Opinion of the International Court of Justice

1 January 2011

On 9 July 2004, the International Court of Justice, in The Hague, gave its advisory opinion on the question of the legality of the separation barrier being built by Israel. The opinion was given pursuant to the request of the UN General Assembly of 3 December 2004.

Israel refused to cooperate in the proceeding, contending that the court did not have jurisdiction to hear the matter. In a document that it submitted to the court, Israel argued that the question involved was political and not legal, and should be dealt with bilaterally, between it and the Palestinians. In a majority decision, the court denied Israel's argument. In a minority opinion, one of the judges held that the court did not have sufficient information to render an opinion on the question, and thus lacked the authority to hear it. Before dealing with the substantive matters, the court explained that its opinion related only to those sections of the separation barrier that were built, or will be built outside the Green Line [in the Occupied Territories].

The first main issue discussed in the opinion relates to the effects of the barrier on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. The court "recorded" the promise made by Israel that the barrier was intended only as a temporary security measure. However, the court pointed out that there is a grave fear that the barrier's route would create "facts on the ground" that lead to the de facto annexation of the territory and determination of the future borders between Israel and a Palestinian state. The court believed that de facto annexation of parts of the West Bank by Israel would violate the right to Palestinian self-determination.

The second major issue involved the legality of the barrier in light of international humanitarian law. The court rejected Israel's argument that the Fourth Geneva Convention does not apply in the Occupied Territories because the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were never part of a sovereign state. On this point, the court held that, insofar as the territories fell into Israel's hands as a result of war with two states that are party to the Convention, the state must exercise control over the said territory in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

Specifically, the court found that the separation barrier is intended to assist the settlements, the establishment of which violates Article 49 of the Convention. Also, the court pointed out that the restrictions placed on the local population located between the barrier and the Green Line are liable to lead to abandonment of the land, which also constitutes a violation of Article 49. In addition, the opinion stated that taking control of private land to build the barrier injured private property owners, and thus violated Articles 46 and 52 of the Hague Regulations of 1907 and of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

The third major issue that the court dealt with involved the legality of the barrier under international human rights law. In this context, the court stated unequivocally, and contrary to the position held by Israel, that international human rights law applies in its entirety in occupied territory, along with humanitarian law. The court ruled that the separation barrier violates rights set forth in conventions to which Israel is party. The court mentioned the rights to freedom of movement and the right against invasion of privacy of home and family, which are enshrined in Articles 12 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the right to work, to an adequate standard of living, health, and education, which are enshrined in Articles 6, 11, 12, and 13 of the International covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.

It should be mentioned that the opinion dealt briefly with Israel's argument that violation of these rights is justified under international law because they are intended for legitimate security purposes. The court stated that Israel has the right and duty to protect its citizens against violence, but its defensive actions must comply with international law. The brief discussion on the possible security justifications for the route of the barrier resulted, in part, from Israel's refusal to present its arguments to the court, and from its decision to suffice with a written statement contending the court lacked jurisdiction.

In its conclusion, the court stated that Israel must cease construction of the barrier, dismantle the parts of the barrier that were built inside the West Bank, revoke the orders issued relating to its construction, and compensate the Palestinians who suffered losses as a result of the barrier. The court also called on the international community to refrain from assisting in maintaining the unlawful situation that has arisen following construction of the barrier, and to take legal measures to cease Israel's violations and to ensure enforcement of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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גדר ההפרדה ליד הכפר דיר אל-עסל אל-פוקא. התמונה באדיבות התושבים

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldiers lying in ambush shoot Palestinians trying to cross Separation Barrier without endangering anyone, killing two brothers, injuring a third and severely abusing another young man

