16th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gal·la | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip harvest olives during the month of October. Several years ago, a large amount of land was planted with olive trees. They were completely destroyed by Israeli bulldozers, and Palestinians were prevented from replanting them by the so-called “green line.” Today the olive oil industry is a small part of the local economy. The export of this olive oil is also prevented as a consequence of more than seven years of the Zionist blockade.
1st October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
This morning, Tuesday 1st October, Israeli soldiers fired two tear gas canisters and four stun grenades at children on their way to school.
In this case, a few children threw stones and pebbles at Israeli forces as the soldiers stood watching them walk to morning classes. The response from the Israeli soldiers present was incredibly disproportionate.
The incident occurred near checkpoint 29 in Khalil (Hebron) and is not an isolated event. International activists in Khalil monitor several checkpoints each morning, as Israeli soldiers regularly harass, intimidate and fire weapons on children as young as 5-years-old.
29th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team | Gaza, Occupied Palestine
On Friday afternoon, Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters at Palestinian demonstrators during a protest by the Nahal Oz checkpoint east of Gaza City.
The demonstration followed a march from Palestine Square (al-Saha) organized by the Intifada Youth Coalition to commemorate the thirteenth anniversary of the second Intifada and protest Israeli incursions into the al-Aqsa mosque in occupied east Jerusalem.
A boy wears his shirt as a mask to protect against tear gas. (Photo by Joe Catron)
Israeli troops fired after protesters entered, the “buffer zone,” an area imposed by Israel in 2005 that stretches for hundreds of meters from its separation barrier into the Gaza Strip.
Boys watch as Palestinian Red Crescent Society medics help a demonstrator suffering from tear gas inhalation into an ambulance. (Photo by Joe Catron)A field burns after a tear gas canister fired by Israeli forces ignites it. (Photo by Joe Catron)Two demonstrators help a third suffering from tear gas inhalation retreat. (Photo by Joe Catron)Two demonstrators stand in a field ignited by tear gas canisters fired by Israeli forces. (Photo by Joe Catron)A demonstrator walks toward the separation barrier. (Photo by Joe Catron)Demonstrators walk away from the separation barrier after the protest. (Photo by Joe Catron)
24th September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Yesterday, Monday 23rd September, a mob of Israeli settlers invaded the roof of a Palestinian family in Hebron, attacked several Palestinians and international activists and beat a 15-year-old unconscious, leading to hospitalisation.
At approximately 5pm a group of Israeli settlers and Jewish tourists entered the roof of the Abu Shamsiyeh family without permission after they had already tried to force their way into another family’s house in the Tel Rumeida neighbourhood. After international activists confronted the invading group and insisted that nearby soldiers remove the trespassers, they eventually left the roof but continued to verbally harass Palestinians and internationals present.
The verbal harassment quickly turned into a vicious assault with several settlers pushing, hitting and kicking Palestinians. Three teenage settlers brutally assaulted Abu Shamsiyeh’s 15-year-old son leaving him unconscious and requiring hospital treatment. He has since been released and is recovering in the care of his family.
In past years, several Palestinians in Tel Rumeida have been severely attacked, beaten and injured by settlers, have lost pregnancies due to attacks, have had their houses broken into and furniture and electrical appliances smashed, trees in their gardens cut down and plants uprooted and poisoned. On a day to day basis, Palestinians have to deal with minor incidents such as spitting, stone-throwing and insults by the settler community. Especially on Shabbat and during Jewish holidays, settler attacks against the Palestinian residents of Tel Rumeida take place.
This incident is particularly concerning in the light of Netanyahu’s recent announcement that settlers would be allowed to move into Abu Rajab house by checkpoint 209 as well as the pending court case decision on the Rajabeh house, which would connect Kiryat Arba with the Tomb of the Patriarchs. It is clear that settlement expansion in Hebron will have disastrous consequences and will come with a great humanitarian cost for the surrounding Palestinian communities.
