Israeli occupation forces and illegal settlers attack Palestinians

Published on September 14, 2009, 12:47

Ramallah – Ma’an –

A group of illegal Israeli settlers entered the central West Bank village of Ras Karkar and assaulted residents, Palestinian police said in their daily report Sunday.

The reports catalog Israeli violations in the West Bank on a daily basis and are a recent initiative of the Israeli occupation forces. According to the document, Israeli forces arrived in Ras Karkar shortly after the settlers attacked and started hurling tear gas canisters at residents, then physically assaulted two young men identified as Ibrahim Dawood and Mahmoud Salhiya. Israeli troops withdrew without making any arrests.

By region, the following Israeli violence was recorded:

Tulkarem

Israeli occupation forces raided the city and its refugee camp, handing out summonses to a dozen residents ordering them to appear before an Israeli intelligence unit. Invading occupation forces also broke into the home of 'Amir Abu Lifa from Tulkarem refugee camp for an alleged inspection.

Salfit

Israeli occupation forces detained 23-year-old Muhammad Ratib Ad-Dik from the town of Kafr Ad-Dik. Earlier in the day, illegal Israeli settlers pelted Palestinian cars with stones on the road to Al-Khan Al-Ahmar.

A second unit of Israeli occupation soldiers entered the Ayin Al-Sultan Refugee Camp, where they tossed the home of Faysal Al-Basha as well as the home of his father. Soldiers said they were looking for the Al-Basha brothers Majdi and Yazad.

Hebron man dies of wounds from Israeli fire sustained in August

 Published today (updated) 13/09/2009 12:14

 Hebron – Ma’an –

Hebron resident Ubayda Al-Duwaik died Sunday morning in an Israeli hospital almost one month after being shot by Israeli occupation soldiers in Hebron's city center, his family said.

The 25-year-old Duwaik was shot several times by Israeli occupation soldiers on 26 August 2009 while he was on Al-Shuhada street in the center of Hebron. He was transferred to hospital inside Israel in critical condition.

At the time, the Israeli occupation government claimed that Al-Duwaik attempted to stab Israeli soldier in the street.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society released a statement following Duwaik's death, saying they held Israeli occupation government accountable. The young man's family and his lawyer were not allowed to visit Duwaik in the Israeli hospital.

Israeli occupation forces continue escalation of night raids of non-violent anti-Wall organizers

Sunday September 13, 2009 01:13 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

Just after 2 am on Saturday morning, Israeli occupation forces invaded the village of Bil'in, west of Ramallah in the central West Bank. The late-night raid is one of a series of similar raids carried out over the last month by Israeli troops against the village of Bil'in, which is a center of non-violent organizing against the Israeli Annexation Wall and Occupation of the West Bank.

Organizers with the Popular committee Against the Wall in Bil'in say that they believe the escalation over the last month is an attempt by the Israeli military to crush the non-violent resistance in Palestine, as Israeli forces have abducted more than twenty young people who are known as organizers and participants in the weekly non-violent demonstrations in Bil'in.

On Saturday morning's raid, Israeli troops raided two houses in an attempt to arrest Mohammed Ahmed Yasseen (age 21), and Yasseen Mohammed Yasseen (age 21). In the first house soldiers were quite aggressive during their operation. Neither of the two young men were home at the time.

At the second house, the soldiers, disguised with face masks, as they have been during the last few raids, met a lot of resistance from Palestinian and international activists who were standing in their way and filming the event.

The Israeli occupation soldiers eventually retreated to the four waiting Jeeps, arresting one international activist from Great Britain on their way. Palestinian villagers who heard the soldiers conversing with each other in Hebrew say that the soldiers told each other that they planned to release the international peace activist a little further along on their way toward the Apartheid Wall. He was indeed released a few minutes later before the soldiers exited through the Wall.

Organizers with the Popular Committee Against the Wall say that they believe the Israeli forces are stepping up their night raids again in Bil'in, as the Saturday morning invasion was the second such invasion this week.

Illegal Israeli settlers in Hebron construct new outpost

Saturday September 12, 2009 21:51 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News

International observers in the Hebron area have reported that illegal Israeli settlers living in violation of international law in the South Hebron Hills, in the southern West Bank, have constructed five new caravan trailers in an attempt to further expand the illegal Israeli settlement of Ma'on.

The international observers, with the Christian Peacemaker Teams stationed in the Hebron area, say that they noticed the new caravan trailers several days ago. They added that on Friday, illegal Israeli settlers were spotted on a hillside even further outside the existing settlement, beginning preparatory work of clearing land to construct more caravans there.

This illegal settlement expansion, which is ignored by the Israeli government charged with preventing it, comes at a time when the international community is calling for a freeze on new building in settlements and the disbanding of settlement outposts.

Over the past three months, internationals have also observed the illegal Israeli settlers constructing numerous new buildings in the nearby illegal Israeli outposts of Havat Ma’on (Hill 833) and Avigail.

According to the Christian Peacemaker Teams, since its establishment in 1981, Ma’on illegal settlement has been a source of violence towards local Palestinians. The agricultural orchards of Ma’on are cultivated on private land belonging to a family from the nearby Palestinian village of Al-Tuwani. By 1997, ongoing settler violence forced the Palestinian inhabitants of three nearby villages (Sarura, Humra and Kharoubah) to abandon their homes.

The original outpost of Havat Ma’on was established in July 1999, but was dismantled in September of that year by the Israeli military. The following year, the outpost was re-established on a nearby hilltop, Hill 833, and has remained and grown since then. Avigail outpost was established in 2001.

Settlers from Ma’on and Havat Ma’on attack and harass Palestinian children from Tuba and Maghayir al-Abeed traveling to and from school in At Tuwani. In 2004, following two attacks on internationals accompanying the children, the Israeli Knesset Committee for Children’s Rights affirmed the need for a military escort for the school children. The escort continues five years later. Settlers from Avigail and Havat Ma’on outposts also regularly attack Palestinian shepherds grazing their sheep.

Illegal Israeli settlers living in the Hebron area have the highest rates of violence against the indigenous Palestinian population of any Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are constructed on land seized from the indigenous population by ongoing military force, and are thus considered illegal under international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention, to which Israel is a signatory.