On Thursday, 29 February 2024, at around 4:30 P.M., three brothers from the Shawamreh family, Najm a-Din, 29, Salah a-Din, 25, and Nur a-Din, 30, arrived at the western side of the Separation Barrier, near Beit Mirsim. They were headed back home to the village of Deir al-’Asal al-Foqa in Hebron District. The three crossed the barrier into Israeli territory a few days earlier with another brother to pick some ‘aqub (gundelia). A taxi dropped them off near the barrier with another passenger, Muhammad ‘Amru, 21, who was returning from his job in Israel. The four men were planning to climb the barrier using a rope ladder. They were in touch with a Palestinian lookout who was paid to climb the barrier and warn people if Israeli forces are nearby.Najm a-Din climbed the ladder first. Soldiers waiting in ambush near the western side of the barrier fired a barrage of live shots at him. He was hit in the chest and fell on ‘Amru, who was standing under the ladder. The lookout on the barrier jumped down the eastern side and ran away. The shooting stopped, but when Salah a-Din tried to climb the ladder to the other side to escape the fire, the soldiers started shooting again. He was hit in the abdomen and chest and fell. Another bullet hit Nur a-Din, who was standing on the ground, in the head. He fell down semi-conscious. In the meantime, more than 20 other soldiers arrived, along with ambulances. They took the three wounded brothers to a military post near the town of Beit ‘Awwa. From there, the brothers were taken in Palestinian ambulances to a hospital in Dura, where Najm a-Din and Salah a-Din were pronounced dead.While some of the soldiers were evacuating the wounded brothers, others detained ‘Amru on site. They handcuffed and blindfolded him, forced him to sit on the ground and proceeded to subject him to two hours of abuse, using a stun gun on him again and again until he fainted, interrogating him, verbally abusing him and taking photos of him. The soldiers then put ‘Amru in a military jeep and drove him to a nearby military base, where 5,400 shekels (~ USD 1,470) he had on him in cash were taken from him. ‘Amru was kept in a room, handcuffed and blindfolded, until around 2:00 A.M. While he was detained on the base, soldiers gave ‘Amru at least one more electric shock. At 2:00 A.M., the soldiers handed ‘Amru a summons for questioning and then drove him to the area of the village of Fqeiqis in Hebron District, where they stopped, threw him out of the jeep, still blindfolded, and ordered him to walk while the jeep drove behind him. After he walked for about 200 meters, the jeep drove off, and ‘Amru took off the blindfold and walked about 200 more meters to the nearby village of Khirbet Salamah, where he called his family. Relatives came and took him to a hospital in Dura, where he was examined and discharged.When the fourth brother, Muhyi a-Din Shawamreh, who stayed behind to keep collecting ‘aqub, found out his brothers were shot, he tried to return home via the Tarqumya checkpoint, where he was detained by Israeli forces. On 6 March 2024, an administrative detention order was issued against him for three months.Responding to an inquiry made by Haaretz newspaper, the IDF Spokesperson said: “A few months ago, following the outbreak of the Swords of Iron War, and in the wake of the security situation, the rules of engagement were updated in the area of the security barrier and the Judea and Samaria boundary line, with the aim of preventing terrorist activity and infiltration, and in order to thwart unauthorized crossing of the barrier other than via the official points of passage. It should be emphasized that approaching the security barrier and the boundary line is forbidden and endangers one’s life. In the case mentioned, a number of illegally present [Palestinians] tried to cross over the security barrier near the village of Beit Awwa in [the territory of the] Judea Brigade. IDF troops who were on active duty in the area tried to prevent them from crossing by acting in various ways. When the suspects failed to heed the actions, the forces fired at them, and hits were observed. The circumstances of the case are being clarified.”As B’Tselem has said in the past, whatever grounds Israel offers for using live fire against Palestinians near the Separation Barrier – such shootings are unlawful and unjustifiable. The same is true for the abuse Muhammad ‘Amru suffered. As indicated by the military’s official response, the four men were shot according to the current open-fire regulations in the Occupied Territories. Using lethal fire against individuals who pose no danger to the life or bodily integrity of any other person is illegal and immoral. The fact that they were shot on their way back into the West Bank belies any claim of “suspicion” over danger they might pose, which the soldiers allegedly tried to prevent.The open-fire regulations, authorized by the senior command level, reflect Israel’s apartheid policy and its disregard for Palestinians’ lives. That is why no one will be held to account for the killing, injury and abuse, which are an implementation of this policy.B’Tselem field researcher Basel al-Adrah