2 Palestinians Killed, a Third Died of Wounds, Dozens Abducted, Homes Demolished by Israeli Occupation Soldiers and Settlers

While brutal force has been used to create Zionist Israel and sustain it thus far, Zionist claims to Palestine are false. Actually, from the five thousand years of known written history, there has been a continuous Palestinian-Canaanite presence in the Holy Land. Despite the Zionist false claims, the ancient Israelites ruled part of the land for only 85 years (during the reign of David, Solomon, and Solomon's son).

After that, the Egyptians conquered Palestine-Canaan in 925 BC, followed by Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans, before the Arab Muslim rule, starting from 636 AD.

By the Time Jesus started his mission, the three population groups of Canaanites, Palestinians, and Israelites were melted together in religion and language. Most of them became Christians when Constantine converted in 313 AD. Then, most of them became Muslims in the 7th and 8th centuries AD.

So, Palestinian Muslims, Christians, and Jews are the ones who have the right to claim descent from ancient Israelites, Palestinians, and Canaanites, not Zionists from other continents.

The following news stories are just examples of the Israeli occupation government violations of Palestinian human rights, on daily basis.

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued a statement denouncing the Israeli assassination of two of its fighters, in northern Gaza, and holding Israel accountable for any future escalation.

Al-Qassam said the two fighters, Ahmad Abdullah Morjan, 23, and Abdul-Hafeth Mohammad Seelawi, 23, where killed in an Israeli bombardment in northern Gaza.

It stated that the two fighters were part of a military training in “Asqalan” center, one of its training locations in northern Gaza, and that many Palestinians, including political leaders of Hamas, were in attendance.

Al-Qassam said that the training including the use of sniper fire, and explosives, and the fighters were practicing techniques when the Israeli army fired a shell at them, killing the two fighters.

“Israel is coming up with false allegations to justify its serious crime,” Al-Qassam said, “We hold the occupation fully responsible for this attack.”

The Israeli army said the two Palestinians “opened fire at Israeli soldiers,” and published a video of the two fighters reportedly firing at soldiers, while Hamas said the allegation has no basis, as the fighters were training, and firing fixed targets.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported that a teen died, Sunday, from serious wounds he suffered on the first day of the Great Return March procession, on March 30th, which also marks the Palestinian Land Day.

The Health Ministry said the teen, identified as Ahmad Jihad al-Aydi, 17, from Gaza city, was seriously injured when an Israeli occupation army sharpshooter shot him with a live round in the head, near the eastern border in central Gaza.

Accompanied by his father, the teen was eventually transferred to a Palestinian hospital in Ramallah, on April 24th, but he remained in a critical condition until he succumbed to his wounds.

In related news, the Israeli occupation soldiers shot, on Sunday evening, three Palestinians with live fire, and caused many others to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation, east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, in central Gaza.

Also on Sunday, an Israeli army drone fired a missile at a site, north of Beit Lahia in the northern part of the coastal region, wounding four Palestinians.

On Saturday, August 4th, the Health Ministry in Gaza said a child, identified as Moath Ziad Soori, 15, died from serious wounds he suffered a day earlier, after Israeli soldiers shot him with live fire, during the Great Return March procession, east of the al-Boreij refugee camp, in central Gaza.

On the same day of his injury, the soldiers killed a Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Yahia Atallah Yaghi, 25, after shooting him east of the Zeitoun neighborhood, east of Gaza city, and injured 220 Palestinians, including 90 who were shot with live fire, in the Gaza Strip.

Their deaths bring the number of Palestinians, who were killed by Israeli army fire in the Gaza Strip since March 30th, 2018, to 158, while 17259 have been injured; 9071 of the wounded were moved to hospitals and 8188 received treatment in field clinics; 3279 of the injured are children, and 1553 are women.

Twenty-three of the slain Palestinians are children, in addition to three women, including a medic, identified as Razan Ashraf Najjar, 22.

There are 404 wounded Palestinians who are still in critical conditions, while 4141 suffered moderate wounds and 4354 suffered mild injuries.

