Tag: west bank

Who is Holding Israel Accountable for its Crimes?

November 21 Tulkarm, Occupied West Bank

On Tuesday evening, the Israeli occupation forces carried out a military operation that lasted for 10 continuous hours resulting in the killing of 6 Palestinians and the destruction of the camp’s infrastructure – streets, and roads, shelling of the al-Balaawneh Diwan, and two other houses.

Occupation forces destruction of Tulkarm

While the residents of the camp were enjoying the calm on Tuesday evening around 11: 00, the residents of the city of Tulkarm, and the residents of the Tulkarm refugee camp specifically, woke up due to the news of the storming of dozens of military vehicles to the city and to the camp.  Eyewitnesses said that about 40 military vehicles, including jeeps and D9 bulldozers, stormed the Tulkarm refugee camp.

Israeli snipers were deployed everywhere, especially on the roofs of Palestinian houses inside the camp and its surroundings, as well as inside buildings under construction in the city, targeting anything that moved.

The Israeli occupation bulldozers began bulldozing the main roads in the camp as usual, destroying the infrastructure as they did in the previous incursion, and destroying the water and sewage network.

An Israeli drone also targeted the building (Diwan Al-balaawneh), a public property of the camp, and targeted those inside it.  Four Palestinians were killed who had been inside the building. Two more Palestinians were killed by Israeli snipers.

Three houses were destroyed with moderate damage, a car was burned and three other cars were damaged, belonging to two civilian residents of the camp.

Feelings of fear, tension, and despair prevailed among the residents of the camp because the Israeli occupation forces continued to storm the camp, kill Palestinians, and destroy the infrastructure, streets, and roads in the camp.

Hundreds of Palestinians participated in the funeral of the bodies of the 6 martyrs in the camp.  Their bodies were transferred to their families’ home for a final farewell look, after which their bodies were transferred to the UNRWA school to pray for them.  And because of their large number, the number of camp residents participating in the funeral alike.  The camp residents carried the bodies of the martyrs on their shoulders and chanted words expressing anger, unity and resistance to the occupation inlegitimate ways. Until they arrive at the cemetery of Denabaa.

Tulkarm residents gather for the funeral of 6 martyrs of the occupation army raid.

The Israeli occupying forces continue to commit and intensify their crimes against the Palestinian people in the West Bank, in particular in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the number of martyrs of the West Bank since October 7 has reached more than 215.

Grief and fear persist for Palestinians in Tulkarm and across the occupied West Bank.

 

Another crime committed in Tulkarem camp by the Occupation Forces

Several Israeli military vehicles driving down the street in Tulkarem
Several Israeli military vehicles driving down the street in Tulkarem

14 November 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Tulkarem

By Diana Khwaelid

Another crime perpetrated by the Israeli occupation in the Tulkarem refugee camp. The blood of the four Palestinians who were killed about a week ago had not yet dried up before the Israeli Occupation Forces committed a new crime that claimed the lives of 7 Palestinian civilians.

On the evening of last Tuesday Nov 14th, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the city of Tulkarem. Around 10pm Israeli special forces tried to infiltrate the Tulkarem refugee camp as well but initially failed after being met with resistance by Palestinian youths.

Dozens of Israeli military vehicles including troop carriers and D9 bulldozers, stormed the city of Tulkarem and the camp, during which the IOF bulldozed the main roads connecting the camp. The Balawneh neighbourhood was especially hard hit. The IOF also destroyed and demolished the memorial symbol at the entrance to the camp which is dedicated to the two martyrs Samer Al-Shafi’I and Hamza Al-Khoshafqi.

A street in Tulkarem that has been severely damaged. Several adults and children are walking around.
A street in Tulkarem that has been severely damaged
Another street that has been torn up by a D9 bulldozer.
Another street that has been torn up by a D9 bulldozer

7 Palestinian civilians were killed in the 13 hours the military operation lasted. 2 of them were killed by Israeli Special Forces and 4 of them were killed in the bombing of the 3 residential buildings, including one 3 storey building. Dozens of civilian cars belonging to the camp residents were also destroyed.

