Day: 4 September 2021

The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel sent an urgent letter to Israeli Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai and Attorney General (AG) Avichai Mandelblit, following the police announcement issued on 31 August protesting against a new undercover unit (Mista’aravim), which has been set up to operate exclusively in Arab towns in Israel, supposedly to fight against organized crime in these localities, describing the decision as racist.

The letter follows a previous letter sent by Adalah in April 2021, immediately after the media reported on the intention of the police to establish the unit; in that letter, Adalah demanded that the Police Commissioner, the AG and the Interior Minister prevent the unit’s establishment. Adalah argued then that the decision to set up the unit is illegal and contrary to the Police Ordinance, which requires a police officer to identify himself/herself before using his powers, as long as he is not in uniform.

Further, Adalah emphasized that the very act of directing a unit’s activity to a distinct population group on the basis of national belonging is racist and amounts to racial profiling, and illegally produces two separate law enforcement systems: one for Jewish Israelis and one for Palestinians.

In response to Adalah’s letter, the Police Commissioner’s Office in June denied the reports about the establishment of the unit, which began operating on 31 August.

In the new letter, Adalah Attorney Mysanna Morany demanded that the Police Commissioner and the AG respond to the legal arguments raised by Adalah against the illegal nature of establishing such a unit.

Mista’aravim, undercover special police forces who pose as Palestinians, are often deployed by the police in Arab towns and villages in Israel, particularly during demonstrations.

The popular and highly controversial Israeli television and Netflix series, “Fauda”, depicts the extremely brutal tactics of a Mista’aravim unit, working as a part of the General Security Services (GSS) or Shabak, and operating against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

In its letters, Adalah noted testimonies and videos in cases in which police undercover operatives (Mista’aravim) used extreme violence against legitimate demonstrators, Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as during the May 2021 protests, including in Nazareth. The letter also highlighted the circumstances of the killing of a 22-year-old nursing student, Ahmad Hijazi and the wounding of another Palestinian citizen of Israel, by undercover police officers during an operation in Tamra, an Arab town in the north of Israel, in February 2021.

Adalah Attorney Mysanna Morany stated: “The decision to set up an undercover unit that intends to operate solely within Palestinian Arab towns and villages in Israel is a racist act that produces a unique and separate law enforcement system for Arab citizens than the one in place for Jewish Israeli citizens. This special system is based on the worldview of the Israeli police as “the Arabs as an enemy”. Using the excuse of the high incidence of crime within the Arab towns and villages to justify the use of special undercover police units or the granting of powers to the Shabak (GSS) are dangerous moves that will certainly lead to more human rights violations against Palestinian citizens of Israel and could endanger their lives. Arab society in Israel has learned hard lessons from its many encounters with the police, which have often resulted in the killing and injury of innocent people, and waves of mass arrest and detention by the use of undercover forces (Mista’aravim).”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Norges Bank has decided to exclude three companies from the Norwegian Pension Fund Global for their role in Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise in the occupied Palestinian West Bank, Norges Bank said in a press statement on Thursday.

It said that the Executive Board has decided to exclude the companies Elco Ltd, Ashtrom Group Ltd and Electra Ltd due to unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to systematic violations of individuals’ rights in situations of war or conflict based on the Guidelines for the Observation and Exclusion of Companies from the Government Pension Fund Global.

The decision is based on recommendations from the Council on Ethics of 15 March 2021, which has recommended Norges Bank to exclude the companies based on the companies’ activities associated with Israeli settlements on the West Bank, said the statement.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The month of July recorded the second-highest number of Israeli demolition of Palestinian-owned structures so far this year after the Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized 126 structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) n the occupied Palestinian territory.

This resulted in the displacement of 181 people, including 105 children, and otherwise affected the livelihoods, or access to services, of nearly 2,000 others, it said in its monthly report on West Bank demolitions and displacement.

All but one structure were located in Area C of the occupied West Bank or East Jerusalem and were targeted due to the lack of building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. The remaining structure was punitively demolished in Area A, which is under full Palestinian rule, as it belonged to the family of a Palestinian who killed an Israeli settler on 2 May.

The number of structures demolished or seized in July is the second highest this year, surpassed only by February (153), said OCHA. So far, 2021 has recorded an increase of 40 percent in the number of demolitions compared with the equivalent period in 2020 and approximately the same level of destruction of donor-funded assets (161 vs. 157 structures). So far in 2021, 295 structures, or 62 percent of all structures targeted in Area C, have been seized without, or with very short, prior notice, preventing affected people from objecting in advance.