The soldiers also killed another medic, identified as Mousa Abu Hassanein, 36, and caused damage to 59 Palestinian ambulances.

Furthermore, the army killed two journalists, identified as Yasser Mortaja, 30, and Ahmad Abu Hussein, 25, and wounded 144 others.

Palestinian poetess, Dareen Tatour, sent to Israeli jail Short url Related

Palestinian poet and social media activist Dareen Tatour turned herself in on Wednesday to the Israel Prison Service to serve two months that were left of her five-month prison sentence.

Dozens of Palestinians and supporters had gathered at Tatour’s home to bid her farewell as she left her house to serve her prison term.

Tatour thanked her supporters, whom she said have not left her for one moment during her ordeal.

She stressed that she was on trial for her political views, saying “this proves that Israel is a democracy for Jews only and that freedom of expression is confined to one type of people in this entity that oppresses the Arabs who thought they live in a law-abiding country.”

An Israeli occupation government court had earlier sentenced Tatour, 36, to five months in prison for a poem she published on social media titled "Resist my people, resist them", which Israel claimed it included incitement to violence.

However, after already being held for three months in prison and two years and a half under house detention, Tatour, who was first detained on October 11, 2015 during pre-dawn raid at her home, was left with more two months to serve.

Israeli occupation soldiers on Wednesday morning opened fire at Palestinian farmers east of the blockaded Gaza Strip.

Israeli occupation army patrols stationed at the Gaza border unleashed barrages of machine gunfire toward Palestinian farmers east of al-Zaytoun neighborhood, to the east of Gaza city.

The Israeli army regularly detains and opens fire on unarmed Palestinian fishermen, shepherds, and farmers along the border areas.

The practice, often carried out under the security pretext, has destroyed much of the agricultural harvest and property of the blockaded coastal enclave.

Israeli occupation soldiers abducted, on Wednesday at dawn, eleven Palestinians from their homes in several parts of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported.

The PPS said the dozens of soldiers invaded the al-‘Isawiya town, in occupied Jerusalem, searched and ransacked many homes and abducted six Palestinians, identified as Yazan Na’aji, Omar Sayyad, Amir Karkash, in addition to a child, Mohammad Atiya, and two young men who remained unidentified at the time of this report.

The soldiers also invaded Baqat al-Hatab town, near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia, and abducted Aseed Barghouthi.

In addition, the soldiers abducted Ahmad Wael Oweida, 24, and Ahmad Hasan Abu Bakr, 26, from Tulkarem, in northern West Bank.

In Ramallah, in central West Bank, the soldiers abducted Samer Silmi Rimawi and Aziz Wael Rimawi, from their homes in Beit Rima town.

In related news, Israeli navy ships fired live rounds at Palestinian fishing boats near Beit Lahia, in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

PPS: “Israeli Occupation Soldiers Abduct Fourteen Palestinians In West Bank”

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, on Monday at dawn, at least fourteen Palestinians, including one woman and a journalist, in several parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Hebron office of the PPS said the soldiers said the soldiers invaded many neighborhoods in the city, and surrounding communities, before storming and ransacking many homes, and abducted five Palestinians.

It added that the Israelin occupation soldiers also stopped and searched many cars at military roadblocks, in the northern part of Hebron, and interrogated several Palestinians while inspecting their ID cards.

The soldiers also invaded and searched homes, and social institutions, in the al-Jalazoun refugee camp, north of Ramallah, before searching them.

The PPS said the soldiers abducted a journalist, identified as Ibrahim Rantisi, who works as a correspondent for the Turkish National Television (TRT), after storming his home and ransacking it, in Rantis village, northwest of Ramallah.

He is the sixth Palestinian journalists to be abducted by the army in one week; Israel is still holding captive 22 journalists.

On Sunday, dozens of journalists protested in front of Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, calling on the International Community to oblige Israel to stop its violations against journalists, and to ensure the implementation of Security Council Resolution #2222 regarding the protection of journalists.

In Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted Susan Abu Ghannam, the mother of Mohammad Abu Ghannam, 20, who was killed by Israeli soldiers on July 21st, 2017.

In Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded the Saff Street, in the center of the city, and summoned Maher Omar Ziyada, 22, from interrogation in Etzion military base and security center, south of Bethlehem.

In addition, the army also invaded and searched homes in Tulkarem refugee camp, in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarem, and abducted Ala’ Rafiq Damiri, 38.

US Jewish Activists Interrogated by Israelis over ‘Connections with Palestinians’

Israeli occupation security services held and interrogated Simone Zimmerman, a US Jewish activist, at the border with Egypt for several hours on Sunday, over her alleged “connections with Palestinians.”

Zimmerman, who resides and works in Israel, tweeted that her and a friend were held at the Taba Crossing for four hours, where they were questioned by security agents from Shin Bet over their political views and previous work with Palestinians.

“I am at the border after a weekend in Sinai and Israeli authorities have detained me and my friend Abby for the last three hours. We are being questioned solely about our political opinions and activities vis a vis Palestinians esp in the occupied territories,” the activist tweeted on Sunday.

The activist said that security agents quizzed her and fellow activist Abby Kirschbaum over places they had visited in the West Bank, what they thought of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and “why she wanted to help [people] in Gaza.”

“All of the questions they asked me were about if I go to Palestinian areas, what do I do/who do I meet there, why I go there… and why the hell would I want to do that,” she said, in another tweet.

Zimmerman, who describes herself on Twitter as part of the Jewish Resistance to the occupation, works for an Israeli human rights organisation in Tel Aviv for which she holds a valid work permit.

She is a founding member of IfNotNow, an American Jewish anti-occupation organization.

Zimmerman worked previously for US Senator Bernie Sanders, as the Jewish outreach coordinator for the 2016 primary campaign. However, she was allegedly fired after comments surfaced, from 2015, in which she called Netanyahu a “manipulative asshole” and “murderer”.

Zimmerman, who says she is not herself a supporter of the BDS movement, recently made a video condemning Israel’s travel ban on anyone associated with the boycott movement, which came into action last year.

Representative of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee in Bethlehem, Hassan Brejiyyeh, on Tuesday, revealed the arrival of U.S. delegations from political and tourism companies, in order to carry out investment projects in two Bethlehem settlements.

In an interview with Voice of Palestine radio, Brejiyyeh said that American companies are currently investing in the illegal Israeli settlement tourism projects, specifically in the settlements of Eliazar and Efrat, which are located on lands of Palestinian citizens.

Such projects, settlement plans, construction of streets, tunnels and rail roads are part of the Israeli occupation project to establish ”Greater Jerusalem” plan and link Jerusalem to the Gush Etzion settlement, to cut the West Bank in half and seize more Palestinian land.

Israeli occupation bulldozers demolished, on Tuesday morning, two apartments in a building located in the Shu’fat neighborhood, north of occupied Jerusalem, under the pretext of improper licensing.

Palestinian resident Suliman al-Muhtaseb said, according to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, that he was surprised by Israeli soldiers who surrounded the five-story building, preventing him from reaching it, and then assaulting him by pushing and beating him on the face, and removing him from the place before starting the demolition.

Suliman explained that he is now forced to pay more than 70 thousand shekels to the Israeli municipality, for the costs of demolishing the apartments, in addition to the cost of removing the rubble.

He added that Jerusalem Municipality employees attended the construction of the building, for the last and fifth floor of brick and granite, asking him to stop building, whereupon he responded to their request.

After this, he went to the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem, who asked him to demolish the apartments himself. He demolished part of it and then applied for a permit for the two apartments.

Affidavits, from a number of Palestinian children, for the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission reveal that they were subjected to systematic beating and torture, during and after detention by Israeli forces, the commission said on Tuesday.

Commission attorney Hiba Ighbarieh documented testimonies from three children held at Majido prison, regarding what they went through during and after being abducted by Israeli authorities.

WAFA reports that Munir Dari, aged 16, from al-Eesawiyya neighborhood, in occupied East Jerusalem, told the attorney that he was assaulted by several members of the Israeli security forces, upon his detention in his neighborhood, who beat him at random all over his body. He was also subjected to beating and cursing at the Russian Compound detention center, in West Jerusalem, to pressure him into confessing to the charges against him.

