11 jan 2019
Hundreds of Israeli settlers at dawn Friday stormed Awarta village in Nablus under army cover and held sacrilegious rituals at holy shrines.
Quds Press reported that a number of Israeli buses, accompanied by Israeli army vehicles, arrived in the western area of Awarta carrying hundreds of settlers.
Israel's TV channel Seven said that about 450 Israeli settlers and army officers visited the so-called Eleazar Bin Harun shrine and performed Talmudic rituals.
Local residents said that the Israeli occupation forces cleared the way for the settlers to break into the shrines and cordoned off the village, sparking tension in the area.
Dozens of Palestinian youths protested the provocative break-in by throwing stones at the Israeli forces who heavily fired live ammunition and teargas bombs at them.
Awarta has 12 Islamic shrines which are frequently defiled by Israeli settlers under ideological, political or religious cover in an attempt to pave the way for a complete Israeli takeover of the area.
Quds Press reported that a number of Israeli buses, accompanied by Israeli army vehicles, arrived in the western area of Awarta carrying hundreds of settlers.
Israel's TV channel Seven said that about 450 Israeli settlers and army officers visited the so-called Eleazar Bin Harun shrine and performed Talmudic rituals.
Local residents said that the Israeli occupation forces cleared the way for the settlers to break into the shrines and cordoned off the village, sparking tension in the area.
Dozens of Palestinian youths protested the provocative break-in by throwing stones at the Israeli forces who heavily fired live ammunition and teargas bombs at them.
Awarta has 12 Islamic shrines which are frequently defiled by Israeli settlers under ideological, political or religious cover in an attempt to pave the way for a complete Israeli takeover of the area.
Israeli settlers hurled rocks at Palestinian vehicles, on Friday, near the Tuqu village, southeast of the southern occupied West Bank district of Bethlehem.
According to local sources, more than 50 Israeli settlers surrounded the area and gathered at the northern entrance of the Tuqu village.
Sources added that the Israeli settlers hurled rocks at Palestinian vehicles causing severe material damages.
The majority of settler attacks committed against Palestinians are met with impunity, with Israelis rarely facing consequences for such attacks.
Only 1.9% of complaints submitted by Palestinians against Israeli settler attacks result in a conviction, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din reported.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
According to local sources, more than 50 Israeli settlers surrounded the area and gathered at the northern entrance of the Tuqu village.
Sources added that the Israeli settlers hurled rocks at Palestinian vehicles causing severe material damages.
The majority of settler attacks committed against Palestinians are met with impunity, with Israelis rarely facing consequences for such attacks.
Only 1.9% of complaints submitted by Palestinians against Israeli settler attacks result in a conviction, the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din reported.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law, with recent announcements of settlement expansion provoking condemnation from the international community.
Israeli soldiers abducted, on Thursday evening, a Palestinian man from Yatta town, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, after a group of extremist illegal Israeli colonialist settlers assaulted him.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the National and Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Ziad Mohammad Makhamra, 60, from Bir al-‘Ad area.
He added that the man was abducted after a group of illegal settlers assaulted him while hurling insults at the man.
The colonists came from the illegal Mitzpe Yair and Bnie Yacoub colonies, which were built on private Palestinian lands in Masafer Yatta area, east of Yatta.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the National and Popular Committee against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Ziad Mohammad Makhamra, 60, from Bir al-‘Ad area.
He added that the man was abducted after a group of illegal settlers assaulted him while hurling insults at the man.
The colonists came from the illegal Mitzpe Yair and Bnie Yacoub colonies, which were built on private Palestinian lands in Masafer Yatta area, east of Yatta.
10 jan 2019
Israel’s Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court agreed on Thursday to release to house arrest four of the five Israeli suspects in the October murder of a Palestinian woman.
The court ordered that the fifth suspect remain in Shin Bet custody for another six days.
The Shin Bet as well as the lawyers representing the teens confirmed the ruling, which was made behind closed doors.
“We, of course, are happy about [the police’s request], but we will demand an investigation into how the Shin Bet reached such a situation in which it so harshly investigated innocent individuals, while completely ignoring their cries as well as the cries of their families and attorneys,” said lawyer Hay Haber, who accused the security agency of violently interrogating his clients.
On Sunday, the Shin Bet partially lifted a gag order on the case and announced that it had arrested the five, students from the Pri Haaretz yeshiva in the Rehelim settlement, on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Aisha al Rabi, a 47-year-old Palestinian mother of eight.
Aisha was struck on the head by a large rock on the evening of October 12 as she traveled by car to her West Bank home with her husband and daughter. She was pronounced dead at a Nablus hospital a short time later.
Rabi’s husband, who was driving the targeted vehicle, said he heard a small group of Hebrew speakers at the scene shortly after the rock was thrown.
Israeli investigations into settler terrorism are rarely conducted. Left-wing activists have accused authorities of dragging their feet in such cases in comparison to investigations into Palestinian anti-occupation attacks.
The court ordered that the fifth suspect remain in Shin Bet custody for another six days.
The Shin Bet as well as the lawyers representing the teens confirmed the ruling, which was made behind closed doors.
“We, of course, are happy about [the police’s request], but we will demand an investigation into how the Shin Bet reached such a situation in which it so harshly investigated innocent individuals, while completely ignoring their cries as well as the cries of their families and attorneys,” said lawyer Hay Haber, who accused the security agency of violently interrogating his clients.
On Sunday, the Shin Bet partially lifted a gag order on the case and announced that it had arrested the five, students from the Pri Haaretz yeshiva in the Rehelim settlement, on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Aisha al Rabi, a 47-year-old Palestinian mother of eight.
Aisha was struck on the head by a large rock on the evening of October 12 as she traveled by car to her West Bank home with her husband and daughter. She was pronounced dead at a Nablus hospital a short time later.
Rabi’s husband, who was driving the targeted vehicle, said he heard a small group of Hebrew speakers at the scene shortly after the rock was thrown.
Israeli investigations into settler terrorism are rarely conducted. Left-wing activists have accused authorities of dragging their feet in such cases in comparison to investigations into Palestinian anti-occupation attacks.
Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed on Thursday morning Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—via the Maghareba Gate.
A horde of 100 Israeli settlers, escorted by policemen, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift and carried out a round of sacrilegious tours.
At the same time, the peaceful Muslim worshipers have been subjected to tough crackdowns and restrictions by the Israeli police near the main entrances to the site.
Several worshipers have been searched and dozens more have had their IDs seized while attempting to enter al-Aqsa to perform their daily prayers.
A horde of 100 Israeli settlers, escorted by policemen, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift and carried out a round of sacrilegious tours.
At the same time, the peaceful Muslim worshipers have been subjected to tough crackdowns and restrictions by the Israeli police near the main entrances to the site.
Several worshipers have been searched and dozens more have had their IDs seized while attempting to enter al-Aqsa to perform their daily prayers.
9 jan 2019
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Day after another, systematic terrorism by Israeli settlers against Palestinian citizens and their property in the occupied West Bank especially in the northern West Bank is escalating, with an official sponsorship from the Israeli government and the absence of any role for the Palestinian Authority.
The crime of burning alive the Dawabsha family in the town of Duma south of Nablus in 2015 and the murder of Aisha al-Rabi, near Za'tara checkpoint in 2018, are part of a long series of attacks and crimes committed by Israeli settlers, where the perpetrators enjoy impunity. Religious decree to protect settler terrorism |
The latest manifestation of the blatant complicity with the Israeli terrorists, according to a report by the Center for Freedom News, is the issuance of a religious decree by Jewish rabbis recently aimed at providing religious cover for the Israeli extremists who violated the sanctity of the Sabbath according to Jewish religious law, to help the perpetrators of the murder of Aisha al-Rabi.
Settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar, located in southern Nablus, traveled to the settlement of Rahalim, southeast of the city, to teach the boys at the religious institute of Beri Ha-Haaretz how to act during their interrogation following the killing of Aisha al-Rabi.
The Shabak announced that five youths from the institute were arrested on suspicion of being behind the killing of al-Rabi on Friday, October 10, after they threw stones at a car driven by her husband, which caused her a head injury and eventually led to her death.
The religious decree was part of the so-called Jewish law of ‘saving the soul,’ meaning allowing a group of ultra-extremist settlers to travel by car from Yitzhar settlement to the settlement of Rahalim on Saturday, the day after the murder of the rabbi (to protect the Jewish murderers who killed the Palestinian woman).
The group was headed by Meir Ettinger, known as the leader of an extremist group, the grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, and one of the suspects of the arson attack on the Dawabsha family.
The sources revealed that the purpose of the group’s visit was to guide the suspects in the killing of al-Rabi how to act during the investigation, if arrested.
The decree was signed by a number of rabbis, including Dov Lior, Yehoshua Schmiden and Shavei Shomron, who are known for their support for Israeli terrorism.
The rabbis did not only provide religious support for those involved in the crimes and their aides but also criticized the Shabak for allegedly torturing the five young settlers.
Accomplice legal system
The developments of the case of martyr al-Rabi, a few days after the new developments in the trial of the killers of the Dawabsha family, revealed the complicity of the Israeli judiciary in covering up the killers.
At the beginning of the new year, the Israeli occupation court rejected the confession of a settler involved in the killing and burning alive of the Dawabsha family and other attacks, including the burning of a church in Jerusalem, as part of a Jewish terrorist group.
The Haaretz newspaper noted that the settler confessed his involvement in murder and arson, in addition to the destruction of property, but the court acquitted him of the charge of murder.
The court judges refused to accept the confession of the settler, after his defense team claimed that he was under severe pressure from the Shabak investigators to confess, which weakened the prosecution’s position and made them drop his conviction.
Dawabsha family
In June last year, an Israeli military court rejected the confessions of three settlers who took part in the killing of the Dawabsha family and accepted only some confessions regarding the formation of a cell for Jewish terrorism.
Unstoppable terrorism
If the crimes of the Dawabsha and al-Rabi families are so horrendous that the occupation was forced to open an investigation in order to withdraw any pretexts for an international investigation, even if the chances of punishing the murderers are weak, hundreds of crimes and attacks committed by Israeli settlers each year take place with full impunity.
In recent months, the cameras of Palestinian citizens have documented numerous attacks by settlers on the West Bank roads and at checkpoints, at the sight of Israeli soldiers, without arresting or even preventing them.
Settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar, located in southern Nablus, traveled to the settlement of Rahalim, southeast of the city, to teach the boys at the religious institute of Beri Ha-Haaretz how to act during their interrogation following the killing of Aisha al-Rabi.
The Shabak announced that five youths from the institute were arrested on suspicion of being behind the killing of al-Rabi on Friday, October 10, after they threw stones at a car driven by her husband, which caused her a head injury and eventually led to her death.
The religious decree was part of the so-called Jewish law of ‘saving the soul,’ meaning allowing a group of ultra-extremist settlers to travel by car from Yitzhar settlement to the settlement of Rahalim on Saturday, the day after the murder of the rabbi (to protect the Jewish murderers who killed the Palestinian woman).
The group was headed by Meir Ettinger, known as the leader of an extremist group, the grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, and one of the suspects of the arson attack on the Dawabsha family.
The sources revealed that the purpose of the group’s visit was to guide the suspects in the killing of al-Rabi how to act during the investigation, if arrested.
The decree was signed by a number of rabbis, including Dov Lior, Yehoshua Schmiden and Shavei Shomron, who are known for their support for Israeli terrorism.
The rabbis did not only provide religious support for those involved in the crimes and their aides but also criticized the Shabak for allegedly torturing the five young settlers.
Accomplice legal system
The developments of the case of martyr al-Rabi, a few days after the new developments in the trial of the killers of the Dawabsha family, revealed the complicity of the Israeli judiciary in covering up the killers.
At the beginning of the new year, the Israeli occupation court rejected the confession of a settler involved in the killing and burning alive of the Dawabsha family and other attacks, including the burning of a church in Jerusalem, as part of a Jewish terrorist group.
The Haaretz newspaper noted that the settler confessed his involvement in murder and arson, in addition to the destruction of property, but the court acquitted him of the charge of murder.
The court judges refused to accept the confession of the settler, after his defense team claimed that he was under severe pressure from the Shabak investigators to confess, which weakened the prosecution’s position and made them drop his conviction.
Dawabsha family
In June last year, an Israeli military court rejected the confessions of three settlers who took part in the killing of the Dawabsha family and accepted only some confessions regarding the formation of a cell for Jewish terrorism.
Unstoppable terrorism
If the crimes of the Dawabsha and al-Rabi families are so horrendous that the occupation was forced to open an investigation in order to withdraw any pretexts for an international investigation, even if the chances of punishing the murderers are weak, hundreds of crimes and attacks committed by Israeli settlers each year take place with full impunity.
In recent months, the cameras of Palestinian citizens have documented numerous attacks by settlers on the West Bank roads and at checkpoints, at the sight of Israeli soldiers, without arresting or even preventing them.
Dozens of Israeli settlers stormed on Wednesday morning Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque—the third holiest site in Islam—via the Maghareba Gate.
A horde of 31 Israeli settlers, escorted by policemen, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift and carried out a round of sacrilegious tours. Dozens more are expected to show up at the site in the next few hours.
At the same time, the peaceful Muslim worshipers have been subjected to tough crackdowns and restrictions by the Israeli police near the main entrances to the site. Several worshipers have been searched and dozens more have had their IDs seized while attempting to enter al-Aqsa to perform their daily prayers.
A horde of 31 Israeli settlers, escorted by policemen, broke into al-Aqsa Mosque as part of the morning break-in shift and carried out a round of sacrilegious tours. Dozens more are expected to show up at the site in the next few hours.
At the same time, the peaceful Muslim worshipers have been subjected to tough crackdowns and restrictions by the Israeli police near the main entrances to the site. Several worshipers have been searched and dozens more have had their IDs seized while attempting to enter al-Aqsa to perform their daily prayers.
8 jan 2019
Groups of Israeli settlers on Tuesday destroyed 15 olive trees in Palestinian-owned lands in al-Khalil.
According to local residents, the settlers, who are members of Price Tag gangs, further spray-painted racist slogans on Palestinian property.
In another context, Israel Hayom newspaper on Tuesday reported that the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem, reached 448,672 by the end of 2018.
The Hebrew newspaper said that the number of Israeli settlers in 2018 witnessed a growth by 3% compared to 3.4% in 2017 and 3.9% in 2016.
It added that despite the decrease in number given the statistics of the previous years, the numbers documented in the West Bank settlements are higher than those in the territories occupied since 1948.
There are nearly 150 Israeli settlements built on Palestinian lands in the West Bank, apart from the 300 settler outposts established without having the Israeli government's license, and 45% of their residents are under the age of 17.
According to local residents, the settlers, who are members of Price Tag gangs, further spray-painted racist slogans on Palestinian property.
In another context, Israel Hayom newspaper on Tuesday reported that the number of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, excluding Jerusalem, reached 448,672 by the end of 2018.
The Hebrew newspaper said that the number of Israeli settlers in 2018 witnessed a growth by 3% compared to 3.4% in 2017 and 3.9% in 2016.
It added that despite the decrease in number given the statistics of the previous years, the numbers documented in the West Bank settlements are higher than those in the territories occupied since 1948.
There are nearly 150 Israeli settlements built on Palestinian lands in the West Bank, apart from the 300 settler outposts established without having the Israeli government's license, and 45% of their residents are under the age of 17.
Hordes of Israeli settlers on Tuesday morning broke into al-Aqsa Mosque under police guard.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department told Quds Press that 39 Israeli settlers forced their way into al-Aqsa Mosque via al-Maghareba Gate amid heavy police presence.
It added that 30 Jewish students of religious institutes and Israeli universities toured the Mosque during the same period.
The Israeli Intelligence Service on Monday evening arrested the spokesman for Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department Feras al-Dibs and decided to extend his detention until he appears before the Magistrates' Court.
Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department told Quds Press that 39 Israeli settlers forced their way into al-Aqsa Mosque via al-Maghareba Gate amid heavy police presence.
It added that 30 Jewish students of religious institutes and Israeli universities toured the Mosque during the same period.
The Israeli Intelligence Service on Monday evening arrested the spokesman for Jerusalem's Islamic Awqaf Department Feras al-Dibs and decided to extend his detention until he appears before the Magistrates' Court.
A group of illegal Israeli colonialist settlers uprooted, Tuesday, nearly thirty Palestinian olive trees in the al-Hamra area, east of Yatta town, south of Hebron, in the southern part of the occupied West Bank.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the National and Popular Committees against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the colonists came from the illegal Ma’on and Havat Ma’on colonialist outpost, built on private Palestinian lands.
He added that the trees were planted more than thirty years ago and are owned by members of Rib’ey family.
Jabour further stated that the cutting and uprooting of Palestinian olive trees in the area have escalated over the past few years, as part of the ongoing attempts by the colonists to build and expand their illegal outposts and colonies.
He called on various national, regional and international human rights and legal groups to intervene and help in ending these serious violations targeting the Palestinians, their homes and property, and their sources of livelihood.
Rateb Jabour, the coordinator of the National and Popular Committees against the Annexation Wall and Colonies in southern West Bank, said the colonists came from the illegal Ma’on and Havat Ma’on colonialist outpost, built on private Palestinian lands.
He added that the trees were planted more than thirty years ago and are owned by members of Rib’ey family.
Jabour further stated that the cutting and uprooting of Palestinian olive trees in the area have escalated over the past few years, as part of the ongoing attempts by the colonists to build and expand their illegal outposts and colonies.
He called on various national, regional and international human rights and legal groups to intervene and help in ending these serious violations targeting the Palestinians, their homes and property, and their sources of livelihood.