Two houses whose fronts have collapsed from bombings
Two houses whose fronts have collapsed from bombings
The aftermath of the bombing of a residential area. Several residents are on the ground taking in what has happened.
The aftermath of the bombing of a residential area

Electricity was cut off from the camp residents and the water network was destroyed in the first hours of the invasion. The Israeli occupation forces prevented medical staff from performing their work, refusing to let them enter the camp to transport the injured to the hospital or even provide first aid. During this, press crews were targeted with tear gas bombs.

14 continuous hours of anxiety and fear experienced by the residents of Tulkarem city and in particular the Tulkarem refugee camp.

Rubble filling the streets of Tulkarem, in the background is a house that has been bombed.
Rubble filling the streets of Tulkarem camp where several houses where bombed
Several residents walking down an unpaved street after the invasion
Several residents walking down an unpaved street after the invasion

White Roses

A picture of a compass lying on brown fabric.
A picture of a compass lying on brown fabric

When I came to Palestine, I brought with me a compass. And when I open it, covering up what would point me north to find my way is white rose petals.

The White Rose Society was a group of people in the center of Nazi Germany who maintained their humanity amid the inhumanity around them and resisted the Holocaust.

Yesterday a group of little Palestinian children took me to a playground. We played together, prayed together, and they gave me more white rose petals.

Last night I slept in a small Bedouin Palestinian community. 3 days ago they were given 24 hours by violent extremists from nearby illegal settlement outposts to leave their village or all be killed. As I write this, they are still alive and still in their homes, but I don’t know how much longer this will be the case.

In the tent I stayed in, to document and intervene, there were internationals and Israelis. The Israelis I was with have chosen to oppose another shoah, another nakba. I believe them to be some of the righteous among the nations in this generation, and I am grateful to be beside them. They, from below in the valley, rather than the settlers on the hilltops, are a light unto the nations, holding onto a culture of solidarity against the odds.

Last night Wadi Tiran, where I rested my head, was not wiped off the map, but there have already been whole communities that have disappeared completely because of similar threats. And the IDF fighter jets I heard overhead every hour, reminded me that even as I try to stop ethnic cleansing, I am failing. I paid my taxes. And those U.S.  tax dollars are murdering thousands of children just like the ones who gave me white rose petals.

As somebody who is inspired by all the Abrahamic faith traditions, I know that the survival, peace, freedom, and right to return of one people or faith does not have to mean the denial of the survival, peace, freedom, and right to return of another people or faith.

The Islamic mystic poet Jelaluddin Rumi says, “Wherever you go may you be the soul of that place.” One meaning of Al Aqsa, the Mosque in the heart of Jerusalem’s old city, is the soul. The soul of this place is in danger. And with it, the soul of humanity.

I hope I will see more white roses bloom.

The Israeli occupation commits new massacres in Jenin Camp, killing 15 Palestinians

A Palestinian woman walking down a small street in Jenin
A Palestinian woman walking down a small street in Jenin

10 November 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Jenin

By Diana Khwaelid

On Thursday morning Nov. 10th 2023, the Israeli occupation forces stormed the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

A military operation that lasted 24 hours was carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces in the Jenin camp with the aim of arresting some Palestinian militants. Huge military vehicles stormed the camp in the early hours of Thursday morning, around 9:30 AM.

Israeli occupation vehicles, including D9 bulldozers, bulldozed the main streets of the camp, destroyed the camp’s infrastructure, and caused very serious material and human damage.

A child leaning on destroyed pieces of furniture and infrastructure on a street in Jenin.
A child leaning on destroyed pieces of furniture on a damaged street in Jenin

It is noteworthy that during the aggression on Jenin and its camp, the occupation forces detained 4,500 school and kindergarten students in their schools, until the evening hours. They fired shots at Red Crescent ambulances, which led to a paramedic being injured by a bullet in the back. They raided the emergency department at the Jenin Government Hospital, arresting the wounded Mohammed Abu Saraya from inside an ambulance, and destroyed the infrastructure of streets, water, and electricity, in addition to the Martyrs Monument.

15 Palestinians were killed in Jenin during the Storming of the camp, including the child, Mohammed Zayed, 15 years.

The Israeli occupation forces also bombed three Palestinian houses with drones. One of the houses had only women inside. In another house, 8 Palestinians were inside, five of them died and four of them are in a serious health condition.

Burnt pieces of paper and photos in the street
Burnt pieces of paper and photos in the street

The funeral ceremony of the martyrs began in front of the Jenin government hospital, with a funeral attended by tens of thousands of citizens. The bodies of the martyrs were lifted on the shoulders, while the mourners toured the streets of the city and its camp to their family homes, before praying for them and their health in the mosque of the Jenin camp.

The participants in the funeral chanted slogans condemning the crimes of the occupation and the massacres committed by it in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as some calling for national unity. They also called on the international community to intervene and stand by the defenceless people who are being subjected to constant Israeli aggression, violence, executions and massacres.

A crowd of people in Jenin carrying the body of a martyr
A crowd of people in Jenin carrying the body of a martyr

They delivered several speeches condemning the crimes of the occupation and its continuous aggression against the people of Jenin, its camp, villages and towns of the governorate, while stressing that these massacres and terrorism will not dissuade the Palestinian people from resisting and confronting the occupation and the colonialists.

Israeli occupation forces arrest Ahed Tamimi

6 November 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | International Women’s Peace Service 

Prominent Palestinian activist, Ahed Tamimi, was arrested in her home in the village of Nabi Saleh near Ramallah, in the early hours of today, November 6.

Following the 22-year-old’s arrest, right-wing Israeli media allied with occupation forces and Israeli far-right politicians issued violent calls for her to be punished and her home demolished.

According to initial reports, she was arrested for incitement after her phone was hacked. Her house was ransacked during the arrest, and it is alleged that the soldiers threatened to come back and arrest the rest of her family.

Ahed’s father Bassem was arrested over a week ago at the checkpoint between Ramallah and Nabi Saleh while he was returning home from work. The grounds for his arrest and his location are still not known.

Israel’s far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, posted on Twitter this morning praising the soldiers who carried out the arrest. He accused Ahed of having published a social media post supporting the Nazis, sparking a deluge of hateful calls for her assassination and torture.

Ahed’s mother has denied that her daughter wrote the post she is accused of writing. The soldiers who invaded her home, shared a photo of Ahed as she was taken from her bed, accompanied by deriding comments.

Ahed became well known in 2017 after she was detained for slapping a soldier in a video that went viral. The then 16-year-old said she had hit the soldier after seeing her young cousin shot in the head with a rubber coated steel bullet earlier that day. Ahed was freed in July 2018 after serving eight months in Israeli jail.

Nabi Saleh is a small village of about 600 inhabitants, who have become famous for their peaceful weekly protests against the usurpation of springs on their land by the nearby illegal Halamish settlers.

The protests started in 2010 and were banned by the occupation military in 2016. International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) teams regularly attended and reported from Nabi Saleh protests over the years together with other international and Israeli activists.

Nabi Saleh is to this day a symbol of brave and uncompromising resistance to the occupation and they have paid a heavy price for that. Six of their young men had their lives cut short by the Israeli occupiers including a two-year-old Mohammad Tamimi (picture below) who was killed in June this year by the spray of Israeli soldiers’ bullets, which also injured his father.

What happened this morning in Nabi Saleh is a part of Israel’s brutal campaign against Palestinians, including a genocidal attack on the population of Gaza and the reign of terror across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Since 7 October, Israeli soldiers and settlers have killed more than 150 Palestinians, made daily arrests of around 100 people and put the West Bank into a near-total lockdown, severely restricting peoples’ movements.