17 jan 2020
A number of Palestinian citizens were injured on Friday afternoon when Israeli occupation forces (IOF) attacked the weekly demonstration of Kafr Qaddum village near Qalqilya in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a brief statement that 13 Palestinian demonstrators were injured by IOF tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets.
The Palestinian residents of Kafr Qaddum every Friday take to the streets to protest the ongoing settlement construction at the expense of Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said in a brief statement that 13 Palestinian demonstrators were injured by IOF tear gas canisters and rubber-coated metal bullets.
The Palestinian residents of Kafr Qaddum every Friday take to the streets to protest the ongoing settlement construction at the expense of Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
The Israeli police forces on Friday injured five Palestinian worshipers and arrested three others following the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources said that the Israeli police chased and attacked the Palestinian worshipers who were attending the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque injuring five of them. video video
At least three worshipers were detained and dragged to an undeclared destination, they added. video video
Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli police forces were angered by the scene of thousands of Palestinian citizens performing the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque, so they stormed the site and violently attacked the worshipers. video video
According to Israel's TV channel Twelve, the Israeli police were shocked by the unprecedented number of Palestinians who came to attend the prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque. The number was estimated at 8,000.
The worshipers, after the prayer, chanted slogans supporting al-Aqsa Mosque and vowing to protect it against Israeli attacks and settler raids.
The Israeli police then broke into the site and brutally dispersed the worshipers.
Hazem Qasem, Hamas's spokesman, condemned the Israeli police attack on the Palestinian worshipers and said it was "a racist and barbaric act that blatantly violates all international laws which protect people's right to worship".
Qasem called on the Palestinian people not to be intimidated by the Israeli attacks and harassment and to intensify their presence in al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil to foil the Israeli occupation's attempt to take over the holy sites.
Local sources said that the Israeli police chased and attacked the Palestinian worshipers who were attending the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque injuring five of them. video video
At least three worshipers were detained and dragged to an undeclared destination, they added. video video
Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli police forces were angered by the scene of thousands of Palestinian citizens performing the Dawn Prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque, so they stormed the site and violently attacked the worshipers. video video
According to Israel's TV channel Twelve, the Israeli police were shocked by the unprecedented number of Palestinians who came to attend the prayer at al-Aqsa Mosque. The number was estimated at 8,000.
The worshipers, after the prayer, chanted slogans supporting al-Aqsa Mosque and vowing to protect it against Israeli attacks and settler raids.
The Israeli police then broke into the site and brutally dispersed the worshipers.
Hazem Qasem, Hamas's spokesman, condemned the Israeli police attack on the Palestinian worshipers and said it was "a racist and barbaric act that blatantly violates all international laws which protect people's right to worship".
Qasem called on the Palestinian people not to be intimidated by the Israeli attacks and harassment and to intensify their presence in al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil to foil the Israeli occupation's attempt to take over the holy sites.
Israeli military aircraft have carried out a fresh round of airstrikes against targets in the northern part of the Gaza Strip as the Tel Aviv regime continues with its acts of aggression against the besieged Palestinian coastal sliver.
The Israeli military said in a statement that a combat helicopter attacked infrastructure used for by the Hamas resistance movement late on Thursday. No immediate reports of casualties in the aerial assaults were available.
The statement added that the attack was conducted after two balloons with explosives were flown from the Gaza Strip into Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.
Video published by Israel’s Kan news network purported to show Hamas members leaving a post ahead of the strike.
Israeli police said at least two clusters of balloons carrying explosive devices were launched from the Strip into the southern sector of Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.
One of the clusters apparently landed in an open field and the other got tangled in a tree. Sappers were called to the scenes in the Sdot Negev region east of Gaza.
One of the devices purportedly went off as the sappers arrived at the scene. The explosion caused no injuries or damage.
Late on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting a number of areas in the north and the northwest of the coastal enclave.
Palestinian media reported that one of the airstrikes targeted a Hamas position. The attack caused an explosion and material damage to nearby buildings.
Another attack targeted areas in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in Gaza’s north.
Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007.
Since 2008, Israel has waged three wars against Gaza, where nearly two million Palestinians live under a 12-year Israeli blockade. Thousands of Gazans have been killed in each of these deadly wars.
The Israeli military said in a statement that a combat helicopter attacked infrastructure used for by the Hamas resistance movement late on Thursday. No immediate reports of casualties in the aerial assaults were available.
The statement added that the attack was conducted after two balloons with explosives were flown from the Gaza Strip into Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.
Video published by Israel’s Kan news network purported to show Hamas members leaving a post ahead of the strike.
Israeli police said at least two clusters of balloons carrying explosive devices were launched from the Strip into the southern sector of Israeli-occupied territories earlier in the day.
One of the clusters apparently landed in an open field and the other got tangled in a tree. Sappers were called to the scenes in the Sdot Negev region east of Gaza.
One of the devices purportedly went off as the sappers arrived at the scene. The explosion caused no injuries or damage.
