Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses. Share the link of this article with your facebook friends

 

Israeli Apartheid Regime Continues Killing, Injuring, Abduction of Palestinians and Demolishing their Homes

June 27, 2020 

Editor's Note:

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.

More detailed news stories can be found at the following sources:

http://english.wafa.ps/, https://english.palinfo.com/, https://imemc.org/, https://paltoday.ps/ar/

 

Israeli occupation soldiers demolish a Palestinian home In Beit Hanina, June 24, 2020	Israeli occupation soldiers injure dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem, June 24, 2020

A Palestinian protester in Kufur-Qaddoum throwing a tear gas canister back on Israeli occupation soldiers, June 26, 2020	Israeli occupation soldiers fire at Palestinian protesters in Atoof village, June 27, 2020

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Injure Five Palestinians In Northern Plains Of West Bank

 June 28, 2020 5:37 AM  IMEMC News 

Israeli occupation soldiers (who operate illegally in the Palestinian occupied territories) injured, on Saturday evening, five Palestinians during protests that erupted in ‘Atouf village in the West Bank’s Northern Plains after the soldiers prevented dozens of residents from participating in the national conference against the illegal Israeli annexation and apartheid policies.

The head of ‘Atouf Village Council, Abdullah Bisharat, said the soldiers stopped and detained dozens of residents at the military roadblocks near the al-Hamra and Tayasir villages.

The incident led to confrontations with the soldiers in ‘Atouf, who fired many rubber-coated steel bullets, gas bombs, and concussion grenades.

Two Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated steel bullets, and three others suffered the effects of teargas inhalation.

In related news, the soldiers abducted a Palestinian, identified as Yousef Mkheimar, while walking in the al-Asbat Gates area in occupied Jerusalem.

Israeli Occupation Forces Abduct Two Palestinians at Checkpoint near Jerusalem

 June 28, 2020 1:10 AM  Ali Salam 

A Palestinian man was abducted by Israeli security guards (who operate illegally in the Palestinian occupied territories), on Saturday, north of Jerusalem, at the Qalandia checkpoint, the Jerusalem Post reported.

Israel Police claimed that the “knife-wielding” Palestinian man elicited the suspicion of the security forces.

During the arrest, the Jerusalem Post further noted that two security guards were lightly injured during the arrest.

Arabic daily, Ma’an News reported that two Palestinian young men were arrested at the military checkpoint, and quoted Israeli media which alleged that the two “attempted to carry out a stabbing attack.”

It added that the military closed the checkpoint, blocking Palestinians attempting to travel between the central West Bank city of Ramallah and southern West Bank city of East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian WAFA News Agency quoted witnesses as stating that only one Palestinian man was arrested, and that it was suspected that the young man was carrying a knife.

WAFA further noted that this claim could not be immediately verified.

According to Israel’s Channel 12, border guards stopped the two young men Palestinians who provoked the guards’ suspicions, claiming that a knife was found on one of them, suspects were taken into custody.

The Quds News Network identified the young man as, Ahmad Wahdan, from Qalandia refugee camp in East Jerusalem, and stated that he was injured after.

The Palestinian Information Centre reported that two Israeli soldiers were slightly injured while detaining the young man, who also sustained injuries, as he was said to have been brutally subdued.

It further quoted Israel’s Channel 13 which stated that the wounds sustained by the soldiers were not from the knife.

Within this context, last week, Ahmad Erekat, 26, was shot several times by Israeli forces at the container military checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem in the southern occupied West Bank. The young man was denied any medical attention, and slowly lost his life on the pavement.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor (Euro-Med) released a statement, on Friday, condemning the Israeli occupation’s practices against the Palestinian people.

Armed Illegal Israeli Settlers Burn Hundreds of Olive Trees south of Nablus

 June 27, 2020 7:54 PM  IMEMC Staff 

Armed illegal Israeli settlers set on fire to a Palestinian-owned farm land, on Saturday, in Burin village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus.

Palestinian chief of the profile for illegal Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank, Ghassan Daghlas, told media outlets that several armed Israeli colonists, from the illegal Israeli settlement of Giv’at Ronaie, broke into the nearby Palestinian-owned farm land, east of Burin village.

Daghlas said that right after they invaded the farm land, they set fire to hundreds of fruitful olive trees among other crops.

He added that after the attack, the colonists fled the area, back to their illegal settlement.

Noteworthy, Israeli colonial settlers (who operate illegally in the Palestinian occupied territories) repeatedly attack Palestinian-owned farm lands throughout the West Bank. There are almost 200 illegal Israeli settlements, erected on Palestinian lands, across the West Bank.

