Updates

Open-Fire Policy

B’Tselem to UN Secretary General: Protect Lives of Palestinian Protestors

Ahead of today’s UN Security Council's open debate at 5:00 P.M. (Israel time), and as the demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel fence are expected to continue, B’Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad sent UN Secretary-General António Guterres a letter listing the names of the 35 Palestinians protestors shot to death by Israeli forces in Gaza in recent weeks, four of whom were minors. El-Ad called upon the UN to do “all that is in its power – and its responsibility – in order to protect Palestinian lives and uphold international norms”, with the goal of immediately ending the illegal shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza.

26 April 2018

The Gaza Strip

B'Tselem publishes names of protestors shot and killed in Gaza demonstrations under manifestly illegal orders

The order to shoot at civilians who pose no danger to is manifestly illegal. Usage of lethal force is permitted only when there is a clear and present danger to life, as a last resort. The responsibility for issuing manifestly illegal orders lies primarily with the policy makers, including the prime minister, the defense minister and the chief of staff. It is forbidden to give and to obey to such orders. Click to read names of protestors shot and killed in Gaza demonstrations under manifestly illegal orders issued under the direction of the government and the senior military command. Over 1,500 others were injured by live fire.

26 April 2018

Restrictions on Movement

Life under occupation: Khirbet Qalqas, a Hebron neighborhood, has been cut off from the rest of the city for over 17 years

In 2000 the Israeli military blocked the road linking the southern Hebron neighborhood of Khirbet Qalqas (pop. 3,000) with the rest of the city. Ever since, residents have had to cross Route 60 on foot or travel by a roundabout route to reach the rest of the city. Six Palestinians have been killed crossing Route 60 in recent years. The military ignores residents’ demands to reopen the access road, and has met their protests with stun grenades and teargas. This is but another case of Israel’s repeated abuse of power, making decisions that radically disrupt Palestinians’ lives without consulting them. This situation will end only when the occupation does.

23 April 2018

The Gaza Strip

Military fired teargas at family tents far from fence during Gaza protests, injuring hundreds

B’Tselem’s investigation has found that soldiers fired teargas at men, women and children engaged in peaceful activities in tents pitched hundreds of meters from the fence during the recent Gaza protests. This is neither lawful nor justified: Israel has no right to disperse demonstrations inside Gaza or tell Gazans where they can be. It certainly may not fire teargas at demonstrators hundreds of meters from the fence who pose no threat to a soul.

20 April 2018

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldiers fire crowd control weapons at heads of two boys, aged 10 and 14, injuring them

In Feb. 2018 B’Tselem documented two cases in the Ramallah area in which soldiers, in contravention of the military’s own open-fire regulations, fired crowd control weapons at the heads of children. In both cases, neither the soldiers nor anyone else was in mortal danger. Muhammad Nubani, 14, was injured in the eye by a rubber-coated metal bullet; Saleh Yihya, 10, was hit in the head by a teargas canister fired directly at him. These children, like hundreds of others in the West Bank, will bear the lifelong consequences of a reality in which soldiers can fire unlawfully without anyone being held to account.

18 April 2018

Open-Fire Policy

Yitzhar settlers assault residents of Palestinian village of ‘Urif; soldiers stand by, later fatally shoot a resident and injure a 14-year-old boy

On 10 Mar. 2018, 20-30 settlers accompanied by three armed soldiers came from Yitzhar to ‘Urif village land. The settlers and villagers exchanged stones, and the soldiers fired crowd control measures and live ammunition at the Palestinians. After the settlers left, the soldiers remained and villagers threw stones at them. One soldier shot and killed ‘Omayr Shhadeh, 19, and injured a boy of 14. This is another instance in which soldiers protected settlers who enter Palestinian land and throw stones at local residents, while Israeli authorities consistently do not enforce the law in such cases.

16 April 2018

The Gaza Strip

If the heart be not callous: New position paper by B’Tselem on the unlawful shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza

Since the wave of protests near the Gaza-Israel fence began on 30 March 2018, the Israeli military has killed 32 Palestinians in Gaza, 26 of them demonstrators, and injured more than 1,000 with live fire. Despite the heavy toll on life and limb, all state and military officials refuse to cancel these manifestly unlawful open-fire orders and continue to issue – and justify – them. Ahead of this Friday’s demonstrations (13 April), B’Tselem has issued a position paper on its findings regarding the first day of protest, analyzing the illegality of orders to shoot at unarmed demonstrators who pose no danger to anyone.

