- 23 mrt 2009
(15:13) Inside Story - Israeli war crimes in Gaza - 22 Mar - Part 1
(8:29) Inside Story - Israeli war crimes in Gaza - 22 Mar - Part 2
A group of former Israeli soldiers say they have new evidence of potential war crimes committed by the Israeli army during the war on Gaza. These are not the first allegations of war crimes levelled at the Israeli military and the claims have sparked a bitter debate within Israel's defence forces and wider society over the "morality" of the IDF and its behaviour in Gaza.
28 apr 2012, 22:31 , Respect -
Maria 29 mrt 2009
Ghada Abu Halima, 21
Testimony: Members of Abu Halima family killed and burned in army's bombing of their house
On 29 March, ten weeks after giving her testimony to B'Tselem, Ghada Abu Halima died in an Egyptian hospital from injuries she suffered when struck by the white phosphorous.
Until last week, I lived with my husband, Muhammad, 24, and our two little daughters, Farah, 3, and Aya, 6 months, in the a-Sifa section of Beit Lahiya. We lived in the same house as Muhammad's parents, Sa'dallah Abu Halima, 44, and Sabah Abu Halima, 44, and his brothers and sisters: Omar, 18, Yusef, 16, Abd a-Rahim, 13, Zeid, 11, Hamzah, 10, Ali, 4, and baby Shahd, 1.
Our house had two floors. On the first floor were 250 square meters of storage rooms, and we lived on the second floor. We are farmers and have land next to the house.
On Saturday night [3 January], Israeli jets dropped leaflets calling on residents of the area to leave their homes. The army did the same thing in previous incursions and we didn't leave the house, so this time, too, we decided not to leave.
Around 4 P.M. the next day [4 January], when all the family was in the house, the army started to shell our area. A few minutes later, shells landed on our house. Fire broke out in the house and several members of the family burned to death: my father-in-law, his baby daughter Shahd, and three of his sons Abd a-Rahim, Zeid and Hamzah.
My mother-in-law and her sons Yusef, Omar and Ali suffered burns. The fire spread throughout the house. I was holding my daughter Farah and we were both burned too. My clothes went up in flames, and some of my skin and Farah's skin was scorched. Luckily, my baby daughter Aya wasn't hurt.
I ripped the clothes off my body and cried out that I was burning. I was naked in front of everybody in the house. My body was burning and the pain was excruciating. I could smell my flesh burning. I was in a horrible condition. I looked for something to cover me and shouted non-stop. My husband's brother took off his pants and gave them to me to wear. The top part of my body remain stayed naked until my husband came and covered me with his jacket.
Then he ran to the road to get an ambulance or find some people to help us get the killed and injured people out of the house. He couldn't find any ambulance or firefighting vehicle. His cousins, who live nearby us, Matar and Muhammad-Hikmat Abu Halima, came to help. My husband lifted me up, and Nabilah, his aunt, picked up Farah. Another aunt, who also came to help, took Aya.
Muhammad, Farah, Nabilah, her son Ali, Omar, Matar and I all got onto a wagon hitched to a tractor. Muhammad Hahmat drove it, heading to Kamal dwan Hospital. We also took the body of the baby Shahed. We left all the others in the house.
On the way, we saw soldiers about 300 meters from al-Atatrah Square. Muhammad stopped the tractor and suddenly, the soldiers opened fire at us. They killed Matar and Muhammad-Hikmat. Ali was wounded and managed to run away with Nabilah and Omar.
The soldiers told my husband to undress, which he did. Then he put his clothes back on and the soldiers told us to continue by foot. We left the three bodies in the wagon. My husband, Farah, and I walked toward the square, where we got into a car that happened to be passing by. He took us to a-Shifaa Hospital. It was about 6 P.M. when we got to the hospital.
I am still hospitalized. My whole body was burned, and so was my face. Farah has third-degree burns.
We were referred to further treatment in Egypt and they tried to take us to Rafah by ambulance, but the army fired at us on the way. The driver was slightly wounded in the face and he drove back to the hospital. Now we are waiting for authorization to leave for Egypt.
