Updates

The Gaza Strip

Soldiers fire live bullets at Gazan demonstrators near fence with Israel, killing eight and injuring hundreds

Following Trump’s declaration regarding Jerusalem, December 2017 saw a rise in Gazan demonstrations near the fence with Israel, during which soldiers killed eight Palestinians with live fire and injured hundreds. B’Tselem found that none of the demonstrators killed were endangering the troops and there was no justification to use live fire at them. The officials who authorized the policy of suppressing demonstrations in Gaza with these measures likely took the predictable dire outcomes into account and bear responsibility for them.

31 January 2018

The Gaza Strip

Palestinian wounded at age 6 by Israeli missile fired on Gaza in Operation Protective Edge dies three years later

In August 2014, Muhammad Abu Hadaf, then 6, was wounded by an Israeli missile fired near his home in al-Qararah. For more than three years, his family and doctors fought for his life, moving him paralyzed, blind and unable to speak from one hospital to another. On 6 December 2017, at age 9, he died of his injuries. Targeting homes with occupants inside was a horrifying aspect of Israel’s actions in Operation Protective Edge, resulting in the killing of more than 1,000 people who took no part in the fighting, including hundreds of children.

29 January 2018

A Routine Founded on Violence

Collective punishment in Qusrah: Israeli forces raid village homes two nights in a row

After settlers hiked on Qusrah village land on 30 Nov. 2017, which resulted in the killing of one villager and the wounding of another, Israeli forces clashed with village residents. On 6 and 7 Dec., soldiers raided homes in Qusrah at night and arrested 21 people, including two teens. Large groups of soldiers entered homes, woke families and gathered them in one room, in some cases staying up to two hours. In testimonies given to B’Tselem, residents described terrified children and feeling powerless to prevent this invasion of their privacy.

25 January 2018

Restrictions on Movement

Over 7,000 people collectively punished: Israel imposes harsh restrictions on access to village of Hizma

For more than a week, the Israeli military has been severely restricting access into and out of the Palestinian village of Hizma in the West Bank, apparently in response to stone-throwing along a nearby road. Restricting the freedom of movement of some 7,000 people constitutes collective punishment, which is prohibited under international law. Yet again, this type of occurrence illustrates routine life under occupation and the Israeli military’s arbitrary use of its power in dealing with the Palestinian population.

24 January 2018

The Gaza Strip

Distant relatives: Severe restrictions imposed on prison visits by immediate family to Gazans held in Israel

Israel keeps thousands of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, in breach of international law, forcing relatives to request permits to visit. Over the years it has imposed immense obstacles to visits from Gaza. Currently, only spouses and children under 16 are allowed, and only once every two months; grandparents and siblings are barred. Israel must stop this violation of the rights of prisoners and their families and allow them visits without imposing arbitrary restrictions as maintaining family ties is a fundamental human right, and prisoners are no exception.

22 January 2018

The Jordan Valley

Dispossession in the northern Jordan Valley: New settlement outposts as part of the land grab process

Israeli settlers living in new settlement outposts established in the northern Jordan Valley are using violence and threats to take over the pasturelands of longstanding Palestinian communities. The settlers act as the state’s criminal arm in pursuit of the state goals of dispossessing Palestinians in the Jordan Valley of their land and entrenching Israeli control in the area.

17 January 2018

The Military Courts

‘Ahed and Nariman Tamimi remanded in custody as military prosecution requested

Today (Wednesday, 17 Jan. 2018), a military judge approved the prosecution’s request to remand ‘Ahed and Nariman Tamimi in custody. These proceedings reveal the disgrace of Israel’s military regime as a whole, and of its military courts in particular. In this system, the judges and prosecutors are always military personnel, the defendants are always Palestinian, and the conviction rate is almost 100%. This so-called justice system is one of the most offensive mechanisms employed under Israel’s occupation regime. Its goal is not to serve truth and justice, but to preserve Israel’s control over the Palestinian people. This is true of the Tamimi family – and of thousands of others.

17 January 2018

A Routine Founded on Violence

Night in Beit ‘Einun: Israeli soldiers throw stun grenades and raid homes

Late at night on 11 Dec. 2017, troops entered the village of Beit ‘Einun, northeast of Hebron. They threw stun grenades and raided dozens of homes, pounding on doors and breaking some down, and terrifying the residents and their children. They forced residents to read out a statement accusing the village of terrorist activity and threatening nightly harassment. The military’s abuse of power to intimidate entire families suspected of no wrongdoing exemplifies the arbitrary violence to which Palestinians are subject to under the occupation.

