For the 9^th consecutive day, Israeli forces continued to practice a policy of collective punishment against Palestinian civilians in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), especially in the West Bank.  This campaign included large-scale incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank and brutal night house raids using tracker dogs and maltreating residents of houses by expelling them outside their houses, detaining them in one room or arresting them.  Moreover, Israeli forces turned many of those houses into military sites and deliberately damaged their belongings.  This campaign was accompanied by the use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians, who demonstrated against the Israeli forces.  In addition, the raid campaign targeted charities, health centers, media offices, schools, universities and currency exchange shops.  Israeli forces confiscated their contents as well as dozens of surveillance cameras.  Israeli forces also launched many airstrikes on training sites for armed groups and civilian objects in the Gaza Strip.

In an excessive use of force, on Friday, 20 June 2014, Israeli forces killed a 14-year-old Palestinian child in Dura, southwest of Hebron.  According to investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), at approximately 01:00 on the aforementioned day, Israeli forces backed by military vehicles and accompanied by armored personnel carriers moved into Dura, southwest of Hebron, and stationed in a number of its neighborhoods. They deployed between the houses when dozens of Palestinian boys and children gathered in several parts of the town outskirts and threw stones and empty bottles at the Israeli soldiers.  At approximately 04:50, an Israeli infantry force comprised of around 300 soldiers deployed between the houses in Haninah neighborhood in the south of the town.  When they tried to pass through the main street to head to the area overseeing al-Ma’ajour neighborhood near the “Adoraym” military camp known as “the crazy camp”, a number of boys and children gathered to throw stones at them.  In response, the Israeli soldiers fired ceaselessly for 10 minutes sound bombs, tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets at the stone-throwers until an Israeli soldier appeared and fired live bullets indiscriminately at the demonstrators.  As a result, Mohammed Jihad Mohammed Doudin (14) was hit by a live bullet, which penetrated the right side of the chest and exited from the back.  He was then taken by a civilian vehicle to the Palestine Red Crescent Society clinic in the town, but he died upon arrival.

Hundreds of soldiers have occupied the land in front of the nearby Israeli military base with tents and military equipment and were scattered in groups around the villages to carry out the exercises.

During the training the Palestinian population suffered heavy restrictions on freedom of movement, the fields were damaged by military activities and shepherds were chased away with their flocks. Some of these reported that they were beaten by the soldiers.

During the night, the exercises were continued with the use of explosives and soldiers have gone even within the village, frightening the people further.

The villages of Jinba and Al Mirkez are within the Firing Zone 918 and, pending the decision of the Israeli High Court of Justice, are still under the threat of expulsion by the Israeli army.

Israeli military training is still in progress.

Dall’8 giugno fino ad oggi, un’esercitazione militare dell’esercito israeliano è in corso sulle terre palestinesi dei villaggi di Jinba e Al Mirkez, nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron.

Centinaia di soldati hanno occupato con tende ed equipaggiamenti militari le terre di fronte alla vicina base militare israeliana e si sono sparpagliati a gruppi attorno ai villaggi palestinesi per svolgere le esercitazioni.

Durante il training la popolazione palestinese ha subito pesanti limitazioni alla libertà di movimento, i campi sono stati danneggiati dalle attività militari e molti pastori sono stati scacciati con le proprie greggi. Alcuni hanno riferito di essere stati aggrediti fisicamente dai soldati.

Durante la notte le esercitazioni sono continuate con l’utilizzo di esplosivi e i soldati si sono spinti anche all’interno del villaggio, spaventandone ulteriormente gli abitanti.

I villaggi di Jinba e Al Mirkez si trovano all’interno della Firing Zone 918 e, in attesa del pronunciamento dell’Alta Corte di Giustizia israeliana, sono tutt’ora sotto la minaccia di espulsione da parte dell’esercito israeliano.

L’esercitazione militare è tuttora in corso.

The At Tuwani village Women’s Cooperative together with Israeli women gave life to Two Neighbors: an against-the-odds business partnership that defies politics in favor of beauty, common sense, and shared economic benefit. The new project is leaded by a team made by Israeli women, Palestinian women and American men and women who founded the Center for Emerging Futures that holds gatherings for Israelis and Palestinians on the border between Israel and the West Bank. 

