13 dec 2012
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A sixteen year old boy identified as Muhammad Ziad Awad Salaymah was killed by Israeli border police Wednesday outside the Ibrahimi mosque in downtown Hebron.
According to Israeli officials, Salaymeh was carrying a plastic gun and that is why he was shot by the Israeli border police. A local Palestinian doctor who rushed to the site of the shooting was unable to revive the boy, who was pronounced dead at a hospital in Hebron shortly thereafter. Following the killing, crowds gathered outside the mosque, which has been a flashpoint since a 1994 massacre of Muslim worshippers by a New York-born right-wing Jewish doctor led to Israeli authorities taking over half of the mosque and turning it into a synagogue for Israeli settlers. |
Crowds shouted at Israeli police and soldiers, and Salaymeh's family joined the impromptu protest. Salaymeh's brother was taken into custody by Israeli troops during the protest, and his father was wounded by Israeli forces who attacked the demonstrators with tear gas and concussion grenades.
Wednesday's shooting follows an attack by Israeli forces on a non-violent demonstration in Hebron less than a week ago in which a dozen Palestinians were wounded.
It is the second killing of a Palestinian by Israeli forces this week in the West Bank.
Dozens Injured, One Seriously, in Ongoing Clashes In Hebron
Palestinian medical sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported that one youth was seriously injured by Israeli military fire during ongoing clashes that erupted after the army shot and killed, Wednesday, Ziad Awad Salaymah, 17.
The Red Crescent in Hebron reported that a 15-year-old child identified as Nasser Wasfi Ash-Sharabaty, was shot by a live round in the chest, and described his injury as serious.
He was shot by the army during clashes that took place in Bab Az-Zawiya area in Hebron following the funeral of Salaymah.
The Youth Coalition Against Settlements In Hebron voiced an urgent appeal for blood donations type O- for Ash-Sharabaty who is under surgery in Al-Mezan Hospital in Hebron.
Dozens of Palestinians have been shot and injured by Israeli military fire, Thursday, and were moved to local hospitals and medical centers, some of them were shot with live rounds while others were hit by rubber-coated metal bullets, and the rest were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Thousands of Palestinians participated in the funeral of Salaymah; head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Dr. Aziz Dweik, and several parliamentarians, officials, public and social figures were also present.
Confrontations Launch Between Palestinians and Israeli Soldiers in Hebron
On Thursday 13th December, confrontations launched between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the Old City of Hebron m a day after the IOF Soldier shot and killed the young Palestinian Mohammad al-Salaymeh near the Ibrahimi mosque.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces arrested four minors and took them to an unknown location.
They also said that the confrontations are continued until this moment near Abu al-Reesh and al-Ragby checkpoints m saying that the forces closed Tariq Bin Ziyad School nearby the mosque.
Israeli soldiers fired tear gas bombs and bullets toward dozens of young Palestinians and students. Several demonstrators suffocated due to gas inhalation.
Soldiers from the Israeli army raided the house of the Journalist Lama Khater, searched the house, rummaged with the contents and confiscated computer devices.
The funeral of a 17-year-old Palestinian who was killed by Border Police Wednesday evening, will take place today afternoon in al-Ansar Mosque and then to al-Shuhada' {Martyrs} cemetery in al-Haouz area in Hebron.
Clashes Renew In Hebron Following Funeral Of Slain Youth
Clashes between local residents in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, and Israeli soldiers, continued to escalate one day after the Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teen identified as Muhammad Ziad Awad Salaymah, 17.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that large numbers of Israeli soldiers were deployed in the occupied city on Thursday anticipating a continuation of the clashes, and possibly further escalation especially since the army has been targeted by firebombs and stones throughout the day, according to Haaretz.
The funeral of the slain Palestinian youth took place on Thursday and was followed by clashes with Israeli soldiers who fired gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets and concussion grenades leading to at least three injuries.
On Thursday morning, clashes took place in Al-Masharqa area, and around the Tareq Bin Ziad School near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of Hebron, the Palestine News Network reported.
The army fired rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades leading to several injuries. The soldiers also kidnapped several Palestinian youths and school children.
According to Haaretz, Palestinian policemen arrived at the scene and asked the army to stop firing at the protesters and to retreat, the army pulled back but the protests continued and several protesters started hurling stones at the Palestinian police; the police left the scene and the clashes with the Israeli army continued.
It is worth mentioning that Salaymah joined the Palestinian Circus School in Hebron approximately 18 months ago.
Female soldier deliberately kills young man Salaymeh near Ibrahimi Mosque
Mohamed Salaymeh, 17, was shot dead on Wednesday evening during clashes between Palestinian young men and Israeli troops near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil city.
According to eyewitnesses, an Israeli female soldier opened fire at Salaymeh, from the old city of Al-Khalil, near the Ibrahimi Mosque, and later she falsely claimed he attacked her with a gun.
They said the female soldier fired six bullets at the young man in different places of his body and left him bleeding until other soldiers came and took him to the entrance of Kiryat Araba settlement.
Afterwards, many friends of Salaymeh and residents of the old city clashed with the troops who prevented journalists from getting near the body to take pictures, while Jewish settlers exploited the situation and attacked homes and civilians in the neighborhoods of Sahla and Abu Sneineh.
According to a reporter for the Palestinian information center (PIC), the killing of Salaymeh triggered violent clashes near Kanar area, the eastern neighborhood of Dura town in Al-Khalil, when two Israeli patrol cars stormed the area.
A group of angry young man encircled the military patrol vehicles and hurled stones and empty bottles at the invading troops.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the troops forced passing passengers to leave their vehicles and used them as human shields in order to protect themselves from the young men's attacks.
Meanwhile, other violent clashes erupted for the same reason in Tal'at Abu Hadid area, a place near Tariq Bin Ziyad school and different areas of Al-Khalil.
Several Palestinian young men were reportedly wounded during the confrontations in different places of Al-Khalil city.
One Israeli military vehicle was torched with a home-made grenade in Tal'at Abu Hadid during the events.
Other places near Al-Khalil city like the towns of Samu and Beit Ummar also saw angry confrontations with Israeli troops.
For its part, the Hamas Movement in the West Bank mourned the death of Mohamed Salaymeh and vowed to avenge him.
"The blood of martyr Mohamed Salaymeh that was shed on his birthday near the Ibrahimi Mosque reflected the criminality and bloodthirst of the occupation that deliberately spills the blood of our people day and night," Hamas stated in a press release.
Wednesday's shooting follows an attack by Israeli forces on a non-violent demonstration in Hebron less than a week ago in which a dozen Palestinians were wounded.
It is the second killing of a Palestinian by Israeli forces this week in the West Bank.
Dozens Injured, One Seriously, in Ongoing Clashes In Hebron
Palestinian medical sources in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, reported that one youth was seriously injured by Israeli military fire during ongoing clashes that erupted after the army shot and killed, Wednesday, Ziad Awad Salaymah, 17.
The Red Crescent in Hebron reported that a 15-year-old child identified as Nasser Wasfi Ash-Sharabaty, was shot by a live round in the chest, and described his injury as serious.
He was shot by the army during clashes that took place in Bab Az-Zawiya area in Hebron following the funeral of Salaymah.
The Youth Coalition Against Settlements In Hebron voiced an urgent appeal for blood donations type O- for Ash-Sharabaty who is under surgery in Al-Mezan Hospital in Hebron.
Dozens of Palestinians have been shot and injured by Israeli military fire, Thursday, and were moved to local hospitals and medical centers, some of them were shot with live rounds while others were hit by rubber-coated metal bullets, and the rest were treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Thousands of Palestinians participated in the funeral of Salaymah; head of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Dr. Aziz Dweik, and several parliamentarians, officials, public and social figures were also present.
Confrontations Launch Between Palestinians and Israeli Soldiers in Hebron
On Thursday 13th December, confrontations launched between Palestinians and Israeli soldiers in the Old City of Hebron m a day after the IOF Soldier shot and killed the young Palestinian Mohammad al-Salaymeh near the Ibrahimi mosque.
Eyewitnesses said that Israeli forces arrested four minors and took them to an unknown location.
They also said that the confrontations are continued until this moment near Abu al-Reesh and al-Ragby checkpoints m saying that the forces closed Tariq Bin Ziyad School nearby the mosque.
Israeli soldiers fired tear gas bombs and bullets toward dozens of young Palestinians and students. Several demonstrators suffocated due to gas inhalation.
Soldiers from the Israeli army raided the house of the Journalist Lama Khater, searched the house, rummaged with the contents and confiscated computer devices.
The funeral of a 17-year-old Palestinian who was killed by Border Police Wednesday evening, will take place today afternoon in al-Ansar Mosque and then to al-Shuhada' {Martyrs} cemetery in al-Haouz area in Hebron.
Clashes Renew In Hebron Following Funeral Of Slain Youth
Clashes between local residents in Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, and Israeli soldiers, continued to escalate one day after the Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teen identified as Muhammad Ziad Awad Salaymah, 17.
Israeli daily, Haaretz, reported that large numbers of Israeli soldiers were deployed in the occupied city on Thursday anticipating a continuation of the clashes, and possibly further escalation especially since the army has been targeted by firebombs and stones throughout the day, according to Haaretz.
The funeral of the slain Palestinian youth took place on Thursday and was followed by clashes with Israeli soldiers who fired gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets and concussion grenades leading to at least three injuries.
