Five Palestinians killed when Israeli military fired at protesters near Gaza perimeter fence, Dec. 2015-Jan. 2016

22 February 2016

In at least four cases, the lethal gunfire was entirely unwarranted

In December 2015 and January 2016 soldiers killed five Palestinians near the Gaza perimeter fence while protests were underway in the area. In October and November of 2015, B’Tselem documented 14 instances in which Palestinians were killed under similar circumstances. B’Tselem’s inquiries show that the frequency, scope and distribution of demonstrations have decreased since its last report on the subject: demonstrations are mostly held on Fridays, though not every week, fewer people take part in them and they are usually not held adjacent to the fence itself.

Four of these recent incidents were investigated by B’Tselem field researchers in Gaza: On 11 December 2015, Sami Madi was killed east of al-Bureij R.C. in Deir al-Balah District; on 25 December 2015, Hani Wahdan was killed near Karni Crossing east of Gaza City, and Yusef Abu Sbeikhah was killed east of al-Bureij R.C.; on 15 January 2016, Muhammad Abu Zaid was killed in a demonstration east of al-Bureij R.C. Later during that demonstration, Muhammad Qaitah was also shot dead. B’Tselem has no information about the exact circumstances of his death at this time.

Demonstrator waves flag near perimeter fence, east of Gaza City. Background: Soldiers shelter behind dirt mound on other side of fence. Photo by Muhammad Salem, Reuters, 20 Nov. 2015

B’Tselem’s investigations regarding the demonstrations in which the four Palestinians were killed indicate that the military was not taken unawares as to them taking place. On the contrary, the military made preparations in advance, and soldiers deployed in positions they deemed appropriate shortly after the demonstrations began or even before they began. As part of the advance preparation, the officers in charge should have reviewed with their troops the open-fire regulations pertinent in case of demonstrations by unarmed people, and equipped the soldiers with non-lethal crowd control measures as well as protective gear.

The chain of events, however, indicates that in all cases documented, soldiers used live fire instead of crowd control measures. Live fire may be used only when soldiers face immediate mortal danger and when there is no other way to avert this danger. However, in the demonstrations in which the four Palestinians were killed, the soldiers were some distance away from the protestors, on the other side of the border fence, and they clearly were not in mortal danger, certainly not a danger that could not be prevented by other means. The four were killed as a result of excessive, unlawful use of live gunfire, for which no one has been held accountable.

Killing of Sami Madi, 11 December 2015, east of al-Bureij R.C.:

Sami Madi. Photo courtesy of the family On 11 December 2015, during a demonstration near the Gaza perimeter fence east of al-Bureij R.C., soldiers shot and killed Sami Madi, 41, the spokesperson for the central Gaza district of the Popular Front party. B’Tselem’s inquiries indicate that the Popular Front called on its supporters to demonstrate that day to mark the anniversary of its establishment. Several dozen demonstrators arrived at around 1:00 P.M., but most, about 500 Popular Front supporters, arrived only at 2:30 P.M. Early on in the demonstration, protesters hung flags on the perimeter fence and threw stones at the soldiers, who were deployed on the other side of the fence. An eyewitness related that at least two youths were wounded at that point from live gunfire by the soldiers. Most of the demonstrators remained at a distance of a few hundred meters from the fence, and a small number approached closer. At around 4:00 P.M., during a lull in the shooting, Sami Madi was standing about 300 meters away from the fence. As soon as he started moving nearer to the fence, the soldiers fired at him and at others who were walking with him. Madi who had been hit in the chest was evacuated to Shuhadaa al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. He was pronounced dead a short while later. According to another eyewitness, another three youths were later wounded by live fire. As one of them was being evacuated, soldiers fired at the paramedics, hitting a journalist who was standing nearby. This incident was captured on video.

‘Awad al-Bhisi, resident of Deir al-Balah R.C., 29, related what had transpired to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh:

On Friday, 11 December 2015, I answered the Popular Front party’s call to join a demonstration near the perimeter fence, east of al-Bureij R.C., to mark the movement’s anniversary. We went there after the afternoon prayers. I went with Sami Madi, who was the spokesperson of the Popular Front in the central district, and a few other people. When we reached the border, there were about 500 young demonstrators there. About 50 of them were on the border strip, and the rest were farther away.

I saw about ten soldiers lying behind a mound of sand on the other side of the fence. There were a few military vehicles there too. Some demonstrators were setting tires on fire. Sami, some other people, and I were standing on the Jakar Road, which is a dirt road along the fence, about 300 meters away from the fence, and watching what was going on. There were some ambulances near us with their crews.

At around 4:00 P.M., Sami, another guy and I walked about 20 meters toward the fence. We were going to try to get the youths to move away from there, so they wouldn’t endanger their lives. We started walking toward the fence only after we verified with others that things were quiet and there was no shooting going on at the time.

As we approached, a soldier fired a bullet that hit the ground right in front of us. A few seconds later, they fired another bullet that hit Sami in the chest. I was about a meter away from him. Sami yelled and fell to the ground. The soldiers shot and hit the other guy who was with us on the tip of his nose. He fell too. At that point, the soldiers weren’t shooting at the other demonstrators at all, just at us. The soldiers weren’t using any crowd control measures, like rubber bullets or tear gas. They fired only live ammunition, right at us.

After fatally wounding Madi, the soldiers fired at other people, including 25-year-old journalist Mahmoud a-Luah from a-Nuseirat R.C. in the Deir al-Balah District. A-Luah, who was hit in the leg, spoke to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh and told him what had happened:

I’m a journalist with Sawt a-Sha’ab Radio [the Voice of the People], and I cover events in the central Gaza Strip. On Friday, 11 December 2015, there was a demonstration planned. There are usually demonstrations on Fridays, but this one was special, because the Popular Front called its supporters to come demonstrate at the border. I went there to cover the events. I was wearing a vest with the word PRESS on it, like the rest of the journalists. I was standing near the Red Crescent ambulances on a dirt road about 300 meters away from the fence.