After spending time at a Global Village Square meeting organized by the Center for Emerging Futures, women from both sides of the conflict decided they would like to work together producing beautiful items which showcased their talents and heritage. They wanted to do this together, showing that Israelis and Palestinian women, who were tired of waiting for the politicians to declare peace, could work together now to improve their economic condition and demonstrate peaceful relations on a grass roots level.

http://twoneighbors.com

On June 2, at about 10 am, the Palestinian children from the villages of Tuba and Maghayir Al Abeed, that after school were waiting at the meeting point the military escort, were reached by a group of Israelis from the nearby settlement of Ma ‘on.

The group was composed of the Ma’on security coordinator, armed with rifle and handgun, two settlers, a journalist and a camera operator who began filming, in an invasive manner, the Palestinian children and International volunteers, without give them any explanation.

When questioned by internationals, the reporter said to belong to Channel 10, an Israeli television channel, and to be there to do a reportage about the use of video cameras. He later declared to be unaware of recent events and that they do not understand the discomfort of the children, who were trying to hide their faces from the intrusiveness of the video camera.A few minutes later came the military escort and the children came back to home, followed by the group for the first part of the path.
The incident took place in a week by the arrest of four girls for a supposed theft of cherries. The settlers who testified against them were among those present today.

Il 2 giugno, alle ore 10, i bambini di Tuba e Maghayr Al Abeed che, finita la scuola, aspettavano al villaggio di At-Tuwani l’arrivo della scorta militare sono stati raggiunti da un gruppo di israeliani provenienti dall’antistante colonia di Ma’on.

Il gruppo era composto dal capo della sicurezza della colonia, armato con fucile e pistola, due coloni, un giornalista e un cameraman che ha cominciato a filmare in maniera indiscreta i bambini palestinesi e gli internazionali, senza presentarsi o adducendo motivazione alcuna.

Interrogato dai presenti, il giornalista ha detto di appartenere all’emittente televisiva israeliana Canale10 e di essere lì per produrre un servizio sull’uso delle videocamere.

Ha poi dichiarato di essere all’oscuro dei recenti eventi accaduti e di non comprendere il disagio dei bambini, che cercavano di nascondere i lori volti all’invadenza della telecamera.

Pochi minuti dopo è arrivata la camionetta dei militari e i bambini sono partiti verso casa, con il gruppo al seguito per la prima parte del percorso.

L’accaduto si è svolto ad una settimana dall’arresto di quattro bambine per un presunto furto di ciliegie. I coloni che hanno testimoniato contro di loro erano tra i presenti quest’oggi.

According to the +972 magazinethe layer who is representing the minors spoke with police on the phone and she was told that two girls were released once their parents were contacted (one is 12 years old, the other seems to have speech disabilities). The two others were being held for questioning and released after it. According to  Haggai Matar, “it would be illegal for the police to question them without the presence of their parents”.

Secondo quanto riportato da +972 Magazine, l’avvocato che rappresenta le minori dopo aver parlato al telefono con la polizia ha dichiarato che due ragazze sono state rilasciate non appena i loro genitori sono stati contattati  (una ha dodici anni, l’altra pare abbia disabilità di linguaggio). Le altre due sono state trattenute per essere interrogate e solo in seguito rilasciate. Secondo Haggai Matar, “dovrebbe essere illegale per la polizia interrogarle senza la presenza dei loro genitori”.
Alle 16:00 la polizia israeliana le ha consegnate alla polizia palestinese in Hebron, che non ha voluto rilasciarle fino a quando una persona della loro famiglia non le avesse identificate. Infatti, solo intorno alle 19:00 le ragazze sono state rilasciate.

Operazione Colomba mantiene una presenza costante nel villaggio di At-Tuwani e nell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron dal 2004.

Foto dell’incidente: http://www.operazionecolomba.it/galleries/palestina-israele/2014/2014-05-28-four-palestinian-12-14-years-old-girls-detained-by-the-israeli-police/
Video dell’incidente: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAhKqjPo00s

Per informazioni:
Operazione Colomba, +972 54 99 25 773

[Note: secondo la IV Convenzione di Ginevra, la II Convenzione dell’Aja, la Corte Internazionale di Giustizia e numerose risoluzioni ONU, tutti gli insediamenti israeliani nei Territori Palestinesi Occupati sono illegali. Gli avamposti sono considerati illegali anche secondo la legge israeliana.]

by Hans, EAPPI South Hebron Hills

Khaled Al Najar is a simple, but proud and dignified Palestinian farmer from the small village of Qawawis in the South Hebron Hills. But today I saw him wipe a tear off his cheek. Last night, two settlers torched Khaled’s entire harvest. Months of labor, 3 tons of wheat, several tons of animal fodder and the 3-4 monthly wages his family of fourteen was to live on for the summer disappeared in an inferno fuelled by hate and God’s promise.