These settlers’ attacks on Palestinians and their property, are widely perceived by Palestinians as vicious attempts to disrupt the already difficult lives of Palestinians, intending to force them to concede their farmlands, which are adjacent to the colonial Israeli settlements.

Palestinian Civilians, Activists Protest Israeli Annexation in Kifl Haris

 June 27, 2020 10:00 AM  Ali Salam 

Palestinians protesting the Israeli occupation apartheid regime and its settlement activities, today clashed with Israeli occupation soldiers (who operate illegally in the Palestinian occupied territories), in the northern West Bank resulting in several injuries, all minor, Palestinian WAFA News Agency reported.

In the northern West Bank village of Hares, east of Salfit, Israeli soldiers denied Palestinians access to village lands to hold the Friday prayer, land chosen by the Israeli military, for confiscation, local sources said.

Soldiers set up roadblocks leading to Hares, preventing activists from participating in the prayer. Sources added that Palestinian civilians and activists, instead held the prayer near the Israeli military checkpoint, at the entrance to the village.

Today’s protest is the fifth week of a series of demonstrations held, on the threatened land, by the residents of Hares, in an effort to prevent the Israeli takeover of their land, for the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.

Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that the occupying power [Israel] is forbidden from transferring any of its own population onto the land on which it occupies [Palestine].

Israeli Occupation Forces Shoot Nine Palestinians at Kufur Qaddoum Weekly March

 June 27, 2020 1:19 AM  Ali Salam 

Nine Palestinian civilians were shot and injured, on Friday, and dozens suffered from the toxic effects of tear-gas inhalation, when Israeli occupation forces fired rubber-coated steel rounds and tear-gas canisters at protestors in Kufur Qaddoum village, in the northern occupied West Bank.

The regional coordinator of the Popular Resistance, Morad Eshteiwi, stated that a large military force of more than 40 soldiers, attacked the Palestinian demonstrators at the weekly march opposing Israeli settlements, the Apartheid Wall, as well as Israel’s plan to expropriate more Palestinian land.

Eshteiwi added that those who were shot with rubber-coated steel rounds, as well as the dozens of those who suffered the toxic effects of tear-gas inhalation, were all treated at the scene.

He added that Israeli occupation forces stormed the town and invaded Palestinian civilian homes, no arrests were reported.

Today’s protest in Kufur Qaddoum, marked the beginning of the tenth year that the village has been holding such demonstrations to resist illegal Israeli policies.

Hundreds of Palestinians in the area participated in the march, chanting national slogans and condemning Israel’s occupation and its decision to annex more Palestinian land.

Soldiers Injure Many Palestinians In Jordan Valley

 June 25, 2020 10:27 AM  IMEMC News Israeli attacks, Israeli Settlement, Jordan Valley, News Report, West Bank 0

Israeli soldiers attacked, Thursday, dozens of Palestinians in Fasayel village, in the Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank, causing dozens to suffer the effects of teargas inhalation.

The villagers, accompanied by several cabinet members and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) officials, were trying to hold a meeting in the village, located north of the Palestinian city of Jericho, to discuss measures the American-backed illegal Israeli colonial annexation of the Jordan Valley.

The soldiers resorted to the excessive use of force against the civilians, leading to protests; the army fired a barrage of gas bombs, concussion grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets, causing dozens of injuries.

Despite the military closures and strict measures, scores of residents managed to reach Fasayel village on bicycles, on foot through the hills and lands, to express their rejection to the Israeli, American-backed, theft of the lands, especially in the Jordan Valley.

The Jordan Valley of the occupied West Bank is the fruit basket of Palestine, and is a vital fertile area used by the Palestinian farmers and shepherds, who are subject to constant and escalating Israeli violations, including invasions and live-fire military training.

It is also an area widely targeted by Israel for the construction and expansion of the illegal colonies, built in direct violation of International Law, the Fourth Geneva Convention in addition to various United Nations and Security Council resolutions.

Israeli Occupation Soldiers Injure Dozens of Palestinians in East Jerusalem

 June 25, 2020 9:43 AM  IMEMC Staff 

Israeli occupation soldiers caused, on Wednesday night, the injury of at least thirty-eight Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem, after the army fired rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas bombs in the town of Abu Dis, east of the occupied Palestinian city.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that the society’s crews were able to provide first aid to nine Palestinians, who were shot with rubber-coated steel Israeli bullets to different parts of their bodies.

