Updates

A Routine Founded on Violence

Soldiers harass family who hung Palestinian flags on the fence of their home

On 27 Nov. 2019, three soldiers came three times to the home of the a-Tabib family in the village of ‘Izbat a-Tabib in Qalqiliya District to remove Palestinian flags the family had hung on the fence of their home. The family hung the flags up again every time. At around 6:30 P.M., the three soldiers returned while the family was sitting in the yard and took the flags down again.

14 January 2020

Open-Fire Policy

Soldiers open live fire at Palestinian workers trying to enter Israel without permits

In recent months, B’Tselem has documented more than 10 cases in which soldiers fired live and “rubber” bullets at the legs of Palestinians trying to enter Israel for work through gaps in the Separation Barrier. At least 17 were injured. The authorities willfully overlook the fact that thousands of Palestinians enter Israel without permits every day to work. It is not clear who suddenly decided to shoot at the legs of the workers and why. It is clear that shooting people who pose no danger is illegal.

7 January 2020

Settler Violence = State Violence

2019 Olive Harvest – Interactive Project: Israeli Harm to Palestinian Farmers carried out by Soldiers and Settlers

The dispossession and violence that mark Israel’s policy in the West Bank peak during the olive harvest. This major sector of the Palestinian economy, once a celebration of farming and connection to the land, has for years been overshadowed by violence against Palestinian families, damage to trees and theft of olives. This interactive map details incidents of assault, theft, vandalism, threats and holdups involving soldiers and settlers in villages near Ramallah, Nablus, Tulkarm, Qalqiliya and Salfit documented from Sept. to Nov. 2019.

6 January 2020

The Gaza Strip

Israeli air force kills 14 civilians in the Gaza Strip, including three women and eight children in operation branded “Impressive success”

In the last round of hostilities, Israel killed 35 Palestinians, including 14 uninvolved civilians. B’Tselem investigated three of the bombings. One particular case helped shed light on Israeli bombings in Gaza as a whole, revealing sites listed in the military’s “target bank” are rarely reassessed before an attack, nor are attempts made to ensure the absence of civilians.

22 December 2019

Open-Fire Policy

Soldiers wantonly shoot at children and teens, injuring two

On 17 Nov. 2019, Palestinan children and teens threw stones at Israeli oldiers near the boys’ school at al-Jalazun RC. About half an hour later, soldiers and at least one person in civilian clothes opened fire at children hiding near the entrance to the camp, injuring two of them, aged 11 and 13. This illegal shooting is illustrative of the military’s trigger-happy policy, backed and bolstered by a military law enforcement system that ensures no accountability.

17 December 2019

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli soldier shoots and kills ‘Omar al-Badawi, 22, who was trying to put out a fire started during a clash between soldiers and Palestinian youths

On 11 Nov. 2019, a soldier shot and killed ‘Omar al-Badawi as he was trying to put out a fire at the front of his house. B’Tselem’s investigation and video footage of the incident show al-Badawi was shot for no reason and without justification, while advancing slowly and signaling to soldiers not to fire. His death is not solely the responsibility of the soldier who shot him, but of all those responsible for the MAG Corps’ whitewashing protocol that allows these shootings to recur with no accountability.

11 December 2019

No Accountability

B'Tselem marks 30 years - speech in Khan al-Ahmar

On Dec. 5, B'Tselem marked 30 years since its founding in a special event at the Khan al-Ahmar school community. B'Tselem Executive Director Hagai El-Ad spoke about what we learned over 30 years of work, since 1989.

10 December 2019

No Accountability

Just the tip of the iceberg: One victim a year, times thirty years.

The pages below are an exhumation, digging up the past. For each year since 1989, we brought an account of a single instance in which soldiers killed, injured or beat a Palestinian. The account of each incident presents the testimony we collected at the time and then describes how one or another of the state’s legal branches whitewashed the actual event. Lastly, we bring a testimony we recorded this year from a relative or from the victims themselves. Their personal stories tell of lives unalterably changed in an instant. They were never the same again.