Khaled Al Najar (Photo: EAPPI/H. Tyssen)

I was woken by a call at 5 am. Our good friend and driver, Abbed, had received a call from his brother who is a Palestinian contact in the Israeli human rights watchdog organization B’Tselem. “Khaled’s harvest is burning. Should we go?” he sleepily said. He is all too used to the occupation; he has never seen anything else. I immediately called our Italian colleagues in Operation Dove who live nearby. They were already at the scene, and there was nothing for us to do but to come back in the morning to write yet another report. Everything was lost. But nothing prepared me for the story I would be served.

Smoke from the ashes (Photo: Operation Dove)

Khaled, Abbed and EAs inspect the damage. Conclusion: Total. (Photo: EAPPI/H.Tyssen)

When my three colleagues from EAPPI and I arrived at 3:00 pm, a gang of settlers on tour were making their way back into their bus. Apparently the misfortune of Palestinians is the newest attraction on their sightseeing tours in the West Bank. Khaled was stood in the middle of his field, watching what once was his livelihood reduced to a pile of ash, with tiny flames still sparking up wherever they found some remnants to devour. The day before we had seen him finish the harvest of his 25,000 square meters of wheat, and everything was done painstakingly by hand. He had left it on the field to dry. At about 3:45 in the morning, a worker from his village had seen a car with two settlers circling the area. But the car was already late for the checkpoint crossing into Israel, where you have to be at 4:00 am to be in time for work, and the driver was unwilling to stop. Ten minutes later another worker saw the two settlers torching the pile and make for a quick escape. That’s when Khaled was called.

Remnants of a harvest (Photo: Operation Dove)

On May 22, at about 4:30 am, Palestinians from the South Hebron hills area village Qawawis discovered about 3 tons of wheat burning on a Palestinian-owned field close to the Bypass road 316 and the Israeli outpost of Mitzpe Yair, in front of Suseya settlement. The wheat was harvested the day before and collected on the field. At around 5:00 am, when some international observers arrived on the field, the Israeli police and army were there, with also an Israeli fireman. Israeli policeman and soldiers made some surveys until around 5:15 am. After that the fireman started to extinguish the fire. During the operations, the Palestinian family owns the field stayed on the border of it. At around 6:00 am, two of them were accompanied by the police to the Israeli police station of Kiryat Arba in order to complain the facts. Qawawis is a South Hebron hills area village that is suffering the Israeli occupation in particular because it is near the Israeli outpost of Mitzpe Yair and the Israeli settlement of Suseya.

by Operation Dove

by Operation Dove

Il 22 maggio , verso le 04:30 di mattina, i palestinesi del villaggio Qawawis, nelle colline a sud di Hebron hanno scoperto che circa 3 tonnellate di grano stavano bruciando su un campo di proprietà palestinese vicino alla Bypass road 316 e all’avamposto israeliano di Mitzpe Yair , di fronte alla colonia di Suseya. Il grano era stato raccolto il giorno prima e ammassato sul campo. Verso le 05:00, quando alcuni osservatori internazionali sono giunti sul luogo, la polizia, l’esercito e un vigile del fuoco israeliani erano già presenti. Un poliziotto e alcuni soldati israeliani hanno fatto alcuni rilevamenti fino alle 05:15 circa. Solo dopo il vigile del fuoco ha iniziato a spegnere l’incendio. Durante le operazioni, la famiglia palestinese proprietaria del campo è rimasta sul bordo dello stesso. Verso le 06:00, due di loro sono stati accompagnati dalla polizia alla stazione di polizia israeliana di Kiryat Arba per denunciare i fatti. Qawawis è un villaggio dell’area delle colline a sud di Hebron che sta soffrendo l’occupazione israeliana, in particolare perché vicino all’avamposto israeliano di Mitzpe Yair e all’ insediamento israeliano di Suseya.

By Amira Hass, Haaretz, May 21 2014

Officer tells Knesset committee method used to reduce illegal construction, Palestinian population in Area C; Habayit Hayehudi MK urges crack-down on international groups who assist construction.
Military training in live-fire zones in the West Bank is used as a way of reducing the number of Palestinians living nearby, and serves as an important part of the campaign against Palestinian illegal construction, an army officer revealed at a recent Knesset committee meeting.