Thirty-one of the structures demolished or seized in July had been provided as humanitarian aid. In addition, four EU-funded residential structures received stop-work orders in Khirbet Ar Rahwa in the Hebron district, at a value of over 9,000 euros.

About 80 percent of Area C demolitions and 90 percent of people displaced were recorded in two Area C herding communities. On 14 July, 49 structures were demolished in Ras al Tin, of which at least 21 were residential structures, 16 animal shelters and 12 solar panels; 84 people were displaced, including 53 children. On 7 July, 30 structures were demolished in the Bedouin community of Humsa al Bqai’a in the Tubas district, displacing 42 people. This community is located in an area designated by the Israeli authorities for military training purposes and has recorded seven demolition incidents since the beginning of the year.

The majority of people affected (an estimated 1,650 out of 1,889 people) were in three incidents, where a mobile clinic was demolished in Umm Qussa community near Hebron, an under-construction school was demolished in the Shufat neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and an agricultural reservoir in was demolished Furush Beit Dajan in the Nablus region. In Bardalah, near Tubas, the Israeli authorities demolished a livelihood structure on the basis of Military Order 1797, which provides only a 96-hour notice and very limited grounds for legally challenging a demolition.

In occupied East Jerusalem, the Israeli authorities demolished or forced people to demolish 21 structures, almost the same number as those demolished in June when 20 structures were demolished. Eleven of the structures were demolished by the owners following the issuance of a demolition order, bringing the total number of such demolitions carried out by the owners since the beginning of the year to 42.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The Israeli occupation forces today attacked Palestinian students as they were on their way to their schools in Shufat refugee camp, north of occupied East Jerusalem, according to local sources.

They said Israeli forces raided the camp provoking clashes with the residents.

The forces fired tear gas canisters and sound bombs at the students and homes in the camp causing several cases of suffocation from inhaling the gas.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

The Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip in May 2021 had catastrophic economic effects, especially on the productive sector, and caused direct and indirect losses exceeding half a billion dollars in various sectors, Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said in a report released last week.

Titled “Left in Tatters,” the report stated that the Israeli army carried focused air and guided artillery attacks on economic facilities including various factories and production units.

In addition to targeting production facilities in different areas in Gaza, the Israeli army deliberately targeted the Gaza Industrial Estate (GIE), one of the largest production complexes in Gaza where many of Gaza’s production operations take place, as it contains dozens of factories and companies that employ hundreds of workers.

Euro-Med Monitor’s Chief Media Officer, Nour Alwan, said, “By examining the Israeli army’s behavior and the nature of the precise munitions it used to target economic facilities, it becomes obvious that Israel may have deliberately targeted the productive sector in Gaza to cause severe and long-term damage to its productive capacities and stifle any efforts to achieve economic development in the beleaguered sector for more than 15 years.” On May 10, 2021, the Israeli army began a large-scale military attack on the Gaza Strip that lasted 11 days, during which Israel carried out thousands of air and artillery attacks on the enclave that is inhabited by 2 million people. The attack killed 254 Palestinians, including 66 children and 39 women, destroyed thousands of housing units and economic facilities, and caused significant damage to infrastructure.

During the military attack, that Israel called “Operation Guardian of the Walls,” the Israeli army committed multiple and complex human rights violations, which may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Israeli army used massive firepower against densely populated civilian areas, violating a number of basic human rights, most notably the right to life, the right to housing, the right to work and earn a living, and the right to property.

The report pointed out that the direct Israeli attacks caused widespread damage and destruction to more than 100 factories, residential buildings, towers that contained multi-service shops, industrial workshops, educational institutions, training centers, and agricultural areas, some of which contained livestock and poultry farms.

The fishing sector also received a major blow after Israel closed the sea, preventing fishing throughout the attack and its aftermath and repeatedly reduced the fishing area from time to time as a form of collective punishment, the report said.

The Israeli attack also caused indirect damages, no less serious than those it caused directly, by disrupting economic activities such as factories, workshops, farms, fishing, and other economic activities.

In addition, closing the crossings prevented exports and imports of raw materials, causing huge losses in various economic sectors.

The report concluded that direct and indirect losses of more than half a billion dollars were inflicted on various economic sectors in Gaza, which already has a fragile economy due to the 15-year-old blockade and political division.

The destruction and obstruction of the work of factories and production facilities caused thousands of workers to be unable to work and an increase in the unemployment rate, which is already high in Gaza, reaching about 49% in general and more than 67% among young people and graduates.

The report called on the Israeli authorities to open a serious investigation into targeting the economic sector in Gaza; hold the perpetrators accountable; and spare civilians, their property, and economic facilities the violence of war.

It also called on the UN Security Council to open an investigation into the grave violations committed by the Israeli forces during their attack on Gaza including the killing of civilians; targeting of their property; and the deliberate destruction and damage of media headquarters, agricultural lands, and economic facilities that support and provide services to hundreds of thousands.

The report also called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the Israeli attacks on the productive sectors in Gaza and take legal requirements that would end impunity for the perpetrators, and the international community to pressure the Israeli authorities to lift the strict restrictions imposed on Gaza, allow the entry of raw materials for the reconstruction process, and compensate the civilian population for the losses they suffered.

During the past months, Euro-Med Monitor released a series of reports on the Israeli military attack on Gaza last May, including “Inescapable Hell” and “One War Older.” The reports aimed at investigating the Israeli violations during the attack and pushing for accountability for those involved in the human rights violations.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Six Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli jails continue in their hunger strike, one of them for 52 days, demanding their freedom, today said the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS).

Kayed Fasfous, from Dora in the Hebron district, has been on a hunger strike for 52 consecutive days.

He is followed by Miqdad Qawasme, from Hebron, on hunger strike for 45 days, Ala Aaraj, from Tulkarm, for 27 days, Hisham Abu Hawash, also from Hebron, 19 days, Rayeq Bisharat, from Tubas, 14 days, and Shadi Abu Aker, from Bethlehem, 11 days.

All the hunger strikers are demanding an end to their long incarceration without charge or trial and based on secret evidence.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

A Palestinian citizen from the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan embarked today on demolishing his own home after he was forced to do so by Israeli municipality of West Jerusalem to avoid paying exorbitant costs if the municipality carries out the demolition on its own.

Ayman Abu Wahdan said he was forced to demolish his own home after the Israeli municipality issued a demolition order for the home under the pretext it was built without a permit. He added that he had no choice but to demolish the 50-square-meter home to avoid paying unreasonable demolition costs to the Israeli municipality.

Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are forced to build without a permit because getting a building permit is impossible as the right-wing all-Israeli city council attempts to keep the city’s Palestinian population at a bare minimum while multiplying its Jewish residents by approving the construction of thousands of new housing units in Jewish settlements while denying Palestinians similar rights.

Almost 75 percent of applications for a permit by the Palestinian citizens of Jerusalem are rejected by the municipality, according to rights groups.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Two Palestinian fishermen have been reported missing this morning after going yesterday into the sea in the southern Gaza shore, according to Gaza fishermen.

Zakaria Bakr told WAFA that contact with the two fishermen was cut off and that a search is underway for them, expressing the belief that they may be abducted by the Israeli navy, which regularly harasses and attacks Gaza fishermen when they are sailing in the sea across the Gaza shores.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Israeli occupation forces on Saturday evening detained five Palestinians, including three teenagers, in the occupied West Bank district of Ramallah and in occupied East Jerusalem, according to local sources.

In Ramallah, Israeli soldiers detained three Palestinian teenagers from Al-Jalazon refugee camp. The three were identified as Yaser Hattab, Moath Hattab, and Adam Hattab.

Meantime, Israeli occupation forces detained two Palestinian young men in Bab Hutta neighborhood in the old city of occupied Jerusalem.

The five detainees were taken to unknown destinations.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency

Minister of Health Mai Alkaila said today that 1,585 new cases of COVID-19, 14 deaths and 1,080 recoveries were registered in Palestine during the last 24-hour.

In her daily report on the coronavirus pandemic, Alkaila said five deaths from COVID-19 were reported in the West Bank, while another nine deaths were registered in the Gaza Strip.

A total of 6,842 COVID-19 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours. In the Gaza Strip, 1,018 coronavirus tests came out positive, while the West Bank had 567 new cases, including 193 cases in the northern district of Nablus alone.

No update was available regarding the situation in occupied Jerusalem.

The Health Minister said 149 patients of COVID-19 are hospitalized, of whom 52 are in intensive care, including eight on ventilators.

She pointed out that the recovery rate in Palestine has so far declined to 92 percent, while active cases rose to 7 percent.

Deaths stood at only one percent of total infections.

Concerning rollout of vaccines, the Health Minister said over 1,087,000 people have received their first jab of the vaccine in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, of whom 466,300 have been fully vaccinated.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency