B’Tselem field researchers detained by Israel Police while documenting movement restrictions in Hebron

18 June 2017

The Bakery Checkpoint in Hebron, late May 2017. Photo by Siham al-Fakhuri, B’Tselem volunteer

B’Tselem field researchers Manal al-Ja’bri and Musa Abu Hashhash were detained yesterday in Hebron while documenting the increase in movement restrictions imposed by the military at the Bakery Checkpoint. Al-Ja’bri was questioned and held in police custody in the settlement of Kiryat Arba until late last night. Abu Hashhash was held at the checkpoint for about 40 minutes and released.

On Sunday, 18 June 2017, B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bri set out to capture video footage of the Bakery Checkpoint in Hebron, after receiving reports of an increase in the severe restrictions on movement imposed on Palestinian residents of the area for years. The checkpoint is located at the entrance to the main road of the a-Salaimeh neighborhood, near the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

Al-Ja’bri was detained by a Border Police officer and taken to the police station in the settlement of Kiryat Arba. B’Tselem field researcher Musa Abu Hashhash arrived at the checkpoint to continue filming and was also detained by a Border Police officer. The officers did not allow the two to contact B’Tselem. According to Adv. Neri Ramati from Gaby Lasky & Partners Law Offices, al-Ja’bri was taken to the police station in the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba at around 4:00 P.M., where she was questioned on suspicion of obstructing a police officer. The police required bail for her release. Abu Hashhash was released without questioning after being detained by Border Police officers at the checkpoint for about forty minutes.

Over the years, B’Tselem field researchers and volunteers have repeatedly reported instances in which security forces prevented them from documenting human rights abuses, detaining them for hours on end and confiscating cameras. These actions stand in stark contradiction to the law, as well as to assurances that B’Tselem has received from the military and the Border Police that there is no impediment to B’Tselem staff and volunteers filming incidents in the Occupied Territories, as long as their actions do not interfere with the security forces’ mission.

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ראג'ח א-ראזם מעוכב במחסום ג'אבר. התמונה באדיבות ארגון מגיני זכויות אדם

Hebron City Center

Israeli soldiers attack and detain young Palestinian man transporting goods through checkpoint in downtown Hebron, as well as neighbors who come to his aid