Late on Wednesday, Israeli warplanes carried out several airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, targeting a number of areas in the north and the northwest of the coastal enclave.
Palestinian media reported that one of the airstrikes targeted a Hamas position. The attack caused an explosion and material damage to nearby buildings.
Another attack targeted areas in Jabalia and Beit Lahia in Gaza’s north.
Gaza has been under Israeli siege since June 2007.
Since 2008, Israel has waged three wars against Gaza, where nearly two million Palestinians live under a 12-year Israeli blockade. Thousands of Gazans have been killed in each of these deadly wars.
16 jan 2020
Israeli soldiers raided today the southern West Bank town of Beit Ummar prompting clashes with local residents, according to activist Mohammad Awad.
He said soldiers raided the southern sections of Beit Ummar, located on the main road between Hebron and Bethlehem, and fired teargas canisters and stun grenades at local residents who confronted them.
Several people suffocated from inhaling teargas, said Awad, and were treated at the spot.
He said soldiers raided the southern sections of Beit Ummar, located on the main road between Hebron and Bethlehem, and fired teargas canisters and stun grenades at local residents who confronted them.
Several people suffocated from inhaling teargas, said Awad, and were treated at the spot.
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Israeli crop dusters flew along the perimeter fence separating Gaza and Israel on Tuesday and sprayed chemicals purported to be herbicides.
The spraying was conducted sporadically for about three and half hours, with the sprayed chemicals reaching Palestinian farmlands inside the Gaza Strip, mainly east of Gaza, North Gaza, and Deir al-Balah districts. Palestinian farmers who were working the land west of the perimeter fence on Tuesday morning, spoke to the human rights organizations about the incident. The farmers reported that at about 7:20 A.M. Tuesday morning, they saw plumes of black smoke emanating from Israel’s side of the fence — usually used as a means to discern wind direction. |
Several minutes later, crop dusters flew along the perimeter fence spraying chemicals believed to be herbicides, which were blown by the wind into the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli spraying activities, which lasted until 11:30 A.M., took place to the east of Gaza City and Beit Hanoun, and to the northeast of al-Bureij. The following morning, further spraying took place at the same locations, as well as in areas east of Deir al-Balah.
Today, human rights organizations Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza sent an urgent letter to Israel's Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett, Military Advocate General Sharon Afek, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the health risks to Gaza residents.
Israel’s practice of conducting aerial herbicide spraying was first documented in 2014. The spraying is typically carried out without prior notification or warning to Palestinian farmers. Crop dusters fly at very low altitudes (as low as 20 meters) mostly over the Israeli side of the perimeter fence but have, on some occasions, reportedly flown over Palestinian territory.
Israel conducts the spraying when the wind is blowing westward, which carries the chemicals deep into Gaza. Herbicidal chemicals have reached distances as far as 1,200 meters into the Strip in previously documented incidents of spraying.
In the past, Israel has carried out the aerial spraying about twice a year, once in December/January, impacting winter crops, and then in April, impacting summer crops.
It is estimated that a total area of 7,620 dunams of arable land in the Gaza Strip has been affected by aerial spraying since 2014, when the first incident of this type was reported. Palestinian farmers have sustained widespread damage to their crops and incurred immense financial losses as a result, which drove some farmers to abandon cultivating fields near the perimeter fence due to the associated risks.
In 2019, the London-based research agency Forensic Architecture published an investigation into the practice. By utilizing satellite imagery and drift analysis to determine the extent of damages sustained inside the Gaza Strip, the investigation corroborated previous findings by Gisha, Adalah, and Al Mezan that Israel’s aerial spraying of herbicides has damaged lands and crops deep inside Gaza.
In 2016, responding to a request submitted by Gisha under the Freedom of Information Act, the Israeli Ministry of Defense disclosed that the chemical agents used in the spraying include glyphosate (“Roundup”), which had been declared a 'probable carcinogen’ by the World Health Organization and has been banned in many countries around the world.
In January 2019, Al Mezan, Adalah, and Gisha sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his role as defense minister, Military Advocate General Adv. Sharon Afek, and Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit, with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the risk to the health of Gaza residents caused by the spraying.
No incidents of aerial spraying were documented in 2019.
Data collected on the impact of aerial herbicide spraying in the past five years strongly indicates that the spraying poses a potential threat to the right to life as it directly undermines food security and health of the civilian population in Gaza. Human rights organizations Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan stress that such disproportionate action, with detrimental impact on livelihoods and the health of the civilian population, is unlawful under both Israeli and international law.
The organizations called on Israeli authorities to immediately cease all aerial spraying activities in and near the Gaza Strip and provide adequate reparation for those who have sustained financial losses as a result of the practice.
The Israeli spraying activities, which lasted until 11:30 A.M., took place to the east of Gaza City and Beit Hanoun, and to the northeast of al-Bureij. The following morning, further spraying took place at the same locations, as well as in areas east of Deir al-Balah.