At around 4:00 P.M., when I was still standing at the same place, I saw a group of Popular Front demonstrators nearby. Suddenly, one of them was hit in the chest by a live bullet. I later found out that he was Sami Madi, the Popular Front’s spokesperson for the Deir al-Balah District. He was taken away in an ambulance in serious condition.

The soldiers then continued to fire sniper shots intermittently. I saw two guys getting wounded one after the other. They were standing close to me when they were shot. Paramedics arrived to evacuate them and there were also other journalists there documenting this. The soldiers kept on shooting and then a third guy was hit, and right after him, I took a live bullet in the right leg, as I was covering the incident live. I fell to the ground, and a few paramedics picked me up, put me in an ambulance and took me to Shuahdaa al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah. The bullet penetrated my right leg and exited.

A-Luah’s wounding and the gunfire at the paramedics and journalists were captured on video:

Killing of Yusef Abu Sbeikhah, 25 December 2015, east of al-Bureij R.C.:

According to B’Tselem’s investigation, Yusef Abu Sbeikhah, a 50-year-old farmer and father of five from al-Maghazi R.C., was shot by soldiers and fatally wounded in the abdomen and thigh on Friday, 25 December 2015. He succumbed to his wounds three days later, on 28 December 2015. Abu Sbeikhah was shot while working alone as a hired hand on a plot of land located about half a kilometer north of his home, east of al-Bureij R.C. and about 400 meters from the perimeter fence. A demonstration with about 400 to 500 participants was taking place at the time near the fence. Some of the protestors went up to the fence, and others were standing farther from it, at a distance of up to 200 metes. The protestors waved flags, set tires on fire and threw stones at the soldiers who were sheltering behind three sand mounds on the other side of the perimeter fence. There were about ten military jeeps at the site.

Fadi Thabet, a journalist who witnessed the shooting spoke to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh and told him about it:

On Friday, 25 December 2015, as of about 1:00 P.M., I was in an area called Tel Um Husniya, east of al-Bureij R.C., to cover the clashes between youths and soldiers near the perimeter fence. I stood about 400 meters away from the fence. Near me were Red Crescent ambulances and other journalists and people.

There were between 400 and 500 demonstrators, ages 15 to 20. They were near the fence, up to a distance of about 200 meters from the fence. Some were burning tires, some were waving flags near the fence and others were throwing stones at the soldiers. For more than two hours, the soldiers didn’t fire at anybody. Only at around 3:15 P.M. was there a first casualty, a person who was hit in the right leg by a bullet. About half an hour later, the soldiers shot and hit three more people, all wounded in the lower limbs. The soldiers used only live fire. I didn’t see any use of other measures like tear gas canisters or rubber-coated metal bullets.

At about 4:00 P.M., a farmer who was standing close to me was hit. I found out later his name was Yusef Abu Sbeikhah. He had come to the plot to check on his crops. Suddenly, I heard a shot and saw him yelling. He was wounded in the left thigh. The others and I called him to come closer to us. We couldn’t get to him, because he was in an area that was exposed to the Israeli snipers, and I was protected by a sand mound. I was afraid they’d shoot me if I went closer to him to help. I’ve seen soldiers fire at people who were helping the wounded in the past.

The farmer started walking toward the shelter. He walked a few steps and then they shot him again, this time in the abdomen. He managed to make it to the shelter and then fell to the ground. The paramedics who were there evacuated him. He was in very serious condition. He was pale because of the bleeding, and he couldn’t talk.

I stayed there. The clashes ended at around 5:00 P.M. At that point the soldiers did fire tear-gas canisters, and the youths dispersed.

Yunes Abu Sbeikhah, Yusef’s brother, who is 46 and has four children, spoke to B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh about the difficulties endured by farmers near the border:

I’m a farmer and I live near the border with Israel, northeast of al-Maghazi R.C., like my late brother Yusef, and our other brothers. Our family has a two-hectare plot of land about 200 meters east of the perimeter fence. 0.4 hectares of it belonged to my brother Yusef. We used to have olive and citrus trees there and there was a water well there too. The land was our livelihood, but in 2006, the military destroyed our crops, and every time we replanted, soldiers shot at us and scared us off. We started planting wheat and barley which don’t need much maintenance, because it was dangerous to go there.

My brother Yusef grew wheat and barley in his plot, and also worked as a hired hand for other farmers. He barely made a living. He worked only a few days a month and got 30 shekels [approx. USD 7.5] a day, or even less.

At around 1:00 P.M. on Friday, 25 December 2015, after Friday prayers, Yusef went out, as usual, to the plot of land he was cultivating for a man from the ‘Abd al-Hadi family, who had hired him. There were clashes that day between some youths and soldiers in the border area, near that plot.

Later, relatives informed me that my brother had been shot and wounded. From the time he got hurt, we took shifts in the family, sitting beside him at the hospital. On Monday, 28 December 2015, my brothers called me and told me Yusef had died of his injuries. His children are now orphans. There’s no one to provide from them. Our financial situation is rough because we’re farmers and have no other profession.

Killing of Hani Wahdan, 25 December 2015, near Karni Crossing, east of Gaza City:

On 25 December 2015, near Karni Crossing, soldiers shot 23-year-old Hani Wahdan in the head, killing him. B’Tselem’s inquiries indicate that Wahdan, a resident of a-Tufah neighborhood in Gaza City, was shot at around 2:30 P.M., during clashes with soldiers. During the clashes, Palestinians threw stones at the soldiers. A few minutes before the shooting began, they had also thrown two Molotov cocktails at the soldiers.

