Hamas-Fatah meeting in China included talks for temporary government

April 30, 2024

Source: Al Mayadeen

A staff member checks the alignment of Chinese, and Palestinian flags before the start of a joint press conference in Beijing, on April 13, 2017. (AP)

By Al Mayadeen English

Palestinian sources told Al Mayadeen that the meeting between Hamas and Fatah in China included talks about the importance of reaching a unified stance among Palestinian factions regarding the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Palestinian sources revealed to Al Mayadeen Tuesday the outcomes of the meeting held between the two Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, in the Chinese capital Beijing.

The sources confirmed that the two factions agreed on the importance of unifying the Palestinian position regarding the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, emphasizing the importance of a ceasefire and the complete withdrawal of the Israeli occupation forces from the Strip.

In this context, the factions further agreed on “coordinating joint national efforts to deliver urgent aid and relief to the sector and to arrange with the relevant parties in Gaza,” and forming a joint bilateral committee in Cairo for coordination and follow-up.

According to the sources, the meeting emphasized coordinating positions and efforts in the West Bank and al-Quds to confront settler attacks on villages and towns, as well as Israeli occupation assaults on the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The outcomes of the meeting also stressed the priority of the detainees’ issue and the necessity to preserve their rights and support them during this difficult phase, where they are subjected to the worst forms of abuse and harm inside Israeli occupation prisons.

A unified Palestinian front was on the agenda

On another note, the sources reported from the meeting that Hamas and Fatah affirmed the necessity of unity and ending the division, “within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization by joining all Palestinian forces and factions within it and its institutions, based on previous agreements in this regard.”

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The parties also highlighted the importance of forming a non-factional national unity government during or after the genocidal war, tasked with its technical and administrative duties in relief efforts, alleviating the effects of aggression, and rebuilding Gaza.

This government will also work on unifying Palestinian institutions and preparing for general elections, “to strip Israel and America of the pretext of division.”

The sources confirmed that the meeting included an agreement to strengthen Palestinian unity with the assistance of China, which “will contribute to ending the occupation and establishing the Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and al-Quds according to international resolutions.”

The sources informed Al Mayadeen that the outcomes of the meeting constitute the agenda for the next meeting in Beijing on June 14, 2024.

On their part, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that both sides “expressed political willingness to achieve reconciliation through dialogue,” adding that they reached an agreement on ideas for future dialogue, and “they will continue the dialogue to achieve Palestinian unity as soon as possible.”

The Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed their great appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct “deep and frank dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.” Furthermore, the Ministry affirmed that Hamas and Fatah expressed deep appreciation for China’s support for the Palestinian people.

It also announced that Beijing hosted talks between Hamas and Fatah at its invitation to conduct a “deep and candid dialogue to enhance Palestinian reconciliation.”

Read more: Israeli proposal meagre, no decision to be reached, PIJ official says

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THE NAKBA 2.0: ISSA AMRO’S INSIDER ACCOUNT OF ISRAELI TORTURE IN HEBRON

NOVEMBER 15TH, 2023

Source

Mnar Adley & Alan Mcleod

Coming back to his house on October 7, world-renowned activist Issa Amro was dragged away by 15 armed Israelis, blindfolded, gagged, and cuffed so tightly he now needs an operation on his hands.

The settlers and soldiers kept him imprisoned for days, beating and torturing him, constantly simulating his execution.

Speaking with MintPress News, Amro told the story of what life is like for Palestinians living in the West Bank city of Hebron. “In my city where I live now, since October 7, there is a curfew,” he told Mnar Adley and Alan MacLeod.

But this curfew is far more restrictive than others. Palestinian families – those who have not already fled the genocidal Israeli violence – are given only six hours a week to leave their homes. They are not even allowed out into their own yards. This means that school has stopped, work has ended, and life is on pause.

In those six hours, Palestinian families must buy all their food, pick up essentials such as medicine and conduct any social activities. But being outside is dangerous, as they have to pass though multiple checkpoints with armed guards and AI smart shooters pointing guns at them. Violence from vigilante settler groups is also a danger.

“It’s scary to walk alone between armed soldiers and armed settlers, all of them pointing their guns at you. Then, when you come back, it takes them five to ten minutes to search every person,” Amro said, revealing that the guards wanted to go so far as to cut open his potatoes and tomatoes to check for “weapons.”

“It’s a kind of jail” right now, Amro said, although he notes that being in jail is considerably safer than being a Palestinian in Hebron right now.

Issa Amro is an activist and the co-founder of the grassroots group Youth Against Settlements. He has led campaigns of non-violent civil disobedience against apartheid and Israeli occupation and has been recognized and given awards by international organizations, including the United Nations. He joins MintPress to chronicle recent Israeli attempts to force Palestinians from their homes and their ancestral land.

While leaving the house is extremely dangerous, staying inside is barely safer. Amro and others have experienced Israeli raids where troops tell Palestinians that they have 24 hours to leave or they will be murdered.

“History is repeating itself,” Amro told Adley and MacLeod today, “Now I understand why my people left in 1948,” referencing the Israeli genocide of three-quarters of a million Palestinians from their land in order to create the state of Israel.

It is no exaggeration to call the current Israeli actions genocidal. Indeed, senior Israeli politicians are directly comparing it to the events of 1948. Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, for example, described his country’s actions as the “Gaza Nakba 2023.” “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba,” he told local outlet Channel 12 on Saturday. “From an operational point of view, there is no way to wage a war – as the Israeli army seeks to do in Gaza – with masses between the tanks and the soldiers,” he added.

In this conversation, Amro provides a crucial first-hand perspective rarely heard in corporate media. Watch the full interview only at MintPress News.

Five IOF Injured in Tulkarm Camp Ambush as Confrontations Break Out in Nablus

October 5, 2023

The Israeli occupation soldiers suffered a blow as their attempt to storm the Tulkarm camp was met with fierce resistance, resulting in five soldiers from the “duvdevan” unit being injured, with three in critical condition. Meanwhile, dozens of Palestinian citizens, including three who were injured by live bullets, sustained injuries during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in Nablus.

The clashes broke out as the illegal settlers stormed the Shrine of Joseph, with the Israeli occupation forces using force to secure their entry. The Al-Aqsa Mosque remains closed to worshippers as settlers continue to perform Talmudic rituals.

In Nablus, the Director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Red Crescent reported 190 injuries, including two injuries from gas bombs to the head, six with bruises, and 180 cases of suffocation caused by the clashes. In one of the most violent confrontations, Palestinian resistance fighters targeted the storming vehicles with homemade explosive devices and Molotov cocktails, resulting in fires in one of the jeeps and a military bulldozer.

The occupation forces deployed in the streets surrounding Joseph’s Tomb, and sniper soldiers mounted some high-rise buildings in anticipation of the settlers’ arrival. Young men had previously blocked several streets in the Eastern Province with burning rubber tires, coinciding with the massing of occupation vehicles around the city.

In Tulkarm, an ambush set up by the Palestinian resistance in the Tulkarm camp resulted in a group of israeli occupation forces being trapped and forced to withdraw, with confirmed casualties among their ranks. The occupation continues to face heightened resistance from Palestinian citizens, with many risking their lives to protect their homeland.

Source: Palestinian Agencies (edited by Al-Manar English Website)

Israeli Occupation Forces Assault Palestinian Journalists, Worshippers in Jerusalem – VIDEO

October 1, 2023

Israeli occupation forces assault Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem. (Photo: via Palestine Online TW Page)

Israeli occupation forces assaulted Palestinian journalists and worshippers on Sunday, as hundreds of Israeli Jewish settlers forced their way into Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, in occupied East Jerusalem, to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Sukkot.

Sukkot is a week-long holiday, which started on September 29 and will continue until October 6.

In a statement, the Jordan-run Islamic Waqf Department said Israeli forces closed the Al-Mughrabi Gate, southwest of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, “after allowing 602 Jewish extremists” into the site.

The Palestinian Jerusalem Governorate published a video on its Facebook account of Jewish settlers trying to enter animal sacrifices inside the complex.

Through the Iron Windows: What Happens to Palestinians When Israel Celebrates Jewish Holidays

By Fayha Shalash Every time that Israel celebrates a Jewish holiday, new restrictions are imposed on Palestinians. But what is the relationship between both events and what do Palestinians experience during these times?  Closed roads, … Continue reading Palestine Chronicle

Israeli police began allowing the settler incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in 2003, despite repeated condemnations from Palestinians.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980, a move never recognized by the international community.

(MEMO, PC)

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THE RED HEIFER PROJECT: ISRAELI GOVERNMENT PART OF PLAN TO BUILD THIRD TEMPLE AT AL-AQSA

SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2023

Source

Jessica Buxbaum

Since 1967, non-Muslims have been allowed to visit Al-Aqsa but not pray at the holy site. Yet that status quo is rapidly eroding in recent years as Israeli Jewish settler groups work alongside the government to take control of the compound.

Under Jewish law, the ashes of a red heifer (young female cow) must be scattered across Haram al-Sharif before Jews can ascend it and rebuild the Third Temple. While the hunt for a red heifer has long been considered a fringe initiative touted by Temple Mount activists, new research reveals the Israeli government is now involved in this endeavor.

According to Jerusalem-focused non-profit Ir Amim, the Israeli government authorities helped the temple mount activist group, the Temple Institute, and Boneh Israel, an Evangelical organization, import five cows from the United States last year to be used for the red heifer sacrifice.

The Ministry of Agriculture allegedly assisted in bypassing standard regulations in order to import the live cows from the U.S., which is prohibited. In a press release, Boneh Israel and the Temple Institute claim they received permission to import the cows through the Ministry of Agriculture.

The Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage also assisted in the project. The Ministry’s Director General, Netanel Isaac, disclosed in a speech at the cows’ welcome ceremony in September 2022 that the agency has been funding the development of the Mount of Olives area where Temple Mount activists plan to initiate the red heifer ritual sacrifice. Additionally, the ministry is involved in transferring the cows to a visitor center and farm created for the red heifer project at the Tel Shiloh archaeological site in the occupied West Bank. Currently, the cows are being held at a kibbutz (Jewish commune) in the Jordan Valley. One of the cows is reportedly already at the Israeli settlement research center, however.

Ir Amim emphasized that while this project is being spearheaded by the current Israeli leadership, government assistance actually began during the previous government under former Israeli Prime Ministers Yair Lapid and Naftali Bennett, which was deemed more moderate and politically diverse than Benjamin Netanyahu’s present coalition.

Senior Ir Amim Field Researcher, Aviv Tatarsky, explained that only 15 years ago, the idea of Jews praying at Haram al-Sharif was a radical notion promoted by right-wing extremists. Yet now it’s firmly rooted in the Israeli mainstream.

“The change is that nationalistic and fundamentalistic ideologies are dominant in Israeli society,” Tatarsky said. “They have won over Israeli society.”

The Israeli ministries involved and the Temple Institute did not respond to requests for comment. Boneh Israel could not be reached before the deadline.

DANGEROUS IMPLICATIONS

Despite the Israeli government’s vow to keep with the status quo at Al-Aqsa, settlers involved in the red heifer project underscore the aim is Jewish ascension on Haram al-Sharif in order to reconstruct the Third Temple —  implying the destruction of the Dome of the Rock.

While Jewish settlers are increasingly storming Haram al-Sharif, many rabbis today forbid this as ancient Jewish law dictates the red heifer’s ashes are required to purify the area before Jews can ascend. Because of this, most religious Jews don’t even enter the compound, and those who do may only walk on certain parts. With the red heifer ritual, the number of Jews storming Al-Aqsa may then multiply.

“It could lead to maybe hundreds of thousands of Haredis [ultra-Orthodox Jews] or Sephardis [Spanish Jews] who might actually break into the mosque and cause a real religious war,” Dr. Abdallah Marouf, an Islamic history professor at Istanbul 29 Mayis University and ex-media official at Al-Aqsa Mosque, told MintPress News.