collected testimonies from Nur a-Din Shawamreh and Muhammad ‘Amru:Nur a-Din Shawamreh, 30, married, from the village of Deir al-’Asal al-Foqa, said on 4 March 2024:On Monday, 26 February 2024, I went with my brothers, Najm a-Din, Salah a-Din and Muhyi a-Din to the Umm Khashram area to pick ‘aqub to sell. The area across from our village has been annexed to Israel by the Separation Barrier. No one lives there. We needed money because until the war, we all worked in restaurants in Jerusalem, and then they revoked everyone’s permits and we became unemployed. We made arrangements with a guy who usually looks out when people climb the barrier and warns them when Israeli forces approach. We managed to get across the barrier and stayed there for three days. It was very cold, and all the ‘aqub plants we found were small, so we decided to go home. Only Muhyi a-Din decided to stay there.We called the lookout guy again and made arrangements with him, and called a taxi that came at around 4:30 P.M. and picked the three of us up. Muhammad ‘Amru, from the village next to ours, who was coming back from work, was already in the taxi. We rode for about half an hour on bumpy dirt roads.When we got to the barrier, everything seemed quiet. We got out of the taxi and it drove off right away. The guy on the barrier dropped down a rope ladder. Muhammad held the ladder and Najm a-Din started climbing, but he only managed to climb a few rungs before shots were fired at him and at the guy at the top. The guy climbed down the other side right away. Najm a-Din was hit and fell right on top of Muhammad, and they both fell on the ground.The shooting was intense. Salah a-Din tried to climb the ladder too, because he wanted to escape to the West Bank, but he was also hit by several bullets and fell down. I wanted to go over to him, and then a bullet hit me in the back of the head, and I fell too. I was barely conscious, and I could hear my two brothers reciting the Shahada. We lay there wounded, and then I heard voices and felt movement around me, but I didn’t understand what was happening.When I came to, I was sitting between soldiers in a white military vehicle. One of them told me in Hebrew that my brothers were still alive and were being treated. We got to the military tower near Beit ‘Awwa, and I was put in another, larger military vehicle. We waited there for about 10 minutes, and then a Palestinian ambulance came, and they put me in it. Salah a-Din was in the ambulance too. He was barely conscious and asked to speak to our dad, but I didn’t have a phone. The soldiers put a bandage on his wounds. The ambulance took us to the hospital in Dura, where Salaha-Din was immediately taken into the OR and my head wound was stitched up. A little while later, the doctors pronounced Salah a-Din dead. Later, I found out Najm a-Din was also killed. Those were extremely difficult hours.My brothers were shot in front of me, and I couldn’t do anything. I can’t believe I lost my two brothers like this. When Muhyi a-Din heard what happened to us, he went to Tarqumya Checkpoint to come home, and they arrested him there. We haven’t heard what’s going on with him since.Muhammad ‘Amru, 21, from Beit a-Rush a-Tahta, said on 3 March 2024:I work in construction in Israel, and I usually enter with a work permit. Since the war they haven’t been giving permits, and because of the tough financial situation, I had to climb the barrier that Israel built west of my village and go to work without a permit.On Thursday, 29 February 2024, I came home from work in a car that drove me to a dirt road close to the barrier near the village of Beit Mirsim, where I climb over the barrier with a rope ladder. During the ride, the driver got a call from a guy I know, Najm a-Din Shawamreh, who asked us to come get him and his brothers, Salah a-Din and Nur a-Din. At 4:30 P.M., we picked them up. They told me they went to the area on Monday, 26 February 2024, to pick ‘aqub but found that the plants were still too small and decided to go home and come back to pick ‘aqub later. All they had was a plastic bag with a little bit of wild thyme and a little bit of ‘aqub, and a bag of clothes.We called the lookout to see what was going on, and he said he was sitting on the barrier and didn’t see any soldier movement in the area. We got to the barrier around 5:00 P.M. and everything seemed quiet. The driver dropped us off near the barrier and took off immediately. The lookout was sitting on the barrier, and there was a rope ladder there. Najm a-Din climbed five rungs, up to about a meter and a half, and then suddenly, shots were fired at us. The guy sitting on the barrier jumped to the other side, and Najm a-Din fell right on top of me, and we both fell to the ground.I tried to get him off me. My clothes were soaked with his blood. I was in shock. There was a lot of shooting. Najm a-Din told me to call his mother. I pulled the phone out of his pocket and asked him what the code was, but he didn’t answer anymore. Salah a-Din ran to the ladder to climb and escape, because there was nothing there to hide behind. The barrier was in front of us, and the shooting was coming from behind us. As soon