Muhammad Wahdan, 19, is Hani’s cousin. He related what he saw to B’Tselem field-researcher Muhammad Sabah:

Hani was my cousin and we were good friends ever since we were children. Ever since the recent incidents started last October, we would often go out on Fridays to demonstrate and throw stones at soldiers in east a-Shuja’iyeh neighborhood, near the perimeter fence. There’s an abandoned industrial zone there, near Karni Crossing. A lot of youths go to these demonstrations. In our area, there are no job opportunities and there’s nothing for us to do there except go to the demonstrations.

On Friday, 25 December 2015, I went to the demonstration at around 1:00 P.M. When I got there, I saw about 100 youths, and I ran into Hani. A few youths were throwing stones at the soldiers who were standing on a crane, behind the fence, firing tear-gas canisters at the demonstrators.

Hani and I and some other people were hiding behind some concrete blocks about 50 meters away from the fence. There are four, five concrete blocks in a row there. We put some stones on top of them to protect ourselves better, because the concrete blocks are low and don’t protect the whole body. We threw stones. The air smelled like tear gas. The soldiers were firing all the time, sometimes live ammunition - sometimes firing it in the air- and sometimes tear gas. Two young guys who were hiding behind the concrete blocks threw two Molotov cocktails at the soldiers. The crane the soldiers were in lowered them, and the soldiers fired a few tear-gas canisters at the blocks we were hiding behind. A minute or two later, the crane went back up, and we went back to throwing stones at the soldiers. Hani was holding a scarf, taunting the soldiers and waving it around. At that moment, a sniper aimed his weapon at us and suddenly I heard a shot. I felt it had hit my ear, but I put my hands on my ears and didn’t see any blood. I looked beside me and saw Hani lying on the ground. He was bleeding from the mouth. I tried to pick him up but a lot of blood came out of his mouth. One of the journalists put a bandage on his mouth and we got him out of there. An ambulance took Hani to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza, where they pronounced him dead.

I was in shock. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, because he was right next to me. He was my good friend and I lost him in a split second, while we were throwing stones at the soldiers. We didn’t really put the soldiers in any danger. They had no reason to shoot Hani, and right in the mouth. I’m still in shock from what happened and I can’t sleep at night. I miss him very much.

Demonstrator in Gaza Strip uses sling shot to hurl stone at soldiers on other side of the fence. Photo by Muhammad Salem, Reuters, 20 Nov. 2015

Killing of Muhammd Abu Zaid, 15 January 2016, east of al-Bureij R.C.:

On Friday, 15 January 2016, Muhammad Abu Zaid, 19, of al-Bureij R.C. was killed. B’Tselem’s inquiries indicate that soldiers shot Abu Zaid in the head during a demonstration near the border fence, east of al-Bureij R.C. An eyewitness to the incident told B’Tselem’s field researcher that the demonstration began after afternoon prayers, at around 1:00 P.M. The number of protestors gradually grew, and by around 3:00 P.M., about 100 people had gathered. A few of them threw stones at the soldiers who were deployed on the other side of the fence, on and behind sand mounds.

The soldiers fired live ammunition and tear-gas canisters at the demonstrators. At around 3:20 P.M., the soldiers fired two shots that hit very near Abu Zaid, and then a third shot that hit him in the head. He was less than 100 meters away from the fence at the time. At around 4:00 P.M. at the same demonstration, Muhammad Qaitah was shot in the abdomen. At the time of writing this report B’Tselem has no information about the exact circumstances of his death.

S.H., 20, described the circumstances of Abu Zaid’s death to B’Tselem researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh:

After afternoon prayers on Friday, 15 January 2016, I went to the perimeter fence, east of al-Bureij R.C., to take part in the weekly demonstration. We waited for more demonstrators to come. At around 3:00 P.M., when there were about 100 demonstrators, the clashes started and demonstrators started throwing stones at the soldiers, who were behind sand mounds on the other side of the fence. About six soldiers were lying on a sand mound right in front of us, in a sniper position. There were other sand mounds south and north of there, and there were soldiers there too. They fired live ammunition and tear-gas canisters.

At around 3:20 P.M., there were about 30 of us, including Muhammad Abu Zaid, on a hill called Tel Um Husniya, less than 100 meters west of the fence. We were hiding behind a sand mound. One of the guys got up and went closer to the fence, and Muhammad and I stayed where we were. Suddenly, one of the soldiers fired a live bullet that hit the dirt mound we were hiding behind. About a minute later, they fired another bullet that hit the ground, right behind Muhammad. Less than a minute later, they fired a third bullet that hit Muhammad right in the head.

Another guy and I were hit by shrapnel in the face. I looked at Muhammad and saw him crouching on the ground. A lot of blood was running from his head. When I saw him like that, I went into shock and couldn’t do anything. I just kept sitting where I was, until a few guys came and picked him up with the help of paramedics, put him on a stretcher and left the area. The rest of the people and I moved away from the border, to the west.