10 December 2019

Hebron City Center

Daily life under occupation: Palestinians in Hebron’s al-Harika neighborhood suffer incessant attacks by settlers and soldiers

Residents of the souther Hebron neighborhood of al-Harika have suffered incessant soldier and military-backed settler harassment ever since the settlement of Kiryat Arba was built next door in 1972. In five months this year, we documented five such attacks. These and other cases previously documented by B'Tselem illustrate how fragile, exposed and unpredictable life is in the neighborhood. The intolerable living conditions created by Israel’s policy drive Palestinians to abandon homes and businesses in the neighborhood.

1 December 2019

General

“Of Land and Bread”: B’Tselem-produced documentary to premiere at IDFA

The first full-length documentary film produced by B’Tselem, “Of Land and Bread,” directed by the head of the organization’s video department, Ehab Tarabieh, will premiere at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA). The world premiere will take place tonight, November 24, with additional screenings scheduled later this week as part of the festival.

24 November 2019

Hebron City Center

Israeli soldiers detain 13-year-old Palestinian in Hebron and lead him up and down streets blindfolded

On 3 Nov. 2019, before noon, soldiers detained ‘Abd a-Razeq Idris, 13, in Hebron, took him to al-Harika neighborhood and walked him, blindfolded, through the streets. They then drove him to a nearby military post, asked him about stone-throwers and sent him home alone. This case is no aberration, but part of the routine violence imposed on Palestinians by Israeli security forces and settlers as part of Israel’s policy in Hebron.

21 November 2019

A Routine Founded on Violence

“They took his soul, they can at least give me his body back”

According to B'Tselem data, Israel is holding the bodies of more than 52 Palestinians who attacked Israelis or the military claims tried to, and is refusing to return them. Holding bodies as bargaining chips is a long-standing policy only made official in a January 2017 cabinet resolution. The High Court initially held it illegal but later overturned the ruling based on an unreasonable interpretation of the Defence Regulations. This contemptible extortionist practice causes the families immense suffering, as described in the following.

17 November 2019

A Routine Founded on Violence

Soldiers detain 10-year-old Palestinian boy for more than three hours

On 18 Oct. 2019, soldiers unlawfully dragged Qusai al-Ja’ar, 10, from his home while he was helping his father clear building debris, and held his parents back with gunfire and teargas. They drove the boy, handcuffed and blindfolded, to a military post in a settlement and asked him about stone-throwers. The treatment of this child is part of the daily routine of control and oppression Israel imposes on all Palestinians in the West Bank as part of its occupation regime.

11 November 2019

Settlements

Israel to establish waste-to-energy plant in settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, unlawfully exploiting Palestinian territory for its own needs

Israel to establish waste-to-energy plant in settlement of Ma’ale Adumim, unlawfully exploiting Palestinian territory for its own needs In October 2019, the Israeli government issued a tender for the establishment of its first waste-to-energy plant, at an estimated cost of 1 billion NIS (about 284 million USD). While this may seem an ecologically positive development, the plant is set to be built within the West Bank, despite the prohibition in international law on exploiting resources in an occupied territory for the benefit of the occupying power. If established, the plant will be built without taking the Palestinian population of the West Bank and its views on the matter into account.

30 October 2019

Open-Fire Policy

Armed and well-protected security guards killed Ra’d al-Bahri without justification

On 18 Oct. 2019, Ra’d al-Bahri, 25, walked up to a checkpoint in the Tulkarm area, ignoring warnings from a Palestinian and shots fired in the air by a security guard. The guard shot him in the legs from mere meters away and other guards shot and killed him when he attempted to stand up. Al-Bahri was not posing any threat to the guards, who could easily have handled the situation with non-lethal means.

30 October 2019

No Accountability

Israeli MAG Corps closes 3 more cases of Palestinian fatalities without holding anyone to account

recently notified AP. B’Tselem investigated the incidents and found that all three killings were unjustified. Nevertheless, and even though the incidents should not have had fatal consequences – not even by the standards of military regulations – the very fact that investigations were undertaken has once again created an illusion of a functioning apparatus for seeking accountability.

28 October 2019

The Supreme Court of the Occupation

Israeli High Court greenlights holding Palestinian bodies as bargaining chips

On 9 Sept. 2019, an extended HCJ panel held that the Defence Regulations grant the state the power to hold bodies for negotiation. Israel is currently holding 52 such bodies. President Esther Hayut relied on a circuitous interpretation of the Regulations while treating international law almost as a technicality. Yet again, the justices proved willing to sanction almost any violation of Palestinians’ human rights – thereby not only failing to discharge their duties, but playing a pivotal role in legitimizing the entire occupation.

22 October 2019

The Supreme Court of the Occupation

“We are satisfied that preventing the meeting is vital to regional security”: Israeli High Court facilitates interrogation of Palestinian under torture

Samir ‘Arbid was violently arrested on 25 Sept. 2019, interrogated under torture and hospitalized unconscious. On 7 Oct., the HCJ upheld the denial of his right to meet a lawyer due to “a certain improvement” in his condition. By not restricting the interrogators, not demanding external oversight and overlooking the lack of real investigation into ISA interrogations, the judges allowed not only the denial of a detainee’s basic right to meet with counsel but also his unrestricted interrogation under torture.

10 October 2019

Open-Fire Policy

Israeli security guards open live fire at Palestinian woman brandishing knife and leave her to bleed to death

On 18 Sept. 2019, Nayfeh Ka’abneh, 50, a mother of nine from Ramun, came to Qalandiya Checkpoint and drew a knife from her sleeve. Security guards shot her from some 10 meters away and left her lying for about half an hour before allowing medics to approach and take her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Live fire has become the go-to response to Palestinians wielding knives, including women and children, and receives automatic backing – even when it is unjustified and the danger could clearly be averted with less injurious means.

10 October 2019

Administrative Detention

Sentencing as a recommendation only: On day of release, Israel transfers Palestinian prisoners to administrative detention

Israel uses two kinds of proceedings to imprison Palestinian residents of the West Bank: criminal and administrative. Actually fairly similar, as no genuine legal proceeding is undertaken in either case, the one major difference is that criminal proceedings culminate in a finite prison sentence, whereas administrative detention can be extended indefinitely. In five cases from the past two years, B’Tselem found that the military eliminated even this difference, imposing administrative detention on prisoners on the last day of their court-mandated sentence.

10 October 2019

East Jerusalem

Arrests, violence, and raids on homes: The summer of 2019 in al-‘Esawiyah in East Jerusalem

The police harassment against residents of al-‘Esawiyah we reported in July continues, though it has abated somewhat after the school year began. Over the summer, B’Tselem documented ten cases of police brutality against neighborhood residents, three of which are presented here in detail. This police harassment is an inseparable part of Israeli policy throughout East Jerusalem, which seeks to perpetuate a demographic majority for Jews in the city.

6 October 2019

Hebron City Center

New B’Tselem report about the city of Hebron: Using security excuses, Israel has managed to forcibly transfer Palestinian residents of the city

A new B’Tselem report released today, Playing the Security Card: Israeli Policy in Hebron as a Means to Effect Forcible Transfer of Local Palestinians, demonstrates how Israel has been using security excuses to implement a policy that has made life unbearable for the Palestinian residents of Hebron’s city center (the Old City), in an effort to drive them from their homes.

25 September 2019

A Routine Founded on Violence

Life under occupation: B’Tselem field researcher stopped at checkpoint over B’Tselem reports in his car

On 4 August 2019, Israeli soldiers stopped B’Tselem field researcher Nasser Nawaj’ah at a military checkpoint near the Palestinian village of Khirbet Susiya, the South Hebron Hills, when they saw he had B’Tselem reports in his car. One of the soldiers at the checkpoint claimed that they had to obtain confirmation that the reports do not constitute incitement material. About 10 minutes later, after the soldiers consulted with their superiors, Nawaj’ah was allowed to go.

5 September 2019