The PRCS also noted that twenty-two other cases were treated for suffocation, due to teargas inhalation, four others suffered burns, while three others suffered bruises.

Local sources and witnesses in Abu Dis, stated that dozens of Palestinian residents took to the streets, after the soldiers invaded the town, and that the Israeli army fired tear gas canisters and rubber-coated steel bullets to disperse them.

The PRCS added that among those affected by the tear gas inhalation were seven Palestinians from one family, after several tear gas canisters fell on their home, causing the home to partially burn.

The protest in Abu Dis comes as the occupied East Jerusalem has seen heightened Israeli troops presence, across the internationally-recognized occupied East Jerusalem, over the past number of years.

The escalating crackdown on Palestinian civilians has included abductions, arrests, the demolition of civilian homes and restrictions on worshiping at the ancient Islamic shrine of the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

All such practices are believed to be driven by Washington’s recognition of the entire Jerusalem area, including East Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel.

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Israeli Occupation Soldiers Demolish A Home In Beit Hanina

 June 24, 2020 1:32 PM  IMEMC News 

Israeli occupation soldiers demolished, Wednesday, a Palestinian home in the al-Fool neighborhood in Beit Hanina, north of occupied East Jerusalem, only two months after the family of nine built it. The demolition came just hours before a court session was supposed to be held to discuss an appeal filed by the family.

Media sources said several army jeeps, and bulldozers, surrounded the neighborhood before invading it, and encircled the home of Sharhabeel Alqam, after closing and isolating the entire area.

Sharhabeel stated that he built the property two months ago to shelter himself and his family of nine, but the City Council of occupied Jerusalem decided to demolish it under the pretext of being built without a permit.

Permits are rarely issued to Palestinian families in occupied Jerusalem, and their costs are always very substantial, including the costs of just filing for a permit in addition to all other administrative paperwork, and the high costs of appeals after the permits are denied.

In related news, the soldiers invaded the Qalandia refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, and attacked Palestinian protesters with live fire, rubber-coated steel bullets, and gas bombs.

Medical sources said the soldiers shot a young man with a live round in the leg, before Palestinian medics rushed him to Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah.

The soldiers also invaded and searched homes, before abducting a young man, identified as Mohammad Zayyat.

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Israeli Occupation Soldier Given Derisory Sentence for the Unlawful Extrajudicial Killing of a Palestinian Fisherman

 June 25, 2020 6:45 AM  Al-Mezan Center For Human Rights 

On 15 June 2020, an Israeli military court sentenced an Israeli soldier, who shot and killed 23-year-old Palestinian fisherman, Nawwaf al-Attar, off the coast of Beit Lahia in the Gaza Strip, to a derisory 45-day prison sentence to be served through military-related labor.

A suspended sentence ranging from two months to two years, and a demotion in rank were added by the court, which convicted the soldier on the charges of “disobeying an order leading to a threat to life or health”, per article 72 of Israeli Martial Law (1955) and “negligence and reckless endangerment”, per article 341 of Israeli Penal Law (1977).

The proceedings represent a shallow attempt at portraying a system that functions in accordance with international justice principles.

Al Mezan had submitted a criminal complaint to the Israeli Military Advocate General on 27 November 2018, requesting a criminal investigation into the killing of Nawaf al-Attar on the 14th of that month; the Military Police only initiated a criminal investigation nearly six months later on 7 April 2019. On 13 May 2020, with Al Mezan’s legal and technical support to the family, investigators interviewed Nawaf’s brother at Erez crossing.

Nawwaf al-Attar

The evidence collected by Al Mezan indicates that the fatal shooting of Nawaf was an act of willful killing, requiring charges and a sentence commensurate with the gravity of the crime.

However, the Israeli military court handed down a sentence on one disciplinary charge and a relatively low criminal charge of negligence and reckless endangerment. In addition, the court issued the victim’s legal representative and family a highly redacted document that concealed the start date of the sentence.

This is the second case in two years in which Al Mezan cases received woefully inadequate sentences—the 2019 case being for the killing of 14-year-old Othman Hillis, an unarmed protester participating in the ‘Great March of Return’, whose killing also garnered a short sentence to be served through military-related labor for misconduct.[1] These cases are further evidence of the rampant impunity in Israel and lack of effective means of redress for Palestinian victims and their families.

The proceedings are testament to the manner in which the Israeli justice system, including its military courts, shields State actors from genuine accountability while simultaneously attempting to portray itself as a system that functions in accordance with international law.