On Sunday, 23 October 2022, at around 10:00 P.M., brothers Rajeh (24) and Bassem (21) a-Razem set out from their home in the Jaber neighborhood in the Hebron city center to deliver goods to the family store, which is located about 200 meters away. As they approached the Jaber checkpoint, the brothers saw several soldiers chasing youths from the neighborhood. Bassem got scared and ran back towards the house, while Rajeh kept walking towards the store. One of the soldiers suddenly approached Rajeh, pushed him, knocked him down and pressed his knee into his neck, choking him. More soldiers arrived. They handcuffed and blindfolded Rajeh and made him sit by the checkpoint. Bassem and Rajeh’s parents, who heard the commotion, rushed to the scene to rescue Rajeh, but the soldiers pushed them, swore at them and did not allow them to come near. The soldiers also attacked neighbors who came to the family’s aid, including: Ahmad Jaber (19), who was also handcuffed; his father, Minwer Jaber (48), who told the soldiers he was a member of the Palestinian security apparatus; and Minwer’s brother, Munzer Jaber (56), and his son Mu’taz (36). The soldiers also detained ‘Aref Jaber (48), who came to the spot to document the event. About half an hour later, an officer arrived at the checkpoint and released everyone except Rajeh, whom the soldiers held at the checkpoint, handcuffed and blindfolded, until 12:30 A.M. The Israeli media reported that two soldiers and an officer were suspended following the incident, which the IDF Chief of Staff described as a “a flagrant departure from IDF values.” Yet this case is no exception. It is part of the violent routine that is all too familiar to Palestinians in downtown Hebron – and throughout the West Bank. The only exception here was media exposure. Even then, how did the military choose to penalize soldiers who were documented verbally and physically assaulting Palestinians and falsely arresting one? By suspending them from operations. This is no mistake: the soldiers did not misinterpret orders and the Chief of Staff did not misunderstand the severity of the incident. It is Israel’s policy. B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari took testimonies on 25 October 2022 from some of the residents attacked: Rajeh a-Razem (24) from the a-Salaimeh neighborhood said: On 23 October 2022, at around 10:00 P.M., my father asked my brother Bassem and me to take goods to the store. Because we’re not allowed through the Jaber checkpoint by car, we have to transport goods with a small cart. We finished transporting the first batch and were taking the rest when we saw about four soldiers near the checkpoint yelling at some young guys on the street and chasing them. Bassem ran towards home, and I continued with the goods towards the checkpoint. Suddenly, one of the soldiers attacked me, knocked me down and sat on top of me, pressing his knee into my neck. He was choking me. Another soldier pointed his rifle at me. The soldiers asked me in Arabic about Bassem, who he was and why he ran away. I was afraid they’d hurt my brother, so I told them I didn’t know him, and then the soldier who was pointing his rifle at me shouted something in Hebrew that I didn’t understand. I told him I didn’t understand and he hit me, slapped me and shouted at me that I was a terrorist. The other soldier, who was still pressing his knee into my neck and choking me, also slapped me. Then, he pulled me to my feet and led me towards the checkpoint, where he tied my hands in front of me with zip ties, blindfolded me and made me sit in front of the checkpoint. Meanwhile, my parents arrived. I heard them talking to the soldiers. The soldiers were shouting at them and swearing at my mother. It sounded as if they were attacking my father, too. At some point they lifted me to my feet, dragged me a few steps and then made sit back down on the ground. I heard other people from the neighborhood shouting and it sounded like there was a struggle going on. I think the soldiers hit one of the residents, and I heard him tell them in English he was a police officer. I couldn’t see what was happening because I was blindfolded. They held me like