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

16 April 2018, updated 27 March 2022

חיילים מלווים מתנחלים מיצהר התוקפים פלסטינים בעוריף, 9.2.18. (תמונת ארכיון, מתוך תיעוד ווידיאו)

‘Omayr Shhadeh. Photo courtesy of the family

At about 5:30 P.M. on 10 March 2018, a group of some twenty to thirty settlers walked over from the settlement of Yitzhar to the Palestinian village of ‘Urif, which lies close to Nablus. They came to the easternmost of the village lands, which are located about one kilometer away from the settlement. Some of the settlers were masked, some carried wood or and metal clubs, and at least two carried guns. Three armed Israeli soldiers escorted the settlers.

In response, ‘Urif residents gradually began coming over from the village, until ultimately approximately one hundred villagers were gathered there. During the clashes that ensued, settlers threw stones at the Palestinians, including with slingshots, and the Palestinians threw stones at the settlers and soldiers. The two parties were a few dozen meters apart. The soldiers threw stun grenades at the Palestinians and fired teargas canisters, rubber-coated metal bullets, and live ammunition.

After about half an hour the settlers left, and most of the villagers then followed suit. The three soldiers remained at the scene, as did a few village youths, but these clashes gradually died down as well. At that point, the soldiers were at a spot a few dozen meters away from the village’s main water reservoir: two of them were lying on the ground, pointing their guns at the youths who were still on the scene, and the third soldier was standing. Some of the youths took cover behind a small hill beside the reservoir, and threw stones at the soldiers from there. Other youths hid behind the reservoir.

In testimony taken by B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on 10 March 2018, A.S., a 23-year-old construction worker, described what he saw that day:

One of the soldiers fired a few live bullets at us. We moved back and hid behind the reservoir’s fence. The shooting stopped and two guys went out from behind the fence. I then heard two shots and saw one of the guys, H.S., fall to the ground. He’d been hit in the thigh by a bullet. The guys picked him up and took him by car to a private clinic in the village. The second guy was lying on the ground. At first I thought he was trying to avoid the gunfire, but when I saw that he wasn’t budging I realized that he might be injured. I ran over to him with a few other guys. He was about 30 meters away from us. When we picked him up he was bleeding badly from the chest. We put him in a car that was passing by and went to the clinic in the village. The doctor bandaged his wounds and told us that he had to be transferred to hospital right away because he was in a very serious condition.

In testimony taken by B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i on 10 March 2018, A.S., a 23-year-old construction worker, described what he saw that day:

One of the soldiers fired a few live bullets at us. We moved back and hid behind the reservoir’s fence. The shooting stopped and two guys went out from behind the fence. I then heard two shots and saw one of the guys, H.S., fall to the ground. He’d been hit in the thigh by a bullet. The guys picked him up and took him by car to a private clinic in the village. The second guy was lying on the ground. At first I thought he was trying to avoid the gunfire, but when I saw that he wasn’t budging I realized that he might be injured. I ran over to him with a few other guys. He was about 30 meters away from us. When we picked him up he was bleeding badly from the chest. We put him in a car that was passing by and went to the clinic in the village. The doctor bandaged his wounds and told us that he had to be transferred to hospital right away because he was in a very serious condition.

H.S. was taken in a private car to hospital in Nablus, where they found that he had been hit in the thigh by a live bullet. He was treated and discharged the next day. ‘Omayr Shhadeh was taken in a private car and then transferred to a Red Crescent ambulance that evacuated him to hospital in Nablus where he was pronounced dead.

B’Tselem’s investigation shows that the three soldiers allowed dozens of settlers to enter ‘Urif village land and then took part with the settlers in the ensuing clashes, offering them protection and firing teargas, rubber-coated metal bullets, and live ammunition at the Palestinians. The investigation also found that one of the soldiers shot and killed ‘Omayr Shhadeh, 19, and injured H.S., 14, even though neither he nor the other soldiers were in mortal danger.

Just like in dozens of other incidents that have occurred – and continue to occur – in the West Bank, soldiers once again protected settlers as they went onto land that belongs to Palestinian residents and threw stones at the Palestinians. In February 2018 alone, B’Tselem documented ten violent assaults by settlers in the region south of the city of Nablus, including several in which soldiers backed up the settlers. All ten assaults were met with silence by the Israeli authorities, who consistently refrain from enforcing the law in the case of settlers who attack Palestinians and soldiers who enable and even participate in such attacks.