Today, human rights organizations Gisha – Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, and Al Mezan Center for Human Rights in Gaza sent an urgent letter to Israel's Minister of Defense Naftali Bennett, Military Advocate General Sharon Afek, and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the health risks to Gaza residents.
Israel’s practice of conducting aerial herbicide spraying was first documented in 2014. The spraying is typically carried out without prior notification or warning to Palestinian farmers. Crop dusters fly at very low altitudes (as low as 20 meters) mostly over the Israeli side of the perimeter fence but have, on some occasions, reportedly flown over Palestinian territory.
Israel conducts the spraying when the wind is blowing westward, which carries the chemicals deep into Gaza. Herbicidal chemicals have reached distances as far as 1,200 meters into the Strip in previously documented incidents of spraying.
In the past, Israel has carried out the aerial spraying about twice a year, once in December/January, impacting winter crops, and then in April, impacting summer crops.
It is estimated that a total area of 7,620 dunams of arable land in the Gaza Strip has been affected by aerial spraying since 2014, when the first incident of this type was reported. Palestinian farmers have sustained widespread damage to their crops and incurred immense financial losses as a result, which drove some farmers to abandon cultivating fields near the perimeter fence due to the associated risks.
In 2019, the London-based research agency Forensic Architecture published an investigation into the practice. By utilizing satellite imagery and drift analysis to determine the extent of damages sustained inside the Gaza Strip, the investigation corroborated previous findings by Gisha, Adalah, and Al Mezan that Israel’s aerial spraying of herbicides has damaged lands and crops deep inside Gaza.
In 2016, responding to a request submitted by Gisha under the Freedom of Information Act, the Israeli Ministry of Defense disclosed that the chemical agents used in the spraying include glyphosate (“Roundup”), which had been declared a 'probable carcinogen’ by the World Health Organization and has been banned in many countries around the world.
In January 2019, Al Mezan, Adalah, and Gisha sent a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his role as defense minister, Military Advocate General Adv. Sharon Afek, and Attorney General Dr. Avichai Mandelblit, with an urgent demand to refrain from conducting further aerial spraying of herbicides inside and near the Gaza Strip, due to the severe damage to crops and the risk to the health of Gaza residents caused by the spraying.
No incidents of aerial spraying were documented in 2019.
Data collected on the impact of aerial herbicide spraying in the past five years strongly indicates that the spraying poses a potential threat to the right to life as it directly undermines food security and health of the civilian population in Gaza. Human rights organizations Gisha, Adalah and Al Mezan stress that such disproportionate action, with detrimental impact on livelihoods and the health of the civilian population, is unlawful under both Israeli and international law.
The organizations called on Israeli authorities to immediately cease all aerial spraying activities in and near the Gaza Strip and provide adequate reparation for those who have sustained financial losses as a result of the practice.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) at dawn Thursday injured one Palestinian citizen, and kidnaped two in Jenin and four others in Jerusalem.
According to local sources, the IOF broke into and ransacked the house of Shadi Jarrar in Jenin city and kidnaped his son Mohamed.
Meanwhile, violent clashes broke out with the IOF near Jarrar’s house, during which one local young man suffered a rubber bullet injury.
Other also suffered from their exposure to tear gas fumes during the events.
Anonymous gunmen reportedly opened fire at Israeli soldiers during their campaign in Jenin city, but the IOF did not state if anyone of its elements was injured in the shooting incident.
Another young man identified as Mohamed Huwashin was taken prisoner after the IOF raided his home in Jenin refugee camp.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police forces stormed Issawiya district in the east of the city and kidnaped four young men from their homes.
The detainees were identified as Tayseer Muhaisen, Naseem Muhaisen, Musaab Muhaisen and Mohamed Abu Rayyala.
In Jericho city, the IOF reportedly assaulted some members of a Palestinian family during a violent raid on their house. The house belongs to Suleiman Abu Rumi.
According to local sources, the IOF broke into and ransacked the house of Shadi Jarrar in Jenin city and kidnaped his son Mohamed.
Meanwhile, violent clashes broke out with the IOF near Jarrar’s house, during which one local young man suffered a rubber bullet injury.
Other also suffered from their exposure to tear gas fumes during the events.
Anonymous gunmen reportedly opened fire at Israeli soldiers during their campaign in Jenin city, but the IOF did not state if anyone of its elements was injured in the shooting incident.
Another young man identified as Mohamed Huwashin was taken prisoner after the IOF raided his home in Jenin refugee camp.
In Jerusalem, Israeli police forces stormed Issawiya district in the east of the city and kidnaped four young men from their homes.
The detainees were identified as Tayseer Muhaisen, Naseem Muhaisen, Musaab Muhaisen and Mohamed Abu Rayyala.
In Jericho city, the IOF reportedly assaulted some members of a Palestinian family during a violent raid on their house. The house belongs to Suleiman Abu Rumi.