Israeli police escort  Itamar Ben-Gvir, center, and a group of Jewish extremists as they enter the Noble Sanctuary, on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem. Mahmoud Illean | AP

Senior figures involved in this initiative have told media outlets the project’s ultimate goal is to rebuild the Third Temple, destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E.

“The prophecies came true, and the Jews are back in Israel,” Byron Stinson, responsible for raising the cattle and bringing them to Tel Aviv, told the Jerusalem Post. “Now they need to build a Temple. But it’s like buying a really nice car. If you don’t have the key, you aren’t going anywhere. The red heifer is the key to making the Temple work like it’s supposed to.”

Stinson is part of Boneh Israel and also founded the Father’s House Foundation, a U.S. tax-exempt charity organizing trips to Israel. In addition to Stinson’s Father’s House Foundation, other U.S.-based, tax-exempt non-profits are also mixed into this red heifer endeavor, like P.E.F. Israel Endowments Fund and Biblical Faith, which accept donations for the Temple InstituteBoneh Israel is backed by Reshit, an Israeli settler group headed by Tzachi Mamo, another key person in the red heifer project.

Reshit is currently working with the Jerusalem Affairs Ministry to develop the “Northern Trail” project, a tourist walking route from Damascus Gate to Sheikh Jarrah highlighting settler homes and sites of Jewish history. In developing the route, the state and settlers are attempting to erase Palestinian identity by expanding existing Israeli sites. In 2023, the organization received 17,635 shekels (around $4,600) from the Israeli Education Ministry.

Mamo told the Christian Broadcasting Network that he bought a plot of land on the Mount of Olives in 2011 meant for performing the red heifer sacrifice.

“And we hope that in a year and a half from today, we can make here in this area the ceremony of the red heifer that actually will be the first step to the Temple,” Mamo told CBN.

According to land registration documents reviewed by Ir Amim’s Tatarsky, the land is registered under an unknown company and was originally owned by Palestinians.

Additionally, Ir Amim’s research notes that the Jerusalem Development Authority is currently working to build a promenade on the Mount of Olives leading to the location where Mamo intends to hold the red heifer ritual.

While the Red Heifer project seeks to obtain Jewish sovereignty over Al-Aqsa, Marouf has faith that the Palestinian people will fight to preserve the status quo, which they’ve done in previous instances when the sanctity of Al-Aqsa was under threat.

“It’s happening now. However, that doesn’t mean that it will happen,” Marouf said. “A very important element in this equation is the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, who have proved to be the main obstacle against Israeli settler rights groups and the Israeli government.”

Israeli Human Rights Violations in PalestineTerritory (Weekly Update 03-09 August 2023)

10.08.2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

6 Palestinians were killed, including 2 children; one succumbed to his pervious injury, and 6 others were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:

On 04 August 2023, Qusai Jamal Mu’tan (18) was killed in cold blood by settler’s fire, while two other Palestinians were injured by other settlers’ fire in Burqa village, east of Ramallah. ( Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On the same day, Mahmoud Hussam Abu Sa’an (18) was killed by IOF’s fire after he threw Molotov Cocktails at them during their incursion into Tulkarm and its camp.

On 06 August 2023, in a crime of extra-judicial executions (assassination), IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, in Jenin. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On 07 August 2023, medical sources at the Palestine Medical Complex announced the death of Ramzi Fathi Hamed (17), from Silwad village, east of Ramallah, who succumbed to an abdominal injury after the security guard of “Ofra” settlement established on lands confiscated from Silwad and Beitin villages, east of Ramallah, fired two live bullets at him, as Hamed threw Molotov Cocktails at the settlement on 01 August 2023.

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.

On 04 August 2023, two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.

On the same day, Minister Moayad Sha’ban, Head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), and other persons suffocated and sustained bruises during IOF’s suppression of Deir Istiya weekly peaceful protest in Salfit.

Also, a Palestinian was injured with a rubber-coated bullet in his leg during clashes with IOF following their incursion into Al-Eizariya village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 2 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip. However, neither material damage nor casualties were reported.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 208 Palestinians, including 103 civilians; amongst them 37 children, 6 women and a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 7 children, 9 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 1015 Palestinians, including 150 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement

On 03 August 2023, IOF razed a 4-dunum plot of land in al-Dab’a area, east of Battir village in western Bethlehem, and uprooted at least 70 olive seedlings.

On 06 August 2023, IOF forced 8 families of 36, including 10 children, to leave al-Qaboun Compound located between Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, after IOF closed all roads leading to them and prevented sheep-grazing, while settlers stole their sheep. 

On the same day, IOF seized a generator from a cave where ‘Aziz al-Rab’I live in Kherbet Janba, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.

On 07 August 2023, IOF confiscated 2 vehicles and ceased ad-Dhahiriya Municipality’s construction works to establish agricultural roads in al-Baha area, east of ad-Dhahiriya village in southern Hebron, under the pretext of working in Area “C”.

On 08 August 2023, IOF handed 14 eviction notices to inhabited houses and cease-construction notices to other under-construction houses in Sarta villages, west of Salfit, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.

On the same day, IOF uprooted about 20 olive seedlings and levelled agricultural lands to build a settlement road in Kafr ad-Dik village, west of Salfit.

On 09 August 2023, IOF handed 8 cease-construction notices to under-construction houses in Sinjil village, east of Ramallah, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 136 families homeless, a total of 796 persons, including 174 women and 352 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 136 houses; 34 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 14 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 99 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment

On 08 August 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of ‘Abdul-Fattah Hussein Kharousha in the old ‘Askar refugee camp, northeast of Nablus as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus and broke into a 4-storey house belonging to Kharousha family, as they forced 4 families living the building out, and two other families of their relatives in nearby houses under fire and teargas canisters.  As a result, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the left thigh. During the incursion, IOF implanted explosives on the 3rd floor, and remotely detonated it. As a result, the 120-sqm apartment, which housed a family of 4, including a woman, was destroyed, while 3 apartments in the same building and 2 other apartments in a nearby buildings sustained damage. It is noteworthy that IOF killed ‘Abdul-Fattah Kharousha on 07 March 2023 after he was accused of an attack that killed setters on 26 February 2023.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

On 05 August 2023, settlers from “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, threw stones at Palestinians and their vehicles at the entrance to Al-Eizariya village, east of East Jerusalem. As a result, windows of many vehicles were broken, and Palestinians, including women and children, panicked.

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 293 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 9 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 17-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 134 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested Palestinians at those checkpoints.

On 06 August 2023, IOF closed the northern entrance to Tuqu’ village, south of Bethlehem, and reopened it later. The closure recurred the following day. 

On 07 August 2023, IOF closed Qalandia checkpoint and later reopened it.

On 08 August 2023, IOF closed the detector gates established at the entrances to villages of Nabi Saleh, Aboud, and Kharbatha Bani Harith, and reopened them after about an hour and a half. This comes as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy allegedly after a settler’s vehicle was exposed to shotting near the entrance to “Ateret” settlement, which is established on the lands of Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah. The entrances to Silwad were also closed but reopened later.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,692 temporary checkpoints and arrested tens of Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (Weekly Update 03-09 August 2023)

August 10, 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

6 Palestinians were killed, including 2 children; one succumbed to his pervious injury, and 6 others were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settler attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:

On 04 August 2023, Qusai Jamal Mu’tan (18) was killed in cold blood by settler’s fire, while two other Palestinians were injured by other settlers’ fire in Burqa village, east of Ramallah. ( Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On the same day, Mahmoud Hussam Abu Sa’an (18) was killed by IOF’s fire after he threw Molotov Cocktails at them during their incursion into Tulkarm and its camp.

On 06 August 2023, in a crime of extra-judicial executions (assassination), IOF killed 3 Palestinians, including a child, in Jenin. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On 07 August 2023, medical sources at the Palestine Medical Complex announced the death of Ramzi Fathi Hamed (17), from Silwad village, east of Ramallah, who succumbed to an abdominal injury after the security guard of “Ofra” settlement established on lands confiscated from Silwad and Beitin villages, east of Ramallah, fired two live bullets at him, as Hamed threw Molotov Cocktails at the settlement on 01 August 2023.

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.

On 04 August 2023, two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.

On the same day, Minister Moayad Sha’ban, Head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), and other persons suffocated and sustained bruises during IOF’s suppression of Deir Istiya weekly peaceful protest in Salfit.

Also, a Palestinian was injured with a rubber-coated bullet in his leg during clashes with IOF following their incursion into Al-Eizariya village, southeast of occupied East Jerusalem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 2 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip. However, neither material damage nor casualties were reported.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 208 Palestinians, including 103 civilians; amongst them 37 children, 6 women and a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 7 children, 9 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 1015 Palestinians, including 150 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement

On 03 August 2023, IOF razed a 4-dunum plot of land in al-Dab’a area, east of Battir village in western Bethlehem, and uprooted at least 70 olive seedlings.

On 06 August 2023, IOF forced 8 families of 36, including 10 children, to leave al-Qaboun Compound located between Kafr Malik and al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, after IOF closed all roads leading to them and prevented sheep-grazing, while settlers stole their sheep. 

On the same day, IOF seized a generator from a cave where ‘Aziz al-Rab’I live in Kherbet Janba, east of Yatta, south of Hebron.

On 07 August 2023, IOF confiscated 2 vehicles and ceased ad-Dhahiriya Municipality’s construction works to establish agricultural roads in al-Baha area, east of ad-Dhahiriya village in southern Hebron, under the pretext of working in Area “C”.

On 08 August 2023, IOF handed 14 eviction notices to inhabited houses and cease-construction notices to other under-construction houses in Sarta villages, west of Salfit, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.

On the same day, IOF uprooted about 20 olive seedlings and levelled agricultural lands to build a settlement road in Kafr ad-Dik village, west of Salfit.

On 09 August 2023, IOF handed 8 cease-construction notices to under-construction houses in Sinjil village, east of Ramallah, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area “C”.

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 136 families homeless, a total of 796 persons, including 174 women and 352 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 136 houses; 34 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 14 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 99 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment

On 08 August 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of ‘Abdul-Fattah Hussein Kharousha in the old ‘Askar refugee camp, northeast of Nablus as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into ‘Askar refugee camp in Nablus and broke into a 4-storey house belonging to Kharousha family, as they forced 4 families living the building out, and two other families of their relatives in nearby houses under fire and teargas canisters.  As a result, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the left thigh. During the incursion, IOF implanted explosives on the 3rd floor, and remotely detonated it. As a result, the 120-sqm apartment, which housed a family of 4, including a woman, was destroyed, while 3 apartments in the same building and 2 other apartments in a nearby buildings sustained damage. It is noteworthy that IOF killed ‘Abdul-Fattah Kharousha on 07 March 2023 after he was accused of an attack that killed setters on 26 February 2023.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

On 05 August 2023, settlers from “Ma’ale Adumim” settlement, threw stones at Palestinians and their vehicles at the entrance to Al-Eizariya village, east of East Jerusalem. As a result, windows of many vehicles were broken, and Palestinians, including women and children, panicked.

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 293 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 9 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 17-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, IOF continues to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 134 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested Palestinians at those checkpoints.

On 06 August 2023, IOF closed the northern entrance to Tuqu’ village, south of Bethlehem, and reopened it later. The closure recurred the following day. 

On 07 August 2023, IOF closed Qalandia checkpoint and later reopened it.