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Open-Fire Policy

Thus shall it be done: How Israel punishes boys for protesting their confinement to Gaza

Since 30 March 2018, Gazans have been holding a series of protests along the Gaza perimeter fence, with anywhere between hundreds to tens of thousands of people participating. To date, scores of people, including at least 12 minors, have been killed by live ammunition Israel security forces fired; more than 3,600 have been wounded by live gunfire. According to figures published by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 22 May 2018, Gaza doctors had performed 32 amputations, 27 of them of lower limbs. Testimonies collected from Palestinians injured during the protests indicate they were shot while posing no mortal danger to anyone, including some who were shot when they were hundreds of meters away from the fence. In at least some cases, Israeli security forces fired at persons who were trying to reach the wounded to help them. This mindboggling number of casualties at protests is virtually unprecedented. It is the result of the manifestly unlawful orders given to security forces, allowing the use of live fire against unarmed protestors who pose no danger to anyone and are on the other side of the fence, inside Gaza. All relevant Israeli officials refuse to change these orders, even in the face of their predictable outcome. They continue to argue that the orders are legal and even defend them in court, where the justices of the Supreme Court have given this reality their seal of approval. The serious injuries are merely the tip of the iceberg in this saga. Even an advanced, functioning healthcare system would have been sorely tried when faced such a large number of casualties. However, even before the protests began, Gaza’s healthcare system was already on the verge of collapse. As a result, many of the wounded do not receive the care they need. According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 22 May 2018, 257 essential drugs and 247 types of disposable medical equipment were out of stock and needed immediately. Gaza physicians told Physicians for Human Rights – Israel that they reuse disposable equipment over and over again and that there is a shortage of antiseptics, disinfectants and anesthetics. The collapse of Gaza’s health care system is largely the result of the Israel-imposed blockade on Gaza. The blockade includes restrictions on replacing broken medical equipment, importing advanced medical equipment and drugs, and travel by physicians for professional training outside Gaza. In addition, Gaza’s intermittent power supply, again largely Israel’s doing, also disrupts the work of hospitals. Israel’s unlawful policy has caused the injuries and its blockade keeps the wounded from receiving the medical care they need. Israel also refuses, as a general rule, to allow these individuals to travel just a few kilometers through Israeli territory in order to get to hospitals in the West Bank, where at least some of them would be able to receive the care they need. Since the demonstrations began, B’Tselem field researchers have collected scores of testimonies from people who sustained live fire injuries and from eyewitnesses, including teenagers who were shot by Israeli security forces at various distances from the fence. In their testimonies, the boys describe how they were wounded, the difficulties they faced obtaining the medical care they desperately need and the long and costly rehabilitation facing them. We bring you the stories of three of these boys: Muhammad al-‘Ajuri, 16, was injured east of Jabalya Refugee Camp on 30 March 2018 Muhammad al-‘Ajuri is 16 years old. An eleventh grader from Jabalya R.C., he is also a member of the Palestinian Athletics Association. On Friday, 30 March 2018, at around 11:00 A.M., al-‘Ajuri arrived with several friends at the protest that was taking place near the perimeter fence, east of Jabalya R.C. They advanced to a distance of a few dozen meters from the fence, in order to hand out onions to protestors to relieve symptoms of teargas inhalation. After security forces fired a great deal of teargas at the area he was in, al-‘Ajuri moved back. When he was about 300 meters away from the fence, a member of the Israeli security forces fired a live bullet at his right leg. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 17 April 2018, he described how he was injured: I went up to a distance of about 50 meters from the fence to hand out onions to the protestors. I saw a few people who’d been injured, including an older man who’d been hit in the left leg. The bone in his leg was showing and he was bleeding badly. Most of the injuries I saw were to the legs. The soldiers were firing a barrage of tear gas canisters and I nearly choked, so I turned around and started moving away. When I was about 300 meters away from the fence, I was shot from behind and hit in the right leg. I didn’t fall down. I stayed standing where I was, and my leg was bleeding. My father came to help me, and then a few young guys came and gave me first aid. They tied a strip of cloth around my leg to stop the bleeding and took me by motorcycle to an ambulance, which was about 250 meters away. Muhammad’s father, Hani al-‘Ajuri, 39, also went to the demonstration. He was a volunteer providing first aid. When his son was shot, Hani al-‘Ajuri was standing about 300 meters away from the fence. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 3 May 2018, he described seeing his son being hit: When I saw my three sons at the protest, I had them move back to the tent area, which was about 700 meters away from the perimeter fence, because I was worried they’d get hit by live fire or teargas canisters. Later, a young man I know told me Muhammad had gone very close to the fence to give first aid and hand out onions to some young guys who had passed out from the teargas. When I looked over toward the fence, I saw soldiers were firing a heavy barrage of teargas at the protestors near the fence. I saw my son Muhammad running towards me. When he was a few meters away, a sniper stationed on a sand mound on the other side of the fence shot him. I went up to him and put my arms around him. I saw he’d been hit in the back of his right leg. It had a big hole in it and he was bleeding. His leg looked terrible, and I was afraid they’d have to amputate. I managed to bandage his leg with a strip of cloth and tied it up to stop the bleeding. After that, I couldn’t take it any longer, I completely broke down. I couldn’t help him any more. A few young guys arrived, put him on a motorcycle and took him to an ambulance. I went to the Indonesian Hospital near Jabalya R.C., but I didn’t find him there. I went to al-‘Awda Hospital, which is in Beit Lahiya. The doctors told me he had been brought there, but because of his serious condition, he had then transferred been to a-Shifa’a Hospital in Gaza City. I went there, looking for Muhammad, but I couldn’t find him. I looked for him in the operating rooms, but no one knew anything about him. I saw a doctor coming out of an OR and asked him about my son. He said there was no one by that name, but that there was one young man that hadn’t yet been identified. He was unconscious and didn’t have an ID on him. The doctor had a picture of him on his phone. He showed it to me. It was Muhammad. At the hospital the doctors found that an artery in his leg had been hit and the leg was broken and he underwent surgery. However, the doctors determined there was a risk his leg would be lost and that in order to save it he would have to undergo further surgery at a Ramallah hospital. Israel refused to let him out of the Gaza Strip. On 8 April 2018, human rights NGOs Adalah and Al-Mezan filed a High Court petition on behalf of al-‘Ajuri and another injured man. The justices dismissed the petitioners’ motion for an urgent hearing. In the meantime, al-‘Ajuri’s condition took a turn for the worse, and on 9 April 2018, the doctors had to amputate his leg. He was discharged from