Ghada Riad Rajab Abu Halima, 21, married with two children, resident of Beit Lahiya, Gaza Strip. Testimony was given to Muhammad Sabah at a-Shifaa Hospital on 9 January 2009.
http://bit.ly/bXBt4N
31 mrt 2009
'Ali Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Ful, 19
'Abdallah Mahmoud Salem Isbetan, 20
residents of a-Shati' Camp, Gaza district, killed next to Kissufim, Khan Yunis district, by a shell fired from a tank. Members of the military wing of Islamic Jihad. Killed in an exchange of gunfire with soldiers near the Israeli border.
28 apr 2012, 22:31 , Respect -
Maria 31 mrt 2009
'Ali Muhammad Mahmoud Abu Ful 19
'Abdallah Mahmoud Salem Isbetan 20
4 apr 2009
Muhammad Na'im Muhammad al-Hamaydah, 20
Jamil Muhammad 'Aref Qafah, 22
residents of Rafah, killed in Jabalya R.C., North Gaza district, by a shell fired from a tank. Members of the military wing of Hamas. Killed while they tried to place an explosive charge about 120 meters from the eastern border with Israel.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 7 apr 2009
Iyad 'Azmi 'Ali 'Aweisat, 21
resident of Zur Baher, East Jerusalem district, killed in Zur Baher, East Jerusalem district. Killed after he tried to run over a border policeman during the demolition of a house in the village.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 17 apr 2009
Muhammad Ali Abdul-Fattah Nawara, 16
Rabah Hijazi Muhammad Rabah Seder, 17
Muhammad of Ramallah, killed by IDF gunfire to his chest while throwing rocks during a demonstration for Palestinian political prisoners near the Beit El settlement.
Rabah of Hebron, killed by an Israeli settlement guard while scaling a fence surrounding the Hagai settlement across from his family home in Hebron's Daheyat al-Zaytoon neighborhood.
Muhammad 'Ali Nawar Hamdan 28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 17 apr 2009
Basem Abu Rahme 29
Shot in the chest with a high-velocity tear gas projectile during a demonstration against the Wall in Bil'in.
Israeli soldiers killed Bassem Ibrahim Abu Rahme, a 30 year-old resident of the village. Bassem, who had been standing on a hill alongside several journalists, removed from the main body of the demonstration, was targeted directly and shot from a short distance with an “extended range” teargas projectile - the same kind that critically injured Tristan Anderson in Ni’ilin five weeks ago.
Bil'in 17.4.2009
(7:26) Bil'in 17.4.2009 1 x viewed
Demonstration by village of Bil'in Friday April 17th 2009, Bassem Ibrahim abu-Rakhma ('Phil") mortally wounded
(8:29) Shaheed Basam abu Rahma's funeral in Bil'in 18 4 09 1 x viewed
Bassem was buried in his village on Saturday, with over a thousand mourners in attendance, including Palestinians from neighboring villages as well as international and Israeli friends and activists.
Later on in the evening, more than 400 people took part in a protest march through the streets of Tel Aviv, ending in front if the Ministry of Defense, where they called for an end to the occupation and the Apartheid Wall.
12 july 2010
Military Police to investigate killing of Bil'in demonstrator from firing of tear-gas canister 15 months ago
Three videos prove the canister was fired directly at Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, but the army ordered the investigation only after threat of High Court petition.
The Judge Advocate General (JAG), Maj.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, ordered the Military Police Investigation Unit to investigate the circumstances of the killing of Bassem Abu-Rahmeh, from the West Bank village of Bil'in , who was killed when a high-velocity tear-gas canister struck him during an anti-barrier demonstration in the village on 17 April 2009.
Until today, the JAG's Office refused to order a criminal investigation into the incident. The JAG announced the change in his position in a letter to the Abu-Rahmeh family's attorney, Michael Sfard, who had threatened to petition the High Court of Justice, and after receiving the findings of forensic special imaging experts, proving that the canisters were fired directly at the protester in violation of the open-fire regulations.
30 year-old Abu-Rahmeh was killed by an extended-range tear-gas canister that struck him in the chest.
This is the same kind of canister that critically wounded American protester Tristan Anderson a month earlier in the village of Ni'lin .
Immediately following the incident, B'Tselem conducted an extensive investigation, collecting and analyzing video footage and stills images of the incident, and demanded a criminal investigation.
Three video cameras that filmed the demonstration proved that Abu-Rahmeh was on the eastern side of the fence, was not acting in a violent manner, and did not endanger the soldiers in any way.
The footage also showed that during the protest soldiers fired additional tear gas canisters directly at demonstrators, in blatant breach of the open-fire regulations, in the presence of high-ranking officers.
(2:19) Visuals: Direct Shooting of Tear Gas Canisters on Demonstrators
(1:21) Direct Shooting in Nabi Saleh in 2011 - collection of footage
The initial decision not to investigate the incident ignored the video footage and relied on the soldiers' statements given in the operational debriefing, which contended that the canister that struck Abu-Rahmeh had hit a wire on the Separation Barrier and changed direction.
The experts' opinion, which was based on a spatial analysis of all the video footage and on other material, refuted this claim.
It determined that all the scenarios that the army raised indicate that the canister had been aimed directly at the person.
Furthermore, the experts also analyzed the characteristics of the specific canister and concluded that, had the soldier who fired it acted in accordance with the binding regulations, the canister would have landed hundreds of meters behind Abu-Rahmeh.
Ahmad Abu-Rahmeh, Bassem's brother, speaking on behalf of the family, said that, "We are very pleased that an investigation will finally be opened. It should have been done the same day, and it is clear that the army opened an investigation only because it was forced to do so.
For a year and a quarter the army was trying to cover up the shooting of a non-violent demonstrator, who was shot for no reason at all, and certainly there was no reason to kill him".
B'Tselem and Yesh Din expressed satisfaction with today's decision but noted that the delay was inexcusable , saying, "We hope that the lengthy period that has passed since the incident will not negatively affect the investigation, and that the Judge Advocate General's decision of today can provide justice for the Abu Rahmeh family and the village of Bil'in".
http://www.btselem.org/press_releases/20100712 28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 2 mei 2009
Hamdan Fa'iq Muhammad al-Astal, 20
Jihad Khalil Muhammad Abu Jaradah, 20
residents of Khan Yunis, killed in Rafah, by a missile. Did not participate in hostilities. Killed while working in a tunnel.
Weekly report Two Palestinians were killed in the Gaza Strip as a result of the collapse of a tunnel bombarded by IOF.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 6 mei 2009
Hamam Muhammad Burhan Nasr a-Din, 18
IOF killed a mentally disabled Palestinian civilian at the entrance to the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 22 mei 2009
Yasin Salim Yasin Jaser, 18'Abd al-Majid Sa'id Musa Saleh, 20
Weekly report Two Palestinian resistance activists were killed by IOF in the Gaza Strip.
17 Palestinian civilians, including four children and an old woman, were wounded by IOF gunfire in the West Bank.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 28 mei 2009
'Abd al-Majid 'Ali 'Abdallah Dudin, 47
Weekly report A Palestinian was killed by IOF in Hebron and another by an Israeli in Jerusalem.
Four Palestinian civilians, including two children and a journalist, were injured by IOF gunfire in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 3 juni 2009
Zaynaldeen Muhammad Zurub, 7 months,
died of a lung infection in the Gaza Strip's European Hospital after Israel denied him permission to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment. His parents tried for several weeks prior to his death to obtain a permit from Israel to take him to Jerusalem for treatment.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 5 juni 2009
Muhammad Taysir Muhammad Zumlot, 11
of Jabalya refugee camp, Gaza, died in al-Amal Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, of head wounds sustained Jan. 6 from IDF bombing while at home in Block 2 of Jabalya refugee camp. His grandmother and father were also killed in the attack.
28 apr 2012, 22:32 , Respect -
Maria 5 Juni 2009
Yousef 'Akil' Tsadik Srour 36
Shot in the chest with 0.22 calibre live ammunition during a demonstration against the Wall in Ni'lin.