On 08 August 2023, IOF closed the detector gates established at the entrances to villages of Nabi Saleh, Aboud, and Kharbatha Bani Harith, and reopened them after about an hour and a half. This comes as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy allegedly after a settler’s vehicle was exposed to shotting near the entrance to “Ateret” settlement, which is established on the lands of Umm Safa village, northwest of Ramallah. The entrances to Silwad were also closed but reopened later.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,692 temporary checkpoints and arrested tens of Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Tel Aviv Attack Leaves Several Israelis Wounded (VIDEO)

August 5, 2023

The attack scene in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening. (Photo: Video grab, Twitter)

Palestinian groups considered the operation a “natural response to the crimes of the occupation” against the Palestinians.

The person suspected of carrying out the shooting was ‘neutralized’ by Israeli police, Israeli media reported.

He was seen lying on the ground, as ambulances rushed to take the injured Israelis to hospitals for treatment.

The inspector general of the Israel Police claimed that the attacker of Tel Aviv was from the village of Rummaneh in the Jenin district.

The incident took place in the Nahlit Binyamin area in central Tel Aviv.

Palestinian Reactions 

In the first reaction of the Resistance factions to the Tel Aviv operation, the Hamas spokesman said that the attack is a new confirmation of the Resistance’s ability to confront the Israeli occupation and to respond to its crimes against the Palestinian people and their holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque.

A spokesman for the Islamic Jihad movement also confirmed that the attack was an affirmation of the ‘Unity of the Squares’.

He described the attack as ‘a natural response’ to the daily killings carried out by the Israeli occupation against Palestinians in the West Bank.

Israeli Army Radio alleged that the perpetrator of the shooting attack in Tel Aviv was a member of the Islamic Jihad movement.

The shooting comes a day after 19-year-old Palestinian Jamal Maatan was killed in an attack by settlers on the village of Burqa in the occupied West Bank.

Residents of Burqa village said settlers entered their village on Friday evening, threw stones at them, and set cars on fire.

Washington expressed concern over the increasing attacks by settlers on Palestinian villages in the West Bank, which are witnessing an escalation of raids and incursions by the occupation forces.

The number of Israel military and settler attacks has risen since the beginning of January, resulting in the death of at least 207 Palestinians, including children and women. 27 Israelis were also reportedly killed during the same period.

(AJA, PC)

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Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (Weekly Update 13 – 18 July 2023)

 July 19, 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity

5 Palestinians, including a child, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:

On 14 July 2023, a child was wounded with a live bullet in the thigh after IOF opened fire during the suppression of Palestinians who were trying to prevent settlers from establishing a settlement outpost, southwest of Kobar village in Ramallah.

On 16 July 2023, 2 Palestinians were wounded with rubber bullets, and others suffocated during clashes with IOF in Bethlehem. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 3 Palestinians.

On the same day, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet in the shoulder after IOF opened fire during their incursion into Tal village in Nablus. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 2 Palestinians.

On 17 July 2023, a Palestinian was wounded with a live bullet that penetrated his back and abdomen, causing gastrointestinal perforation and his condition was deemed serious. IOF opened fire when he was in front of his house during IOF’s incursion into Al-Fawar camp, south of Hebron. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested another Palestinian.

In the Gaza Strip, 3 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 7 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 194 Palestinians, including 96 civilians; amongst them 33 children, 6 women and a Palestinian with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 6 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 985 Palestinians, including 147 children, 30 women and 16 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices, and settlement

IOF displaced 50 Palestinians, including 23 children and 11 women, after demolishing 11 houses and razing agricultural lands in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while Israeli settlers established a settlement outpost in Ramallah.

On 14 July 2023, settlers set up a tent and placed a water tank in Al-Batin area, southwest of Kobar village in Ramallah, in an attempt to establish a new settlement outpost. As a result, Kobar villagers gathered and tried to confront the settlers by throwing stones at them, but IOF instantly intervened and suppressed the villagers, wounding a child.

On 16 July 2023, IOF demolished ten 70-sqm houses of bricks and tinplate in Al-Sawahra Al-Sharqiya village in East Jerusalem, rendering 45 Palestinians, including 20 children, homeless.

On the same day, IOF forced Ahmad Qareen to self-demolish his house in Silwan in East Jerusalem under the pretext of unlicensed construction, displacing him, his wife and three children.

On 17 July 2023, IOF leveled a 3-dunum plot of land and uprooted 100 olive and almond trees in the village of Husan, west of Bethlehem.  They arrested the son of the land’s owner after assaulting him and his mother.

IOF also stopped the expansion works on the main road leading to al-Rashaida village, east of Bethlehem, and seized a bulldozer after arresting its driver, under the pretext of not obtaining a license.

On 18 July 2023, IOF leveled an 8-dunum plot of land planted with 210 olive, almond and forest trees in the village of Bern, east of Hebron, under the pretext of being state lands.

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 120 families homeless, a total of 721 persons, including 154 women and 329 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 128 houses; 28 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 13 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 91 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

Israeli settlers carried out 13 attacks on Palestinians and their property, threw stones at them, cut trees, and set many vehicles ablaze in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 15 July 2023, Israeli settlers, from “Havat Maon’ settlement outpost, which is established on Palestinian lands confiscated from Hebron, attacked Palestinians shepherds while grazing their sheep in the lands near Kherbet Saroura and Kherbet al-Mofqara. Afterwards, IOF arrived in the area, arrested a volunteer working for the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories “B’Tselem” and released him later.

On the same day, settlers pumped wastewater at agricultural lands in Nahalin village, west of Bethlehem. The agricultural lands have a water spring and are planted with different types of crops.

On the same day, Israeli settlers attacked a house in Sebastia village in Nablus. Afterwards, IOF intervened and arrested two Palestinians, including the owner of the attacked house. 

On 16 July 2023, settlers set 4 vehicles ablaze and wrote racist slogans in Abu Ghosh village in occupied East Jerusalem.

On the same day, Israeli settlers set agricultural lands planted with olive trees ablaze in Burin village in southern Nablus, burning many olive trees. They also prevented the fire truck from reaching the area and threw stones at Palestinians’ houses in the village. When the Palestinians tried to confront the settlers, IOF fired teargas canisters at them, causing many of them to suffocate. Additionally, Israeli settlers set up a tent in the outskirts of Burin village, amid fears that it would be in a prelude to establish another settlement outpost in the area. 

Israeli settlers gathered near the intersection of Jit village, east of Qalqilya, and held banners with racist slogans against the Palestinians, blocking traffic. 

Also, settlers attacked Palestinians’ vehicles at the western entrance to Beitin village, north of al-Bireh City, breaking the windows of some of them.

On 17 July 2023, settlers, under IOF’s protection, deployed along Huwara main street in Nablus and threw stones at Palestinian vehicles. Also, the settlers threw stones at a Palestinian house near Huwara military checkpoint, south of Nablus. The settlers deployed on the road connecting Qusra village with Jalud village in Nablus and indiscriminately opened fire in the area. 

On the same day, Israeli settlers cut about 250 grape vines and wrote the phrase “price tag” in Hebrew on stone chains in al-Bouira area, east of Hebron.

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 281 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

IOF incursions and arrests:

IOF carried out 166 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 89 Palestinians were arrested, including 2 women.

So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 5,362 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,981 Palestinians were arrested, including 28 women and 326 children.  Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, including 17 fishermen, 20 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 19 incursions.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update at the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 105 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

On 16 July 2023, as part of IOF collective punishment measures following the shooting attack near Tekoa village that injured 3 settlers, IOF closed all Bethlehem’s entrances, the entrance to ‘Aqbet Hasnah leading to the western rural villages, the southern  entrance to Al-Khader village “al-Nashash” with a metal detector gate, the entrances to Beit Fajjar and Tekoa villages, al-Container military checkpoint, the western entrance to Beit Jala village, and the entrances to Tekoa village, southeast of Bethlehem.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 3,298 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 142 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Palestinian Shooting Attack at Checkpoint near Bethlehem Injures 3 Israelis

 July 17, 2023

In a shooting incident near the Taqou’ checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, three Israeli settlers were wounded on Sunday morning, with one sustaining serious injuries, according to reports from Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 14 stated that a shooting attack occurred near the Zionist “Taqou’” military checkpoint, resulting in three injuries, including one serious injury, while another individual suffered minor injuries from bullet shrapnel, and a third experienced panic-related injuries.

The seriously wounded individual was transported to Shaare Tzedek Hospital in occupied Jerusalem, and their condition remains unstable.

The official Israeli radio station, “Kan,” reported that a speeding vehicle fired upon a settler at the checkpoint before fleeing the scene.

According to their media, the Zionist army has initiated search operations to locate the ‘perpetrator’ who managed to escape from the scene.

Resistance Factions Hail the Heroic Attack

Palestinian resistance factions have praised the attack, emphasizing their commitment to resistance in the occupied West Bank and considering this operation a natural response to the crimes committed by the occupation and its settlers.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem highlighted the ongoing resistance in the West Bank against settlers and indicated that this time it targeted the Taqou’ checkpoint near the city of Bethlehem in the southern region of the occupied West Bank.

Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem (photo from archive).

Qassem emphasized that the resistance in the West Bank is escalating and expanding, serving as a response to the occupation’s offenses against the Palestinian people and their sacred sites. He noted that the resistance continues to surprise the occupation with its locations and methods of implementation.

He further stressed that the resistance will persist until achieving the aspirations of the Palestinian people for freedom and independence.

Tariq Selmi, the spokesperson for the Islamic Jihad Movement, commended the heroic attack at the Taqou’ checkpoint near Bethlehem in the West Bank. He regarded it as a natural and legitimate response to the crimes committed by the occupation army, settlers, and their provocative actions at the revered Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Selmi also praised the performance, courage, and determination of the fighters in their ongoing struggle.

Similarly, the Al-Ahrar Movement praised the shooting operation near the Taqou’ checkpoint, highlighting its heroic nature and underscoring the vitality of the resistance in the West Bank.

Talal Abu Zarifa, a member of the Political Bureau of the Democratic Front, viewed the Bethlehem operation as a testament to the persistence of the resistance and the failure of the enemy’s security apparatus in halting these heroic actions. He stressed that such operations are a response to the crimes committed by the occupation and its settlers against the Palestinian people.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

IOF Palestine West Bank

3 settlers were injured in a shooting south of Bethlehem.. Al-Ghad camera reaches the site of the incident and monitors the image

Israel’s Military-Settler State: There are no Jewish ‘civilians’ in the West Bank

JUL 14, 2023

Israeli settler terrorism is a strategy employed by Israel to advance its territorial gains and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Robert Inlakesh

US President Joe Biden recently called out Benjamin Netanyahu’s government as being the “most extreme” he’s seen, and pointed to members of the Israeli Prime Minister’s coalition as being “part of the problem.”

His comments immediately drew attention to Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, along with Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, and illegal West Bank settlers in general.

But Israeli settler extremism is not isolated to the West Bank, nor to Israel’s current far-right government’s ministers like Ben Gvir and Smotrich. Israeli settlers occupy the highest positions in the military and government, while extremists are operating special militias inside the Israeli army – with its approval – and additionally receiving funds from US charitable organizations.

Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians have been steadily on the rise over the past years, with an average of three violent incidents occurring per day in 2023, compared to two in 2022 and one in 2021, according to the United Nations.

One of the worst recorded attacks this year came on February 26, when a settler militia force, at least 400 strong, descended upon several villages surrounding the Palestinian city of Nablus, including the town of Huwara. 

The settler attack, even described as a pogrom by top Israeli general Yehuda Fuchs, resulted in the murder of a Palestinian man, in addition to the burning down of at least 30 homes and 100 cars. 

In support of the settler assault, Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich openly proclaimed that he thought “the village of Huwara needs to be wiped out. I think the State of Israel should do it.”

In mid-June, another 400 armed Israeli settlers attacked Turmusaya and surrounding villages, torching 30 homes and around 60 cars, additionally resulting in over 100 injuries and the murder of another Palestinian man; while he was attempting to save children. 