as Salah a-Din climbed the ladder, the shooting started again, and I saw bullets penetrate his body. He fell on the base of the barrier, and I saw his stomach rip open.Nur a-Din was sitting on the ground, and he got up to try and help Salah a-Din, but he was hit by a bullet in the head and fell immediately. I crawled on the ground and got close to him. I grabbed his head and tried to stop the bleeding with my hand. He also asked to call their mother. I took his phone too and asked what the code was, and he didn’t answer.The shooting stopped right after Nur a-Din fell to the ground. A male soldier and a female soldier walked up to us. They must have been hiding in the bushes and fired at us from there. The female soldier went up to Nur a-Din and bandaged his head. Salah a-Din was one meter away from me, and blood was literally pouring out of his stomach.The soldier screamed over the phone, and I stayed motionless for about 15 minutes, until five military vehicles arrived. The soldiers got out of the jeeps and went straight to us. Two of them handcuffed and blindfolded me, and then they picked me up and slammed me on the ground. Then they gave me an electric shock in the back and I blacked out. When I came to, I managed to remove the blindfold. There were more than 20 soldiers there.The soldiers blindfolded me again, and one of them spoke to me in Arabic with a Bedouin accent. He said they killed my friends, and they were going to kill me too. He swore at me. Then he asked what my name was, and then one of them threw me face down and stepped on my back. They gave me another electric shock, and I blacked out again. When I came to the second time, a female soldier spoke to me in Hebrew and asked me what my name was, and what I was doing there. She gave me water. I asked her for a cigarette. She took the cigarette pack out of my pocket, with my phone, charger and NIS 5,400 (~ USD 1,470) I had on me. She lit a cigarette for me and took all the money. I put the cigarette in my mouth, and as soon as I took the third puff, I got another electric shock and I fell to the ground unconscious again.Then I woke up and heard vehicles driving. I managed to take off the blindfold again. There were two ambulances and paramedics and soldiers gathered near the three brothers. After 10 minutes, they took all three of them away. I didn’t see exactly which vehicle they were put in. Then some of the vehicles left. The soldiers came up to me and got me to my feet. An officer asked me what my name was and demanded my ID. I told him I didn’t have it on me. He took a picture of me on his phone and then led me a few steps around where the soldiers had scattered the brothers’ clothes. The ground was soaked with their blood. One of the soldiers stood in front of me and took a picture of me with a body camera. He asked me what was in the bag and said it was drugs, hashish. I said it was thyme and ‘aqub. The soldier told me I was a liar. One of the soldiers took me and made me sit next to a white car, and then the female soldier came and put my money and phone back in my pocket. Then they blindfolded me again. Someone took the phone and money out of my pocket again, and I asked in Hebrew where my things were being taken. One of the soldiers answered in Hebrew that my things would be in the car. They put me in the car and it took off. On the way, I tried to talk to the soldiers about what happened to the guys, but no one answered.We arrived at the military camp in the al-Khish area, behind the barrier that was put up on Beit ‘Awwa land. It was about 8:00 P.M. The soldiers made me sit in a room, blindfolded and handcuffed. I asked out loud what happened to the guys, and a female soldier told me not to worry and that I would stay in the military camp until the next day, and then she left. After some time, I asked about the guys again, and another female soldier told me in Arabic that one of them was dead and told me to shut up. I asked for water, but she didn’t give me any or let me go to the bathroom or smoke. Every time I asked for something, she ordered me to shut up.I stayed in that room until 2:00 A.M., handcuffed the whole time. There were soldiers there too. They listened to music, made fun of me, and gave me electric shocks again. Then one of them gave me a piece of paper and told me I had to go to the address that was written on it on Sunday.In the end, they took me in a military vehicle to an intersection that leads to the village of Fqeiqis, close to the settlement of Negohot. The soldiers threw me violently from the vehicle to the ground. They gave me my phone and pack of cigarettes, but not the money. I was still blindfolded. A soldier told me I had to walk and he would drive behind me in the car. I walked like that for about 200 meters, and then I heard the jeep drive away. I took off the blindfold and kept walking another 200 meters until I got to a school in the village of Khirbet Salamah. I called my father from there, and then I kept walking until one of my uncles came and took me to the governmental hospital in Dura. I was exhausted.At the hospital, they did some tests, and then family members who came there took me home.