hospital three days later. The other petitioner also had a leg amputated. Hani al-‘Ajuri recounted in his testimony: When the doctors told me they would have to amputate Muhammad’s leg I wouldn’t consent. I was worried about him living as a disabled man for the rest of his life. I couldn’t deal with it. Finally, the doctors convinced me there was no other choice because if they didn’t amputate the leg, the infection would spread to the rest of his body. I became resigned to this fate and consented. I was heartbroken about the future he faced. It’s very painful for me to see my son without a leg. Muhammad was my right hand man. He was an athlete and loved soccer. He was on the Palestinian sprinting team and won first place at school. Muhammad Musbah, 17, was injured north of the town of Khuza’ah on 5 April 2018 On Thursday, 5 April 2018, at around 4:30 in the afternoon, Muhammad Musbah, 17, a twelfth-grade student, from ‘Abasan al-Kabirah, and his uncle, Wasim Musbah, 22, went to the protest area north of the town of Khuza’ah. After spending a short while in the tent area, about 400 meters from the fence, Muhammad and another young man went up to an older woman who was standing near a coiled barbed-wire fence the military had laid on the ground. She was carrying a Palestinian flag. The two took the flag from her and walked toward the coiled fence, which is about ten meters away from the perimeter fence. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh on 2 May 2018, Muhammad Musbah related: We went to the coiled barbed-wire fence, which was about ten meters away from the perimeter fence, and I hung the flag on the coiled fence. Suddenly, a soldier who was on a dirt mound on the other side of the fence shot me. I was hit by a bullet in the right leg and fell to the ground. The young man who was with me, whom I don’t really know, sat down beside me. I lay there on my back for about twenty minutes. The young men who were standing in the back couldn’t get to us, because every time they tried to, soldiers fired at them. That whole time, I felt like an electrical current was running through my body, and I was bleeding badly. It was only about twenty minutes later that some young guys managed to get to me. They put me on a tuk-tuk [a three-wheeled vehicle], which took me about 600 meters away from there, to the eastern edge of Khuza’ah, because they couldn’t find an ambulance any nearer. Wiam Musbah, 23, from ‘Abasan al-Kabirah, is volunteer paramedic who was working in the tent area of the Return March. At the time, he was standing with some other paramedics a few dozen meters away from the fence. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-‘Azayzeh on 2 May 2018, he recalled: At around 4:30 P.M., I saw two young guys take a Palestinian flag from an older woman who was close to the coiled fence that was on the ground. They went up to that fence, which was about ten meters away from the perimeter fence. They put the flag on the barbed wire fence, and then I heard a few shots and saw one of them fall down. The other guy lay flat on the ground beside him. A few young men tried to reach them to give them first aid but the soldiers fired live rounds and teargas canisters around them. I advanced toward the spot with the first-aid team. The soldiers fired live rounds near us to warn us not to approach. One of the women on the emergency team put up her hands to set the soldiers minds at ease and let them know we were a medical crew, and we kept advancing, but the shooting continued near us and over our heads. The soldiers also fired teargas canisters behind us. Despite this, we managed to get to the two guys. I found that the guy who was injured is a relative of mine, Muhammad Musbah. He had been hit by a live bullet in the right leg and was lying on his back. His leg was completely torn up below the knee and he was bleeding badly. I bandaged the wound with medical gauze and Wasim Musbah, who was with us, brought the stick the Palestinian flag had been tied to, broke it in two and tied it to the injured leg as a splint for support. The entire time we were caring for him, the soldiers kept firing above us. A few young guys moved forward till they reached us, and together we lifted Muhammad and got him away from the barbed wire fence and on to a tuk-tuk, because there was no ambulance there. Muhammad Musbah was taken from the tuk-tuk and put into a Red Crescent ambulance, which took him to the European Hospital south of Khan Yunis, where his right leg was amputated below the knee. He was discharged after being hospitalized for more than three weeks. In his testimony he recounted: When I came to after the surgery, I found my father beside me. He said the doctor had had to amputate my right leg below the knee because it had taken in a lot of shrapnel that severed the arteries and nerves and shattered the shin bone. I was very sad. I felt I couldn’t breathe. I realized I would never play soccer again. I love playing so much. Before my injury I’d play every day. There’s a special field near us, and I played defense for the neighborhood team. I’m still getting treatment, and go back to the hospital every few days for checkups. I’m taking three different kinds of antibiotics. I’m also on painkillers because my leg still hurts. I can hardly sleep, and only with sleeping pills. The pain gets worse in the afternoon and at night. All the kids in my grade are getting ready for final exams, but I can hardly read because the pain is so bad. I couldn’t study at the hospital either because of the injury. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle the exams this year, or how long rehabilitation will take before I can go back to normal life. It never occurred to me that a day would come that I would be a disabled person. I’m still in shock over what happened to me. Mustafa Dhaher, 15, was injured east of Jabalya R.C. on 2 May 2018 On the afternoon of Wednesday, 2 May 2018, Mustafa Dhaher, 15, his cousin Mahmoud Dhaher, 14 and Yusef Abu Mansur, 17, all from Jabalya Refugee Camp went to the tent area east of the camp to attend a memorial service for people who died during the “Return Protests.” A short while later, the three boys advanced to a spot a few hundred meters away from the fence. Mustafa Dhaher advanced even farther, up to a few dozen meters from it. At around seven o’clock in the evening, the boys decided to go home. In a testimony he gave on 6 May 2018 to B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd, Mustafa Dhaher recounted: There were soldiers on dirt mounds on the other side of the fence. The air was completely filled with teargas that had been fired from military jeeps. There was also heavy live gunfire. At around seven o’clock I called out to my friends: “Mahmoud, Yusef, we have to go home. Enough, I’ve had enough”, and I was going to leave. As soon as I turned around, the soldiers shot my left leg, in the thigh. The bullet wen through my left leg and hit the right. I felt like there was an electric current running through my whole body, and I fell down. Yusef and Mahmoud came to me. I was bleeding heavily and I put my hands on the wounds to stop the bleeding, but it didn’t help. Yusef bandaged my legs, one with a kaffiyeh and one with his shirt, and that did help. A few minutes later, Mustafa Dhaher’s friends and some young men who were in the area evacuated him on a stretcher to an ambulance which took him to the Indonesian Hospital, near Jabalya R.C. He underwent surgery on his right leg and needs another operation on his left. In his testimony he said: I’m still in hospital and have to have another surgery, after my hemoglobin level goes up. I’m in pain a;; day long now. I cry and scream and then they give me painkillers. It hurts especially when they change the bandages. All I did was go to a memorial service for the martyrs. I didn’t do anything that threatened the lives of the Israeli soldiers. I didn’t even wave a flag. I didn’t throw stones. I was just watching the young guys protesting near the fence, and still the soldiers shot me.

