Updates

Open-Fire Policy

Nine months of protesting a new outpost : seven killed and dozens injured in the town of Beita

Since establishing the illegal outpost of Evyatar in May 2021 on land belonging to the Palestinian communities of Beita, Qabalan and Yatma, Israel has added insult to injury by suppressing the residents’ protests. So far, the military’s lethal open-fire policy has led to the killing of seven protesters, and the injuring of some 180 by live fire and of about 1,000 by “rubber” bullets or sponge rounds. The military has also arrested dozens of people, closed the main entrance to Beita for a month, and destroyed roads and farmland in the area.

28 February 2022

Settler Violence = State Violence

Settlers attack Palestinians driving in Nablus and Ramallah areas at least 5 times in 4 days, injuring 3 passengers, 1 severely

From 21 to 24 Nov. 2021, B’Tselem documented 5 settler attacks on Palestinian cars driving in the Ramallah and Nablus areas, in which an adult and two minors were injured. Raed Kahraz (48), who was trapped in his car after it flipped, was airlifted and faces lengthy rehabilitation. These attacks are not outliers. Settlers have displayed this type of conduct daily for years, backed by Israeli state policy, which enables the violence even when the outcome – harm, sometimes lethal, to Palestinians and their property – is predictable.

24 February 2022

A Routine Founded on Violence

Israeli military closes off West Bank village for 50 days, invades it 17 times, arrests students at school and harasses residents

On 1 Dec. 2021, the military closed off the village of Deir Nizam in Ramallah District and set up a checkpoint at the main entrance. For 50 days, soldiers detained and harassed anyone going in or out and entered the village themselves, arresting several residents, including two teenagers arrested at school. This was a way to collectively punish the village for stones thrown at settlers’ cars on a nearby road. Israel’s apartheid regime is unlikely to stop the unlawful, immoral use of collective punishment unless it is made to pay a price.

22 February 2022

A Routine Founded on Violence

Occupation routine: Border Police officers attack resident of Qalandiya R.C. on his way to work

On Monday, 24 Jan. 2022, at around 11:00 A.M., dozens of Border Police officers arrived at the main road linking Jerusalem and Ramallah and confiscated goods and vehicles. Ahmad Mteir (30) was passing by on the way to work. Two officers assaulted him and pushed him, and were later joined by five other officers. They beat him all over his body with their hands and weapons and kicked him. After about two minutes, he was released home without charges. That is how Mteir’s day began. Routine.

14 February 2022

The Gaza Strip

Israel continues to impede medical care for Gazan patients needing treatment in the West Bank or in Israel

In 2021, Israel denied or left unanswered more than one-third of all applications to enter the West Bank or Israel for medical treatment unavailable in Gaza, including 38% of requests for minors and 24% of requests for people over 60. This was also true of 60% of requests for escorts, forcing patients to reapply or travel alone. Israel’s policy choices are responsible for the dearth of many vital forms of treatment in Gaza, yet it bars patients in need from care that is available mere miles away, often at a deadly cost.

10 February 2022

East Jerusalem

Video: Demolitions in Jerusalem area, January 2022 - 30 structures demolished; 78 people, including 37 minors, lose homes

Throughout January 2022, on orders of the Jerusalem Municipality, the Civil Administration and the Ministry of Interior, 30 structures were demolished in the parts of the West Bank annexed to Jerusalem’s municipal boundaries and in adjacent areas lying within the al-Quds District of the Palestinian Authority. Twelve of the demolished structures were homes: one was still under construction and slated to house a family of seven, including five minors, and the 11 others (five of which were demolished by their owners) housed a total of 71 people, including 32 minors, who were left homeless. The 18 remaining structures were not residential, and 13 of them were used for businesses that supported at least 45 people.

3 February 2022

A Routine Founded on Violence

Soldiers hold 21 members of Palestinian family, 7 of them minors, in storeroom, and attack and beat some of them; six spend night in hospital, one remains in custody

On 12 Dec. 2021, in the dead of night, dozens of soldiers raided a Hebron compound in which some 30 people live, woke the occupants, held most of them in a storeroom and beat several of them. The result: six hospitalized and two detained – one to date. This incident is not exceptional, but is part of the intolerable routine the Israeli apartheid regime imposes on Palestinians in the West Bank.

3 February 2022

Apartheid

B'Tselem welcomes Amnesty International's new report, calling the Israeli regime what it is: apartheid.

The AI report – a major addition to previous reports on the subject – marks a new consensus, recognizing the fact that Israel employs a regime of Jewish supremacy between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. This is an essential step in the struggle to change this reality, towards a future where all people living here will enjoy justice, equality and respect for their human rights.

