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israeli forces
Israeli Forces Bomb Gaza Hours After Killing 9 Palestinians at a Refugee Camp
"Israel's horrific colonial violence must end," said the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.
Jan 27, 2023
Israeli forces launched their latest bombing campaign in the occupied Gaza Strip early Friday morning just hours after killing at least nine Palestinians in a raid on a West Bank refugee camp—resulting in the deadliest single day in the besieged territory in more than a year.
The airstrikes came after the Israeli army said two rockets fired from Gaza were intercepted by Israel's missile defense system.
No injuries or deaths have been reported from the Israeli strikes as of this writing, but Al Jazeera noted that the country's warplanes hit the al-Maghazi refugee camp in the center of Gaza with its early Friday bombing, which caused infrastructure damage and power outages.
At least 14 missiles were fired by Israeli fighter jets Friday morning.
"We didn't sleep the whole night, bombing and missiles," 50-year-old Gaza resident Abdallah Al-Husary toldReuters. "There is worry and there is fear, any minute a war can happen. With any clash in the West Bank, there can be war along the borders in Gaza."
Israeli forces have killed at least 30 Palestinians so far this year under the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has elevated virulently anti-Palestinian figures to top posts, including national security minister.
Last year,
according to data gathered by Middle East Eye, Israeli forces killed more Palestinians in the West Bank—at least 220 people—than in any year since the Second Intifada.
"Israel's horrific colonial violence must end," the U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights said in response to the fresh round of bombing.
Friday's attack on Gaza could be the first of many to come, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant suggested Friday. As the
Associated Pressreported, Gallant "instructed the military to prepare for new strikes in the Gaza Strip 'if necessary.'"
The burst of violence by the Israeli military drew a muted international response.
According to Al Jazeera, the United Arab Emirates, China, and France have requested a closed-door United Nations Security Council meeting on Friday to discuss the situation.
"While Palestinian deaths mount, the international response to Israel's violations consists of little more than timid condemnation at best, and unconditional support at worst."
Vedant Patel, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said during a press briefing Thursday that the Biden administration is "deeply concerned by the escalating cycle of violence in the West Bank."
"I want to underscore the urgent need for all parties to de-escalate, to prevent further loss of civilian life, and to work together to improve the security situation in the West Bank," Patel added. "Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely."
Following the deadly Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp, the Palestinian Authority suspended a security cooperation agreement with Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to visit the Middle East starting Sunday, with planned trips to Egypt, Israel, and the West Bank. Axiosreported that CIA Director Bill Burns "arrived in Tel Aviv on Thursday for visits to Israel and the occupied West Bank, where he is expected to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders and his counterparts on both sides."
Philip Luther, Middle East and North Africa research and advocacy director at Amnesty International, condemned the international community for continually refusing to act in the face of Israel's unending violence against Palestinians.
"For almost a year, Jenin refugee camp has been at the center of Israel's escalating military crackdown," Luther said in a statement Thursday. "Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot dead in the camp last May, and its residents continue to be subjected to relentless military raids which amount to collective punishment."
"Meanwhile, Israel continues to enjoy total impunity for the system of apartheid it imposes on Palestinians—a system which is partly maintained through violations like unlawful killings," Luther added. "While Palestinian deaths mount, the international response to Israel's violations consists of little more than timid condemnation at best, and unconditional support at worst. Today's bloodshed is a reminder of the cost of this shameful inaction—until there is accountability, deadly attacks against Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories will continue."
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'We Are the Masters,' Says Israeli Mayor, As 3 More Palestinians Are Killed
Oct 13, 2015
On Monday, Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinian youths, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since heightened violence erupted on 1 October across the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip and inside present-day Israel to 27.
More than 1,300 Palestinians have been injured by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets, according to the Palestinian Authority health ministry.
In the same period, four Israelis have been killed and 67 injured.
Palestinians have called for a general strike in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and present-day Israel to protest Israel's escalating repression.
As violence continues, Palestinian children and teenagers make up a large proportion of the dead and injured.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the deployment of up to 2,000 paramilitary Border Police reservists in occupied East Jerusalem.
On Monday evening in central Gaza, Israel claimed that about 20 Palestinians broke through a boundary fence near al-Bureij refugee camp, reportedly managing to enter Israel before the army responded with live rounds and tear gas.
In recent days, 9 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire across the boundary into Gaza and a pregnant mother and her baby daughter were killed in an air strike.
"ISIS-like" cruelty
Mustafa Adel al-Khatib, 18, was shot dead at the entrance to the Old City in Jerusalem.
Israeli police said al-Khatib attempted to stab a Border Police officer, before other officers in the area open-fired on him.
But Palestinian witnesses told Ma'an News Agency al-Khatib had no knife.
Fifteen-year-old Hasan Khalid Manasra was shot by police in the Israeli settlement of Pisgat Zeev in East Jerusalem.
He was with his cousin Ahmad Salih Manasra, 13, who was seriously injured. Israeli police allege that boys stabbed and injured two Israelis, an adult and a 13 year old.
Hasan died immediately, while Ahmad remains in critical condition.
A video reported to be of Ahmad gasping for breath as he bleeds on the ground was uploaded to social media by an Israeli passerby.
Onlookers can be heard shouting insults at the bleeding boy, including, "Die, son of a whore!"
Another person tells the police to "give him one in the head."
The video has generated shock even among Palestinians regularly exposed to the occupation's violence.
Wattan TV said that it demonstrated the "ISIS-like and terrorist" mentality of Israeli occupation forces and settlers toward Palestinians.
A third Palestinian was killed Monday night after he allegedly stabbed and lightly injured an Israeli soldier on a bus in Jerusalem and tried to steal his gun. The name of the person was not immediately available.