31 May 2018

Yusef al-Kurunaz. Photo by Olfat al-Kurd, B'Tselem, 16 April 2018

The Gaza Strip

Failing Gaza healthcare system after 10-year blockade barely handling 2,000+ live fire injuries

Since 30 March 2018, Gazans have protested along the fence with Israel every Friday, with anywhere between thousands and tens of thousands of people participating. At least 39 people have been killed by live fire shot by Israel security forces and, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics, some 8,000 people have been wounded, more than 2,100 of them from live rounds. According to the media, Gaza doctors report particularly serious injuries, mostly to the lower extremities, which, “include an extreme level of destruction to bones and soft tissue, and large exit wounds that can be the size of a fist”. According to Palestinian Ministry of Health Data, as of 30 April 2018, Gaza doctors had performed 24 amputations on wounded individuals, 19 of them of lower limbs. Even an advanced, functioning healthcare system would have had difficulties handling such a large number of casualties in such a short period of time. All the more so for Gaza’s healthcare system, which has been in a state of collapse for years, mostly since the Israeli blockade began more than a decade ago. Israeli restrictions apply to replacing broken equipment, importing advanced medical equipment and drugs, travel by physicians for professional training outside Gaza and more. In addition, Gaza’s intermittent power supply, largely Israel’s doing with the High Court’s seal of approval, also disrupts the work of hospitals. In these conditions, it is impossible to provide the wounded with adequate care. According to figures released by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 28 April 2018, 75 drugs and 190 types of disposable medical equipment were immediately needed. Doctors are also in short supply. In the entire Gaza Strip, with its population of two million, there are only ten vascular surgeons, which means it is impossible to provide immediate care for all the wounded in the weekly mass casualty incidents. According to reports coming out of Gaza, to relieve the pressure on the system, hospitals try to release many of the previous week’s wounded on Thursday, in preparation for the influx of new patients expected the next day. Israel’s blockade includes a ban on travel out of Gaza for medical treatment in Israel or transit through Israel for treatment in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or abroad, except in rare cases and according to strict criteria. Since the demonstrations began, it has come to light that Israel has chosen to ignore even the narrow criteria it had put in place. On the first week of protests, Israel denied applications to allow demonstrators who had been hurt to exit Gaza for urgent medical treatment in a West Bank hospital. On 8 April 2018, the Adalah and Al-Mezan centers petitioned Israel’s High Court of Justice on behalf of two wounded men, Yusef al-Kurunaz, 19, and Muhammad al-‘Ajuri, 16, since amputation could not be avoided with the care available in Gaza. In response, the state told the court the applications had been rejected, “given the policy of the Minister of Defense on the issue, whereby, as a rule, entry into Israel shall not be granted to persons injured while taking part in the violent public disturbances organized by Hamas, where the concrete medical circumstances were not deemed to warrant considering a departure from said rule, as there is no real danger to any of the petitioners’ lives”. The state said it had “also warned Gaza residents against participating in the demonstrations”, as if this was a justification for denying them access to adequate medical treatment. The justices refused to schedule an urgent hearing and, with the legal proceedings stretching out,z the doctors had no choice but to amputate the leg of each patient. More than a week after the petition was filed, the High Court ordered the state to allow al-Kurunaz to travel to a hospital in Ramallah, where doctors were able to save his other leg. The justices did state, however, that this was an exceptional case and that they were not taking a stand on Israel’s overall policy toward injured protestors. According to figures released by WHO, by 28 April 2018, 27 urgent applications to exit Gaza for medical treatment had been submitted since the start of the demonstrations. At least one was approved following the court case. Eighteen were rejected and the rest were approved only after a lengthy process of applying to the DCO for the permit, receiving a rejection, contacting human rights organizations and them contacting the State Attorney’s Office, which finally resulted in the much needed approval (without court intervention at this point). This complicated bureaucracy delays the necessary treatment, may cost the health, perhaps the lives, of the wounded and puts unnecessary added strain on their families. The serious injuries, particularly in cases of leg amputations, necessitate lengthy rehabilitation. However, rehabilitation options in Gaza are limited and there is only one prosthetic center. It is also costly and due to the dire economic situation in the Strip, another direct result of the blockade, most of the wounded cannot afford it. Despite the fact that in the vast majority of the cases their injuries were a result of unlawful use of fire by Israel, they will not receive compensation as Israel has given itself a near complete exemption from payment of compensation to Palestinians it harms. Israel has created this reality and only Israel can change it. It is Israel that instituted an open-fire policy that has resulted in an incomprehensible number of live-fire injuries – a policy it has refused to change despite the clear results. It is Israel that is denying the wounded passage, for just several dozen kilometers, through its territory to reach the West Bank, where they can receive the necessary treatment. And it is Israel’s decade-long blockade on Gaza that has made it the major culprit in the collapse of the healthcare system there. Israeli security forces have been following manifestly unlawful orders for a month now, using live fire against unarmed protestors located on the other side of the fence and posing no danger to anyone. State officials refuse