The two most notorious far-right members of Israel’s current coalition government are ministers Smotrich and Ben Gvir, both of whom live in illegal settlements and were longtime activists as part of the settler movement. 

Ben Gvir, who has faced a laundry list of criminal charges ranging from terror group affiliations to incitement of racism, resides in the extremist settlement of al-Khalil (Hebron). Smotrich currently resides in Kedumim, a settlement located just a short drive from Yitzhar – the other infamous settler community. 

Their unified list, running under the name Religious Zionism, secured the third-highest number of votes from the Israeli public and now holds the position of the second-largest party in the current coalition government.

Not ‘a few bad apples’

Dror Sadot, spokesperson for B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, emphasizes that we cannot downplay the broader support and backing that enables such actions. She tells The Cradle that: “Even if it wasn’t this current Ben Gvir-Smotrich government, it would still be Apartheid.”

“When the Huwara pogrom happened, we should’ve paid attention to what sort of backup the settlers got from those politicians. What they are saying reveals the truth, it reveals the mechanisms in place that were always there under previous governments.”

Sadot continues: “We shouldn’t talk about settler violence as if it is a few bad apples, or extremists, or anything like this, because, at the end of the day, Israel is backing everything.” 

While attention has been drawn to figures like Ben Gvir and Smotrich, the truth is that radical right-wing settlers occupy significant positions within the Israeli government and military.

The recent decision to launch an invasion of Jenin, for example, was heavily influenced by pressure from settler communities. Yossi Dagan, head of the regional settlement council in the Northern West Bank, played a prominent role in encouraging the violent attack on Jenin, which experts at the UN have labeled a war crime.

Yet, Dagan’s ambitions did not stop there. He called on the government to “order the IDF to immediately launch a larger, broader, more thorough and in-depth operation.”

Radicals in the corridors of power 

Israeli Member of Knesset for the ruling Likud Party, Avichai Boaron, has also made alarming statements. Following the military operation in Jenin, Boaron suggested that “we must expand the military operation to include Nablus and Ramallah as well.”

Notably, Boaron himself is a settler activist who has come under fire for using euphemisms to refer to Palestinians while proposing extermination camps as a solution. 

In 2018, Netanyahu posted on social media to celebrate Avichai Boaron’s success with the Amihai settlement, which was built in 2017 as an alternative to the evacuated settler outpost of Amona – illegally developed on Palestinian land – that had turned into a “crisis” for the Israeli public. 

The Amihai settlement was added to the illegal settlement of Shiloh, accompanied by the settler outposts of Adei Ad, Geulat Zion, and others, which happen to surround Turmusaya, along with other Palestinian villages which have recently been targets of large-scale settler-militia attacks.

Boaron’s recently secured a position in the Likud Party to replace David Amsalem, who Netanyahu promoted to be the Israeli Regional Cooperation Minister. Amsalem is also a West Bank settler, from the illegal colony of Ma’alei Adumim, and is currently in charge of  “advancing partnerships with states in the region (the Mediterranean basin) and the Palestinian Authority.”

Moreover, the leadership of the Israeli military itself is not immune to this influence. Herzi Halevi, the current Chief of Staff, is a resident of the illegal colony of Kfar Ha-Oranim in the West Bank. His appointment to this key role was approved last year under the government of Yair Lapid, with no major objections.

Avi Moaz, the deputy minister and head of the national Jewish identity department in the Prime Minister’s Office, resides in an illegal settlement stronghold located in the Silwan area of occupied East Jerusalem. His position holds significant weight, and he is a leading figure in the Noam Party.

Speaking to The Cradle, the Executive Director of Bisan Center for Research and Development, Ubai al-Aboudi, says that “the settlers are a militia, these are not civilian groups, most of them are ideologues, they see themselves as tasked with replacing Palestinian villagers, their houses, and they call for this openly.”

The two strongholds of the settler terror groups are situated around the Palestinian cities of Al-Khalil and Nablus. Od Yosef Hai Yeshiva, in Yitzhar settlement, is the indoctrination center for many of the most extreme settler terrorists, where they are taught ideas, such as, that Arabs are a “cancer” and that killing non-Jewish babies is permissible

The army colludes with settlers

According to the conclusions of a 2022 report published by B’Tselem on settler violence, the attacks “are not perpetrated by “bands of outlaws” or “bad seeds,” nor are they simply “violent outbursts” or “unusual incidents,” but rather they are a “strategy employed by the Israeli apartheid regime.”

A 2021 investigation conducted jointly between The Intercept and Local Call found that at least four of the 11 Palestinians who were killed in the West Bank on 14 May of that year, were due to deliberate joint attacks carried out by Israeli settlers and soldiers. 

In the May 2021 joint settler-soldier attack on Palestinians in the village of Urif, the Israeli military confirmed in a statement that one of the masked settlers caught on film firing at Palestinians, alongside soldiers, was, in fact, from the settlement of Yitzhar and himself an active Israeli soldier. 

Zvi Sukot, who was a spokesperson for the settlement of Yitzhar and part of the ‘Hilltop Youth,’ applauded the Israeli army for the joint attacks on Palestinians at the time. Sukot, who is now a member of the Israeli Knesset as part of the current government, made his name campaigning for the release of a group of settlers who burned a Palestinian baby to death in 2015.

Israeli settlers were caught on a leaked video dancing at a wedding, celebrating the murder of the 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh, and stabbing at pictures of the Palestinian family they had killed alongside him. Present also at the wedding was the legal representative for the terrorist settlers, Itamar Ben Gvir.

As recently as June 24, Israeli settlers were documented to have used Israeli army-issued assault rifles – Colt M4’s manufactured in the US – to shoot at Palestinians in the village of Umm Safa. 

The settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created ‘Desert Frontier’ army unit, where they represent a majority of the Unit and are carrying out severe abuses across the West Bank. 

B’Tselem spokeswoman, Dror Sadot, says that her organization has “documented hundreds of cases of settler violence, during many of which the soldiers were there, and in the “best cases” you will see they won’t do anything, but in the worst cases they will join the settlers against the Palestinians.”

In a frightening development, Israeli Security Minister Ben Gvir has been granted permission to build Israel’s new “national guard,” which is shaping up to be a publicly funded ultra-nationalist militia force to serve the extremist goals of the Israeli settler movement. One of the Israeli colonel’s that is helping Ben Gvir form the national guard is Efraim Laor, who made the following comment during a lecture in 2019:

“An enemy needs to be killed, you don’t shoot at [terror] cells, you shoot between the eyes – whoever can’t do that, 15 cm lower. Including those who are there and are not attacking. But you see an enemy – you do not find out whether he is involved or not — he’s involved — he needs to be eliminated.”

US charities fueling illegal settlements

The Hilltop Youth settler group, often portrayed as “bands of outlaws,” have direct links to the Israeli government and even charitable donations from the US. In 2008, the Hilltop Youth ushered in a new era of what was called “Price-Tag” violence, where settlers would attack Palestinian civilians, along with their mosques, schools, crops, and homes. 

One such figure within this context is Itay Zar, known as the first Hilltop Youth, who established the settler outpost of Havat Gilad in 2002. It is important to note that settlement outposts, including settler “farms,” are considered illegal under Israeli law.

However, many are eventually recognized by Israeli authorities, as was the case with Havat Gilad in 2018. The proximity of Havat Gilad to the Yitzhar settlement, which houses a notoriously radical Yeshiva (Jewish religious school), illustrates how extremist belief systems are transmitted within these religious educational institutions.

One US-based charity named the Central Fund of Israel (CFI) was found to have funded an extremist Yeshiva, along with the Honenu group that provides legal funds and financial support for settler terrorists. CFI still operates as a charity in the US, despite having funneled tens of millions of dollars to far-right extremist groups in occupied territory.

Worryingly, the settler extremists, despite not having known structured armed organizations, were revealed in May to have been integrated into a special Israeli military unit. The extremist settlers belonging to the Hilltop Youth have allegedly been inducted into the newly created Desert Frontier army unit, where they represent a majority of the unit and are carrying out severe crimes across the West Bank. 

A concerning web of US-based and registered charities exists, providing direct financial support to organizations guiding the settlement movement, according to Ubai al-Aboudi. This ongoing financial backing allows these organizations to receive funds, perpetuating the expansion of Israeli settlements.

The Israel Land Fund (ILF), for instance, supports the acquisition of real estate for Israeli settlers, providing legal assistance for them, and advertises properties in the occupied territories. The ILF’s fiscal sponsor is the aforementioned CFI, which is a registered charity in New York, it is also the fiscal sponsor for Regavim, which works to expand Israeli control over Palestinian land through applying pressure on the relevant Israeli authorities.

The Hebron Fund, directly registered in New York, plays a role in funding the illegal settlement project in al-Khalil (Hebron). The fiscal sponsor for the Ir David Foundation, which utilizes archaeological claims to displace Palestinians from East Jerusalem, is called the Friends of Ir David and is also registered in New York.

Similarly, Ateret Cohanim, working to establish a Jewish demographic majority in occupied East Jerusalem by replacing Palestinian families with Israeli settlers, has its fiscal sponsor named the Friends of Ateret Cohanim, registered in New York as well.

Two sides of the same coin 

Israeli settlers have recently attacked the properties of Palestinians who are US citizens, which according to the US’s stringent property laws, should force them to intervene and protect their own nationals. According to US law, since 1854 it has been seen as an obligation for sitting President’s to intervene in order to protect the lives and properties of citizens threatened by foreign powers.

Even in the cases of murdered US citizens, there is no protection or significant pressure applied on the Israeli government. In the cases of Shireen Abu Akleh, Omar Asad, Ourwa Hamad, and Mahmoud Shalan, all US citizens, no one was charged for their murders by the Israeli authorities. 

The Biden administration’s allowance of such financing, coupled with its failure to safeguard its own citizens, creates a contradiction as it condemns the settlement movement while inadvertently encouraging it. 

Meanwhile, his government continues to allow US dollars to finance Israeli settler extremism, and the settlement movement, does nothing to protect its own citizens from Israeli criminality. 

Never mind the White House’s public criticism of Israeli extremism. In reality, there are few punitive measures Washington is prepared to take against Israel’s ferocious aggressions. This, despite the mounting evidence that there is no separation between the Israeli government and the settler movement today.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of The Cradle.

Israeli diplomats prevented from attending MBS event in Paris

June 23 2023

Source: Israeli media + Agencies

French President Emmanuel Macron greets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (AFP)

By Al Mayadeen English

Israeli media suggest that the Saudi decision could be a response to the Israeli occupation escalation in the occupied West Bank this week.

Israeli media reported on Friday a “diplomatic embarrassment” in the French capital, Paris, after Saudi Arabia prevented two Israeli diplomats from entering an event attended by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS).

According to the Israeli news website Walla!, two Israeli occupation Foreign Ministry officials who were invited to the welcome event held by MBS as part of the presentation of Saudi Arabia’s candidacy to host the Expo 2030 conference discovered that their names had been removed from the list of invitees at the last minute and were not allowed to enter it, as per senior officials at the Israeli Foreign Ministry.

The Israeli website suggested that the Saudi decision to prevent the Israeli diplomats’ entry, even though they were officially invited a few days earlier, could be a response by Riyadh to the Israeli occupation government’s policy on the Palestinian issue and the escalation in the occupied West Bank this week.

On Thursday, Saudi Arabia expressed its total rejection and denunciation of the attacks of the illegal Israeli settlers against the villages of the occupied West Bank.

It also added that the incident, even if it is only symbolic, indicates that the Saudis are still very sensitive to any gesture of normalization with the Israeli occupation.

A few days ago, Israeli media said the Saudi-Iran rapprochement inflicted harm on “Israel” and its interests in the region and distanced the kingdom from normalizing ties with the Israeli occupation.