5 June 2024

The Separation Barrier in Northern West Bank. Photo: Abdulkarim Sadi, B’Tselem

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldiers fatally shot in the head a Palestinian, 25, crossing the Separation Fence to reach work

Since the war in Gaza broke out, Israel has suspended entry permits into its territory, as well as into parts of the West Bank cut off by the Separation Barrier. The Hajar family from the village of Shweikah in Tulkarm District owns an aluminum factory in the village of Barta’ah a-Sharqiyah. This village and others are trapped in an enclave created by the Separation Barrier, cut off from the rest of the West Bank. The family has been unable to access the factory due to the sweeping suspension of permits.On Saturday, 16 December 2023, at around 9:30 A.M., two members of the Hajar family – Seif, 19, and his brother Salim, 25 – tried to reach their factory. They crossed through a gap in the barrier, walked about 800 meters, and then got into a car along with two other workers. They traveled a few meters and then about 15 soldiers sprang out of an ambush some 50 meters away from them, and signaled the driver to stop. All the passengers, including the driver, immediately got out of the car and ran into the trees, and the soldiers launched a barrage of live fire at them. One of the bullets hit Salim in the head and he fell.Seif managed to get away and hid behind rocks. He watched from about 50 meters away as soldiers evacuated his brother in an ambulance. He remained in hiding for several hours and did not come out until the soldiers left the area. He then got into a car that drove him to the Jbarah checkpoint, where he crossed the barrier and went home. Upon arrival, he learned his brother Salim had been killed and his body was being held by Israel. During the chase, the soldiers arrested the driver of the vehicle and one of the workers, while another worker managed to escape. Salim Hajar’s body has not been returned to his family to date. The IDF spokesman told the media that “observers identified dozens of infiltrators who crossed the barrier near the village of Deir al-Ghusun, in the [territory of] the Menashe Brigade, on December 16, 2023. An IDF unit that arrived at the site launched a pursuit of the suspects, at the end of which all the suspects were apprehended.” This message completely ignores the fact that the soldiers shot live rounds at the car passengers and that they killed Salim Hajar. It is another instance of soldiers using live fire despite facing no danger, in breach of the open fire regulations the military says it follows.B’Tselem field researcher Abdulkarim Sadi collected testimonies from eyewitnesses:Seif Hajar, 19, Salim Hajar’s brother, said on 20 December 2023:For more than a decade, my family has been running a factory for an aluminum and blinds in the village of Barta’ah a-Sharqiyah, which is isolated on the other side of the Separation Fence. Salim, my father and I went there every day through the Rihan crossing. We had entry permits from the Israeli DCO and always crossed without any issue.Ever since the war in the Gaza Strip started, the DCO and the army have been preventing us from getting to our factory. They canceled our permits and we’ve been unable to make a living for about 70 days now, like all the other Palestinians who worked in Israel until the war. My father went to the checkpoint dozens of times to try to get across anf check on the factory, but every time he scanned his magnetic card, the gate wouldn’t open. This happened to many other people with businesses in Barta’ah. That’s why, after so much time had gone by, Salim and I decided to try to get to the factory through a breach in the fence, on Deir al-Ghusun village land.On Saturday, 16 December 2023, in the morning, we managed to cross the breach in the Separation Barrier together with other workers. We walked about 700-800 meters and got into one of the cars waiting there to drive laborers coming in through the breaches. There were five of us in the car, together with the driver. He started driving and after we went a few meters, suddenly 10-15 soldiers came out of an ambush on the eastern side of the village of Ibthan.When we saw them, the driver stopped the vehicle and we all got out and ran into the olive trees, including the driver, who has an Israeli ID card. The soldiers managed to arrest him along with one of the laborers, and I managed to escape with another guy. They shouted at us to stop and fired at us, but we kept running.One of the soldiers managed to hit Salim. I made it about 40-50 meters away and hid behind a rock for four or five hours. I sent a message to my family and told them that soldiers were after us and that Salim was injured, that he had fallen and soldiers were surrounding him. I asked them not to call me because I was afraid the soldiers would hear the phone and arrest me.Salim lay on the ground without moving, and the soldiers stood around him. After a few minutes, a Magen David Adom ambulance came and took him away. I stayed in hiding because I was still afraid that if I came out, the soldiers would shoot me or arrest me. More military forces came and soldiers patrolled there and sometimes passed very close to me, but didn’t see me.After they left and I couldn’t hear them anymore, I came out and saw Salim’s clothes on the ground, stained with blood. I walked away and found a vehicle that drove me to the Jbarah checkpoint. I went home, not knowing Salim had been killed.When I got home, relatives were already gathered there. They told me Salim was hit in the head and killed and that the Israeli authorities had his body.We had no security problems with the Israeli authorities. We simply had to get to our factory and because the permits were suspended, we had no other way for 70 days. When we saw the soldiers, we were frightened and ran away.A laborer who crossed the fence that day said on 20 December 2023:I’ve been working in Israel for about two years. Since the war in the Gaza Strip started, I haven’t been able to get to my workplace. I was out of work for 70 days and couldn’t provide for my family. When I heard workers were getting to work through a breach in the fence in the western land of Deir al-Ghusun, I decided to do the same.On Saturday, 16 December 2023, at around 9:30 A.M., I managed to get through the breach, sneak between grapevines and olive trees and get to one of the vehicles that wait there to drive workers into Israel. On the way, I met Salim and Seif Hajar and another person I didn’t know. We agreed to travel in one car to our workplaces. We found a vehicle waiting there and after driving a short distance, a few dozen meters, and even before we reached the village of Ibthan, we suddenly saw a group of soldiers come out of hiding. They pointed their guns at the vehicle we were traveling in and yelled at us to stop.The driver stopped immediately, and we all ran away among the olive trees because we were afraid they would arrest us and torture us. Every one of us ran in a different direction. There were 10-15 soldiers chasing us, and they were about 50 meters away. I managed to outrun them. I got very far from the soldiers, all the way to the homes of Ibthan. As I was running, there was heavy fire from the soldiers. I felt bullets flying past my head and body, and luckily I was not hurt. After a few minutes, I saw an ambulance arriving in the area and I heard from people that Salim was hurt. I also heard the soldiers managed to arrest the driver and one of the workers who was with us in the car. In the afternoon, I saw on social media that Salim was killed.

16 December 2023

Open-Fire Policy

Israel resumes ambushes of workers trying to cross known gaps in Separation Barrier; soldiers fatally shoot Nabil Ghanem (53)