On Thursday morning, clashes took place in Al-Masharqa area, and around the Tareq Bin Ziad School near the Ibrahimi Mosque in the center of Hebron, the Palestine News Network reported.
The army fired rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades leading to several injuries. The soldiers also kidnapped several Palestinian youths and school children.
According to Haaretz, Palestinian policemen arrived at the scene and asked the army to stop firing at the protesters and to retreat, the army pulled back but the protests continued and several protesters started hurling stones at the Palestinian police; the police left the scene and the clashes with the Israeli army continued.
It is worth mentioning that Salaymah joined the Palestinian Circus School in Hebron approximately 18 months ago.
Female soldier deliberately kills young man Salaymeh near Ibrahimi Mosque
Mohamed Salaymeh, 17, was shot dead on Wednesday evening during clashes between Palestinian young men and Israeli troops near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Al-Khalil city.
According to eyewitnesses, an Israeli female soldier opened fire at Salaymeh, from the old city of Al-Khalil, near the Ibrahimi Mosque, and later she falsely claimed he attacked her with a gun.
They said the female soldier fired six bullets at the young man in different places of his body and left him bleeding until other soldiers came and took him to the entrance of Kiryat Araba settlement.
Afterwards, many friends of Salaymeh and residents of the old city clashed with the troops who prevented journalists from getting near the body to take pictures, while Jewish settlers exploited the situation and attacked homes and civilians in the neighborhoods of Sahla and Abu Sneineh.
According to a reporter for the Palestinian information center (PIC), the killing of Salaymeh triggered violent clashes near Kanar area, the eastern neighborhood of Dura town in Al-Khalil, when two Israeli patrol cars stormed the area.
A group of angry young man encircled the military patrol vehicles and hurled stones and empty bottles at the invading troops.
Eyewitnesses told the PIC reporter that the troops forced passing passengers to leave their vehicles and used them as human shields in order to protect themselves from the young men's attacks.
Meanwhile, other violent clashes erupted for the same reason in Tal'at Abu Hadid area, a place near Tariq Bin Ziyad school and different areas of Al-Khalil.
Several Palestinian young men were reportedly wounded during the confrontations in different places of Al-Khalil city.
One Israeli military vehicle was torched with a home-made grenade in Tal'at Abu Hadid during the events.
Other places near Al-Khalil city like the towns of Samu and Beit Ummar also saw angry confrontations with Israeli troops.
For its part, the Hamas Movement in the West Bank mourned the death of Mohamed Salaymeh and vowed to avenge him.
"The blood of martyr Mohamed Salaymeh that was shed on his birthday near the Ibrahimi Mosque reflected the criminality and bloodthirst of the occupation that deliberately spills the blood of our people day and night," Hamas stated in a press release.
Israeli Foreign Minister of the extremist far-right "Israel Our Home Party", Avigdor Lieberman, stated that should the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank head to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to sue Israeli for its decision to build 3000 settlement units, the move will be regarded by Israel as a “declaration of war on Tel Aviv”.
The Foreign Minister said that that Palestinian “will get peace from Israel if they really want peace”, and that “should they choose war, they will also get it”.
The threats uttered by the former member of the terrorist Kach movement, that was outlawed by Israel itself, also included a direct threat not only to attack Gaza should the resistance fire missiles into Israel, but to conduct a large-scale ground military invasion.
He said that this invasion will not have any restrictions, and will lead to a full Israeli military control over the entire coastal region.
Lieberman went on to attack the Israeli left, and centrist parties, and stated that Labor party head, Shelly Yachimovich, Chairwoman of the Meretz Party, Zahava Gal-on, and Tizpi Livni, head of the newly-formed Hatnua Party, and claimed that they “are siding with the Palestinian Authority”, Israeli Ynet News reported.
He also said that he is annoyed by Israeli politicians who consider Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to be a partner in peace, and described them as "small parrots”.
The Israeli Foreign Minister claimed that only his party and its coalition with the Likud Party of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, can lead Israel to safety, and can fix the security situation in the country, adding that Gal-On cannot ensure Israel’s security.
The Ynet News also reported that Lieberman slammed Israeli soldiers who were caught on tape escaping from Palestinians throwing stones at them in the West Bank, and claimed that “the soldiers chose to run away because “they wanted to avoid being investigated by the Military Police”.
When Lieberman previously served a member of Knesset, he repeatedly described the Palestinians in Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied territories as “demographic threats”, and uttered various calls to have them exiled to Jordan, and other Arab countries.
He also made several statements describing Jordan as the alternative homeland of the Palestinians, and that the they should all just leave and build their Palestinian state in Jordan.
Soldiers Granted More Freedom In Live Ammunition Regulations
The Israeli army has modified its instructions to the soldiers regarding the use of live ammunition against Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank, allowing the soldiers in the field to make such decisions based on their situation, granting them more freedom in using live ammunition instead of gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets, concussion grenades and similar ammunition.
Israel TV, Channel 7, reported that a senior Israeli military commander in the West Bank said that “a soldier operating in the field has the option to make the appropriate decision after evaluating the situation and the amount of danger he and his colleagues are facing, and that based on his personal evaluation, he can resort to the use of live ammunition”.
The recent modifications came after videos were published showing Israeli soldiers running away from Palestinian protesters in Kufur Qaddoum village near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and in Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
It is worth mention that the Israeli Interior Minister, Elie Yishai, and head of the Kadima opposition party, Shaul Mofaz, demanded during a meeting of the Ministerial Council, known as the “The Cabinet”, that the soldiers should be allowed to use maximum force against the Palestinians.
Furthermore, an Israeli military source stated Tuesday that the “open fire” orders that the army has, are clear, and never imposed restrictions on the soldiers, and added that “the soldiers have to evaluate their situation in the field and act accordingly, if they feel that their lives are in danger, then they always can use live ammunition”, the Maan News Agency said.
The source added that, last year, Israeli soldiers frequently resorted to the use of live ammunition even without needing to resort to live fire, and that the number of times the soldiers chose to use live ammunition is much larger than the number of times he refrained from doing so.
Furthermore, military correspondent of the Reshet Bet Israeli Radio, stated that the army is currently investigating two incidents where Israeli soldiers were caught on film running away from Palestinian protesters, in Kufur Qaddoum, and a similar incident in Hebron where the soldiers had to hide in a local shop in the city.
The videos and images of those fleeing soldiers also granted a fertile ground for fundamentalist Israeli leaders like Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and Elie Yishai, along with ring-wing columnists, who demanded a significant change in the open fire policy to allow the soldiers more freedom to use live ammunition against the Palestinians “in order to avoid scenes of defeat and humiliation of the soldiers of the Israeli army”.
Israeli soldiers use rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades against nonviolent protesters against the Wall and settlements in the West Bank, in addition to spraying them with water mixed with chemicals, an issue that led to hundreds of injuries and even several deaths among the protesters.
They also frequently use live ammunition leading to further deaths and injuries, but the new regulation will grant them more freedom in the use of live ammunition based on their own evaluation and judgment which could mean a larger and much more frequent use of live ammunition.
Dr. Barghouthi: “Army’s Use of Live Ammunition, Implementation of Israeli Government Policy”
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, stated that the Israeli army’s invasion of the West Bank village of Ni’lin, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and the use of live ammunition against the civilians, is a direct implementation of statements made by senior Israeli government officials.
Dr. Barghouthi’s statements came after Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at night, Ni’lin village, and shot two residents identified as Mohammad Hazem Khawaja, 18, and Khalil Srour, 18. Khawaja was shot, by a rubber-coated metal bullet to the head, while Srour was shot with a live round in the leg.
The Palestinian official said that the latest violation is a direct implementation of statements made by the Israeli Interior Minister, Elie Yishai, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and Kadima Party head, Shaul Mofaz, who called on the Israeli army to use live ammunition in countering Palestinian protesters holing nonviolent protests against the Annexation Wall and settlement in the West Bank.
The Israeli officials said that the army should respond more firmly to the ongoing nonviolent and popular protests, also attended by Israeli and international peace activists.
Visiting the wounded at the Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah, Dr. Barghouthi said that what happened in Ni’lin is an implementation of an illegitimate Israeli policy that legitimizes crimes against unarmed Palestinians.
He also said that the excessive use of force carried out by the army, and Israel’s ongoing assaults and violations against the Palestinians, their lands and property, will never deter the Palestinians from remaining determined to continue their nonviolent popular struggle against this brutal occupation, Israel’s Apartheid Wall, and Israel’s illegal settlements.
The Foreign Minister said that that Palestinian “will get peace from Israel if they really want peace”, and that “should they choose war, they will also get it”.
The threats uttered by the former member of the terrorist Kach movement, that was outlawed by Israel itself, also included a direct threat not only to attack Gaza should the resistance fire missiles into Israel, but to conduct a large-scale ground military invasion.
He said that this invasion will not have any restrictions, and will lead to a full Israeli military control over the entire coastal region.
Lieberman went on to attack the Israeli left, and centrist parties, and stated that Labor party head, Shelly Yachimovich, Chairwoman of the Meretz Party, Zahava Gal-on, and Tizpi Livni, head of the newly-formed Hatnua Party, and claimed that they “are siding with the Palestinian Authority”, Israeli Ynet News reported.
He also said that he is annoyed by Israeli politicians who consider Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, to be a partner in peace, and described them as "small parrots”.
