Monday, November 30, 2015

Sunday: teener killed in Silwan, the second Palestinian that day


 (Photos Wadi Hilwan Infornatuon Centre)

Israeli forces on Sunday evening shot dead a Palestinian teenage boy during clashes in the neighborhood of Silwan in occupied East Jerusalem. The Wadi Hilweh Information Center, the information Centre of the inhabitants ofSilwan, said that 17-year-old Ayman Samih al-Abbasi died after he was shot in his chest in the Ras al-Amoud area of Silwan.
 Israeli forces subsequently stormed the local Ein al-Lozeh medical center searching for the boy's body, but were reportedly unable to find it. The center added that Israeli police held medical staff inside the center and prevented them from leaving.Abbasi had previously spent 18 months in Israeli jails and a further 10 months under house arrest. The circumstances in which he was killed were initially unclear, with locals saying that the Ras al-Amoud area was mostly calm before he was shot dead.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Sunday: 105th Palestinian killed, 2 Israelis wounded, 3rd radio-station in Hebron closed

Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian man on Sunday after the man allegedly stabbed and injured an Israeli police officer near Damascus gate in occupied East Jerusalem. The attacker was a 38-year-old Palestinian from the Nablus district of the northern occupied West Bank. Local sources identified him as Basseem Abdul-Rahman Mustafa Salah. The Israeli police officer who was injured is reportedly in light to moderate condition, a Magen David Adom medical service spokesperson said. Witnesses near the near scene told Ma'an that Israeli police shot the Palestinian man at least 11 times during the incident, adding that Israeli forces did not allow medics to reach him.

Friday, November 27, 2015

Friday: 8 Israelis wounded, 2 Palestians killed, one a brother of a taxidriver killed five days ago


The car with which Fadi Khassib crashed into a bus stop at Kfar Adumim. 

A Palestinian was shot and killed on Friday after a vehicle attack in Beit Ummar which left six Israeli soldiers injured. An Israeli army spokesperson said that six Israeli soldiers were injured in a "car ramming" in Beit Ummar north of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron. The area was closed off following the attack. The victim was identified as Omar Arafat Issa al-Zaaqiq, 19. Four soldiers were moderately injured and two suffered light injuries.
 OmarZaqiq was the second Palestinian killed on Friday.  Earlier the 25-year old Fadi Khassib from Ramallah was killed after a suspected car attack near the settlement of Kfar Adumim.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Thursday: Israelis kill three Palestinians, the 100th, 101st and 102nd since 1 October


Yahya Taha from  Qatanna, who was killed today, is seen here praying at the grave of a relative, who was killed in August when fleeying after he attacked a soldier with a knive.  (Photo YNet)

Updated. A 19-year-old Palestinian was shot and killed in al-Arrub refugee camp in northern Hebron on Thursday during clashes, medics told Ma'an, the 3rd Palestinian to be killed during the day. Red Crescent officials said that Khalid Mahmoud al-Jawabreh, 19, was shot twice in the stomach by Israeli soldiers and later died from his injuries in the al-Ahli hospital in Hebron.
The teenager was shot during clashes in the camp between youths and armed Israeli military forces. The Arrub-camp which lies next to Road 60, which connects Hebron with Bethlehem, has been closed off for days. Ambulances had to take a long alternative route befre they reached the camp.
Earlier Thursday Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man at the Za'atar checkpoint south of Nablus, who according to reports by the Israeli army, tried to stab soldiers. No Israelis were injured. According to initial accounts, the assailant got out of a taxi at the checkpoint, located at the Tapuah junction, and ran with a knife toward soldiers shouting “Allahu akbar,” the Israeli police said.
Police launched a hunt for the taxi, according to Israel Radio, and arrested a taxi driver nearby, though it was not immediately clear if it was linked.
Yet a few hours earlier the Israelis killed a 21-year-old Palestinian when clashes broke out during an arrest raid in the town of Qatanna northwest of Jerusalem, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. The three o killed men had the dubious honor to be the 100th, 101st and 102nd Palestinians to be killed since 1 October.

Wednesday: two dead Palestinians, one wounded Israeli

The damaged car of a Palestinian who on Tuesday wounded four Israelis in a suspected car-ramming at the Za'atara checkpoint near Nablus (see below, Photo WAFA) 

A 16-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli forces during clashes two weeks ago succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
The ministry said doctors failed to save the life of Ibrahim Abdul-Halim Dawood, 16, after the teen was shot in his heart during Ramallah clashes two weeks previously.Dawood, from the village of Deer Ghassan in the central occupied West Bank village of Ramallah, is the second Palestinian teen to lose their life on Wednesday.
Earlier, Israeli forces shot and killed Muhammad Ismail Shubaki, a 19-year-old student, after the teen stabbed an Israeli soldier near al-Fawwar refugee camp in the southern occupied West Bank district of Hebron.

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Palestinian NGOs hand over case of Gazan family killed in their sleep to ICC in The Hague

Funeral of the killed family members of the Al-Louh family in Deir al-Balah, 20 August 2014. (Photo APA)

Four Palestinian human rights organisations delivered a confidential communication to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Fatou Bensouda, on behalf of themselves and Palestinian victims of Israel’s “Protective Edge” operation in the summer of 2014. The communication, which was submitted by Al-Haq, Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Aldameer and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute, contains information on crimes jointly documented during Israel’s 2014 offensive against the Gaza Strip.
 “We have become used to Israel killing and injuring Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. The 2014 offensive is the third war on our people in about six years. But nothing could have fully prepared me for the devastating loss of my sons, grandsons and granddaughters in an attack against our family home.” said Bouthaineh Al Louh, a Palestinian 57-year old grieving mother.

Monday, November 23, 2015

Monday: One Israeli and two more Palestinians killed

A Palestinian man was shot dead after stabbing and killing an Israeli settler on Route 443 west of Ramallah on Monday, Israel's army said. An Israeli army spokesperson told Ma'an that a "Palestinian murdered an Israeli and wounded another in a stabbing attack" with the injured victim evacuated for treatment.
Israeli forces responded on site to the incident and shot dead the Palestinian attacker, the spokesperson added.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health identified the suspect to Ma'an as Ahmad Jamal Taha, 16, from the Qatanna village near Ramallah.Israeli news site Ynet reported that the soldier who was stabbed and killed has been identified as Ziv Mizrahi, 20.

Shooting Palestinians in the back and ''accidentally'' blowing up the houses of neighbours of ''terrorists''

Home of the ‘Amer family, neighbors of the Abu Shahins, damaged by the demolition and no longer habitable. Photo by Iyad Hadad, B’Tselem, 16 Nov. 2015
The homes of neighbours of Muhammed Abu Shahin, whose house was destroyed as punishment, ware destroyed as well. This used to be the house of his neighbours, the family 'Amer. (see below). (Photo B'tselem). 

Soldiers from the Israeli Border Police and the IDF’s Home Front Command shot and killed 22-year-old Yousef Awad in the West Bank village of Budrus last Friday, reporting that he tried to grab a weapon from a soldier. He was, however, from shot in the back and from some distance. 
The Israeli army reported that ''during a violent and illegal riot in the village Budrus, in which approximately 80 Palestinians threw stones and Molotov cocktails toward the security fence, a main rioter who resisted arrest was detained and even tried to grab the weapon of one of the soldiers. The troops responded by shooting him and a hit was confirmed.''
However forensic evidence, an autopsy and photo's of the wounds on Awad's body, show that he was shot from behind. Moreover Palestinian friends who were with him testified that Awad was first shot in a leg with a rubber bullet, and was grabbed by the soldiers. When he managed to get away and ran, he was shot again, in the back this time and with live ammunition,  from a distance of about three meters.

Palestinian girl with scissors (16) killed, another (14) severely wounded

Israeli forces shot two Palestinian teenage girls, killing one and wounding the other, after they were allegedly involved in a stabbing attack near a central Jerusalem market on Monday morning, Israeli police said.
The incident took place near the Mahane Yehuda market on Jaffa Street, with Israeli media initially reporting that two Israelis were wounded in the alleged attack.The girls were reported by Israeli media as having used scissors to carry out the alleged attack. A spokesperson for Hadassah hospital later confirmed that one of those injured was a 70-year-old Palestinian resident of Bethlehem, who had a light stabbing wound in his back, and the other was a 27-year-old Israeli security guard who was shot in the hand, possibly by friendly fire.
 An Israeli security guard, who had been driving near the Mahane Yehuda market on Jaffa Street, got out of his car when he saw the two girls and quickly shot dead 16-year-old Hadeel Wajih Awwad and severely wounded her cousin, 14-year-old Norhan Awwad.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Israeli woman and attacker killed, settlers kill two Palestinians, one of them a girl of 16


The teener Ashraqat Qatanani, who was killed by settler leader Gershon Mesika. (Photos  from Twitter)