Iran and Saudi Arabia signed on March 10 a Chinese-brokered agreement to restore diplomatic ties after several years of rift.

Tehran reopened its embassy in Riyadh in early June, some three months after the two sides agreed to reestablish bilateral relations.

Read more: US doubts Israeli-Saudi normalization agreement possible: NYT

Macron receives MBS

This comes as French President Emmanuel Macron received on Friday MBS at the Elysee Palace on the sidelines of a two-day climate summit and the two sides exchanged views on international and regional developments.

Macron and MBS confirmed their joint adherence to security and stability in the Middle and Near East and expressed their intention to continue their joint efforts for a permanent de-escalation of tensions.

Paris also expressed its willingness to keep pace with Riyadh in strengthening its defense capabilities, and Macron reminded of the intention of French companies to continue to keep pace with Saudi Arabia in implementing its 2030 Vision.

At the end of the summit attended by some 40 leaders, Macron hailed a “complete consensus” to reform global financial institutions and make them “more efficient, fairer and better suited to the world of today.”

“We must start working now,” Macron said, announcing that Paris will host a follow-up meeting two years later on this “consensus” for better financial weapons to combat poverty and global warming.

The summit indicated that the nearly 80-year-old financial system is no longer suitable for facing 21st-century challenges.

In a speech, leftist Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva slammed international institutions, saying, “With this mechanism, the rich are always rich and the poor are always poor.”

Read more: West’s climate proxy war: energy colonial diktats on poor nations

Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (Weekly Update 15-21 June 2023)

22.06. 2023

Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Weekly Update 15-21 June 2023)

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

15 Palestinians, including 7 civilians, amongst them a girl, were killed, and 116 others, including 18 children and a journalist, were injured, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s attacks in the West Bank, where IOF warplanes launched airstrikes for the first time in 20 years.  Details are as follows:

On 15 June 2023, Khalil Yehia (20), a member of the Palestinian armed groups, was killed and another Palestinian was injured in clashes with IOF that accompanied their incursion into Nablus and demolition of a house belonging to Palestinian prisoner Osama ‘Alaa al-Taweel.

On 19 June 2023, 5 Palestinians, including 3 civilians, amongst them a child, were killed, and 91 others were injured, mostly civilians, amongst them 15 children, a journalist, and 23 in serious condition. On 20 June 2023, one of the wounded succumbed to his injury. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.) Also, Sadeel Ghasan Naghnighyia Turkman (15) died 2 days after sustaining a bullet injury in the head. Sadeel’s father said to PCHR’s fieldworker that IOF opened fire at his daughter from 120 meters while she was in the house yard photographing military vehicles’ incursion into the area, wounding her with a live bullet in her head. Sadeeel was evacuated in serious condition to Jenin Governmental Hospital, where she stayed until her death was announced in the morning of 21 June 2023.

On the same day, Zakariyia Zaghloul (20) was shot dead by IOF during clashes that broke out in Bethlehem. (Details available in PCHR’s press release.)

On 20 June 2023, in a crime of extrajudicial execution, IOF shot dead Khaled Mostafa Sabbah (24), from Nablus, at point-blank after intercepting a taxi carrying him on Tubas-Jenin main street. Also, the taxi driver sustained injuries. Later, IOF announced that Sabbah was the second perpetrator of the shooting attack in “Eli” settlement, southeast of Nablus, that took place few hours earlier, killing 4 Israeli settlers and injuring others. It is worth noting that the first perpetrator was identified as Mohannad Faleh Shehadeh (25), from Nablus, and killed in the attack.

On 21 June 2023, Omar Hashem Jabara (25) was killed, and 11 other Palestinians were injured when IOF opened fire while protecting dozens of Israeli settlers who conducted widescale attacks and retaliatory acts in Turmus ‘Ayya village in Ramallah. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).

On 21 June 2023, in a new crime of extrajudicial execution, IOF killed 3 members of Palestinian armed groups, including a child, after IOF warplanes targeted a white Tucson SUV carrying them near al-Jalamah Crossing, north of Jenin. PCHR’s fieldworker said that IOF prevented Palestinian ambulance crews from approaching the targeted vehicle and allowed the civil defense crew to put out the fire that broke out in the vehicle. They then pulled out three charred bodies from the vehicle and took them to an unknown destination. Later, the IOF pulled the vehicle to al-Jalamah Crossing. Those killed were identified as: Suhaib ‘Adnan al-Ghoul (28), Mohammed Bashar ‘Owais (27), and Ashraf Murad al-Sa’di (17). This was the first time IOF used their warplanes to carry out assassinations in the West Bank in 18 years. IOF Spokesperson claimed, “there is a precise surgery happening now to eradicate a terrorist threat.”

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.

On 16 June 2023, 3 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with rubber-coated bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest in Qalqilya.

On the same day, 2 Palestinians, including a journalist, were injured with live bullets fired by IOF in clashes in Beit Ummar village in Hebron.

On 17 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his hand by IOF during their incursion into Silat al-Harithiya village, west of Jenin. Also, several bullets fired by IOF hit an electricity transformer and cut the electricity in the camp.

On the same day, a child sustained live bullet shrapnel injuries in his thigh by IOF in clashes near a military checkpoint established by IOF at the entrance to al-‘Arroub refugee camp in Hebron.

On 19 June 2023, a child was injured with 2 rubber-coated bullets in his neck and chest during clashes with IOF that accompanied their incursion into eastern Beit Furik village in Nablus.

On 20 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his right foot in clashes with IOF that followed their incursion into Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas. In the evening, 3 Palestinians were injured with live bullets when IOF opened fire at them to protect the Israeli settlers who conducted attacks in Al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya village in Nablus. Also, a Palestinian was shot with a live bullet in his foot during clashes with IOF at Husan village’s entrance in Bethlehem.

In the Gaza Strip, at least 4 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in the eastern Gaza Strip and one on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores, where Israeli gunboats pumped water at a Palestinian fishing boat, damaging its engine and ripping the fishing nets.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 173 Palestinians, including 87 civilians; amongst them 27 children, 6 women, a person with disability, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 3 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 818 Palestinians, including 127 children, 26 women and 15 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement

IOF demolished 10 housing units and destroyed 3 facilities and other property in the oPt, displacing 46 persons, including 23 children and 10 women. Details are as follows:

On 15 June 2023, IOF dismantled 4 barracks and uprooted 4 residential tents in northern Jordan Valleys, east of Tubas, under the pretext of illegal construction in Area (C). As a result, 4 families of 16, including 4 women and 5 children, were displaced.

On the same day, IOF demolished Maher Zarina’s 150-sqm house in Beit Jala village, west of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction. The house sheltered 2 women.

IOF handed a cease-construction notice to 2 houses in western Shuyukh al-‘Arrub village in Hebron, under the pretext of illegal construction in Area (C). Also, IOF handed 7 eviction notices to 19 dunums in the same village, under the pretext of being state lands. It should be mentioned noting that these dunums house, a water well, a house, stone chains, and various crops.

On 18 June 2023, the Israeli government approved a decision allowing the Israeli Minister of Finance, one of the “Regavim” settlement organization founders and head of the Religious Zionist Party, to issue preliminary approval for planning and building in the Israeli settlements in addition to shortening settlements expansion procedures. The Israeli “Kan” radio station said that upon this decision, construction plans in the settlements will be approved without needing the approval of Israel’s top political echelons, contrary to the status quo for the last 25 years.

On 19 June 2023, IOF demolished 3 animal facilities built of tinplate in Qalandia in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of building in Area C.

On the same day, IOF handed 10 cease-construction notices to a house, buildings, rooms, and a street in eastern Yatta in Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

On 20 June 2023, the Israeli municipality demolished a 2-storey residential building in Silwan village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering 2 families of 15, including 2 women and 11 children, homeless. The building belonged to two brothers, namely Wafi and Bahjat al-Taweel.

On the same day, IOF forced Nasri al-Rajbi to implement the Israeli municipal order and self-demolish his 90-sqm house in Beit Hanina village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering his family of 7, including 5 children, homeless. 

On 21 June 2023, IOF demolished a 120-sqm apartment built of fortified tin and belonging to Ziyad Abu Sbitan in al-Tur neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

IOF also demolished a retaining fence surrounding a plot of land in Sho’afat refugee camp, occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 104 families homeless, a total of 651 persons, including 138 women and 298 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 110 houses and housing units; 26 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 12 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 89 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Demolitions on grounds of collective punishment

On 15 June 2023, IOF destroyed a residential unit belonging to the family of the Palestinian detainee Osama ‘Alaa Al-Taweel in Nablus, as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those accused of carrying out attacks against IOF and/or settlers. PCHR’s fieldworker reported that IOF moved into Nablus, broke into a 5-storery house belonging to Al-Taweel family, and forced out its residents that included 8 families of 37, amongst them 10 women and 14 children, in addition to 10 other families from nearby houses amid firing of tear gas canisters and stun grenades to entice fear among them and prevent them from approaching the area. During the raid, IOF implanted explosives on the 4th floor of the house and remotely detonated it, destroying the 165-sqm floor that housed a family of 6, including two children. It is noteworthy that IOF arrested Osama Al-Taweel on 13 February 2023 after he was shot with three live bullets in the abdomen and thighs and accused of carrying out an attack that killed an Israeli soldier on 11 October 2022.

On 21 June 2023, IOF raided the family houses of Mohannad Shehadeh and Khaleh Sabah, who were killed after carrying out a shooting attack that killed 4 settlers the day before in the village of ‘Orif in Nablus. IOF took measurements of the two houses in preparation for demolition, as part of IOF’s collective punishment policy against Palestinian families of those carrying out attacks against IOF and settlers. Before IOF’s withdrawal, the latter arrested 6 Palestinians, including 2 children.

Since the beginning of the year, IOF destroyed 12 houses on grounds of collective punishment.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

On 16 June 2023, settlers from the Ma’on settlement established on the lands of Hebron attacked shepherds in eastern Yatta, denied them access to the pastures in their lands that are under the Israeli settlers’ control after the establishment of the pastoral settlement outpost “Mtsad Yehuda”.

On 17 June 2023, settlers from Tafouh settlement, established on the lands of Yasuf village, east of Salfit, stole 10 sheep from a barn in the village and killed a watchdog.

On 20 June 2023, settlers carried out widescale attacks and retaliatory acts across the West Bank, following a shooting attack that killed 4 settlers in Eli settlement between Nablus and Ramallah. Details are as follows:

Four Palestinians, including one with his wife and daughter, were injured after settlers threw stones at the Palestinian vehicles near the entrance to Yasuf town, east of Salfit, carrying out riots on the roads and breaking windows of a vehicle.

A child sustained injuries after a settler who was riding a bike near the entrance to Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village in Nablus. Later, settlers marched towards the village, and reached As-Sawiya High School, chanting “Death to Arabs”. They threw stones at the school and houses, set fire to two car workshops, attacked commercial facilities with stones, and burned 5 vehicles completely.

On 21 June 2023, at dawn, settlers attacked a Palestinian house in the town of Kafr Al-Dik, west of Salfit, by smashing its windows, setting a tractor ablaze, and stealing an electric bike.

In the evening, dozens of settlers, protected by IOF, carried out widescale attacks and retaliatory acts in the town of Turmusaya in Ramallah, and burned dozens of homes and vehicles. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 252 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:

IOF carried out 198 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 69 Palestinians were arrested, including 14 children and a woman.

So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,803 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,696 Palestinians were arrested, including 26 women and 318 children.  Also, IOF arrested 39 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 17 fishermen, 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 17 incursions.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 106 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

On 20 June 2023, IOF closed Marah Rabah village’s entrance, south of Bethlehem, to vehicles’ movement in and out.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,862 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 131 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Resistance causes significant damage to raiding Israeli units in Jenin

June 19, 2-23

Source: Agencies

IOF vehicle targeted with locally-made IED gets damaged in Jenin, West Bank, Palestine, on June 19, 2023. (Twitter)

By Al Mayadeen English

After spotting IOF raiding special party, Jenin Brigade lured it into an ambush, and clashes erupted with Israeli reinforcements sent afterward.