Fahd Qeisieh, 17, also from al-Eesawiyya neighborhood, was beaten after being caught during confrontations with Israeli forces in his neighborhood. He said that a policeman tackled him and dragged him to a police car, where another officer stepped, with all of his weight, onto his back while two others were violently beating him, as he was forced to stay on the ground. Beating continued at the Russian Compound interrogation center, where he was hit with a stick on his hands, legs, face and back, while being forced to kneel in confession.

Firas Masri, also aged 17, was also severely beaten and attacked by several soldiers when he was detained at an army checkpoint near the northern West Bank city of Qalqilia. He said that he was thrown on ground covered with gravel, beaten on his head and back, resulting in injuries and bruises. He was also reportedly cursed with vile words, after which he was blindfolded and handcuffed, and then dragged on the ground for a long distance before being thrown into an army jeep and taken to a police station in the illegal settlement of Ariel.

Another commission attorney, Hussein al-Sheikh, reported that two other children, Mohammad Hadieh, 16, from Bethlehem, and Fawzi Masalmeh, 18, from Azzeh refugee camp, also in Bethlehem, gave affidavits of severe beating during arrest.

Illegal Israeli Settlers Demolish Palestinian Homes Built on Church Grounds Despite Court Order

The Samara home in Beit al-Baraka after it was destroyed by illegal Israel settlers. (WAFA Images / Samar Badr)

Illegal Israeli settlers, escorting a bulldozer, on Monday, demolished two Palestinian homes at Beit al-Baraka church compound at the Hebron-Jerusalem road, despite the presence of a court order allowing the owners to stay in their homes, according to the owner of the two homes, Ahmad Samara.

He told WAFA that scores of settlers from several hardcore illegal settlements, including Kiryat Arba, north of Hebron, and protected by Israeli forces, escorted a bulldozer into Beit al-Baraka church compound and proceeded to demolished the two homes where he and his family had lived for over 40 years.

Samara said that when the family attempted to stop the demolition and to show the army the Israeli court order that allows it stay in the homes, the soldiers and settlers assaulted him and his family, threw them out of their homes and detained his daughter, Asmaa, 32.

“I have lived in these two homes for over 40 years. I have an ]Israeli[ court ruling preventing settlers from bothering us and allowing me and my family to continue to live in the homes,” said Samara. “We have no where to go now.”

He said the settlers and soldiers ransacked his homes and prevented him from removing his belongings before they carried out the demolition at gun point.

Beit al-Baraka, meaning “House of Blessing”, built 70 years ago, is a 38-dunam (9.5-acre) church compound located on the main road between Bethlehem and Hebron, opposite to Arroub refugee camp. It used to serve as a hospital providing free treatment to people suffering from tuberculosis until it was shut down in 1983. Jewish settlers later bought the compound from the church, through a fake company.

DCIP: Israeli Occupation Forces are Killing Palestinian Children at Record Rates

August 8, 2018 7:03 AM IMEMC News & Agencies Human interest, Israeli attacks, News Report, Palestine 0

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On August 5, Ahmad al-Aydi died in central Gaza from an injury sustained on March 30 from Israeli live fire. (Photo: Courtesy of al-Aydi family.)

Four Palestinian children died from gunshot wounds between July 27 and August 5 after Israeli occupation forces shot them during “March of Return” protests in the the Gaza Strip. These deaths put 2018 at a record-high for child fatalities, exceeding the number of Palestinian children killed by Israeli forces in any single year within the past decade, outside of large-scale Israeli military offensives.

Israel occupation forces fatally shot three children, Muath Ziad Ibrahim al-Soury, 15, Moemen Fathi Yousef al-Hams, 16, and Majdi Ramzi Kamal al-Satri, 11, with live ammunition during the last two consecutive Fridays of “March of Return” protests. A fourth child, Ahmad Jihad Ahmad al-Aydi, 17, who was struck by Israeli live fire on March 30, died on August 5.