that until about 12:30 A.M., and then they let me go and I went home. My family told me the soldiers had attacked Minwer Jaber and his family when they tried to help me. Ibtesam Jaber, a 37-year-old mother of six from the Jaber neighborhood, said: At around 10:30 P.M., my husband Minwer and I were at home. Suddenly, I heard shouting out on the street. Minwer went outside to see what was going on and our son Ahmad, who was woken by the shouting, followed him outside. I looked out the window and saw Rajeh a-Razem handcuffed and blindfolded. The soldiers had him sitting on the ground near the Jaber checkpoint. I saw his parents trying to get them to let him go, but the soldiers were pushing them and swearing at them. My husband came back inside to call the Palestinian DCO and get help for the young man. Meanwhile, I heard my son Ahmad shouting. Minwer rushed back out, barefoot. I saw three soldiers leading Ahmad to the checkpoint, hitting him as they went. They pulled the hood of his sweatshirt down over his face, tied his hands behind his back with zip ties and sat him down at the checkpoint, too. Afterwards, they pulled him and Rajeh to their feet and started dragging them, but Minwer blocked their path and asked why they were taking Ahmad, who had been asleep at home and had done nothing. One of the soldiers got angry and aggressive and said in Arabic that Ahmad was a Palestinian terrorist. The soldiers pushed my husband and ordered him to go home, but he refused to back off until they released both young men. One of the soldiers assaulted my husband and beat him. I yelled at them from the porch to let my husband and son go. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at me, started swearing at me in Arabic and ordered me to go inside, while another soldier kept beating my husband. He pushed Minwer up against a wall, and his body and head got hit. Minwer shouted at the soldiers in English that he was a member of the security apparatus, but it didn’t help. In the meantime, my brother-in-law Munzer and his son Mu’taz came to help, but the soldiers attacked them too, handcuffed them and made them sit on the road. Ahmad Jaber (18) from the Jaber neighborhood said: I started heading downstairs to see what was going on, and before I even got to the street, three soldiers attacked me. One grabbed me by the shoulder, pulled the hood of my sweatshirt down over my face and started dragging me to the Jaber checkpoint, swearing at me and kicking me. He told me I was a Palestinian terrorist. Then he pushed me against the wall of a building. He started talking to me in Hebrew, and I didn’t understand what he wanted. Then he pulled my leg, knocked me down to the ground, trod on my legs and slammed my face into the wall. I heard my father’s voice and tried to raise my head, but the soldiers wouldn’t let me speak. They were very aggressive. The soldier punched and hit me several times on the head and kicked me. Then he tied my hands behind my back with zip ties and made me sit next to the checkpoint. A few minutes later, the soldiers pulled me and Rajeh up and led us a few steps on foot until my father blocked their way and asked why they were detaining us. The soldiers attacked my father, pushed him and ordered him to go home. He refused to back away, and then the soldiers started beating him. My mother shouted at the soldiers from the porch. One of the soldiers pointed his weapon at her and swore at her. Another soldier pushed my father against the wall, and he hit his head against it. My father shouted at the soldiers in English that he was a member of the security apparatus, but they didn’t stop. Meanwhile, my uncle Munzer and his son Mu’taz came to help, and the soldiers attacked them too. They handcuffed them and made them sit down next to the same building by the roadside. After about half an hour, an army officer arrived. He talked to us and let all of us go except Rajeh. A Palestinian ambulance arrived, and the crew gave my father first aid. He had bruises all over his body. Rajeh was only let go around 12:30 A.M. That evening, soldiers went up to our roof. They stayed there all night, making noise and disturbing our sleep.