The Israeli occupation forces raided Jenin early this morning resulting in violent confrontations with Resistance groups protecting the city from the aggression conducted regularly by the IOF.

According to Palestinian media, at least 13 Palestinian residents of the city have been wounded by live IOF fire as a result of the raid and have been transferred to the Jenin hospital.

The Jenin Brigade announced targeting the IOF with locally-made explosive devices causing significant damage to IOF raiding vehicles with a likelihood that they have also resulted in injuries amongst the raiding occupation forces as bullets continued to rain upon them following the explosions. 

The Jenin Brigade announced that its members had successfully lured an IOF unit into an ambush “the likes of which it had not witnessed before,” adding that the Resistance reported “casualties”  amongst IOF ranks.

Video evidence showed Israeli raiding party vehicles being targeted by explosive devices.

Reports from inside Jenin underscored that the Red Star of David has been sighted in the vicinity of the fire exchange zone where multiple IOF vehicles were targeted with locally-made IEDs.

Moreover, Al-Quds Brigades -Jenin Brigades announced in a military statement that Resistance fighters “continue to target the IOF storming the Al-Jabriyat and the Al-Hadaf neighborhood with intensive fire and improvised explosive devices that are resulting in injuries.”

Al Mayadeen correspondent reported The number of injuries in Jenin camp so far has reached 14, 3 of which are in critical condition.

Our correspondent added that confrontations are still ongoing till this moment.

Walla! Israeli news Website revealed that 5 Israeli soldiers were injured after they fell to an ambush in the West Bank’s city of Jenin.

IOF military complicit with settlers to aggravate Huwara attack: CNN

A month-long investigation by CNN into the Israeli settlers’ attack on Huwara reveals that the Israeli occupation forces not only failed to prevent the acts of terror on the Palestinian town but were also involved in prolonging and aiding the aggression on Palestinians.

The attacks, which took place on the night of February 26, led to the martyrdom of one Palestinian and the injury of more than a hundred. In addition, the illegal Israeli settlers were intent on burning down the properties of Palestinians in the area including their houses, stores, and cars. 

The occupation’s military commander in the West Bank called it a “pogrom” and admitted that the military had not adequately prepared for such attacks.

CNN based its investigation on videos, testimonies, and interviews which revealed that the IOF troops did nothing to prevent the attacks and even responded to the retaliation by Palestinians with tear gas and stun grenades.

The report also highlighted the role of right-wing extremist groups, settler organizations, and several Israeli politicians in instigating and promoting the violence against Huwara.

Read more: ‘Israel’ says to start talks with Egypt, PA to develop Marine field

Special Coverage | Israeli attacks on Jenin camp | 2023-06-19

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Acts of Resistance Rise in Face of Israeli Raids in Occupied West Bank

 June 10, 2023

The Palestinian resistance fighters and youths clashed with the Israeli occupation forces in the various towns and cities of the West Bank, confronting the raids of the enemy troops and settlers.

In Tarmsaea, northeastern Ramallah, the locals confronted the settlers attacks on the village as local sources reported that the settlers smashed olive trees and burnt crops.

The Zionist occupation forces stormed Bayta village, south of Nablus, heavily firing gas bombs at the Palestinian youths and obliging the shops owners to provide their surveillance cameras recordings.

The Israeli occupation forces had raided Beit Furik town and clashed with locals in Taqoa village in southeastern Bethlehem.

The occupation forces assaulted Al-Ghoul family members and raided their houses in Ras Al-Amoud town, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Al-Quds.

The Palestinian resistance has escalated its confrontations with the Zionist enemy in occupied West Bank, injuring nine settlers during last week.

Source: Al-Manar English Website

Hasbara Industry: Deconstructing Israel’s Propaganda Machine

June 8, 2023

Israeli soldiers arresting and beating a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: ActiveStills.org)

By Dr. M. Reza Behnam

Tel Aviv is, however, finding it increasingly difficult to whitewash its entrenched apartheid system and ongoing genocide, especially in light of the openly racist policies and practices of the current right-wing regime cobbled together by its legally-plagued prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Most mornings as I prepare for my run, I tune in to BBC News.  Of late, the newscaster has presented, in sober British fashion, the number of Palestinians killed the night before by the Israeli army in its near-nightly raids on homes and refugee camps in the occupied Palestinian Territories.  When I canvass American news sites to learn more, there is no mention of these atrocities.  The airwaves are replete, however, with news of the Russia-Ukraine war and the death of civilians.

What many Americans won’t hear from these “news” sources is that in 2022, the Israeli army killed more than 170 Palestinian civilians, including 30 children, in the West Bank and East Jerusalem; and that since the start of 2023, Israel’s occupation army has already killed 158 Palestinians, including 26 children.

They won’t hear that Israel controls the lives and resources (access to safe clean water) of approximately 7 million Palestinians, and that Palestinian cities, towns, homes, orchards and businesses have been systematically destroyed and repopulated with upwards of 750,000 illegal Jewish squatters (“settlers”).

They won’t hear of the 56 years of Israeli occupation, dispossession, house demolitions, curfews, checkpoints, walls, blockades, permits, night raids, targeted killings, military courts, administrative detention, thousands of political prisoners, tortured Palestinian children, and 56 years of oppression and humiliation.

The ‘Exceptional’ Treatment

What explains the “exceptional” deferential treatment Israel receives, while other human rights violators are condemned or sanctioned by the United States and its allies?

Much of the explanation has to do with Israel’s powerfully effective state-run public relations industry reliant on myths and duplicity.  Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has successfully created a new illogic of its own; an illogic that has made the illegal seem legal, the immoral appear moral and the undemocratic sound democratic.  It has masterfully marketed a number of myths that have become a part of the political and mainstream media narrative.

From the outset, Israel’s Zionist founders cloaked their true goal of creating a “Greater Israel” —a Jewish state not just in Palestine, but in Jordan, southern Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights—in heroic terms.

Fabricated history and tropes about the “good” Israelis developing an unpopulated land, creating agrarian miracles in the desert and reclaiming an historic promised land have become deeply embedded.

In reality, Zionists, like Israel’s first prime minister, polish-born David Ben-Gurion, saw the 1948 United Nations General Assembly partition plan for Palestine as the first step toward future expansion.

Israel’s Colonization Plans

Benny Morris in his book, Righteous Victims, writes that Ben-Gurion in a letter to his son in 1937, framed the Zionist plan for colonizing Palestine:  “No Zionist can forego the smallest portion of the Land of Israel.  [A] Jewish state in part [of Palestine] is not an end, but a beginning….through this we increase our power, and every increase in power facilitates getting hold of the country in its entirety.  Establishing a [small] state….will serve as a very potent lever in our historical effort to redeem the whole country.”

That Israel would have to forcibly transfer and remove the indigenous Palestinian population to realize its colonization plans were erased from the Israeli narrative.

As a consequence of its effective disinformation campaign, many Americans have come to believe that Israel is a democratic, progressive and humane state; a small but brave nation defending itself against “foreign” violence and terrorism.

To realize its “Greater Israel” annexation mission, Israel created another fiction to legitimize its war of choice in 1967.   Although the Six-Day War, which began on June 5, 1967, has proved to be a crucial turning point in the modern history of the Middle East, the Israeli myth of vulnerability and “nation under siege” inventions remain largely unchallenged.

Zionist Mythmakers

Fifty-six years ago, the Israeli air force attacked air bases in Egypt, Syria and Jordan, destroying over 80 percent of their warplanes on the ground.  Israeli troops swiftly occupied Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank of Jordan and the Syrian Golan Heights.  According to Israeli government minutes, its attack was not defensive, but a planned preemptive strike.

The Israelis were fully aware of the need to initiate a disinformation campaign alongside their planned first-strike military operations to allay adverse reactions from Washington and other Western powers.

The Israeli myth that the Jewish state was fighting for its physical survival against a more powerful Arab enemy has had a powerful hold on America’s political leaders and the public.  In fact, Arab leaders had no plans to invade Israel and Israel’s leaders knew the war was easily winnable.  The annihilation fallacy has become unassailable dogma in Washington—the “right to defend itself” mantra— has allowed Tel Aviv to continue its illegal annexation of captured Palestinian land.

Zionist mythmakers got busy again in the 1980s.  To counter the criticism it received following its indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon and massacre of Palestinians in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut in 1982, Israel birthed the Hasbara (“explaining” in Hebrew) Project in 1983.

In that year, the American Jewish Congress sponsored a conference in Jerusalem of top executives, journalists and academics from Israel and the United States, to devise a strategy to resell Israel, cement U.S. economic and military support and make it extremely difficult to critique Israel’s actions.

Hasbara established permanent structures in the United States and Israel to influence how the world, especially Americans, would think about Israel and the Middle East in the future. The talking points they developed are recognizable in current rhetoric; among them:  Israel’s strategic importance to the United States; its physical vulnerability; its shared cultural values with the West; and its desire for peace.  Israel now labels its continuing hasbara propaganda “public diplomacy.”

News organizations, journalists, academics, politicians and entertainers have come to expect pressure if they go outside the level of acceptable discourse established by Israel and its supporters.  Alternative narratives that expose Israel’s abuses are dismissed as anti-Israel or given the feared label of anti-Semitic.  Israeli propagandists have made certain to fuse criticism of the regime—anti-Zionism—to anti-Semitism. The anti-Semitic accusation has proven to be a powerful rhetorical device to shield Israel from fault.  It has destroyed careers and reputations.

Challenging Israeli Myths

The late-Helen Thomas, noted journalist; Norman Finkelstein, prominent Jewish intellectual, political scientist and author; and Fatima Mohammed, 2023 graduate of CUNY law school are among those who have been willing to brave the onslaught of criticism they would inevitably face for “daring” to challenge Israeli myths.

Helen Thomas, national icon and senior White House correspondent for UPI, was forced to end her 57-year career in 2010 because she persisted in publicly questioning U.S. support for Israel.  Thomas later remarked, “You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive.”

In 2007, DePaul University denied tenure to Norman Finkelstein because of his criticism of Israel.  In his books, Finkelstein claimed that anti-Semitism has been used to stifle critics of Israeli policies toward Palestinians, and that the Holocaust is exploited by some Jewish institutions for their own gain and to cover Israel’s illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.  Because his name had been sullied, Finkelstein was never able to teach again.

Fatima Mohammed, in her recent commencement address to fellow graduates, condemned Israel for perpetuating the Nakba (catastrophe); stating that “our silence is no longer acceptable….Palestine can no longer be the exception to our pursuit of justice.”  Predictably, Mohammed faced immediate public condemnation from U.S. politicians and pro-Israel groups, who have accused her of anti-Semitism, and have called for the university to be defunded over her speech.

In December 2008 and January 2009, as before, Israel marshaled its public relations machine.  This time it was to counter the criticism it was receiving for its massive 22-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip, in which 1,398 Palestinians were killed.

The Israel Project

The Israel Project (TIP), a pro-Israel Washington-based group, hired Frank Luntz, a Republican operative and political strategist, to shore up its image.   Luntz conducted an extensive study to determine how to integrate Israel’s narrative into mainstream media.  His findings were reported in a document titled, “The Israel Project’s 2009 Global Language Dictionary.”

Language from Luntz’s primer, with its scripted discourse for Israeli supporters, has seeped into the thinking, vocabulary and comments of American, Israeli and European politicians, academics and mainstream media.

In his 18-Chapter primer, Luntz coaches Israeli supporters on how to tailor answers for different audiences, outlines what Americans want to hear and what words and phrases to use and to be avoided.  It provides guidance on how to challenge statements from and to feign compassion for Palestinians.  Luntz advises to always emphasize Israel’s desire for peace, although he initially states that it does not really want a peaceful solution.

Supporters are enjoined to give the false impression that the so-called “cycle of violence” has been going on for thousands of years, that both sides are equally at fault and that Palestine-Israel catastrophe is beyond their understanding.  He urges advocates to stress Israel’s need for security, emphasizing that Americans will respond favorably if Israeli civilians are portrayed as the innocent victims of Palestinian “terrorism.”

Luntz states that when Americans are told that Iran supports Hezbollah and Hamas, they will be inclined to be more supportive of Israel.  Therefore, when talking about them to repeatedly say “Iran-backed” Hamas and Hezbollah.

On the rare occasions the mainstream media reports on Israel’s abuses, it conforms to the official lexicon outlined in Luntz’s dictionary.  Israel’s army of occupation, for example, is referred to as “defense” or “security” forces, Zionist colonizers, (squatters), are termed “settlers,” Zionist colonies are called “settlements” or “neighborhoods,” Palestinians “attack,” while Israelis merely “retaliate.”

Normalizing the Abnormal

Among the more glaring fabrications is the characterization of the Israel-Palestine quagmire as a “conflict” between two peoples with equal political and military resources and equal claims; when it is, in reality, a conflict between the colonizer, Israel, and the colonized, Palestinians.

For 75 years, Israeli propaganda has allowed it to be the exception—to flout international norms and laws with impunity.  Because of the myths, Israel has been extremely influential in determining U.S. policy in the Middle East. The country’s unremitting and methodical disinformation campaigns from 1948 to the present have allowed Israel to plant the Zionist flag on Palestinian land and in the hearts and minds of Americans.

Tel Aviv is, however, finding it increasingly difficult to whitewash its entrenched apartheid system and ongoing genocide, especially in light of the openly racist policies and practices of the current right-wing regime cobbled together by its legally-plagued prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.  Israel’s hasbara industry, however, remains undaunted.  TIP folded in 2019 after its funding dried up, but the Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI) continues to carry on Israel’s hasbara mission.

Israel knows that the narratives it tells itself and the world are apocryphal and the Jewish state, in its present form, is unlawful and unjust.  Hence, in an attempt to make the apocryphal real and the fraudulent legal, Israel continues its ongoing ideological war to normalize the abnormal in Palestine.

– Dr. M. Reza Behnam is a political scientist specializing in the history, politics and governments of the Middle East. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

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Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (Weekly Update 01-07 June 2023)

 June 8, 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity:

A Palestinian toddler was killed, and 10 other Palestinians, including 2 children and a woman, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:

On 05 June 2023, two-and-a-half-year-old Mohammad Hitham al-Tamimi succumbed to a bullet injury in his head in an IOF shooting in Nabi Saleh village in Ramallah on 01 June 2023.  Also, his father and 3 other Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were wounded. (Details available in PCHR’s press release).

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.

On 01 June 2023, a Palestinian was shot with a bullet in his waist after IOF unjustifiably opened fire at his vehicle while crossing the Shu’fat refugee camp checkpoint in occupied East Jerusalem. The wounded was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, where his health condition was deemed serious.

On 04 June 2023, a Palestinian sustained bruises after being assaulted by IOF in Hebron’s Old City.

On the same day, 2 Palestinians, including a child, were shot with live bullets fired by IOF when the latter were protecting Israeli settlers, who conducted attacks in Burqa village in Nablus. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested a Palestinian.

On 05 June 2023, 3 Palestinians were injured with rubber-coated bullets and a teargas canister fired by IOF while protecting Israeli settlers who conducted attacks in Kafr Thulth village in eastern Qalqilya. Also, Israeli settlers threw stones and wounded a Palestinian in the head as well as burning a vehicle.  

In the Gaza Strip, 4 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip while 9 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the western Gaza shores.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks have killed 156 Palestinians, including 78 civilians, amongst them 25 children and 6 women, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 671 Palestinians, including 105 children, 26 women and 12 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement

IOF demolished 5 houses, including 2 residential buildings comprised of 5 housing units, displacing 6 families of 43, including 13 women and 22 children. Also, IOF demolished 2 facilities and seized around 45 dunums in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 02 June 2023, IOF forced Ibrahim Abu Tair to self-demolish his 90-sqm house in Umm Tuba village in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction, rendering him and his pregnant wife homeless.

On 04 June 2023, IOF forced ‘Odai Surri to self-demolish a ceramic tiles showroom comprised of two buildings: one is 300 sqms and built of aluminum while the other is 100 sqms built of wood and aluminum in Jabal Mukaber village in occupied East Jerusalem under the pretext of unlicensed construction.  

On the same day, IOF seized a 2-dunum plot of land and handed a demolition notice to a residential house in Al-Khader village in Bethlehem.

Also, IOF handed a cease-construction notice to 2 houses and a livestock barrack in eastern ad-Dhahiriya village in Hebron under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

On 05 June 2023, the Israeli occupation authorities announced the seizure of 42 dunums and 651 square meters from Sarta and Bruqin villages in western Salfit under the pretext of “land acquisition for public interest” and expanding the settlement road known as “Street 5” that serves “Beduel” settlement established on Palestinian lands, west of Salfit.

On 06 June 2023, IOF forced 3 Palestinian families to self-demolish 2 residential buildings comprised of 5 housing units in Wadi Qaddoum neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, under the pretext of land acquisition for public interest. As a result, 31 persons, including 9 women and 17 children, were displaced.

On the same day, IOF demolished As’ad Shrieteh’s 120-sqm house in Al-Mazra’a al- Gharbiyia village in Ramallah.

Also, IOF demolished Fatmah Totah’s 120-sqm house in Wadi al-Jouz neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem, displacing 8 persons, including 2 women and 5 children; one of them has a mobility impairment and mental disability.  In the same area, IOF demolished a 50-sqm horse barrack belonging to ‘Arafat Totah under the pretext of unlicensed construction on green land.

Moreover, IOF uprooted 100 olive trees, razed many agricultural roads, and demolished a retaining wall in southern Hizam village in occupied East Jerusalem.

IOF gave demolition notices to 3 houses in eastern Yatta city in Hebron under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

On 07 June 2023, IOF confiscated a 12-sqm steel caravan in Idhna village in Hebron.

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 94 families homeless, a total of 600 persons, including 125 women and 274 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 100 houses; 25 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 10 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 85 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

Settlers carried out at least 5 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, injuring many Palestinians and damaging their property. Also, the settlers stole 19 sheep in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 03 June 2023, settlers opened fire, threw stones and pepper-sprayed at 3 houses in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem while heading to the Tomb of “Rabbi Shimon” in the central neighborhood in occupied East Jerusalem.

On 04 June 2023, Israeli settlers, from “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the lands of Silat ad-Dhahr village in southern Jenin and Burqa and Bizzariya villages in northwestern Nablus, attacked Palestinian houses at the main entrance to Burqa village. Also, the settlers set a Hyundai car ablaze, broke the windows of 2 other cars and smashed the windows of 3 houses.

On 05 June 2023, Israeli settlers, from the pastoral settlement outposts, which are established on the lands of ‘Ein Samiya compound in eastern Ramallah, sneaked into the Palestinian land in the same compound.  They damaged crops and greenhouses, cut branches of trees, and damaged water tanks.

On 07 June 2023, settlers stole 19 sheep from a barn belonging to a Palestinian from Kafr ad-Dik village in western Salfit.

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 219 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them were due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians:

IOF carried out 190 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 99 Palestinians were arrested, including 6 children. On 01 June 2023, IOF conducted a widescale arrest campaign against 23 Palestinians from Tuqu village in Bethlehem. On 06 June 2023, IOF locked the residents of a building housing 3 families of 14 on the ground floor near the annexation wall in Zeita village in Tulkarm, and turned it into a military barrack. One of the building residents said that IOF forced them to leave their apartments and locked all of them on the ground floor, informed them that they will stay in the house for 3 days.

In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out a limited incursion into eastern Khan Yunis on 05 June 2023.

So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,431 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,545 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 291 children.  Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 12 fishermen, 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 16 incursions.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 120 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

As part of their collective punishment policy, IOF continued their cordon on al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, for 24 consecutive days by closing its eastern and western entrances, under the pretext of providing protection for settlers living in the nearby pastoral settlement outposts.

According to PCHR’s fieldworker, on 01 June 2023 in the morning, IOF removed the sand berms from the western entrance and re-opened it after 19 days of its closure while the western eastern remained closed. As the villagers continued to protest the closure of the eastern entrance and their attempts to re-open it, IOF moved into the village on 03 June 2023 and conducted a widescale incursion; during which 15 Palestinians were arrested.  

Ameen Abu ‘Aliyia, Head of Mughayyir Village Council, said that IOF have completely closed the village’s eastern entrance while they close the western entrance daily from 06:30 to 14:00, preventing the villagers from entering and exiting the village and forcing them to take dirt roads to reach their workplaces.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,646 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 126 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

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Israeli Human Rights Violations in Palestine (Weekly Update 25 – 31 May 2023)

 June 1, 2023

Violation of right to life and bodily integrity

2 Palestinians were killed, and 23 others, including 3 children, were wounded, while dozens of others suffocated and sustained bruises in Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)’s attacks in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). Details are as follows:

On 26 May 2023, the Israeli authorities announced the killing of ‘Alaa Khalil Qaysiyah (25) from Hebron, allegedly after Qaysiyah attempted to carry out a stabbing attack inside the “Tineh Amorim” settlement established on the lands of Al-Dhahiriya village.

On 29 May 2023, Ashraf Al-Sheikh Ibrahim (37), an officer in the Palestinian Intelligence Service, was killed, and 5 others were wounded during armed clashes with IOF during the latter’s incursion into Jenin. During which, one of IOF’s military vehicles attacked and pushed an ambulance belonging to Al-Hayat Ambulance Center near Al-Razi Hospital in central Jenin, crashing into two other vehicles and inflicting damage to them. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 6 Palestinians.

Meanwhile, those injured were victims of excessive use of force that accompanied IOF incursions into cities and villages, or suppression of peaceful protests organized by Palestinian civilians.

On 25 May 2023, 14 Palestinians, including two children, were injured during clashes with IOF after the latter’s widescale incursion accompanied by 70 military vehicles and backed by Yamam Special Units, 6 bulldozers and a helicopter in ‘Aqabat Jaber refugee camp, south of Jericho. The incursion included the closure of all main and subsidiary streets with sand berms, and widescale raids of around 40 houses, after blowing up some of their doors and searching their contents. Before their withdrawal, IOF arrested 14 Palestinians.

On 26 May 2023, 2 Palestinians were shot with rubber bullets during IOF’s suppression of Kafr Qaddum weekly peaceful protest against settlements in northern Qalqilya.

On 28 May 2023, 2 Palestinians, including a child, were injured, and another was arrested, during clashes with IOF at the eastern entrance to Al-Mughayyir village, northeast of Ramallah, noting that the entrance was closed before with sand berms.

In the Gaza Strip, 3 IOF shootings were reported on agricultural lands in eastern Gaza Strip, while 2 shootings were reported on fishing boats off the Gaza western Gaza shores.