 Updated. A 21-year-old Jewish Israeli woman who was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack in the Gush Etzion region in the West Bank on Sunday died subsequently of her wounds. She was identified as Hadar Buchris, from Safed. Soldiers shot and killed her assailant, who the Shin Bet security service identified as 34-year-old Isam Thwabteh from Beit Fajar, a village near Bethlehem. He was the 94th Palestinian to die from Israeli bullets since  October.
 Earlier on Sunday a Palestinian taxidriver was shot and killed near the Israeli settlement of Kfar Adumim  into his taxi collided with another car on a main road. It is unclear if the car crash was an attack or an accident. However following the incident, an Israeli settler said the Palestinian exited the car wielding a knife. Hebrew media reported that an Israeli settler then shot the Palestinian dead at the scene.Israeli news site Ynet reported that the Israeli settler "was lightly wounded, suffering a scratch to his hand," adding that it was unclear whether the scratch came from the car crash or the alleged attempted stabbing attack.
 Less than an hour before the incident, a prominent Israeli settler, the former head of the "Samaria regional council," Gershon Mesika, ran over a Palestinian girl, 16, before shooting her dead.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Israel closes 2nd radio station in Hebron


Israeli forces stormed the office of Idha'at Al-Khalil (Radio Hebron) Saturday morning, confiscated equipment and damaged the office. Intelligence officers then delivered a military warrant ordering the station to close for six months due “incitement against Israel,” director of Radio Hebron, Amjad Shawar, told Ma’an.
It was the the second news outlet to be shut by Israel this month in this occupied West Bank city. The Israeli army confirmed that military forces, in operation with Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, and civil administration, confiscated broadcasting equipment from the station.“The al-Khalil radio station has repeatedly broadcasted content which promotes and encourages terror and acts of violence against Israeli civilians and security forces,” the army said in a statement.

Friday, November 20, 2015

Saudi court sentences Palestinian poet to death for apostacy


 Ashraf Fayadh (right).
 
A court in Saudi Arabia has sentenced a Palestinian poet to death for renouncing his religious faith, according to documents seen by Human Rights Watch.Ashraf Fayadh was handed the sentence on Tuesday on charges of “doubting the existence of God,” according to court documents seen by the group’s Saudi Arabia researcher, Adam Coogle.
Fayadh, who was born to Palestinian parents but grew up in the Gulf kingdom, was arrested by religious police in late 2013 after a reader complained that one of his books, his 2008 poetry collection Inner Teachings, could encourage people to renounce Islam.
Fayadh, now 50, was released after a day due to lack of evidence, but was rearrested in January 2014 in the southwestern city of Abha.
The poet was initially sentenced to four years in prison and 800 lashes, but an appeal judge this week increased the sentence, handing down the death penalty.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Four Israeli Jews and one Palestinian killed in two attacks

The scene of the Tel Aviv stabbing attack, November 19, 2015.
Updated. Three people were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting and car ramming attack in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank on Thursday afternoon. Just a few hours earlier two people were killed after a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv. The assailants in both incidents were detained.
Meanwhile a Palestinian manwho was shot in the head on 11 November died of his wounds. He was the 90th since 1 October to die form Israeli inflicted wounds. 
In tthe Gush Etzion attack a Palestinian motorist armed with an Uzi submachine gun opened fire toward cars near the settlement of Alon Shvut late in the afternoon killing three people. He continued driving toward Gush Etzion Junction, where he lost control of the vehicle, ramming into another car. He was then arrested.
 A young American man, reportedly a yeshiva student, and a 24-year-old Palestinian man were pronounced dead at the scene. The latter was identified as Shadi Arafa, a resident of Hebron. A 51-year-old Jewish Israeli man died of his wounds at the Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center. He was identified as Yaacov Don, a resident of Elon Shvut. Five people were lightly wounded in the attack, including American nationals.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Outlawing the Islamic Movement: McCarthyism Israeli style

 Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, during a large protest and a general strike, in solidarity with Palestinians in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza, in the northern town of Sakhnin, on October 13, 2015. Palestinians call for a Day of Rage following restrictions on Al Aqsa and recent violent attacks of both Israelis and Palestinians. (photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
With skullcap: sheikh Raed Salah, the leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement (Photo Activestills.org)

By Rami Younis
Say what you will about the Jewish state, just don’t say that the only democracy on the planet never stops challenging us. On Monday night, Israeli Defense Minister Ya’alon signed an order outlawing the northern branch of the Islamic Movement. Following the decision, the police raided the offices of 17 non-profit organizations connected to the group, confiscated documents and equipment, froze bank accounts, and announced that it would interrogate its leaders, among them Sheikh Raed Salah. 
This is yet another McCarthyist decision brought to you by the Zionist establishment, both its left and right wing. And while the Palestinian leadership in Israel is busy condemning the decision, a closer look shows that the security cabinet’s decision is nothing less than a gift to the Palestinian public in Israel. (....)