1 February 2022

Settler Violence = State Violence

Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe', Masafer Yatta: Soldiers abandon Palestinians to assault by settlers invading their land

On 9 Nov. 2021, settlers invaded a family’s land in the community of Khirbet Khallet a-Dabe’, put up a tent and stole belongings from a farming shed. The next morning, the landowners arrived and the settlers waged a prolonged assault on them. Israeli security forces came and went, refusing to protect the Palestinians and leaving them to deal alone with the attacks – some committed before their very eyes. This case demonstrates Israel’s policy of enabling settler violence as another, seemingly informal, way to take over Palestinian land in the West Bank.

1 February 2022

Settler Violence = State Violence

West Bank olive harvest, 2021: Settlers attack farmers, steal olives and damage trees with full state backing

Throughout Oct.-Nov. 2021, B’Tselem documented 45 cases of settler violence against Palestinian olive harvesters, including physical assaults, crop theft, and damage to private and agricultural property. Once again, the assailants were fully backed by the state – primarily the military, which could have taken action to prevent them. The Israeli authorities allow this violence to continue as it serves the state’s long-term goal of taking over more Palestinian land.

26 January 2022

General

Joint call by Israeli civil society organizations to donors of designated Palestinian NGOs

In a joint statement published on 5 Nov. 2021, we called on the international community to unequivocally oppose Israel’s designation of six Palestinian NGOs as ‘terrorist organizations’. As our statement says: criminalizing human rights organizations is an act of cowardice, characteristic of authoritarian regimes. The designations are intended to intimidate donors and hurt support for the organizations. We urge all donors of the six NGOs – governments, foundations and individuals – to maintain and, if possible, to increase their funding.

12 January 2022

Communities Facing Expulsion

Taking the poor man’s lamb – 21st century style: Israel continues efforts to drive out residents of Khirbet Ibziq – this time by destroying fields and homes on pretext of “military training”

In so-called training, the military destroyed hundreds of dunams of crops, tilled fields and farming roads in the area of Khirbet Ibziq. Soldiers fired shells hundreds of meters from community homes, and the Civil Administration again demolished the tents of three families. The official insistence on training in the area, and that in any case it is a “closed firing zone” barred to Palestinians, relies on empty arguments masking the Israeli apartheid regime’s long-term goals: driving the residents out to further control and use area resources.

9 January 2022

Settler Violence = State Violence

Turmusaya, Ramallah District: Settlers attack olive harvesters; when the victims try to defend themselves, soldiers fire tear gas and “rubber” bullets at them

On 23 Oct. 2021, Turmusaya residents were harvesting olives on their land, near which the Adei Ad outpost was established, joined recently by a settler “farm”. Some 20 masked settlers attacked them with clubs and stones, injuring several of them. Dozens of residents came to help protect the land, and soldiers who arrived fired tear gas and “rubber” bullets at them. The settlers also torched a car and damaged several others.

6 January 2022

Settler Violence = State Violence

Sadet a-Tha'leh, South Hebron Hills: Settlers attack Palestinians near their home, yet Israeli security forces drive the victims away

On 6 and 7 November, settlers came from the Manne farm outpost to a well that serves this community in the South Hebron Hills. Residents tried to drive them away, but the settlers attacked them and even injured several of them. Israeli security forces summoned a resident for questioning; in the second incident, they declared the area a closed military zone. Settlers from the farm have already taken over some 1,500 dunams in which they prevent Palestinians from accessing farmland and pastureland.

3 January 2022

Hebron City Center

Soldiers detain 7-year-old in Hebron and threaten his mother to arrest him next time

On 16 Dec. 2021, Muhannad Misk (7) came across soldiers chasing neighborhood children who had thrown stones at them. Frightened, he ran into a store to hide, but a soldier came in and led the crying child out. His mother rushed to the scene and pulled him away from the soldiers, who demanded he lead them to the children they claimed had thrown stones. Muhannad clung fearfully to his mother and said he didn’t know them. The soldiers released him – only after an officer threatened his mother he would be arrested the next time.

28 December 2021

The Gaza Strip

Not even a phone call: Israel cutting some 230 Gazan security prisoners off from their families

Since the pandemic broke out, Israel has banned the 230 Gazan prisoners held in its territory from receiving family visits. As “security prisoners”, they are not even allowed phone calls. Israel’s longstanding policy cites various security pretexts to justify these blanket bans, isolating Gazan prisoners and causing great suffering to their families, who cannot meet or even talk to their loved ones for months and sometimes years.