17 November 2022

חיילים מחזיקים בר'אזי והמאם מחארמה במחסום. צולם על-ידי עוברי אורח

Hebron City Center

Israeli soldiers detain 8- and 10-year-old at Hebron checkpoint for over 5 hours

On Monday, 12 September 2022, at around 12:30 P.M., two soldiers stationed at Checkpoint 160 (Diwan a-Rajabi) in central Hebron detained Palestinian brothers Hamam (8) and Ghazi (10) Maharmeh, who were on their way home from the UNRWA school located about 250 meters away. The soldiers made the two children sit on the ground outside the checkpoint, and later put them in a room inside it where, they were questioned about throwing stones at the checkpoint. No one informed their family they were detained. The soldiers then made the children sit on the floor of the room for about an hour. Meanwhile, their father, Wael Maharmeh, arrived at the checkpoint after searching for his missing sons and hearing of their detention. Maharmeh pleaded at length with the soldiers, who eventually led the children to a fenced crossing within the checkpoint compound so their father could see them and pass them drinks. The soldiers held the children at the checkpoint until about 6:00 P.M., when Red Cross representatives arrived. Wael Maharmeh waited outside the checkpoint the entire time with his three-year-old son. While the particulars of this case may be extreme, it is not unusual in itself. Incidents of this kind are all too familiar to Palestinians in central Hebron – and throughout the West Bank – who live a daily routine of violence by security forces, which sometimes extends to young children, too. The soldiers did not make a mistake or misunderstand protocol – they were carrying out the policy of the Israeli apartheid regime. Ghazi Maharmeh and his father gave their testimonies to B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 19 September 2022: Wael Maharmeh (45), a father of four from central Hebron: I live with my wife and our four children, between the ages of three and ten, in the al-‘Aqqabah neighborhood in the Old City of Hebron. On 12 September 2022, at around 1:00 P.M., the preschool teacher called to say my two eldest sons, Ghazi and Hamam, hadn’t picked up their brother Hares (3) as usual. I was very worried and went to pick Hares up. Then I went with him to the UNRWA school that the boys attend, but it was empty by then. While I was there, a teacher from the school called and told me the military had caught them and was holding them at Checkpoint 160. I went to the checkpoint with Hares and spoke to a soldier there. He said they were holding my boys in a room inside the checkpoint because they’d thrown stones. I tried to explain to the soldier that they’re young and also new at school, so I didn’t believe they’d thrown stones. I asked the soldiers to let me see them, but they refused and ordered me to move away from the checkpoint. I sat down with Hares by the fence near the turnstile and refused to budge without my kids. The soldier I spoke with got angry and started talking to me aggressively. He put me on the phone with someone who introduced himself as an officer and said my kids had thrown stones at the soldiers. When I said that wasn’t true, he ordered me to wait quietly and not cause trouble, until the police arrived to investigate the matter. Then he hung up. I waited by the checkpoint for about an hour without seeing my boys. Then I asked the soldier to give them a drink of water, and he said he only had his own water. I went to the store, bought water and juice and asked the soldiers to pass them to my kids. Then the soldiers brought my kids out to the iron passageway. Hamam was crying and scared. I gave them the water and juice and talked to them, in order to distract them and calm them down. There was someone there from CPT (Community Peacemaker Teams) who tried to film the kids without being noticed, after the soldiers forbade her. The soldiers kept the kids in the iron passageway, which is like a cage, until 6:00 P.M. Meanwhile, I talked to the Palestinian DCO and the Red Cross. When that didn’t help, I started posting requests on Whatsapp groups for help from human rights organizations. At some point, a Red Cross vehicle arrived. Only then were my children released – after about five and a half hours at the checkpoint. They were exhausted, hungry and scared, and their faces were pale. I took them home. On the way, I tried to calm them down and joke with them in order to make them feel better. . Ghazi (10), a 5th grader: School finished at about 12:30 P.M., and I headed home with my brother Hamam, who goes to the same school. Suddenly, an Israeli military jeep stopped next to us and two soldiers got out. They grabbed Hamam and me, spoke to us in Arabic and tried to put us in the jeep. We refused to go and screamed and cried. So instead of putting us in the jeep, they made us sit behind it. There was a woman there that I recognized, because she always watches over children crossing checkpoints near the school. She came over and asked for our names, and the soldiers shouted at her and made her move away. After she moved away, the soldiers took us to Checkpoint 160 and put us in a room. Hamam cried and begged the soldiers to leave us alone. When they took us into the checkpoint, a soldier asked me in Arabic why I threw stones. He also wanted us to give him the names of children who throw stones. I told him it’s our first year at this school and we don’t know anyone. He ordered me to shut up and wait in the room for the police to come and get us. He sat us down on the floor. We waited like that for about an hour, until I heard my dad’s voice outside the checkpoint. He was speaking with the soldiers in Hebrew. Hamam started crying again, and I tried to calm him down and get him quiet down. The soldiers took us out to a crossing with an iron fence and our dad gave us water and juice. He said he would stay with us and wouldn’t leave without us. Hamam calmed down and stopped crying. We waited at the crossing for a lot of hours. The whole time, my dad sat with my little brother Hares on a fence by the turnstile and talked to us. In the end, the soldiers let us go. We were tired and hungry. Dad took us home.

25 October 2022

מוחמד א-תלחמי לאחר שחרורו. צילום: מנאל אל-ג'עברי, בצלם

Hebron City Center

Border Police and settlers attack family in Hebron during argument over crossing a checkpoint, arrest member and demand he not complain against a settler in exchange for releasing him