So far in 2023, IOF attacks killed 155 Palestinians, including 77 civilians; amongst them 24 children and 6 women, and the rest were members of the Palestinian armed groups, including 2 children, 7 killed by settlers, and two died in Israeli prisons. Meanwhile, 661 Palestinians, including 103 children, 25 women and 12 journalists, were injured in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Land razing, demolitions, notices and settlement

IOF demolished 4 houses, parts of another house, and 5 facilities in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Details are as follows:

On 26 May 2023, IOF gave demolition notices to 2 barracks used as livestock barns in Ithna village in Hebron, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

On 27 May 2023, IOF forced ‘AbdulHaleem Al-Shaloudi to demolish the roof of his 20-sqm kitchen in Silwarn, East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

On the same day, IOF forced Zaid Al-Salaymeh to demolish his 60-sqm under-construction apartment in Wadi Qaddum neighborhood in East Jerusalem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

On 29 May 2023, IOF demolished a 150-sqm livestock farm, west of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

On the same day, IOF dismantled a 20-sqm a commercial kiosk/stall in Al-Walaja village, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

Also, IOF forced Isaac Al-Hroub to demolish a 70-sqm well and a 3-sqm bathroom of bricks on his land near the annexation wall, west of Deir Samet village in Hebron.

IOF demolished a 200-sqm under-construction house belonging to Ibrahim ‘Ayesh in Artas village, south of Bethlehem, under the pretext of unlicensed construction.

In addition, IOF demolished a 150-sqm house belonging to Nasser Nassar in the airport land, east of Jericho.

On 31 May 2023, IOF handed 18 cease-construction notices in northwestern Deir Ballut village, west of Salfit, including 12 notices to 13 houses, 5 to agricultural rooms, and one to a commercial facility, under the pretext of unlicensed construction in Area (C).

Since the beginning of 2023, IOF have made 88 families homeless, a total of 557 persons, including 112 women and 252 children. This was the outcome of IOF demolition of 95 houses; 22 were forcibly self-demolished by their owners and 10 were demolished on grounds of collective punishment. IOF also demolished 83 other civilian objects, razed other property, and delivered dozens of notices of demolition and cease-construction in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Settler-attacks and retaliatory acts

Settlers carried out 7 attacks on Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, injuring 11 Palestinians, cutting trees, and burning crops. Details are as follows:

On 26 May 2023, settlers, protected by IOF, threw stones at 5 Palestinians, including a child, and injured them in Sidr area between Turmusaya and A-Mughayer villages in Ramallah. The attack also included burning agricultural crops, 5 civilian vehicles and smashing the windows of 3 vehicles.

On 27 May 2023, settlers, protected by IOF, wounded a Palestinian during their raid into Al-Qaboun and Ras Al-Teen squares, east of Al-Mughayer town in Ramallah. The settlers and IOF raided homes and assaulted citizens through obstructing and searching them.

On the same day, 5 Palestinians, including a man with his wife and daughter, were injured and bruised as settlers assaulted them during the latter’s attack on their land in Bidya, west of Salfit.

On 28 May 2023, settlers cut 18 trees in their attack on Palestinians’ lands in Al-Laban Al-Sharqiya village in Nablus.

On 29 May 2023, settlers brought caravans and heavy equipment, including excavators, bulldozers, and trucks. The settlers placed the caravans in “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the lands of Silat al-Harthiya village, south of Jenin, and Burqa village, north of Nablus. This came upon IOF’s recent decision to return to the settlement, and the settlers announced the establishment of a religious school in the settlement. It is noteworthy that Homesh settlement was evacuated in 2005 as part of IOF’s redeployment plan, during which the Gaza Strip settlements were also completely evacuated along with 4 settlements in Jenin. Recently, the Israeli government has decided to return the settlers to those settlements.

On the same day, settlers set fire to a plot of land planted with wheat and barley in Deir Dabwan village, east of Ramallah, burning 15 dunums.

On 30 May 2023, settlers from “Homesh” settlement, which is established on the village lands of Jenin and Nablus, in the northern West Bank, attacked a house with stones in the Burqa village, north of Nablus, and smashed the rear window of the house owner’s vehicle.

Since the beginning of the year, settlers have conducted at least 214 attacks against Palestinian civilians and their property. As a result, 7 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others were injured; most of them due to being beaten and thrown with stones. Also, dozens of houses, vehicles and civilian facilities were set ablaze.

IOF incursions and arrests of Palestinian civilians

IOF carried out 157 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem. Those incursions included raids and searches of civilian houses and facilities and establishment of checkpoints. During those incursions, 81 Palestinians were arrested, including a child. In the Gaza Strip, IOF carried out two limited incursions into eastern Rafah on 29 May 2023, and eastern Khan Yunis on 31 May 2023.

So far in 2023, IOF have conducted 4,241 incursions into the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, during which 2,446 Palestinians were arrested, including 25 women and 285 children.  Also, IOF arrested 34 Palestinians from the Gaza Strip including 12 fishermen and 19 infiltrators into Israel, and 3 travelers at Erez Crossing. IOF also conducted 12 incursions.

Israeli closure, restrictions on freedom of movement, and collective punishment:

Israeli occupation maintains its illegal and inhuman 16-year closure on the Gaza Strip. Details available in PCHR’s monthly-update in the Gaza crossings.

In the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, IOF continue to impose restrictions on the freedom of movement. On top of its 110 permanent checkpoints, IOF established 97 temporary military checkpoints in the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, and arrested 2 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

So far in 2023, IOF have established 2,526 temporary military checkpoints and arrested 124 Palestinians at those checkpoints.

Israeli Oppression against Palestinians in West Bank, Al-Quds Proceeds

June 5, 2023

Israeli occupation forces during a night raid in the occupied West Bank (September 6, 2022 / photo by The Jerusalem Post).

Israeli occupation’s oppression proceeds in several areas across the West Bank and Al-Quds, with Palestinian people confronting the aggression with all possible means.

Occupation forces arrested a large number of Palestinians during raids across the West Bank and Al-Quds in the early hours of Monday.

At dawn on Monday, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) stormed homes during a brutal raid in Al-Mughayyir village, near Ramallah, where it arrested 15 young men and injured many others, including a teenager.

The Palestinian Detainees’ Committee said IOF used excessive force while searching the homes and ransacking them, causing damage.

9 other Palestinians were arrested in several raids in towns near Jericho and Bethlehem.

Meanwhile, the IOF continued, for the 20th day in a row, to impose a siege on Al-Mughayyir village. Occupation forces have been since last month blocking the village’s two entrances, prohibiting residents from entering or leaving it. Al-Mughayyir is frequently targeted by illegal Jewish settlers and IOF.

On the other hand, incursions by Zionist settlers proceeded. Palestinian media reported dozens of settlers, backed by IOF, storming the holy compound in occupied Al-Quds.

Earlier on Sunday, Barqa town, near Nablus, was subjected to brutal attacks by Israeli settlers, who were backed by IOF. Dozens of Palestinians were injured as masked Zionist settlers attacked Palestinian houses and vehicles.

The settlers came from Homesh, a nearby Israeli settlement outpost which was recently revived at orders from hard-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and rogue Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, after it had been evacuated in 2005.

Palestinian Red Crescent reported that nearly 60 Palestinians were injured as they were confronting the colonial Israeli settlers who were backed by well-armed Israeli soldiers.

Source: Palestinian media (Translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website)

FLAG MARCH: THE ANNUAL ISRAELI DISPLAY OF JEWISH SUPREMACY

MAY 23RD, 2023

Source

By Miko Peled

The annual display of Jewish Supremacy in Palestine, known as the Flag March, is not limited to the Old City of Jerusalem. It is part of a campaign of intimidation in cities around the country that have a significant Palestinian population. This year this racist, violent display of supremacy took place in Jerusalem, Yafa ad El-Lyd.

THE TORAH SEED

What could be more innocuous than a seed? A Torah seed is a seed through which the Torah grows and spreads. Building bridges, connecting people to their ancient traditions, aiding those who are in need and generally developing communities steeped in the values of charity and goodwill. This is the veil behind which the Settler community is planting itself in what are known as “mixed cities.”

The world, and most Israeli Jews, concentrate only on the fanatic, racist gangs of settler communities in the West Bank. However, for several decades the same political, quasi-religious movement that created these awful communities has been moving into municipalities known as “mixed cities.” These include Yafa, El-Lyd, Ramle and a few others with large Palestinian populations.

Their purpose is twofold:

• To “plant the Torah seen in the Jewish communities,” or in other words, win the hearts and minds of poor, disenfranchised Israeli Jews, who typically live in “mixed cities.”

• To terrorize and eventually push out the Palestinian communities from these cities, making them pure and Jewish. 

This, of course, has nothing to do with Judaism. It is yet another expression of the racist ideology which created the State of Israel and is known as Zionism.

WE ARE THE LANDLORDS

Claiming ownership of Palestine has always been an important Zionist talking point. What the Torah Seed groups are doing is marching through Palestinian neighborhoods to make that point. “We are the landlords,” we heard Itmar Ben-Gvir saying as he walked through the holy sanctuary of Al-Aqsa, and this they yell into the megaphones throughout Palestinian neighborhoods, in Yafa, El-Lyd, Ramle, Hebron, and, of course, Jerusalem.

These settlers – who many people think are confined to the West Bank – are taking over by squeezing Palestinians out. We no longer see trucks with soldiers evicting Palestinians like in 1948 or 1967. Instead, we see settler gangs armed with police protection terrorizing Palestinians and making their lives unlivable. Because these cities are within the boundaries of 1948 Palestine, it is not the army that protects these thugs but the police.

NUMBERS

In order to claim ownership of the land, Zionists have been obsessed with demographics. It was clear from the beginning that on that front, they are losing, and so they found a formula that makes it seem as though there is a Jewish majority and an Arab minority in “Israel.”

Another sign of the Zionist obsession with demographics is that the state of Israel conducts a census almost every year – and year after year for as long as I can remember, they end up with the same calculation. Not that the numbers don’t grow, but the percentage of Arabs always remains more or less at twenty percent of the total population.

We know that for decades Palestinians account for much more than twenty percent, so how does Israel do this? Well, it is not magic; they simply lie about the numbers. Israel does not count all the Palestinians, only the ones who live in the pre-1967 borders. In other words, while Jewish Israelis are counted regardless of where they live within the country, only Palestinians who live in 1948 Palestine are accounted for. This means that the state of Israel is leaving out more than five million Palestinians from their figures.

This makes sense when one considers that successive Israeli governments and Israeli society more generally see no connection to Palestinians living in the territories taken by Israel in 1967. While Palestinians who remained in 1948 are referred to as citizens, the ones who were added as a result of the 1967 occupation have no status and, therefore, do not (officially) exist.

TWO MARCHES PER YEAR

In the city of Yafa, which officially is part of the Tel Aviv municipality, the Settlers conduct two flag marches per year. One on Israeli Independence Day and one on Jerusalem Day. The city claims that it is an expression of diversity, not unlike days when Palestinians hold a Christmas parade or a Ramadan market. But there is a difference; neither the Christmas nor Ramadan events include harassment by uniformed militarized police and plain-clothed detectives.

During these parades of racism and supremacy, Palestinian citizens of the city are instructed to stay out of sight. They are subjected to searches and seizures, and they are confined to areas where they will be out of the way of the parading gangsters with flags of hate.

In the city of El-Lyd, thousands of settlers marched through the old town, through Palestinian neighborhoods and businesses, harassing and terrorizing anyone in their path. Over the years, El-Lyd has seen some of the worst violence by settler gangs, and this parade of hate and supremacy is there to let the Palestinians in the city that El-Lyd is not theirs. In 1948, the area had been subjected to brutal massacres and of the city’s 40,000 citizens, only 400 remained. Today, the Palestinian population makes up between 30% and 40% of the population.

PALESTINE IS NOT CONFINED TO THE WEST BANK

Many people still refer to 1948 Palestine as Israel and to the West Bank as Palestine. However, these people would do well to remember that until May 1948, it was all known as Palestine and that Palestinians live throughout the entire country and endure the same hate and violence regardless of where they live, what identification card they carry or whether they are counted by the Apartheid State or not.