to change these orders, even in the face of the deaths and hundreds of injuries they have caused, claiming they are legal and defending them in court. However, as Justice Benjamin Halevy ruled in the Kafr Qasem case back in the 1950s, the illegality of these orders “pains the eye and outrages the heart, if the eye be not blind and the heart be not callous or corrupt”. Therefore, these orders must not be issued and must not be obeyed. East of Rafah, 30 March 2018: On 30 March 2018, at around 10:00 in the morning, ‘Alaa a-Dali, a 20-year-old resident of Rafah and a member of the Palestinian bicycle team in Gaza, arrived at the protest area east of the city of Rafah. At around 12:30 P.M., after midday prayers, and while some of the protestors were throwing stones at the Israeli forces stationed on the other side of the fence, a live round entered a-Dali’s right leg. He was taken, unconscious, to the field hospital that had been set up nearby and from there to the European Hospital south of Khan Yunis. A-Dali remained unconscious for two days, and the doctors spent two weeks trying to save his leg. In a testimony he gave to B’Tselem field researcher Muhammad Sabah on 18 April 2018, a-Dali recounted: I tried to get a payment guarantee for surgery in a Ramallah hospital. After I got it, and the surgery was scheduled, I applied to the Israeli officials for transit permits for my mother and me. Both applications were denied. After that attempt failed, the doctors decided to amputate my leg at the knee. When I heard about the decision, I cried a lot. I thought about my bike and my dream of becoming a cycling champion, which was suddenly cut short without any advance preparation. I felt that my life was over, my whole world turned upside down, and that I would never ride a bike again. I had been training for a race in Jakarta in August 2018, and I was hoping to take part and wave the Palestinian flag, but that will never happen at any race anywhere in the world. I realized I would never walk on two legs again and that from now on, my whole life would focus on the leg that’s about to get amputated because of a bullet fired by an Israeli soldier. I consented to the amputation because there was no choice. On 8 April 2018, my leg was amputated at the European Hospital. When I saw the amputated leg I went into shock. I cried and it was very painful. About a week ago, I was transferred to al-Quds Hospital in Gaza, and I’m still here. I’m supposed to be released today but when I get out of here, I won’t be the same person I was before 30 March 2018. I’ll leave with no leg, no dream, no future. My life will become difficult and lose meaning because the Israeli military made a decision and acted on it. I’d only ridden my bike and raced inside Gaza. I couldn’t race anywhere outside Gaza. I tried to get to a race in Tunisia, but I didn’t make it because of the Rafah Crossing closure and because I didn’t get a permit from Israel to travel through Erez Crossing. Two other cyclists who ride with me didn’t get a permit either. The Israelis also wouldn’t let us travel to the West Bank to participate in the Jericho Marathon, or another contest between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We weren’t allowed to go to a race in Egypt either. East of al-Bureij Refugee Camp, 30 March 2018 Yusef al-Kurunaz, a 19-year-old media student from al-Bureij, went to the protest area east of al-Bureij R.C. at around noon on 30 March 2018, as a volunteer photographer for the national press agency. About two hours later, live rounds were fired at both his legs, injuring him. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 16 April 2018, he described what he has been through since: I was taken to the ICU at Shuhada al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, but the doctors there couldn’t treat my injury and decided to transfer me to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza. At a-Shifaa, I was taken into the ICU and from there to the OR, where the doctors stopped the bleeding. I was in the OR for six hours and received about 18 blood units during the surgery, but the doctors at a-Shifaa couldn’t handle my injury either. I woke up the next day at nine o’clock in the morning. The doctors told me I’d been hit in both legs. They told my father I had to get treatment abroad because the injuries were so severe. After a week at the hospital, I got a referral for treatment at a hospital in Ramallah that specializes in such cases. My leg grew blacker by the day and was in critical condition. The Israeli side refused to let me enter through Erez Crossing. My father told the doctor to do whatever he had to do. On Sunday, 8 April 2018, the doctor told my father they had to amputate the leg, otherwise I would get gangrene and blood poisoning. Because of my leg’s serious condition, he agreed. I was taken into the OR for the amputation the next day. I came out about two hours later. After the doctors told me my leg had been amputated, my mental state deteriorated severely. Even before that I couldn’t look at my leg, which had blackened and looked terrible. After the surgery I felt unbearable pain, and my mental state was terrible. I stayed in hospital for about two more weeks – one at the ICU and one in orthopedics. Now I’m home, and I need urgent care abroad for the right leg, so it doesn’t get amputated too. I’ve tried to make arrangements to travel through Rafah five times, but have had no luck so far. On 16 April 2018, after the High Court ruling, al-Kurunez was taken to hospital in Ramallah, where he underwent surgery on his leg and remains hospitalized for follow-up care. East of Rafah, 31 March 2018: On 31 March 2018, Haitham Naser, a 19-year-old blacksmith from Rafah, arrived at the protest area around noon. A live bullet entered his right leg. He was taken to a-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, and from there to the European Hospital south of Khan Yunis. He was diagnosed with a ruptured leg and a fractured knee and underwent surgery. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Khaled al-'Azayzeh on 1 May 2018, he spoke about his hospitalization: When I came to after the surgery, I discovered the doctors had put a brace on my right leg. Between then and yesterday I had a series of operations on the injured leg. The doctors transplanted arteries from my left leg into the right one. I suffered complications because of the drug shortage. My family cannot afford strong antibiotics, so the wound got infected and the transplanted arteries ruptured. Because of this, they tried to use a synthetic artery, but it didn’t work either. Yesterday, I was taken into the OR and the doctors amputated my right leg above the knee. Now I’m lying here in bed at the European Hospital. I need many treatments that unfortunately my family cannot afford. For now, I’m given sedatives and sleeping medication most of the time. My father works as a taxi driver and barely comes home with ILS 20 (USD 5.60) a day. It’s not enough to buy drugs, or even food. We live in a rental that costs us ILS 500 (USD 140) per month. I don’t know how long I’ll stay here at the hospital and I’m very worried and anxious about the future. I don’t know if I’ll need long physical and mental rehabilitation. I’ve become very irritable and I’ve been fighting with my family members and escorts over everything. Sometimes I rip off my feeding tubes. Before my leg got amputated, the hospital made a request to Israel to have me transferred to a hospital in Ramallah for treatment. Israel refused and my condition kept getting worse, and ultimately, they had to amputate my leg. I made a new appointment to complete treatment in Ramallah and I’m now waiting for an answer from the Israeli side. East Gaza City, 30 March 2018: ‘Abdallah Darwish, a 22-year-old student from Beit Lahiya, arrived at the protest area at around 3:00 in the afternoon on 30 March 2018. About two hours later, Darwish was shot in the right leg and taken to the Indonesian Hospital located near Jabalya R.C., where he underwent leg surgery and was fitted with platinum implants. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 19 April 2018, he said: After I came out of the OR, the doctors told my father I was in very serious condition and that I needed a referral for treatment abroad. We received approval for treatment at al-Istishari Hospital in Ramallah from the Palestinian Authority. Because I had bad circulation in the leg and a blood clot in the artery, the doctors asked to expedite processing, otherwise they would have to do an angioplasty on the leg artery. Because Israel would not let me cross, the doctors performed the angioplasty on 21 April 2018. Before the surgery, to be prepared for the worst, my father signed a consent for an amputation from the knee. Thank God, the surgery was a success and circulation came back. On Saturday, 21 April 2018, they’ll transfer me to a-Shifaa Hospital in Gaza for a tissue transplant in the leg. Now I need a referral for treatment abroad for orthopedic and neurological issues with the leg. I’m going to need a few more operations because there is ruptured tissue. Even though the protests were peaceful, the soldiers, who were in no danger, used massive fire against us. My leg injury was very dangerous. My life was in danger. Despite this, the Israeli side wouldn’t let me access treatment in the West Bank. North of Khuza'ah, 13 April 2018: On 13 April 2018, at around 1:00 P.M., Ahmad ‘Afaneh, a 30-year-old married father of three from Khan Yunis, arrived at the protest area north of the town of Khuza'ah. A few hours later, at around 5:00 P.M., ‘Afaneh was shot in the right leg and taken to the European Hospital south of Khan Yunis. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Olfat al-Kurd on 30 April 2018, he said: The doctors told me they were taking me into the OR because my injury was severe. I heard one doctor tell another “amputation”. That was the last thing I heard. Then they injected me with the anesthetic and took me into the OR. I stayed in there for about six hours. When I came to, I found myself in the surgical ward. I started saying: “My leg, my leg”, because I thought I’d lost it, but it turned out they didn’t end up amputating it during surgery. An hour after the surgery, the leg started hemorrhaging and they took me back into the OR. After they stopped the bleeding, they took me to the ICU because I was in serious condition and my hemoglobin level was down. Two days later, I was transferred from the ICU back to the surgical ward. I had more operations on my leg. They put in a platinum implant and closed a ruptured vein. After that, they cleaned the wound every day. I lost sensation in my leg. For ten days, they cleaned the wound and gave me pain killers. On 23 April 2018, in the afternoon, I felt something warm underneath me. I lifted the blanket and saw the leg was bleeding hard. I was taken to the OR, where they found out the vein that had been closed had ruptured again, which was what caused the bleeding. They stopped it, but at that point, the doctors lost all hope and told me the leg would have to be amputated because they were worried about the impact on the rest of my body. Even though I knew from the start that amputation was a possibility, my parents and I refused to believe it and adamantly objected. But when things got really bad, I agreed, also because of the excruciating pain which didn’t stop the entire time I was in the hospital. The doctors amputated my right leg the next day. I went into the OR at ten o’clock in the morning and came out at noon. When I came out, my doctors told me my medical condition was good. My family took the amputated part of the leg for burial. I’m still at the European Hospital. My wound gets cleaned every other day. It has to close, to heal, and then I can have plastic surgery on the leg. I’m very frustrated and find it hard to cope with losing my leg, but that’s my fate. I hope I’ll recover soon, and get a prosthetic leg so I can walk again and have a normal life.

10 May 2018

No Accountability

Human Rights in the Occupied Territories

The report surveys the broad spectrum of issues regarding the Israeli authorities' human rights record in the West Bank and Gaza Strip over the past year, the 44th year of the Israeli occupation. An interactive version of the report is available online and distributed through social media. The report documents a sharp increase in the number of uninvolved Palestinians killed by the Israeli security forces in the Gaza Strip in 2011. There was also an increase in the number of Israeli civilians killed by Palestinians, compared to 2010.

21 March 2012