The Israeli Foreign Minister claimed that only his party and its coalition with the Likud Party of Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, can lead Israel to safety, and can fix the security situation in the country, adding that Gal-On cannot ensure Israel’s security.
The Ynet News also reported that Lieberman slammed Israeli soldiers who were caught on tape escaping from Palestinians throwing stones at them in the West Bank, and claimed that “the soldiers chose to run away because “they wanted to avoid being investigated by the Military Police”.
When Lieberman previously served a member of Knesset, he repeatedly described the Palestinians in Israel and the Palestinians in the occupied territories as “demographic threats”, and uttered various calls to have them exiled to Jordan, and other Arab countries.
He also made several statements describing Jordan as the alternative homeland of the Palestinians, and that the they should all just leave and build their Palestinian state in Jordan.
Soldiers Granted More Freedom In Live Ammunition Regulations
The Israeli army has modified its instructions to the soldiers regarding the use of live ammunition against Palestinian protesters in the occupied West Bank, allowing the soldiers in the field to make such decisions based on their situation, granting them more freedom in using live ammunition instead of gas bombs, rubber-coated metal bullets, concussion grenades and similar ammunition.
Israel TV, Channel 7, reported that a senior Israeli military commander in the West Bank said that “a soldier operating in the field has the option to make the appropriate decision after evaluating the situation and the amount of danger he and his colleagues are facing, and that based on his personal evaluation, he can resort to the use of live ammunition”.
The recent modifications came after videos were published showing Israeli soldiers running away from Palestinian protesters in Kufur Qaddoum village near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and in Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
It is worth mention that the Israeli Interior Minister, Elie Yishai, and head of the Kadima opposition party, Shaul Mofaz, demanded during a meeting of the Ministerial Council, known as the “The Cabinet”, that the soldiers should be allowed to use maximum force against the Palestinians.
Furthermore, an Israeli military source stated Tuesday that the “open fire” orders that the army has, are clear, and never imposed restrictions on the soldiers, and added that “the soldiers have to evaluate their situation in the field and act accordingly, if they feel that their lives are in danger, then they always can use live ammunition”, the Maan News Agency said.
The source added that, last year, Israeli soldiers frequently resorted to the use of live ammunition even without needing to resort to live fire, and that the number of times the soldiers chose to use live ammunition is much larger than the number of times he refrained from doing so.
Furthermore, military correspondent of the Reshet Bet Israeli Radio, stated that the army is currently investigating two incidents where Israeli soldiers were caught on film running away from Palestinian protesters, in Kufur Qaddoum, and a similar incident in Hebron where the soldiers had to hide in a local shop in the city.
The videos and images of those fleeing soldiers also granted a fertile ground for fundamentalist Israeli leaders like Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and Elie Yishai, along with ring-wing columnists, who demanded a significant change in the open fire policy to allow the soldiers more freedom to use live ammunition against the Palestinians “in order to avoid scenes of defeat and humiliation of the soldiers of the Israeli army”.
Israeli soldiers use rubber-coated metal bullets, gas bombs and concussion grenades against nonviolent protesters against the Wall and settlements in the West Bank, in addition to spraying them with water mixed with chemicals, an issue that led to hundreds of injuries and even several deaths among the protesters.
They also frequently use live ammunition leading to further deaths and injuries, but the new regulation will grant them more freedom in the use of live ammunition based on their own evaluation and judgment which could mean a larger and much more frequent use of live ammunition.
Dr. Barghouthi: “Army’s Use of Live Ammunition, Implementation of Israeli Government Policy”
Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, stated that the Israeli army’s invasion of the West Bank village of Ni’lin, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and the use of live ammunition against the civilians, is a direct implementation of statements made by senior Israeli government officials.
Dr. Barghouthi’s statements came after Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at night, Ni’lin village, and shot two residents identified as Mohammad Hazem Khawaja, 18, and Khalil Srour, 18. Khawaja was shot, by a rubber-coated metal bullet to the head, while Srour was shot with a live round in the leg.
The Palestinian official said that the latest violation is a direct implementation of statements made by the Israeli Interior Minister, Elie Yishai, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, and Kadima Party head, Shaul Mofaz, who called on the Israeli army to use live ammunition in countering Palestinian protesters holing nonviolent protests against the Annexation Wall and settlement in the West Bank.
The Israeli officials said that the army should respond more firmly to the ongoing nonviolent and popular protests, also attended by Israeli and international peace activists.
Visiting the wounded at the Palestine Medical Compound in Ramallah, Dr. Barghouthi said that what happened in Ni’lin is an implementation of an illegitimate Israeli policy that legitimizes crimes against unarmed Palestinians.
He also said that the excessive use of force carried out by the army, and Israel’s ongoing assaults and violations against the Palestinians, their lands and property, will never deter the Palestinians from remaining determined to continue their nonviolent popular struggle against this brutal occupation, Israel’s Apartheid Wall, and Israel’s illegal settlements.
12 dec 2012
An Israeli force of troops and intelligence officers kidnapped four Palestinians at dawn Wednesday in areas near Al-Khalil and Salfit cities.
Two Palestinian citizens were kidnapped in Beit Awwa near Al-Khalil city. The Israeli army claimed they were wanted because of their connection with the Palestinian resistance.
The two others were two brothers working as policemen for the Palestinian authority and both of them were detained after a raid on their house in Kafr Addik near Salfit city.
In a separate incident, violent clashes broke out on Wednesday morning between Palestinian young men and Israeli troops in different parts of the southern neighborhoods of Dura town in Al-Khalil city.
Eyewitnesses told a reporter for the Palestinian information center (PIC) that a large force of Israeli troops stormed the areas of Hanina, Abahir, Kharsa, Tabaqa, and Abu Hilal in Dura town and clashed with young men who threw them with stones and empty bottles.
The confrontations lasted for more than two hours during which the troops fired a barrage of rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the angry young men.
The invading troops also established a military checkpoint at the southern entrance of Dura town.
In an earlier incident on Tuesday, two Palestinian young men sustained injuries during clashes that took place in Ni'lin town, west of Ramallah city.
An official from Ni'lin anti-wall committee told Quds Press that Israeli military vehicles chased two Palestinian cars into the village, but young men surrounded one of the invading Israeli jeeps and attacked it with stones and a Molotov cocktail.
The Israeli troops, whose jeep was intensively attacked and caught fire, called for reinforcements which arrived at the scene and responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the young men.
Two young men were reportedly wounded during these clashes and transferred to hospital for medical treatment.
Two Palestinian citizens were kidnapped in Beit Awwa near Al-Khalil city. The Israeli army claimed they were wanted because of their connection with the Palestinian resistance.
The two others were two brothers working as policemen for the Palestinian authority and both of them were detained after a raid on their house in Kafr Addik near Salfit city.
In a separate incident, violent clashes broke out on Wednesday morning between Palestinian young men and Israeli troops in different parts of the southern neighborhoods of Dura town in Al-Khalil city.
Eyewitnesses told a reporter for the Palestinian information center (PIC) that a large force of Israeli troops stormed the areas of Hanina, Abahir, Kharsa, Tabaqa, and Abu Hilal in Dura town and clashed with young men who threw them with stones and empty bottles.
The confrontations lasted for more than two hours during which the troops fired a barrage of rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the angry young men.
The invading troops also established a military checkpoint at the southern entrance of Dura town.
In an earlier incident on Tuesday, two Palestinian young men sustained injuries during clashes that took place in Ni'lin town, west of Ramallah city.
An official from Ni'lin anti-wall committee told Quds Press that Israeli military vehicles chased two Palestinian cars into the village, but young men surrounded one of the invading Israeli jeeps and attacked it with stones and a Molotov cocktail.
The Israeli troops, whose jeep was intensively attacked and caught fire, called for reinforcements which arrived at the scene and responded by firing rubber bullets and tear gas grenades at the young men.
Two young men were reportedly wounded during these clashes and transferred to hospital for medical treatment.
11 dec 2012
Two Palestinian youth were reported injured on Tuesday night when Israeli troops invaded the central West Bank village of Ni’lin and clashed with local youth.
Witnesses told IMEMC that two Israeli military vehicles invaded the village then local youth hurled stones and empty glass bottles at invading forces, troops then fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets at unarmed youth injuring two.
The two injured were identified as Ibraheem Srour, hit with a live round in his leg, and Mohamed Al Khawaja, hit with a rubber-coated steel bullet in his head. Both were moved to the nearby Ramallah city hospital for treatment.
Ni’lin organizes a weekly protest against the Israeli wall built on lands taken by the military from local farmers. Every fired Israeli soldiers attack the peaceful protesters with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live rounds.
Witnesses told IMEMC that two Israeli military vehicles invaded the village then local youth hurled stones and empty glass bottles at invading forces, troops then fired live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets at unarmed youth injuring two.
The two injured were identified as Ibraheem Srour, hit with a live round in his leg, and Mohamed Al Khawaja, hit with a rubber-coated steel bullet in his head. Both were moved to the nearby Ramallah city hospital for treatment.
Ni’lin organizes a weekly protest against the Israeli wall built on lands taken by the military from local farmers. Every fired Israeli soldiers attack the peaceful protesters with tear gas, rubber-coated steel bullets and live rounds.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded, on Tuesday at dawn, the central West Bank city of Ramallah, broke into and searched several nongovernmental institutions, including the office of the Palestinian Women’s Union, and confiscated several computers; damage was reported.
The Maan News Agency reported that the army broke into the Women’s Union in Qaddoura refugee camp, the office of the Ad-Dameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, and the headquarters of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), and violently searched them.
The soldiers also confiscated several computers, laptops and documents that belong to the attacked NGO’s.
The agency added that clashes were reported in the refugee camp as dozens of local youths hurled stones at the invading soldiers who fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets.
Palestinian Legislator, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, slammed the Israeli violation, and described the attack as act on piracy.
Dr. Barghouthi added that the Israeli occupation is escalating its assaults against the Palestinian people, and their civil society institutions.
He further stated that attacking organizations that serve the Palestinian community is a violation that should be denounced by the international community and human rights groups, and added that Israel must be held accountable for its violations and crimes, and must face international sanctions.
IOF soldiers break into human rights building
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) broke into the Dhameer foundation for prisoners and human rights in Ramallah on Tuesday morning.
The foundation said in a statement that the soldiers broke the main door into its premises and confiscated five computers and a camera.
It said that the soldiers wreaked havoc inside the foundation’s offices while searching it and deliberately destroyed furniture and other utilities in the process.
The foundation recalled that this is the second time IOF soldiers break into its headquarters, adding that the first time was in 2002.
The soldiers also broke into the premises of national networks, broke the doors, and searched it thoroughly inflicting severe damage to its property.
PCHR Condemns Raids of Three Civil and Human Rights Organisations in Ramallah by Israeli Forces
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the raids of the offices of three civil and human rights organisations in Ramallah in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Forces. The organisations affected were the Palestinian NGO Network, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights.
Israeli soldiers searched the offices and confiscated a number of items. PCHR believes that these raids are an act of Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
According to the findings of investigations by PCHR, at approximately 03:00 on Tuesday, 11 December 2012, Israeli forces, accompanied by military vehicles, moved into Ramallah. They broke the front gates and stormed the Sabat building, in al-Masyon neighborhood in the centre of Ramallah, where the offices of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights and the Palestinian NGO Network are located.
During the raid, Israeli soldiers searched the offices, employees’ desks and the work files of the two organisations. Before withdrawing, they confiscated a number of PCs and laptops from the Documentation and Search Unit of from Addameer, files and documents from the Media Unit, and a memory card, a hard drive, a video camera and papers related to the organisation’s work.
At the same time, a unit of Israeli forces stormed the Headquarters of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, in the Ahmed Ryad building, near Palestine Public Health Complex, in Qadoura Refugee Camp, in Ramallah.
Soldiers broke the front gate of the Headquarters, broke in the office doors, searched the offices and interfered with the contents of the office. During the raid, Israeli soldiers confiscated 7 laptops, 3 PC hard drives, the internet server and a number of other items. They also stole nearly NIS 3000.
PCHR strongly condemns this attack by Israeli forces against civil society organisations in the West Bank, and reiterates its call to the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to take serious measures to put an end to Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians and against Palestinian civil society organisations.
Rights center slams Israeli raid on three human rights NGOs in Ramallah
The Palestinian center for human rights strongly denounced the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for raiding three human rights organizations in Ramallah city.
The IOF stormed and ransacked at dawn Tuesday the headquarters of the Palestinian NGOs network, the union of the Palestinian women committees and the prisoner support and human rights association Addameer.
The Palestinian center for human rights appealed to the international community and the high contracting parties to the fourth Geneva convention to take tangible steps to curb Israel's violations against human rights and NGOs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
For their part, different Palestinian NGOs including the Palestinian prisoner society and Hurryyat center for the defense of liberties and civil rights condemned the raids on human rights organizations, and said Israel tries, through such actions, to hide its crimes against the Palestinian people.
The Maan News Agency reported that the army broke into the Women’s Union in Qaddoura refugee camp, the office of the Ad-Dameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, and the headquarters of the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO), and violently searched them.
The soldiers also confiscated several computers, laptops and documents that belong to the attacked NGO’s.
The agency added that clashes were reported in the refugee camp as dozens of local youths hurled stones at the invading soldiers who fired gas bombs and rubber-coated metal bullets.
Palestinian Legislator, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouthi, slammed the Israeli violation, and described the attack as act on piracy.
Dr. Barghouthi added that the Israeli occupation is escalating its assaults against the Palestinian people, and their civil society institutions.
He further stated that attacking organizations that serve the Palestinian community is a violation that should be denounced by the international community and human rights groups, and added that Israel must be held accountable for its violations and crimes, and must face international sanctions.
IOF soldiers break into human rights building
Israeli occupation forces (IOF) broke into the Dhameer foundation for prisoners and human rights in Ramallah on Tuesday morning.
The foundation said in a statement that the soldiers broke the main door into its premises and confiscated five computers and a camera.
It said that the soldiers wreaked havoc inside the foundation’s offices while searching it and deliberately destroyed furniture and other utilities in the process.
The foundation recalled that this is the second time IOF soldiers break into its headquarters, adding that the first time was in 2002.
The soldiers also broke into the premises of national networks, broke the doors, and searched it thoroughly inflicting severe damage to its property.
PCHR Condemns Raids of Three Civil and Human Rights Organisations in Ramallah by Israeli Forces
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns the raids of the offices of three civil and human rights organisations in Ramallah in the West Bank by Israeli Occupation Forces. The organisations affected were the Palestinian NGO Network, the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights.
Israeli soldiers searched the offices and confiscated a number of items. PCHR believes that these raids are an act of Israeli aggression against the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt).
According to the findings of investigations by PCHR, at approximately 03:00 on Tuesday, 11 December 2012, Israeli forces, accompanied by military vehicles, moved into Ramallah. They broke the front gates and stormed the Sabat building, in al-Masyon neighborhood in the centre of Ramallah, where the offices of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights and the Palestinian NGO Network are located.
During the raid, Israeli soldiers searched the offices, employees’ desks and the work files of the two organisations. Before withdrawing, they confiscated a number of PCs and laptops from the Documentation and Search Unit of from Addameer, files and documents from the Media Unit, and a memory card, a hard drive, a video camera and papers related to the organisation’s work.
At the same time, a unit of Israeli forces stormed the Headquarters of the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees, in the Ahmed Ryad building, near Palestine Public Health Complex, in Qadoura Refugee Camp, in Ramallah.
Soldiers broke the front gate of the Headquarters, broke in the office doors, searched the offices and interfered with the contents of the office. During the raid, Israeli soldiers confiscated 7 laptops, 3 PC hard drives, the internet server and a number of other items. They also stole nearly NIS 3000.
PCHR strongly condemns this attack by Israeli forces against civil society organisations in the West Bank, and reiterates its call to the international community and the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to take serious measures to put an end to Israeli crimes against Palestinian civilians and against Palestinian civil society organisations.
Rights center slams Israeli raid on three human rights NGOs in Ramallah
The Palestinian center for human rights strongly denounced the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) for raiding three human rights organizations in Ramallah city.
The IOF stormed and ransacked at dawn Tuesday the headquarters of the Palestinian NGOs network, the union of the Palestinian women committees and the prisoner support and human rights association Addameer.
The Palestinian center for human rights appealed to the international community and the high contracting parties to the fourth Geneva convention to take tangible steps to curb Israel's violations against human rights and NGOs in the occupied Palestinian territories.
For their part, different Palestinian NGOs including the Palestinian prisoner society and Hurryyat center for the defense of liberties and civil rights condemned the raids on human rights organizations, and said Israel tries, through such actions, to hide its crimes against the Palestinian people.
10 dec 2012
Palestinian sources in Taqoua’ village, east of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, reported that Israeli soldiers broke, Monday, into the village’s High School for Boys, attacked several teachers and students, and left the school later on.
The sources said that the faculty and students were taken by surprise during normal school hours as the soldiers surrounded the school and invaded it before attacking the school’s headmaster who tried to ask the soldiers about the cause of this invasion.
The army went on to violently and repeatedly attack several teachers and students, and left the school without conducting any arrests, or providing any explanation for this assault.
Israeli occupation forces break into Palestinian school
Israeli occupation forces broke into a Palestinian secondary school in Taku village, east of Bethlehem city, and assaulted students and staff.
Local sources said that the students were shocked at the storming that was without prior notice and at the scene of IOF beating of the principal when he tried to ask about reasons for the storming.
The sources said that the soldiers also assaulted a number of students and teachers before leaving the school without making arrests.
The sources said that the faculty and students were taken by surprise during normal school hours as the soldiers surrounded the school and invaded it before attacking the school’s headmaster who tried to ask the soldiers about the cause of this invasion.
The army went on to violently and repeatedly attack several teachers and students, and left the school without conducting any arrests, or providing any explanation for this assault.
Israeli occupation forces break into Palestinian school
Israeli occupation forces broke into a Palestinian secondary school in Taku village, east of Bethlehem city, and assaulted students and staff.
Local sources said that the students were shocked at the storming that was without prior notice and at the scene of IOF beating of the principal when he tried to ask about reasons for the storming.
The sources said that the soldiers also assaulted a number of students and teachers before leaving the school without making arrests.
Israeli occupation municipality officials broke into the Bustan neighborhood in Silwan town in Jerusalem on Monday morning and handed a number of residents demolition orders.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Committee for the Defense of the Bustan neighborhood, said in a press statement that the officials handed over to the citizens new administrative demolition orders for their houses after raiding them.
The Israeli municipality had issued earlier decisions to demolish 88 houses in the Bustan neighborhood in order to establishment a biblical Park in their place.