27 December 2021

East Jerusalem

Israeli police break into apartments, beat occupants and falsely arrest them during night raid on building in East Jerusalem

On 21 Nov. 2021, masked policemen broke into the Abu al-Hummus family's building in al-‘Esawiyah, East Jerusalem. The officers attacked several occupants and arrested four brothers. Muhammad Abu al-Hummus was questioned for long hours, after which it turned out that he had been mistakenly arrested and he was released without charge. Two of his brothers were detained for two days, then released to house arrest. This is how security forces run the lives of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, enjoying far-reaching powers and no accountability.

27 December 2021

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli Border Police officer shoots sponge round from short range at chest of paramedic trying to treat a wounded detainee

During a protest at the entrance to al-Birah, Border Police officers fired a “rubber” bullet at the leg of a protester and arrested him. When volunteer paramedic Muhammad ‘Omar (28) tried to treat the wounded man, an officer hit him in the face and fired a sponge round at his chest from mere meters away, winding and bruising him. Shooting the paramedic, who was simply fulfilling his duty, was unlawful and dangerous: sponge rounds fired at the upper body at such short range can lead to much graver injury.

21 December 2021

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldier fatally shoots 15-year-old Muhammad Da'adas in the abdomen

On 5 Nov. 2021, around midday, young Palestinians threw stones at soldiers near the village of Deir al-Hatab. According to eyewitnesses, a stone hit a soldier in the face and he opened fire, fatally hitting Muhammad Da’adas (15) in the abdomen. As such, the killing of the teen is yet another outcome of Israel’s open-fire policy in the West Bank, which views lethal fire at Palestinians as an almost routine act that does not require exceptional circumstances. The military’s investigation is likely to yet again whitewash and reinforce this policy.

20 December 2021

The Gaza Strip

In the May 2021 fighting, Israel bombed four towers in Gaza, leaving dozens of families homeless and business owners jobless

In May round of fighting, Israel bombed four towers in the Gaza Strip, warning the occupants to leave but giving them no time to take anything. A resident of one tower said: “[E]veryone was standing out on the street. It looked like Judgement Day. You’re sitting safely inside your home and suddenly, it’s blasted and completely destroyed, turned into a pile of rocks and sand. All your furniture is swallowed up in the rubble, and all your beautiful memories from the happy days you spent in the house are lost in a flash, as if they never existed.”

15 December 2021

Hebron City Center

In night raid on the Da'na family’s building in Hebron, soldiers hold 100 members in guest hall until morning and ransack apartments

On 10 Oct. 2021, dozens of soldiers raided the home of the extended Da’na family in Hebron. They entered every apartment and woke the occupants, attacking one, and violently searched the building. They gathered about 100 family members in the guest hall and held them there until morning, and then left with one arrested. He was released 10 days later. Military incursions into Palestinians’ homes at the dead of night have long since become part of the occupation routine in the West Bank.

12 December 2021

Hebron City Center

Occupation routine, central Hebron: Soldiers attack Palestinians on street and accuse them of assault

On Friday, 19 Sep. 2021, brothers Shadi and ‘Abdallah al-Muhtaseb set out from their home by the Tomb of the Patriarchs. While they were walking on the street by a checkpoint, soldiers detained and provoked them, and swore at their mother who was summoned to bring the ID card of one of them. They were held in custody until Wednesday and released on bail of NIS 1,000 each. This is routine life for Palestinians in Hebron under the occupation: daily violence by security forces and settlers, extreme restrictions on movement and arrests.

7 December 2021

Hebron City Center

Central Hebron: Settler and soldier violence and police harassment of Palestinian family who dares to complain

On 6 Aug. 2021, Around midnight, settlers stoned Palestinian homes in front of soldiers. The residents called the Israel Police, and officers and other soldiers arrived. The stone-throwing ceased, following which the soldiers came to a family’s home and attacked two young occupants, aged 17 and 19, - beating and arresting them with severe violence. The elder son lost consciousness from the force of the blows. Police twice summoned the younger son – a minor – for questioning, but when he arrived, he was told he was not needed and sent home.

5 December 2021

No Accountability

New joint report with PCHR: Unwilling and Unable: Israel's Whitewashed Investigations of the Great March of Return Protests

In a joint report published today, the Palestinian Centre for Human rights (PCHR) and B’Tselem analyze the investigations Israel claims to have conducted following the Great March of Return protests, which were held for about a year and a half in the Gaza Strip as of March 2018. The report shows how Israel worked to whitewash the truth and protect the political and military officials responsible – instead of taking action against the individuals who devised and implemented the unlawful open-fire policy, which resulted in the killing of more than 200 Palestinians and the injury of some 8,000 others.

2 December 2021