Palestinian kiled in fire fight near Ramallah

Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in armed clashes north of Ramallah on Tuesday evening, with two others injured during an exchange of fire. He was the 89th Palestinian killed since 1 October.
Israel's army said that shots were fired at an Israeli military patrol near Ramallah, with soldiers returning fire and shooting an assailant. Three armed Palestinians had reportedly exited a vehicle near an Israeli military patrol and opened fire at soldiers near Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah.Two Palestinians were injured in the gun battle and detained by Israeli forces.Israeli soldiers prevented a Red Crescent ambulance from reaching the scene of the incident, a Ma'an reporter said, with the main Ramallah-Nablus road closed by Israel's military.

Monday, November 16, 2015

Israel kills two Palestinians in Qalandia during raid to demolish house


Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the Qalandiya refugee camp at dawn on Monday during a raid to demolish the home of an alleged Palestinian attacker, witnesses said.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed Laith Assad Munasra, 21, and Ahmad Abu al-Aish, 28, as clashes broke out following a raid involving hundreds of Israeli forces in the densely populated refugee camp. These two were the 87th and 88th Paletiniasn who were killed since 1 October. Dozens of other Palestinians were injured in the clashes, with Yusuf Abu Latifa, 17, critically wounded. Witnesses said Israeli forces stopped an ambulance he was being carried in and detained him while he was en route to hospital.

Egyptian army kills 15 Sudanese refugees near border with Israel


Egyptian forces on Sunday shot and killed 15 Sudanese migrants who were attempting to illegally cross the border into Israel, Egyptian security sources said.
The sources, who wished to remain anonymous, said that the 15 people were among 23 migrants attempting to illegally cross the border from Egypt's Rafah city in the northern Sinai into Israel when Egyptian soldiers opened fire. The other eight were shot and wounded, before being evacuated to Rafah hospital, the sources said.They told Ma'an that Egyptian border forces called on the 23 migrants to halt, saying that they had been caught, and when the group failed to do so, the soldiers opened fire on them.The incident reportedly took place around the number 117 border marker.
 Earlier on Sunday, the same sources reported that another eight African migrants were caught and detained while trying to cross the border fence in a different location. It was not clear which country those migrants were coming from.The UN says there are some 53,000 refugees and asylum-seekers living in Israel, most of whom entered via the desert border with Egypt.

Saturday, November 14, 2015

Arrest warrant against Netanyahu and six other Israeli's in Spain

The Mavi Marmara
A Spanish court has found Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and six other senior officials guilty of crimes against humanity for their role in the 2010 raid on Gaza-bound aid ship, Mavi Marmara. Nine activists were killed, including one Turkish-American, and dozens injured when Israeli commandos boarded the lead ship of a Gaza-bound flotilla, Mavi Marmara, when it attempted to breach the blockade of the Palestinian territory. Spanish activists were also on board the ships.
The Madrid-based Supreme Court has ordered arrest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ex-foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman, ex-defense minister Ehud Barak, then-deputy PMs Moshe Ya'alon and Eli Yishai, and then-state minister Benny Begin. Israel's ex-Navy Commander Eliezer Marom is among the co-defendants found guilty by the Spanish judge.

At least 43 killed in bomb blasts in Shi'ite Beirout


 (Photo Reuters)

At least 43 people were killed and more than 240 wounded on Thursday in two suicide bomb blasts claimed by Islamic State in a crowded residential district in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of Hezbollah.
The explosions  came at time when the group is stepping up its involvement in the Syrian civil war and Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces in the four-year-old conflict. Government forces backed by Hezbollah and Iranian troops have intensified their fight against mostly Sunni insurgents, including Islamic State, since Russia launched an air campaign in support of Assad on Sept. 30.
The blasts occurred almost simultaneously late on Thursday and struck a Shi'ite community center and a nearby bakery in the commercial and residential area of Bourj al-Barajneh, security sources said. A closely guarded Hezbollah-run hospital is also nearby.
Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said 43 people were killed and 240 people were wounded.
Islamic State said in a statement posted online by its supporters that its members blew up a bike loaded with explosives in Bourj al-Barajneh and that when onlookers gathered, a suicide bomber blew himself up among them. The group said the attacks killed 40 people. Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk said a third suicide bomber had been killed by one of the explosions before he could detonated his own bomb. His body was found nearby.