13 April 2018

Human Shields

Israeli soldiers use a Palestinian man, ‘Abd a-Rahim Gheith, as human shield during clashes in Jericho

On 9 March 2018, during clashes between Palestinian youths and soldiers in Jericho, soldiers detained passer-by ‘Abd a-Rahim Gheith and commandeered his car, hiding behind its doors while firing at the demonstrators. Gheith was handcuffed and made to sit on nearby for some two hours. He sustained multiple injuries from stones thrown at the soldiers, his car was damaged and he required hospital treatment. This instrumental use of a passer-by, at real risk to his life, illustrates the routine abuse of military power that is West Bank reality.

9 April 2018

Open-Fire Policy

Why Israeli soldiers must refuse to fire at unarmed Palestinian protesters

Tomorrow (Thursday) B'Tselem will launch a campaign entitled “Sorry Commander, I cannot shoot”. The campaign will include newspaper advertisements clarifying to soldiers that they must refuse to open fire on unarmed demonstrators. The organization is taking this unusual step following last Friday’s events, when soldiers used live fire against unarmed demonstrators. Of at least 17 Palestinians killed that day, 12 were killed at the protests. Hundreds more were injured by live gunfire.

4 April 2018

The Gaza Strip

B’Tselem: Shooting unarmed demonstrators is illegal and the command that allows it is manifestly illegal

Since today’s morning hours, Israeli soldiers have been shooting at Palestinian demonstrators standing on the other side of the fence surrounding Gaza. At least ten Palestinians have been killed so far, including one minor, and at least a thousand have been wounded. Shooting at unarmed demonstrators is illegal and any command allowing such an action is manifestly illegal. Yesterday, B’Tselem warned against relating to demonstration areas as combat zones and against shooting live fire at demonstrators. Armed soldiers and unarmed demonstrators are not “at war.” The illegal open fire regulations and the compliance with them are the reason for the number of dead and injured today in the Gaza Strip.

31 March 2018

The Gaza Strip

B’Tselem: Gaza not “combat zone”, shooting at demonstrators a crime

Ahead of the Palestinian demonstrations planned to start tomorrow (Friday) in Gaza, Israeli officials have repeatedly threatened to respond with lethal force. Completely ignoring the humanitarian disaster in Gaza and Israel’s responsibility for it, they are couching the planned protest in terms of a security risk, framing the demonstrators as terrorists and referring to Gaza as a “combat zone”. Fragments of information reported by the media indicate that: soldiers will be ordered to shoot anyone coming within 300 meters of the fence; snipers will fire at anyone touching it; live fire will be used also in circumstances which are non-life-threatening. In other words: shoot-to-kill unarmed Palestinians taking part in these demonstrations.

29 March 2018

The Gaza Strip

Two weeks in Gaza: Four Palestinians, two of them teens, shot and killed by soldiers

From 17 February to 3 March 2018, Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinians near the boundaries of Gaza: two teens who tried to cross the perimeter fence into Israel, a fisherman whose boat was swept outside the permitted fishing zone, and a farmer working close to the perimeter fence. None of the four were endangering the soldiers’ lives, and in all cases the soldiers opened lethal fire without warning. Despite these tragic and predictable outcomes, the military has not changed its open-fire policy in the Gaza Strip.

29 March 2018

Open-Fire Policy

Life in the shadow of the settlement of Beit El: Heightened presence of the Israeli military in al-Jalazun R.C. leads to clashes and to firing at Palestinian youths

Al-Jalazun R.C., north of Ramallah, has a population of 14,000, including 5,000 minors. In 1977 the settlement of Beit El was established nearby, leading to permanent military presence in the area. Israeli soldiers and youths from the camp often clash. Over the past five years, Israel security forces have shot and injured some 160 Palestinians, killing six, incl. four minors. The injured do not receive compensation from Israel or recognition for the harm suffered, and those responsible are not prosecuted, allowing continued use of gunfire, sometimes lethal gunfire, a key component in Israel’s ability to maintain its violent control over millions of Palestinians.