The Israeli court had issued a decision requiring postponing the demolition of 32 houses in the Bustan neighborhood to June 1st 2013, however, the Israeli municipality demanded canceling this decision and issuing immediate demolition orders for these houses.
The lawyer Ziad Qawar described, the municipality's step as a racist attempt to demolish the Bustan neighborhood and judaize it and to expand the settlement of the "City of David" in an attempt to change the facts on ground.
IOF displace six families from their homes in Jordan Valley
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) forced six Bedouin families to leave their homes in Humsa hamlet, the northern Jordan Valley, at the pretest of military drills.
Head of the Bedouin villages council Aref Daraghmeh said the IOF told the Bedouin families in this hamlet to leave their homes for several days because of military exercises.
Daraghmeh affirmed that dozens of Bedouin families were forcibly displaced from their homes in the Jordan Valley region during the past two months under the same pretext.
Fakhri Abu Diab, a member of the Committee for the Defense of the Bustan neighborhood, said in a press statement that the officials handed over to the citizens new administrative demolition orders for their houses after raiding them.
The Israeli municipality had issued earlier decisions to demolish 88 houses in the Bustan neighborhood in order to establishment a biblical Park in their place.
The Israeli court had issued a decision requiring postponing the demolition of 32 houses in the Bustan neighborhood to June 1st 2013, however, the Israeli municipality demanded canceling this decision and issuing immediate demolition orders for these houses.
The lawyer Ziad Qawar described, the municipality's step as a racist attempt to demolish the Bustan neighborhood and judaize it and to expand the settlement of the "City of David" in an attempt to change the facts on ground.
IOF displace six families from their homes in Jordan Valley
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) forced six Bedouin families to leave their homes in Humsa hamlet, the northern Jordan Valley, at the pretest of military drills.
Head of the Bedouin villages council Aref Daraghmeh said the IOF told the Bedouin families in this hamlet to leave their homes for several days because of military exercises.
Daraghmeh affirmed that dozens of Bedouin families were forcibly displaced from their homes in the Jordan Valley region during the past two months under the same pretext.
9 dec 2012
Israeli Occupation Forces raided at dawn on Sunday several towns and villages south of the city of al-Khalil and erected barriers on the entrances.
Eyewitnesses told PIC reporter that the soldiers raided towns of Dura, Yatta, and Samu and searched a number of houses where they fired sound bombs in the alleys to intimidate citizens. The IOF also raided villages of Kharsa and Tabka near Dura town and took positions in several locations before retreating in the early morning hours.
Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli military vehicles erected a barrier at the entrance of the village of Kharsa and the eastern entrance of the town of Dura near Fawara camp, where soldiers have checked the identities of passers-by and blocked the movement of vehicles.
Meanwhile, Palestinian youths threw, on Sunday, stones at settlers' vehicles in several locations in the West Bank territories.
Hebrew sources stated that Palestinian youths threw stones at a bus carrying settlers while passing near Gush Etzion settlement built on territories north of al-Khalil, damaging its windows. The sources added that the youths had been throwing stones on settlers' vehicles near the settlement of Har Homa built on the territory of East Jerusalem.
The Hebrew source confirmed that the boys threw stones at settlers' vehicles near the town of Azzun east of Qalqilya, adding that the Israeli occupation forces stepped up their presence in those areas in search of the youths.
Eyewitnesses told PIC reporter that the soldiers raided towns of Dura, Yatta, and Samu and searched a number of houses where they fired sound bombs in the alleys to intimidate citizens. The IOF also raided villages of Kharsa and Tabka near Dura town and took positions in several locations before retreating in the early morning hours.
Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli military vehicles erected a barrier at the entrance of the village of Kharsa and the eastern entrance of the town of Dura near Fawara camp, where soldiers have checked the identities of passers-by and blocked the movement of vehicles.
Meanwhile, Palestinian youths threw, on Sunday, stones at settlers' vehicles in several locations in the West Bank territories.
Hebrew sources stated that Palestinian youths threw stones at a bus carrying settlers while passing near Gush Etzion settlement built on territories north of al-Khalil, damaging its windows. The sources added that the youths had been throwing stones on settlers' vehicles near the settlement of Har Homa built on the territory of East Jerusalem.
The Hebrew source confirmed that the boys threw stones at settlers' vehicles near the town of Azzun east of Qalqilya, adding that the Israeli occupation forces stepped up their presence in those areas in search of the youths.
7 dec 2012
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More than 20 Palestinians were wounded in clashes with Israeli forces in central Hebron on Thursday afternoon, after a skirmish between Israeli troops and Palestinian police.
Locals said Israeli soldiers had tried to detain an on-duty Palestinian police officer in Bab al-Zawiye in the center of the city. The police officer resisted and several fellow police officers rushed to his aid, they said. An Israeli army spokeswoman said there was a "clash" between police and the army but did not have further details. Witnesses told Ma'an that after the incident, Israeli forces deployed extra units and were |
firing indiscriminately. Local youth threw stones at the troops, and soldiers set off tear gas and fire rubber bullets at the crowd. Nasser Qabaja, Red Crescent emergency director in the southern West Bank, said three ambulances transferred the wounded to Hebron governmental hospital.
Medics said one man was hit in the head with live fire, and another eight were injured by rubber bullets. Seventeen others were treated for tear gas asphyxiation, they said.
The army spokeswoman said around 250 Palestinians had hurled rocks at the soldiers, and they were responding with riot dispersal means.
Al-Khalil: 14 injured in clashes with the occupation
More than fourteen Palestinian youths on Thursday afternoon were injured, in addition to number of other suffocation cases during clashes that broke out in the Bab al-Zawya area of al-Khalil in the southern West Bank.
Local resident Yahia Ahmed told PIC reporter that the clashes broke out when the occupation forces attempted to arrest a PA policeman in the area, where the citizens prevented them from his arrest and the Israeli forces fired live ammunition and rubber bullets and tear gas on the citizens.
Ahmad stressed that 14 people were injured with live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets and dozens of cases of suffocation, while the area has witnessed a heavy presence of Israeli army.
On the other hand, Palestinian youths threw stones towards two Israeli buses North of al-Khalil.
Hebrew sources said that Palestinian youths threw stones at buses carrying settlers when they passed near Arroub refugee camp causing damage to the buses, noting that the occupation forces attended to the scene and combed the area searching for the youths.
Meanwhile settlers' vehicles were belted by stones on Thursday morning near the neighboring town of Beit Ummar and no injuries or damage was reported.
Medics said one man was hit in the head with live fire, and another eight were injured by rubber bullets. Seventeen others were treated for tear gas asphyxiation, they said.
The army spokeswoman said around 250 Palestinians had hurled rocks at the soldiers, and they were responding with riot dispersal means.
Al-Khalil: 14 injured in clashes with the occupation
More than fourteen Palestinian youths on Thursday afternoon were injured, in addition to number of other suffocation cases during clashes that broke out in the Bab al-Zawya area of al-Khalil in the southern West Bank.
Local resident Yahia Ahmed told PIC reporter that the clashes broke out when the occupation forces attempted to arrest a PA policeman in the area, where the citizens prevented them from his arrest and the Israeli forces fired live ammunition and rubber bullets and tear gas on the citizens.
Ahmad stressed that 14 people were injured with live ammunition and rubber-coated bullets and dozens of cases of suffocation, while the area has witnessed a heavy presence of Israeli army.
On the other hand, Palestinian youths threw stones towards two Israeli buses North of al-Khalil.
Hebrew sources said that Palestinian youths threw stones at buses carrying settlers when they passed near Arroub refugee camp causing damage to the buses, noting that the occupation forces attended to the scene and combed the area searching for the youths.
Meanwhile settlers' vehicles were belted by stones on Thursday morning near the neighboring town of Beit Ummar and no injuries or damage was reported.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Thursday evening, the Faqqu'a village, east of the northern West Bank city of Jenin, installed roadblocks and searched several vehicles. Clashes were reported and the army fired gas bombs and concussion grenades.
The Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA) reported that the army invaded the eastern neighborhood, and conducted military searches of homes leading to clashes with the residents.
Dozens of youths hurled stones at the invading soldiers, while the army fired several gas bombs and concussion grenades; no injuries were reported.
Furthermore, the army installed roadblocks at the entrances of the villages of Al-Yamoun, Rommana, Zabbouba and Ta’nak, stopped and searched dozens of vehicles, and inspected the ID cards of the drivers and passengers; no arrests were reported.
Israeli Occupation Storm Jenin, Set Military Checkpoints
Israeli Occupation forces raided Thursday night, Fakou'a village east of Jenin and set military checkpoints in areas west of Jenin.
Security sources said that Israeli forces raided the village, and confrontations launched between Palestinians who were protesting against the Israeli suppressive practices, and Israeli forces that started fired tear gas canisters.
Israeli forces set military checkpoints at the entrances of al-Yamoun, Rumana, Ta'tak and Zabouba villages west of Jenin. Soldiers stopped the vehicles and checked the Palestinians IDs. No arrests were reported.
The Palestine News & Info Agency (WAFA) reported that the army invaded the eastern neighborhood, and conducted military searches of homes leading to clashes with the residents.
Dozens of youths hurled stones at the invading soldiers, while the army fired several gas bombs and concussion grenades; no injuries were reported.