On Monday, 5 July 2021, at around 10:30 P.M., sisters Rima and Iman a-Talhami were on their way home from the dentist. Rima (41), a mother of five, is a resident of East Jerusalem, and Iman (43), a mother of six, lives in the a-Salaimeh neighborhood in central Hebron. The two women were driving in Rima’s car, which has Israeli license plates, to Iman’s house. When they reached Checkpoint 160, which the military erected about 200 meters from Iman’s house, two Border Police officers stationed there refused to open the gate and let them through, without offering any explanation. The two women called Iman’s son Muhammad (22), to come and translate for the police officer. Yet even then, the officers refused to let them through, tried to forcibly snatch the car keys from them and hit Muhammad. Two settlers who came to the checkpoint attacked Iman, who was later taken to hospital. The officers did nothing to prevent the settlers from harming her. This incident is no exception. Hebron is laden with military checkpoints, which Palestinians depend on the goodwill of soldiers and police to cross. This violent routine is all too familiar to Palestinians in Hebron and throughout the West Bank. In a testimony she gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari on 8 July 2021, Rima a-Talhami recounted what happened that day: On 5 July 2021, at around 10:30 P.M., my sister Iman and I arrived at Checkpoint 160. We were on the way back to her house after going to the dentist in town. When we got to the checkpoint, I stopped at the gate and waited for them to open the gate for vehicles. Two Border Police officers were standing next to it, and one of them was talking to two Israeli girls who looked about 18. I asked the officer to open the gate so I could drive through. I showed him my Israeli ID card. He refused to open the gate. I told him that I always cross the checkpoint with my car, and he answered in Arabic mixed with Hebrew that he didn’t feel like letting me through this time. I replied that I wouldn’t move until he opened the gate. I called my nephew Muhammad and asked him to come to the checkpoint and talk to the officers because he knows Hebrew. Muhammad arrived within a few minutes and spoke with the Border Police officer, but he still wouldn’t let me through with the car. After we waited there for about half an hour, another car with a young Palestinian driver arrived and he offered to drive my car through the checkpoint. I gave him the keys and he got in the car, parked it by the roadside [on the other side of the checkpoint] and handed me the keys. The officer immediately tried to snatch the keys from my hand. I put them in my pocket and he tried to take them out, but I wouldn’t let him. I told him that if he wanted to search me, he had to get a female officer. Muhammad explained it to him in Hebrew, and then the officers attacked him. During the argument over the keys, two settlers came to the checkpoint and started filming us on a cellphone. One of them mocked me. When my sister Iman asked them not to film us, one of them attacked her and she fell down. Meanwhile, the Border Police officers detained Muhammad. The settler who attacked Iman also tried to attack Muhammad, but the officers wouldn’t let him. They led him to his car and asked both settlers to leave the area. In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al-Ja’bari, Muhammad Nidal a-Talhami (22) described how he and his mother were attacked: After about half an hour of arguing with the soldiers, more cars drove up to the checkpoint. A young Palestinian got out of one and suggested to my mother and aunt that they get out of the car and he drive it through the checkpoint. He said the Border Police officers would let him. They agreed and got out, and he got into the car. My mother and aunt stood by the checkpoint. Meanwhile, two settlers arrived, one of them a huge man wearing shorts, and they started filming my mother and aunt on a cellphone. The young man drove the car through the checkpoint, parked it by the roadside and handed the keys to my aunt. One of the Border Police officers ran over to them and tried to snatch the keys from her hand, but she put them in her pocket. The officer tried to take the keys out of her pocket, but we objected to him touching her and ask him to call a female officer. The officers got angry, jumped me and tried to handcuff me. At that moment, I saw the huge settler push my mother, and she fell down and screamed in pain. I tried to free myself from the Border Police officers, but they overpowered me after slamming me against the checkpoint fence, kicking me and hitting me. While the officers were holding me, the settler tried to attack me. I saw one of the officers talking to him, and then the settler got in his car and drove away. My mother was still on the ground and looked unconscious. After a few minutes, an ambulance arrived and took my mother and aunt to hospital. Then the officers let me go and I went home. At around 3:00 A.M., I went to get my mother and aunt from the hospital in my aunt’s car and brought them back to our house. I later learned that the officer had demanded that my family not file a complaint against the settler in exchange for my release. I had bruises on the right side of my head, on my right arm and on other parts of my body from the beating I took from the officers while they were trying to control me.

8 August 2021