23rd September 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Khalil Team | Hebron, Occupied Palestine
On Sunday 22nd September, heavy clashes took place across Hebron, leading to the injury and arrest of numerous Palestinians as well as the death of an Israeli soldier. Hebron is currently declared a military zone with a curfew imposed and all entrances to the city sealed off. Throughout Sunday evening and night, the Israeli army has been raiding houses, searching all males and arresting hundreds in several neighbourhoods near the scene of the attack.
On Sunday, as part of celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the street outside checkpoint 56 leading to Yatta was closed by Israeli military and border police. Last Friday the army announced by military order that all shops on the street would have be closed and cars would have to be moved between 11am and 3pm, to ensure safe passage for settlers and Jewish visitors for a pilgrimage to what the settlers consider the cave of Otniel ben Knaz, located on said road.
The clashes in Bab Al-Zawiyeh began around 11.30 am when Palestinian youths began to throw stones at the invading Israeli army and border police. The occupation forces shot tear gas canisters, stun grenades and plastic-coated steel bullets at the protesters. Within the first few hours, internationals witnessed border police violently grab two young men from the crowds and drag them into checkpoint 56; it is unknown if they were detained or arrested. Internationals also witnessed several injuries in these clashes, including a Palestinian youth shot with a rubber-coated steel bullet in the back of his head. When his friends proceeded to carry him towards medical treatment, Israeli border police responded by firing more plastic-coated steel bullets at the wounded youth and his friends as they were crossing the street. The clashes in Bab Al-Zawiyeh continued well into the evening and became progressively more violent and volatile. Live ammunition was used against resisting protesters and there are reports of several Palestinian men being treated for gunshot wounds.
Meanwhile, clashes also took place outside checkpoints 209 and 29 in the Quatoum and Salaymeh neighbourhoods. As part of the preparations for the Sukkot celebrations and in order to accommodate the large flux of Jewish tourists, the Israeli military had moved the roadblocks outside these two checkpoints approximately 200 metres further down the road and re-directed Israeli tour buses down this route. This move effectively enlarged area H2 under Israeli military control and disrupted life for Palestinians, as well as constituting provocation and humiliation. During the riots, stone-throwing youths and children were confronted with large amounts of teargas, sound grenades, rubber-coated steel bullets and several rounds of live ammunition shot by the Israeli military, who also invaded several roofs of Palestinian houses to fire from there. During the clashes, one man was beaten by border police, and two youths were arrested and released after about an hour.
At around 6pm, international activists saw soldiers who had been shooting at the protestors suddenly run back up the road towards checkpoint 209 (Abu Rish/Quatoum). When they followed them, they saw a soldier lying on the ground unconscious and bleeding from his neck. After attempts to resuscitate him failed, the soldier, identified later as Gabriel Kobi, was rushed to a Jerusalem hospital in a helicopter, where he died of his wounds sustained. The Israeli army claims he was hit by a bullet shot by a suspected Palestinian sniper, however none of the international activists present at the scene heard any gunshots.
Following the soldier’s injury and later death, hundreds of soldiers invaded the neighbourhoods surrounding checkpoints 29 and 209, conducting searches throughout the evening and into the night, apparently in an attempt to find the sniper they claim killed the soldier, and in retaliation for his death. International activists witnessed the army combing through house after house, forcing out all males above the age of 16, and frisking them one by one. They also saw a group of about 50 detained men with their hands behind their heads being marched down towards checkpoint 29. International activists also accompanied an ambulance which took a woman in labour to the hospital after it had initially been blocked by the army. Meanwhile, clashes continued in the area, and the army heavily used rubber-coated steel bullets and live ammunition against stone-throwing youth.
Hebron has been completely sealed off, with all entrances to the city being controlled by the army, and a curfew imposed within Hebron. Tomorrow, 50,000 Jewish settler visitors were expected to descend upon Hebron for Sukkot celebrations and a music festival, according to the settler community’s spokesperson; however the events of today will most likely lower this number. In any case, it is clear that Monday 23rd September will be yet another intense day for Palestinians, as they face high levels of army violence and settler attacks in retaliation for the soldier’s death.
Israeli soldiers and border police before the clashes began