15 January 2018

Attacks on Israeli Civilians by Palestinians

Palestinians kill Israeli civilian in shooting attack near settlement point of Gilad Farm near Nablus

B’Tselem expresses deep sorrow at the death of Rabbi Raziel Shevach, 35, a father of six from Gilad Farm who was killed by Palestinians in a shooting attack yesterday. B’Tselem conveys its sincerest condolences to the Shevach family. The deliberate targeting of civilians undermines every moral, legal and human standard. B’Tselem strongly condemns any and all deliberate attacks against civilians.

10 January 2018

Open-Fire Policy

Not only in Iran: Israeli troops fire live ammunition during protests against Trump’s declaration, killing 10 Palestinians and injuring hundreds

Ten Palestinians were killed and hundreds injured when Israeli troops used live gunfire during protests sparked by President Trump’s declaration on Jerusalem. Live gunfire is permitted only in case of immediate mortal danger that cannot be otherwise averted. The great number of Palestinian casualties will probably be addressed no differently from thousands of past cases of excessive and unlawful use of live gunfire. With the MAG Corps at the helm, those responsible for these deaths will be afforded protection instead of being held to account.

8 January 2018

East Jerusalem

A chronicle of growing up under occupation: Broken lives in East Jerusalem

Over the past two years, M.M., 16, from al-‘Esawiyah, has undergone interrogations, nighttime arrests, imprisonment and injury by Israeli security forces. He is shortly to begin serving another sentence. His story is not unique: every year hundreds of East Jerusalem teens are pulled out of bed at night, detained and imprisoned. The Israeli authorities violating these boys’ rights see M.M. as no more than an object to be repressed in order to maintain control in East Jerusalem, though the impact of their actions will surely be with him for life.

31 December 2017

Communities Facing Expulsion

Israeli Civil Administration confiscates wooden panels from Khan al-Ahmar

On 28 Dec. 2017, at around 8:30 A.M., Israeli C.A. officials came with Border Police officers to the Khan al-Ahmar School community in the area of Ma’ale Adumim, handed the residents a military warrant and took away 60 wooden panels and two doors. The community of Khan al-Ahmar is located in an area that Israel has earmarked for future expansion of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.

31 December 2017

A Routine Founded on Violence

Budrus, exposed: Israeli soldiers raid five homes of extended Palestinian families in dead of night

In the small hours of the night on 5 Dec. 17, Israeli soldiers raided five buildings in the Palestinian village of Budrus, northeast of Ramallah. They entered the apartments of 9 families, in some cases gathering all members of the family in a room, with no consideration for their age or health. The soldiers conducted searches, damaged property and left a mess behind, all based on a military order that gives them sweeping powers, with no need to meet any sort of legal standard such as a search warrant signed by a judge.

28 December 2017

Communities Facing Expulsion

Israeli military digs deep trenches to prevent access to communities of Masafer Yatta

For over a month the military has been curtailing the movement of the Palestinians living in Masafer Yatta (Greater Yatta) in the South Hebron Hills by putting in place physical obstacles. Local residents occasionally managed to forge side paths to get through, and each time the soldiers restored the obstacle either the same day or the next. This morning, 26 December 2017 2017, at around 10:00 A.M., soldiers arrived in the area with bulldozers. They re-blocked paths the Palestinian residents forged between Masafer Yatta and the community of Sh’ab al-Botum. This time the soldiers also piled up mounds of boulders and dug a ditch – two meters deep, by three meters wide – to keep vehicles from getting though. In addition, the troops also dug another ditch along a road which had not previously been blocked, and which runs between the communities of Khallet a-a-Dabe’ and Khribet al-Fakhit.

26 December 2017

Hebron City Center

Hanukkah in Hebron’s Old City, 12 December 2017

In 2012 the Israeli military built a fence along a-Salaimeh St. in Hebron’s Old City, designating the broad, paved section for Jews; the narrow, unpaved one for Palestinians. In 2017 the fence was extended, incl. a gate that is unlocked at the discretion of the troops at the nearby Bakery Checkpoint; on 12 Dec. 2017 settlers and soldiers celebrated Hanukkah near it. Some 40,000 Palestinians and 800 settlers live in Area H2 of Hebron where the military imposes a regime of separation, limiting Palestinian movement and upholding settler rights.

26 December 2017

The Gaza Strip

Dead end: Unemployment among college and university graduates in Gaza

June 2017 marked a decade since Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza, ruining the Gazan economy and drastically lowering the quality of life there. The unemployment rate there is currently one of the highest in the world, at 46.6%. Women and young adults are even worse off. Four residents related to B’Tselem field researchers how they pursued higher education in the hopes of improving their financial position, but since graduating have remained unemployed, with little hope for change.

21 December 2017

East Jerusalem

East Jerusalem: Israeli Border Police officer pepper- sprays Palestinian, 15, at close range for no reason, others arrest the father

On 20 Nov. 2017, Israeli Border Police harassed Palestinian teens in Batan al-Hawa. An officer pepper-sprayed one of them, 15, in the face from very close range, for no reason. When his father tried to complain, the police arrested him for “threatening a police officer”. He was taken to a police station, interrogated and released on bail. This is not unusual conduct. Police brutality and false arrests are nothing new in Batan al-Hawa, a neighborhood where the largest expulsion in East Jerusalem in recent years is currently underway.

20 December 2017

East Jerusalem

Israeli police assault and arrest two Palestinian teens, fire sponge rounds and throw stun grenades in East Jerusalem neighborhood

On 7 Nov. 2017, Israeli police writing traffic tickets in Batan al-Hawa, Silwan, detained a Palestinian, 15, cycling by. When their demand to see his ID card went unmet, as he is too young to have one, an officer assaulted him and pinned him to the ground. A cousin who tried to intervene was pepper-sprayed. Both teens were arrested and the younger fined for riding without a helmet. This incident exemplifies deliberate harassment in a neighborhood under settler takeover, and the default use of arrest against Palestinian teens in East Jerusalem.

18 December 2017

East Jerusalem

Hundreds of Israeli police raid al-‘Esawiyah in East Jerusalem, arresting 51 Palestinians incl. 26 teens

On the night of 22 Oct. 2017, Israeli police raided homes in al-‘Esawiyah in East Jerusalem and arrested 51 Palestinians, including 26 teens. Some of the minors, held in custody for a day or two, reported being beaten and forced to kneel for hours without food or drink. They were interrogated without a parent present and made to sign statements in Hebrew. Some did not see a lawyer. This conduct is part of a policy allowing systemic abuse of the human rights of hundreds of Palestinian minors a year, for decades, under a thin veneer of legality.

17 December 2017

Hebron City Center

Hebron: Israeli soldier injures Palestinian, 16, in the head during settler march

On 11 Nov. 2017, settlers held a procession in Hebron’s Old City and the military shut down streets and shops along their way. The settlers tore down Palestinian flags hanging on closed shop doors, to which several Palestinian onlookers responded in protest. A soldier hit one of them, a 16-year-old, on the head with a rifle butt. This violence is part of daily life under occupation. It is not limited to beatings, but also takes the form of extreme restrictions imposed on Palestinians in the city to accommodate settlers.

14 December 2017

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldier fires without cause at Palestinian car passing by post, killing the driver and injuring his sister

On 31 Oct. 2017, a soldier fired at a passing car in the West Bank, injuring driver Muhammad Musa and his sister, Latifah. Israeli personnel did not offer first aid, stopped treatment by Palestinian paramedics and carelessly transferred the driver to an ambulance that took him to an Israeli hospital, where he died. B’Tselem’s investigation found that the shooting was unjustified. MPIU is reportedly investigating, but experience shows this will likely end in nothing. Musa is the 36th casualty of Israeli security forces in the West Bank in 2017.

11 December 2017

Hebron City Center

Video: Israeli soldiers beat Palestinian in Hebron

Video footage which reached B’Tselem shows a large group of soldiers violently dragging a Palestinian youth. A Hebron resident began recording the incident after hearing the youth crying out in pain. The violent incident took place on Friday, 8 Dec. 2017, on Wadi al-Tufah Street in the city of Hebron. Demonstrations were held that day across the Occupied Territories, including in Hebron, to protest U.S. President Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Very recently, when closing the investigation against the spokesperson of Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, senior State Attorney officials tried to create the false impression that acts of violence by soldiers against Palestinians are an anomaly which always prompts an investigation.

10 December 2017