Furthermore, the army installed roadblocks at the entrances of the villages of Al-Yamoun, Rommana, Zabbouba and Ta’nak, stopped and searched dozens of vehicles, and inspected the ID cards of the drivers and passengers; no arrests were reported.
Israeli Occupation Storm Jenin, Set Military Checkpoints
Israeli Occupation forces raided Thursday night, Fakou'a village east of Jenin and set military checkpoints in areas west of Jenin.
Security sources said that Israeli forces raided the village, and confrontations launched between Palestinians who were protesting against the Israeli suppressive practices, and Israeli forces that started fired tear gas canisters.
Israeli forces set military checkpoints at the entrances of al-Yamoun, Rumana, Ta'tak and Zabouba villages west of Jenin. Soldiers stopped the vehicles and checked the Palestinians IDs. No arrests were reported.
6 dec 2012
Israeli forces stormed the West Bank village of Barqa west of Nablus early Thursday and ransacked 36 homes, a Palestinian official said.
Wael Daghlas, a member of the Barqa village council, told Ma'an that hundreds of soldiers were involved in the raid.
Rafat Seif, 48, a resident of the village, told Ma'an that Israeli forces stormed his house at 2 a.m. without warning. Soldiers gathered his family members in one room during the raid, he said.
Seif said Israeli forces ransacked the home and destroyed the contents. He pointed out that his four children did not go to school because they had no clothes to wear.
A Ma'an photographer confirmed the accounts and said Israeli forces also ransacked the house of the Salah family.
Family member Iyad Salah is a long-term prisoner in Israeli jail. The soldiers destroyed his brother's bedroom.
Iyad's 76-year-old mother said "I was awake until 2 a.m., and the Israeli forces came and ransacked the house.
"They said that they came to inspect the house, but they destroyed all the house's content. Even the livestock, they killed one sheep."
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that the raid could be viewed as an Israeli reaction to the UN's acceptance of Palestine as a state.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers found weapons in some of the homes.
She said soldiers "uncovered knives as well as an air rifle and 16 pistols," a hunting gun, ammunition and "Hamas affiliated items" in the homes.
Wael Daghlas, a member of the Barqa village council, told Ma'an that hundreds of soldiers were involved in the raid.
Rafat Seif, 48, a resident of the village, told Ma'an that Israeli forces stormed his house at 2 a.m. without warning. Soldiers gathered his family members in one room during the raid, he said.
Seif said Israeli forces ransacked the home and destroyed the contents. He pointed out that his four children did not go to school because they had no clothes to wear.
A Ma'an photographer confirmed the accounts and said Israeli forces also ransacked the house of the Salah family.
Family member Iyad Salah is a long-term prisoner in Israeli jail. The soldiers destroyed his brother's bedroom.
Iyad's 76-year-old mother said "I was awake until 2 a.m., and the Israeli forces came and ransacked the house.
"They said that they came to inspect the house, but they destroyed all the house's content. Even the livestock, they killed one sheep."
Ghassan Daghlas, who monitors settler activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma'an that the raid could be viewed as an Israeli reaction to the UN's acceptance of Palestine as a state.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said soldiers found weapons in some of the homes.
She said soldiers "uncovered knives as well as an air rifle and 16 pistols," a hunting gun, ammunition and "Hamas affiliated items" in the homes.
5 dec 2012
On the fourth day of Israel's most recent onslaught against Gaza's Palestinian population, President Barack Obama declared, “No country on Earth would tolerate missiles raining down on its citizens from outside its borders.” In an echo of Israeli officials, he sought to frame Israel's aerial missile strikes against the 360-square kilometer Strip as the just use of armed force against a foreign country. Israel's ability to frame its assault against territory it occupies as a right of self-defense turns international law on its head.
A state cannot simultaneously exercise control over territory it occupies and militarily attack that territory on the claim that it is “foreign” and poses an exogenous national security threat. In doing precisely that, Israel is asserting rights that may be consistent with colonial domination but simply do not exist under international law.
Admittedly, the enforceability of international law largely depends on voluntary state consent and compliance. Absent the political will to make state behavior comport with the law, violations are the norm rather than the exception. Nevertheless, examining what international law says with regard to an occupant’s right to use force is worthwhile in light of Israel's deliberate attempts since 1967 to reinterpret and transform the laws applicable to occupied territory. These efforts have expanded significantly since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, and if successful, Israel’s reinterpretation would cast the law as an instrument that protects colonial authority at the expense of the rights of civilian non-combatants.
Israel Has A Duty To Protect Palestinians Living Under Occupation
Military occupation is a recognized status under international law and since 1967, the international community has designated the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as militarily occupied. As long as the occupation continues, Israel has the right to protect itself and its citizens from attacks by Palestinians who reside in the occupied territories. However, Israel also has a duty to maintain law and order, also known as “normal life,” within territory it occupies. This obligation includes not only ensuring but prioritizing the security and well-being of the occupied population. That responsibility and those duties are enumerated in Occupation Law.
Occupation law is part of the laws of armed conflict; it contemplates military occupation as an outcome of war and enumerates the duties of an occupying power until the peace is restored and the occupation ends. To fulfill its duties, the occupying power is afforded the right to use police powers, or the force permissible for law enforcement purposes. As put by the U.S. Military Tribunal during the Hostages Trial (The United States of America vs. Wilhelm List, et al.)
International Law places the responsibility upon the commanding general of preserving order, punishing crime, and protecting lives and property within the occupied territory. His power in accomplishing these ends is as great as his responsibility.
The extent and breadth of force constitutes the distinction between the right to self-defense and the right to police. Police authority is restricted to the least amount of force necessary to restore order and subdue violence. In such a context, the use of lethal force is legitimate only as a measure of last resort. Even where military force is considered necessary to maintain law and order, such force is circumscribed by concern for the civilian non-combatant population. The law of self-defense, invoked by states against other states, however, affords a broader spectrum of military force. Both are legitimate pursuant to the law of armed conflict and therefore distinguished from the peacetime legal regime regulated by human rights law.
When It Is Just To Begin To Fight
The laws of armed conflict are found primarily in the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their Additional Protocols I and II of 1977. This body of law is based on a crude balance between humanitarian concerns on the one hand and military advantage and necessity on the other. The post-World War II Nuremberg trials defined military exigency as permission to expend “any amount and kind of force to compel the complete submission of the enemy…” so long as the destruction of life and property is not done for revenge or a lust to kill. Thus, the permissible use of force during war, while expansive, is not unlimited..
In international law, self-defense is the legal justification for a state to initiate the use of armed force and to declare war. This is referred to as jus ad bellum—meaning “when it is just to begin to fight.” The right to fight in self-defense is distinguished from jus in bello, the principles and laws regulating the means and methods of warfare itself. Jus ad bellum aims to limit the initiation of the use of armed force in accordance with United Nations Charter Article 2(4); its sole justification, found in Article 51, is in response to an armed attack (or an imminent threat of one in accordance with customary law on the matter). The only other lawful way to begin a war, according to Article 51, is with Security Council sanction, an option reserved—in principle, at least—for the defense or restoration of international peace and security.
Once armed conflict is initiated, and irrespective of the reason or legitimacy of such conflict, the jus in bello legal framework is triggered. Therefore, where an occupation already is in place, the right to initiate militarized force in response to an armed attack, as opposed to police force to restore order, is not a remedy available to the occupying state. The beginning of a military occupation marks the triumph of one belligerent over another. In the case of Israel, its occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai in 1967 marked a military victory against Arab belligerents.
Occupation Law prohibits an occupying power from initiating armed force against its occupied territory. By mere virtue of the existence of military occupation, an armed attack, including one consistent with the UN Charter, has already occurred and been concluded. Therefore the right of self-defense in international law is, by definition since 1967, not available to Israel with respect to its dealings with real or perceived threats emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip population. To achieve its security goals, Israel can resort to no more than the police powers, or the exceptional use of militarized force, vested in it by IHL. This is not to say that Israel cannot defend itself—but those defensive measures can neither take the form of warfare nor be justified as self-defense in international law. As explained by Ian Scobbie:
To equate the two is simply to confuse the legal with the linguistic denotation of the term ”defense.“ Just as ”negligence,“ in law, does not mean ”carelessness” but, rather, refers to an elaborate doctrinal structure, so ”self-defense” refers to a complex doctrine that has a much more restricted scope than ordinary notions of ”defense.“
To argue that Israel is employing legitimate “self-defense” when it militarily attacks Gaza affords the occupying power the right to use both police and military force in occupied territory. An occupying power cannot justify military force as self-defense in territory for which it is responsible as the occupant. The problem is that Israel has never regulated its own behavior in the West Bank and Gaza as in accordance with Occupation Law.
Israel’s Attempts To Change International Law
Since the beginning of its occupation in 1967, Israel has rebuffed the applicability of international humanitarian law to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Despite imposing military rule over the West Bank and Gaza, Israel denied the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (the cornerstone of Occupation Law). Israel argued because the territories neither constituted a sovereign state nor were sovereign territories of the displaced states at the time of conquest, that it simply administered the territories and did not occupy them within the meaning of international law. The UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly, as well as the Israeli High Court [PDF] of Justice have roundly rejected the Israeli government’s position. Significantly, the HCJ recognizes the entirety of the Hague Regulations and provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions that pertain to military occupation as customary international law.
Israel’s refusal to recognize the occupied status of the territory, bolstered by the US’ resilient and intransigent opposition to international accountability within the UN Security Council, has resulted in the condition that exists today: prolonged military occupation. Whereas the remedy to occupation is its cessation, such recourse will not suffice to remedy prolonged military occupation. By virtue of its decades of military rule, Israel has characterized all Palestinians as a security threat and Jewish nationals as their potential victims, thereby justifying the differential, and violent, treatment of Palestinians. In its 2012 session, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described current conditions following decades of occupation and attendant repression as tantamount to Apartheid. [PDF]
In complete disregard for international law, and its institutional findings, Israel continues to treat the Occupied Territory as colonial possessions. Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Israel has advanced the notion that it is engaged in an international armed conflict short of war in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, it argues that it can 1) invoke self-defense, pursuant to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and 2) use force beyond that permissible during law enforcement, even where an occupation exists. [PDF]
The Gaza Strip Is Not the World Trade Center
To justify its use of force in the OPT as consistent with the right of self-defense, Israel has cited UN Security Council Resolution 1368 (2001) and UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001). These two resolutions were passed in direct response to the Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. They affirm that those terrorist acts amount to threats to international peace and security and therefore trigger Article 51 of the UN Charter permitting the use of force in self-defense. Israel has therefore deliberately characterized all acts of Palestinian violence – including those directed exclusively at legitimate military targets – as terrorist acts. Secondly it frames those acts as amounting to armed attacks that trigger the right of self-defense under Article 51 irrespective of the West Bank and Gaza’s status as Occupied Territory.
The Israeli Government stated its position clearly in the 2006 HCJ case challenging the legality of the policy of targeted killing (Public Committee against Torture in Israel et al v. Government of Israel). The State argued that, notwithstanding existing legal debate, “there can be no doubt that the assault of terrorism against Israel fits the definition of an armed attack,” effectively permitting Israel to use military force against those entities. Therefore, Israeli officials claim that the laws of war can apply to “both occupied territory and to territory which is not occupied, as long as armed conflict is taking place on it” and that the permissible use of force is not limited to law enforcement operations. The HCJ has affirmed this argument in at least three of its decisions: Public Committee Against Torture in Israel et al v. Government of Israel, Hamdan v. Southern Military Commander, and Physicians for Human Rights v. The IDF Commander in Gaza. These rulings sanction the government’s position that it is engaged in an international armed conflict and, therefore, that its use of force is not restricted by the laws of occupation. The Israeli judiciary effectively authorizes the State to use police force to control the lives of Palestinians (e.g., through ongoing arrests, prosecutions, checkpoints) and military force to pummel their resistance to occupation.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dealt with these questions in its assessment of the permissible use of force in the Occupied West Bank in its 2004 Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences on the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ reasoned that Article 51 contemplates an armed attack by one state against another state and “Israel does not claim that the attacks against it are imputable to a foreign state.” Moreover, the ICJ held that because the threat to Israel “originates within, and not outside” the Occupied West Bank,
the situation is thus different from that contemplated by Security Council resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001), and therefore Israel could not in any event invoke those resolutions in support of its claim to be exercising a right of self-defense. Consequently, the Court concludes that Article 51 of the Charter has no relevance in this case.
Despite the ICJ's decision, Israel continues to insist that it is exercising its legal right to self-defense in its execution of military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since 2005, Israel slightly changed its position towards the Gaza Strip. The government insists that as a result of its unilateral disengagement in 2005, its occupation has come to an end. In 2007, the government declared the Gaza Strip a “hostile entity” and waged war upon the territory over which it continues to exercise effective control as an Occupying Power. Lisa Hajjar expounds on these issues here.
In effect, Israel is distorting/reinterpreting international law to justify its use of militarized force in order to protect its colonial authority. Although it rebuffs the de jure application of Occupation Law, Israel exercises effective control over the West Bank and Gaza and therefore has recourse to police powers. It uses those police powers to continue its colonial expansion and apartheid rule and then in defiance of international law cites its right to self-defense in international law to wage war against the population, which it has a duty to protect. The invocation of law to protect its colonial presence makes the Palestinian civilian population doubly vulnerable. Specifically in the case of Gaza,
It forces the people of the Gaza Strip to face one of the most powerful militaries in the world without the benefit either of its own military, or of any realistic means to acquire the means to defend itself. [PDF]
More broadly, Israel is slowly pushing the boundaries of existing law in an explicit attempt to reshape it. This is an affront to the international humanitarian legal order, which is intended to protect civilians in times of war by minimizing their suffering. Israel’s attempts have proven successful in the realm of public relations, as evidenced by President Obama’s uncritical support of Israel’s recent onslaughts of Gaza as an exercise in the right of self-defense. Since international law lacks a hierarchal enforcement authority, its meaning and scope is highly contingent on the prerogative of states, especially the most powerful ones. The implications of this shift are therefore palpable and dangerous.
Failure to uphold the law would allow states to behave according to their own whim in furtherance of their national interest, even in cases where that is detrimental to civilian non-combatants and to the international legal order. For better or worse, the onus to resist this shift and to preserve protection for civilians rests upon the shoulders of citizens, organizations, and mass movements who can influence their governments enforce international law. There is no alternative to political mobilization to shape state behavior.
A state cannot simultaneously exercise control over territory it occupies and militarily attack that territory on the claim that it is “foreign” and poses an exogenous national security threat. In doing precisely that, Israel is asserting rights that may be consistent with colonial domination but simply do not exist under international law.
Admittedly, the enforceability of international law largely depends on voluntary state consent and compliance. Absent the political will to make state behavior comport with the law, violations are the norm rather than the exception. Nevertheless, examining what international law says with regard to an occupant’s right to use force is worthwhile in light of Israel's deliberate attempts since 1967 to reinterpret and transform the laws applicable to occupied territory. These efforts have expanded significantly since the eruption of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, and if successful, Israel’s reinterpretation would cast the law as an instrument that protects colonial authority at the expense of the rights of civilian non-combatants.
Israel Has A Duty To Protect Palestinians Living Under Occupation
Military occupation is a recognized status under international law and since 1967, the international community has designated the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as militarily occupied. As long as the occupation continues, Israel has the right to protect itself and its citizens from attacks by Palestinians who reside in the occupied territories. However, Israel also has a duty to maintain law and order, also known as “normal life,” within territory it occupies. This obligation includes not only ensuring but prioritizing the security and well-being of the occupied population. That responsibility and those duties are enumerated in Occupation Law.
Occupation law is part of the laws of armed conflict; it contemplates military occupation as an outcome of war and enumerates the duties of an occupying power until the peace is restored and the occupation ends. To fulfill its duties, the occupying power is afforded the right to use police powers, or the force permissible for law enforcement purposes. As put by the U.S. Military Tribunal during the Hostages Trial (The United States of America vs. Wilhelm List, et al.)
International Law places the responsibility upon the commanding general of preserving order, punishing crime, and protecting lives and property within the occupied territory. His power in accomplishing these ends is as great as his responsibility.
The extent and breadth of force constitutes the distinction between the right to self-defense and the right to police. Police authority is restricted to the least amount of force necessary to restore order and subdue violence. In such a context, the use of lethal force is legitimate only as a measure of last resort. Even where military force is considered necessary to maintain law and order, such force is circumscribed by concern for the civilian non-combatant population. The law of self-defense, invoked by states against other states, however, affords a broader spectrum of military force. Both are legitimate pursuant to the law of armed conflict and therefore distinguished from the peacetime legal regime regulated by human rights law.
When It Is Just To Begin To Fight
The laws of armed conflict are found primarily in the Hague Regulations of 1907, the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their Additional Protocols I and II of 1977. This body of law is based on a crude balance between humanitarian concerns on the one hand and military advantage and necessity on the other. The post-World War II Nuremberg trials defined military exigency as permission to expend “any amount and kind of force to compel the complete submission of the enemy…” so long as the destruction of life and property is not done for revenge or a lust to kill. Thus, the permissible use of force during war, while expansive, is not unlimited..
In international law, self-defense is the legal justification for a state to initiate the use of armed force and to declare war. This is referred to as jus ad bellum—meaning “when it is just to begin to fight.” The right to fight in self-defense is distinguished from jus in bello, the principles and laws regulating the means and methods of warfare itself. Jus ad bellum aims to limit the initiation of the use of armed force in accordance with United Nations Charter Article 2(4); its sole justification, found in Article 51, is in response to an armed attack (or an imminent threat of one in accordance with customary law on the matter). The only other lawful way to begin a war, according to Article 51, is with Security Council sanction, an option reserved—in principle, at least—for the defense or restoration of international peace and security.
Once armed conflict is initiated, and irrespective of the reason or legitimacy of such conflict, the jus in bello legal framework is triggered. Therefore, where an occupation already is in place, the right to initiate militarized force in response to an armed attack, as opposed to police force to restore order, is not a remedy available to the occupying state. The beginning of a military occupation marks the triumph of one belligerent over another. In the case of Israel, its occupation of the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai in 1967 marked a military victory against Arab belligerents.
Occupation Law prohibits an occupying power from initiating armed force against its occupied territory. By mere virtue of the existence of military occupation, an armed attack, including one consistent with the UN Charter, has already occurred and been concluded. Therefore the right of self-defense in international law is, by definition since 1967, not available to Israel with respect to its dealings with real or perceived threats emanating from the West Bank and Gaza Strip population. To achieve its security goals, Israel can resort to no more than the police powers, or the exceptional use of militarized force, vested in it by IHL. This is not to say that Israel cannot defend itself—but those defensive measures can neither take the form of warfare nor be justified as self-defense in international law. As explained by Ian Scobbie:
To equate the two is simply to confuse the legal with the linguistic denotation of the term ”defense.“ Just as ”negligence,“ in law, does not mean ”carelessness” but, rather, refers to an elaborate doctrinal structure, so ”self-defense” refers to a complex doctrine that has a much more restricted scope than ordinary notions of ”defense.“
To argue that Israel is employing legitimate “self-defense” when it militarily attacks Gaza affords the occupying power the right to use both police and military force in occupied territory. An occupying power cannot justify military force as self-defense in territory for which it is responsible as the occupant. The problem is that Israel has never regulated its own behavior in the West Bank and Gaza as in accordance with Occupation Law.
Israel’s Attempts To Change International Law
Since the beginning of its occupation in 1967, Israel has rebuffed the applicability of international humanitarian law to the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Despite imposing military rule over the West Bank and Gaza, Israel denied the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (the cornerstone of Occupation Law). Israel argued because the territories neither constituted a sovereign state nor were sovereign territories of the displaced states at the time of conquest, that it simply administered the territories and did not occupy them within the meaning of international law. The UN Security Council, the International Court of Justice, the UN General Assembly, as well as the Israeli High Court [PDF] of Justice have roundly rejected the Israeli government’s position. Significantly, the HCJ recognizes the entirety of the Hague Regulations and provisions of the 1949 Geneva Conventions that pertain to military occupation as customary international law.
Israel’s refusal to recognize the occupied status of the territory, bolstered by the US’ resilient and intransigent opposition to international accountability within the UN Security Council, has resulted in the condition that exists today: prolonged military occupation. Whereas the remedy to occupation is its cessation, such recourse will not suffice to remedy prolonged military occupation. By virtue of its decades of military rule, Israel has characterized all Palestinians as a security threat and Jewish nationals as their potential victims, thereby justifying the differential, and violent, treatment of Palestinians. In its 2012 session, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination described current conditions following decades of occupation and attendant repression as tantamount to Apartheid. [PDF]
In complete disregard for international law, and its institutional findings, Israel continues to treat the Occupied Territory as colonial possessions. Since the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Israel has advanced the notion that it is engaged in an international armed conflict short of war in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Accordingly, it argues that it can 1) invoke self-defense, pursuant to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter, and 2) use force beyond that permissible during law enforcement, even where an occupation exists. [PDF]
The Gaza Strip Is Not the World Trade Center
To justify its use of force in the OPT as consistent with the right of self-defense, Israel has cited UN Security Council Resolution 1368 (2001) and UN Security Council Resolution 1373 (2001). These two resolutions were passed in direct response to the Al-Qaeda attacks on the United States on 11 September 2001. They affirm that those terrorist acts amount to threats to international peace and security and therefore trigger Article 51 of the UN Charter permitting the use of force in self-defense. Israel has therefore deliberately characterized all acts of Palestinian violence – including those directed exclusively at legitimate military targets – as terrorist acts. Secondly it frames those acts as amounting to armed attacks that trigger the right of self-defense under Article 51 irrespective of the West Bank and Gaza’s status as Occupied Territory.
The Israeli Government stated its position clearly in the 2006 HCJ case challenging the legality of the policy of targeted killing (Public Committee against Torture in Israel et al v. Government of Israel). The State argued that, notwithstanding existing legal debate, “there can be no doubt that the assault of terrorism against Israel fits the definition of an armed attack,” effectively permitting Israel to use military force against those entities. Therefore, Israeli officials claim that the laws of war can apply to “both occupied territory and to territory which is not occupied, as long as armed conflict is taking place on it” and that the permissible use of force is not limited to law enforcement operations. The HCJ has affirmed this argument in at least three of its decisions: Public Committee Against Torture in Israel et al v. Government of Israel, Hamdan v. Southern Military Commander, and Physicians for Human Rights v. The IDF Commander in Gaza. These rulings sanction the government’s position that it is engaged in an international armed conflict and, therefore, that its use of force is not restricted by the laws of occupation. The Israeli judiciary effectively authorizes the State to use police force to control the lives of Palestinians (e.g., through ongoing arrests, prosecutions, checkpoints) and military force to pummel their resistance to occupation.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) dealt with these questions in its assessment of the permissible use of force in the Occupied West Bank in its 2004 Advisory Opinion, Legal Consequences on the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ICJ reasoned that Article 51 contemplates an armed attack by one state against another state and “Israel does not claim that the attacks against it are imputable to a foreign state.” Moreover, the ICJ held that because the threat to Israel “originates within, and not outside” the Occupied West Bank,
the situation is thus different from that contemplated by Security Council resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001), and therefore Israel could not in any event invoke those resolutions in support of its claim to be exercising a right of self-defense. Consequently, the Court concludes that Article 51 of the Charter has no relevance in this case.
Despite the ICJ's decision, Israel continues to insist that it is exercising its legal right to self-defense in its execution of military operations in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since 2005, Israel slightly changed its position towards the Gaza Strip. The government insists that as a result of its unilateral disengagement in 2005, its occupation has come to an end. In 2007, the government declared the Gaza Strip a “hostile entity” and waged war upon the territory over which it continues to exercise effective control as an Occupying Power. Lisa Hajjar expounds on these issues here.
In effect, Israel is distorting/reinterpreting international law to justify its use of militarized force in order to protect its colonial authority. Although it rebuffs the de jure application of Occupation Law, Israel exercises effective control over the West Bank and Gaza and therefore has recourse to police powers. It uses those police powers to continue its colonial expansion and apartheid rule and then in defiance of international law cites its right to self-defense in international law to wage war against the population, which it has a duty to protect. The invocation of law to protect its colonial presence makes the Palestinian civilian population doubly vulnerable. Specifically in the case of Gaza,
It forces the people of the Gaza Strip to face one of the most powerful militaries in the world without the benefit either of its own military, or of any realistic means to acquire the means to defend itself. [PDF]
More broadly, Israel is slowly pushing the boundaries of existing law in an explicit attempt to reshape it. This is an affront to the international humanitarian legal order, which is intended to protect civilians in times of war by minimizing their suffering. Israel’s attempts have proven successful in the realm of public relations, as evidenced by President Obama’s uncritical support of Israel’s recent onslaughts of Gaza as an exercise in the right of self-defense. Since international law lacks a hierarchal enforcement authority, its meaning and scope is highly contingent on the prerogative of states, especially the most powerful ones. The implications of this shift are therefore palpable and dangerous.
Failure to uphold the law would allow states to behave according to their own whim in furtherance of their national interest, even in cases where that is detrimental to civilian non-combatants and to the international legal order. For better or worse, the onus to resist this shift and to preserve protection for civilians rests upon the shoulders of citizens, organizations, and mass movements who can influence their governments enforce international law. There is no alternative to political mobilization to shape state behavior.
Israel remains committed to a negotiated settlement with the Palestinians, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday, despite worries among Israel's European allies over its plans to build more settlements.
"We remain committed to a negotiated settlement between us and our Palestinian neighbors," Netanyahu said during a visit to Prague. "That solution is a two-state solution for two peoples, a peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognize the one and only Jewish state of Israel."
Netanyahu's comments came ahead of a visit to Germany, where he was expected to face a dressing down from Chancellor Angela Merkel for the settlement plans that his government is pursuing following a vote in the United Nations last week granting the Palestinian Authority limited statehood status.
"We remain committed to a negotiated settlement between us and our Palestinian neighbors," Netanyahu said during a visit to Prague. "That solution is a two-state solution for two peoples, a peace in which a demilitarized Palestinian state recognize the one and only Jewish state of Israel."
Netanyahu's comments came ahead of a visit to Germany, where he was expected to face a dressing down from Chancellor Angela Merkel for the settlement plans that his government is pursuing following a vote in the United Nations last week granting the Palestinian Authority limited statehood status.
The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine has warned the Israeli occupation authorities of the continuation of its war and aggression against the Palestinian people, land and holy sites.
This came after the Israeli occupation announced the launch of the construction of thousands of new settlement units, and the demolition of al-Mafkara mosque in the east of Yatta, in al-Khalil southern the occupied West Bank.
The movement said in a statement on Wednesday: "These aggressive policies demonstrate the continuous intentions of the occupation to kill citizens and expand the settlements at the expense of the Palestinian people, land and holy places."
It emphasized that the occupation's attempts to dominate the land, displace the people, and confiscate the rights, will fail and called for confronting and responding to the Israeli aggressive policies with the resistance.
The Islamic Jihad also stressed that the Palestinian people will not remain silent facing the aggression waged on the West Bank and Jerusalem and on any part of the Palestinian land.
This came after the Israeli occupation announced the launch of the construction of thousands of new settlement units, and the demolition of al-Mafkara mosque in the east of Yatta, in al-Khalil southern the occupied West Bank.
The movement said in a statement on Wednesday: "These aggressive policies demonstrate the continuous intentions of the occupation to kill citizens and expand the settlements at the expense of the Palestinian people, land and holy places."
It emphasized that the occupation's attempts to dominate the land, displace the people, and confiscate the rights, will fail and called for confronting and responding to the Israeli aggressive policies with the resistance.
The Islamic Jihad also stressed that the Palestinian people will not remain silent facing the aggression waged on the West Bank and Jerusalem and on any part of the Palestinian land.
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