“Israeli forces have operated with near complete impunity for so long that unlawful killings and other flagrant violations of international law have become the norm,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountablity Program director at Defense for Children International – Palestine. “Impunity combined with the rise in Israel’s use of live ammunition as a method of quelling demonstrators since 2014 means there is no legal mechanism that will halt this bloodshed.”

Ahmad died in the intensive care unit of Shifa hospital in Gaza City on August 5, succumbing to a previous gunshot wound. On the first day of “March of Return” marches, Israeli forces shot Ahmad in the back of his head with live ammunition east of Al-Bureij refugee camp in the central part of the Gaza Strip, severely injuring him.

He was treated at Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital for 8 days, then transferred to Shifa hospital. The boy was able to secure a Palestinian referral and was treated in the Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation in the West Bank city of Beit Jala, before returning to the Gaza Strip. He died in Shifa hospital around 8 p.m on Sunday.

Muath al-Soury, 15, died early Saturday morning after Israeli forces shot him Friday night. (Photo: Courtesy of al-Soury family.)

Israeli occupation forces shot Muath with live ammunition around 7 p.m. on August 3. Muath was participating in “March of Return” protests near the perimeter fence, east of Al-Bureij refugee camp, according to DCIP sources. The bullet entered his abdomen, damaging major blood vessels and his intestines. He was transported to Al-Aqsa Martrys hospital and died at approximately 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, August 4.

Moemen al-Hams, 16, was with a group attempting to cut and cross the Gaza Strip perimeter fence when Israeli forces shot him in the back on July 27. (Photo: Courtesy of al-Hams family.)

Moemen and 11-year-old Majdi were both shot when Israeli occupation forces opened fire on a group of protestors who were cutting and attempting to cross the Gaza Strip perimeter fence near Rafah, southern Gaza around 5:30 p.m. on Friday, July 27, according to initial reports.

After Moemen had cut the fence and began entering through it, a witness saw Moemen collapse. He was transferred to the European hospital in critical condition and underwent several operations before he was pronounced dead around 4:30 a.m. on July 28. According to the medical examiner who examined the boy’s body, a bullet entered Moemen’s back near his spine and exited from the right side of his chest.

Majdi al-Satri, 11, was around 50 meters (164 feet) from the Gaza Strip perimeter fence when Israeli forces shot him in the head, killing him instantly. (Photo: Courtesy of al-Hams family.)

Majdi was standing nearby, around 50 meters (164 feet) from the perimeter fence when Israeli forces opened fire, according to an eyewitness. The bullet struck his forehead, killing him instantly.

Including these four most recent fatalities, Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 35 Palestinian children since the start of 2018. The parents of an additional child who was shot by Israeli forces on April 29, Yousef Abu Jazar, are still waiting for official confirmation of their child’s death. A Palestinian teen was also killed by an Israeli settler after local media reported the child carried out a fatal stabbing attack in an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank on July 26.

In 2017, 15 Palestinian children died as the result of Israeli forces’ actions. This number included one child who had been injured in a 2014 Israeli drone strike, succumbing to his wounds in 2017. The previous year DCIP documented as the “deadliest year of a decade” for West Bank children. Israeli forces and security guards killed 32 Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem in 2016.

The majority of child fatalities this year have taken place in the context of protests along the Gaza Strip perimeter fence. DCIP evidence has determined on multiple occasions that children killed along the Gaza Strip perimeter did not pose a direct, mortal threat at the time of their death.

According to international law, lethal force may only be used when a direct and mortal threat to life or of serious injury exists.

The Israeli Supreme Court has maintained that Israeli occupation forces’ rules of engagement are in line with international parameters in the context of “March of Return” protests.

In April, the spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that an attempt to approach or cross the Gaza Strip perimeter fence alone “does not amount to a threat to life or serious injury that would justify the use of live ammunition.”

Five children this year have also been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including 14-year-old Arkan Mizher whom Israeli forces shot during an arrest raid in Dheisheh refugee camp on July 23.

Originally published on August 6th, 2018, by Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP).