^nd, 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.