The absence of law enforcement is also evident in cases in which soldiers fire at Palestinians, inflicting death or injury. This policy on the part of the military and civilian law enforcement authorities means that settlers and security force personnel are almost never required to pay a price for harming Palestinians. No price to pay means no deterrence, so violent attacks – including the use of lethal force – continue undisturbed. This violence is a key component in Israel’s ability to maintain its violent control over millions of Palestinians for the past 50 plus years.

Update: on 15 March 2021, the MAG Corps informed B’Tselem that the case had been closed without an indictment.

Suggested items

הדרך שבה עלו המתנחלים והחיילים לכיוון הכפר. צילום: פאיז אבו רמילה, בצלם

Open-Fire Policy

Israel soldiers killed a Palestinian girl, 13, at home in Qaryut after entering the village following a settler attack

On Friday, 6 September 2024, at around 3:00 P.M., dozens of settlers, some of them armed, arrived at the southern edge of the village of Qaryut in Nablus District. Soldiers escorting them in a military jeep stopped near the ‘Ein Silon freshwater spring, about a kilometer away from village homes. Some of the soldiers walked up the road leading to the village and stopped about a 100 meters from the homes. From there, they occasionally fired live rounds at residents who gathered to defend the village. The settlers stopped about 100 meters from the homes and pelted them with stones. Three settlers, one of them holding a Molotov cocktail, went towards one of the homes and tried to set it on fire. Residents pushed them away and started chasing them. During the chase, one of the settlers threw a stone that hit Muhammad Musa (28) in the jaw. Musa was taken to hospital and remained there until 18 September.At about the same time, the soldiers who came up from the spring fired live rounds at the homes from about 100 meters away. The shots injured Muntasser Samarah (35), who was standing near the homes, in the right shoulder. Residents led Samarah to an ambulance that took him to a clinic in Qabalan. From there, he was taken to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, where he was examined, treated and discharged the same day, as the bullet did not cause significant injury.At that point, the settlers began leaving the village and heading south towards the settlement of Shilo. On the way, they set fire to dozens of olive trees on Qaryut land. Meanwhile, the soldiers entered the village, chasing youths who were fleeing from them. The youths entered an alley in the village center, and five soldiers reached the entrance to the alley and took up positions there, about 70 meters from the youths. The youths occasionally threw stones at the soldiers, who occasionally fired live shots at them without hitting them.At around 4:30 P.M., a bullet shot by a soldier entered a window on the second floor of a home at the end of the alley. The hit 13-year-old Bana Labum, who was standing on her bed looking down at the alley, in the chest. Bana called out to her mother and took a few steps before fainting at her bedroom door. She was taken by paramedics to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, where she was pronounced dead.During the clashes in the village center, soldiers arrested two young men and three minors. All five were released within about an hour, with no measures taken against them. The troops then left the village.Settler attacks on Palestinian communities – some of them endangering property and even lives – have become commonplace. Yet the military not only fails to prevent them, but even escorts the assailants without intervening to stop them in the act. The police complete the cover-up by deliberately not investigating such incidents. To add insult to injury, soldiers often go on to finish what the settlers started – as in the incident reported here. Not only did the soldiers fail to arrest the assailants, but they continued the raid started by the settlers, manufactured a confrontation with village residents and killed an innocent girl.Responding to a query from Haaretz reporter Hagar Shezaf, the military said: “After the Military Advocate General examined the event’s circumstances, a Military Police investigation is expected to be opened.” Yet experience shows that this investigation is likely to lead nowhere, and that no one will be held accountable for killing an innocent child whose only crime was to look out her bedroom window. BackgroundThe ancient village of Qaryut, with a current population of about 3,000, has been subjected to settler land-grab since the late 1970s. In 1967, the village had access to 7,500 dunams (1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters). The first settlement built on its land, Shilo, was established in 1978, followed by Eli in 1983. In the second half of the 1990s, the outposts of Nof Harim and Hayovel were established, and in 