28 March 2018

Settler Violence = State Violence

Feb. 2018: Ten settler attacks in Nablus District after fatal stabbing by Palestinian near settlement of Ariel

In two of the incidents B’Tselem documented, settlers injured Palestinians and in one they killed and injured sheep. This is part of the violent routine of occupation in the West Bank. Israeli security forces are often on site during such incidents yet do nothing to stop them, and sometimes even take part in the attack. The authorities rarely take action against the perpetrators. This policy leaves Palestinians defenseless and effectively barred from many parts of the West Bank, for fear of assault, enabling the state to take over land and resources.

27 March 2018

The Military Courts

‘Ahed Tamimi’s forced plea bargain clearly illustrates role of military juvenile court: Protecting the occupation, not Palestinian minors

The conviction rate in Israel’s military courts in the West Bank is almost 100% - not because the military prosecution is so efficient, but because Palestinian defendants reluctantly sign plea bargains in which they plead guilty. A new report published yesterday by B’Tselem shows how the measures that Israel has showcased over the last decade as examples of its improved treatment of Palestinian minors in military courts have little to do with the protection of minors and everything to do with public relations. In fact, the function of the military juvenile court boils down to signing off on plea bargains such as the one signed today.

21 March 2018

A Routine Founded on Violence

#Occupation365 4 November 2017 through 23 February 2018

From 4 November 2017 through 23 February 2018 Israeli security forces arrested at least 1,210 Palestinians, including 168 minors; made at least 1,107 raids on towns and villages; raided at least 451 homes; and set up at least 1,217 flying checkpoints.

20 March 2018

The Military Courts

New report: Minors in Jeopardy - Violation of the Rights of Palestinian Minors by Israel’s Military Courts

Every year, Israel arrests and detains hundreds of Palestinian minors, routinely and systematically violating their rights throughout: during arrest and interrogation, and at the military juvenile court. The minors undergo this process completely alone, cut off from their family and without legal counsel. Israel boasts of changes instituted in the military juvenile justice system in recent years, claiming significant improvement to the protections afforded minors. In practice, these changes have not helped safeguard minors’ rights and are no more than superficial matters of form designed to legitimize the military justice system and the occupation regime.

20 March 2018

Communities Facing Expulsion

Israeli military trains near Palestinian farmers by Khirbet Um al-Jamal

Since 5 March 2018, large Israeli forces – including infantry, tanks and armored vehicles – have been conducting military training on an almost daily basis near Palestinian communities in the northern Jordan Valley. This morning (19 March), a military force made up of three tanks, a jeep and an armored vehicle drove mere meters away from farmers tilling their land. This was but one more example of the daily military training routine that Israeli decision-makers impose on the people living in the Palestinian communities of the northern Jordan Valley, with a view to forcing them to leave, ostensibly of their own accord.

19 March 2018

Attacks on Israeli Civilians by Palestinians

Palestinian stabs and kills Israeli civilian in the Old City, East Jerusalem

B’Tselem expresses its deep sorrow over the killing of Adiel Kolman, a 32-year-old father of four who lived in the settlement of Kochav Hashachar. He was fatally stabbed by a Palestinian in the Old City, East Jerusalem. B’Tselem conveys its sincerest condolences to the Kolman family. The deliberate targeting of civilians undermines every moral, legal and human standard. B’Tselem strongly condemns any and all deliberate attacks against civilians and calls once again on politicians and leaders to act responsibly and avoid fanning the flames of violence.

19 March 2018

Restrictions on Movement

Israeli military reopens main entrance to Hizma after choking the Palestinian village for 2 months

On 14 March 2018, the military reopened the main entrance to Hizma, a village between Jerusalem and Ramallah, after blocking it for almost 2 months and intermittently closing the southern entrances, on the grounds that stones had been thrown at nearby roads. On 28 February, it also closed the dirt roads residents had been using as a fallback. Entirely disrupting the lives of the 7,000 or so residents of the village constitutes prohibited collective punishment – yet another example of life under occupation, at the whim of military power.

15 March 2018