The same day, a teenage Palestinian girl was shot and wounded in Jerusalem.
A schoolmate interviewed by Shehab News Agency identified the teenage girl as Marah al-Bakri.
Police allege that she had tried to stab a police officer, who was slightly injured.
On Sunday, 13-year-old Ahmad Sharaka was killed by a live bullet in the neck at a protest outside Ramallah in the West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Beit El.
No fear
A video filmed in Hebron shows 65-year old Ziad Abu Khalil confronting Israeli soldiers, shouting that they should be ashamed of themselves for shooting children.
Abu Khalil showed no fear even as the soldiers raised their guns. He spoke for some time before he collapsed on the ground and was rushed to hospital by Palestinian medics.
On Sunday, the Palestinian legal rights group Al-Haq published the names of all Palestinians who have been killed since 1 October:
"Shoot to kill"
Yair Lapid, a former Israeli minister and leader of the ostensibly centrist party Yesh Atid has encouraged the Israeli Jewish public to "shoot to kill" when confronted with an alleged attacker.
"Don't hesitate, even when an incident just starts, shooting to kill is the right thing to do," Lapid said.
"The directives should specify shooting to kill when anyone pulls out a knife or screwdriver or whatever." Israel's Haaretz reported that Lapid "clarified that authorities will give full legal backing to such actions."
Israeli media report that police arrested dozens of people in present-day Israel and the occupied West Bank, including 33 in overnight raids on Sunday.
Ten people were arrested near Ramallah for alleged involvement with Hamas, while others are being investigated for "terrorist activity, disturbance of the peace, and violence against civilians and security forces," according to Haaretz.
Police are also cracking down on the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.
Netanyahu has instructed the Shin Bet secret police to work with legal advisors to prepare the case to outlaw the party.
One of the party's leaders, Yousif Abu Jama, was arrested on suspicion of organizing an "illegal gathering."
General strike
Palestinians have called for a general strike on Tuesday in the occupied West Bank and Gaza and in Palestinian cities inside present-day Israel.
The Higher Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel, a body made up of elected officials from the Palestinian community in present-day Israel, has called the strike.
Palestinian members of Israel's parliament, the Knesset, have expressed support for it as well.
"In recent days this sense of security was harmed by assaults by Jewish racists against Arabs," Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian member of the Knesset from Akka, said. "More importantly, however, the police and the prime minister [sic] are calling on citizens to carry weapons, which can pose a real danger to the lives of Arab individuals."
The Joint List, the grouping of Palestinian legislators in the Knesset, urged broad public participation in rallies protesting Israel's crackdown on Palestinians.
Adalah, a legal rights group for Palestinian citizens of Israel, has monitored an uptick in "brutal and repressive" tactics adopted by the Israeli police, including arbitrary arrests of minors, "preventive arrests" of activists intended to stifle demonstrations, arrests of activists' family members and severe physical violence against protesters, particularly in East Jerusalem.
"We are the masters"
Another law to increase the penalty for throwing stones passed its first reading in the Knesset.
Punishments for minors in present-day Israel and occupied East Jerusalem used to be that parents' benefits would be frozen or the minor would be sentenced to jail time.
Sponsored by Ayelet Shaked, the justice minister who is notorious for her violent anti-Palestinian incitement, the new law would allow both penalties to be issued at once.
On Monday, three minors were arrested in Umm al-Fahim and two more in Jerusalem for allegedly throwing stones.
In an attempt to appease demands for tougher "security," the mayor of the northern Israeli city Kiryat Bialik instructed police to inspect the ID cards of Arab workers at construction sites in the city, Ynet reported.
"We are the masters of this land," the mayor, Eli Dukorsky, wrote in a directive to city officials.
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Snipers Used? Israeli Forces Open Fire on Gaza Protesters, Killing Six
'The Israeli army uses snipers,' according to reports, 'and most of the wounds are in the head and throat.'
Oct 09, 2015
Israeli forces on Friday killed six Palestinians, including at least two teenagers, who were taking part in a demonstration along the Gaza border.
Hundreds of protesters were gathered there in solidarity with Palestinians residing in the West Bank, where a spate of violence in recent weeks has added to fears of growing unrest.
An Israeli army spokesperson said there were 200 demonstrators and that "Forces on the site responded with fire toward the main instigators to prevent their progress and disperse the riot." According to the army, the protesters were throwing rocks and rolling burning tires toward the military forces.
"The Israeli army uses snipers, and most of the wounds are in the head and throat," Haaretz reports Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Palestinian health ministry, as saying.
Joel Greenberg writes for the Financial Times that an "Israeli spokeswoman could not explain why troops had not instead used non-lethal crowd control weapons."
Al Jazeerareports:
Friday's violence comes as clashes have increased in frequency since Israeli security forces began to crack down on Palestinian worshipers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in last month.
"It is very dangerous here," Ezz Zanoun, a Gaza-based photographer who was at the protest, told Al Jazeera. "They always shoot at the border, but it's much worse today than usual."
"At first they started shooting with rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades, then they fired live ammunition at us," he said.
The Palestinian Solidarity Movement called the attacks on Gaza protesters "cruelty towards the unarmed young people [who are] exercising their right to protest against the brutal actions of the illegal Israeli occupation, as the Gaza Strip is surrounded by military turrets, tanks, drones and fences equipped with high technology."
On Thursday, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned, "The security situation has deteriorated dramatically over the past week in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem."
High Commissioner's Office said that since Sept. 28, in addition to the hundreds injured by tear gas and rubber bullets, at least 134 Palestinians had reportedly been injured from live ammunition used by Israeli forces.
"The use of any firearms by law enforcement should be the exception, and only where less extreme means are insufficient to put a stop to an imminent threat of death or serious injury," Al Hussein stated.
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