2022, the outpost of Givat Haktoret was added, in a bid to create territorial continuity between Eli and Shilo. Over the years, Israel has officially taken over about 2,700 dunams of Qaryut’s land, chiefly through declaring state land, and allocated them to Eli and Shilo. Currently, Israel denies Qaryut residents access to roughly 3,340 more dunams of village land classified as Area C, which it controls via settler violence carried out on its behalf. The settlers do not stop at taking over land and have also set their sights on the freshwater springs that supply the village. They first took over the ‘Ein ‘Arik spring west of the village. Since the establishment of the Hayovel outpost, settlers have also been working to take over ‘Ein Qaryut, a spring located closer to the village, also to the west of it. In the last year, settlers have also taken over ‘Ein Silon, a spring south of the village, building a pool there to which they deny Palestinians access.B’Tselem field researcher Salma a-Deb’i collected testimonies on 8 September 2024:Adham Musa, 41, a father of three and a volunteer paramedic from Qaryut, said in his testimony:I’ve been out of work since the war started, but I volunteer as a paramedic at the first aid station and during emergencies in our village.On Friday, 9 September 2024, at around 3:00 P.M., I received a message about clashes in the southern part of the village, about a kilometer from ‘Ein Silon, a village spring that the settlers have been taking over and accessing regularly. This time, the settlers came close to the homes, too.I put on my paramedic’s uniform right away and went to the site of the clashes in an ambulance with some other paramedics. When we got there, we found people from the village carrying a wounded man, Muhammad Musa. We put him in the ambulance. He was injured in the face and was bleeding from the mouth. We gave him initial treatment and then took him to a medical center in Qabalan and coordinated with another ambulance to take him to hospital, because it was clear he had a fractured jaw and would need X-rays.Then we went back to the village. There was a military jeep by the spring, and I heard gunfire from there. Some residents shouted there was an injured person. I got out of the ambulance and we put the wounded man, Muntasser Samarah, 35, in another ambulance that came to the village. He was shot in the shoulder by a bullet.At that point, about 15 soldiers arrived on foot, from the south, from the direction of the settlement of Shilo. They started firing tear gas canisters and live shots at the residents, who drew back into the village. At the same time, the settlers drew back towards Shilo, starting fires all the way there. I estimate there were about 40 of them.We got a message that soldiers had entered the center of the village, so we went there. We saw a group of soldiers southwest of the center. Five of them were advancing towards the center. They stopped on the street, about 30 to 50 meters from the other soldiers, and pointed their guns at the next street along, where some youths were throwing stones. The soldiers fired shots occasionally, but no one was hurt. It went on like that for about half an hour.Suddenly, I heard live gunfire followed by screaming. I went to where the young guys were gathered, but none of them were hurt. I noticed the screams were coming from inside Amjad Labum’s house. The front gate was closed, so I walked around the fence and went up to the second floor.I saw Amjad Labum carrying a girl in his arms. I took her in my arms and put her in the ambulance. I saw she was bleeding from the left side of her chest. There was no pulse. The paramedic who was with me tried to give her CPR, but the girl didn’t respond. When we were a few meters away from the house, the girl let out a sigh. The paramedic cried and said: “Please forgive me. I can’t do anything for you.” My heart broke when I heard her say that.It was very sad, losing such a young girl.When we got to Rafidya Hospital in Nablus, the doctors pronounced her dead."Batul Labum, 16, was standing next to her sister on the bed when she was shot. She recounted: On Friday, 9 June 2024, around 3:30 P.M., we saw on social media that settlers were attacking the southern part of the village. Our whole family followed the news.Around 4:00 P.M., the army advanced to the center of the village and soldiers took up positions further down our street, about 100 meters from some young guys who were gathered on the street outside our house.My father asked us to go into our room, so we could stay away from the living room windows. Our living room has windows along the entire wall, as well as two doors, so Dad was afraid that if the soldiers fired tear gas, we would inhale it. The soldiers fired live shots now and again, but the young guys hid behind the walls of the nearby buildings and none of them got hurt.Bana and I were standing on the bed, and I put my hand on her shoulder. We stood like that, watching the soldiers standing at the end of the alley out of the window. Sometimes they disappeared and we couldn’t see them, and then they’d come back into our line of sight, pointing their guns forward. That happened a few times – they disappeared behind buildings and then reappeared.I got off the bed for a second, leaning on Bana’s shoulder, and suddenly heard her scream: “Mom! Mom!” At the same time, I heard a single shot. The bullet came in through the window, broke the glass and went straight into my sister’s heart. She managed to walk to the bedroom door and then fell on the floor. I think she was killed on the spot. The whole bed and floor were covered in glass. My father came and held her, and then I saw she was bleeding from the chest and hand. When Dad pulled up her clothes, I saw the bullet wound.Bana was unconscious. My mother was crying and screaming. I was crying, too, along with my siblings, Basaleh, 12, Banyas, 11, Muhammad, 6, and Ahmad, 4. My father picked Bana up and went outside, and a paramedic from the village took her to an ambulance.Neighbors came to our house and told us not to worry, that Bana was being treated. I prayed for her to come back to life, because I already felt she was dead. When they took her away, she wasn’t breathing or moving at all, like a lifeless body. Still, I hoped I was wrong and that she would come back to life. But after about half an hour, my father called and told my mother that Bana had been killed.It was very bitter and painful news. Bana was my sister and friend, and her bed was next to mine. She was shot on my bed. Bana was a quiet, pretty girl. She loved school and was excited to go back on 9 September and start the ninth grade. She already had her school uniform and bag ready. Bana loved handicraft and used to make colorful bead bracelets and necklaces. She also liked to paint, especially flowers and roses, but after the war in Gaza began, she started painting children under the rubble and pictures of dead people.Bana’s mother, Iman Labum, a 37-year-old mother of eight, said in her testimony:We live in an apartment on the second floor, above my husband’s parents, in the center of the village.On Friday, 6 September 2024, we got up early and were all home except Bakri, 17, who works in Ramallah. We had breakfast together and then started preparing lunch. Bana, who is not yet 14, helped me prepare. She loved to cook and do things in the kitchen. She asked me to teach her how to make mansaf. Before that, she showered and put on her perfume, like she did every Friday, and then she read verses from the Quran and prayed the noon prayers. She was a special girl, beautiful and very smart. She was calm by nature and got along well with people.We had lunch and then, while we were sitting together in the living room, we saw on social media that settlers were attacking homes in the Jabal Taha area, in the southern part of the village. We followed the updates. Later, we saw the settlers had left and soldiers were advancing towards village homes, firing tear gas. I got up and closed the living room windows. One of the walls in that room is all windows, and I didn’t want the tear gas to get in. I asked the girls to go to their room, which is next to the living room.At around 4:00 P.M., the soldiers reached the center of the village and took up positions on the street by our house. I didn’t see them, but I heard the young guys on the street informing each other of their location. The soldiers occasionally fired single live shots.I wasn’t too worried, because the children were home and my husband, Amjad, closed the iron gate to our house. I thought we were safe. I prayed for God to protect the young men on the street and for none of them to be hurt.Around 4:30 P.M., Amjad and I were sitting in the living room when suddenly, we heard a loud noise. I only later realized it was a bullet that went through the window pane and hit my daughter. Bana started screaming: “Mom! Mom!” I got up and saw her come out of her room and fall on the floor right in front of me. Her father picked her up. She was bleeding from the chest. I called her name several times, but she didn’t respond. I screamed and called for an ambulance. Amjad carried her outside. While he was on the stairs, a paramedic arrived and helped him, and they took her away in an ambulance.Some neighbors came over and tried to reassure the kids and me. We were all crying. We couldn’t process what happened. Half an hour later, Amjad called and told me Bana was dead. When I heard that, I fainted. I wish it was just a bad dream and someone could wake me up, but no. They didn’t let me go to the hospital and see Bana, because traveling to Nablus is difficult and there are army checkpoints on the way.They brought her home the next day, so we could say goodbye. She was so beautiful, as always. She looked like a sleeping angel. That’s how I always saw her. She wasn’t like other kids – she was an angel.

29 October 2024

מבט מהמרפסת שממנה ירו החיילים ככל הנראה במוחמד באייד בן ה-16 אל האנדרטה המאולתרת במקום שבו נורה. צילום: איאד חדאד, בצלם

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli forces kill two Palestinians (24 and 16) in separate incidents that began with protests against land grab in the village of Um Safa

In two separate clashes that erupted in the village of Um Safa, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians. On Friday, 7 July 2023, soldiers fatally shot ‘Abd al-Jawad Dar Saleh (24), who was standing on a hill watching the area after the clashes ended. Two weeks later, on 21 July 2023, Border Police officers shot and killed Muhammad Bayed (16), while he was throwing stones at them. Both incidents began with a protest march against settler takeover of village lands. In 2019, Zvi Bar Yosef, a member of the Neve Zuf settlement emergency squad, started a shepherding farm near the settlement and has since been grazing his cattle herd on farmland belonging to several Palestinian villages in the area. In June, Bar Yosef pitched a new tent close to the village of Um Safa and has since then has been bringing his cattle to lands south of the village. Villagers responded by holding several protest marches that were suppressed by Israeli forces. Two of them ended with Palestinians being killed, as described below. These incidents clearly illustrate the lived reality of Palestinians in the area and the fact that there is no one to protect them or their property. If they decide, given the circumstances, to try and defend themselves or simply protest this reality, the Israeli authorities jump into action to stop them and defend those who attack them. 7 July 2023: The killing of ‘Abd al-Jawad Dar Saleh (24) On Friday morning, 7 July 2023, several settlers, including Zvi Bar Yosef, went to graze their cattle on land belonging to the village of Um Safa. At around 1:30 P.M., dozens of village residents gathered, along with Israeli and international activists, and marched towards the land in protest. Soldiers and Border Police officers threw stun grenades at them and prevented them from getting near the settlers. After an argument between one of the commanding officers and the head of the village council, it was agreed that the demonstrators would return to the village and Border Police officers would remove the settlers. The residents left, and about ten young men climbed a nearby hill overlooking the area to make sure the settlers did not return to the village land. At around 4:00 P.M., ten people from the nearby village of ‘Arura joined them, including ‘Abd al-Jawad Dar Saleh (24). Some of the young men threw stones at several military jeeps standing about 200 meters away from them, including with slingshots. The stones did not hit the soldiers. At around 5:00 P.M., a military jeep stopped at the bottom of the hill. Two soldiers got out, went towards the young men and fired several single shots at them from a distance of about 70 meters. Most of the young men ran away, but Dar Saleh and his cousin Ahmad Saleh (20) stayed sitting under a tree. When the shooting stopped, Dar Saleh got up to check where the shots had come from. A few minutes later, while he was standing looking at his surroundings, one of the soldiers fired a bullet that hit him in the upper body. Dar Saleh was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. On 9 July 2023, A .T. said: On Friday, 7 July 2023, at 1:00 P.M., after prayers, people were called to join the protest against the settlers who are trying to take over the village lands. There were about 60 people at the march, village residents and activists. We set out towards the village land where the settler Zvi, whom we know, grazes his cattle. That day, he was on our land with 50-60 heads of cattle, along with some settler teens. About 15 Border Police officers prevented us from approaching the settlers and also tried to disperse us with stun grenades. The protest lasted about an hour. At around 2:30 P.M., an officer came and agreed with the head of the council that the residents would return to the village, and he would get the settlers out of there. The officers made the settlers leave and we went back to the village. Two military jeeps were standing at the eastern entrance to the village. After the settlers left, I went with nine other guys to the top of the hill at the entrance to Um Safa. It’s a high area that overlooks Route 465, the settler Zvi’s farm and the settlements of Ateret and Halamish. We were worried the settlers would come back and attack the village, like they did on 24 June 2023, so we wanted to make sure that didn’t happen. After about an hour we were joined by about ten other young guys from ‘Arura, a nearby village. At 4:20 P.M., some of the guys moved further away to a spot where you could see the two jeeps at the entrance to the village. Some of them had slingshots and they threw stones at the jeeps, but I don’t think the stones hit the jeeps or reached them. After a few minutes, they came back. Then, some of them would occasionally walk away, throw stones again and come back. The soldiers didn’t react at all. At 5:00 P.M., a military jeep drove through the center of the village and stopped at the end of the paved road, which was the closest spot to us, about 100 meters away from the carob tree under which we were gathered. Two soldiers got out and went into the groves. Some of the guys didn’t see them, because most of them were sitting under the carob tree talking. One of the soldiers fired several shots at us, both the guys who were just sitting there and those who were throwing stones. Luckily for us, no one was hurt. We all ran about 150 meters away, except for two guys who stayed under the tree. They were about 70 meters away from the soldiers. I found out later they were cousins. One of them was called ‘Abd al-Jawad Dar Saleh and the other Ahmad. I suddenly saw ‘Abd al-Jawad get up. After about five minutes, while he was standing looking around, one of the two soldiers, who had taken up a position behind the terraces, fired a bullet and hit him. He fell on his back and didn’t move. His cousin, Ahmad, got to him first. He yelled: Ambulance, ambulance. At first, no one went over because we were afraid the soldiers would shoot us. I was terrified and lay on the ground. Ahmad managed to drag ‘Abd al-Jawad about 10 meters, and then five guys went over to him and carried him to a road where cars drive by. Ahmad Saleh (20) from ‘Arura said: On Friday, 7 July 2023, in the late afternoon, I was with my cousin, ‘Abd al-Jawad Saleh, at a relative’s wedding in the village. At around 3:45 P.M., one of the young guys told us settlers were attacking Um Safa. I decided to go there with nine other guys and help the residents. We got there around 4:00 P.M. We parked at the entrance to Um Safa, so we could leave easily if something happened. We met up with guys from the village, who told us that a group of residents had gathered on the hilltop to watch the settlers. They showed us the place, and we went and met some other young guys there. There were about 20 of us up on the hill, all told. Some guys I didn’t know, who were masked, went over to the eastern part of the hill and saw, from there, military jeeps standing at the eastern entrance to Um Safa, about 200 meters away. They threw some stones at them, some using slingshots. The stones didn’t hit the soldiers, who didn’t react and left the area. At around 4:30 P.M., we sat under a carob tree and talked. There were a few guys scattered on the hill, but they were all pretty close to us, within a roughly 50-meter radius. Suddenly, there were shots and the guys ran away immediately. Only ‘Abd al-Jawad and I stayed under the tree. There were some car seats there that we were sitting on. I don’t think the soldiers saw us. We were sure they were only shooting in the air to scare us. The shooting stopped and everything was calm. I saw the guys who’d run away in a grove up above us. ‘Abd al-Jawad told me the soldiers must have fired the shots just to scare us. He got up and walked a few steps, to the edge of the shade cast by the carob tree. I stayed seated. ‘Abd al-Jawad looked around. He must have not seen the soldiers, because if he had, he would have told me. He stood there, looking around, for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a single shot. ‘Abed stayed standing for a second and then fell back like a plank; his legs didn’t even bend. At first, I thought he was having me on. I went over to him and saw he was bleeding. I picked him up right away and called for help. I managed to move him a few meters to the side. He was unconscious, and wasn’t moving. I felt his neck and he barely had a pulse. Five guys helped me pick him up, and we carried him about 50 meters to a spot that was accessible to cars. We laid him down on his back and waited for help. In the meantime, I started giving him CPR, because I’d taken a first aid course. After a minute he started breathing again, and I continued the CPR for another seven minutes, until someone from the village drove up. We laid him in the back seat, with his head in my lap. I kept up the CPR the whole way. When we came down from the hill, three soldiers tried to block us. They fired in the air but we escaped. On the way, we met the ambulance and I got in with ‘Abed. We got to the hospital in less than 10 minutes. On the way, one of the paramedics gave ‘Abed CPR, but he wasn’t responding anymore. I think when we transferred him from the car to the ambulance, he was already dead. I saw him take his last breath. At the hospital they did CPR on him for 20 minutes, but it was unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead. 21 July 2023: The killing of Muhammad Bayed (16) On Friday, 21 July 2023, at around 1:30 P.M., residents of the village of Um Safa, joined by Israeli and international activists, held a protest march against settler takeover of village land. About 100 people participated in the march, and when it reached the entrance to the village, about 30 soldiers and Border Police officers blocked it. About half an hour later, the Israeli forces started pushing the marchers back. Some young men threw stones at the nearby road. The forces then hurled stun grenades and tear gas at them, and most of the young men fled into the village. At that point, clashes began between young men and the forces. The former blocked the road with boulders, set tires on fire and threw stones at the forces, who responded by firing tear gas canisters. During the clashes, the young men smashed the windshield of a military jeep with stones. At around 2:45 P.M., about 30 soldiers entered the village. They fired tear gas canisters, rubber-coated metal bullets and sponge bullets at the young men who threw stones at them. About an hour later, approximately 30 to 40 youths remained in the area. Some of them continued to throw stones at the forces. At around 4:30 P.M., seven Border Police officers entered the village, and three of them stood at the entrance to a house hiding behind trees that obstruct the view of the stairs leading to the house. Several young men hid in a nearby alley, and the officers fired several live shots at them. No one was hurt. Immediately after that, the officers fired several shots at about 10 young men who were hiding behind a