Nabil Ghanem (53) lived in Sara, a village west of the city of Nablus. On Sunday, 19 June 2022, at around 10:00 A.M., he tried to cross through one of the gaps in the Separation Barrier near the Qalqiliyah DCO (Eyal) Checkpoint in order to enter Israel, where he worked without a permit, and collect money his employer owed him. As soon as he crossed the barbed wire fence on the eastern side of the barrier, Israeli soldiers who were lying in wait fired several shots at him and at other Palestinian workers who were with him. Ghanem was injured in the torso and was evacuated by soldiers to Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, Israel, where he died of his wounds a short while later. Israel justified the shooting on the grounds that Ghanem had vandalized the barrier and tried to cross into Israel, and held the body until 23 June 2022. After Ghanem was killed, Israel revoked the work permits of two members of his family. Ghanem is the second Palestinian worker killed by soldiers while trying to cross the Separation Barrier into Israel in the last two months. On 8 May 2022, soldiers killed Mahmoud ‘Aram (27), a resident of Khan Yunis who lived in ‘Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp in recent years, after, according to the military, he tried to cross the barrier near Far’on. He died of his wounds later that day at Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer, Israel. In his case, too, Israel held the body and only gave it back to the family on 11 May 2022. Over the course of four months, from April to July 2022, Israel implemented a lenient open fire policy by the Separation Barrier, permitting live fire at the lower body of Palestinians crossing – or trying to cross – it. The policy change, officially a response to several terrorist attacks by Palestinians who entered Israel via gaps in the barrier, increased the number of Palestinians wounded or killed by live fire in this period. According to media reports, in addition to Ghanem and ‘Aram, Israeli gunfire injured 15 Palestinians in April alone. In comparison, according to UN figures,* one Palestinian was wounded by gunfire near the barrier in the first quarter of 2022. B’Tselem has previously documented periods in which soldiers used live fire against Palestinians crossing or trying to cross through gaps in the Separation Barrier. Israel appears to periodically decide, for its own reasons, whether to allow thousands of Palestinian workers to cross through these gaps or try and stop them. The latter is enforced, among other things, by live fire. As B’Tselem has previously stated, whatever grounds Israel cites, opening live fire against Palestinians seeking to enter Israel through gap in the barrier – almost all of them laborers looking to work in Israel – is unlawful and cannot be justified. The soldiers are not operating on their own initiative, or at the behest of commanders on the ground; they are implementing a declared policy approved by senior officials. It follows, therefore, that no one is held accountable for the injuries and the killings, and that the MPIU investigation launched, according to media reports, after the killing of Ghanem will also result in whitewashing. Y.‘A. (54), a resident of Sara, met Nabil Ghanem and his son at Qalqiliyah Checkpoint and set out with them to find a way to cross the barrier. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on 2 July 2022, he recounted: On Sunday, before dawn, I met Nabil Ghanem and his son Mu’tasem at Qalqiliyah Checkpoint. We sat outside one of the businesses there and waited to cross through one of the gaps in the fence near the checkpoint. We stayed there until the sun rose. Another young man from our village, M.R., joined us, as well as two other young men who I don’t know where they live. One of them said he knew a gap in the fence. We got in a car that drove us there, and asked the driver to wait for us. We noticed soldiers lying in wait near the gap and heard shots. Nabil said it was dangerous and refused to cross there. We went back to the car and drove back to the checkpoint. We talked with fixers who know the gaps and take workers through them. Some people, including Mu’tasem, went and tried to cross through one of the gaps, but after about half an hour, they came back and said there were soldiers and shooting there. Mu’tasem said he wanted to go home because it had been dangerous since the morning. We drank coffee and some of us had breakfast. M.R. suggested we go back to the gap because maybe the soldiers were gone. We went and tried to cross through farmland near the fence, but we heard young guys saying: “Soldiers, soldiers,” so we turned back because we were afraid the soldiers would catch us. Nabil and another young man I don’t know really wanted to go through, and kept walking around the area to find an opening to cross. I heard one of the young guys say there was a way through if anyone wanted. I told them not to go because it was dangerous, but Nabil didn’t listen to me. The young guy trod on the barbed wire fence. He was about 20 meters away from me. M.R. and Nabil and two other young men went over to him. I saw the young guy who was treading on the barbed wire go through and so did Nabil. Then I heard three or four shots, I’m not sure how many. I immediately turned and ran away. While I was running, I heard someone say, “Oh, I’m dying.” I was afraid the soldiers would chase us and catch us or shoot at us. Some young men told me how to get to the main road, and from there I got in a car and went home. On the way home, I saw on social media that one of the workers trying to cross the fence had been injured. I realized it was Nabil. I was shocked. I’ve had coffee with him more times than with my own family. For years, we slept in Israel together for weeks at a time. I later learned he’d been killed. M.R. (21), single, a resident of Sara, cannot obtain a permit to work in Israel as he does not meet the criteria set by Israel. Instead, he enters through gaps in the barrier. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb'i on 20 June 2022, M.R. described what happened that morning: At around 10:00 A.M., one of the young men went to the fence and trod on it in order to cross through to the other side. After he got through, he called out to us to cross too. We went towards him. A resident of my village, Nabil Ghanem, was walking ahead of me. He put his foot on the fence, and then I heard four shots. I saw three soldiers hiding in a low place behind the fence, seven to ten meters away from us. I had no choice but to run away. I turned and ran without stopping until I got away. I didn't know what happened to Nabil. Everyone who was with me ran away. I decided to go home. I was very scared by what happened. After about an hour, I called drivers in the area. They told me they’d seen an ambulance and that there was probably a wounded person. I later found out through social media that Nabil had been killed. The next day, I had to go to the fence again. I can't stay without work. My employer owes me money and if I don't go to him, I won't get it. This is our life. We have no other choices. Nabil's son, Mu'tasem Ghanem (23), a plasterer, set out with his father from home before dawn towards the Separation Barrier. They reached the checkpoint at around 5:00 A.M. In a testimony he gave B'Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb'i on 27 June 2022, he recounted: The drivers in the area told us there was a gap in the fence in an area called Abu al-‘Adas. We drove there. There were other workers there trying to enter Israel. When we were 200 meters from the fence, I heard shots but didn't know what was happening exactly. We went back to the car and drove back to the checkpoint. We had breakfast there. My dad had schnitzel and I had falafel. We waited until about 6:30 A.M., and then I went to check other gaps near the checkpoint, but they all had soldiers nearby. I called my dad and told him we couldn't go through. He asked me to come back to him. When I got there, the bus to Qalqiliyah was just passing and my father signaled it to stop and told me to go. I asked him to come with me, but he wanted to stay and try to cross the fence anyway. He wanted to go to his employer to get his salary, so he could give money to my brother Mu'taz (31) and help him buy an apartment. I got on the bus and went back home. At 8:30 A.M., my dad called and asked if I was home. I said I was, and he said he was still waiting to cross. I asked him to come home, and he said he'd cross the fence soon. We hung up and I went back to sleep. I woke up at 11:00 A.M. and called him, but he didn't pick up. His phone was off. I was worried, because he’s only never answered when he’s been arrested. I called M.R., whom I met in the morning by fence, and he told me he’d seen Dad go through the gap in the fence, and then heard gunfire and ran away. He later found out an ambulance had come and he thought the soldiers had arrested my dad. I didn't believe him. I went out of the room and found my mother, my sisters and my brother Mu'taz crying. I asked them what happened, and they said dad had been injured. I told them it didn't make sense. Even an hour later, when news of his death was shared on social media, everyone was crying and I still didn't believe it. I said he’d been arrested and nothing had happened to him. Very quickly, relatives, friends and neighbors started arriving. I started to grasp that he was dead. In addition to our mourning over Dad, Israel refused to hand over his body. The Palestinian DCO told us the body was being held because Dad was a terrorist and wanted to cut the fence. Only on Wednesday evening did the Israeli DCO hand over the body, at Huwarah Checkpoint. Dad wasn't a terrorist. He worked in Israel for 35 years without a permit, and always crossed through the gaps in the fence to support us. He was arrested many times in Israel because he didn't have a work permit. His last arrest was in 2018, when he spent two months in prison. Yet he still returned to work in Israel every time. We have no other choice. There's no work in the West Bank, and whatever there is, is irregular and badly paid. We just want to work and earn a living, like everyone else. * According to the database on the protection of civilians of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Updates: On 1 July 2022, media reports stated that an MPIU investigation had been launched.

4 August 2022