Al Mezan views these proceedings as a flagrant attempt to deter international justice mechanisms from assuming jurisdiction.

We, therefore, recall that the Rome Statute empowers the International Criminal Court to hold secondary trials if domestic proceedings “were for the purpose of shielding the person concerned from criminal responsibility”, or “were not conducted independently or impartially in accordance with the norms of due process recognized by international law” (article 20).

Al Mezan’s long engagement with the Israeli system definitively evidences the need for Third states and international justice mechanisms to genuinely pursue legal accountability for alleged commission of serious international crimes on Palestinian territory.

The protection of civilians and the rule of law are gravely undermined through the perpetuation of a state of impunity. Al Mezan calls for justice for these and all other victims of Israeli violations of international law and calls on the international community to exercise its jurisdiction to deter the commission of future crimes.

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PCHR: Palestinian Civilian Shot and Killed by IOF at al-Container Checkpoint in Eastern Bethlehem

 June 25, 2020 6:47 AM  PCHR 

On Tuesday, 23 June 2020, Israeli occupation forces killed a Palestinian civilian after opening fire at his vehicle, which collided into the traffic island in the center of al-container military checkpoint, east of Bethlehem. The military claimed that the victim attempted to carry out a run-over attack, but according to the information collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) the victim was in fact en route to pick up his mother, in preparation for his sister’s wedding, which was supposed to be held in the evening in Abu Dis village.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) stresses that the Israeli military used disproportionate force, especially considering the fact that the victim posed no real threat to the soldiers’ lives in light of the heavy fortifications at the checkpoint. This incident is yet another example of Israel’s systemic policy of shooting Palestinian civilians in a direct manner and as an immediate reaction.

According to PCHR’s investigations and eyewitnesses’ testimonies, at approximately 15:53 on Tuesday, Ahmad Mustafa Erekat (26), from Abu Dis village in occupied East Jerusalem, was waiting in queue at al-container military checkpoint in eastern Bethlehem, to cross into Bethlehem where he was supposed to pick up his mother and sisters from a beauty salon in the city and return to Abu Dis village to attend his sister, Eman’s wedding.

At approximately 15:55, when Erekat’s vehicle approached the checkpoint, it deviated from its path and collided into the traffic island opposite the glass room where Israeli border guard soldiers were stationed. The soldiers immediately opened fire at the vehicle, wounding Erekat with several live bullets in his upper body. They pulled him out of the vehicle, threw him on the ground and prevented the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medical crew from approaching him or providing first aid; leaving him to bleed to his death at the checkpoint.

It should be noted that the “container” military checkpoint separates villages located in south-eastern occupied East Jerusalem from eastern Bethlehem. Following the incident, Israeli forces closed the checkpoint, fired a barrage of tear-gas canisters, and denied vehicles’ access to the city, causing a traffic jam.

Israeli police justified the execution of Ahmad Erekat alleging a suspected car-ramming attack, as the statement read “a speeding Palestinian vehicle arrived at al-container crossing in the eastern Sawahra in Benjamin area; the driver drove his vehicle quickly towards the direction of a female border police officer who was injured lightly. Border police officers opened fire and neutralized the driver. Medical crews declared him dead.”

It should be noted that Ahmad Erekat is a member at Abu Dis village’s Youth Council, and he was a popular and well-known person in his community. According to Erekat’s relatives, he was excited to attend his sister’s wedding, which was scheduled to be held in the Royal Hall in the village that night, and he himself was set to get married next month, having postponed the ceremony due to the corona virus pandemic.

PCHR strongly condemns the murder of the young Palestinian, which reflects a clear disregard for the lives of Palestinian civilians who are shot with the intent to kill them on grounds of suspicion, without any threat present to the lives of Israeli soldiers.

PCHR also condemns Israeli forces failure to provide medical aid, denying Palestinian medical crews from access to the victim and leaving him to bleed to death, which constitutes a violation of the rules of international humanitarian law (IHL).

PCHR also calls upon the international community to immediately take action to stop similar Israeli crimes and reiterates its calls upon the High Contracting Parties to the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention to fulfill their obligations under Article 1; i.e., to respect and ensure respect for the Convention in all circumstances.

PCHR also calls upon the High Contracting Parties to fulfill their obligations under Article 146; i.e., to prosecute persons alleged to commit grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, noting that these violations constitute war crimes according to Article 147 of the same Convention, and Additional Protocol (I) to the Geneva Conventions, regarding the guarantee of Palestinian civilians’ right to protection in the occupied territories.

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