Updates

No Accountability

UN report is a reminder: Over 1.5 million people live in the Gaza Strip. It is not a battlefield

The UN report on the 2014 Gaza conflict rejects Israeli government and military officials’ view of what is permissible in combat in densely populated areas. The UN commission’s premise differs from that of these officials, seeing Gaza as the home of over 1.5 million civilians where combat took place, not as a battlefield on which civilians live. The report states that the immense harm to civilians during the fighting cannot be justified nor can IHL be interpreted so as to legalize it, even considering the modus operandi of Hamas and other armed groups. The commission also found that the responsibility for violating IHL rests with the senior political and military officials who drew up the policy and did not change it even when its lethal consequences became clear.

30 June 2015

Agriculture

June in the Jordan Valley: In 7 days of maneuvers, Israeli military temporarily displaces hundreds and causes fires in farmland

In 7 days throughout June, Israel temporarily displaced hundreds of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley from their homes in order to hold military maneuvers, bringing the total since the beginning of 2015 to 20 such days. The displacements disrupt the residents’ lives and cause various difficulties, including burnt farmland in some cases, as part of a deliberate effort to pressure the communities to leave the area permanently. Israel must halt this policy immediately and enable Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley to live undisturbed.

30 June 2015

Administrative Detention

On 54th day of Khader ‘Adnan’s hunger strike: Agreement reached to end strike

Media reports state that Khader ‘Adnan’s legal counsel and Israel’s military prosecution have reached an agreement whereby ‘Adnan will end his hunger strike immediately and be released from administration detention on 12 July 2015. ‘Adnan, who lives in ‘Araba in the West Bank, was striking to protest being held in administrative detention for a cumulative period of nearly six years, without any charges being brought against him.

29 June 2015

Demonstrations

Military continues to use live ammunition to quell demonstrations even when not in mortal danger

B’Tselem has recently documented dozens of cases near Ramallah in which Israeli security forces injured Palestinians, some of them severely, with live gunfire. Most injuries are apparently the result of.22 inch bullets, whose impact is less than that of “ordinary” bullets but can still cause grave, even fatal injuries. The regular use of live fire against demonstrators in breach of regulations indicates that it is part of a policy, an unlawful policy. B’Tselem calls on security forces to stop firing live ammunition at unarmed civilians, except in extreme cases of immediate mortal danger.

28 June 2015

Beating and Abuse

Police security escort during the demolition of a home in Silwan uses violence against family members

On 2 June 2015 the Jerusalem Municipality bulldozers with police escort, arrived to the Abu Khaled family home in Silwan, to demolish two apartments built by the family. The family had no choice but to build without a permit since Jerusalem Municipality policy is to deny permits to residents of this and other Palestinian neighborhoods. One family member climbed to the roof to try to prevent the demolition. He was pepper-sprayed, forcibly taken off the roof, and arrested by the police. Relatives who demanded his release were also attacked with pepper-spray and physical violence. City workers demolished the two apartments.

25 June 2015

Harassment

Soldiers enter Palestinian homes at night, intimidating the families and disrupting their lives

On several nights in April and May 2015, soldiers entered the homes of 20 Palestinian families in the villages of ‘Awarta and Madama. In each home the soldiers, some of whom were masked, ordered that everyone there be awakened, including children. They wrote down the details of the family members and the house, and took photographs of the building. Military officials told the media about training in the area which included this type of activity. B’Tselem documented four separate incidents of this type, indicating that this is a policy of blatant disrespect for Palestinians’ right to live undisturbed.

24 June 2015

Administrative Detention

Fear for life of Khader ‘Adnan, a Palestinian administrative detainee on hunger strike

Khader ‘Adnan is on the 49th day of a hunger strike to protest his lengthy administrative detention and there is now fear for his life. Israel is advancing a bill to allow force-feeding in such cases, although the international medical community agrees that this is a prohibited violation of the right to personal autonomy, dignity, and protest. B’Tselem again calls on the government to change its administrative detention policy, which defies international law, instead of drastically punishing people protesting their unlawful detention.

23 June 2015

The Gaza Strip

B’Tselem responds to UN Gaza commission report: The leaders must take responsibility, not hide behind propaganda

The UN commission of inquiry into last summer’s fighting in Gaza recommended an international criminal investigation against Israel and Hamas. This is aimed primarily at the leaders on both sides, rather than at the ground forces. Despite the horrifying and predictable results, top military and government officials in Israel ordered that the lethal policy of massive bombings in Gaza be continued. Denial and passing the buck cannot be the only response to such serious findings. A healthy society should face the criticism and thoroughly investigate the allegations of serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law.

22 June 2015

Detainees & Prisoners

New report: Presumed Guilty

A new report B’Tselem published today indicates that remand in custody is the rule rather than the exception for Palestinian defendants. Most cases, therefore, end in plea bargains. To all intents and purposes, the Israeli military court appears to be a court like any other. There are prosecutors and defense attorneys. There are rules of procedure, laws and regulations. There are judges who hand down rulings and verdicts couched in reasoned legal language. Nonetheless, this façade of propriety masks one of the most injurious apparatuses of the occupation. The rules of Israeli law, ostensibly applied to the military court, have been rendered essentially meaningless - merely serving to whitewash the flaws of the military court system.

21 June 2015

Attacks on Israeli Civilians by Palestinians

B’Tselem harshly condemns killing of Danny Gonen

On Friday 19 June 2015, a Palestinian shot two Israelis in their car by the ‘Ein Bubin natural spring near Ramallah, killing one and wounding the other. The man killed was 25-year-old Danny Gonen, a resident of the city of Lod, Israel. B’Tselem expresses shock at the killing and conveys its sincerest condolences to the Gonen family and its wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded man. B’Tselem harshly condemns any deliberate attack on civilians.

21 June 2015

East Jerusalem

High Court allows authorities to deport Nadia Abu al-Jamal and her children from Jerusalem despite the fact that this is unlawful punishment

Since the Nov. 2014 attack on a Jerusalem synagogue, in which Palestinians killed four worshippers and wounded seven, the authorities have threatened punitive action against the assailants’ families: demolition of the homes and deportation the wife of one of them, Nadia Abu al-Jamal. She and her children may be cut off from family and friends and denied many official services. The children would lose their state health insurance. Israel must stop punitive measures against family members who are not suspected of any wrongdoing.

18 June 2015

Area C

Residents of Khirbet al-Malih, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj displaced for military training yesterday

Yesterday, 17 June 2015, the military again displaced residents of the Palestinian communities of Khirbet al-Malih, ‘Ein al-Meyteh and al-Burj for military training near their homes. Together, the three communities are home to 29 families numbering 180 members, more than a hundred of them minors. On 8 June 2015, Civil Administration officials came to the communities and gave residents orders to evacuate their homes on 11 and 17 June between 6:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Yesterday’s displacement was the fourth imposed on these communities this year, after they were told to leave their homes twice in May and on 11 June, for military training.

18 June 2015

Area C

Residents of Khirbet Humsah in the Jordan Valley displaced for military maneuvers for the ninth time since May

Yesterday, 16 June 2015, ten families numbering 69 members, 43 of them minors, from Khirbet Humsah were forced to leave their homes for seven hours to make way for military training in the area. When military forces arrived at the community in the morning, they told the ten evacuated families and five additional families that they would be required to leave their homes again on 22 and 25 June 2015 from 6:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The families vacated their homes for seven hours last week, and in May, families from the community were evacuated seven times due to military drills. Over the past two years, residents of Khirbet Humsah were displaced more than forty times for military drills. The repeated displacement of community members in favor of military drills causes an ongoing disruption to their lives.

17 June 2015

No Accountability

Internal information in the Yusef a-Shawamreh killing reveals: Commanders ordered live fire ambush of teens, though they posed no danger. The result: a 14-year-old killed, no one held accountable

In March 2014, soldiers killed Yusef a-Shawamreh, 14, as he crossed the Separation Barrier to pick edible plants for his family. He was shot although he posed no danger, in broad daylight. In July 2014, the MAG Corps declared the investigation closed with no charges. Examination of the military file revealed a sloppy investigation and corroborated B’Tselem’s suspicion of unlawful conduct in the incident. The MAG Corps effectively sanctioned this conduct by accepting a flawed investigation and releasing the commanders from accountability.

16 June 2015

Agriculture

Military again evacuates Khirbet Humsah residents for maneuvers, orders evacuation of three other communities

Yesterday, 10 June, the military again evacuated Palestinian residents of Khirbet Humsah from their homes for 7 hours so soldiers could train on their land. The residents returned to find their farmland burnt and unexploded ammunition nearby. They are to be evacuated again on 16 June. The military also served three other communities in the area, similarly evacuated last month, with evacuation orders for 11 and 17 June. Israel must immediately stop this and other actions taken as part of the policy to expel Palestinians from the Jordan Valley.

10 June 2015

Agriculture

Civil Administration demolishes homes of 4 Palestinian families in al-Mukasar, Jordan Valley

On 4 June 2015, Civil Administration officials demolished five tents and several livestock pens in the Palestinian shepherding community of al-Mukasar in the northern Jordan Valley. Aid organizations provided the families who were left homeless with new tents. This latest act is part of a longstanding Israeli policy to displace thousands of Palestinians who live in dozens of small communities throughout Area C, to enable de facto annexation of this part of the West Bank to Israel.

9 June 2015

Restrictions on Movement

Soldiers expel Palestinians from pool in Area A to enable settlers to bathe undisturbed

On 7 April 2015, during the Passover holidays, hundreds of settlers accompanied by Israeli security forces came to Birkat al-Karmil, a natural pool recently renovated by the Yatta Municipality as part of a new park in Area A. The troops instructed Palestinian bathers to leave the pool and the center of the park, clearing it for the exclusive use of the settlers. The incident illustrates the conduct of the Israeli authorities in the West Bank: catering to almost every settler whim at the expense of Palestinians. B'Tselem wrote to the IDF Spokesperson requesting a response to the incident, including a series of detailed questions. The IDF Spokesperson replied with a laconic response that offers no explanation for the authorities' conduct in the incident.

7 June 2015

General

48 year of occupation: No cause for celebration

It’s been 48 years since 1967. Decades of rule over another people, of trampling its rights in all spheres of life amounts to a permanent situation, not the temporary one that is the very definition of occupation.This “temporary” state cannot go on forever, but Israel’s government does not believe the occupation must end. We do.Join us.

3 June 2015

General

B'Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad in New York Times op-ed - The occupation is no longer temporary

Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories is nearing the half-century mark, and Israel’s new right-wing government offers little hope of ending it. Nevertheless, the new government promises something else of value: clarity. And with that clarity, the opportunity to challenge the prolonged lie of the occupation’s “temporary” status. For if the occupation has become permanent in all but its name, what about the voting rights of Palestinians?

1 June 2015

Agriculture

#SaveSusiya - Stop the expulsion!

The High Court of Justice is enabling the Civil Administration to demolish the village of Khirbet Susyiya, in effect ejecting the residents from their land, even as their petition appealing the rejection of their master plan for the village is still pending. At any moment, the Civil Administration might now demolish the village homes, leaving the residents with no shelter in harsh desert conditions. This mode of operation by the Israeli authorities allows them to take over additional lands and drive out communities from Area C. The absence of official annexation aside, the reality of the matter is that annexation and dispossession are already here in actual fact.

31 May 2015

Area C

Day after partially opening it, the military closes Beitin-Ramallah road

In the last few days, Israeli authorities completed the reopening of the road that connects Palestinian villages Beitin and others in the northeast Ramallah District with the city of Ramallah via the DCO checkpoint. Due to existing restrictions in the DCO checkpoint, the opening allowed access to Ramallah only for the use of private vehicles and in one direction only. However, this partial improvement in the freedom of movement of Palestinian area residents was short-lived: only one day after the much-publicized reopening of the road, the military blocked it off with rocks. The grounds given were that some of the Palestinian drivers did not obey a stop sign placed on the road in order to give the right of way to Israeli settlers from Beit El. The original closure of the Beitin junction to Palestinians was in order to allow Beit El settlers exclusive use of the road on their way to route 60.

27 May 2015

Agriculture

Civil Administration again orders Ibziq residents to evacuate homes for military maneuver

On Monday, 25 May 2015, the Civil Administration ordered 4 Palestinian families from Ibziq, the Jordan Valley, to evacuate their homes for the whole of the next day, as the military would be training nearby. Earlier this month, hundreds of Palestinians in the area were ordered to temporarily evacuate on short notice for the same reason. Among them were 10 families from Ibziq, including the four ordered again to evacuate on Monday. Over the last two years, Ibziq residents have been forced to evacuate their homes more than 20 times on these grounds.

26 May 2015

East Jerusalem

A-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah and a-Sheikh Sa’ed isolated from rest of East Jerusalem

The villages of a-Sheikh Sa’ed and a-Sawahrah a-Sharqiyah were cut off from East Jerusalem by the Separation Barrier. Formerly, they were part of a contiguous bloc with East Jerusalem, and particularly Jabal al-Mukabber and a-Sawahrah al-Gharbiyah with which they had extensive ties. The Separation Barrier has cut off residents from relatives, places of work and services. Israeli authorities have also imposed arbitrary restrictions that exacerbate the isolation. Israel must remove the barrier, which severs an urban, historical, and cultural continuum and disrupts the lives of tens of thousands of people. Until it does so, Israel must permit regular passage between these villages and East Jerusalem, enabling residents of the isolated villages lead normal lives.

26 May 2015

Harassment

Soldiers repeatedly harass B’Tselem volunteers’ family in Hebron, threaten wrongful arrest of son

In early April 2015 the Abu Haya family were subjected to repeated threats and harassment by Israeli security forces in Hebron. Among other things, soldiers detaining Maher Abu Haya (14) for alleged involvement in a stone-throwing incident near his home. After the boy denied the allegations, soldiers threatened to arrest him if he is seen once more in the vicinity of a stone-throwing incident, regardless of his involvement. For a week, soldiers came time and again to the family’s home and harassed them. The family, volunteers in B’Tselem’s camera project, filmed some of the incidents.

25 May 2015