It took a single shot from an Israeli sniper to kill Yousef “Aqel” Sadeq Srour .
A popular community leader in Ni’lin, Yousef’s only crime was to demand what was rightfully his. Last Friday the father of three became the fifth person to be killed during non-violent demonstrations against the Israeli Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village.
Eyewitness Hindi Mesleh saw the shot that killed Yousef.
“A 16 year old boy was in front of him, he got shot and fell to the ground, when Yousef saw this, he ran to pick him up and take him to the ambulance,” Meshel said. “But he didn’t make it, as he reached the boy he was shot in the heart,”
Yousef died on the way to hospital in Ramallah.
It was not the first time that Yousef was shot in the year that he had been attending the protests against the wall in Ni’lin.
“He was shot 13 times with rubber bullets and once with a tear gas canister, he was also arrested by the Israelis twice for taking part in the Friday demonstrations”.
For the people of Ni’lin, Yousef was special, as one of the organisers of the weekly protests in village he was well liked and respected.
“For sure when others were killed, the village was sad, but for Yusef they were more down…Yousef had a special and unique character, he was a happy guy. His death is something that the people will feel…he will be missed for sure”, said Mesleh.
Ahmed Risleh, a family friend says the entire village of Ni’lin is angry at Yousef’s death.
“It wasn’t an accident, they shot him because they knew him, they knew he was an activist and they knew he was a Hamas supporter”.
An Israeli military spokesman initially denied the soldiers used live ammunition to disperse the crowds during last Friday’s protest. But the army later issued a statement justifying Yousef’s death because he was a “Hamas activist central to the weekly anti fence protest”.
Risleh warns emotions in Ni’lin are running high and believes there could be more violence.
“Friday will be worse because the people are angry”.
It’s a sentiment shared by Mesleh who believes Yousef was specifically targeted.
“I guess Israel is worried about these popular, nonviolent struggles that are taking place in Palestine…Israel does not want this kind of resistance to spread around Palestine. Nonviolent resistance gets a lot of media and international attention, and it is something that Israel cannot argue against…it is not threatening the life of Israelis or Israeli soldiers.”
In the past Israel has violently suppressed non-violent protests often with deadly consequences. In April Bassam Abu Rahmeh died after he was hit in the chest by a teargas canister fired by an Israeli soldier in the nearby village of Bil’in. Weekly protests in both villages against plans to construct what Palestinians call the Apartheid Wall have become a common fixture.
Israel has seized over 50 000 dunams of Palestinian land in and around Ni’lin areas since 1948.
http://fwd4.me/0jKV
(2:30) Funeral of Yousef Tzadik 'Akil' Srour 1 x viewed
'Aqel Sadeq 'Abd a-Rahman Srur 28 apr 2012, 22:33 , Respect -
Maria 8 juni 2009
Fahed Muhammad al-Minawi, 20
Hani Muhammad Salem a-Tarabeen,23
Taher 'Issa Muhammad 'Issa, 23
resident of Rafah, killed next to Gaza city. Member of the military wing of Jund Ansar Allah. Killed in an exchange of gunfire with soldiers near east of Gaza city.
28 apr 2012, 22:37 , Respect -
Maria 14 juni 2009
Ahmed Salama Abu Hasheesh, 19Yasser 'Arafat Sbair, 27
Yasser from Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, died of wounds he had stained during the recent IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Ahmed a shepherd from the northern Gaza Strip, was found nearly 50 meters away from the border with Israel. Abu Hasheesh had been missing for nearly two months. Salama new born baby. The body of a Palestinian shepherd who had been missing for about 50 days was found in the northeast of the Gaza Strip.
medical sources at an Egyptian hospital declared that Yasser 'Arafat Sbair, 27, from Jabalya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, died of wounds he had stained during the recent IOF offensive on the Gaza Strip.
An IOF drone fired a missile at him on 12 January 2009 when he was near his house. He was a member of the Palestinian resistance.
On the same day, the body of Ahmed Salama Abu Hasheesh, 19, a shepherd from the northern Gaza Strip, was found nearly 50 meters away from the border with Israel. Abu Hasheesh had been missing for nearly two months.