dirt mound, about 30 meters away , throwing stones. The young men did not hear the shots and realized they were under fire only when they saw dust rising from the bullets hitting the dirt. One of the bullets hit Muhammad Bayed (16), who was throwing stones, in the head. Another hit a young man who went over to check on Bayed, wounding him in the left arm and the abdomen. Paramedics and other young men arrived and took the two men away, while the Border Police kept firing. Bayed was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after. On 31 July 2023, M.T. said: On 21 July 2023, at 1:00 P.M., after Friday prayers, we went on a march that started at the area of council building in the center of the village. There were about 100 of us, including village residents and activists. We marched towards the eastern entrance to the village. There was a large military force there, and later more troops joined them. We stood there for about half an hour, chanting slogans against the settlements and the occupation. At first, the soldiers did not respond. Then, the soldiers and Border Police officers started provoking the marchers and pushing us. They also fired a barrage of stun grenades and tear gas canisters. They forced us to turn back into the village. The marchers blocked the road. At around 2:30 P.M., the young men threw stones at a long black military vehicle that aws parked on a street in the village. The windshield was shattered. The forces fired a massive amount of tear gas canisters and stun grenades at us. They were already inside the village and the clashes were taking place in the center of the village. The young men threw stones from the alleys and the houses, and the soldiers fired “rubber” bullets, sponge rounds and tear gas canisters. At around 4:30 P.M., eight Border Police officers were standing in the middle of the road. Two drones were flying over us at the same time. Three of the officers walked around the outside steps to Mustafa Tanatrah’s house and hid behind the trees that conceal the steps. At that time, I was standing in a group of 10 to 12 young men behind a dirt mound, and from there we were throwing stones at the forces on the road, from only 30 meters away. No one was using any tools or throwing anything other than stones. One of the officers fired two live shots at the group that was next to us, near the council building. We clearly heard the shots. Suddenly, we saw signs that bullets had landed near us. Dust rose and we saw at the top of the mound what looked like a bullet hole. I guess one of the Border Police officers fired it without making a sound. Maybe he used a rifle with a silencer. We didn’t even know they were shooting at us. We didn’t see the bullets or hear the shots. We just felt them when they landed next to us and made the dust rise. I was standing next to Muhammad al-Bayed (16), to his right. Suddenly, I saw him fall on his back. At first, I didn’t even notice he was hurt, because I was busy throwing stones. It wasn’t until some young guys and women standing by the windows and on the rooftops of houses yelled that someone was injured that I saw he’d been hit. Just then, another young guy got hit by a bullet. I heard him say “There’s shrapnel.” He put his hand on his belly and recited the Shahada. At that point, there were almost no other guys left around us. I was confused and didn’t know who to help first. I shouted and called for help and asked for an ambulance. I went back to throwing stones because I was afraid the Border Police officers would come to arrest the wounded men and I wanted to fight them off. While I was shouting for help, some paramedics came towards us. When the paramedics were close, the officers fired five or six live shots. This time, I heard the shots. The paramedics took the wounded men away, but by then it was clear that Muhammad was dead. He’d clearly suffered a fatal hit. Bits of his skull and his brain were on the ground. The paramedics managed to carry him and the injured man through the alleys and backyards of the houses to the area of the council, about 50 meters from us. After about 10 minutes, a large contingent of soldiers and Border Police officers arrived along with commanders. They checked the area where they’d fired the shots us and collected the empty bullet casings from there. At around 5:00 P.M., they left the village. When they were gone I went to al-Istishari Hospital, and at 5:15 P.M. Muhammad was officially declared a martyr. On 1 August 2023, A. A., said: Muhammad Bayed (16) was hit in the head while standing close to me. He fell on his back. Before I managed to get to him to help him, I was hit myself. The bullet went through my left arm and lodged in my belly. I never even heard the shot. I fell down and shouted for someone to help me. I felt dizzy and was in terrible pain. I put my hand on my belly, because part of my intestines came out. I heard people shouting and calling for help for us. Some paramedics who were escorting the march came our way. As they were running towards us, I heard live shots fired, probably to scare anyone from approaching. But the residents were not afraid and came to save us. The people who came and the paramedics carried us away among the groves behind the houses and the alleys, towards the council building yard, where they gave us first aid. We stayed near the council building for a few minutes, and then were taken to al-Istashari Hospital in Ramallah in some residents’ cars. I was examined and they took some images, and then I had abdominal surgery. The doctors are still supposed to put a platinum implant in my arm.

28 September 2023

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